DavidW says (to Floyd), "take spear" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                     Palace ArmoryExits: S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SPEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the broken spear)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x haft" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                     Palace ArmoryExits: S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HAFT
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                   Servants' QuartExits: N, E, and W
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Servants' Quarters
Floyd | Most walls had crumbled into impenetrable piles of rubble; all she
Floyd | found in this wing of the palace was a shaded, closet-sized room. The
Floyd | plaster on the walls had cracked into spiderwebs of grey-white flakes,
Floyd | showing the smooth stone beneath. Though once this wing of the palace
Floyd | had been a maze of passages, the rubble and damage meant she could
Floyd | only exit to the east, west, and north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Most furniture had become firewood, but she could see the collapsed
Floyd | remains of a bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                      Half a FoyerExits: N, S, W, and U
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Half a Foyer
Floyd | This rich foyer had been floored with brilliant marble tiles and
Floyd | draped with silks. One of the grand columns along its side had
Floyd | toppled, preventing movement into most of the palace complex. Holes in
Floyd | the wall – hard to tell if they had been intentional passages – led
Floyd | north and south, outside. A hidden door in the west had become a
Floyd | jagged hole. And a collapsed staircase still allowed an unsteady climb
Floyd | to an upstairs room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                     Palace QuarteExits: NW and S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | She found herself leaving the palace for the remains of the western
Floyd | quarter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Palace Quarter
Floyd | The Palace Quarter did not so much have streets as extremely long
Floyd | plazas, promenades flanked by rows of gilded fountains that would
Floyd | stretch on towards the horizon. It had no alleys – servants and
Floyd | slaves
Floyd | would instead scurry between palaces and villas in tunnels beneath the
Floyd | earth, out of the sight of the nobility. The tunnels had burst into
Floyd | the surface when the land broke, cracking open the meticulously tiled
Floyd | squares, isolating each villa into an island. She found herself in an
Floyd | oddly preserved stretch of the quarter, surrounded mostly by unnatural
Floyd | chasms, connecting buildings to the south and northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x fountains" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                     Palace QuarteExits: NW and S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAINS
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x chasms" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                     Palace QuarteExits: NW and S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHASMS
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  8/13                    Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | She wandered into a dark temple.
Floyd |
Floyd | Temple of Pésazh
Floyd | Pésazh, king-god, father of god-kings. All that remained was a
Floyd | fraction of his temple complex, a windowless antechamber that lingered
Floyd | after the earth swallowed the rest of the temple. Sunlight filtered in
Floyd | from the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A wooden altar, used for preliminary prayers, still survived in the
Floyd | antechamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | The god's stern visage stared north into a temple hall that was no
Floyd | longer there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x altar" 		

Floyd ]  9/13                    Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALTAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The altar was a softly curving parabola of wood, supported on legs of
Floyd | gold, upon which offerings would be laid. And as the stern god's
Floyd | chastisement of his pantheon sustained the world, so did symbols of
Floyd | his justice – almonds for eyes, ginger for hands, carrots for noses
Floyd | –
Floyd | become burnt offerings to him. And on bad years, the symbols would be
Floyd | altogether more direct.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x visage" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X VISAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Pésazh was tall and severe, cast in a statue of white gold. He was the
Floyd | namer of sins, and as such, he was the only whole god; every other
Floyd | deity had given something of themselves as punishment, when the
Floyd | god-father identified their crime. He was wrapped in fine cloth and
Floyd | burdened by a heavy crown, his bearded face almost hidden under the
Floyd | finery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crown" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CROWN
Floyd |
Floyd | Cast in traditional black bronze, the crown resembled a bulbous limb
Floyd | of a baobab tree that deigned to twist itself upon the god's head.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cloth" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOTH
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE IT
Floyd |
Floyd | That seemed to be a part of the effigy of Pésazh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x beard" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BEARD
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. We've missed three things, but I'm not sure what or where."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "score" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCORE
Floyd |
Floyd | [You have seen 10 out of 13 stories of Atlantis. You have not
Floyd | closely examined: the depiction of Azh, the depiction of Kózh, and the
Floyd | cut mirthstone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lantern" 		

Floyd ]  10/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LANTERN
Floyd |
Floyd | A cage of silver, blackening at the edges. Inside, ensconced safely
Floyd | from errant fingers, is an illuminated mirthstone, a facet-cut piece
Floyd | of hell. The silver lantern is shaped into an angular, polyhedral form
Floyd | that makes it uncomfortable to hold, though the stone emits no heat.
Floyd | Instead, one holds it by a leaden hoop attached to the top.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x mirthstone" 		

Floyd ]  11/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRTHSTONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Mirthstone is almost always clumsily cut; the hazards of working with
Floyd | the material prevent anyone from accruing enough experience to become
Floyd | a true master. The artisan who made this one lived longer than most,
Floyd | and his family was compensated well for this beautifully cut piece;
Floyd | with its impurities severed, the faceted sliver inside shines with a
Floyd | harsh white light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's probably radium, or some other radioactive element."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x amulet" 		

Floyd ]  11/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AMULET
Floyd |
Floyd | Cast as a profile cameo of the god Azh. It was rusted around the
Floyd | edges. The amulet was a chambermaid's, a symbol of something she
Floyd | yearned for as she prepared for a life regimented by the path her
Floyd | masters had set before her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x azh" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AZH
Floyd |
Floyd | Pésazh had plucked out the blind god's eyes for the crime of misplaced
Floyd | compassion; of tempting the poor with abundance. The iron amulet
Floyd | depicted Azh with the unmistakable hollow eyes. And thus the
Floyd | compassionate god had learned the proper place of compassion; that it
Floyd | should be measured, just so, that no-one thinks to rise above their
Floyd | station. Such tokens were reminders of the order of things – as much
Floyd | as they were promises of prosperity, or at least subsistence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x kozh" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                   Temple of PésaExits: SE
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KOZH
Floyd |
Floyd | She couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                    Palace QuarteExits: NW and S
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Palace Quarter
Floyd | The Palace Quarter did not so much have streets as extremely long
Floyd | plazas, promenades flanked by rows of gilded fountains that would
Floyd | stretch on towards the horizon. It had no alleys – servants and
Floyd | slaves
Floyd | would instead scurry between palaces and villas in tunnels beneath the
Floyd | earth, out of the sight of the nobility. The tunnels had burst into
Floyd | the surface when the land broke, cracking open the meticulously tiled
Floyd | squares, isolating each villa into an island. She found herself in an
Floyd | oddly preserved stretch of the quarter, surrounded mostly by unnatural
Floyd | chasms, connecting buildings to the south and northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                     Half a FoyerExits: N, S, W, and U
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Half a Foyer
Floyd | This rich foyer had been floored with brilliant marble tiles and
Floyd | draped with silks. One of the grand columns along its side had
Floyd | toppled, preventing movement into most of the palace complex. Holes in
Floyd | the wall – hard to tell if they had been intentional passages – led
Floyd | north and south, outside. A hidden door in the west had become a
Floyd | jagged hole. And a collapsed staircase still allowed an unsteady climb
Floyd | to an upstairs room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                  Looted ApartmenExits: D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Looted Apartments
Floyd | It was just barely perceptible that at the top of the stairs, passages
Floyd | would splay out in all directions, leading into various wings of the
Floyd | palace. Most of them were gone, as was the palace's roof, ripped away.
Floyd | All that remained of the upper floor of the villa was a curious island
Floyd | of orichalcum-flecked ceramic tiles, cracking in the sunlight. Even
Floyd | then, this little patch of opulence had been ransacked, more than
Floyd | once, by various desperate bands – and later, desperate individuals.
Floyd |
Floyd | A pile of ash, the remains of a campfire, marred the tiles on the
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only furniture that remained was a lectern made of gold, rendered
Floyd | worthless by the calamity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lectern" 		

Floyd ]  12/13                  Looted ApartmenExits: D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LECTERN
Floyd |
Floyd | As it could not be eaten or burned, it was left alone as its
Floyd | companions were ransacked, a silent witness to the chaos. Its base is
Floyd | sculpted into a vaguely human shape, a stylised depiction of the
Floyd | slave-god, Kózh. But its surface rarely held scrolls; the master of
Floyd | this manor had used it more as a pillory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right, Kozh is on the lectern."
		chaudmin says, "had to read back through the transcript"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x kozh" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                  Looted ApartmenExits: D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KOZH
Floyd |
Floyd | Kózh is emaciated, scourged, his lips taken away by his master, his
Floyd | body wrapped in chains from which would hang the bodies of mortal
Floyd | slaves. This depiction's presence in the apartments was unusual; it
Floyd | suggested a man who was greatly invested in the discipline of his
Floyd | slaves. Over the years, the lashing of slaves to the lectern had made
Floyd | it a focus of fear and loathing for the servants in the manor; the
Floyd | master had liked to keep such a reminder close to him. Leather straps,
Floyd | bloodied and rough, still adorned it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x straps" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                  Looted ApartmenExits: D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STRAPS
Floyd |
Floyd | Kózh is emaciated, scourged, his lips taken away by his master, his
Floyd | body wrapped in chains from which would hang the bodies of mortal
Floyd | slaves. This depiction's presence in the apartments was unusual; it
Floyd | suggested a man who was greatly invested in the discipline of his
Floyd | slaves. Over the years, the lashing of slaves to the lectern had made
Floyd | it a focus of fear and loathing for the servants in the manor; the
Floyd | master had liked to keep such a reminder close to him. Leather straps,
Floyd | bloodied and rough, still adorned it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well, that's it then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                     Half a FoyerExits: N, S, W, and U
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Half a Foyer
Floyd | This rich foyer had been floored with brilliant marble tiles and
Floyd | draped with silks. One of the grand columns along its side had
Floyd | toppled, preventing movement into most of the palace complex. Holes in
Floyd | the wall – hard to tell if they had been intentional passages – led
Floyd | north and south, outside. A hidden door in the west had become a
Floyd | jagged hole. And a collapsed staircase still allowed an unsteady climb
Floyd | to an upstairs room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                   Overgrown GardExits: N and E
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overgrown Garden
Floyd | This had been a formal garden, a gathering place for aristocrats. But
Floyd | she found within it only a dried fountain, and a lawn that had become
Floyd | overgrown with grass. The grass, in turn, was a matted patch of drying
Floyd | hay, caked with dust and ash, waiting to catch fire in the constant
Floyd | sun. A breach in the land was still open to the east; to the north,
Floyd | she could see a jagged passage into the remains of a palace.
Floyd |
Floyd | The fountain was long drained of water, but it still stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                    Twisted TunneExits: NE and W
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Twisted Tunnel
Floyd | The land had contorted this section of street into a spiraling vortex
Floyd | of cobblestones and dirt, dead grass poking incongruously from the
Floyd | helical ceiling. The passage ran northeast and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                     Gilded Lane Exits: SE and SW
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Gilded Lane
Floyd | Gilded Lane had been paved with gold, and when gold proved too soft,
Floyd | it was paved with orichalcum. But then, orichalcum proved too soft,
Floyd | too. She saw a mess of green-gold tiles, stopped mid-spin, where the
Floyd | street used to be. All around her were the husks of crumbled
Floyd | buildings. The maw of a tunnel opened up to the southwest; the square
Floyd | was back southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x tunnel" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                     Gilded Lane Exits: SE and SW
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUNNEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The land had twisted, sucked streets and buildings into itself. She
Floyd | could see an entrance into one such tunnel, to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess so. I was expecting more pleasantness in comparison to the poor side of town, but this was just as disturbing."
		chaudmin says, "yeah"
		chaudmin says, "moral of the story: Atlantis sucked"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                    Ruined SquareExits: NW and E
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ruined Square
Floyd | Besides the creeping dirt seemingly emerging from between the broken
Floyd | tiles, signs of ruin were around her. The land's breaking has reduced
Floyd | the gilded façades of the shops that surrounded the square to rubble
Floyd | and ashes. Breaks in the surrounding ring of debris were open to the
Floyd | northwest and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A rush of turbulent water prevented passage to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | She could also see her makeshift raft here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Its virtue was interesting building material, I guess."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter raft" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                    Ruined SquareExits: NW and E
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER RAFT
Floyd |
Floyd | [You have seen all 13 stories of Atlantis.]
Floyd |
Floyd | This will end the story. Are you sure?

		DavidW says, "Gold, silver, orichalcum, mirthstone."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd ]  13/13                    Ruined SquareExits: NW and E
Floyd | This will end the story. Are you sure?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | She had found as much as she could of the world she was leaving
Floyd | behind. She carried a small history with her away from that place, but
Floyd | could not tell if that history deserved to survive; if it should be
Floyd | told. Still, she climbed onto her raft, with the trinkets and memories
Floyd | she could take, and waited for the water to rise and take her away, a
Floyd | small reminder of a dead world floating in an Atlantic current.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** little remained from the fall of Atlantis ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That was certainly interesting."
		DavidW says, "Glad I never lived there, though."
		chaudmin says, "yup"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "Thank you for coming and driving."
		chaudmin says, "no problem"
		chaudmin says, "always a pleasure"
		DavidW asks (of Roger), "Do you know where the post-mortem is posted?"
		Roger says, "Let's see..."
		Roger | [LINK]
		DavidW says, "Thank you."
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		DavidW says, "heh: | What if you sifted through the ashes of a society that had just been wiped out, but the overwhelming mood was "these were horrible people and it's a good thing they're gone.""
		chaudmin says, "that pretty much sums it up"
chaudmin sets location to elsewhere 		DavidW says, "Nice post-mortem. I enjoy reading those. Glad that's a new trend."
		Roger says, "As my game Comrade was played here, I guess I could link to mine:"
		DavidW says, "please do"
		Roger | [LINK]
		DavidW says, "Thanks"
Fang was described as having "hit the Internet with the force of a punch to the head."[24] 		DavidW says, "okay, I guess we're done for today. Thanks to everyone for playing and commenting, and I hope to see you all next week unless you're too busy writing your IntroComp entries."
		



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
18 Rooms to Home (Room 18) by Carolyn VanEseltine
18 Rooms to Home (Room 17) by Carolyn VanEseltine
As played on ifMUD on June 7, 2016

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of 18 Rooms to Home (Room 18) written by Carolyn VanEseltine, and 18 Rooms to Home (Room 17) written by Carolyn VanEseltine. 18 Rooms to Home is an experimental work of serialized interactive fiction. This transcript contains the first two intallments. You can learn more about the games, including how to download them, by visiting the game's IFDB page.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

To skip directly to a particular game, click on its title:

18 Rooms to Home (Room 18) by Carolyn VanEseltine
18 Rooms to Home (Room 17) by Carolyn VanEseltine
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask 18rooms18" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 18)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150521 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third will include 16, 17, and 18, and so on.
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 18. This is the far end of Yesenia's journey, but
Floyd | it's only the beginning of yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | The front door has been propped open with a rock, but there's no one
Floyd | in sight. Yesenia kicks it out of the way - why doesn't anyone
Floyd | understand security around here? - and swings her suitcase into the
Floyd | familiar darkness of her apartment building. Two flights of stairs
Floyd | later, she reaches the door to her apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been a very long day. It's good to come home, however briefly.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination. Still, this is home, and there's nothing more welcome to
Floyd | Yesenia right now than the sight of her own front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside her apartment door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a folded note taped to the door. Yesenia frowns at it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Right now, Yesenia is more concerned with what she doesn't
Floyd | have. What she doesn't have is her purse, which is in the restaurant
Floyd | office.
Floyd |
Floyd | It'll take a full hour to get back to the restaurant by bus, but
Floyd | Camilla can drive her there in 15 minutes, if the traffic on 101 isn't
Floyd | too bad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a plain white piece of paper, folded into thirds. Illegible black
Floyd | marker has smudged through from the inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "unfold note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNFOLD NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia peels the note off the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia stares at the note. There's one sentence written on it in
Floyd | stark black marker.
Floyd |
Floyd | Come on in.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not Camilla's handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's sweaty and tired, and the wind made a mess of her hair. But
Floyd | it doesn't matter, because only Camilla will see her before she can
Floyd | freshen up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a large blue suitcase patterned with pink and white flowers. It's
Floyd | new, durable, and easy to spot at the airport.
Floyd |
Floyd | In better lighting, the suitcase would be truly hideous against the
Floyd | red walls of the apartment building. It's one small reason for her to
Floyd | be glad of the dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x Yesenia" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X YESENIA
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's sweaty and tired, and the wind made a mess of her hair. But
Floyd | it doesn't matter, because only Camilla will see her before she can
Floyd | freshen up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not used to third person present tense combo."
		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we open the door?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Do what the note says?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a large blue suitcase patterned with pink and white flowers. It's
Floyd | new, durable, and easy to spot at the airport.
Floyd |
Floyd | In better lighting, the suitcase would be truly hideous against the
Floyd | red walls of the apartment building. It's one small reason for her to
Floyd | be glad of the dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Considering the contents of her suitcase, Yesenia really isn't
Floyd | inclined to unpack in the middle of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apart from that, she doesn't have the key. It's in her purse, and her
Floyd | purse is at the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "knock" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | (the unfolded note)
Floyd | Yesenia raps on the unfolded note with her knuckles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hee hee"
		Jacqueline says, "um"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia knocks on the apartment door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches out to try the door, and the knob turns easily. Unease
Floyd | coils in her belly, and a familiar prickling runs down her arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | She pushes the door open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "knock on suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia raps on the flowered suitcase with her knuckles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I am amused by that action."
		Draconis asks, "Shall we go in?"
		DavidW says, "I think yes, go in, but it'll also end the game."
		Draconis says, "Oh..."
		Draconis says, "I'm not really familiar with how this game works."
		Jacqueline says, "Odd how, even though this has been short, she's built the tension well."
		Draconis says, "Yes."
		Draconis says, "I like the atmosphere."
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "It's a serialized game. So it's going to be 18 short games. The first two are out, so we'll play 17 next."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Is there anything you can think of *other* than going in?"
		Draconis says, "Ahhh."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x sconce" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCONCE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia studies the flickering light irritably. She's pointed it out
Floyd | before to the apartment management - how dark it is, how unsafe.
Floyd |
Floyd | Not unsafe for her, of course. (Not that management knows that.) But
Floyd | what about every other young woman living here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "We could try leaving."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		DavidW says, "Not many other reasonable options I can think of. Unreasonable options include eating the note."
		Jacqueline says, "snrk"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But Yesenia isn't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia is standing in front of her own front door. It's open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's flowered suitcase is parked beside her apartment door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances down the hall, but she can't leave now. What if
Floyd | Camilla's in trouble?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances down the hall, but she can't leave now. What if
Floyd | Camilla's in trouble?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Home
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia starts to cross the threshold when an all-too-familiar voice
Floyd | within says, "Welcome home."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chris," Yesenia says. Ice forms in her gut, but her skin prickles
Floyd | with heat. "What are you doing here?" She bites back her next words -
Floyd | What have you done to Camilla?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Yesenia," the other woman says. "Or should I say..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," Yesenia says sharply, "you shouldn't." And she steps through the
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Too many mistakes in a very long day. Or maybe not
Floyd | enough.... ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "VAMPIRES!"
		Jacqueline folds her arms and leans back in her chair. "That is my theory."
		Emily says, "okay, that's alarming"
		Emily says, "I figured she had superpowers or something"
		Jacqueline asks, "On account of the comment about the hallway lighting?"
		DavidW asks, "Do the name choices suggest any obvious locale?"
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "See Vampires *have* super powers."
		Draconis says, "My mind jumped to vampires also though I don't know why."
		Emily says (to Jacqueline), "that is valid"
		Draconis asks, "So is that the actual end of the first room?"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "Perhaps the crossing-the-threshold bit."
		Jacqueline says, "Camilla's a vampire name, but she's just our room mate. Unless she's 'the other woman' as well."
		Emily says, "I notice that there's a "come in" note, which might count as a universal invitation"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, now I feel like I'm going to be sad that 17 is before this, not after it."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "As I understand it, that's the18th room."
		DavidW says, "We'll add a room/scene before that in the next version."
		Jacqueline says, "Ice in the belly and hot on the skin is I think what made me contemplate vampires."
		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "Isn't the vampire 'Carmilla', with an 'r'?"
		Jacqueline says, "Dunno. Maybe."
		Jacqueline says, "Actually, now that you mention it, DRACONIS is kind of a vampire name."
		Draconis says, "I think Camilla was someone in the Aeneid though I don't know..."
		Emily nervous sideways glances
		Draconis says, "..."
		Draconis bares his fangs.
		DavidW says, "Camilla was also someone in the Lovecraft stories, I believe."
		Jacqueline asks, "So. 17?"
		Emily says, "yes please!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW says, "yes please"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask 18rooms17" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 17)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150602 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third will include 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 17. This is near the end of Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's still near the beginning of yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rollling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside the building's front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's sweaty and tired, and the wind made a mess of her hair. But
Floyd | it doesn't matter, because  only Camilla should see her before she can
Floyd | freshen up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Extra l in rolling"
		Draconis says, "And a second space before 'only' in the player's description."
		Draconis says, "/nitpick"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Right now, Yesenia is more concerned with what she doesn't
Floyd | have. What she doesn't have is her purse, which is in the restaurant
Floyd | office.
Floyd |
Floyd | It'll take a full hour to get back to the restaurant by bus, but
Floyd | Camilla can drive her there in 15 minutes, if the traffic on 101 isn't
Floyd | too bad.  She just has to get inside and let Camilla know.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mailboxes" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAILBOXES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances at the mailbox for apartment #32.  As expected, the
Floyd | mailbox is crammed with mail.
Floyd |
Floyd | Camilla isn't very good about checking the mailbox, so Yesenia's
Floyd | absence always leads to crumpled mail.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mail" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doesn't need to move her mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read mail" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ MAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances at the mailbox for apartment #32.  As expected, the
Floyd | mailbox is crammed with mail.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "empty mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EMPTY MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hmmm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see inside, since her mailbox is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The mailbox is locked.  Yesenia will have to unlock it first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I bet we don't have the key."
		DavidW says, "And we probably have no key."
Emily says (to floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Right now, Yesenia is more concerned with what she doesn't
Floyd | have. What she doesn't have is her purse, which is in the restaurant
Floyd | office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It would explain why we had no mail in the hallway."
		Emily says, "right, ok"
		Emily says (to DavidW), "well, that inventory listing is pretty uninformative -- technically, it doesn't say we don't have the mail"
		DavidW asks, "Unless -- these inventory messages are a way to HIDE inventory we actually have?"
		Draconis says, "True."
Emily says (to floyd), "unlock mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches automatically for her mailbox key, but of course she
Floyd | doesn't have her keys. Because she doesn't have her purse. Because
Floyd | it's in the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | But... she pauses to consider the angles of the sun. There's still
Floyd | sunlight touching the mailbox, which means she could open it with
Floyd | sufficient focus. And it wouldn't be the first time she's
Floyd | opened the mailbox without a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Sneaky."
		Emily says, "...right, okay"
		Emily asks, "focus??"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Shielded from sight by the building and a palm tree, Yesenia stretches
Floyd | her awareness to the setting sun. The orange light warms her, just as
Floyd | it warms the mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun has power over the mailbox; its heat can make the metal
Floyd | expand. Its absence can make the metal shrink. And she has
Floyd | power over....
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses. The tumblers click into the unlocked position, and
Floyd | she pulls it open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "so definitely not a vampire, then"
		DavidW says, "That's *not* vampirism."
		Jacqueline says, "Prolly not vampirism."
Emily says (to floyd), "open mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This I will acknowledge."
Emily says (to floyd), "get all from mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ALL FROM MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pulls the mail out of her mailbox. Among the advertisements
Floyd | and junk mail (promptly discarded into a convenient recycling bin),
Floyd | she discovers three white envelopes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "But the people in her apartment could STILL be vampires."
		DavidW says, "hee hee"
		Emily says, "presumably then all she has to do is focus on them to obliterate them in a puff of dust, though"
Emily says (to floyd), "x envelopes" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ENVELOPES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x mail" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, her mailbox, the third envelope, the second
Floyd | envelope, or the first envelope?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x first envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FIRST ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hmm"
Emily says (to floyd), "x second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | two days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
willbuntu arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
willbuntu clears the checkers board. 		
Emily says (to floyd), "x third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | one day ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'd like to know if the envelopes are addressed to me or my roommate."
		Emily says, "well, that's conveniently sequential, I guess"
willbuntu goes home. 		Emily asks, "should we open them and risk that they're not addressed to us?"
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe it will stop us if they're not ours."
		DavidW says, "yes. Open them."
Emily says (to floyd), "open first envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the first envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So we don't commit mail fraud and go to prison."
Emily says (to floyd), "read letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh shit, that's it. The people in her apartment are postal inspectors."
Emily says (to floyd), "open second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the second envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "ha!"
Emily says (to floyd), "read second letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SECOND LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the second letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm trying to help you. You don't have to hide from me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We might have a cell phone too, I suppose?"
		Emily says, "and our correspondent is a creepy stalker, apparently"
		Emily asks, "maybe try calling after we've read the third letter?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
Emily says (to floyd), "open third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the third envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read third letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ THIRD LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the third letter)
Floyd | As Yesenia unfolds the letter, a playing card falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the sight of it, Yesenia's stomach clenches, and goose bumps
Floyd | prickle across her shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | Call me, or I'm coming to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x playing card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLAYING CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard playing card: paper coated with plastic, with a blue
Floyd | design on the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns it over. As she expected, it's the Jack of Spades -
Floyd | which means the Jack of Shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris, she thinks, and glances around apprehensively. Is
Floyd | Chris already here? She always drives, because she hates the bus....
Floyd | ....
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "so that's the person who's waiting upstairs, I guess"
		DavidW says, "mmhm"
Emily says (to floyd), "call phone number" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALL PHONE NUMBER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I believe that's right, yes."
		DavidW asks, "A female Chris, then?"
Emily says (to floyd), "dial phone number" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DIAL PHONE NUMBER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "use telephone" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE TELEPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x phone" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x smartphone" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SMARTPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x retro flip phone" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RETRO FLIP PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay. I guess we don't have a phone."
		DavidW says, "I wonder what this focus power does, exactly."
		Emily says, "it seemed like we needed the sun to power our heat-glare"
		Emily asks, "so maybe we're a sort of human magnifying glass?"
		Emily asks, "able to draw and increase/direct powers from other things?"
		Jacqueline says, "Let's go find some dry leaves."
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on playing card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON PLAYING CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the playing card, that would be...
Floyd | indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Or do we intensify, well, any quality?"
		Emily says (to DavidW), "that sounds really fun to play and really hard to author"
		Emily says, "so I'm going to hope for yes"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on first letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON FIRST LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the first letter, that would be...
Floyd | indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "If we focus on our suitcase, what might happen? Pinker? Actual flowers?"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia could focus on the suitcase - but there's no good reason to do
Floyd | so. Considering the contents of her suitcase, she's not about to
Floyd | unpack in the middle of the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hm"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on me" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON ME
Floyd |
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on herself, that would be... indiscreet. And
Floyd | she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. So ambiguous."
		Emily asks, "would she get naked?"
		Emily asks, "burn off own clothes?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clothes" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's flowered suitcase is parked beside the building's front
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I am intrigued yet mystified"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "palm trees" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PALM TREES
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x palm" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PALM
Floyd |
Floyd | They're very picturesque. They appear on all the apartment's
Floyd | brochures.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x windows" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOWS
Floyd |
Floyd | From here, the apartments are just so many closed windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x doorbells" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOORBELLS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard apartment doorbell panel. Pushing a doorbell will
Floyd | alert whoever's in the apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read panel" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read doorbells" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ DOORBELLS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard apartment doorbell panel. Pushing a doorbell will
Floyd | alert whoever's in the apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | What a good idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remember purse" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REMEMBER PURSE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "think about chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > THINK ABOUT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to think.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "who is chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHO IS CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus palm" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS PALM
Floyd |
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the palm tree, that would be...
Floyd | indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know if we just have a skeleton key ala rezrov or something more adaptable yet."
		Emily says, "yeah, possibly we won't find out until Room 16"
		DavidW asks, "We could, I suppose, try focusing on the note or door inside?"
		Emily says, "sure"
		Emily says, "go for it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hide" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I feel like we should try to get to where we were at the beginning of 18"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's flowered suitcase is parked beside the building's front
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open front door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FRONT DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter it" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER IT
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door has been propped open with a rock, but there's no one
Floyd | in sight. Yesenia kicks it out of the way - why doesn't anyone
Floyd | understand security around here? - and swings her suitcase into the
Floyd | familiar darkness of her apartment building. Two flights of stairs
Floyd | later, she reaches the door to her apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "hm. Perhaps we could use that rock."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination. Still, this is home, and there's nothing more welcome to
Floyd | Yesenia right now than the sight of her own front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a folded note taped to the door. Yesenia frowns at it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What for?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I dunno. Mindless mayhem."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sconce" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCONCE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia studies the flickering light irritably. She's pointed it out
Floyd | before to the apartment management - how dark it is, how unsafe.
Floyd |
Floyd | Not unsafe for her, of course. (Not that management knows that.) But
Floyd | what about every other young woman living here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Discreet mayhem."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on sconce" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON SCONCE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can only focus the sun when she has access to direct sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.
		Jacqueline says, "Okay then."
		DavidW says, "Yesenia might have other powers."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia is carrying:
Floyd |   a playing card
Floyd |   a third letter
Floyd |   a second letter
Floyd |   a first letter
Floyd |   a third envelope (open but empty)
Floyd |   a second envelope (open but empty)
Floyd |   a first envelope (open but empty)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "huh. Our inventory is standard now?"
		Jacqueline says, "That's unexpected."
		DavidW says, "it is, yeah"
		DavidW says, "That might be a bug."
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder what triggers the ending. Can we get deeper into the thing with Chris and the chyk? I'm expecting it to stop before then, but... it would be great to get it resolved eventually (which I was not anticipating would be possible)."
		Emily says, "that would be interesting"
		Emily says, "if the game gave both more past and more future"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I wonder if Chris and Camilla are the same person with different personalities."
		DavidW says (to Emily), "I like that idea."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's go see."
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches out to try the door, and the knob turns easily. Unease
Floyd | coils in her belly, and a familiar prickling runs down her arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | She pushes the door open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "enter door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | She's about to cross the threshold when an all-too-familiar voice
Floyd | within says, "Welcome home."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chris," Yesenia says. Ice forms in her gut, but her skin prickles
Floyd | with heat. "What are you doing here?" She bites back her next words -
Floyd | What have you done to Camilla?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Yesenia," the other woman says. "Or should I say..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," Yesenia says sharply, "you shouldn't." And she steps through the
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Too many mistakes in a very long day. Or maybe not
Floyd | enough....
Floyd | ** (Something could have been different this time.) ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hm!"
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm."
		Emily asks, "so what could we do different?"
		DavidW asks, "That 'should I say...' -- perhaps Yesenia has another personality too?"
Emily says (to floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a plain white piece of paper, folded into thirds. Illegible black
Floyd | marker has smudged through from the inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "or maybe just another name?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So this is just going to let you play them all the way through? That's... if this is the case, why not just wait until #1 comes out and then play it?"
		DavidW says, "We don't enter the room right away."
Emily says (to floyd), "open note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia peels the note off the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I think the "something could have been different" suggests that we could get a different ending"
Emily says (to floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia stares at the note. There's one sentence written on it in
Floyd | stark black marker.
Floyd |
Floyd | Come on in.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not Camilla's handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true. I missed that."
Emily says (to floyd), "x playing card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLAYING CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | It's the Jack of Spades. Chris's calling card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "so what should we try instead? leaving?"
		DavidW asks, "Maybe we can leave this time, now there's another room?"
Emily says (to floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But Yesenia isn't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances down the hall, but she can't leave now. What if
Floyd | Camilla's in trouble?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "tear card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TEAR CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "When we open the door, is there sunlight?"
		Emily says, "hm, interesting possibility"
Emily says (to floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches out to try the door, and the knob turns easily. Unease
Floyd | coils in her belly, and a familiar prickling runs down her arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | She pushes the door open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can only focus the sun when she has access to direct sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I guess not"
		Emily says, "it does seem interesting we can open the door as a separate action from attracting Chris's notice"
		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
Emily says (to floyd), "destroy note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DESTROY NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia is no stranger to violence, but she doesn't see the need for
Floyd | it here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x first letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FIRST LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALL CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shout" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to shout?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "it seems like at this point Yesenia has enough information to know that it is Chris who will be inside"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shout chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOUT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | (to herself)
Floyd | (To speak with someone, use the command TALK TO.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm"
Emily says (to floyd), "open suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Considering the contents of her suitcase, Yesenia really isn't
Floyd | inclined to unpack in the middle of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apart from that, she doesn't have the key. It's in her purse, and her
Floyd | purse is at the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's flowered suitcase is parked beside her apartment door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia is standing in front of her own front door. It's open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I can't think of anything except restarting and try focusing on the card outside. Also, did we look at the suitcase in the sunlight?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "become camilla" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BECOME CAMILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "be camilla" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BE CAMILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn into camilla" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN INTO CAMILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I *think* we did, but I'm not sure."
		Jacqueline says, "maga says he didn't get the different ending, but that he thinks there are hints on intfic, should it come to that."
		DavidW says, "We never rang the doorbell. Also, rock."
		Emily looks at the hints
		Emily says, "okay, I'm not sure I would have thought of this"
		Emily says, "but I will say nothing unless people wish it"
		Emily says, "we did focus on the card earlier, but it said that would be indiscreet"
		Emily says, "likewise each of the letters"
		DavidW asks, "focus on a window?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
		DavidW says, "we'll need to restart to do that."
		Emily says, "fine by me"
		Jacqueline asks, "We do?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >

		
Sequitur arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		

Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		DavidW says, "I don't see how to return to room 17."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, that's fine, but I thought you meant through the open door."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh. You mean from the outside?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?
Floyd | > NO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I only know of the outside window."
		DavidW says, "And we need to be outside to focus."
		Jacqueline says, "Right. Okay."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 17)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150602 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third will include 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 17. This is near the end of Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's still near the beginning of yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rollling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside the building's front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in window" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The apartment windows are too far away for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a large blue suitcase patterned with pink and white flowers. It's
Floyd | new, durable, and easy to spot at the airport.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x flowers" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLOWERS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a large blue suitcase patterned with pink and white flowers. It's
Floyd | new, durable, and easy to spot at the airport.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone has propped open the front door with a triangular rock.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia feels a familiar flare of annoyance, but it's a relief this
Floyd | one time, since her keys are in her purse and her purse is at the
Floyd | restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rock" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | If Yesenia moves the rock, she won't be able to get into the building,
Floyd | so she leaves it alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rock" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone has propped open the front door with a triangular rock. A few
Floyd | scratch marks show it's not the first time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Dang"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The mailbox is locked.  Yesenia will have to unlock it first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches automatically for her mailbox key, but of course she
Floyd | doesn't have her keys. Because she doesn't have her purse. Because
Floyd | it's in the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | But... she pauses to consider the angles of the sun. There's still
Floyd | sunlight touching the mailbox, which means she could open it with
Floyd | sufficient focus. And it wouldn't be the first time she's
Floyd | opened the mailbox without a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sun" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia gazes for a moment into the setting sun. It doesn't hurt her
Floyd | eyes. It never has.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh. We didn't try that before."
		Jacqueline says, "nice"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "absorb sun" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ABSORB SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Can we store it up and unleash it upstairs?"
		DavidW says, "darn. No battery power."
		DavidW says, "That's what I was thinking of, yes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Shielded from sight by the building and a palm tree, Yesenia stretches
Floyd | her awareness to the setting sun. The orange light warms her, just as
Floyd | it warms the mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun has power over the mailbox; its heat can make the metal
Floyd | expand. Its absence can make the metal shrink. And she has
Floyd | power over....
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses. The tumblers click into the unlocked position, and
Floyd | she pulls it open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Sequitur says, "ne"
		Sequitur says, "Ugh, sorry."
Sequitur has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		Jacqueline says, "I, for one, am okay with the hintage."
		DavidW asks, "We perhaps can drain heat too?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | In her mailbox are some crumpled letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take letters" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE LETTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pulls the mail out of her mailbox. Among the advertisements
Floyd | and junk mail (promptly discarded into a convenient recycling bin),
Floyd | she discovers three white envelopes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open first" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the first envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read first" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FIRST
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open second" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | two days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the second envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read second" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SECOND
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the second letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm trying to help you. You don't have to hide from me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open third" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN THIRD
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | one day ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the third envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read third" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ THIRD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the third letter)
Floyd | As Yesenia unfolds the letter, a playing card falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the sight of it, Yesenia's stomach clenches, and goose bumps
Floyd | prickle across her shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | Call me, or I'm coming to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard playing card: paper coated with plastic, with a blue
Floyd | design on the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns it over. As she expected, it's the Jack of Spades -
Floyd | which means the Jack of Shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris, she thinks, and glances around apprehensively. Is
Floyd | Chris already here? She always drives, because she hates the bus....
Floyd | ....
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "so re hintage: apparently we need to look at all the things we've gotten in the mail, then examine the scenery in this room more closely"
		Emily says, "and that last bit was a hint"
		Jacqueline says, "Would not have done that otherwise."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scratches" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRATCHES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, damn. Chris is a creepy dude."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shadows" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHADOWS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's flowered suitcase is parked beside the building's front
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lot" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LOT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia scans the parking lot again, taking her time. She doesn't know
Floyd | what Chris is driving these days, but she knows it'll be a cut above
Floyd | the norm.
Floyd |
Floyd | And it is - a sleek, matte black car with a T-shaped logo on its nose,
Floyd | sitting three cars down and barely a centimeter off the walkway. The
Floyd | large black crystals hanging off the rearview mirror seal her
Floyd | suspicions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun's failing light glimmers through the large black crystals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We can probably unlock his car."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers the black crystals. The sun is touching them, and
Floyd | she's in the sunlight, but... what could she do with them, except
Floyd | damage the car? There are easier ways to damage the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "huh"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the sleek black car, that would be...
Floyd | indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "it does seem like we're meant to damage the car, though"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Even if Yesenia could get inside (and she's not sure she can), what
Floyd | could she do with it? Hotwiring was never her specialty, and she's
Floyd | getting an unsettling high-tech vibe off the car that suggests
Floyd | hotwiring wouldn't be enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The crystals are hanging from the rearview mirror, and the rearview
Floyd | mirror is inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drain crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRAIN CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The crystals are hanging from the rearview mirror, and the rearview
Floyd | mirror is inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "could we focus on a palm tree and make it fall on the car?"
		Emily asks, "like, lasercut through its trunk?"
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on tree" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the palm tree, that would be...
Floyd | indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "dammit"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers the black crystals. The sun is touching them, and
Floyd | she's in the sunlight, but... what could she do with them, except
Floyd | damage the car? There are easier ways to damage the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia can't see inside, since the sleek black car is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "DAMAGE THE STALKER CAR" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DAMAGE THE STALKER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia finds nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open car with card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CAR WITH CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car with the playing card)
Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like just knowing that his or her car is here isn't enough."
		Jacqueline says, "(Do we actually know Chris is a guy?)"
		Jacqueline is not sure we do.
		DavidW says, "I thought it said Chris is female."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, did it?"
		Jacqueline says, "Cool."
		DavidW | "Welcome home, Yesenia," the other woman says. "Or should I say..."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Oh, right!"
		Jacqueline says, "Great catch."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x arms" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ARMS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "prickle" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRICKLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch sun" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a little far away for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun's failing light glimmers through the large black crystals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The crystals are hanging from the rearview mirror, and the rearview
Floyd | mirror is inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x black light" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BLACK LIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scry crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCRY CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trunk" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRUNK
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hood" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x car window" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BREAK CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The crystals are hanging from the rearview mirror, and the rearview
Floyd | mirror is inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Even if Yesenia could get inside (and she's not sure she can), what
Floyd | could she do with it? Hotwiring was never her specialty, and she's
Floyd | getting an unsettling high-tech vibe off the car that suggests
Floyd | hotwiring wouldn't be enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock car with crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK CAR WITH CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "grow flowers" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GROW FLOWERS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I wonder what other powers we have?"
		DavidW says, "I dunno."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia isn't feeling especially drowsy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | The dreadful truth is, this is not a dream.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > XYZZY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lot" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LOT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia stares grimly at the sleek black car. If anything, Chris loves
Floyd | her cars even more than Camilla does, and she certainly keeps them in
Floyd | better condition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sabotage care" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SABOTAGE CARE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sabotage car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SABOTAGE CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open hood" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open trunk" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN TRUNK
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of Emily), "Out of curiosity, was this all the hintage?"
		DavidW says, "Tried hood and trunk earlier."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shake tree" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHAKE TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb tree" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | Not only would that be indiscreet, but it might damage the trees.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "the hintage only went as far as "notice the car""
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Sorry, must have scrolled by on me."
		DavidW says, "I think we need to do *something* with the crystals, but I don't know what."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus crystals on card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS CRYSTALS ON CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to focus the large black
Floyd | crystals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, that focus ... on construction doesn't work, so that's not it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen to crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | The crystals are hanging from the rearview mirror, and the rearview
Floyd | mirror is inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "rub card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RUB CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rubs the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Can we set off the car alarm?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia doesn't need to move the sleek black car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia takes a deep, centering breath and then slams her foot into
Floyd | the black car's front bumper. She's reserving her strength; after all,
Floyd | there's no need to punt it across the parking lot, and there would be
Floyd | awkward questions if she did.
Floyd |
Floyd | The car launches an strenuous protest, flashing its lights wildly,
Floyd | shrilling an alarm, and honking its horn - not polite little beeps,
Floyd | but bewildered, angry blares. If Chris is anywhere around, that should
Floyd | get her attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, that worked."
		DavidW asks, "Now what?"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, since Carolyn will see this: 'an strenuous' and 'push' should probably work."
		Jacqueline asks, "Um, hide?"
		Emily says, "yeah, maybe"
		Jacqueline asks, "See if Chris comes?"
		Emily says, "yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Not sure where though. Palm trees are skinny."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hide behind palm" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIDE BEHIND PALM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Among the other parked cars?"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, this implies we are super strong, fwiw."
		DavidW says, "'hide' isn't a known verb."
		DavidW says, "oh right. Strong female protagonist."
		Jacqueline says, "In more ways than one, it would seem."
		DavidW asks, "If we can't hide, I suppose we wait, go in, push doorbell, or now try focusing the crystals?"
		Jacqueline says, "I was about to just wait."
		Jacqueline says, "We can undo, it would seem."
		DavidW says, "okay"
		Emily says, "go for it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clatter from the apartment building, and then Chris
Floyd | explodes from within.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris is tall and well-coiffed, as always, but her brown eyes are wide
Floyd | with rage, and if she has a perfect manicure today, it's concealed by
Floyd | her clenched fists. "What the hell are you doing? What the
Floyd | hell are you doing to my car?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Getting your attention," Yesenia says. "It seems to have worked."
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with Chris, TALK TO CHRIS.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, and we're still in sunlight here. :)"
		Emily says, "nice"
		Emily says, "good point also :)"
		Emily says, "but I suppose we could talk to her before incinerating"
		Jacqueline shrugs. "So it's a departure from vampire cannon."
		Jacqueline says, "That or I'm completely wrong."
		Emily asks, "do we actually have any evidence that vampirism is involved?"
		Jacqueline says, "No."
		Jacqueline says, "Zero."
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "You don't belong here. I came to bring you back."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "it feels sort of Nobilis-y to me"
		DavidW asks, "Maybe we're a star, fallen from the heavens?"
		Jacqueline says, "Baby, I'm a Star"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "You're not welcome, Chris. It's time for you to go."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris shakes her head. "Jack. Call me who I am, and remember who you
Floyd | are."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "(let's see if we hav emore to say)"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Emily says, "huh"
		Emily asks, "maybe we're actually from a deck of cards too?"
		Emily says, "ACES"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "Sending creepy letters is not the way to open a
Floyd | conversation. Especially when I've been gone for a week."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says in a reasonable tone, "Well, I didn't know you were gone."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Trumps of Doom!"
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry. I've been playing Zangband."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "You need to leave. Now."
Floyd |
Floyd | Instead of answering, Chris glances west to the setting sun. It's so
Floyd | familiar a gesture that it makes Yesenia's heart ache, and for a
Floyd | second she even forgets what it means. But Chris is the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows....
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I guess it's good to have a highly linear conversation method when I the player have no idea what my protagonist should say"
		Emily says, "maybe we need to focus on her before she can do anything sinister"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "I gave enough of my life away. I'm done."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "You can't ever be done. That's what it means, to be what
Floyd | we are."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "The eastern seaboard got by for some two hundred years
Floyd | without me. It can do it again."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "Those were more innocent times. You can't turn your back
Floyd | on responsibility."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Eastern seaboard? That came from nowhere."
		Jacqueline says, "New theory: We are a demigod with a pink flowery suitcase."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "If you did something to Camilla, you will regret it. I
Floyd | mean that more than I have ever meant anything."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "So that's her name." She smiles faintly. "Pretty."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The setting sun slips beneath the trees, and both women are immersed
Floyd | in the shadows stretching across the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "I'm sorry it had to be this way," and she thrusts a hand
Floyd | toward Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia dodges down the walkway, but she's too slow. The air itself
Floyd | catches her in a vice grip, and she's dragged across the concrete to
Floyd | fall at Chris's feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I'm just going to play this out, then undo and fight back?"
		Jacqueline asks, "What do you all think?"
		Emily says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "okay with me"
		Emily says, "that sounds good to me"
		DavidW says, "I want to know what Chris can do."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia opens her mouth to snarl defiance, but Chris tightens her
Floyd | invisible grip, and Yesenia's words abate into coughing and the
Floyd | struggle to breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris turns to stare at the damage to her front bumper. "That really
Floyd | wasn't necessary," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia opens her mouth to snarl defiance, but Chris tightens her
Floyd | invisible grip, and Yesenia's words abate into coughing and the
Floyd | struggle to breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of conversation drifts up the walk, and Chris spins to look.
Floyd | No one's in view yet, but someone's clearly coming.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We can't stay out here," she mutters, and the grip of air pulls
Floyd | Yesenia upright like a doll. "In we go."
Floyd |
Floyd | As an afterthought, Chris grabs Yesenia's suitcase on her way into the
Floyd | building.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | Tradewinds has always been Yesenia's refuge from the tourist-laden
Floyd | town. Yesenia likes how her neighbors don't trade rumors, or complain
Floyd | about odd noises, or speculate about Camilla's actual profession. But
Floyd | right now, a little more nosiness would be nice, because there's no
Floyd | one in the lobby and no one in the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia seethes as Chris hauls her into the elevator, and she
Floyd | continues to seethe as Chris hauls her out again on the third floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination. It couldn't be a better environment for the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows if someone had planned it that way. Even by day, Chris's power
Floyd | would wax in a place like this, and Yesenia tastes despair at the
Floyd | thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door of Yesenia's apartment stands wide open. There's a folded
Floyd | note taped to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can also see Chris here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hangs limply in Chris's grip. There's nothing to do but wait.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris drags Yesenia across the threshold of her own apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** As homecomings go, it couldn't get much worse. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Well, wait. Undo a ton, or just restart?"
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly quicker to restart."
		Emily says, "sure"
		Jacqueline says, "That went longer than I expected."
		DavidW says, "yeah, I think so."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 17)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150602 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third will include 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 17. This is near the end of Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's still near the beginning of yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rollling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside the building's front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Shielded from sight by the building and a palm tree, Yesenia stretches
Floyd | her awareness to the setting sun. The orange light warms her, just as
Floyd | it warms the mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun has power over the mailbox; its heat can make the metal
Floyd | expand. Its absence can make the metal shrink. And she has
Floyd | power over....
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses. The tumblers click into the unlocked position, and
Floyd | she pulls it open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mail" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | (the crumpled letters)
Floyd | Yesenia pulls the mail out of her mailbox. Among the advertisements
Floyd | and junk mail (promptly discarded into a convenient recycling bin),
Floyd | she discovers three white envelopes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x first envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FIRST ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | two days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "if she's jack of shadows, then we're what? jack of sunlight?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | one day ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read first letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FIRST LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open first letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the first envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the first envelope is a first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "and are there four kinds of thing, and if so, what are the other two besides darkness and light?"
Jacqueline says, "grr" 		Emily says, "INQUIRING MINDS MUST KNOW"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the second envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read second letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SECOND LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the second letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm trying to help you. You don't have to hide from me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wish this switched the focus. Pun almost intended."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the third envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read third letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ THIRD LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the third letter)
Floyd | As Yesenia unfolds the letter, a playing card falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the sight of it, Yesenia's stomach clenches, and goose bumps
Floyd | prickle across her shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | Call me, or I'm coming to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "leave" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LEAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | But Yesenia isn't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cars" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia briefly scans the cars with an uninterested eye. She notes
Floyd | Camilla's battered white coupe parked two rows back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, what triggers us looking for Chris' car?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x camilla's car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMILLA'S CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine Camilla's battered
Floyd | white coupe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x camilla's coupe" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMILLA'S COUPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Camilla's car is fairly new - a 2014 Subaru - but it looks like it's
Floyd | been through a minor war. It always puzzles Yesenia how Camilla can
Floyd | love driving so much, yet be so unwilling to go to the body shop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The card."
		DavidW says, "We don't know Chris is here until we look at the playing card."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard playing card: paper coated with plastic, with a blue
Floyd | design on the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns it over. As she expected, it's the Jack of Spades -
Floyd | which means the Jack of Shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris, she thinks, and glances around apprehensively. Is
Floyd | Chris already here? She always drives, because she hates the bus....
Floyd | ....
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "c parking lot" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C PARKING LOT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x parking lot" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARKING LOT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia scans the parking lot again, taking her time. She doesn't know
Floyd | what Chris is driving these days, but she knows it'll be a cut above
Floyd | the norm.
Floyd |
Floyd | And it is - a sleek, matte black car with a T-shaped logo on its nose,
Floyd | sitting three cars down and barely a centimeter off the walkway. The
Floyd | large black crystals hanging off the rearview mirror seal her
Floyd | suspicions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia takes a deep, centering breath and then slams her foot into
Floyd | the black car's front bumper. She's reserving her strength; after all,
Floyd | there's no need to punt it across the parking lot, and there would be
Floyd | awkward questions if she did.
Floyd |
Floyd | The car launches an strenuous protest, flashing its lights wildly,
Floyd | shrilling an alarm, and honking its horn - not polite little beeps,
Floyd | but bewildered, angry blares. If Chris is anywhere around, that should
Floyd | get her attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clatter from the apartment building, and then Chris
Floyd | explodes from within.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris is tall and well-coiffed, as always, but her brown eyes are wide
Floyd | with rage, and if she has a perfect manicure today, it's concealed by
Floyd | her clenched fists. "What the hell are you doing? What the
Floyd | hell are you doing to my car?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Getting your attention," Yesenia says. "It seems to have worked."
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with Chris, TALK TO CHRIS.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, yeah. At some point we need to fight."
		Jacqueline says, "I think."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into Chris and reaches out to throw the other woman.
Floyd | Chris dodges sideways.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris protests, "It doesn't have to be this way!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia lunges for Chris and then drops to execute a leg sweep.  Chris
Floyd | parries with a snap-kick and then falls back to recover.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris protests, "Knock it off!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm hoping that 'focus crystals' when Chris is here somehow zaps her badly."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers the black crystals. The sun is touching them, and
Floyd | she's in the sunlight, but... what could she do with them, except
Floyd | damage the car? There are easier ways to damage the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris touches something in her jacket pocket, and the car obediently
Floyd | shuts up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmph."
		Jacqueline asks, "Why didn't she do that earlier?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into Chris and reaches out to throw the other woman.
Floyd | Chris dodges sideways.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "Can't we talk about this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You didn't fight her before."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I know. Instead we had that conversation with the car alarm going off the whole time."
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches her mind toward the sun. It's setting rapidly, but
Floyd | there's still enough light... and she seizes that light and focuses
Floyd | upon Chris. She doesn't want to hurt her - but she closes her power
Floyd | all around her. There's just enough vibration leaking through for
Floyd | Chris to know what's happening.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris freezes immediately. "Think about what you're doing," she says
Floyd | in a tight voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought about it," Yesenia says. "And I want you to go away. And
Floyd | leave me alone. Now." She waits a few breaths longer, to make
Floyd | sure Chris gets the point, and then releases the power.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris glares at her, but then she goes to the car. A door handle
Floyd | extrudes as Chris reaches for it, and she gets inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches the sleek black car back up, and she watches it leave
Floyd | the parking lot, and she keeps watching until it vanishes down the
Floyd | road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "oho"
		Emily asks, "so do we go inside now?"
		DavidW says, "I guess so."
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door has been propped open with a rock, but there's no one
Floyd | in sight. Yesenia kicks it out of the way - why doesn't anyone
Floyd | understand security around here? - and swings her suitcase into the
Floyd | familiar darkness of her apartment building. Two flights of stairs
Floyd | later, she reaches the door to her apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination.  It couldn't be a better environment for the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows if someone had planned it that way. Yesenia never realized
Floyd | that before, and she feels sick at the idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door of Yesenia's apartment stands wide open. There's a folded
Floyd | note taped to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a muffled sound from within the apartment, and Yesenia calls
Floyd | Camilla's name as she crosses the threshold at speed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** It could have been so much worse. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "that seems like the best ending we've gotten so far"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Possibly that's the best ending for now?"
		DavidW says, "yes it does"
		Emily asks, "are those the only two episodes out yet?"
		Jacqueline says, "So far, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "As of this morning."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe there'll be another installment by next week."
		Jacqueline says, "The first two came out quickly. I'm... kind of assuming (hoping?) these are mostly already written."
		Emily says, "it seems like it might get progressively harder to do them"
		Emily says, "but who knows"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Emily says, "interesting experiment, though, definitely"
		Jacqueline says, "For both her and us."
		Emily says, "and I'm curious where this is going"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes. Me too."
		Jacqueline says, "Thanks for coming, folks."
		Emily says, "thanks for hosting!"
Emily disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		DavidW says, "This was fun, yes."
		DavidW says, "I'm also curious where this is going."

NB: ClubFloyd played the next installment as well. That transcript can be found here.



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
18 Rooms to Home (Room 16) by Carolyn VanEseltine
As played on ifMUD on June 14, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of 18 Rooms to Home (Room 16) written by Carolyn VanEseltine. 18 Rooms to Home is an experimental work of serialized interactive fiction. This transcript contains the third installment. ClubFloyd has also played all previous installments. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask 18rooms16" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 16)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150613 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 16. This is near the end of Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "This is probably the bus itself, I'll guess."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, yeah."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | Tourists move down the steps toward Cabrillo Pavilion in long waves,
Floyd | unconsciously mimicking the ocean beyond. Yesenia loiters awkwardly at
Floyd | the sidewalk's edge and pretends to be fascinated by the fat little
Floyd | palm trees, the blue sign reading ZOO with its arrow, or anything else
Floyd | that will keep her face away from pedestrians.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns at the distant roar of a bus. The familiar white body
Floyd | with its upper yellow stripe comes around the bend, and she reads 20
Floyd | Carpinteria with relief. The crowd at the bus stop shuffles around,
Floyd | and Yesenia queues up to board, rolling the flowered suitcase behind
Floyd | her.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | It's like any other MTD bus: bluish-gray plastic seats crowded with
Floyd | passengers, huge windows, and an array of silver poles and black
Floyd | straps for standing passengers. No one's standing right now, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver taps the fare box and gives Yesenia a meaningful look.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia braces her suitcase against her leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia digs hurriedly through her pockets and comes up with two
Floyd | crumpled singles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, ">put money in box?"
		Emily says, "I assume we pay the fare, yeah"
		Zach says, ">listen to singles"
Emily says (to floyd), "put money in box" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MONEY IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "put singles in box" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SINGLES IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia flattens the two singles against the fare box and then feeds
Floyd | them into the machine. The fare box chimes its approval.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver says, "No change," and points at the sign that says the
Floyd | same thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "That's fine," and she hefts her suitcase and moves
Floyd | further in so the next person can pay. There are still a few seats
Floyd | free: one at the front behind the driver (occupied by a newspaper),
Floyd | one in the middle across from the rear door, and one at the very back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hm, choice!"
		Emily asks, "are we a back of the bus kind of woman?"
Emily says (to floyd), "x newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a folded copy of the Santa Barbara News-Press. Yesenia could see
Floyd | the articles if she unfolds it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The last two passengers pay and board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we are a back of the bus woman, yes."
Emily says (to floyd), "get newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the folded newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls away from the curb. Yesenia shifts her weight to
Floyd | compensate and puts a hand on one of the silvery poles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "sit in back" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT IN BACK
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia takes the back seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it chugs along.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "read the paper?"
		DavidW says, "yes please"
Emily says (to floyd), "unfold newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNFOLD NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the newspaper fully and holds it in front of her
Floyd | faceSince she's sitting in the back, she only has to angle her body
Floyd | and raise the newspaper to hide her face entirely. That worked out
Floyd | well.
Floyd |
Floyd | A portly man in his mid-forties opens up his iPad and starts listening
Floyd | to the news. Yesenia can tell that he's listening to the news because
Floyd | he's not using headphones, in clear violation of the bus policy sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia skims the newspaper, but she doesn't really want to read about
Floyd | the cleanup cost of the Santa Barbara oil spill. It's too depressing.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "There was a disturbance today at the Santa Barbara
Floyd | Zoo, when a masked woman confronted a group of schoolchildren. KEYT
Floyd | reporter Vanessa Ellis is on the scene. Vanessa, over to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heart drops like a brick. If there's footage....
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles through a pothole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "we just came from the zoo, right?"
		Zach asks, "Can we nag him about breaking the bus rules?"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "Excuse me, would you mind turning that off?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man frowns at her. "Yes, yes I would. It's a free country."
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Brandon! I'm at the Santa Barbara Zoo,
Floyd | where a group of schoolchildren were about to board their bus when a
Floyd | masked woman attempted to take them hostage."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus slows down before entering a traffic circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Oh Yesenia, what did you do?"
		Zach says, "hooray"
Emily says (to floyd), "turn off ipad" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN OFF IPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't something Yesenia can switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Witnesses describe the woman as five-five, dressed in
Floyd | white and lavender, with a crown of flowers in her hair.  The pending
Floyd | catastrophe was averted when a bystander engaged her in hand-to-hand
Floyd | combat, giving students and teachers a chance to escape."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus swings majestically out onto Coast Village Road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "*crown of flowers*?"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Zach says, "damn hippies"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Zach says, "damn ninja hippies"
		Emily asks, "are we the frilly villainess or are we the bystander?"
		DavidW asks, "Maybe we were the bystander?"
Emily says (to floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME

		Jacqueline says, "Perhaps."

Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia wonders how much of her is visible behind the newspaper. How
Floyd | much of this worry is paranoia? How much do they need to see, to
Floyd | recognize her? There are thousands of people in Santa Barbara with her
Floyd | build, her height, and her coloration - but none of the others happen
Floyd | to be on the bus just now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "One of the teachers, Katie Edwards, captured part of
Floyd | their encounter. We'll show you that footage now."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls to a stop in accordance with traffic regulations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "sooo that wasn't informative"
		Jacqueline says, "This guy may out us in a sec."
		Emily says, "I'm tempted to distract the man by kissing him but I bet that's not the correct solution"
		DavidW asks, "The author plays her cards very closely, doesn't she?"
		Emily asks, "could we focus on the ipad?"
		Emily asks, "maybe burn it?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x crown" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CROWN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man might not like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad marvels, "Will you look at that!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Game), "Oh, but he might."
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on ipad" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON IPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | If only she could! But the man's holding his iPad out of the sunlight,
Floyd | to avoid glare on the screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It's quite an impressive sight." After a pause, it
Floyd | continues, "Both the masked woman and the intervening bystander fled
Floyd | the scene before the police could arrive."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it merges onto the freeway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yeah, we need more self-confidence"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, it is best to ask for his consent first."
		Jacqueline says, "But yes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "man, kiss me" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MAN, KISS ME
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man has better things to do.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Anthony Torres was here with his daughter, and they
Floyd | saw the entire exchange. Anthony, what did you see?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Despite the air conditioning, several of the windows are cracked open,
Floyd | and there's enough wind to whip Yesenia's hair across her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "aww"
		Jacqueline says (to Game), "See, I'm not sure he does have better things to do."
		Jacqueline says, "But okay."
Emily says (to floyd), "ask man about headphones" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAN ABOUT HEADPHONES
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with someone, use the command TALK TO.)
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It was The Hyacinth. I'm sure of it. I study these
Floyd | things. She normally stomps around Miami, but she's come to California
Floyd | for some reason."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus exits the freeway and turns left over the bridge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "we supposedly came from Miami"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "The Hyacinth!"
Emily says (to floyd), "smell me" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia smells sunscreen, sea winds, diesel, and industrial
Floyd | antiseptic. Some of these are more pleasant than others..
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "What about the woman who stopped the attack?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus stops to pick up a few more passengers and then rumbles back
Floyd | into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "~*pastel vigilantism*~"
		DavidW asks, "Is that a superhero name or what, though?"
		Emily says, "our suitcase has a floral design on it, IIRC"
		Jacqueline nods.
		DavidW asks, "So we were the attacker?"
		Emily says, "I'm really not sure at this point"
		Emily says, "I kind of want to hear more of the iPad report even though that might cause trouble for us"
		DavidW says, "I haven't seen any obvious way to stop the report yet."
Emily says (to floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We could probably close the window, but I don't see what good that would do."
		Emily says, "I guess we can't drown it out, either"
		Emily says, "I thought it whipping the hair over our face was good"
		Emily says, "more camouflage"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I think the wind blowing hair across our face it a good thing."
		Jacqueline says, "Timing"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, it's our first play through. I say we just see where this goes."
		DavidW asks, "Well, what else is around? The fan? The other passengers?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's loud, both from the bus's steady roar and the chatter of
Floyd | passengers..
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad answers, "She was just a bitty thing, but she picked The
Floyd | Hyacinth up and threw her like a stuffed elephant. She was knocking
Floyd | her all over the parking lot. The Hyacinth knocked her down a few
Floyd | times, but she just got right back up. She must've had powers of her
Floyd | own."
Floyd |
Floyd | The manicured lawns of Toro Canyon pass the bus windows and vanish
Floyd | again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Should we just keep listening?"
		Emily says, "I guess"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's loud, both from the bus's steady roar and the chatter of
Floyd | passengers..
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says in a little kid's voice, "It was pretty scary."
Floyd |
Floyd | A recorded voice announces, "Real and Sandpiper," and the bus stops to
Floyd | let the heavyset woman off before lurching back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I think we'll hear it regardless."
		Emily says, "if this is like the other game, it's short enough to replay if we decide we need to change course"
		Jacqueline says, "That's what I'm thinking."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's loud, both from the bus's steady roar and the chatter of
Floyd | passengers..
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Anthony. Brandon, back to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yucca and palms and carefully clipped shrubbery yield to the
Floyd | fantastically painted bridge railing outside Kim's Market.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		two-star asks, "do we know where our stop is?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Let's look at the current state of the Santa Barbara
Floyd | County oil spill."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus has reached Carpinteria proper, and the bus begins to empty as
Floyd | more people get off at each stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to **), "I would think so."
		Jacqueline asks, "Huh. So he didn't stand up and point at us. That's... good?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Kevin Reese Dolman, aka Surgical Strike, has publicly
Floyd | repented his act of terrorism and joined the cleanup efforts alongside
Floyd | Angelina Manatee. More than 44% of the coastline is now clear, thanks
Floyd | primarily to the efforts of regular volunteers."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia sees her stop coming up, and she presses the yellow strip. The
Floyd | bus chimes and announces, "Stop requested."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		two-star asks, "Sorry, I meant do we, the players, know where our, the PC's, stop is?"
		DavidW says, "Perhaps we did the right thing with the newspaper."
		two-star says, "And, never mind."
		Jacqueline says (to **), "We don't. We only know that we live in the Tradewinds Apts, iirc"
		Jacqueline says, "But yeah, I figured Carolyn would make that part easy, as she has."
		two-star says, "I was thinking this was going to be a thing where we had the option of getting off at different places."
		Emily says, "'Angelina Manatee'"
		Emily asks, "I dunno, I guess we get off?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Once the bus stops."
		Emily says, "(and are we now going to have to play out that whole encounter with our enemy again?)"
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "When asked about the experience of working with her
Floyd | former nemesis, Manatee said...." but the bus rolls to a stop, and
Floyd | Yesenia misses the sound bite as she heads for the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | About halfway there, she realizes that she doesn't have her purse.
Floyd | ¡Carajo! She tries to think back to when she last had it.,
Floyd | and she realizes it must have been in the restaurant office. She'll
Floyd | have to ask Camilla for a ride once she gets home.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rolling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "yes"
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside the building's front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "...hm"
		Emily says, "I feel like structurally the deal should be that we can do something different from last time, but I 'm not sure we actually learned anything on the ride that would change what we do now"
		Jacqueline says, "So we got a little more (but vague) backstory"
		Emily says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "Perhaps we lucked out with the bus ride, but I don't see that we got new options for the last two rooms."
		Jacqueline says, "We got a hint that we're probably strong, but we knew that from what we did to the car last time."
Emily says (to floyd), "open mailboxs" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOXS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "open mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The mailbox is locked.  Yesenia will have to unlock it first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "unlock mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches automatically for her mailbox key, but of course she
Floyd | doesn't have her keys. Because she doesn't have her purse. Because
Floyd | it's in the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | But... she pauses to consider the angles of the sun. There's still
Floyd | sunlight touching the mailbox, which means she could open it with
Floyd | sufficient focus. And it wouldn't be the first time she's
Floyd | opened the mailbox without a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "so this seems the same"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Shielded from sight by the building and a palm tree, Yesenia stretches
Floyd | her awareness to the setting sun. The orange light warms her, just as
Floyd | it warms the mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun has power over the mailbox; its heat can make the metal
Floyd | expand. Its absence can make the metal shrink. And she has
Floyd | power over....
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses. The tumblers click into the unlocked position, and
Floyd | she pulls it open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "That is a FEDERAL OFFENSE young lady"
Emily says (to floyd), "get all from mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ALL FROM MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pulls the mail out of her mailbox. Among the advertisements
Floyd | and junk mail (promptly discarded into a convenient recycling bin),
Floyd | she discovers three white envelopes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "No, tampering with someone ELSE's mail is. This is ours, so it's okay."
Emily says (to floyd), "open first envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST ENVELOPE

		DavidW says (to Roger), "We're possibly a supervillian at this point."

Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the first envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Behold our minor misdemeanors and tremble"
		Emily asks, "does anyone have a better idea than just redoing what we did last time?"
		DavidW says (to Emily), "I have no better idea."
		chaudmin asks, "have you tried losing the fight?"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "Then we get restrained and dragged inside."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Breakfast just arrived, so I'll be watching for a few."
Emily says (to floyd), "open second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | two days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the second envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "open third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | one day ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the third envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read first letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FIRST LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read second letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SECOND LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the second letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm trying to help you. You don't have to hide from me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read third letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ THIRD LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the third letter)
Floyd | As Yesenia unfolds the letter, a playing card falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the sight of it, Yesenia's stomach clenches, and goose bumps
Floyd | prickle across her shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | Call me, or I'm coming to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "get card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard playing card: paper coated with plastic, with a blue
Floyd | design on the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns it over. As she expected, it's the Jack of Spades -
Floyd | which means the Jack of Shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris, she thinks, and glances around apprehensively. Is
Floyd | Chris already here? She always drives, because she hates the bus....
Floyd | .
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia scans the parking lot again, taking her time. She doesn't know
Floyd | what Chris is driving these days, but she knows it'll be a cut above
Floyd | the norm.
Floyd |
Floyd | And it is - a sleek, matte black car with a T-shaped logo on its nose,
Floyd | sitting three cars down and barely a centimeter off the walkway. The
Floyd | large black crystals hanging off the rearview mirror seal her
Floyd | suspicions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "how did we vandalize the car last time?"
		DavidW says, "We kicked it."
Emily says (to floyd), "kick car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KICK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia takes a deep, centering breath and then slams her foot into
Floyd | the black car's front bumper. She's reserving her strength; after all,
Floyd | there's no need to punt it across the parking lot, and there would be
Floyd | awkward questions if she did.
Floyd |
Floyd | The car launches an strenuous protest, flashing its lights wildly,
Floyd | shrilling an alarm, and honking its horn - not polite little beeps,
Floyd | but bewildered, angry blares. If Chris is anywhere around, that should
Floyd | get her attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sleek black car)
Floyd | Yesenia considers kicking the pretty black car again, but she decides
Floyd | against it. Someone might see her do it, and the car is already upset
Floyd | enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "iirc, we fought her than focused on her to make her go."
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clatter from the apartment building, and then Chris
Floyd | explodes from within.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris is tall and well-coiffed, as always, but her brown eyes are wide
Floyd | with rage, and if she has a perfect manicure today, it's concealed by
Floyd | her clenched fists. "What the hell are you doing? What the
Floyd | hell are you doing to my car?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Getting your attention," Yesenia says. "It seems to have worked."
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with Chris, TALK TO CHRIS.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "fight chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FIGHT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into Chris and then drops to execute a leg sweep.  Chris
Floyd | ducks around the blow.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says in an aggrieved tone, "Knock it off!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia lunges for Chris and throws an elbow toward her face.  Chris
Floyd | dodges sideways.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris exclaims, "I didn't come here to fight!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "fight chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FIGHT CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pivots toward Chris and then drops to execute a leg sweep.
Floyd | Chris fends her off, though not without difficulty.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris exclaims, "Knock it off!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "hm"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "You need to leave. Now."
Floyd |
Floyd | Instead of answering, Chris glances west to the setting sun. It's so
Floyd | familiar a gesture that it makes Yesenia's heart ache, and for a
Floyd | second she even forgets what it means. But Chris is the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows....
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches her mind toward the sun. It's setting rapidly, but
Floyd | there's still enough light... and she seizes that light and focuses
Floyd | upon Chris. She doesn't want to hurt her - but she closes her power
Floyd | all around her. There's just enough vibration leaking through for
Floyd | Chris to know what's happening.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris freezes immediately. "Think about what you're doing," she says
Floyd | in a tight voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought about it," Yesenia says. "And I want you to go away. And
Floyd | leave me alone. Now." She waits a few breaths longer, to make
Floyd | sure Chris gets the point, and then releases the power.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "Now focus on her."

Floyd | Chris glares at her, but then she goes to the car. A door handle
Floyd | extrudes as Chris reaches for it, and she gets inside the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches the sleek black car back up, and she watches it leave
Floyd | the parking lot, and she keeps watching until it vanishes down the
Floyd | road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door has been propped open with a rock, but there's no one
Floyd | in sight. Yesenia kicks it out of the way - why doesn't anyone
Floyd | understand security around here? - and swings her suitcase into the
Floyd | familiar darkness of her apartment building. Two flights of stairs
Floyd | later, she reaches the door to her apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination.  It couldn't be a better environment for the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows if someone had planned it that way. Yesenia never realized
Floyd | that before, and she feels sick at the idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door of Yesenia's apartment stands wide open. There's a folded
Floyd | note taped to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "get note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia peels the note off the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a plain white piece of paper, folded into thirds. Illegible black
Floyd | marker has smudged through from the inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a muffled sound from within the apartment, and Yesenia calls
Floyd | Camilla's name as she crosses the threshold at speed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** It could have been so much worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | (This ending became available in Room 17. It is the best ending
Floyd | currently available.) ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "..."
		Emily says, "huh. okay."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, huh. I guess since she's the Jack of Shadows she is empowered by shadows the way we are with the sun?"
		Emily says, "I think so, yeah"
		DavidW asks, "hm. 'Hyacinth' and 'crown of flowers' seems to suggest plant or flower power, maybe?"
		Emily asks, "sort of Poison Ivy?"
		DavidW says (to Emily), "Perhaps."
		Jacqueline asks, "What else do we know that's new?"
		Emily says, "we have long hair and we started the game with two dollars"
		DavidW says, "There were other hero and villian names mentioned in the report."
		Emily says, "yeah, there was some kind of terrorist strike"
		Emily says, "that is now being cleaned up"
		DavidW asks, "There might be more to read in the newspaper?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess instead of listening/waiting, I should have had us read the paper."
		Emily says, "the first response we got suggested that she was just skimming at best, though"
		Emily says, "but we could start over and see, for sure"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		DavidW asks, "Also, how sure are we that 2 dollars was all we had? What was the bus fare; can we read the fare box?"
		Emily asks, "dunno. restart?"
		DavidW says, "yes, please."
Emily says (to floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 16)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150613 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 16. This is near the end of Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Jacqueline says, "I missed that about skimming the paper. So perhaps not. Still, let's try sitting somewhere else."
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | Tourists move down the steps toward Cabrillo Pavilion in long waves,
Floyd | unconsciously mimicking the ocean beyond. Yesenia loiters awkwardly at
Floyd | the sidewalk's edge and pretends to be fascinated by the fat little
Floyd | palm trees, the blue sign reading ZOO with its arrow, or anything else
Floyd | that will keep her face away from pedestrians.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns at the distant roar of a bus. The familiar white body
Floyd | with its upper yellow stripe comes around the bend, and she reads 20
Floyd | Carpinteria with relief. The crowd at the bus stop shuffles around,
Floyd | and Yesenia queues up to board, rolling the flowered suitcase behind
Floyd | her.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | It's like any other MTD bus: bluish-gray plastic seats crowded with
Floyd | passengers, huge windows, and an array of silver poles and black
Floyd | straps for standing passengers. No one's standing right now, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver taps the fare box and gives Yesenia a meaningful look.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia braces her suitcase against her leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x fare box" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FARE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a standard fare box beside the driver's seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Emily says (to floyd), "read fare box" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FARE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a standard fare box beside the driver's seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver waits for Yesenia to pay her fare.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x driver" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver is wearing a distinctly non-uniform jean jacket over a
Floyd | button-down shirt. Her expression conveys the boredom of a thousand
Floyd | summers spent driving up and down US-101.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver says, "Come on, you're holding up the line."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask driver about fare" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DRIVER ABOUT FARE
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with someone, use the command TALK TO.)
Floyd |
Floyd | A heavyset woman in a pale blue shirt pushes past Yesenia. She drops
Floyd | two bus tokens in, paying for Yesenia's fare as well as her own.
Floyd | "There. Go sit down," she says impatiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are still a few seats free: one at the front behind the driver
Floyd | (occupied by a newspaper), one in the middle across from the rear
Floyd | door, and one at the very back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to driver" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DRIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver interrupts her. "Honey, I got a bus to drive here,
Floyd | okay? Please don't distract me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The last two passengers pay and board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "right, okay"
		DavidW says, "The heavyset woman paid FOR us."
		Emily says, "I guess carolyn didn't want us being held up on this"
		DavidW says, "She was mentioned in our first runthrough."
Emily says (to floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | 20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | It's like any other MTD bus: bluish-gray plastic seats crowded with
Floyd | passengers, huge windows, and an array of silver poles and black
Floyd | straps for standing passengers. No one's standing right now, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are still a few unoccupied seats: one at the front behind the
Floyd | driver, one in the middle across from the rear door, and one at the
Floyd | very back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's suitcase is braced against her leg so that it won't roll
Floyd | anywhere or fall over.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls away from the curb. Yesenia shifts her weight to
Floyd | compensate and puts a hand on one of the silvery poles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, it's done with smoke and mirrors (I personally wouldn't have guessed the syntax) so yeah, this is an elegant work-around."
Emily says (to floyd), "get newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the folded newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | A couple people glance at Yesenia, likely because she's standing when
Floyd | there's room to sit.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it chugs along.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "middle? or front?"
		DavidW says, "hm. Front this time, maybe."
		chaudmin says, "could also try not hiding behind the newspaper"
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure what might be more interesting."
		Jacqueline says, "I kind of want to be outed this time."
Emily says (to floyd), "sit in front" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT IN FRONT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia takes the front seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | A portly man in his mid-forties opens up his iPad and starts listening
Floyd | to the news. Yesenia can tell that he's listening to the news because
Floyd | he's not using headphones, in clear violation of the bus policy sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we'll get more info that way."
Emily says (to floyd), "read newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a folded copy of the Santa Barbara News-Press. Yesenia could see
Floyd | the articles if she unfolds it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "There was a disturbance today at the Santa Barbara
Floyd | Zoo, when a masked woman confronted a group of schoolchildren. KEYT
Floyd | reporter Vanessa Ellis is on the scene. Vanessa, over to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heart drops like a brick. If there's footage....
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles through a pothole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Brandon! I'm at the Santa Barbara Zoo,
Floyd | where a group of schoolchildren were about to board their bus when a
Floyd | masked woman attempted to take them hostage."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus slows down before entering a traffic circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "just keep waiting? I'm afraid if we unfold the nespaper to read it, that will also prevent being caught"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Witnesses describe the woman as five-five, dressed in
Floyd | white and lavender, with a crown of flowers in her hair.  The pending
Floyd | catastrophe was averted when a bystander engaged her in hand-to-hand
Floyd | combat, giving students and teachers a chance to escape."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus swings majestically out onto Coast Village Road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "One of the teachers, Katie Edwards, captured part of
Floyd | their encounter. We'll show you that footage now."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls to a stop in accordance with traffic regulations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder why we'd terrorize children, though? That's not a thing even supervillians do, normally."
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad marvels, "Will you look at that!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "maybe we were tragically misunderstood"
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It's quite an impressive sight." After a pause, it
Floyd | continues, "Both the masked woman and the intervening bystander fled
Floyd | the scene before the police could arrive."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it merges onto the freeway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man suddenly swivels in his chair to stare at Yesenia. He
Floyd | squints at his iPad again and then squints at her unshielded face.
Floyd | "Hey! That's you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "yay"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "Please, keep your voice down."
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Anthony Torres was here with his daughter, and they
Floyd | saw the entire exchange. Anthony, what did you see?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Despite the air conditioning, several of the windows are cracked open,
Floyd | and there's enough wind to whip Yesenia's hair across her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man says, "You're a hero! The press want to talk to you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "I guess we're the bystander, then?"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "I don't want any attention."
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It was The Hyacinth. I'm sure of it. I study these
Floyd | things. She normally stomps around Miami, but she's come to California
Floyd | for some reason."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus exits the freeway and turns left over the bridge.
Floyd |
Floyd | The portly man says, "Hey, everyone! That girl - she's a hero! She
Floyd | saved a bunch of kids from The Hyacinth this afternoon!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, maybe."
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "Please, don't do this."
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "What about the woman who stopped the attack?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus stops to pick up a few more passengers and then rumbles back
Floyd | into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the new passengers gives Yesenia a dirty look as he maneuvers
Floyd | around her flowered suitcase.
Floyd |
Floyd | Other people on the bus are taking notice now. "Doesn't The Hyacinth
Floyd | stay in Florida?" someone asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah, More than maybe."
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no point any more. The entire bus is looking at her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad answers, "She was just a bitty thing, but she picked The
Floyd | Hyacinth up and threw her like a stuffed elephant. She was knocking
Floyd | her all over the parking lot. The Hyacinth knocked her down a few
Floyd | times, but she just got right back up. She must've had powers of her
Floyd | own."
Floyd |
Floyd | The manicured lawns of Toro Canyon pass the bus windows and vanish
Floyd | again.
Floyd |
Floyd | The man's seatmate corroborates, "No, she's in town. Just saw it on
Floyd | the news."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hears someone dialing a cell phone, but she can't spot who's
Floyd | doing it - she just knows the sound came from the back of the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		kpaquette says (to jacqueline), "I need to go because I want to play another game."
		Emily says, "UH OH"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no point any more. The entire bus is looking at her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says in a little kid's voice, "It was pretty scary."
Floyd |
Floyd | A recorded voice announces, "Real and Sandpiper," and the bus stops to
Floyd | let the heavyset woman off before lurching back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everyone's chattering now and staring at Yesenia. Even the bus driver
Floyd | glances back in the rear view mirror. It's exactly the kind of
Floyd | attention she doesn't want.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Phone cameras are ev-ry-where."
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Anthony. Brandon, back to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yucca and palms and carefully clipped shrubbery yield to the
Floyd | fantastically painted bridge railing outside Kim's Market.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another passenger says, "I've got to call my sister about this!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Let's look at the current state of the Santa Barbara
Floyd | County oil spill."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus has reached Carpinteria proper, and the bus begins to empty as
Floyd | more people get off at each stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | No one on the bus cares about the Santa Barbara County oil spill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Katie), "Okay. Have fun."
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Kevin Reese Dolman, aka Surgical Strike, has publicly
Floyd | repented his act of terrorism and joined the cleanup efforts alongside
Floyd | Angelina Manatee. More than 44% of the coastline is now clear, thanks
Floyd | primarily to the efforts of regular volunteers."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia sees her stop coming up, and she presses the yellow strip. The
Floyd | bus chimes and announces, "Stop requested."
Floyd |
Floyd | A bleached blond in huge fuchsia sunglasses touches Yesenia's arm.
Floyd | "Don't look so glum, chica. Smile! You're a hero!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "When asked about the experience of working with her
Floyd | former nemesis, Manatee said...." but the bus rolls to a stop, and
Floyd | Yesenia misses the sound bite as she heads for the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | About halfway there, she realizes that she doesn't have her purse.
Floyd | ¡Carajo! She tries to think back to when she last had it.,
Floyd | and she realizes it must have been in the restaurant office. She'll
Floyd | have to ask Camilla for a ride once she gets home.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rolling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A flashbulb goes off in Yesenia's face. As she flinches back, a
Floyd | reporter lunges forward, accompanied by his camerawoman.
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a minor gaggle of photographers and reporters milling about on
Floyd | the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia belatedly remembers to drop her suitcase. It almost falls
Floyd | over, but she catches it just in time.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the reporters asks her camera crew, "Are you getting this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh no"
		Emily says, "ha ha, whoops"
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to reporters" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO REPORTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia shouts, "No comment! No comment!" and raises her newspaper to
Floyd | block her face from the flashbulbs.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cameraman circles around for a different angle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Awkward"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | With the press here? She might as well write her media handle on her
Floyd | own forehead.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the reporters asks his camera crew, "Are we losing the light?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to reporters" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO REPORTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia shouts, "No comment! No comment!" and raises her newspaper to
Floyd | block her face from the flashbulbs.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reporter shouts, "Are you the Sun Queen's protege?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia feels the blood drain from her face. "No comment," she
Floyd | manages.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "focus on camera?"
		Emily says, "I bet we are the Sun queen's protege!"
Emily says (to floyd), "focus on camera" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CAMERA
Floyd |
Floyd | While Yesenia could focus on the enormous black camera, that would
Floyd | be... indiscreet. And she strives for discretion these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another flashbulb goes off in Yesenia's face.  Yesenia shields her
Floyd | face with her newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Sun Queen?"
		Emily says, "or the Sun Queen ourself"
		Emily | Ã
		Emily | A reporter shouts, "Are you the Sun Queen's protege?"
kpaquette sleeps 		Emily asks, "just go inside?"
		DavidW says, "I guess so"
		chaudmin says, "try kicking the car anyway"
Emily says (to floyd), "kick car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KICK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia is no stranger to violence, but she doesn't see the need for
Floyd | it here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another flashbulb goes off in Yesenia's face.  Yesenia shields her
Floyd | face with her newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
kpaquette goes home. 		chaudmin says, "oh wait, we don't have the card"
		Jacqueline says, "Can't kick the car without reading the letters."
		Emily says, "ah-- it won't let us unless we've opened the mailbox, and we can't do that without focusing, which the game won't let us do with reporters watching"
		DavidW says, "We haven't found Chris's car yet."
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia kicks the rock out of the way and swings her suitcase into the
Floyd | familiar darkness of her apartment building. She shuts the door on the
Floyd | press, like shutting out an unwanted cat, but she can still hear their
Floyd | voices through the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Their clamoring fades as she climbs the two flights of stairs leading
Floyd | to her apartment. It's been a very long day. It's good to come home,
Floyd | however briefly.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Emily pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination. Still, this is home, and there's nothing more welcome to
Floyd | Yesenia right now than the sight of her own front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a folded note taped to the door. Yesenia frowns at it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right, the rock."
Emily says (to floyd), "open note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia peels the note off the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia stares at the note. There's one sentence written on it in
Floyd | stark black marker.
Floyd |
Floyd | Come on in.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not Camilla's handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hears footsteps and voices on the stairs - not the tired
Floyd | sounds of a neighbor, but the eager bumbling of the press. She curses
Floyd | her neighbors silently. Doesn't anyone care about security?
Floyd | Anyone at all?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily asks, "go inside, or wait for the press to catch up?"
		DavidW says, "I'm torn."
		Emily says, "I guess we could go inside, end the game, undo, then wait"
		DavidW says, "okay"
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches out to try the door, and the knob turns easily. Unease
Floyd | coils in her belly, and a familiar prickling runs down her arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | She pushes the door open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can hear the press galumphing through the hallway below her.
Floyd | It's not as organized as a search-and-rescue, but it's likely to be
Floyd | fruitful very soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | She's about to cross the threshold when an all-too-familiar voice
Floyd | within says, "Welcome home."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chris," Yesenia says. Ice forms in her gut, but her skin prickles
Floyd | with heat. "What are you doing here?" She bites back her next words -
Floyd | What have you done to Camilla?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Yesenia," the other woman says. "Or should I say..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," Yesenia says sharply, "you shouldn't." And she steps through the
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Too many mistakes in a very long day. Or maybe not
Floyd | enough....
Floyd |
Floyd | (This ending became available in Room 18. A better ending
Floyd | exists.) ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "...right. okay. about the same as originally."
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hears footsteps and voices on the stairs - not the tired
Floyd | sounds of a neighbor, but the eager bumbling of the press. She curses
Floyd | her neighbors silently. Doesn't anyone care about security?
Floyd | Anyone at all?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can hear the press galumphing through the hallway below her.
Floyd | It's not as organized as a search-and-rescue, but it's likely to be
Floyd | fruitful very soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hears the press galloping up the stairs to her floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reporter reaches the top of the stairs, turns the corner, and spots
Floyd | Yesenia. "I found her!" she shouts to her cameraman, and the rest of
Floyd | the gaggle descends.
Floyd |
Floyd | Reporters are good at spotting blood in the water.  A reporter shouts,
Floyd | "Are you, in fact, the Sun Queen?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia feels the brief, mad temptation to shout, "Yes, yes, you found
Floyd | me!" but she resists the urge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "talk to press" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia raises her hands toward the reporters and says in a loud,
Floyd | clear, voice, "You're trespassing. You need to leave this building
Floyd | before I call management."
Floyd |
Floyd | With a collective "awwww," the press shuffles back down the stairs.
Floyd | Yesenia stands listening until the door clicks behind the last of
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We ARE the Sun Queen."
Emily says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "let's go in with the press here"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, keep the press here."
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches out to try the door, and the knob turns easily.
Floyd |
Floyd | It shouldn't be unlocked - dammit, Camilla! How many times do
Floyd | they have to have this conversation? Carp may be the home of surf, but
Floyd | that doesn't mean it's always going to be safe.
Floyd |
Floyd | She pushes the door open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another flashbulb goes off in Yesenia's face.  Yesenia shields her
Floyd | face with her newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | She's about to cross the threshold when the air itself catches her in
Floyd | a vice grip. Several strangled cries of dismay come from behind her,
Floyd | and she realizes the reporters and camera crews are trapped, too.
Floyd |
Floyd | From within the apartment, Chris's all-too-familiar voice says, "Have
Floyd | you lost your mind for good? Why did you bring the press
Floyd | here?" The voice lowers. "You shouldn't have done this. You shouldn't
Floyd | have made this public. Now you're responsible for what I have
Floyd | to do." And the invisible grip jerks Yesenia across the threshold.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** And the Jack of Shadows succumbs to the dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | (This ending became available in Room 16. A better ending
Floyd | exists.) ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		says (to Floyd), "Invite the press in for a cup of tea."
		Emily strokes chin thoughtfully
		Emily says, "okay, so it was definitely good to play that a second time"
		DavidW asks, "Succumbs to the dark, eh?"
		Emily says, "that might not be death"
		DavidW says, "Sounds a bit like Cloak in the Cloak and Dagger comics."
		Jacqueline asks, "I feel like the first ending we got might be the best?"
		Emily says, "yeah, definitely"
		DavidW says, "Cloak's darkness realm hungers in some vaguely threatening way."
		Emily says, "but this most recent one was informative"
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed."
		DavidW says, "mmhm"
		Jacqueline says, "I am going to head out, but feel free to poke at this a bit more if you'd like. I'll leave Perry running."
		Jacqueline asks, "I will not be here next week. DW, can you sub?"
		DavidW says, "I should be able to, yes."
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, if 15 comes out, can you wait until the following week for me to be back?"
		DavidW says, "Sure. We'll play something else."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Yay. Thanks!"
		Emily says, "bye, Jacq!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Bye!"
		DavidW says, "I guess we only new inventory items we got from room 16 were the newspaper and singles? And I don't see any obvious use for those in rooms 17 or 18."
		chaudmin says, ">give singles to press"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "And they'll go off and buy coffee? You're dreaming."
		Emily says, "I guess I could imagine that in a future episode, we might gain something interesting that we could show to the press, thus making their presence useful to us rather than an impediment"
		DavidW says, "What I find refreshing about 18 Rooms so far is the commitment to branching narrative."
		DavidW says (to Emily), "That's possible, yes."
		Emily says, "yeah, though it makes me fear that by the time we get to episode 1, it's going to take Carolyn months to finish each one"
		DavidW says, "hm. I think the way the geographic locations are strictly ordered is helping force some dovetailing there."
		chaudmin says, "assuming we unlock one new ending for each room, that's still a lot of endings"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "yeah."
		DavidW says, "I suppose, in theory, focusing on the newspaper would set it alight, if we weren't being discreet."
		DavidW says, "hmmm. I foresee a release where the black crystals in the car become useful for dealing with Jack of Shadows."
		Emily says, "their presence does seem quite pointed"
		Emily says, "I wonder how much planning Carolyn did before starting"

NB: ClubFloyd played the next installment as well. That transcript can be found here.



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut by Marco Innocenti
As played on ifMUD on June 21, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut written by Marco Innocenti. It was an entry in the 2011 Interactive Fiction Awards, where it placed 17th. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask andromawfc" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morning comes, in Monarch. An eerie light permeates the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been a hard night...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So watch the old world melt away
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  A loss regrets could never mend
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  You'll never miss it till it's gone
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So say goodbye
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  Say goodbye to seasons end.
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  --Seasons End, Marillion
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | [First time players should type ABOUT or HELP for some important
Floyd | stuff about Interactive Fiction and this game]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Marco Innocenti
Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 120121 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Andy's Apartment
Floyd | A bed, a table, a bathroom. This is all that's left of your colleague,
Floyd | Professor Re's. Some dust, an eerie atmosphere and just a memory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		chaudmin says, "how do I navigate this thing"
		DavidW says, "To push the enter key, do 'push enter' in the toyshop."
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]        Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd | The most important discovery in history. And then, the whole world
Floyd | goes crumbling down. The doomsday clock has begun ticking...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Awakening was originally written for the IFComp2011. As the
Floyd | first work of IF by the author, it placed 17th among 37 more
Floyd | competitors. Its large scale world and the long story, in the opinion
Floyd | of many, deserved a different approach and a wider gameplay
Floyd | experience. So, Release 3 (the Final Cut) was designed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most substantial changes are represented by a wider beginning
Floyd | sequence, the implementation of a handful additional scenery and
Floyd | trivia in the middle-game, a full new area in the end-game, along with
Floyd | a slight polish of the writing and a few meta-commands to facilitate
Floyd | the walkthrough.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | This is a sci-fi story. It is a tale about mortality, wisdom,
Floyd | civilization and history, maybe. But, most of all, it's a story about
Floyd | a guy who unintentionally finds himself with the cosmic steering-wheel
Floyd | in his own hands.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "And 'push space' in the toyshop presses a space."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |  > Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       Instructions for Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > About Interactive Fiction
Floyd |    What to do with >
Floyd |    Getting Started
Floyd |    Rooms and Travel
Floyd |    Objects
Floyd |    Controlling the Game
Floyd |    How the World is Assembled
Floyd |    If You Get Stuck

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |  > Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |  > The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                             The E-Pad
Floyd | As a scientist you don't come empty handed. The E-Pad in your
Floyd | possession is a huge source of information. Any time you find
Floyd | something in the story you can't quite know about, try consulting the
Floyd | E-Pad about it. Type CONSULT E-PAD ABOUT  for a brief wiki-like
Floyd | experience.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also READ ABOUT  for the same outcome, as long as LOOK
Floyd | UP , LOOK  UP or RESEARCH .
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |  > The E-Pad
Floyd |    Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |  > Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		DavidW says, "huh. That E-Pad will be handy."
Draconis arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                          Special commands
Floyd | This game accepts an easier traveling method than the regular
Floyd | room-by-room walk. You can just GO TO a visited location to run there
Floyd | at once (unless the path is not interrupted somehow). This will be
Floyd | specifically useful in some parts of the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another sensible command is EXITS. It lists all the available exits in
Floyd | a location at any given time. As soon as new routes are opened, they
Floyd | are listed, also.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd |    Instructions for Play
Floyd |    The E-Pad
Floyd |  > Special commands
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    More Credits

		chaudmin says, "ok that's everything important"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | Andy's Apartment
Floyd | A bed, a table, a bathroom. This is all that's left of your colleague,
Floyd | Professor Re's. Some dust, an eerie atmosphere and just a memory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x dust" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DUST
Floyd |
Floyd | Light fills in from the blinded windows. Dust flies in the sunrays
Floyd | like snow in a torment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x memory" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MEMORY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Certainly, though, you can smell it and listen to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "smell memory" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL MEMORY
Floyd |
Floyd | Along with Andy, has gone his scent. All that remains is the noisy
Floyd | pout-pourri of the exotic food he'd like to eat, along with the odor
Floyd | of root beer and soda.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "listen to memory" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO MEMORY
Floyd |
Floyd | Silence is all that's left of Andy, and it's much more than anything
Floyd | else. He was so mouthy, sometimes. Hell, he was mouthy every damn
Floyd | minute, never closing that babbling gape, always inquiring about
Floyd | something, always trying to inspire faith in the others. Faith in
Floyd | science, that is. And faith in humanity as a worthy bunch.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hardly squeeze a smile. You will miss that gape. You will miss his
Floyd | faith.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x atmosphere" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ATMOSPHERE
Floyd |
Floyd | Light fills in from the blinded windows. Dust flies in the sunrays
Floyd | like snow in a torment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So -- who are we, then? We're not Andy, I assume."
		chaudmin says, "just some guy, I suppose"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Getting fat. Getting old. Getting bald.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Getting fat. Getting old. Getting bald.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying an expired railway ticket, a magnetic card and an
Floyd | E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x ticket" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | A regular monthly railway ticket. The expiration date printed on it
Floyd | bears the yesterday's date.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | A plastic card, with a black stripe on its back. On the front it bears
Floyd | a picture of you and your generalities.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x picture" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is you, some time ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x generalities" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GENERALITIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh. Nice try."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x e-pad" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X E-PAD
Floyd |
Floyd | A black slab, ten-by-twenty centimeters. A surface, the one you would
Floyd | refer to as "the bottom", is made out of vibertron alloy. The "top"
Floyd | side is a psychoglass vibertron that you can use to gather
Floyd | information. The E-Pad is indeed the ultimate resource for any kind of
Floyd | question: you can consult it about almost anything (that you have
Floyd | previously uploaded into it, of course). Think to it as some kind of
Floyd | Guide to the galaxy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "heh"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | That's where you've had your final sleep. The blankets are a mess,
Floyd | even if you lied over them. A troublesome sleep, indeed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x top" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOP
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a psychoglass you would use to gather information simply by
Floyd | touching it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch top" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH TOP
Floyd |
Floyd | It took seven minutes to upload all your records on the Pad. It would
Floyd | take several millennia just to browse through half of it. It's better
Floyd | if you try and consult it about something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search blankets" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH BLANKETS
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blankets" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BLANKETS
Floyd |
Floyd | You sincerely hope the night just passed is the last you'll have to
Floyd | mess with this particular bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | This is where Andy passed his sleepless nights, always studying
Floyd | something new, always focusing on pushing humanity forward.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't but mourn at the loss this old world has suffered from his
Floyd | departure.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table, you glance a folder with some files inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "consult e-pad about andy" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CONSULT E-PAD ABOUT ANDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You wave your hand on the vibertron, mentally igniting its interior
Floyd | device. A blink of an eye later, the screen vibrates with a faint
Floyd | purple light.
Floyd |
Floyd | User 5,834 of this device, bearing no significant difference
Floyd | between all the other 5,833 before and the one after.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "consult e-pad about me" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CONSULT E-PAD ABOUT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You are user 5,835 of this device, bearing no significant
Floyd | difference between all the other 5,834.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x folder" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOLDER
Floyd |
Floyd | As you drop your eyes on the cerulean cover of the folder, your own
Floyd | writing jumps out almost new, as if someone else has inscribed on it
Floyd | the words: "Reports to the Council".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "cerulean = sky blue"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read folder" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FOLDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You know these files by heart: A report on the state of the crust
Floyd | substrates, and about the discoveries you've made there.
Floyd |
Floyd | Strolling through the pages, you fall deep into a sense of vertigo.
Floyd | The whole world starts spinning.
Floyd | Can you do it? Will you be able to go on with the plan, now that Andy
Floyd | has gone? Now that he's been--
Floyd | A single tear runs through your left cheek, substantial, heavy. When
Floyd | it dives from your skin you almost feel its burden leaving. A second
Floyd | later -- or maybe a millennia -- it hits the ground with a sounding
Floyd | boom.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can barely form his visage into your head, and he's been dead for
Floyd | just ten hours. The impression printed in your forehead is that of a
Floyd | pale face, no more anguish, no more tears. And that terrible wound, a
Floyd | hole ripped in his chest like a mole's burrow. That's how it looks
Floyd | when a bullet bangs out of you, taking skin, flesh and bones in a
Floyd | bloody firework. They shot him. In the back, and he wasn't even
Floyd | fleeing. The coroner said he may just have been walking unaware.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another tear jumps into the void. Another boom.
Floyd |
Floyd | They were looking for these, the Reports.
Floyd |
Floyd | One reason more to go and show the committee. One reason more to cry
Floyd | the truth out loud.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Guest1 arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take folder" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE FOLDER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Guest1 has had its fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to bathroom" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO BATHROOM
Floyd |
Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go west].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bathroom" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BATHROOM
Floyd |
Floyd | A sink and a toilet, stocked in the far corner of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SINK
Floyd |
Floyd | A sink and a toilet, stocked in the far corner of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The bathroom is right here, I think."
		chaudmin says, "guess the bathroom's not important"
		DavidW says, "I dunno"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toilet" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | A sink and a toilet, stocked in the far corner of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open toilet" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search toilet" 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "okay, not important"
		DavidW says, "No microfilm for the spies in the tank."
		chaudmin says, "darn"
		chaudmin says, "time to leave then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Condominium
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the tiny room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the door's sill, you pause and send one last glance to Andy's
Floyd | apartment. A new rush of tears threatens an escape and you barely
Floyd | suffocate it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Andy, you promise. I will do it. I will do it for both of
Floyd | us. Whatever it is they are trying to hide -- whoever they are -- I
Floyd | will find out. And the whole of Monarch will know. This I vow.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | And, although you can't quite imagine it just now, no words will ever
Floyd | be truer than those.
Floyd |
Floyd | Condominium
Floyd | A foggy light comes from the grates on the top half of the stairwell.
Floyd | You are standing just mere feet from Andy's house entrance, above the
Floyd | first step going down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Just some cerulean files."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research monarch" 		

Floyd ]                            Condominium
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH MONARCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Sixth planet in the trinary system, the biggest in size. Base of
Floyd | the human activity in the Andromeda galaxy, is Capital World and
Floyd | headquarters of the ASA Council of the Thirteen. Age: 1.2bill. Size:
Floyd | magnitude 7.2 in Resson's scale.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research council" 		

Floyd ]                            Condominium
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH COUNCIL
Floyd |
Floyd | The government-above-the-government of the ASA Republican Worlds.
Floyd | Made up of thirteen members, it is the source of the ASA codex and of
Floyd | the 237 Bounds.
Floyd |
Floyd | You really think it's time to run to the Campus. You sight the exit,
Floyd | down from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x grates" 		

Floyd ]                            Condominium
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRATES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yes, you rather had a regular window, but this is what comes with
Floyd | peripheral, low-cost buildings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "the game wants us to go, so go we shall"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                              The Exit
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Exit
Floyd | The faint lights get fainter here. A sturdy door opens on the Avenues,
Floyd | to the north. A flight of stairs moves up to the front door of Andy's
Floyd | Apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sure"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Avenues
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the satisfying safety of the house with but a sigh. The
Floyd | massive vibertron door opens with no sound, and with no sound closes
Floyd | after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Avenues
Floyd | The vivid pink of the Monarch sky paints an eternal dawn and washes
Floyd | the street and the buildings in a somewhat romantic nuance. The door
Floyd | to Andy's condominium lies south of here, reflecting the three suns
Floyd | like a gigantic kaleidoscope. The Avenue runs out of sight in every
Floyd | direction, finding outlets in a handful of other busy streets. The one
Floyd | you need runs east, towards the train station.
Floyd |
Floyd | All these people, you think, watching the passers-by as they
Floyd | crowd the streets in their random duties. If only they knew,
Floyd | they'd scamper around like mad rats, biting at each other and feasting
Floyd | on the corpses.
Floyd | You hold more tightly to your Report files.
Floyd |
Floyd | The major sun -- Korhos -- seems to point its malevolent, cold finger
Floyd | at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not really clear on what truth we need to tell the council, but I suppose the game will let us know later."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x korhos" 		

Floyd ]                              Avenues
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KORHOS
Floyd |
Floyd | The fiery halo around the biggest of the suns of Monarch sends spires
Floyd | of red spreading across space.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                       Avenues - East branch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Avenues - East branch
Floyd | Here the street forks in two different branches, one disappearing
Floyd | southeast into the train station, the other going on to the east. To
Floyd | the west lies Andy's house. The dark underground tunnel that leaves
Floyd | the street to the first underground floor, where your train is
Floyd | probably waiting, sends shivers down your spine.
Floyd |
Floyd | There. The big underground empire. The place where all human fears
Floyd | gather.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick up the Report files again, and look at their cover.
Floyd |
Floyd | What's the meaning of all this? What did you find down there that
Floyd | grips around your throat like a deathly lace every time you think
Floyd | about it? Is it the discovery itself, or maybe the fact that Andy was
Floyd | killed to prevent its disclosure? You never imagined being a nerd of a
Floyd | scientist would have given you so much anguish.
Floyd |
Floyd | You put back your burden and look up to the station's entrance. All
Floyd | will come in place, you hopefully consider. All will come in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis heads back home. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x tunnel" 		

Floyd ]                       Avenues - East branch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUNNEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Fork Station
Floyd | The cyanotic, vibrating light of the station stands as a formal
Floyd | counterweight to the usual pink of the open air. People from all the
Floyd | country crowd the hall, piling up like chickens in stocks. The loud
Floyd | whistle of the incoming and departing trains dopplers through the
Floyd | place and drills into your ears. The rails cut the earth in two,
Floyd | further south, while a more breathable atmosphere breaks in through
Floyd | the entrance, northwest from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A steel gate stands between you and the trains. A ticket obliterator
Floyd | blinks silently at its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the west wall is a ticket vending machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Bet we swipe our card in it."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x obliterator" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X OBLITERATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | A tall figure, all in vibertron alloy, which is obviously there to
Floyd | read and authenticate tickets. A red laser scans the air inside a slot
Floyd | in its base.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x vending" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X VENDING
Floyd |
Floyd | Cyanotic, like the rest of the enviroinment. It accommodates a
Floyd | magnetic card reader and a pocket for ticket delivery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Perhaps we have to obliterate our old ticket first before we can have a new one?"
		chaudmin says, "perhaps"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put ticket in slot" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT TICKET IN SLOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (the expired railway ticket in the obliterator)
Floyd | The obliterator blinks tiredly. A red exclamation mark appears on its
Floyd | glossy surface. You remove the ticket.
Floyd |
Floyd | With the corner of an eye, you catch a glimpse of yellow, shining
Floyd | among the people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "? did that do anything?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x yellow" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X YELLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Ladies and gents from all around the trinary system crowd the tunnels
Floyd | of the South Fork station. They seem resolute and sturdy, each intent
Floyd | in finding the way into a new day.
Floyd |
Floyd | Among the rest of the unaware mob, you scout a single man, busy
Floyd | reading the railway map pinned to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Curious George is curious."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put card in card reader" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT CARD IN CARD READER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the magnetic card in the magnetic card reader)
Floyd | You push the card into the reader. A second later, a red exclamation
Floyd | mark starts blinking on the vending machine and an unsympathetic,
Floyd | metallic voice informs all the people present that your "credit is
Floyd | exhausted".
Floyd | You try and take the card back, but the machine swallows it whole.
Floyd |
Floyd | And at this point, it just feels like it's too much.
Floyd |
Floyd | You fall on your knees, like an empty jute sack. The head dives
Floyd | between the shoulders, an empty face towards the ground beneath the
Floyd | legs. And the tears you so hardly tried to keep inside the dam begin
Floyd | rolling.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is just no exit, you realize, and a sense of doom
Floyd | overcomes you.
Floyd | There is no exit, no place to run to, no escape. The weight of the
Floyd | world is upon you and you can do nothing about it. Andy has been
Floyd | killed and he was the one with the wit and the strength to try and do
Floyd | something. In cases like this, he would have been the one to stroke
Floyd | your hair and spread hope. He would have been the one who said "Hey,
Floyd | man. Just relax. I'll be doing this."
Floyd |
Floyd | You sense the star-shattering future as too much for you to handle and
Floyd | give in, like a child who's been told his parents have just died.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, something happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hand is dropped on your shoulder. An unfamiliar voice breathes in
Floyd | your ear, and all of a sudden you feel awake.
Floyd | You turn and face a man, one you never met before, and his
Floyd | understanding eyes. It's just a hand, still it feels like an
Floyd | invigorating shock.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It will be ok, man", he says. "Just relax".
Floyd |
Floyd | A second later, you are on your feet, your eyes following the stranger
Floyd | as he passes through the gates and into the railways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "wow, uh"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize the funny man as coming from the near Bom-Fong Satellite
Floyd | facility: his darker skin tone and his thin eyes betray his
Floyd | provenance. He wears a yellow coat that runs down to his feet. On his
Floyd | shoulders, he's carrying a purple backpack, the sort of which you
Floyd | usually see worn by the students at the University.
Floyd |
Floyd | From a pocket of the backpack you see poking a freshly printed ticket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I hope we didn't just have a heart attack, die, and are now following the incarnation of death."
		chaudmin says, "haha"
		chaudmin says, "time to turn to pickpocketing"
		DavidW says, "yes. Grab that ticket."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take ticket" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | (the new railway ticket)
Floyd | There's no way of getting it without startling its owner. You are not
Floyd | that used to stealing to be subtle enough. Maybe you'd need a
Floyd | diversion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "hmmmm"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAP
Floyd |
Floyd | A map depicting the maze of rails connecting all the various stations
Floyd | in Monarch. With but a glance you find your route to the University.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | South Fork Station
Floyd | The cyanotic, vibrating light of the station stands as a formal
Floyd | counterweight to the usual pink of the open air. People from all the
Floyd | country crowd the hall, piling up like chickens in stocks. The loud
Floyd | whistle of the incoming and departing trains dopplers through the
Floyd | place and drills into your ears. The rails cut the earth in two,
Floyd | further south, while a more breathable atmosphere breaks in through
Floyd | the entrance, northwest from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A man wearing a funny yellow coat is reading the railways map,
Floyd | puzzled.
Floyd |
Floyd | A steel gate stands between you and the trains. A ticket obliterator
Floyd | blinks silently at its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the west wall is a ticket vending machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | A purple backpack, the sort of which you usually see worn by the
Floyd | students at the University.
Floyd |
Floyd | From a pocket of the backpack you see poking a freshly printed ticket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x gate" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | A maze of sturdy steel bars, which runs from the floor to the ceiling.
Floyd | It looks very dense.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go northwest and south, beyond the steel
Floyd | gate].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The gate stands closed between you and the rails.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "And nw is the way we came"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coat" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognize the funny man as coming from the near Bom-Fong Satellite
Floyd | facility: his darker skin tone and his thin eyes betray his
Floyd | provenance. He wears a yellow coat that runs down to his feet. On his
Floyd | shoulders, he's carrying a purple backpack, the sort of which you
Floyd | usually see worn by the students at the University.
Floyd |
Floyd | From a pocket of the backpack you see poking a freshly printed ticket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research bom-fong" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH BOM-FONG
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research bom-fong satellite" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH BOM-FONG SATELLITE
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research university" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH UNIVERSITY
Floyd |
Floyd | User 5,835 is chief researcher at the Radiations and Microwave
Floyd | Survey in the Monarch State University. The University is located in
Floyd | Brouguoise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research diversion" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH DIVERSION
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "yell" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YELL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW >say "omigosh, is that Madonna over there?" 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Need help?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The man turns to see you, a bit startled. "Uhm," he says, pointing at
Floyd | the map, "I'm just looking for the next stop in this... erm... maze."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "I know, it's always a nightmare the first time you try and read one
Floyd | of those. Let me help."
Floyd |
Floyd | A fresh smile of relief paints his face, as the man moves a step to
Floyd | the left to let you check the map. In the movement, unseen, the ticket
Floyd | that was hanging from the open pocket of his backpack flies over the
Floyd | edge, landing a mere step from your right foot. You notice it but
Floyd | avoid dropping your sight to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "aha"
		DavidW asks, "step on ticket?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "step on ticket" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STEP ON TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | (the new railway ticket)
Floyd | Ok, you are finally persuaded. He won't need this as much
Floyd | as I -- or the whole of Monarch -- do.
Floyd |
Floyd | Subtly, you hide the fallen ticket under your foot, hoping to go
Floyd | unnoticed. And it works. The man follows your instructions on the map
Floyd | up to the last letter:
Floyd |
Floyd | "There, you know," you say, pointing at the map in the place where
Floyd | Cardinal Park would be. "There is the station you might look at for
Floyd | your departure, sir. South Fork is only southbound, and you have to go
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's just a couple of kilometers," you grin, depicting in your mind
Floyd | the Park, the farthest place in all Monarch to a railway.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a sigh, the man thanks you and heads out of the station. You grab
Floyd | the ticket and pitch the old, useless one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "success"
DavidW clears the save counter. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "congrats"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put ticket in slot" 		

Floyd ]                         South Fork Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT TICKET IN SLOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (the new railway ticket in the obliterator)
Floyd | The obliterator blinks vigorously. A green exclamation mark appears on
Floyd | its glossy surface. The gate reacts with but a faint buzz. You remove
Floyd | the ticket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "it's called the obliterator but it doesn't actually obliterate your ticket"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Railways
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You pass through the gate which admits you, silently opening around
Floyd | you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Railways
Floyd | You are standing by the bay of the railways, where trains arrive and
Floyd | depart. The light gets dimmer, here, but it is still strong enough to
Floyd | let you see the nearest surroundings. It then fades away in the
Floyd | intricate maze of the other platforms. A series of gates opens north
Floyd | into the main hall of South Fork Station. Through the bars you can see
Floyd | hundreds of people passing by, like ants in a sand castle.
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep sense of claustrophobia gets to your nerves as you stare at the
Floyd | long tunnels winding everywhere from this place. The intricate maze
Floyd | carves so deep and so far that now it could easily count more surface
Floyd | than on the open air...
Floyd |
Floyd | It digs so deep that you are quite certain it opened entrances -- or
Floyd | outages -- to things you'd better have seen left undisturbed. The
Floyd | Report files in your hands, the ones you are going to explain to your
Floyd | colleagues at the University, vibrate as if animate, trying to catch
Floyd | your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your train is not here, yet. This could be a chance to study them
Floyd | again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess no train until we read the files."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x files" 		

Floyd ]                              Railways
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FILES
Floyd |
Floyd | "Reports to the Council".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read files" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ FILES
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the files at random. Your eye is quickly caught by one of the
Floyd | first reports:
Floyd |
Floyd | (...)The volcanic crust separating what was once the glacial layer
Floyd | from the lower halls cannot possibly be thick enough to hold those
Floyd | energies at bay. Nor can it be trusted to keep a region larger than
Floyd | one third of Monarch's surface area hidden from whatever may be
Floyd | resting down there. In my humble opinion, the chances that former
Floyd | colonizations could have gotten in there before the glacial age
Floyd | (trapped? self-defending?) are quite high, especially now that we have
Floyd | discovered the Alpha Radiation.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the end, we know nothing about Monarch before the first
Floyd | settlements from the outer galaxies came into Andromeda more than one
Floyd | thousand years ago. Technology back then was not sufficient to dig as
Floyd | far as we have recently. The glacial layer was only partially melted
Floyd | and covered by the constructs. I suggest further investigation before
Floyd | we start -- as we should -- to probe the source of the
Floyd | radiation.(...)
Floyd |
Floyd | The thought of something ancient sleeping under your very feet is more
Floyd | than your mortal brain can handle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Eventually, your train arrives.
Floyd |
Floyd | The doors open silently and you enter its bright intestines with but a
Floyd | second thought, powerfully relieved by leaving the dark recesses of
Floyd | the underground rails.
Floyd |
Floyd | Train
Floyd | The wagon is enlightened by several fluorescent lamps, spanning along
Floyd | all its roof. The yellow, vibrating light paints each surface with the
Floyd | colors of death and decay. The train moves swiftly on its rails.
Floyd |
Floyd | A man sitting beside you is reading his newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lights" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIGHTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lamps" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LAMPS
Floyd |
Floyd | Tubes of light, inside tubes of glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm guessing there's a dragon under the glacier."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research alpha radiation" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ALPHA RADIATION
Floyd |
Floyd | (Inserted by user 5,835 -- not present in general database)
Floyd |
Floyd | Radiation which pulsates from a specific point under Monarch's
Floyd | capital. Discovered on 25th/3rd/9,855. Generator or source: unkn.
Floyd | Z-position: unkn. Magnitude: feeble, but growing. ---- Warning: same
Floyd | kind of the Event residues. ----.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | He must be your age, a small man that looks like the average white
Floyd | collar worker from somewhere in the government. He's holding his
Floyd | newspaper like it was the only thing valuable in the world.
Floyd |
Floyd | You realize with surprise it is the same man who had the nice words at
Floyd | the vending machine, earlier.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unforeseen tremor shakes the train. You grab a handle before
Floyd | falling. The man beside you grips his seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Woha!" he laughs. "That was something."
Floyd |
Floyd | You notice small bits of the tunnel walls crumbling as you pass them
Floyd | by.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "uh-oh"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x newspaper" 		

Floyd ]                               Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | The part you can see is about the weather and a few of other
Floyd | unimportant things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | The part you can see is about the weather and a few of other
Floyd | unimportant things.
Floyd |
Floyd | A second, much stronger quake shakes the train. You are bounced once
Floyd | to the back, where you hit the doors with a faint sound, then forward.
Floyd | This time you go swimming through the air like some sort of flying
Floyd | fish.
Floyd |
Floyd | But it is not over.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another shock rocks the train to its core, sending it off the rails.
Floyd | Cracks like razor wounds open the car one by one, ripping it apart
Floyd | like a tube of crumpling paper. The windows shatter with a fierce
Floyd | boom! that grinds into your ears like a thousand needles. The
Floyd | next second, you are smashed against the end of the wagon, your head
Floyd | trying its resilience against solid steel.
Floyd |
Floyd | The last thing you see, before your eyes are closed forever, is the
Floyd | man who was reading his newspaper beside you being engulfed by a dark
Floyd | abyss that has opened under your feet -- and below the collapsing
Floyd | train --  like the maw of an ancient creature.

		chaudmin says, "what"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd ]                           Wrecked Train
Floyd | Darkness begins to dissipate. It seems you are not dead, yet. Opening
Floyd | your eyes takes so much effort it feels like someone is sitting on
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | All hell has broken loose. Before you, the fiery gates await.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wrecked Train
Floyd | The gaping maw of the unknown opens a mere three meters from your
Floyd | face. Steel and iron are contorted everywhere, drawing a briar of
Floyd | thorny, crunching hands. The flames rise around the train, devouring
Floyd | everything. Cracks open in the walls of the wagon, now reduced to
Floyd | debris and crying people. To the south, a wider fissure seems large
Floyd | enough to let you pass, to safety.
Floyd |
Floyd | The man who was sitting beside you before the quake erupted is trapped
Floyd | under the wreckage of the seats and of the floor. He is screaming in
Floyd | pain.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'd ask for our money back, but we didn't buy this ticket."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]                           Wrecked Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | He's trapped. There is no way of pulling him out of the wreckage.
Floyd | Blood is pouring violently from a wound in his chest, where an iron
Floyd | crank has opened a new way in.
Floyd |
Floyd | The train rattles and screams, slowly slipping further into the abyss
Floyd | where it is being inexorably pulled.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Talk to man? Search him?"
		chaudmin says, "I feel bad just leaving him..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "talk to man" 		

Floyd ]                           Wrecked Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "You will be fine," you say. "Soon enough help will come. I will stay
Floyd | here till then."
Floyd |
Floyd | You look out of the shattered glass of the train windows, hiding your
Floyd | sore eyes to the man you lied to with your last words.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another rattle and the wagon is pulled further into oblivion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                           Wrecked Train
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go nowhere].
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrieking sound of metal against metal fills your ears as the last
Floyd | part of the train sinks. Another meter. One more shake and all will
Floyd | fall inside the open chasm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't leave me," cries the trapped man. "Please!"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | One final, sinister noise shakes the wagon. Before you can understand
Floyd | what's happening, the weight of the rest of the train causes it all to
Floyd | fall into the enormous crack that opens below.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have just enough time to jump through the wide crack before it all
Floyd | disappears into darkness, landing to safety on a hard ledge.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the end, you fail to turn your eyes from those -- praying, pleading
Floyd | -- of the man trapped in the wreckage, his last goodbye a terrorized
Floyd | wailing into the unknown. You gaze into the blackness, speechless. The
Floyd | same words cycle into your forehead like a grinding echo: It will
Floyd | be ok. Just relax. It will be ok.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd |
Floyd | Ledge
Floyd | You are on a hard ledge, over a kilometers-deep chasm opening directly
Floyd | in front of you. There are no visible ways out, except for a trail cut
Floyd | in stone to the northwest. Now that the train has disappeared into
Floyd | oblivion, you realize there is no light, anywhere, apart from the
Floyd | orange glow coming up from the deep, like a disaster movie
Floyd | scenography. The faint green light from the screen of your E-Pad
Floyd | catches details for only a few meters around.
Floyd |
Floyd | What comes to your mind next sends a blow to your stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Fatimah Initiative, you think in horror. No lights
Floyd | means no energy.
Floyd |
Floyd | And no energy means the tides.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research fatimah initiative" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH FATIMAH INITIATIVE
Floyd |
Floyd | An underground net that provides an antigravitational field on
Floyd | Monarch to counterweight the one caused by the approaching of the
Floyd | orbiting star Fatimah. Every ten days, all non-emergency power sources
Floyd | on the planet are redirected to the Initiative. The Initiative was the
Floyd | Second Bound by the Interstellar Agreement and was signed by all the
Floyd | thirteen members of the Council.
Floyd |
Floyd | If the Fatimah initiative is stopped, for any reason, the whole planet
Floyd | would be submerged in water. This must be avoided at any cost.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Bounds were mentioned earlier, but I'm unclear what they are."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research tides" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH TIDES
Floyd |
Floyd | An underground net that provides an antigravitational field on
Floyd | Monarch to counterweight the one caused by the approaching of the
Floyd | orbiting star Fatimah. Every ten days, all non-emergency power sources
Floyd | on the planet are redirected to the Initiative. The Initiative was the
Floyd | Second Bound by the Interstellar Agreement and was signed by all the
Floyd | thirteen members of the Council.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research bounds" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH BOUNDS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sum of the 237 rules by which the ASA Republican Worlds work.
Floyd | They are divided into seven sections, each made up by at least 20
Floyd | so-called "initiatives". Only the first two Bounds contain just one
Floyd | Initiative each. Those were written in the Ancient Days before the
Floyd | reforming of the Republic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research bound 1" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH BOUND 1
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research ancient days" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ANCIENT DAYS
Floyd |
Floyd | The third age spanned between 3,000 and 8,140 (YotG). The first
Floyd | two centuries after its end are called "the Ancient Days", as opposed
Floyd | to the modern ones, lasting up to now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research first bound" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH FIRST BOUND
Floyd |
Floyd | This unit was not allowed to download resources on the matter.
Floyd | Sorry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research asa" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ASA
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Solar-spatial Agreement.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is the set of rules which binds the interstellar space of the
Floyd | Andromeda Galaxy. The whole library is held in the Monarch Manuscript,
Floyd | under the Humanitas Mementos, closed from light and cryogenized at the
Floyd | Terracentral station in Phelios. It can be fully accessed from any ASA
Floyd | reports in the nearest Police station, Government hall or University.
Floyd | Excerpts can be found under the topic "excerpts" in this device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research yotg" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH YOTG
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research excerpts" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH EXCERPTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The E-Pad prints at least 763 pages before stopping its listing of the
Floyd | "excerpts". You think it's best to study them another time. Like
Floyd | never, maybe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research phelios" 		

Floyd ]                               Ledge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH PHELIOS
Floyd |
Floyd | The small asteroid-satellite orbiting Monarch VII, Phelios, is
Floyd | home to the Terracentral fortress, where the Quintessential Library
Floyd | and the Humanitas mementos are stored.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Rails' End
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | With much effort, you manage to pull yourself over the ledge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rails' End
Floyd | These are the remains of the tunnel which would have taken you to the
Floyd | University if the quake hadn't swallowed its walls. Cascades of dirty
Floyd | water wash the sides of the black pit, flowing towards the giant
Floyd | crack. The fiery curtains of orange smoke that originate a few meters
Floyd | from you are the only light source for a span that goes on for
Floyd | kilometers. A thick web of twisted rails cuts its way across the
Floyd | darkness to the southwest. A small gap in the hulking walls of the
Floyd | tunnel leads north towards the unknown. Then it's only concrete and
Floyd | stone and a shattered world tangling together in every direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | What is the magnitude of this disaster? you ask yourself,
Floyd | while trying to put together the pieces of the splintering ground
Floyd | around you. What could have caused such a devastating
Floyd | earthquake?
Floyd |
Floyd | In the darkness of Monarch's deepest recesses, only the thickest
Floyd | silence stands as an answer. The rest is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x rails" 		

Floyd ]                             Rails' End
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RAILS
Floyd |
Floyd | The rails can be walked on, although with a certain care.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "If the planet is gonna be broken up and flooded, perhaps try to reach the satellite."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | The earth shattering event has done much more damage here than in the
Floyd | near tunnel. A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts
Floyd | its way in a wide crack running before your eyes. You stand
Floyd | uncomfortably over a small stony step which looks like a building's
Floyd | cornice and serves as the only walkway at the side of the underground
Floyd | cliff, off to the east and west. Pieces of building sink into the
Floyd | ground and pop out from the ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel
Floyd | crosses in an abandoned cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the
Floyd | north, bathing in magma, rests the crippled half of one of the
Floyd | Construct pillars, the remaining structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A thin rain of small debris drops constantly from the crumbling sky.
Floyd | You look upon the decay of the human last resort and close your eyes
Floyd | in fear and torment.
Floyd |
Floyd | There it goes, you sink into sorrow. We are late. We
Floyd | always have been late.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel the weight of your E-Pad and remember downloading something
Floyd | about the Constructs in it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research constructs" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH CONSTRUCTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The foundations of Monarch's Republican World. Digging deep into
Floyd | the earth where the glacial layer has been molten, pillars of steel
Floyd | and concrete serve as supports for the above cities. In fact, the
Floyd | Monarch nation is but a floating continent built by the first colonies
Floyd | above the icy layer. Nowadays, a mere 10 percent of that layer is
Floyd | still solid, the rest being transformed into vast oceans covering more
Floyd | than half the world.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well that's not good"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x pillar" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PILLAR
Floyd |
Floyd | About fifteen meters wide, the pillar must have been torn in two by
Floyd | the quake. The lower part still sinks into the ground, inside and
Floyd | below the flowing magma, its alloy slowly surrendering to the heat. In
Floyd | a few hours it will be consumed. Something shines on the oblique
Floyd | surface of the pillar, in the spot where its has been cut in half.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This is all very very bad, yes."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a jump of twenty meters. There is no way to reach the pillar
Floyd | without falling into the fiery pit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x shine" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't quite discern it from here. It is a metallic pole of sorts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south, east and west].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | If it wasn't so dramatic, the view from here would be breathtaking.
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "'cyanotic'? Like, 'cyan'?"
		chaudmin says, "that word was mentioned before. I guess like cyan."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go northwest and west].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I don't think cyanotic is a real word, is it?"
		chaudmin shrugs.
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A grim mouth dug into the span's wall starts here and crawls inside
Floyd | the earth, disappearing after a twist to the south. A bright blue
Floyd | light pulsates there, faint. In front of you, the molten span is still
Floyd | visible, although the curve of the collapsing ceiling covers your
Floyd | sight. The cliff then dives deep into the roaring lava, debris
Floyd | dropping from its edge now and then. You can reach the quartz
Floyd | outcropping walking -- carefully -- southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A lesser tremor splinters the cliff, sending pieces into the fiery pit
Floyd | below.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I vote we find out what the light is."
		chaudmin says, "yup, bright blue light"
		DavidW says, "With luck, it's a teleport watch."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south and southeast].
Floyd |
Floyd | A small chunk of rock falls into the magma from the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Following the twisted passage for what seemed like an eternity, you
Floyd | finally come to a vast area, and your eyes widen in awe.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hyerotrope
Floyd | A dome of sorts has been carved in the earth, an inner sanctum of
Floyd | inhumane proportions, spanning for hundreds of meters in all
Floyd | directions. The wall's surface is smooth and shiny, cut into a dark
Floyd | material that looks like obsidian. On the ground, a maze of carvings
Floyd | draw perfect lines that intersect each other and run throughout the
Floyd | floor; all are filled by an ethereal substance as thin as air that
Floyd | glows in a faint blue. They seem to revolve around a single entity in
Floyd | the center of the gargantuan structure, and sink under its base. Many
Floyd | of these cuts then proceed over the structure, like an electric ivy
Floyd | clinging to it. Light shimmers from nowhere in particular and from all
Floyd | around at the same time, reverberating on the rock and on the steel
Floyd | floor. A faint buzz is the only noise audible, the rest of the
Floyd | universe swallowed in an uncomfortable, dark silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | A Hyerotrope, you realize, noting the perfect symmetries and
Floyd | geometries that shape everything in here. This is what holds
Floyd | Monarch together. You remember having files about it both in your
Floyd | E-Pad library and in your Reports.
Floyd |
Floyd | The demi-spheric bunker, a perfect inside-out replica of the halls
Floyd | around it, sits in the exact center of the room. It sinks into the
Floyd | ground as if pushed into it by some great force, a gap a few
Floyd | centimeters wide separating it from the floor. Its dark skin inflates
Floyd | and exhales like an ancient heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | What looks like a door draws a perfect rectangle on this side of the
Floyd | dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I don't know what a hyerotrope is. Do you?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research hyerotrope" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH HYEROTROPE
Floyd |
Floyd | The moving motor of the Tidal Initiative.
Floyd |
Floyd | Discovered during the Ancient Era, its meaning or purpose is yet
Floyd | unknown. Apart from a huge power surge (all in the geo-gravitational
Floyd | spectrum), a Hyerotrope seems utterly inactive. Its "breathing" has
Floyd | been hypothesized as a remnant of a former energy outbreak, the likes
Floyd | and size of which are not computable. Although "dead" in many ways, it
Floyd | was soon discovered that its gravitational pull could be altered by
Floyd | igniting it with an immense plasma shock. Thus far, the seventeen
Floyd | Hyerotropes discovered have been used to counterweight Fatimah during
Floyd | the tidal outbreaks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "a giant motor, apparently"
		DavidW says, "It sounds to me that it converts heat into gravity."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research tidal initiative" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH TIDAL INITIATIVE
Floyd |
Floyd | An underground net that provides an antigravitational field on
Floyd | Monarch to counterweight the one caused by the approaching of the
Floyd | orbiting star Fatimah. Every ten days, all non-emergency power sources
Floyd | on the planet are redirected to the Initiative. The Initiative was the
Floyd | Second Bound by the Interstellar Agreement and was signed by all the
Floyd | thirteen members of the Council.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x carvings" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARVINGS
Floyd |
Floyd | They are one centimeter wide (and you could bet all you have it is
Floyd | exactly one centimeter) and one deep. Inside it, an
Floyd | unsubstantial essence flows like a river of light. Although twisty and
Floyd | maze-like, they all wrap up at the base of the dome, some of them
Floyd | continuing over its round surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no way of telling how this "door" can be opened.. On it, four
Floyd | small dots draw a perfect line, in its center.
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside four of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no way of telling how this "door" can be opened.. On it, four
Floyd | small dots draw a perfect line, in its center.
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside four of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x dots" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside four of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x dome" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOME
Floyd |
Floyd | The dome is made of a substance that looks solid, but it is actually
Floyd | pulsating like an human belly. It reflects almost no light, apart from
Floyd | the thick web of luminescent cracks that cover its ancient skin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch first dot" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH FIRST DOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch dot" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH DOT
Floyd |
Floyd | They are cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push dots" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH DOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't really expect the door of the dome to answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a new railway ticket, some Report files and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "> 'open up. we're the police'"
		DavidW says, "> 'candygram'"
		DavidW says, "> 'you guys ordered a pizza?'"
		chaudmin says, "ha. I don't think we can open it yet though"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go north].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, I bet on the WEST side of the cavern is something that'll help us here."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A stronger tremor opens a crack near the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You approach the cliff's edge, ready to get back to the quartz
Floyd | platform, when a sudden tremor stops you on your feet.
Floyd | And it's a rather fortunate event, as your step ends up just a
Floyd | centimeter from a sinister crack opening on the cliff itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | A second later, a more intense shock cuts the crack open and a large
Floyd | section of the cliff face goes crumbling down right in front of you.
Floyd | You had taken another half step you would have fallen into the fiery
Floyd | pits below.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hold yourself to the cave walls, panting loudly, waiting for the
Floyd | affright to vanish.
Floyd |
Floyd | A stronger tremor opens a crack near the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south and southeast].
Floyd |
Floyd | A lesser tremor splinters the cliff, sending pieces into the fiery pit
Floyd | below.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Unless the hywhatever was takeable or pushable?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "verbose" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > VERBOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut is now in its "verbose" mode,
Floyd | which always gives long descriptions of locations (even if you've been
Floyd | there before).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I got the impression it was really big"
		chaudmin says, "maybe I'm wrong though"
		DavidW says, "me too, but I can never be quite sure with size in IF."
		chaudmin says, "well, we'll be going back in any case"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Pillar Section
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk over the crumbled wall, finding your way to the Construct
Floyd | pillar. The heat is almost unbearable.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pillar Section
Floyd | The broken pillar seems sturdy enough to resist the flowing magma for
Floyd | a long time. Were it not for the quake, it could have survived in the
Floyd | molten rocks for ages. The alloy is sturdy and elastic at the same
Floyd | time, its interiors glittering like a salt mine. At its center, a
Floyd | hollow section opens into a net of tangled steel bars that worked as a
Floyd | skeleton for the whole structure. Wires of every kind run deep inside,
Floyd | like a circulatory system. You can't tell what kind of machinations
Floyd | were designed for the Construct and what served what inside here.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the center of the pillar, where it has been torn in two by the
Floyd | disaster, a steel bar pops out, loose from the others of its own
Floyd | family. It looks like you can pull it out without much effort.
Floyd |
Floyd | You start fainting from the excessive heat. Your eyes are sore and you
Floyd | can barely breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "watson, a clew!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take bar" 		

Floyd ]                           Pillar Section
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull the steel bar out of the tangle in which it rests.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything around you is becoming red and black, like in a sort of
Floyd | twisted nightmare. The intense heat is killing you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I hope there weren't any other exits because I don't fancy going back"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bar" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | One meter and a half long, three centimeters wide. Enough to break a
Floyd | man's skull with just one hit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "A steel bar doesn't seem like much of a prize."
		DavidW asks, "Are we do smash the door with it?"
		DavidW says, "er to smash"
		chaudmin says, "haha, maybe"
		chaudmin says, "I somehow doubt it"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Pillar Section
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk over the crumbled wall, finding your way to the Construct
Floyd | pillar. The heat is almost unbearable.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pillar Section
Floyd | The broken pillar seems sturdy enough to resist the flowing magma for
Floyd | a long time. Were it not for the quake, it could have survived in the
Floyd | molten rocks for ages. The alloy is sturdy and elastic at the same
Floyd | time, its interiors glittering like a salt mine. At its center, a
Floyd | hollow section opens into a net of tangled steel bars that worked as a
Floyd | skeleton for the whole structure. Wires of every kind run deep inside,
Floyd | like a circulatory system.
Floyd |
Floyd | The fumes coming from the lava under the pillar are so hot you can
Floyd | feel your skin burn. You must get out of here before you catch fire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                           Pillar Section
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south].
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything around you is becoming red and black, like in a sort of
Floyd | twisted nightmare. The intense heat is killing you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "well, what then? Pole vault over the magma?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "break someone's skull, perhaps"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The walk over the tiny ledge is painstaking. After several minutes,
Floyd | you leave it for the first opening, a tight crack in the wall, large
Floyd | enough to let a man pass through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, you discover a lonely hut, made from plastic
Floyd | wreckage and held together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the
Floyd | north. The warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of
Floyd | stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Only skull here is ours."
		chaudmin says, "for the moment"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x switch" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | It is encrusted with rust, grinning like a sardonic smile made in
Floyd | steel and plastics.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I stopped mapping to eat, and I'm a bit lost now."
		chaudmin asks, "do you have the names of the places?"
		DavidW says, "hm, no, nothing since the station."
		chaudmin says, "well, the room we just came from was like a central area"
		DavidW says, "but it's okay. You're doing fine so far, as far as I can tell."
		chaudmin says, "the hyerotrope is over on the east side, and now we're on the west side"
		DavidW says, "I know there was a w/s/e branch, and the dome thing was on the east side and we're now somewhere on the west."
		chaudmin says, "yep"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOXES
Floyd |
Floyd | Piles and piles of once useful objects, now reduced to rubbish. The
Floyd | plastic cans make them unopenable and unmovable. A pity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hut" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HUT
Floyd |
Floyd | A lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held together by iron
Floyd | wires, its door sprung open to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | A blade of light comes from the back of the hut, to the north, where
Floyd | it penetrates a cut in the plastic casing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cut" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUT
Floyd |
Floyd | The plastic has been damaged -- by the quake? --  and lets some light
Floyd | come in from beyond the hut's shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x wire" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | It comes from a pre-plasmatron era. Better leave it alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pry cut with bar" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRY CUT WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the steel bar inside the crack and press all you weight
Floyd | against it. After a while, the cut gives and a new, human-sized scar
Floyd | now smiles in the north wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "oho."
		DavidW says, "scar smiles? yikes"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | What kind of place is this, you mutter, looking around
Floyd | puzzled. A subway service area?
Floyd |
Floyd | You remember having read something about this kind of structure. One
Floyd | of your fellow teachers once called it an "underground settlement".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research underground settlement" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH UNDERGROUND SETTLEMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | During the era when the Constructs were built, a large underground
Floyd | vault, known as the "settlement", was used for R&D and to store
Floyd | artifacts and knowledge found while digging through the icy crust and
Floyd | the upper layers. Aseptic walls run relentlessly for kilometers, along
Floyd | with a vast number of laboratories and facilities. These places are a
Floyd | sort of gigantic city-under-the-city, where the researchers and the
Floyd | workers spent their time together in a closed environment. Due to the
Floyd | extremely long times before resurfacing, many were captivated in the
Floyd | settlements for months until their duty schedule expired. The
Floyd | seclusion proved too much for the inhabitants of the settlements, who
Floyd | started showing signs of paranoia and of claustrophobia. After only
Floyd | three years since the first humans entered the vault, a fierce riot
Floyd | took the pale halls, leaving more than three hundred civilians dead.
Floyd | The settlements were closed and all the work was handed over to
Floyd | automated machines and robots.
Floyd |
Floyd | Only a part of the endless maze that once was the settlements is
Floyd | still visitable: the Museum of the Vaults, near the Central Station.
Floyd | There, visitors can witness the "magic" of the white corridors
Floyd | lighting system, some of the remaining labs (only a handful are still
Floyd | functioning -- even if for mere demonstrational purposes) and the
Floyd | thrilling experience of the disappearing walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so, DisneyTechWorld is here. yay."
		chaudmin asks, ""disappearing walls"?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research disappearing walls" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH DISAPPEARING WALLS
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the best shows in the Museum of the Vaults.
Floyd |
Floyd | Properly stimulated (via an input device or by remote control),
Floyd | what looks like a regular settlement wall blinks and disappears,
Floyd | working as a door for hidden or particularly dangerous rooms.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah, so there be secret doors."
		chaudmin says, "great"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south, east and west].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot seems to mark the north wall, almost in the exact
Floyd | center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot marks a rectangular area. It looks like once it
Floyd | hosted... a painting, maybe?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point e-pad at spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT E-PAD AT SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "touch spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research museum" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH MUSEUM
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research museum of the vaults" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH MUSEUM OF THE VAULTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go west].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | Whatever this is, it looks like a cul-de-sac.
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot seems to mark the west wall, almost in the exact center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "If we find a remote, point it at this spot"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot marks a rectangular area. It looks like once it
Floyd | hosted... a painting, maybe?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "okay, so two spots behind the hut."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put e-pad on spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT E-PAD ON SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the darker spot would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x e-pad" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X E-PAD
Floyd |
Floyd | A black slab, ten-by-twenty centimeters. A surface, the one you would
Floyd | refer to as "the bottom", is made out of vibertron alloy. The "top"
Floyd | side is a psychoglass vibertron that you can use to gather
Floyd | information. The E-Pad is indeed the ultimate resource for any kind of
Floyd | question: you can consult it about almost anything (that you have
Floyd | previously uploaded into it, of course). Think to it as some kind of
Floyd | Guide to the galaxy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch top" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH TOP
Floyd |
Floyd | It took seven minutes to upload all your records on the Pad. It would
Floyd | take several millennia just to browse through half of it. It's better
Floyd | if you try and consult it about something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x roof" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROOF
Floyd |
Floyd | The plastic of the ceiling is glowing unnaturally. It doesn't look
Floyd | like light shines from behind but rather from the very
Floyd | surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch bottom" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH BOTTOM
Floyd |
Floyd | It is cut from a single piece of vibertron alloy. It is unopenable and
Floyd | unbreakable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "nothing much here then"
		DavidW says, "maybe we need to push that switch we passed by"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "pull switch" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | As you lower the switch, a burst of energy breaks loose, exploding in
Floyd | a loud pop! Fuses, wires and the very handle of the switch
Floyd | are now melted together. Apart from this, there's no evident outcome.
Floyd | You can only guess lights have been turned off somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oops"
		chaudmin says, "that might have been the roof"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "great, something else is crumbling"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot seems to mark the north wall, almost in the exact
Floyd | center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Can we take the wire from the hut?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take wire" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "nah"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull wire" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I think I tried pulling it and it just said not to touch it"
		DavidW says, "there's more nw"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | The stocks are too tight together to let you pass. Some make a
Floyd | climbing route to the ceiling, which unfortunately ends there with no
Floyd | hope for trespassing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "yes, but that was before turning off the power with the switch, right?"
		chaudmin says, "hmmm, yeah"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | The stocks are too tight together to let you pass. Some make a
Floyd | climbing route to the ceiling, which unfortunately ends there with no
Floyd | hope for trespassing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "pull wire" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb wire" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take wire" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shelves" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHELVES
Floyd |
Floyd | Dust covers the shelves, a witness of decay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmph"
		chaudmin says, "/:/"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Can we go up in the warehouse, even if there's a roof in the way?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | The stocks are too tight together to let you pass. Some make a
Floyd | climbing route to the ceiling, which unfortunately ends there with no
Floyd | hope for trespassing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "climb stocks" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB STOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You lift yourself up a few steps, just to surrender when you discover
Floyd | there is no way further on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x stocks" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Piles and piles of once useful objects, now reduced to rubbish. The
Floyd | plastic cans make them unopenable and unmovable. A pity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CEILING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x roof" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROOF
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push stocks" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH STOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | They are beyond the scalding river.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x river" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files
Floyd | and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit stocks with bar" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT STOCKS WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | They are beyond the scalding river.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "what river??"
		DavidW says, "The magma, I guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go north and east].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit switch with bar" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT SWITCH WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It would probably ruin both the steel bar and the power switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move piles" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOVE PILES
Floyd |
Floyd | They are beyond the scalding river.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "jump over river" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JUMP OVER RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to jump.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x west wall" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEST WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Did we see all of the featureless corridors?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, there's only one in each direction"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x switch" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | It is encrusted with rust, grinning like a sardonic smile made in
Floyd | steel and plastics.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well, maybe the switch changed something somewhere else"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Pillar Section
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk over the crumbled wall, finding your way to the Construct
Floyd | pillar. The heat is almost unbearable.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pillar Section
Floyd | The broken pillar seems sturdy enough to resist the flowing magma for
Floyd | a long time. Were it not for the quake, it could have survived in the
Floyd | molten rocks for ages. The alloy is sturdy and elastic at the same
Floyd | time, its interiors glittering like a salt mine. At its center, a
Floyd | hollow section opens into a net of tangled steel bars that worked as a
Floyd | skeleton for the whole structure. Wires of every kind run deep inside,
Floyd | like a circulatory system.
Floyd |
Floyd | The fumes coming from the lava under the pillar are so hot you can
Floyd | feel your skin burn. You must get out of here before you catch fire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I can't help but think that our e-pad must open up a wall somehow."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "maybe"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large chunk of rock from the cave mouth, up above, has fallen into
Floyd | the molten span and now looks like a bridge of sorts between it and
Floyd | the Construct pillar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A grim mouth dug into the span's wall starts here and crawls inside
Floyd | the earth, disappearing after a twist to the south. A bright blue
Floyd | light pulsates there, faint. In front of you, the molten span is still
Floyd | visible, although the curve of the collapsing ceiling covers your
Floyd | sight. The cliff then dives deep into the roaring lava, debris
Floyd | dropping from its edge now and then. You can reach the quartz
Floyd | outcropping walking -- carefully -- southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small chunk of rock falls into the magma from the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, that's new, isn't it?"
		DavidW asks, "the bridge?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, that's how we got to the bar"
		DavidW asks, "is it?"
		chaudmin says, "yup"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hyerotrope
Floyd | A dome of sorts has been carved in the earth, an inner sanctum of
Floyd | inhumane proportions, spanning for hundreds of meters in all
Floyd | directions. The wall's surface is smooth and shiny, cut into a dark
Floyd | material that looks like obsidian. On the ground, a maze of carvings
Floyd | draw perfect lines that intersect each other and run throughout the
Floyd | floor; all are filled by an ethereal substance as thin as air that
Floyd | glows in a faint blue. They seem to revolve around a single entity in
Floyd | the center of the gargantuan structure, and sink under its base. Many
Floyd | of these cuts then proceed over the structure, like an electric ivy
Floyd | clinging to it. Light shimmers from nowhere in particular and from all
Floyd | around at the same time, reverberating on the rock and on the steel
Floyd | floor. A faint buzz is the only noise audible, the rest of the
Floyd | universe swallowed in an uncomfortable, dark silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The demi-spheric bunker, a perfect inside-out replica of the halls
Floyd | around it, sits in the exact center of the room. It sinks into the
Floyd | ground as if pushed into it by some great force, a gap a few
Floyd | centimeters wide separating it from the floor. Its dark skin inflates
Floyd | and exhales like an ancient heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | What looks like a door draws a perfect rectangle on this side of the
Floyd | dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no way of telling how this "door" can be opened.. On it, four
Floyd | small dots draw a perfect line, in its center.
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside four of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "nothing changed here either"
		chaudmin says, "I believe there's still one area we haven't seen"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A grim mouth dug into the span's wall starts here and crawls inside
Floyd | the earth, disappearing after a twist to the south. A bright blue
Floyd | light pulsates there, faint. In front of you, the molten span is still
Floyd | visible, although the curve of the collapsing ceiling covers your
Floyd | sight. The cliff then dives deep into the roaring lava, debris
Floyd | dropping from its edge now and then. You can reach the quartz
Floyd | outcropping walking -- carefully -- southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A stronger tremor opens a crack near the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x crack" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large chunk of rock from the cave mouth, up above, has fallen into
Floyd | the molten span and now looks like a bridge of sorts between it and
Floyd | the Construct pillar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Rails' End
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rails' End
Floyd | Cascades of dirty water wash the sides of the black pit, flowing
Floyd | towards the giant crack. The fiery curtains of orange smoke that
Floyd | originate a few meters from you are the only light source for a span
Floyd | that goes on for kilometers. A thick web of twisted rails cuts its way
Floyd | across the darkness to the southwest. A small gap in the hulking walls
Floyd | of the tunnel leads north towards the lake of magma. Then it's only
Floyd | concrete and stone and a shattered world tangling together in every
Floyd | direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "here we are, southwest"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving very carefully, you manage to put one step in front of the
Floyd | other, above the deep, until you get to...
Floyd |
Floyd | Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | The chasm is under you. Its teeth close on the rails like the mouth of
Floyd | an all-devouring creature. You balance above nothing, an acrobat
Floyd | clinging to his own life, the only reasonable exit awaiting to the
Floyd | northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A broken wagon is dangling from the last of the rails, to the west.
Floyd | Light buzzes inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gust of smoke fills your nostrils, leaving you stunned.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x wagon" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | The wagon clings to the last straw of rails. It has been ripped in
Floyd | half by the quake deflagration and now looks like the decaying body of
Floyd | a dead pet. Sparks light its interiors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | One step at a time. Very, very carefully.
Floyd |
Floyd | Broken Wagon
Floyd | The crumpled floor rests inclined by forty degrees, making it very
Floyd | hard to stay on foot. You hold on to a bench, its metal handles your
Floyd | last resort against a fall. Light buzzes inside broken fluorescent
Floyd | lamps and sparks ignite the emptiness with futile effort. You are
Floyd | overwhelmed by... the gravity of the situation.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no sign of life. All is fallen. Dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | A glimpse of light reflects on something, hidden under the last bench
Floyd | before the chasm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we want to enter the dangling wagon?"
		chaudmin says, "too late"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look under bench" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Something is holding itself over the chasm, above the last metal rung.
Floyd |
Floyd | Broken Wagon
Floyd | The crumpled floor rests inclined by forty degrees, making it very
Floyd | hard to stay on foot. You hold on to a bench, its metal handles your
Floyd | last resort against a fall. Light buzzes inside broken fluorescent
Floyd | lamps and sparks ignite the emptiness with futile effort. You are
Floyd | overwhelmed by... the gravity of the situation.
Floyd |
Floyd | A black metal box pops out from under the last bench before the chasm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "get the remote or whatever is under the bench"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the black box.
Floyd |
Floyd | A howling comes from the chasm, like a human crying.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE IT
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull yourself to your stretching limit, a hand grasping for the
Floyd | box under the bench. As you catch it, debris -- and a square meter of
Floyd | the wagon's floor -- fall into the void with a noise like the one of
Floyd | nails on a blackboard.
Floyd |
Floyd | They disappear down under never hitting the bottom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the black box, revealing an Elektron and a metal weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x elektron" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | A glossy side, a sticky side and no power. On the lower part of the
Floyd | sticky side, a slot is open, revealing nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "perhaps examine it after we leave the wagon?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah we should probably get out of the wagon"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | The chasm is under you. Its teeth close on the rails like the mouth of
Floyd | an all-devouring creature. You balance above nothing, an acrobat
Floyd | clinging to his own life, the only reasonable exit awaiting to the
Floyd | northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A broken wagon is dangling from the last of the rails, to the west.
Floyd | Light buzzes inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | A howling comes from the chasm, like a human crying.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research elektron" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | A portable interface. It connects to a receiving surface and works
Floyd | as an input device for commands and other tasks. Upon connection, it
Floyd | analyses the target and gives out: a) a fast signature recap; and b)
Floyd | the default commands to be executed (when provided). It usually needs
Floyd | a resonating crystal as a power stabilizer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "okay, this is our 'input device' for the walls."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x weight" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | A kilogram. Almost perfect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "connect elektron to e-pad" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CONNECT ELEKTRON TO E-PAD
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the E-Pad is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "no, we need a darn dilithium crystal."
		DavidW says, "We must've seen a crystal deposit somewhere."
		chaudmin says, "there was some quartz, I think"
		DavidW says, "That might do."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                             Rails' End
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rails' End
Floyd | Cascades of dirty water wash the sides of the black pit, flowing
Floyd | towards the giant crack. The fiery curtains of orange smoke that
Floyd | originate a few meters from you are the only light source for a span
Floyd | that goes on for kilometers. A thick web of twisted rails cuts its way
Floyd | across the darkness to the southwest. A small gap in the hulking walls
Floyd | of the tunnel leads north towards the lake of magma. Then it's only
Floyd | concrete and stone and a shattered world tangling together in every
Floyd | direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | A howling comes from the chasm, like a human crying.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large chunk of rock from the cave mouth, up above, has fallen into
Floyd | the molten span and now looks like a bridge of sorts between it and
Floyd | the Construct pillar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x quartz" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X QUARTZ
Floyd |
Floyd | It shines and reflects the molten span below. Here and there, small
Floyd | chunks popped off of the cracked crystal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A perfect splinter rests upon the others, waiting to be picked up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "aha"
		DavidW says, "yay!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take splinter" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SPLINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put splinter in elektron" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SPLINTER IN ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | The quartz perfectly fits the slot on the back of the Elektron. The
Floyd | display comes to life, showing some text.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "put it in the elektron"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read elektron" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: No source. Expected link missing. Check status and
Floyd | connection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot seems to mark the north wall, almost in the exact
Floyd | center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You link the Elektron to the north wall. The display on the device
Floyd | blinks twice: Some text appears on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Gamma section port found. Tap display to open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron blinks twice, then the whole north wall blinks too. It
Floyd | shines in a brilliant purple and seconds later it disappears, folding
Floyd | into itself. A gap now opens where the wall stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the Elektron and put it back among your belongings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "wonderful!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. You can
Floyd | find no exits: the E-Pad is not enough to shed a light on this obscure
Floyd | womb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmm"
		chaudmin says, "too dark"
		chaudmin says, "I hope that switch didn't mess things up"
		DavidW says, "If the other spot-area has no flashlight, try putting the elektron on the dome door."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the north wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A darker spot seems to mark the west wall, almost in the exact center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on spot" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON SPOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You link the Elektron to the west wall. The display on the device
Floyd | blinks twice: Some text appears on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Alpha section port found. Tap display to open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron blinks twice, then the whole west wall blinks too. It
Floyd | shines in a brilliant purple and seconds later it disappears, folding
Floyd | into itself. A gap now opens where the wall stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the Elektron and put it back among your belongings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | The gap in the eastern wall opens into a narrow room. Light vibrates
Floyd | and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The floor seems to be
Floyd | made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of the same plastic
Floyd | material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal door bears the
Floyd | sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more relieving
Floyd | vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Light? You mutter to yourself. Where's the source? Maybe
Floyd | there is power, somewhere, after all.
Floyd |
Floyd | A power strong enough to activate the Tidal Initiative, maybe?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "yay"
		DavidW says, "Storeroom sounds promising."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x portal" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PORTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | An automatic door. This means a power source must be near.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the storeroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | The Storeroom
Floyd | Whatever power source lightens the near corridors, its is nowhere to
Floyd | be found in here. The blank closet in which you stand, a bare
Floyd | two-by-two meters with no furniture except for a decaying plastic
Floyd | shelf in a corner, is covered in old and cracked tiles, the likes of
Floyd | which you only remember having seen either in hospitals or in public
Floyd | toilets. The acrid smell that fills the room points toward the latter.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the plastic shelf is a wax soap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "oh boy, a soap"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x soap" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | A remarkably old wax soap, one of the kind momma used to wash clothes
Floyd | when you were but a child. A sort of relic these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x shelf" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHELF
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dusty shelf you can see nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Maybe turn it into a candle."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tiles" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TILES
Floyd |
Floyd | Old and cracked tiles, the likes of which you only remember having
Floyd | seen either in hospitals or in public toilets.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "we'd need a wick or something"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research wax" 		

Floyd ]                           The Storeroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH WAX
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | Light vibrates and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The
Floyd | floor seems to be made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of
Floyd | the same plastic material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal
Floyd | door bears the sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more
Floyd | relieving vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research soap" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk past the vibertron door, which silently opens around you.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the heavy door hides in the surrounding walls, the buzzing lights
Floyd | of the corridor drop down to a mere spark. Whatever the power source
Floyd | is, its is obviously not enough to feed both the lights and the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | The door opens into another disaster scenario. Chunks of rock have
Floyd | emerged from the broken floor, piercing through the roof. From there,
Floyd | massive blocks of concrete and steel hang, remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | The quake has indeed been tremendous and you wonder how much of the
Floyd | surface is still standing.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north, beyond reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | An ice spike the size of a bus has been thrusted into the room from
Floyd | below. It shines, the light coming from a source underneath it, and it
Floyd | is illuminating the area. The color and shape of the chunk betray the
Floyd | ice as very, very old, the likes of which you studied from the
Floyd | Monarch's glacial era.
Floyd |
Floyd | Above the spike, near the roof, sparkles fall down from a broken piece
Floyd | of machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x spike" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPIKE
Floyd |
Floyd | Its surface is rough and cracked. Shards of light glow everywhere. It
Floyd | looks sturdy enough to sustain your weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "stand on spike" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STAND ON SPIKE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can stand on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Climb it"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "climb spike" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB SPIKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb up the spike, finding enough grip to reach the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid (on the ice spike)
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north, beyond reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the roof, sparkles fall down from a broken piece of machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x machinery" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINERY
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "put the elektron on the plain surface"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on surface" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON SURFACE
Floyd |
Floyd | You link the Elektron to the machinery. The display on the device
Floyd | blinks twice: Some text appears on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Radio wave emissions. Geo-gravitational pull. Very low
Floyd | response. Tap display to activate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a powerful blink in the four dots, then it all returns to
Floyd | normal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read elektron" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Radio wave emissions. Geo-gravitational pull. Very low
Floyd | response. Tap display to activate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "maybe it needs to be on the door"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It is firmly stuck in the stone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not sure."
		chaudmin says, "\:/"
		DavidW says, "The cylinder might be missing something it needs to work."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron is connected to the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cuts" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUTS
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron is connected to the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x surface" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SURFACE
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron is connected to the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch dots" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH DOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pattern" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PATTERN
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron is connected to the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a powerful blink in the four dots, then it all returns to
Floyd | normal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we leave the elektron here when we go to the dome? Are they connected?"
		DavidW says, "(I hope the walls don't return once we open them.)"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x elektron" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | A glossy side, a sticky side and some text on the display. On the
Floyd | lower part of the sticky side, a slot welcomes a heart-shaped quartz,
Floyd | now pulsating with life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a wax soap, a black box, a steel bar, a new railway
Floyd | ticket, some Report files and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "it is currently connected"
		DavidW asks, "Where's the weight?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in box" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | In the black box are an Elektron and a metal weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "uhhh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x weight" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | A kilogram. Almost perfect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "you'd think the elektron would leave the box, haha"
		DavidW says, "yeah, that interior description might be a bug."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "attach weight to cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACH WEIGHT TO CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You would achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Any idea why the elektron and a weight would be together?"
		chaudmin says, "nope."
		chaudmin asks, "some kind of scale somewhere?"
		DavidW says, "Must be, I suppose. There's supposed to be a lab somewhere."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Before leaving, you remove the Elektron from the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | You get off the ice spike.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north, beyond reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | An ice spike the size of a bus has been thrusted into the room from
Floyd | below. It shines, the light coming from a source underneath it, and it
Floyd | is illuminating the area. The color and shape of the chunk betray the
Floyd | ice as very, very old, the likes of which you studied from the
Floyd | Monarch's glacial era.
Floyd |
Floyd | Above the spike, near the roof, sparkles fall down from a broken piece
Floyd | of machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, the top of the spike isn't a new room, I guess."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The massive ice spike is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tunnel" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUNNEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x machinery" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINERY
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before, although it is hard to tell from here) has been pushed into
Floyd | the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x light" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x elektron" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | A glossy side, a sticky side and some text on the display. On the
Floyd | lower part of the sticky side, a slot welcomes a heart-shaped quartz,
Floyd | now pulsating with life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		* GDorn has left the channel.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read text" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ TEXT
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: No source. Expected link missing. Check status and
Floyd | connection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin sighs.
		chaudmin says, "dangit, I actually need to leave"
		chaudmin asks, "will you be alright on your own?"
		DavidW says, "we can stop here"
		DavidW asks, "We can continue later today, or tomorrow, perhaps?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "hmm. I should be back in a few hours. we could finish then."
		DavidW says, "okay."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		chaudmin says, "see ya"
chaudmin sets location to elsewhere. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfaafc" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW says, "Guess I'll leave Perry recording for now."
		DavidW says, "(end of first half of session at 2:18pm Sun Jun 21, 2015)"
kpaquette arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
kpaquette has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		kpaquette asks, "Is clubfloyd over?"
		DavidW says, "We stopped at 2:18 because chaudmin had to go. We might restart when they return, but I don't know when that might be."
		kpaquette asks (of davidW), "Okay. What if I forget my password again and Jacqueline is not here?"
		DavidW says, "Password for what? And Jacqueline isn't here today."
		kpaquette asks (of davidW), "How do I check all of my messages?"
		DavidW asks, "you mean your mail?"
		Jacqueline says (to Katie), "Don't forget your password. You can reset it yourself to something you can remember by typing @password = newpassword"
		Jacqueline says (to Katie), "But don't make your new password 'newpassword'. Make the password something you'll remember and others won't guess."
		kpaquette says (to jacqueline), "I can't change my password. I want it to be barnabas. So I typed @password = barnabas"
kpaquette arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
kpaquette has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		chaudmin says, "I have returned, no worse for wear"
		kpaquette says, "Let's go to the toyshop then."
kpaquette arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
chaudmin arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		chaudmin asks (of DavidW), "are you available?"
		kpaquette asks (of davidW), "Chaudmin is back. Are you available?"
		DavidW says, "I was lying down."
DavidW arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says, "(It's 4:36 now, if anyone cares.)"
		DavidW says, "I've forgotten the terp name again."
		DavidW says, "oh, sleepmask"
		kpaquette says (to davidW), "I don't."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask andromawfc" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morning comes, in Monarch. An eerie light permeates the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been a hard night...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So watch the old world melt away
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  A loss regrets could never mend
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  You'll never miss it till it's gone
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So say goodbye
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  Say goodbye to seasons end.
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  --Seasons End, Marillion
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | [First time players should type ABOUT or HELP for some important
Floyd | stuff about Interactive Fiction and this game]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Marco Innocenti
Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 120121 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Andy's Apartment
Floyd | A bed, a table, a bathroom. This is all that's left of your colleague,
Floyd | Professor Re's. Some dust, an eerie atmosphere and just a memory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "okay, it's back."
		chaudmin says, "alright, so."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a wax soap, a black box, a steel bar, a new railway
Floyd | ticket, some Report files and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I should've taken the downtime to make a map, but I didn't."
		chaudmin says (to DavidW), "I still remember the general layout, I think"
		chaudmin says, "we attached the elektron to the cylinder, but it did nothing"
		DavidW says (to kpaquette), "Anyway, we're on a planet called Monarch, and it's in danger. We're underground, looking for anything that might help us save the planet."
		kpaquette says, "Hmm."
		chaudmin asks, "I can't remember the name of the dome thingy. hyerotrope?"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "I think we should return to the dome, and see if it's changed."
		chaudmin says, "right"
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "That sounds right. I just call it the dome."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go south].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | Light vibrates and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The
Floyd | floor seems to be made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of
Floyd | the same plastic material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal
Floyd | door bears the sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more
Floyd | relieving vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the west wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large chunk of rock from the cave mouth, up above, has fallen into
Floyd | the molten span and now looks like a bridge of sorts between it and
Floyd | the Construct pillar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A grim mouth dug into the span's wall starts here and crawls inside
Floyd | the earth, disappearing after a twist to the south. A bright blue
Floyd | light pulsates there, faint. In front of you, the molten span is still
Floyd | visible, although the curve of the collapsing ceiling covers your
Floyd | sight. The cliff then dives deep into the roaring lava, debris
Floyd | dropping from its edge now and then. You can reach the quartz
Floyd | outcropping walking -- carefully -- southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A lesser tremor splinters the cliff, sending pieces into the fiery pit
Floyd | below.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hyerotrope
Floyd | A dome of sorts has been carved in the earth, an inner sanctum of
Floyd | inhumane proportions, spanning for hundreds of meters in all
Floyd | directions. The wall's surface is smooth and shiny, cut into a dark
Floyd | material that looks like obsidian. On the ground, a maze of carvings
Floyd | draw perfect lines that intersect each other and run throughout the
Floyd | floor; all are filled by an ethereal substance as thin as air that
Floyd | glows in a faint blue. They seem to revolve around a single entity in
Floyd | the center of the gargantuan structure, and sink under its base. Many
Floyd | of these cuts then proceed over the structure, like an electric ivy
Floyd | clinging to it. Light shimmers from nowhere in particular and from all
Floyd | around at the same time, reverberating on the rock and on the steel
Floyd | floor. A faint buzz is the only noise audible, the rest of the
Floyd | universe swallowed in an uncomfortable, dark silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The demi-spheric bunker, a perfect inside-out replica of the halls
Floyd | around it, sits in the exact center of the room. It sinks into the
Floyd | ground as if pushed into it by some great force, a gap a few
Floyd | centimeters wide separating it from the floor. Its dark skin inflates
Floyd | and exhales like an ancient heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | What looks like a door draws a perfect rectangle on this side of the
Floyd | dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no way of telling how this "door" can be opened.. On it, four
Floyd | small dots draw a perfect line, in its center.
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside four of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "attach elektron to door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACH ELEKTRON TO DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You would achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put elektron on door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You link the Elektron to the door of the dome. The display on the
Floyd | device blinks twice: Some text appears on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Geo-gravitational pull. Alert. Peaks at 13.6x10^12 gamma
Floyd | epsilon. Reading off scale. Process terminated.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wow. There must be a power source of gigantic proportions in there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "that was marginally helpful"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no evident way of doing that. There must be a trick of sorts
Floyd | to open the door. If it is a door, of course.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm wondering if the elektron is more capable than we think it is. We should try putting it on anything, see if analyzes anything."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on e-pad" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON E-PAD
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the E-Pad is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on carvings" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON CARVINGS
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the glowing cracks is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put elektron on top" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON TOP
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of E-Pad's top is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put elektron on bottom" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON BOTTOM
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of E-Pad's bottom is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "okay, I guess it isn't so general after all."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research elektron" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | A portable interface. It connects to a receiving surface and works
Floyd | as an input device for commands and other tasks. Upon connection, it
Floyd | analyses the target and gives out: a) a fast signature recap; and b)
Floyd | the default commands to be executed (when provided). It usually needs
Floyd | a resonating crystal as a power stabilizer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "there's just that dark room left"
		DavidW says, "oh, ok"
		DavidW says, "But we still don't have a better light."
		chaudmin says, "just a bar of soap"
		DavidW asks, "Are we hoping that the soap glows in the dark? Like a lot?"
		chaudmin says, "wouldn't that be nice"
		chaudmin says, "you said something about melting it into a candle, maybe"
		DavidW says, "yes, and you said we'd need a wick for that idea."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "light soap" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LIGHT SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | This dangerous act would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "melt soap" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELT SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "burn soap" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BURN SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | This dangerous act would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "wash me with soap" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WASH ME WITH SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "perhaps my idea was wrong."
		chaudmin says, "well the soap must do *something*"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "eat soap" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's plainly inedible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "there's also that metal weight"
		DavidW says, "I see no use for the weight."
		chaudmin says, ">lift weight"
		DavidW says, "hm. Perhaps we can try walking in the dark room anyway. Perhaps we'll find something by touch."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Cave Mouth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Before leaving, you remove the Elektron from the door of the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Mouth
Floyd | A grim mouth dug into the span's wall starts here and crawls inside
Floyd | the earth, disappearing after a twist to the south. A bright blue
Floyd | light pulsates there, faint. In front of you, the molten span is still
Floyd | visible, although the curve of the collapsing ceiling covers your
Floyd | sight. The cliff then dives deep into the roaring lava, debris
Floyd | dropping from its edge now and then. You can reach the quartz
Floyd | outcropping walking -- carefully -- southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small chunk of rock falls into the magma from the edge of the cliff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Hollow Grounds
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hollow Grounds
Floyd | The immense magma river flows below effortlessly, although slow and
Floyd | patiently. The whole cave is lit by its fiery belly. From here you can
Floyd | see the broken pillar rising from the flames like a finger pointing
Floyd | the sky -- a sky made of crumbling rocks and metal -- and the stony
Floyd | walls surrounding the sight like the steps of a giant arena. Below,
Floyd | the thin cornice cuts a distinct line on the side of it, losing itself
Floyd | in the distance inside a small passage to the west. The piece of
Floyd | quartz you are standing on has resisted the quake's onslaught and is
Floyd | now holding itself onto the rock like a cat on a tree trunk. Something
Floyd | like steps rise from here to an alcove, up above and near the ceiling.
Floyd | A faint cyanotic light pulsates inside it. You can reach it to the
Floyd | northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large chunk of rock from the cave mouth, up above, has fallen into
Floyd | the molten span and now looks like a bridge of sorts between it and
Floyd | the Construct pillar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Or smell. Or by listening."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Molten Span
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Molten Span
Floyd | A gigantic river of molten rocks and magma slowly cuts its way in a
Floyd | wide crack running before your eyes. You stand uncomfortably over a
Floyd | small stony step which looks like a building's cornice and serves as
Floyd | the only walkway at the side of the underground cliff, off to the east
Floyd | and west. Pieces of building sink into the ground and pop out from the
Floyd | ceiling of the enormous cave, like steel crosses in an abandoned
Floyd | cemetery. In the middle of the crack, to the north, bathing in magma,
Floyd | rests the crippled half of one of the Construct pillars, the remaining
Floyd | structure lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bridge of sedimentary stone has fallen from above, and now rests in
Floyd | a scarce equilibrium above the fiery canyon between here and the
Floyd | pillar's broken surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the north wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. You can
Floyd | find no exits: the E-Pad is not enough to shed a light on this obscure
Floyd | womb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on wall" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of Walls_dark is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | By touching the walls, you discover an exit on the north wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Lab
Floyd | Again, disaster struck.
Floyd |
Floyd | The walls of what once was a sort of laboratory are but piles of
Floyd | debris and distorted laminas. The only passage large enough for your
Floyd | shoulders is west, through broken rocks. To the south, darkness marks
Floyd | the way to the corridors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only surviving piece of equipment, amidst the crumbled universe
Floyd | that is now this old planet, is a glass cabinet which batteries still
Floyd | power. A fluorescent light shines on its pale interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yay me"
		chaudmin says, "hooray"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the cabinet you can see a disc that someone labeled "Alpha" and
Floyd | a disc labeled "Beta".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x alpha" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALPHA
Floyd |
Floyd | It has two plain surfaces. One is smooth and polished. The other is
Floyd | marked by an astonishing number of protruding lines, like a maze of
Floyd | sorts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on alpha" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON ALPHA
Floyd |
Floyd | The surviving glass cabinet isn't open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the surviving glass cabinet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on alpha" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON ALPHA
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the disc that someone labeled "Alpha" is not good for
Floyd | that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x beta" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BETA
Floyd |
Floyd | It has two plain surfaces. One is smooth and polished. The other is
Floyd | marked by an astonishing number of protruding lines, like a maze of
Floyd | sorts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think the discs are for the dome."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take alpha" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALPHA
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take beta" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BETA
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Didn't the dome have a maze of lines too?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take batteries" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BATTERIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't tell where they are. And you don't really need them, after
Floyd | all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take light" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE LIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x debris" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEBRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "This is the gamma section, though, isn't it?"
		chaudmin says, "uhhh"
		DavidW asks, "Alpha was west, gamma was east, so is Beta in the middle somehow?"
		chaudmin says, "maybe"
		chaudmin says, "I don't really recall"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Nail
Floyd | Another lab, where light is just a thick, yellow smoke at nose-height.
Floyd | All seems in place: the cabinets, the tables, the displays. Even a
Floyd | terminal, which sits on the northeast corner of the room, seems real
Floyd | enough to push the thought it could actually be functional. But:
Floyd | there's something more, something you couldn't have honestly
Floyd | anticipated.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something like a talon has cut this room in two. Its three meter long,
Floyd | shiny carapace is dripping with horror and malevolence. In from the
Floyd | west wall, it has crushed everything and splintered stone and metal
Floyd | together with no effort. You cannot fathom what -- or who -- it must
Floyd | belong to.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nail seems nerveless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The elektron mentioned it back when we opened the walls."
		chaudmin says, "oh yeah, it did"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks metallic, although you are certain it must be a
Floyd | beast's nail. It is still as a statue, but you are convinced
Floyd | life still runs through it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "My idea that the planet woke up a dragon seems still possible. Dragons have talons."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "touch it" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH IT
Floyd |
Floyd | It is cold as ice. Still, you know warm blood must run in
Floyd | there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put elektron on nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the talon is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research dragon" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH DRAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x terminal" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | A keyboard and a screen. It sits silently, seemingly turned off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on terminal" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of the old terminal is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn on terminal" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen comes to life. What comes up appears to be a diagram of
Floyd | sorts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x screen" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCREEN
Floyd |
Floyd | (the old terminal)
Floyd | The screen shows a diagram, indicating what seems to be a comparison
Floyd | between energy spectrums, a kind of measurement you and Andy have been
Floyd | doing a lot, lately. Infact, it takes you but a second to recognize
Floyd | the waveforms and the patterns depicted.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the left, a vivid pink line indicates the remnants of the Event
Floyd | onslaught, that waveform that still can be picked up well beyond the
Floyd | Omega waves array. On the right, a similar (but much stronger) curve,
Floyd | printed in light blue, almost replicates the first one. There are no
Floyd | labels under the diagrams, still it's beyond any doubt the latter is
Floyd | what you and Andy called the Alpha Radiation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ironically, the two lines look like the output of a... quake
Floyd | measurement device.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Event, you murmur. As a conditioned reflex, you find
Floyd | yourself holding tight to the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research event" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH EVENT
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Event" a.k.a. "Event Primeval" or "the Crunch".
Floyd |
Floyd | During the Third Age, around year 7,892 of the Galaxy, the Event
Floyd | begun, spanning over 300 years as calculated from Korhos revolutionary
Floyd | times. At first just a mere brilliance in the night sky, as
Floyd | luminescent as any supernova effect, it was described as soon
Floyd | "enlarging and becoming more and more intense". Records from the era
Floyd | recount how something, inside the neighboring galaxy, grew so big that
Floyd | it actually devoured 90 percent of the stars in it. In time, the
Floyd | brilliance became less invasive, returning darkness to the night. In
Floyd | the end, on the third day of the fourth month of the year 8,140, the
Floyd | Event exploded, obliterating the sky on the southern hemisphere of
Floyd | Monarch. The lesser sun of the trinary system KFS, Fatimah, was
Floyd | actually involved in the deflagration. It was dislocated enough to
Floyd | enter the Korhos gravitational orbit, thus becoming its bigger
Floyd | satellite. The Event also wiped almost all life on the Andromeda
Floyd | galaxy: just the more technologically advanced inhabitants of the
Floyd | Monarch Republic survived the onslaught, by hiding underground and in
Floyd | the Mechanosatellites.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research mechanosatellites" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH MECHANOSATELLITES
Floyd |
Floyd | Structures orbiting Monarch at a very long range. Build as solid
Floyd | space stations, they were meant to be used as bunkers against the
Floyd | Event onslaught. Upon serving their purpose, they have been since left
Floyd | abandoned.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research alpha radiation" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH ALPHA RADIATION
Floyd |
Floyd | (Inserted by user 5,835 -- not present in general database)
Floyd |
Floyd | Radiation which pulsates from a specific point under Monarch's
Floyd | capital. Discovered on 25th/3rd/9,855. Generator or source: unkn.
Floyd | Z-position: unkn. Magnitude: feeble, but growing. ---- Warning: same
Floyd | kind of the Event residues. ----.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Getting to a satellite still sounds like an idea, if we can get to one."
		kpaquette says, "There's a switch back in the first or second room we visited."
		DavidW says (to kpaquette), "Yes. We pushed it and sorta broke it. There were sparks and metal melting."
		DavidW says, "We don't know what the switch did, but we can't do anything more with it."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Nail
Floyd | Another lab, where light is just a thick, yellow smoke at nose-height.
Floyd | All seems in place: the cabinets, the tables, the displays. Even a
Floyd | terminal, which sits on the northeast corner of the room, seems real
Floyd | enough to push the thought it could actually be functional. But:
Floyd | there's something more.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something like a talon has cut this room in two. Its three meter long,
Floyd | shiny carapace is dripping with horror and malevolence. In from the
Floyd | west wall, it has crushed everything and splintered stone and metal
Floyd | together with no effort. You cannot fathom what -- or who -- it must
Floyd | belong to.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nail seems nerveless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go east].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "That was in the abandoned warehouse. Unless there was another switch...?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cabinets" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CABINETS
Floyd |
Floyd | The furniture -- the part that isn't crushed under the talon's weight
Floyd | -- is the regular lab outfit, all metal and grey plastic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x displays" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAYS
Floyd |
Floyd | The furniture -- the part that isn't crushed under the talon's weight
Floyd | -- is the regular lab outfit, all metal and grey plastic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There could be more exits in the dark room. Also, I think the discs might help the dome."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Lab
Floyd | The walls of what once was a sort of laboratory are but piles of
Floyd | debris and distorted laminas. The only passage large enough for your
Floyd | shoulders is west, through broken rocks. To the south, darkness marks
Floyd | the way to the corridors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only surviving piece of equipment, amidst the crumbled universe
Floyd | that is now this old planet, is a glass cabinet which batteries still
Floyd | power. A fluorescent light shines on its pale interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. The only
Floyd | exit you found is north, to the laboratory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm gonna guess, though, we need 4 discs because there's 4 dots."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "touch wall" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH WALL
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Lab
Floyd | The walls of what once was a sort of laboratory are but piles of
Floyd | debris and distorted laminas. The only passage large enough for your
Floyd | shoulders is west, through broken rocks. To the south, darkness marks
Floyd | the way to the corridors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only surviving piece of equipment, amidst the crumbled universe
Floyd | that is now this old planet, is a glass cabinet which batteries still
Floyd | power. A fluorescent light shines on its pale interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "huh"
		DavidW says, "cute"
		DavidW says, "I guess that means the Dark Lab is the only other exit from there."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. The only
Floyd | exit you found is north, to the laboratory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "yup, guess that's it"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the north wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | The wide room is lit only by the fiery pits opening east beyond the
Floyd | crack in the wall. The rest is immersed in darkness. All you can
Floyd | discern are piles and piles of boxes and stuff put together who knows
Floyd | when and for who knows what. Glimmering in the reflections of your
Floyd | E-Pad's green light, a lonely hut, made from plastic wreckage and held
Floyd | together by iron wires, its door sprung open to the north. The
Floyd | warehouse goes on to the northwest, beyond more piles of stock.
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge switch hides behind some dust in the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "pull switch" 		

Floyd ]                        Abandoned Warehouse
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's already off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "actually, maybe the disks go with the cylinder?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Inside the hut
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the hut
Floyd | Darkness gets thicker in here. Shelves line up along the interior, but
Floyd | they are all empty. An old wire dangles from the ceiling with no lamp
Floyd | on it. The only exit is south, to the warehouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the light came in from a small cut in the wall, a wide crack
Floyd | opens, revealing an escape route to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the west wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | Light vibrates and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The
Floyd | floor seems to be made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of
Floyd | the same plastic material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal
Floyd | door bears the sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more
Floyd | relieving vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk past the vibertron door, which silently opens around you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north, beyond reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | An ice spike the size of a bus has been thrusted into the room from
Floyd | below. It shines, the light coming from a source underneath it, and it
Floyd | is illuminating the area. The color and shape of the chunk betray the
Floyd | ice as very, very old, the likes of which you studied from the
Floyd | Monarch's glacial era.
Floyd |
Floyd | Above the spike, near the roof, sparkles fall down from a broken piece
Floyd | of machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "climb spike" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB SPIKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb up the spike, finding enough grip to reach the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid (on the ice spike)
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north, beyond reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the roof, sparkles fall down from a broken piece of machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems the quake has exploded in here, sending all upwards, toward
Floyd | the surface. The machinery (the likes of which you've never seen
Floyd | before) has been pushed into the ceiling by a shattering force.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that you are near, you can carefully analyze it. It is a sort of
Floyd | metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. On it,
Floyd | four dots identical to the ones on the door of the Hyerotrope blink
Floyd | faintly. The exposed edge of the cylinder is a tangle of tiny cuts,
Floyd | each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A smooth, plain
Floyd | surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x alpha" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALPHA
Floyd |
Floyd | It has two plain surfaces. One is smooth and polished. The other is
Floyd | marked by an astonishing number of protruding lines, like a maze of
Floyd | sorts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Fido arrives. 		
Olly asks, "What up?" 		DavidW asks, "gonna try putting the discs on the cylinder?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put alpha on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ALPHA ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You try the disc labeled "Alpha", but it doesn't fit the machinery
Floyd | base. The lines and cuts don't match.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Olly), "ClubFloyd round 2" 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put beta on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT BETA ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You try the disk "Beta" on the machinery. It fits perfectly, the lines
Floyd | protruding from it matching the cuts on the base. The four dots blink
Floyd | twice, then start strobing and dancing to the rhythm of some unheard
Floyd | music.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is so much fun.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, it all comes crumbling down. The very earth trembles and drops
Floyd | to pieces. A wave comes rushing inside from the south, devastating the
Floyd | walls and the whole surroundings like a tsunami of stone. The ceiling
Floyd | holds, but the ice spike on which you stand is swallowed by the
Floyd | ground, that closes on it like curtains of doom.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the event comes to an end, the machinery has disappeared, lost
Floyd | somewhere, and you get up, bruised but uncannily unharmed.
Floyd |
Floyd | What has just happened? you ask yourself, while removing dust
Floyd | from your clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Oo."
		chaudmin says, "well, that certainly did something"
		DavidW says (to Olly), "We're playing Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut."
		DavidW says (to chaudmin), "Indeed yes."
		Olly says, "Okee."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a disc labeled "Alpha", a wax soap, a black box, a
Floyd | steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, I'm now guessing that we need to find 2 more discs and 3 more cylinders. I bet that one dot on the dome is now off."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another spark ignites your brain as you recall having read something,
Floyd | once, about a zone called the "Quarantine", where convicts of the
Floyd | underground settlements -- and something far more valuable -- were
Floyd | held... uhm, hostages.
Floyd |
Floyd | A seclusion area, you think. A place where things were
Floyd | hidden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't remember this room"
		chaudmin says, "the spike was blocking the way north"
		DavidW says, "oho"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research quarantine" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH QUARANTINE
Floyd |
Floyd | The reclusion area of the Underground Settlements. Different zones
Floyd | were used for storing artifacts found during excavations, storing
Floyd | unvaluable waste and garbage, and jailing those that were held
Floyd | responsible for acts of mischief during their duty.
Floyd |
Floyd | A non-conventional belief, by the way, is that the Quarantine was
Floyd | used to recess "guests" not too fond of keeping secrets and -- as the
Floyd | very name indicates -- to avoid unknown viruses from exiting the
Floyd | underground environment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ouch, you express loudly. Viruses? And to think that I
Floyd | forgot my medkit at home.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research wastes" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH WASTES
Floyd |
Floyd | A part of the Quarantine area, in the Settlements, was used as a
Floyd | waste facility. In there ended up all the garbage and the disposable
Floyd | utilities.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research cells" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH CELLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research pentagon" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH PENTAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin exclaims, "to the Wastes!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wastes
Floyd | A room as large as your condo opens before you. A set of metal stairs
Floyd | descends into what seems to be the largest waste basket you've ever
Floyd | seen. Walls are shiny in slime and other unpleasant sewages,
Floyd | reflecting the stale light that comes from bioluminescent lamps
Floyd | clinging to the ceiling. The overall sensation is that of a green
Floyd | pudding, bubbling inside a green basin, bathing in a green atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lamps" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LAMPS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So glad the pudding I just opened is orange."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x pudding" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PUDDING
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything that was rejected in the Settlements has been piled here.
Floyd | This is a sort of trash compactor, now luckily inert. Bathing in this
Floyd | sink is every kind of thing, much of it almost completely putrefied.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb down the ladder, every step uncomfortably sinking into
Floyd | ancient garbage and the thick smell of human decay.
Floyd |
Floyd | Waste Basket
Floyd | You are neck deep into a mass of old-decayed garbage. The only exit is
Floyd | up, via a metal ladder. The rest is a green horizon of smelly
Floyd | headaches.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "search pudding" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH PUDDING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search garbage" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GARBAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You rake the garbage, holding your breath -- and not
Floyd | figuratively. In the end, you come up with something unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | Waste Basket
Floyd | You are neck deep into a mass of old-decayed garbage. The only exit is
Floyd | up, via a metal ladder. The rest is a green horizon of smelly
Floyd | headaches.
Floyd |
Floyd | A glass case swims over the garbage. Something is floating inside it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x case" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | In the glass case is a perfect machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Another glass case? Maybe it has more discs?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x machine" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | A sort of metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown
Floyd | forces. On it, four dots identical to the ones on the door of the
Floyd | Hyerotrope blink faintly. The bottom edge of the cylinder is a tangle
Floyd | of tiny cuts, each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A
Floyd | smooth, plain surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Delta and Gamma, I hope?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open case" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | There are no obvious openings. It looks like a cage. Whatever that
Floyd | thing inside is is meant to stay there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, another cylinder."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit case with bar" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CASE WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The glass case resists the blow. It has obviously been designed to
Floyd | keep the cylinder trapped inside at any cost. You need to find
Floyd | something even more adamant to break it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Like that talon."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take case" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "we'll come back to that, then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wastes
Floyd | A room as large as your condo opens before you. A set of metal stairs
Floyd | descends into what seems to be the largest waste basket you've ever
Floyd | seen. Walls are shiny in slime and other unpleasant sewages,
Floyd | reflecting the stale light that comes from bioluminescent lamps
Floyd | clinging to the ceiling. The overall sensation is that of a green
Floyd | pudding, bubbling inside a green basin, bathing in a green atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "onward, to the Cells"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | You think about the madness that once must have inhabited this hall. A
Floyd | place where seclusion was the worst enemy, above danger, a scarce
Floyd | economy and not many escape routes. A full population of no-hopers,
Floyd | whom life on the surface was forbidden or set apart and that,
Floyd | eventually, was driven insane by its own lifestyle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ASA, in the end, proved above all the rest that "the end justifies
Floyd | the means" is just another hollow statement, built up by politicians
Floyd | to lay their plans with no opposition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Control Room
Floyd | A wall, covered in monitors. A table, unfurnished except for some
Floyd | lined square buttons in the middle and a lonely terminal, sitting on a
Floyd | corner. This is a sightseeing tour over the detention center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So we might have escaped convicts down here? Joy."
		chaudmin says, "they're probably long gone"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x terminal" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | A tap display and a vibertron surface. It is on, maybe self-powered.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | (the functioning terminal)
Floyd | There are three blank spaces and a virtual numeric keyboard on the
Floyd | terminal. Maybe you have to enter a code on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x buttons" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUTTONS
Floyd |
Floyd | Strangely, two of the buttons are lit. One bears the word "screens",
Floyd | the other: "shock".
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push screens" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SCREENS
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a burst in each of the monitors. One of them comes to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the monitors is lit. It shows the blank interiors of a stale
Floyd | cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
kpaquette goes home. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push shock" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SHOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a fain buzz, somewhere, then a tremor rocks the place.
Floyd | On the only lit monitor you witness something unexpected. A burst of
Floyd | lightning fills the room. Doing so, it ignites an explosion, on its
Floyd | far wall. A cloud of smoke plugs the visual for a minute.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "maybe undo that?"
		DavidW asks, "or maybe not?"
		chaudmin says, "I think we're supposed to do that"
		DavidW says, "okay"
		chaudmin says, "glad I pushed the screen button before the shock button"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the monitors is lit. It shows the blank interiors of a stale
Floyd | cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "if we need to shock something, we'll know to leave it in the cell, I guess."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk in the only open cell to the north and gasp.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inferno
Floyd | This is what hell must be.
Floyd |
Floyd | The walls of the tiny cell -- a mere two-by-two meters cubicle -- have
Floyd | all been painted and writings cover most of the surface. Someone, the
Floyd | inmate, has scratched every square centimeter of the concrete, leaving
Floyd | parts of himself among the apocalyptic messages and drawings.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is indeed a work that took time, and a relentless resolution. Or a
Floyd | madness without boundaries.
Floyd |
Floyd | And was the madness that took him to the confinement, you
Floyd | wonder, looking at the scars that mark the soul of this very room,
Floyd | or was it the other way around?
Floyd |
Floyd | The humming that fills this nightmare, as a moaning of a living being,
Floyd | stands as an answer, when all that is sane has left the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cylinder rests on the ground of the cell, on the opposite side of a
Floyd | hole dug into the wall where it must have been trapped before the
Floyd | explosion.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round hole marks the wall where the cylinder once stood trapped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ah, there was a cylinder there"
		DavidW says, "huzzah"
		DavidW says, "My idea that there are 4 cylinders seems still possible."
		chaudmin says, "it's very likely"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x wall" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The writings have been scratched in blood. Nails and finger parts are
Floyd | still clinging to the raped wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is the end this is the end
Floyd | Lemme out
Floyd | I found the way    There is a way
Floyd | Itch itch itch
Floyd | Help me
Floyd | Apocalypse comes from down under
Floyd | They all speak in riddles    They all speak to me     I can hear
Floyd | them
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, the single writing that catches your attention:
Floyd |
Floyd | The FIRST initiative. Their testament. I have seen it. This is all
Floyd | going to end. Use the bounds use their number.
Floyd |
Floyd | The first initiative. The one secreted so many years ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | And that sentence: "Apocalypse comes from down under". Could it be
Floyd | talking about the Alpha Radiation?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research first initiative" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH FIRST INITIATIVE
Floyd |
Floyd | This unit was not allowed to download resources on the matter.
Floyd | Sorry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "suspicious"
		DavidW says, "yeah, I tried to look that one up earlier. And yes, very suspicious."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the perfect cylinder)
Floyd | A sort of metal cylinder, levigated beyond perfection by unknown
Floyd | forces. On it, four dots identical to the ones on the door of the
Floyd | Hyerotrope blink faintly. The bottom edge of the cylinder is a tangle
Floyd | of tiny cuts, each twisted into the other in an unique pattern. A
Floyd | smooth, plain surface is visible just a few centimeters near the dots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | All you see is part of the next cell. Blank as a politician's speech.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a glass case, a disc labeled "Alpha", a wax soap, a
Floyd | black box, a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files and an
Floyd | E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put alpha on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ALPHA ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the perfect cylinder)
Floyd | You try the disk "Alpha" on the perfect cylinder. It fits perfectly,
Floyd | the lines protruding from it matching the cuts on the base. The four
Floyd | dots blink twice, then start strobing and dancing to the rhythm of
Floyd | some unheard music. The perfect machine flees from your hands and
Floyd | start levitating in front of you. Then, shrieking like a wraith, it
Floyd | flies away, jumping into the very ground and digging itself an escape.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "goodbye, cylinder"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Inferno
Floyd | The walls of the tiny cell -- a mere two-by-two meters cubicle -- have
Floyd | all been painted and writings cover most of the surface. Someone, the
Floyd | inmate, has scratched every square centimeter of the concrete, leaving
Floyd | parts of himself among the apocalyptic messages and drawings.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round hole marks the wall where the cylinder once stood trapped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I wonder where they're going? The dome, maybe?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's ten centimeters wide.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh well. Continue."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon
Floyd | A five-sided room, which the earthquake has just barely scratched.
Floyd | Five exits run from here, each marked with a letter, except for the
Floyd | one which stands blank on the north wall. To the northeast, a capital
Floyd | "A" hangs over a grate, which seems stuck to the walls, unopenable.
Floyd | Southeast, "B" rests over what remains of a tunnel that has caved in,
Floyd | some of the rocks fallen inside the room. Northwest and southwest,
Floyd | respectively, "C" and "D" sign two metal doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x grate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | Iron bars, the old style. Rust cover its surface. Beyond the grate
Floyd | only darkness and a dripping sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rocks" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X  ROCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x c" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X C
Floyd |
Floyd | Its massive vibertron structure is inert in this powerless
Floyd | environment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x d" 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x b" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X D
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing unexpected in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X B
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x d door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X D DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | This door is different. It is not made from vibertron, but all in
Floyd | solid steel. Its surface is marked by a yellow scar -- a logo of sorts
Floyd | -- depicting a triangle with rays all around it. The words "CAUTION:
Floyd | DANGER ZONE" are the only other detail. A knob rests on the right side
Floyd | of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Radiation hazard?"
		DavidW says, "We might need a radiation suit."
		chaudmin says, "save that one for later, then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the barred gate)
Floyd | (first unlocking the barred gate)
Floyd | You lack a key that fits the barred gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put elektron on d door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON D DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of southwest door is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening northwest door)
Floyd | (first unlocking northwest door)
Floyd | You lack a key that fits northwest door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "come on, man"
		DavidW says, "It seems mean to have a 5-exit room where we can't go any direction but back the way we came."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x knob" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KNOB
Floyd |
Floyd | This door is different. It is not made from vibertron, but all in
Floyd | solid steel. Its surface is marked by a yellow scar -- a logo of sorts
Floyd | -- depicting a triangle with rays all around it. The words "CAUTION:
Floyd | DANGER ZONE" are the only other detail. A knob rests on the right side
Floyd | of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn knob" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN KNOB
Floyd |
Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x b" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X B
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "se is blocked, nw and ne are locked, sw is the DANGER ZONE"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening southwest door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning Lab
Floyd | It is now proven that the train derailed over the scientific area of
Floyd | the Settlements. This is yet another lab. The walls are made of the
Floyd | same old white plastic as the rest of the corridors that crowd the
Floyd | place. As opposite to the rest of the environment, this large room
Floyd | seems unscarred. The yellow floor is dotted by tracks in black-striped
Floyd | adhesives, drawing lines around the structure that rests in the center
Floyd | of the chamber. There is not much by the way of furniture, except for
Floyd | a single, foreign machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cube, three meters wide, sleeps in the very center of the room. A
Floyd | strong, tight bundle of wires moves from its bottom towards the
Floyd | eastern wall, where it disappears in a plug. Two bays are open on the
Floyd | machine's top. Something that looks like a laser cannon points at the
Floyd | right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "doesn't seem that dangerous"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x machine" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the cubic device)
Floyd | A cube, three meters wide, sleeps in the very center of the room. A
Floyd | strong, tight bundle of wires moves from its bottom towards the
Floyd | eastern wall, where it disappears in a plug. Two bays are open on the
Floyd | machine's top. Something that looks like a laser cannon points at the
Floyd | right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x plug" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLUG
Floyd |
Floyd | You are certain the wires are the power source for the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bays" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAYS
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the left bay or the right bay?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x left bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LEFT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The left bay is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x right bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RIGHT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The right bay is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I was hoping for at least a shape."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cannon" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks like a plasma gun or a laser rifle. It is warm, indicating
Floyd | that it is functional. On the back of the gun is a red button, marked
Floyd | "FIRE".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Square bays, circular bays, michael bays?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wall" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "maybe the cannon opens up locked grates."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | A blue ray scans the empty left bay. The laser beam charges and fires
Floyd | once into the right bay, barely scratching its surface. There is
Floyd | something missing, obviously.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. We need things in the bays first."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put case in right bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT CASE IN RIGHT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The glass case won't fit the bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Darned if I know what."
		DavidW says, "I think we should use the talon, the nail, to open the case."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x wires" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WIRES
Floyd |
Floyd | You are certain the wires are the power source for the machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon
Floyd | A five-sided room, which the earthquake has just barely scratched.
Floyd | Five exits run from here, each marked with a letter, except for the
Floyd | one which stands blank on the north wall. To the northeast, a capital
Floyd | "A" hangs over a grate, which seems stuck to the walls, unopenable.
Floyd | Southeast, "B" rests over what remains of a tunnel that has caved in,
Floyd | some of the rocks fallen inside the room. Northwest and southwest,
Floyd | respectively, "C" and "D" sign two metal doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Glass Divide
Floyd | Another lab. This time, the walls have resisted the quake onslaught
Floyd | and just a few cracks depict their skin. A couple of chairs are poised
Floyd | against a big screening window, beyond which you can barely see. A
Floyd | thick layer of dust and smoke has painted it black. You can see the
Floyd | quartz tunnel to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Although very dirty, the window can be seen through, due to the strong
Floyd | light on the other side. The room seems empty. Only a parallelepipedon
Floyd | stands in its center, and you can discern nothing else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I used to know what a parallelepiped was"
		DavidW says, "gee, I haven't seen a parallelepipedon since So Far's music box."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x parallelepipedon" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARALLELEPIPEDON
Floyd |
Floyd | Although very dirty, the window can be seen through, due to the strong
Floyd | light on the other side. The room seems empty. Only a parallelepipedon
Floyd | stands in its center, and you can discern nothing else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x chairs" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIRS
Floyd |
Floyd | Two chairs, rusted and broken. They must have been left here a long
Floyd | time ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small, dusty object sits on one of the chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Glass Divide
Floyd | Another lab. This time, the walls have resisted the quake onslaught
Floyd | and just a few cracks depict their skin. A couple of chairs are poised
Floyd | against a big screening window, beyond which you can barely see. A
Floyd | thick layer of dust and smoke has painted it black. You can see the
Floyd | quartz tunnel to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a disc labeled "Gamma" here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Sorta like a squashed or slanted box."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take gamma" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GAMMA
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yay"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit window with bar" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT WINDOW WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The window seems sturdy enough to resist you attack.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open window" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Glass Divide
Floyd | Another lab. This time, the walls have resisted the quake onslaught
Floyd | and just a few cracks depict their skin. A couple of chairs are poised
Floyd | against a big screening window, beyond which you can barely see. A
Floyd | thick layer of dust and smoke has painted it black. You can see the
Floyd | quartz tunnel to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open windwo" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN WINDWO
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open window" 		

Floyd ]                            Glass Divide
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't find a way of opening it. It has been designed to stay in
Floyd | place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "windwo"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh well"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Opposite of windwere."
Olly disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
Fido departs. 		DavidW says, "Was there ever as a story of more wo than the parallelapipedon behind its windwo."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go north and south].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | Light vibrates and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The
Floyd | floor seems to be made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of
Floyd | the same plastic material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal
Floyd | door bears the sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more
Floyd | relieving vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the west wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the north wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. The only
Floyd | exit you found is north, to the laboratory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Lab
Floyd | The walls of what once was a sort of laboratory are but piles of
Floyd | debris and distorted laminas. The only passage large enough for your
Floyd | shoulders is west, through broken rocks. To the south, darkness marks
Floyd | the way to the corridors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only surviving piece of equipment, amidst the crumbled universe
Floyd | that is now this old planet, is a glass cabinet which batteries still
Floyd | power. A fluorescent light shines on its pale interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Nail
Floyd | Another lab, where light is just a thick, yellow smoke at nose-height.
Floyd | All seems in place: the cabinets, the tables, the displays. Even a
Floyd | terminal, which sits on the northeast corner of the room, seems real
Floyd | enough to push the thought it could actually be functional. But:
Floyd | there's something more.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something like a talon has cut this room in two. Its three meter long,
Floyd | shiny carapace is dripping with horror and malevolence. In from the
Floyd | west wall, it has crushed everything and splintered stone and metal
Floyd | together with no effort. You cannot fathom what -- or who -- it must
Floyd | belong to.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nail seems nerveless.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "throw case at nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > THROW CASE AT NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Not even an alien gigantic nail could open that glass case. It is not
Floyd | sharp enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "dang"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x case" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | In the glass case is a perfect machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "but ... it recognized the attempt."
		chaudmin says, "something sharp"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit nail with bar" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT NAIL WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | With the risk of waking it up? Never.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a disc labeled "Gamma", a glass case, a wax soap, a
Floyd | black box, a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files and an
Floyd | E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Fido arrives. 		DavidW says, "Personally, I couldn't sleep with my fingernail stuck in a wall. Just sayin'."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap on case" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP ON CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the glass case would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a disc labeled "Gamma", a glass case, a wax soap, a
Floyd | black box, a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files and an
Floyd | E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The soap is probably to make something more frictionless, I'm now thinking."
		DavidW asks, "The ol', ring is stuck on a finger, have you tried soap puzzle?"
		chaudmin says, "well, I have no idea where to get something sharp"
		DavidW asks, "Another possibility: The soap might help us make a wax impression of something, and maybe the danger cube laser replicates that impression in metal?"
		chaudmin says, "hmmmm"
		chaudmin says, "back to the danger cube"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                              Dark Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Lab
Floyd | The walls of what once was a sort of laboratory are but piles of
Floyd | debris and distorted laminas. The only passage large enough for your
Floyd | shoulders is west, through broken rocks. To the south, darkness marks
Floyd | the way to the corridors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only surviving piece of equipment, amidst the crumbled universe
Floyd | that is now this old planet, is a glass cabinet which batteries still
Floyd | power. A fluorescent light shines on its pale interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Dark Recess
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark Recess
Floyd | Darkness falls. The faint, sterile light coming from the opening to
Floyd | the south is devoured by the walls of this twisted tunnel, a cut in
Floyd | the earth running diagonal and scattered in every direction. The only
Floyd | exit you found is north, to the laboratory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run west from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the north wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I don't know of any especially sharp things. Is quartz sharp?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take splinter" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SPLINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You carefully remove the quartz from the Elektron.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "cut case with splinter" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT CASE WITH SPLINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to cut the glass case.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "cut case" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Cutting that up would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint crumbling sound breaks the silence of the place, somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "guess that's not it"
Olly says (to Floyd), "open case with splinter" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CASE WITH SPLINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "guess not"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east-west in this blank passage. No doors or windows
Floyd | open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown in
Floyd | through the roof. A crack breaks the southern wall like a black scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                        Featureless Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Featureless Corridor
Floyd | Pale walls run east from here in this blank passage. No doors or
Floyd | windows open in the underground, but light fills the corridor, blown
Floyd | in through the roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | A gap opens where the west wall once stood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Blinking Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blinking Room
Floyd | Light vibrates and sends shimmering glances all over the place. The
Floyd | floor seems to be made from plain, levigated rock. The walls are of
Floyd | the same plastic material of the near corridor. To the west, a metal
Floyd | door bears the sign "storeroom" while, to the north, stands a more
Floyd | relieving vibertron portal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Cold Pyramid
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk past the vibertron door, which silently opens around you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold Pyramid
Floyd | Chunks of rock have emerged from the broken floor, piercing through
Floyd | the roof. From there, massive blocks of concrete and steel hang,
Floyd | remnants of the city above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tunnel cuts its way into the earth to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon
Floyd | A five-sided room, which the earthquake has just barely scratched.
Floyd | Five exits run from here, each marked with a letter, except for the
Floyd | one which stands blank on the north wall. To the northeast, a capital
Floyd | "A" hangs over a grate, which seems stuck to the walls, unopenable.
Floyd | Southeast, "B" rests over what remains of a tunnel that has caved in,
Floyd | some of the rocks fallen inside the room. Northwest and southwest,
Floyd | respectively, "C" and "D" sign two metal doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning Lab
Floyd | This is yet another lab. The walls are made of the same old white
Floyd | plastic as the rest of the corridors that crowd the place. As opposite
Floyd | to the rest of the environment, this large room seems unscarred. The
Floyd | yellow floor is dotted by tracks in black-striped adhesives, drawing
Floyd | lines around the structure that rests in the center of the chamber.
Floyd | There is not much by the way of furniture, except for a single,
Floyd | foreign machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cube, three meters wide, sleeps in the very center of the room. A
Floyd | strong, tight bundle of wires moves from its bottom towards the
Floyd | eastern wall, where it disappears in a plug. Two bays are open on the
Floyd | machine's top. Something that looks like a laser cannon points at the
Floyd | right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap in right bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP IN RIGHT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the wax soap into the right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | A blue ray scans the empty left bay. The laser beam charges but then
Floyd | switches off. There is something missing, obviously.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "wrong bay, whoops"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take soap" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think the wax should go in the left bay, to be scanned."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap in left bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP IN LEFT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the wax soap into the left bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "And something to carve goes in the right one."
		DavidW asks, "unless you want something carved of wax?"
		chaudmin exclaims, "OH!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put weight in right bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT WEIGHT IN RIGHT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the metal weight)
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the metal weight into the right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The laser beam cuts the metal weight, replicating the soap's surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "okay?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x weight" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | A kilogram. Almost perfect. A replica of the wax soap has been
Floyd | laser-cut onto it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. I didn't think of the weight for the 2nd bay."
		DavidW says, "But we don't need a replica of the soap as it currently is."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "carve soap" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CARVE SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Must affect its kilogrammyness."
		DavidW asks, "I think we melt the soap into something else?"
		Olly says, "Kilogramminess."
		chaudmin says, "a key perhaps"
		chaudmin says, "soap key"
		DavidW says, "so press the soap into a keyhole. Replicate the key here in metal."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take soap" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Worth a try."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon
Floyd | A five-sided room, which the earthquake has just barely scratched.
Floyd | Five exits run from here, each marked with a letter, except for the
Floyd | one which stands blank on the north wall. To the northeast, a capital
Floyd | "A" hangs over a grate, which seems stuck to the walls, unopenable.
Floyd | Southeast, "B" rests over what remains of a tunnel that has caved in,
Floyd | some of the rocks fallen inside the room. Northwest and southwest,
Floyd | respectively, "C" and "D" sign two metal doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap in grate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP IN GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x keyhole" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KEYHOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x grate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | Iron bars, the old style. Rust cover its surface. Beyond the grate
Floyd | only darkness and a dripping sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x c door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X C DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Its massive vibertron structure is inert in this powerless
Floyd | environment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. maybe not these doors/keyholes."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x a door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X A DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | (southwest door)
Floyd | This door is different. It is not made from vibertron, but all in
Floyd | solid steel. Its surface is marked by a yellow scar -- a logo of sorts
Floyd | -- depicting a triangle with rays all around it. The words "CAUTION:
Floyd | DANGER ZONE" are the only other detail. A knob rests on the right side
Floyd | of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x knob" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KNOB
Floyd |
Floyd | This door is different. It is not made from vibertron, but all in
Floyd | solid steel. Its surface is marked by a yellow scar -- a logo of sorts
Floyd | -- depicting a triangle with rays all around it. The words "CAUTION:
Floyd | DANGER ZONE" are the only other detail. A knob rests on the right side
Floyd | of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x ne door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing unexpected in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x a door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X A DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | (southwest door)
Floyd | This door is different. It is not made from vibertron, but all in
Floyd | solid steel. Its surface is marked by a yellow scar -- a logo of sorts
Floyd | -- depicting a triangle with rays all around it. The words "CAUTION:
Floyd | DANGER ZONE" are the only other detail. A knob rests on the right side
Floyd | of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ne door" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "argh"
Olly says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x splinter" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the barred gate)
Floyd | (first unlocking the barred gate)
Floyd | You lack a key that fits the barred gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPLINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | It is vaguely heart shaped. Its crystal resonates to the colors of the
Floyd | surroundings, shifting from pink to blue through all the spectrum.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		McMartin says, "Er, Steamworld certainly is on Android"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x gate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | Iron bars, the old style. Rust cover its surface. Beyond the grate
Floyd | only darkness and a dripping sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		McMartin says, "It's been in at least one Humble Mobile Bundle"
		DavidW says, "We should put the splinter back in the elektron, I think."
		McMartin says, "ILADC"
		DavidW asks (of McM), "channel?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put splinter in elektron" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SPLINTER IN ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | The quartz perfectly fits the slot on the back of the Elektron. The
Floyd | display comes to life, showing some text.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on knob" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON KNOB
Floyd |
Floyd | The surface of southwest door is not good for that.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "make wax key" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MAKE WAX KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "put soap in gate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP IN GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "If there's no keyhole or lock mechanism explicitly mentioned here, it can't be manipulated this way."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hit gate with bar" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT GATE WITH BAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It would probably ruin both the steel bar and the barred gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit gate with case" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT GATE WITH CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break case with gate" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BREAK CASE WITH GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x weight" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "it's still in the bay"
		DavidW says, "ah. ok."
		DavidW says, "I think we're on the right track in theory. It's just not these doors."
		chaudmin says, "I'm not sure what other things need keys"
		DavidW says, "well, maybe it's not a key we'll be making. It could be a disc."
		chaudmin says, "hmmm"
		DavidW says, "We might have to make the delta disc instead of find it."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Did we see both cells? Or was one cell the control room?"
		chaudmin says, "one was the control room"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Control Room
Floyd | A wall, covered in monitors. A table, unfurnished except for some
Floyd | lined square buttons in the middle and a lonely terminal, sitting on a
Floyd | corner. This is a sightseeing tour over the detention center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push shock" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SHOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a faint buzz.
Floyd | On the only lit monitor you see bursts of lightning filling the room.
Floyd | Nothing else happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inferno
Floyd | The walls of the tiny cell -- a mere two-by-two meters cubicle -- have
Floyd | all been painted and writings cover most of the surface. Someone, the
Floyd | inmate, has scratched every square centimeter of the concrete, leaving
Floyd | parts of himself among the apocalyptic messages and drawings.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round hole marks the wall where the cylinder once stood trapped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put case in hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT CASE IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, this is freudian.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We could search the wastes again in case more garbage is useful."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | A distant dripping sound echoes somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wastes
Floyd | A room as large as your condo opens before you. A set of metal stairs
Floyd | descends into what seems to be the largest waste basket you've ever
Floyd | seen. Walls are shiny in slime and other unpleasant sewages,
Floyd | reflecting the stale light that comes from bioluminescent lamps
Floyd | clinging to the ceiling. The overall sensation is that of a green
Floyd | pudding, bubbling inside a green basin, bathing in a green atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb down the ladder, every step uncomfortably sinking into
Floyd | ancient garbage and the thick smell of human decay.
Floyd |
Floyd | Waste Basket
Floyd | You are neck deep into a mass of old-decayed garbage. The only exit is
Floyd | up, via a metal ladder. The rest is a green horizon of smelly
Floyd | headaches.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "search garbage" 		

Floyd ]                            Waste Basket
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GARBAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "mmmmm"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                               Wastes
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wastes
Floyd | A room as large as your condo opens before you. A set of metal stairs
Floyd | descends into what seems to be the largest waste basket you've ever
Floyd | seen. Walls are shiny in slime and other unpleasant sewages,
Floyd | reflecting the stale light that comes from bioluminescent lamps
Floyd | clinging to the ceiling. The overall sensation is that of a green
Floyd | pudding, bubbling inside a green basin, bathing in a green atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
Fido departs. 		DavidW says, "If we're very stuck, revisit the dome, in case the flying cylinders have decided to come dome appendages."
		chaudmin says, "dome it is, then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to hyerotrope" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO HYEROTROPE
Floyd |
Floyd | You go south to the cold pyramid, south again to the blinking room,
Floyd | east to the featureless corridor, east again to the featureless
Floyd | corridor, south to the inside the hut, south again to the abandoned
Floyd | warehouse, east to the molten span, east again to the hollow grounds,
Floyd | northwest to the cave mouth and south to the hyerotrope.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hyerotrope
Floyd | A dome of sorts has been carved in the earth, an inner sanctum of
Floyd | inhumane proportions, spanning for hundreds of meters in all
Floyd | directions. The wall's surface is smooth and shiny, cut into a dark
Floyd | material that looks like obsidian. On the ground, a maze of carvings
Floyd | draw perfect lines that intersect each other and run throughout the
Floyd | floor; all are filled by an ethereal substance as thin as air that
Floyd | glows in a faint blue. They seem to revolve around a single entity in
Floyd | the center of the gargantuan structure, and sink under its base. Many
Floyd | of these cuts then proceed over the structure, like an electric ivy
Floyd | clinging to it. Light shimmers from nowhere in particular and from all
Floyd | around at the same time, reverberating on the rock and on the steel
Floyd | floor. A faint buzz is the only noise audible, the rest of the
Floyd | universe swallowed in an uncomfortable, dark silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The demi-spheric bunker, a perfect inside-out replica of the halls
Floyd | around it, sits in the exact center of the room. It sinks into the
Floyd | ground as if pushed into it by some great force, a gap a few
Floyd | centimeters wide separating it from the floor. Its dark skin inflates
Floyd | and exhales like an ancient heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | What looks like a door draws a perfect rectangle on this side of the
Floyd | dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "almost forgot about the go to command"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no way of telling how this "door" can be opened.. On it, four
Floyd | small dots draw a perfect line, in its center.
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside two of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dots" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. Light pulsates inside two of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Two dots gone, two dots remain."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put wax on maze" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT WAX ON MAZE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put soap on dome" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP ON DOME
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the dome would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap on carvings" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP ON CARVINGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the glowing cracks would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put soap on maze" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP ON MAZE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a wax soap, a disc labeled "Gamma", a glass case, a
Floyd | black box, a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some Report files and an
Floyd | E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research diamond" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH DIAMOND
Floyd |
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't see the missing cylinders here, unless they flew inside or underneath."
		chaudmin says, "they probably flew right out of the game"
		DavidW says, "very likely."
		DavidW says, "But I wasn't sure."
		chaudmin says, "...I'm not sure what to do now"
		DavidW says, "I'm stumped at the moment. If I was playing alone, I'd make a lot of careful notes, doublechecking everything."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "go to wagon" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO WAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving very carefully, you manage to put one step in front of the
Floyd | other, above the deep, until you get to...
Floyd |
Floyd | One step at a time. Very, very carefully.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go north to the cave mouth, southeast to the hollow grounds, west
Floyd | to the molten span, south to the rails' end, southwest to the last
Floyd | steel overlook and west to the broken wagon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Broken Wagon
Floyd | The crumpled floor rests inclined by forty degrees, making it very
Floyd | hard to stay on foot. You hold on to a bench, its metal handles your
Floyd | last resort against a fall. Light buzzes inside broken fluorescent
Floyd | lamps and sparks ignite the emptiness with futile effort. You are
Floyd | overwhelmed by... the gravity of the situation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Could we have missed something here?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bench" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks crackle under the seat, in the safety of the alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flames burst in a minor explosion, sending sparks all around the
Floyd | place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "not sure what"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bench" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks crackle under the seat, in the safety of the alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under seat" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER SEAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x alcove" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALCOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks crackle under the seat, in the safety of the alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I dunno what's making those sparks."
		DavidW asks, "Just wagon engine machinery?"
		chaudmin says, "probably"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jump" 		

Floyd ]                            Broken Wagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JUMP
Floyd |
Floyd | I'd be more polite with gravity, while balancing over a kilometer long
Floyd | chasm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | The chasm is under you. Its teeth close on the rails like the mouth of
Floyd | an all-devouring creature. You balance above nothing, an acrobat
Floyd | clinging to his own life, the only reasonable exit awaiting to the
Floyd | northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A broken wagon is dangling from the last of the rails, to the west.
Floyd | Light buzzes inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flames burst in a minor explosion, sending sparks all around the
Floyd | place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under wagon" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER WAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb wagon" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB WAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push wagon" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH WAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look down" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing unexpected in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flames burst in a minor explosion, sending sparks all around the
Floyd | place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the black box.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin shrugs.
		DavidW says, "I'm getting tired too. I think I need a break."
		DavidW asks, "Unless you can think of something?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, I'm gonna need to leave again soon"
		chaudmin says, "might as well come back later"
		DavidW says, "well, let's stop here. I'll try to make notes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin sets location to elsewhere. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfaafc" 		

Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW says, "(2nd session ended 6:39pm)"
Roger has disconnected. 		
Roger has connected. 		
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		chaudmin says, "so the only thing I've thought of is going to the room where we got the steel bar and seeing if the soap melts."
Firion arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
Firion has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Doug arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
Doug has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		chaudmin says, "ok, I've been playing on my own and I've figured out how to open the glass case"
		chaudmin says, "also found an info dump"
		DavidW says, "I've been playing alone making notes but I haven't caught up to where we stopped."
		DavidW says, "I did learn, though, that the switch in the warehouse turned off the power for the rails which lead to the broken wagon."
		DavidW asks, "Should we go back to the toyshop?"
		chaudmin says, "sure"
chaudmin arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
DavidW arrives, full of fun and funk. 		DavidW says, "(it's 11:16pm, still Sunday)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask andromawfc" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morning comes, in Monarch. An eerie light permeates the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been a hard night...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So watch the old world melt away
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  A loss regrets could never mend
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  You'll never miss it till it's gone
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  So say goodbye
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  Say goodbye to seasons end.
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                  --Seasons End, Marillion
Floyd | 
Floyd ]                
Floyd | 
Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                          Andy's Apartment
Floyd | [First time players should type ABOUT or HELP for some important
Floyd | stuff about Interactive Fiction and this game]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda Awakening - The Final Cut
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Marco Innocenti
Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 120121 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Andy's Apartment
Floyd | A bed, a table, a bathroom. This is all that's left of your colleague,
Floyd | Professor Re's. Some dust, an eerie atmosphere and just a memory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]                        Last Steel Overlook
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Take it away."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to cells" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO CELLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk past the vibertron door, which silently opens around you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go northeast to the rails' end, north to the molten span, west to
Floyd | the abandoned warehouse, north to the inside the hut, north again to
Floyd | the featureless corridor, west to the featureless corridor, west again
Floyd | to the blinking room, north to the cold pyramid, north again to the
Floyd | quartz tunnel, northwest to Quarantine and north to the cells.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Inferno
Floyd | The walls of the tiny cell -- a mere two-by-two meters cubicle -- have
Floyd | all been painted and writings cover most of the surface. Someone, the
Floyd | inmate, has scratched every square centimeter of the concrete, leaving
Floyd | parts of himself among the apocalyptic messages and drawings.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round hole marks the wall where the cylinder once stood trapped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x wall" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The writings have been scratched in blood. Nails and finger parts are
Floyd | still clinging to the raped wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is the end this is the end
Floyd | Lemme out
Floyd | I found the way    There is a way
Floyd | Itch itch itch
Floyd | Help me
Floyd | Apocalypse comes from down under
Floyd | They all speak in riddles    They all speak to me     I can hear
Floyd | them
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, the single writing that catches your attention:
Floyd |
Floyd | The FIRST initiative. Their testament. I have seen it. This is all
Floyd | going to end. Use the bounds use their number.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "scratch?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "research bounds" 		

Floyd ]                              Inferno
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESEARCH BOUNDS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sum of the 237 rules by which the ASA Republican Worlds work.
Floyd | They are divided into seven sections, each made up by at least 20
Floyd | so-called "initiatives". Only the first two Bounds contain just one
Floyd | Initiative each. Those were written in the Ancient Days before the
Floyd | reforming of the Republic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "237. there was a terminal that needed a passcode"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Control Room
Floyd | A wall, covered in monitors. A table, unfurnished except for some
Floyd | lined square buttons in the middle and a lonely terminal, sitting on a
Floyd | corner. This is a sightseeing tour over the detention center.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right, I forget where, though"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x terminal" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | A tap display and a vibertron surface. It is on, maybe self-powered.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x display" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | (the functioning terminal)
Floyd | A tap display and a vibertron surface. It is on, maybe self-powered.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "so 237?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | (the functioning terminal)
Floyd | There are three blank spaces and a virtual numeric keyboard on the
Floyd | terminal. Maybe you have to enter a code on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter 237 on terminal" 		

Floyd ]                            Control Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER 237 ON TERMINAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You type the number into terminal, and the screen wakes up. What
Floyd | follows sends frigid whiplashes through your spine.
Floyd |
Floyd | Initiative One (or First initiative)
Floyd |
Floyd | All reunited, the Council of the Thirteen pledges eternal secrecy
Floyd | upon this Initiative, which will not be traded, in any part, at any
Floyd | cost.
Floyd |
Floyd | The icy mantle under Monarch (System KFS - Andromeda galaxy) has
Floyd | been pierced. What the first human probes have found can only be
Floyd | described as the remnants of a former civilization, the mortal spoils
Floyd | of which can be trusted as ultimately lost. A series of globular
Floyd | machines lays in a pattern (called the Hyeromatrix), hidden under the
Floyd | very mantle of the earth. All forty-four of those machines (called the
Floyd | Hyerotropes) are dormant but still present a form of "living"
Floyd | electromagnetic and geo-gravitational power. Beyond this, an unknown
Floyd | energy array seems to be pulsing inside them, out of the usual
Floyd | spectrum. Whatever the structures are, there is indeed no way of
Floyd | stating that they aren't alien in nature.
Floyd |
Floyd | Moreso, the radiance emitted by one of the bigger spheres is very
Floyd | similar to the fast decaying fingerprints of the Event residue. This
Floyd | MUST be noted as extremely important.
Floyd |
Floyd | As the coded memories recount, the Event Primeval was a
Floyd | star-shattering event that devoured entirely our neighbor galaxy. An
Floyd | energy pattern so similar could mean the Event can be replicated -- or
Floyd | even controlled and slaved to one's benefit.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Andromeda colony came here from outer space many centuries
Floyd | before the Event happened. We now have time to study and understand
Floyd | how the Event started, to avoid this New Heaven being destroyed by
Floyd | forces as of now uncontrollable. For this reason, a containment cage
Floyd | will be closed around the forty-four Hyerotropes and investigative
Floyd | labs will be built under the Monarch's crust.
Floyd |
Floyd | By order of the Council of the Thirteen, the cage will be named
Floyd | "Construct" and the labs "the Settlements". For obvious secrecy
Floyd | reasons, the real motives behind the two buildings will be concealed
Floyd | from the population.
Floyd | Monarch Bastion Satellite, 12/05/8199.
Floyd | (signed by the thirteen members of the Council)
Floyd |
Floyd | You stand, shocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | So this is why they killed Andy. This is the secret they were
Floyd | trying to keep.
Floyd | This time, tears are held back by a forceful rage, contaminating you
Floyd | like an alien virus.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, something more sinister comes into stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyerotrope can replicate the Event. The whole of Andromeda
Floyd | would be...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "not really crucial, but a large textdump"
		DavidW says, "hmmm"
		chaudmin says, "and now for the case"
		DavidW asks, "So it's possible we can blow up the galaxy?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Cells
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cells
Floyd | The polished look of this area shouldn't betray its soul. A wing of
Floyd | containment rooms, each used for a specific purpose, as stated by the
Floyd | signs appended to each of the doors in the corridor. Many are
Floyd | storerooms for quarantined specimens, chambers armored against
Floyd | radiation, explosions and other unpredictable events. But the rest,
Floyd | lined in rows of hundreds, are just detention cells for human
Floyd | convicts. Among the many, two are open, west of here and further
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Quarantine
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quarantine
Floyd | The dark interiors of this hall, washed in a pale greenish dye, remind
Floyd | you of a hospital. A few corridors exit the chamber to the east, north
Floyd | and south, all marked by a red sign respectively to "the Wastes", "the
Floyd | Cells" and "the Pentagon". A tunnel exits to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | Crystal walls surround you, in every direction. To the south, they
Floyd | open to a more comfortable rock cave while, on the opposite direction,
Floyd | they separate in two different paths, to the northwest and east
Floyd | respectively.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Any sharp crystals here?"
		chaudmin says, "plenty"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "throw case" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > THROW CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | As the case hits the ground it shatters to pieces. The crystals made
Floyd | their job.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "huh. yay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | perfect machine: Taken.
Floyd | Elektron: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying an Elektron, a perfect machine, a wax soap, a disc
Floyd | labeled "Gamma", a black box, a steel bar, a new railway ticket, some
Floyd | Report files and an E-Pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put gamma on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                           Quartz Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT GAMMA ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You try the disk "Gamma" on the perfect machine. It fits perfectly,
Floyd | the lines protruding from it matching the cuts on the base. The four
Floyd | dots blink twice, then start strobing and dancing to the rhythm of
Floyd | some unheard music. The perfect machine flees from your hands and
Floyd | start levitating in front of you. Then, shrieking like a wraith, it
Floyd | flies away, jumping into the very ground and digging itself an escape.
Floyd | A fierce quake shakes the room like a cocktail mixer. Something must
Floyd | have occurred somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. ok. So that quake probably opened up something somewhere."
		chaudmin says, "took me a bit to find it, but..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to nail" 		

Floyd ]                                Nail
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO NAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go south to the cold pyramid, south again to the blinking room,
Floyd | east to the featureless corridor, east again to the featureless
Floyd | corridor, east again to the featureless corridor, north to the dark
Floyd | recess, north again to the dark lab and west to the nail.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nail
Floyd | Another lab, where light is just a thick, yellow smoke at nose-height.
Floyd | All seems in place: the cabinets, the tables, the displays. Even a
Floyd | terminal, which sits on the northeast corner of the room, seems real
Floyd | enough to push the thought it could actually be functional.
Floyd |
Floyd | Where the enormous talon once stood, now is a black gap, opening on
Floyd | the west wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. geez."
		DavidW asks, "so west?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "go ahead"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You dare enter the black gap. Slowly proceeding, you find a way into
Floyd | another section of the settlements.
Floyd |
Floyd | Windowed Habitat
Floyd | You find yourself in an empty room, except for a large
Floyd | parallelepipedon standing in its center. The walls are dusty and
Floyd | black, the floor is mere concrete, coarse and unattended. A large
Floyd | mirror dresses the west wall, almost completely. Its presence betrays
Floyd | this room as an inspection laboratory, where dangerous things could be
Floyd | tested in a relative safe place. The mirror is probably a one way
Floyd | window for scientists to look through towards the outcome of their
Floyd | effort.
Floyd |
Floyd | What is this, you mutter to yourself. What was examined
Floyd | here?
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron beeps twice in your hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing that you thought was an alien, enormous talon, now pops in
Floyd | from the north wall, showing itself for what it is: a wheel. It was
Floyd | part of a big machine, now it is torn in two and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | Big idiot. Things are getting onto your nerves, isn't it?
Floyd |
Floyd | You breathe slowly and regain your calm after a few moments.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh. The other side of the window?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read elektron" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ ELEKTRON
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: No source. Expected link missing. Check status and
Floyd | connection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "whoops, need to step away for a bit"
		DavidW says, "I'll wait."
		chaudmin says, "ok, back"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x parallelepiped" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARALLELEPIPED
Floyd |
Floyd | It is simply a large piece of metal, closed onto something that
Floyd | protrudes from its top. Maybe a detention machine for things to be
Floyd | examined.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put elektron on parallelepiped" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ELEKTRON ON PARALLELEPIPED
Floyd |
Floyd | You link the Elektron to the parallelepipedon. The display on the
Floyd | device blinks twice: Some text appears on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: Alpha radiation discovered. Alert. Alpha radiation
Floyd | discovered. Alert. Do not activate. Do not activate.
Floyd |
Floyd | Alpha radiation... we must be near the source. We must be near the
Floyd | cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm wondering if the Elektron beeps when there's a new thing to put it on."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tap display" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAP DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | A shock rumbles through your arms, as you are crossed by a huge power
Floyd | surge. You keep the balance by chance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The earth shakes a little, maybe adjusting itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x parallelepiped" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARALLELEPIPED
Floyd |
Floyd | It is simply a large piece of metal, closed onto something that
Floyd | protrudes from its top. Maybe a detention machine for things to be
Floyd | examined.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron is connected to the parallelepipedon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Was it wise to turn on the parallelepiped?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Windowed Habitat
Floyd | You find yourself in an empty room, except for a large
Floyd | parallelepipedon standing in its center. The walls are dusty and
Floyd | black, the floor is mere concrete, coarse and unattended. A large
Floyd | mirror dresses the west wall, almost completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round object protrudes from the parallelepipedon's top, a sort of
Floyd | circular maze. It is the last part of something bigger, evidently
Floyd | stuck inside the cage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing that you thought was an alien, enormous talon, now pops in
Floyd | from the north wall, showing itself for what it is: a wheel. It was
Floyd | part of a big machine, now it is torn in two and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Elektron blinks faintly, connected to the parallelepipedon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. Something was held by it."
		chaudmin says, "maybe not, but it advanced the game"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x maze" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAZE
Floyd |
Floyd | A sort of metal cylinder, half stuck in the caging parallelepipedon,
Floyd | levigated beyond perfection by unknown forces. The exposed edge of the
Floyd | circular object is a tangle of tiny cuts, each twisted into the other
Floyd | in an unique pattern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "and there's our last cylinder"
		DavidW says, "So, I think my idea of creating the delta disc is correct."
		chaudmin says, "yup"
		DavidW asks, "oh, that's the cylinder, not the disc?"
		DavidW says, "I spoke too soon."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wheel" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WHEEL
Floyd |
Floyd | It doesn't look like an alien talon anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It is stuck into the parallelepipedon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm sure it'll unstick once we find a disc for it."
		chaudmin says, "or make a disc"
		chaudmin says, "put soap on cylinder"
		DavidW says, "right."
		DavidW says, "try."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You press the wax soap onto the circular maze. One of the sides is now
Floyd | a perfect (reversed) replica of the circular maze itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says, "(I meant to type that to floyd oops)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take soap" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x soap" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOAP
Floyd |
Floyd | A remarkably old wax soap, one of the kind momma used to wash clothes
Floyd | when you were but a child. It now bears the impression of a circular
Floyd | maze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "so, what was the name of the room with the danger cube in it?"
		chaudmin says, "ehh, I just remember the pentagon"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to pentagon" 		

Floyd ]                              Pentagon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO PENTAGON
Floyd |
Floyd | Before leaving, you remove the Elektron from the parallelepipedon.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | You walk past the vibertron door, which silently opens around you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go east to the nail, east again to the dark lab, south to the dark
Floyd | recess, south again to the featureless corridor, west to the
Floyd | featureless corridor, west again to the featureless corridor, west
Floyd | again to the blinking room, north to the cold pyramid, north again to
Floyd | the quartz tunnel, northwest to Quarantine and south to the pentagon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon
Floyd | A five-sided room, which the earthquake has just barely scratched.
Floyd | Five exits run from here, each marked with a letter, except for the
Floyd | one which stands blank on the north wall. To the northeast, a capital
Floyd | "A" hangs over a grate, which seems stuck to the walls, unopenable.
Floyd | Southeast, "B" rests over what remains of a tunnel that has caved in,
Floyd | some of the rocks fallen inside the room. Northwest and southwest,
Floyd | respectively, "C" and "D" sign two metal doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning Lab
Floyd | This is yet another lab. The walls are made of the same old white
Floyd | plastic as the rest of the corridors that crowd the place. As opposite
Floyd | to the rest of the environment, this large room seems unscarred. The
Floyd | yellow floor is dotted by tracks in black-striped adhesives, drawing
Floyd | lines around the structure that rests in the center of the chamber.
Floyd | There is not much by the way of furniture, except for a single,
Floyd | foreign machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cube, three meters wide, sleeps in the very center of the room. A
Floyd | strong, tight bundle of wires moves from its bottom towards the
Floyd | eastern wall, where it disappears in a plug. Two bays are open on the
Floyd | machine's top. Something that looks like a laser cannon points at the
Floyd | right bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put soap in left bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SOAP IN LEFT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the wax soap (replicating a circular maze) into the left bay.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x right bay" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RIGHT BAY
Floyd |
Floyd | In the right bay is a metal weight (cut to resemble a wax soap
Floyd | (replicating a circular maze)).
Floyd |
Floyd | The light from the ceiling vibrates randomly, then it calms down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This should be fun."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The laser beam cuts the metal weight, replicating the soap's surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x weight" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | A kilogram. Almost perfect. A replica of the circular maze has been
Floyd | laser-cut onto it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd ]                            Scanning Lab
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to windowed habitat" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO WINDOWED HABITAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You go into the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | You find a way into another section of the settlements.
Floyd |
Floyd | You go northeast to the pentagon, north to Quarantine, southeast to
Floyd | the quartz tunnel, south to the cold pyramid, south again to the
Floyd | blinking room, east to the featureless corridor, east again to the
Floyd | featureless corridor, east again to the featureless corridor, north to
Floyd | the dark recess, north again to the dark lab, west to the nail and
Floyd | west again to the windowed habitat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Windowed Habitat
Floyd | You find yourself in an empty room, except for a large
Floyd | parallelepipedon standing in its center. The walls are dusty and
Floyd | black, the floor is mere concrete, coarse and unattended. A large
Floyd | mirror dresses the west wall, almost completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | A round object protrudes from the parallelepipedon's top, a sort of
Floyd | circular maze. It is the last part of something bigger, evidently
Floyd | stuck inside the cage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing that you thought was an alien, enormous talon, now pops in
Floyd | from the north wall, showing itself for what it is: a wheel. It was
Floyd | part of a big machine, now it is torn in two and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put weight on cylinder" 		

Floyd ]                          Windowed Habitat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT WEIGHT ON CYLINDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You try your mockup of an eventual disc on the circular maze. It fits
Floyd | perfectly, the lines protruding from it matching the cuts on the base.
Floyd | Lights from inside the parallelepipedon flash then start strobing and
Floyd | dancing to the rhythm of some unheard music.
Floyd |
Floyd | All of a sudden, the very room starts trembling, as if another fierce
Floyd | quake was shaking it around. The mirror vibrates but resists the
Floyd | shock, while the parallelepipedon and the strange object trapped
Floyd | inside it both sink in the ground, forever lost. The concrete shatters
Floyd | and closes over the hole like a worm's mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The jolt sends you flying again. The walls begin crumbling down, in a
Floyd | rehearsal of Doomsday. Something very big must have happened
Floyd | somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "and now the hyerotrope should be open"
		DavidW says, "I think so, yes."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "go to hyerotrope" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO HYEROTROPE
Floyd |
Floyd | You go east to the nail, east again to the dark lab, south to the dark
Floyd | recess, south again to the featureless corridor, west to the
Floyd | featureless corridor, south to the inside the hut, south again to the
Floyd | abandoned warehouse, east to the molten span, east again to the hollow
Floyd | grounds, northwest to the cave mouth and south to the hyerotrope.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hyerotrope
Floyd | A dome of sorts has been carved in the earth, an inner sanctum of
Floyd | inhumane proportions, spanning for hundreds of meters in all
Floyd | directions. The wall's surface is smooth and shiny, cut into a dark
Floyd | material that looks like obsidian. On the ground, a maze of carvings
Floyd | draw perfect lines that intersect each other and run throughout the
Floyd | floor; all are filled by an ethereal substance as thin as air that
Floyd | glows in a faint blue. They seem to revolve around a single entity in
Floyd | the center of the gargantuan structure, and sink under its base. Many
Floyd | of these cuts then proceed over the structure, like an electric ivy
Floyd | clinging to it. Light shimmers from nowhere in particular and from all
Floyd | around at the same time, reverberating on the rock and on the steel
Floyd | floor. A faint buzz is the only noise audible, the rest of the
Floyd | universe swallowed in an uncomfortable, dark silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door in the Hyerotrope is now circled by an azure frame, as if
Floyd | light is shining from inside it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The demi-spheric bunker, a perfect inside-out replica of the halls
Floyd | around it, sits in the exact center of the room. It sinks into the
Floyd | ground as if pushed into it by some great force, a gap a few
Floyd | centimeters wide separating it from the floor. Its dark skin inflates
Floyd | and exhales like an ancient heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | What looks like a door draws a perfect rectangle on this side of the
Floyd | dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "azure flame"
		chaudmin says, "and that's as far as I played"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x azure" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AZURE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We do love our blue colour words."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dots" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The dots look like tiny holes in the center of the "door", one above
Floyd | the other in a linear sequence. All the dots are currently off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch door" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the frame. Now it vibrates with a greater charge. It trembles
Floyd | a bit and then, smoothly and silently, slides and opens a real door on
Floyd | the side of the dome. As you release your hands, it closes back with
Floyd | no sound. You are confident it will let you in, now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter" 		

Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You must supply a noun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf5" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                             Hyerotrope
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter dome" 		

Floyd ]                       Inside the Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER DOME
Floyd |
Floyd | The door of the Hyerotrope opens and lets you in, finally.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upon entering, the Elektron bursts in flames, a power shock running
Floyd | through it like a technological virus. You have to drop it and witness
Floyd | how it is ultimately consumed. At the same time, the E-Pad in your
Floyd | hand sends its final beep.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Hyerotrope
Floyd | A perfect sphere, cut in two by a substance that looks like glass and
Floyd | stands as a floor for an eventual passenger: This is what the
Floyd | Hyerotrope is. At the center of the stage, a cube rests like a sort of
Floyd | solitary chair. There is no visible way out and, although you are
Floyd | quite certain of where the door once was, it now has disappeared.
Floyd |
Floyd | The tides. They have come.
Floyd |
Floyd | You were not fast enough, and you realize it as splinters of the world
Floyd | surrounding you start floating in the air and all of a sudden cracks
Floyd | start opening everywhere. Without the Fatimah Initiative rolling, the
Floyd | whole of Monarch will be flooded by the rising oceans.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "wow. We fried our electro-tools."
		chaudmin says, "whoops"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cube" 		

Floyd ]                       Inside the Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUBE
Floyd |
Floyd | A faint light glows inside the cube. Something makes you believe it's
Floyd | a sort of... uhm, pedestal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I hope it doesn't matter; the tides are here."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                       Inside the Hyerotrope
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You're carrying a dead E-Pad, a black box, a steel bar, a new railway
Floyd | ticket and some Report files.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sit on cube" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT ON CUBE
Floyd |
Floyd | When the world around finally falls, you take your time just to climb
Floyd | the glowing cube, and see what happens. Seconds later, the last fierce
Floyd | earthquake devours the world in a single gulp. A light so dense it can
Floyd | barely be endured fills the Hyerotrope and the dome starts breathing
Floyd | as if it was alive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, you are caught by the sensation of being pulled downwards, like
Floyd | a drunk man in an elevator...

		DavidW says, "Enter the cube, I think."
DavidW presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | Report to the Council about the discoveries around the Alpha
Floyd | Radiation
Floyd |
Floyd | by Ektor Mastiff & Andy Re's
Floyd |
Floyd | What we have here may be, thus far, the most important discovery
Floyd | in human recent history, if not on a bigger scale. Upon scanning the
Floyd | recently exposed areas underneath the University basement (after the
Floyd | last minor quakes that interested the area) our team found a new kind
Floyd | of radiation -- from now on called "Alpha Radiation" (AR) -- springing
Floyd | from a single spot under the second and third layers of crust. That
Floyd | means beyond the icy layer, too.
Floyd | This radiation, the kind of which has never been measured before,
Floyd | has been fast growing in the last few weeks, reaching a point where it
Floyd | cannot be further ignored by the scientific committee. The latest of
Floyd | our discoveries stated without any shadow of a doubt that something
Floyd | enormous is at stake.
Floyd | It was Dr. Re's that first linked the strange spectrum to the
Floyd | residual fingerprint of the Event energy burst, that "background
Floyd | noise" that still plagues the Andromeda dark matter gravitational
Floyd | pull, with the one relative to the AR. As noted by the scientific
Floyd | crew, the Event residue is what is forcing the galaxy to shrink, due
Floyd | to its connection with potentials yet unknown which raise the mass of
Floyd | the galaxy itself to the point where the universe's eternal expansion
Floyd | is stopped and reversed. Now it looks like a similar energy is growing
Floyd | under our city, less than three kilometers below the surface.
Floyd | What we suggest is a deep scan -- and maybe a human driven probe
Floyd | -- in the interested area in order to find out what's happening down
Floyd | there. The volcanic crust separating what was once the glacial layer
Floyd | from the lower halls cannot possibly be thick enough to hold those
Floyd | energies at bay. Nor can it be trusted to keep a region larger than
Floyd | one third of Monarch's surface hidden from whatever it is that rests
Floyd | down there. In my humble opinion, the chances that former
Floyd | colonizations could have gotten in there before the glacial age
Floyd | (trapped? self-defending?) are quite high, especially now that we have
Floyd | discovered the Alpha-radiation.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the end, we know nothing about Monarch before the first
Floyd | settlements from the outer galaxies came into Andromeda more than one
Floyd | thousand years ago. Technology back then was not sufficient to dig as
Floyd | far as we have recently, and the glacial layer was only partially
Floyd | melted and covered by the constructs. I suggest further investigation
Floyd | before we start -- as we should -- to probe the source of the
Floyd | radiation. The evidence of structures unknown to the humans is too
Floyd | much to ignore.
Floyd | An example could be the existence of the Hyerotropes. These were
Floyd | more than once hinted at as some sort of alien machinery used for
Floyd | unknown purposes.
Floyd | A Hyerotrope -- or Gravitational Sphere -- is, indeed, an unknown
Floyd | artifact. We can only suppose they landed on Monarch before the
Floyd | glacial layer was made, as the seventeen specimens found all were
Floyd | under the icy layer or half protruding from it. The magnetic spectrum
Floyd | they emit is actually almost purely geo-gravitational, with small
Floyd | sparks of radio waves, and this suggests they were a sort of "anchor"
Floyd | for something bigger which needed to stop by the surface.
Floyd | Ultimate considerations about the Hyerotropes cannot be made, as
Floyd | no-one has yet succeeded in truly activating them. Whatever the power
Floyd | source which keeps the Spheres "alive", it must still be there, and
Floyd | this is confirmed by the scattered energy ghosts that flow around
Floyd | their perfect structures.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then there is the Alpha Radiation.
Floyd |
Floyd | We cannot tell for sure if it started developing in the last
Floyd | weeks. We can only suppose it was -NOT- there before Dr. Re's
Floyd | and his scientific crew discovered it. And we can hope it is
Floyd | nothing to worry about.
Floyd | Still, hoping is not all we have to do.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the following chapters is a full report of how we came in
Floyd | contact with the AR, what we think about its relation to the
Floyd | Hyerotropes, and a full analysis of its spectrum and wavelength.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | -- The Monarch University Scientific Staff, Dr. Mastiff, Dr.
Floyd | Re's

		DavidW says, "we finally have a name: Dr. Ektor Mastiff."
		DavidW says, "push enter when you're ready for the next textdump."
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                              Ravines
Floyd | The Hyerotrope stops. A door opens and you get out, breathing hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ravines
Floyd | The place is damp. You lift your eyes and what you see is -- again --
Floyd | breathtaking.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stand in the middle of a winding canyon, high several hundreds of
Floyd | meters and long as much. Luminescent cracks open on the walls,
Floyd | lighting up the place with a spectral voice. The ground seems to be
Floyd | polished as if human-made. The ravine goes on forever to the south and
Floyd | north of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you exit the Hyerotrope, the door closes behind you. Seconds later,
Floyd | the sphere starts glowing and begins flying upwards, until it
Floyd | disappears from where it came.
Floyd |
Floyd | You watch it speechlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf6" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                              Ravines
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "so it just drops us off in a ravine and leaves. rude."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cracks" 		

Floyd ]                              Ravines
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CRACKS
Floyd |
Floyd | They are very similar to the thin cuts you saw crawling around the
Floyd | Hyerotrope. This time, though, the seem more coincidental.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "And we didn't get to the mechanosatellites either."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You travel the canyon for half an hour, until you come to...
Floyd |
Floyd | The Gate
Floyd | The ravine ends here. A giant gate, bulky in its iron hinges, towers
Floyd | in front of you. Cranks and gears seem to operate it, from above the
Floyd | twelve meters tall columns at its sides. The canyon lurks away to the
Floyd | south.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal ladder on the left of the gate climbs towards a cabin clinging
Floyd | steadily to the canyon's walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You try and climb the ladder, not afraid of the missing rung. The
Floyd | second and third creak sinisterly as you try and reach for them. You
Floyd | need too much leverage to reach for the fourth peg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x ladder" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LADDER
Floyd |
Floyd | Not the comfortable ladder you found in that waste basket. Here, rungs
Floyd | are divided by a gap of fifty centimeters. The very first rung is
Floyd | lost, a hole carving the left leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put bar in ladder" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT BAR IN LADDER
Floyd |
Floyd | You try the bar, but it is too thick to fit. You need something
Floyd | smaller but equally strong.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "nice thought."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Ravines
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ravines
Floyd | You stand in the middle of a winding canyon, high several hundreds of
Floyd | meters and long as much. Luminescent cracks open on the walls,
Floyd | lighting up the place with a spectral voice. The ground seems to be
Floyd | polished as if human-made. The ravine goes on forever to the south and
Floyd | north of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dust to Dust
Floyd | The canyon abruptly comes to an end. Although the unending ravine
Floyd | crawls deeper to the south, something is blocking your steps.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you recognize it, you fall to your knees.
Floyd |
Floyd | The train on which you begun your journey is here, fallen like an evil
Floyd | adumbration. Among it, several other wagons and a whole section of the
Floyd | upper city. They must have traveled a long way: part of the disaster
Floyd | is still clinging to the canyon's walls, ornaments of despair burning
Floyd | in flames and fumes. Wreckages mix with concrete, concrete mixes with
Floyd | the rests of the human race.
Floyd |
Floyd | A waterfall comes splashing down from a ledge a hundred meters above
Floyd | you. It must be the first result of the tides devouring what's above.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right, we went DOWN."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x train" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You are certain: This is the train you took in your futile trip to the
Floyd | now sunk University Campus. The laths are so distorted it would look
Floyd | like a crumpled ball of paper... if it was not for the black, charred
Floyd | human parts littering its intestines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter train" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER TRAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | That is no longer viable as a vehicle. It's just a mess of contorted
Floyd | laminas.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "maybe we can find that guy we say 'it'll be okay' to."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "search train" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH TRAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You know what you are looking for: something sturdy enough to sustain
Floyd | your weight and thin enough to fit the hole in that ladder.
Floyd |
Floyd | You rummage through the debris and the human rests until you find what
Floyd | you seek: a piece of a train's bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take bench" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bench" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | A sturdy, metallic pole, once part of a bench from the train.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x human parts" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HUMAN PARTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't sustain the sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "head back to the ladder? Or is there more to find here?"
		chaudmin says, "I'm thinking we have all we need"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x waterfall" 		

Floyd ]                            Dust to Dust
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WATERFALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The oceans are devouring Monarch. Soon, a lot of water will come down,
Floyd | flooding this place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "me too"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Ravines
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ravines
Floyd | You stand in the middle of a winding canyon, high several hundreds of
Floyd | meters and long as much. Luminescent cracks open on the walls,
Floyd | lighting up the place with a spectral voice. The ground seems to be
Floyd | polished as if human-made. The ravine goes on forever to the south and
Floyd | north of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You travel the canyon for half an hour, until you come to...
Floyd |
Floyd | The Gate
Floyd | The ravine ends here. A giant gate, bulky in its iron hinges, towers
Floyd | in front of you. Cranks and gears operate it, from above the twelve
Floyd | meters tall columns at its sides. The canyon lurks away to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal ladder on the left of the gate climbs towards a cabin clinging
Floyd | steadily to the canyon's walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put bench in ladder" 		

Floyd ]                              The Gate
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT BENCH IN LADDER
Floyd |
Floyd | The new 'rung' perfectly fits. You stick it in a side of the ladder
Floyd | and force it into the other, and now it serves as a perfect anchorage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | With the new rung in place, you find anchorage to climb inside the
Floyd | cabin.
Floyd |
Floyd | Operator's Room
Floyd | Dust is the main inhabitant, here, as one would have foreseen. It
Floyd | covers the wooden desk and the big windows on the north wall, the
Floyd | broken chair that now rests like a sleeping cat on the far corner of
Floyd | the cabin, and the ancient computing devices dropped dead on the
Floyd | table.
Floyd |
Floyd | The metal ladder descends to the south side of the gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | An old, battered diary rests on a corner of the wooden desk, its cover
Floyd | bloated by time and water. It looks miraculously intact.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "wonder who put the gate and ladder here."
		chaudmin asks, "ancient civilizations?"
		DavidW says, "See if the diary is readable."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read diary" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                      Third month, day eleven
Floyd | It is not the best job in the universe, but still... I have seen
Floyd | worse. Marko has seen worse. They sent him to the digging facility.
Floyd | You know what they say about those goddam machines. They
Floyd | radiate. They give you the Big C. I know better than going
Floyd | into there, that place. They call it the center of the earth.
Floyd | No wonder it's the dampest place of all. Feels like sleepin in a
Floyd | b***hole.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		chaudmin asks, "basshole?"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		DavidW says, "butthole"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |  > Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                   Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd | More of the military, today. I think I've opened the dam at least
Floyd | seventy times. I've seen the tanks and the cannons they bring in
Floyd | there. Can't tell for sure, but bet they are trying to open one of
Floyd | those balls of metal. It's been a rumble all day. A bit tired. The
Floyd | computers are off and I don't really like it here. It's getting boring
Floyd | by the day.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |  > Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |  > Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd | Another day opening and closing and opening and closing. One of them
Floyd | was the general. That Hickk'errs, guy. I've seen his eyes. Those are
Floyd | blank eyes. He looks at you, but he's not really looking, you know?
Floyd | It's like his mind is always somewhere else. I've heard them talk,
Floyd | this morning. He and the professor. They said something about
Floyd | the beacon. They knew I was listenin but didn't care. They
Floyd | think I'm outta their league, that I dunno nothing. But I
Floyd | know what they talkin about. The beacon is the thing that
Floyd | drove us here, from our galaxy. We built it, sent it in space and
Floyd | followed. I know what they talking about.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |  > Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |  > Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                        Fifth month, day two
Floyd | General said this morning a new set of experiments were going to be
Floyd | launched. They said no civilians would stay here, no matter what. I'm
Floyd | a civilian, too, in some way. I mean, I have the tags and all of that,
Floyd | but I'm not in charge of the weapons. So they think about me as some
Floyd | kind of white collar. They are going to do something dangerous down
Floyd | there. In the b***hole. They are gonna fire things at the metal balls.
Floyd | I'd like I was a civilian, for real. They are not lettin me go. They
Floyd | want me here to operate the dam. In case something goes wrong. If
Floyd | something goes wrong I wanna be in the other side of the universe,
Floyd | that's for sure. Did I mention this is NOT the best job out there?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |  > Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |  > Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       Fifth month, day seven
Floyd | The world didn't end. I'm still here, opening and closing. Yesterday,
Floyd | tho, something occurred. There was a flash an then all the walls begun
Floyd | rumblin. It was not only the walls, but everything. The ceiling
Floyd | cracked and -- I swear -- a chunk of ice large like a tank
Floyd | came crushing down. It killed seven people. None I knew, fortunately.
Floyd | They were all so much in panic I thought the world was really gonna
Floyd | end. But then it all got normal and everything got back to quiet. No
Floyd | sign of the general, today. Guess he has to smell those things. He's
Floyd | never here when something occurs.
Floyd |
Floyd | I forgot to say something. During the tremors (it was not a quake,
Floyd | more of the ground adjusting, I've heard some say), something odd
Floyd | happened. The computers went suddenly on, just for ten seconds or so.
Floyd | The were all broken, you know. No signal for two months. But then they
Floyd | wake up and there's this white light. And all things begun moving
Floyd | towards that hole in the big chamber, the one just before the center
Floyd | of the earth. It looked like they were PULLED there by some sort of
Floyd | ghost.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "I'm thinking the balls are like those eggs in the original Star Trek. Horta eggs."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |  > Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |    Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |  > Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                     Sixth month, day eighteen
Floyd | It is over. I'm not sure I'm unhappy about it. They will send me back
Floyd | to that satellite but, what the hell, better than here, even my
Floyd | aunt's. The last days were horrible. More died on walls crumbling and
Floyd | the earth cracked once, spilling lava and rocks everywhere. I heard
Floyd | Marko is dead, too. They don't let anyone beyond the dam and I can't
Floyd | tell for sure, but I heard some say he got devoured by one of those
Floyd | spheres. "It has eaten him alive", they said. Poor Marko. I can't wait
Floyd | for the gathering. I wanna go home. Even if it takes me another three
Floyd | years like in the first trip.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Third month, day eleven
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-three
Floyd |    Third month, day twenty-four
Floyd |    Fifth month, day two
Floyd |    Fifth month, day seven
Floyd |  > Sixth month, day eighteen

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | Operator's Room
Floyd | Dust is the main inhabitant, here, as one would have foreseen. It
Floyd | covers the wooden desk and the big windows on the north wall, the
Floyd | broken chair that now rests like a sleeping cat on the far corner of
Floyd | the cabin, and the ancient computing devices dropped dead on the
Floyd | table.
Floyd |
Floyd | The metal ladder descends to the south side of the gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | An old, battered diary rests on a corner of the wooden desk, its cover
Floyd | bloated by time and water. It looks miraculously intact.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | A slab of wood, fastened to the wall, with no legs. It is surmounted
Floyd | by a console, rust biting at it with no pity. On the table are some
Floyd | computers and several light bulbs, now broken and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | It lays by your feet, a wasted amount of metal and a stiff cushion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COMPUTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Dust is more than a soft layer on these. It just has become
Floyd | part of the old computers, like the shell for a nut. The
Floyd | screens have been broken -- one from the inside, the other punched in
Floyd | -- and there is no sign of a keyboard or a touch screen. The wires
Floyd | have been removed by force, and now just a knotted bunch of cords
Floyd | hangs loose and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take cushion" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUSHION
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cords" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CORDS
Floyd |
Floyd | Dust is more than a soft layer on these. It just has become
Floyd | part of the old computers, like the shell for a nut. The
Floyd | screens have been broken -- one from the inside, the other punched in
Floyd | -- and there is no sign of a keyboard or a touch screen. The wires
Floyd | have been removed by force, and now just a knotted bunch of cords
Floyd | hangs loose and useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of rusted buttons and some light bulbs, blown or fused. The main
Floyd | object on the console is a plastic lever. You can only suppose it was
Floyd | used to open the big gate, downstairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "pull lever" 		

Floyd ]                          Operator's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL LEVER
Floyd |
Floyd | You maneuver the lever, but it doesn't budge. So, you decide to try
Floyd | harder. As a result, the lever breaks and the longer part ends in your
Floyd | hand, now useless.
Floyd |
Floyd | Won by discouragement, you yell a heartily yaaugh! and throw
Floyd | the lever at the windows in front of you. The windows themselves,
Floyd | battered by the cold winds of time, give with less effort and crash,
Floyd | opening a new outlet on the north side of the cabin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "wow"
		DavidW says, "ha ha ha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You pass through the newly opened window, careful not to cut your
Floyd | hands with the smashed glass, then descend to the floor with a leap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mall
Floyd | A river cuts this massive chamber in two. On the other side, its
Floyd | filled with stocks of any kind and size. On this one, it looks like a
Floyd | showcase of ancient war machinery, all lined up and packed for the
Floyd | show. A human-sized cave mouth exits to the north. Around it, all
Floyd | sorts of maze-like channels cut the earth and dive deep into the soil
Floyd | and walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | The broken lever you threw at the window is here, on the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We don' need no stinkin' gate. We got a window!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lever" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE LEVER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There might be more things to hit."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x river" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a bubbling river. It comes from a crack in the north
Floyd | wall and dives into the earth a few meters below the gate walls. The
Floyd | bed must fish deep enough to be scalded by the molten layer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x machinery" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINERY
Floyd |
Floyd | This is military equipment. Tanks, cannons and so forth, all packed up
Floyd | and lined like a showcase in a very odd underground mall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On one of the packings you notice a resume of sorts. A single typed
Floyd | page, torn on one side, which title reads: "Essay on the Beacon,
Floyd | closing notes". You pick it up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, and here's the 'stocks on the other side of the river', remember the weird warehouse message?"
		chaudmin says, "that would be weird if we ended up in the same place"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read resume" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ RESUME
Floyd |
Floyd | The results of the tests on the Hyerotropes are still fuzzy.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the end, at least, we understood how could our 'beacon' reach
Floyd | so far in such a relatively short time. Almost two millions parsecs in
Floyd | less than 400 years. That would mean traveling at least 6,250 times
Floyd | faster than light and, although certain velocities have been
Floyd | hypothesized, nothing we ever witnessed reached them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyeromatrix works as an attractor. The energy spectrum of the
Floyd | whole matrix (as opposite to the single sphere's) is capable of
Floyd | bending the structure of the Higgs Bosom's pattern, articulating a
Floyd | fierce vacuum-like tunnel which can pull, evidently, from a very long
Floyd | distance. The Hyeromatrix must have sensed the 'beacon' and decided to
Floyd | make it its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | The single Hyerotropes have proven themselves 'thinking machines',
Floyd | if that is what we want to call them, or even living beings.
Floyd | Their scattered pattern in the underground of this cold planet is not
Floyd | coincidental and, contrarily, the matrix has the purpose to actually
Floyd | enhance the spheres' abilities and reach. They breathe, as a living
Floyd | being, and as a living being the pollute the atmosphere when doing so:
Floyd | The ethereal substance they grow is toxic to the surroundings as noted
Floyd | by research Omega-33.
Floyd | Ultimately, their presence indicates a superior meaning to the
Floyd | whole universe, one which we never thought of -- at least
Floyd | scientifically -- up to now. We can suppose the Hyerotropes being a
Floyd | species on their own, breaking the walls of human research on the
Floyd | matter quite abruptly. Or we can hypothesize an even more powerful
Floyd | entity at work, somewhere, to operate those things. In both cases,
Floyd | there is much about the evolution of the stars we can gather from the
Floyd | discovery.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Prof. G.D., Monarch Research Facility.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Addendum// The Hyerotropes emit a very subtle but very strong
Floyd | energy. It is something we almost overlooked, as it is so far out of
Floyd | the usual spectrum that it is invisible if not searched for
Floyd | purposefully. The energy has become radiating with more intensity in
Floyd | the last few days. It seems a single beam has been directed towards
Floyd | the very center of our galaxy. We decided to keep studying the
Floyd | Hyerotropes, in the hope of finding answers about the recent Multiple
Floyd | Supernovae Effect registered in [...] --- the page is torn here,
Floyd | the rest of the text missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "Higgs Bosom"
		DavidW says, "It's a very nice-ah bosom."
		DavidW says, "The author's first language isn't English."
		chaudmin says, "ah. I just thought it was a typo"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x stocks" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Too far to distinguish. They look like scientific machines. No more to
Floyd | be known.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "it is a typo"
		DavidW says, "I'm sure he meant boson."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "cross river" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CROSS RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | There must be a better way to die, right? One less painful.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go north].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "swim" 		

Floyd ]                                Mall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SWIM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Center of the earth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Center of the earth
Floyd | You are in the cave. This is the ancient alcove and you are the first
Floyd | one to enter its vaults in a millennia. The cave opens in every
Floyd | direction. To the north, a higher ceiling welcomes two apparently
Floyd | abandoned objects.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                        Center of the earth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | [From here you can go north and south].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x objects" 		

Floyd ]                        Center of the earth
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X OBJECTS
Floyd |
Floyd | A metallic form, barely discernible from this distance, and another
Floyd | Hyerotrope. Although you are quite far, you judge it to be at least
Floyd | two times bigger than the one you traveled into.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Memento Mori
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Memento Mori
Floyd | The Hyerotrope is giving off light, a dense orange glow, and -- yes--
Floyd | it is bigger than the one you used as an elevator. At least five times
Floyd | bigger. Four big dots flare on it, all lined together like soldiers in
Floyd | formation. The whole cave, although gigantic, is lit by its energy.
Floyd |
Floyd | A strange object sits alongside the Hyerotrope, its rusty casing
Floyd | decaying and rotten.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x object" 		

Floyd ]                            Memento Mori
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X OBJECT
Floyd |
Floyd | Whatever it is, it must be alien in nature. You can't understand its
Floyd | form -- an octagonal prism surmounted by broken steel poles -- but
Floyd | surely recognize the solar panels that once must have powered it. A
Floyd | set of metallic legs holds it standing.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal sign was planted by someone near its base.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hope we don't need the soap. It's still upstairs."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "read sign" 		

Floyd ]                         It's full of Stars
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SIGN
Floyd |
Floyd | The last of the Ancestors.
Floyd | Our beacon in this new world.
Floyd |
Floyd | - the First Colony.
Floyd |
Floyd | You read the plaque in loud voice. After you've pronounced the last
Floyd | word, a flash of light cuts your sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you regain you senses, you notice a door which has opened on the
Floyd | side of the gargantuan Hyerotrope. Before you can do anything, a
Floyd | strong, invisible force pulls you into the sphere, dragging stones,
Floyd | rock, fungi and the alien artifact along with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Once inside, you lift your eyes to the ceiling, expecting the same
Floyd | furniture as in your former experience.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see, instead, is...
Floyd |
Floyd | It's full of Stars
Floyd | You are nowhere and everywhere at the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Distances in here seem unbridgeable. Above, below, left, right,
Floyd | everywhere is just the brilliant, shiny emptiness of the Universe. You
Floyd | seem to float on the vacuum of space, only that you can breathe and
Floyd | live --  and this not unimportant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near you, the metallic form has been torn in two by the rapture, and
Floyd | now rests on a side, open. A set of things bleeds from its interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x things" 		

Floyd ]                         It's full of Stars
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X THINGS
Floyd |
Floyd | The belly of the beast is open. A rectangular thing, the likes of
Floyd | which you are very familiar with, sits almost unscarred by the
Floyd | remnants of a tight bird's nest of wires and circuitry. A golden
Floyd | plate, inscribed with drawings that finally have a meaning, marks
Floyd | another metallic slab.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyerotrope starts moving.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are flooded again by the sensation of being pushed around, this
Floyd | time upwards. As you levitate, the surrounding stars slowly fade,
Floyd | until they are substituted by the reality of it all.
Floyd |
Floyd | And you see the end of History for what it is. The lands devoured by
Floyd | the quakes and the tides. Whole cities swallowed by the fierce
Floyd | strength of Fatimah's gravitational pull. The rest of the human race
Floyd | devoured. All while you are suspended mid air above the mayhem in the
Floyd | Hyerotrope's womb.
Floyd | After a while, another, smaller sphere starts climbing the sky,
Floyd | stopping at your height. And then a second, and a third. And in
Floyd | minutes they are dozens, levitating and rotating around the biggest
Floyd | one, which you inhabit.
Floyd | They begin wandering the cosmos, and your sphere does the same, slowly
Floyd | but relentlessly. As you leave the planet, a strong, white light
Floyd | begins pouring from the Hyerotropes and, finally, you understand.
Floyd |
Floyd | That's it, you mourn. History repeats herself.
Floyd |
Floyd | We came from another galaxy, this you know. We came here a millennia
Floyd | ago following one of our probes, looking for what the ASA First
Floyd | Council called "a New Heaven". We came here and barely survived a
Floyd | cosmic event that annihilated an entire galaxy and decimated life in
Floyd | those neighboring it.
Floyd |
Floyd | What was that Event and why did it occur no one will ever know. No one
Floyd | but you. You still lack the motivation but indeed have found out what
Floyd | it's like to be at the cyclone's eye. What can clear a galaxy off the
Floyd | screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyerotropes. The plagues God sent upon the sinful mortals to
Floyd | begin the end. And we thought we could be able to control them.
Floyd |
Floyd | As if one could control the Apocalypse.
Floyd |
Floyd | You get close to the rectangular player which fell off the ancient
Floyd | stellar beacon that now rests below you and straighten it, finding a
Floyd | perfect balance in the imploding universe. While everything that is is
Floyd | swallowed by the final, white fire, you admire that drawing -- a man
Floyd | and a woman, one alongside the other like twins in a child's sketch --
Floyd | and the hope it was infused with.
Floyd | Then, you activate the recording.
Floyd |
Floyd | Andromeda finally awakens, in its swan-song, while the first notes
Floyd | from the Brandenburg Concerto No. 1 in F Major start playing
Floyd | for the last time.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the stars ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, know about the true nature of the BEACON, find what's WRONG
Floyd | with the technical stuff or read some AFTERWORDS from the author?
Floyd | >

		chaudmin exclaims, "well then!"
		DavidW says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "I'm now assuming the other games in this series must be prequels."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "beacon" 		

Floyd ]                         It's full of Stars
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BEACON
Floyd |
Floyd | The 'beacon' is a probe an old race sent into the void to gather
Floyd | information about the universe. This is the only part in the game
Floyd | which is not fictional. If you are comfortable with space-related
Floyd | trivia, you may have recognized it: The golden laser disc, the male
Floyd | and female sketched drawings, the mathematically-perfect song from
Floyd | Bach. It is Voyager II. Our beacon in the sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yes, if you didn't get it, that's the sordid truth: Humanity in
Floyd | Andromeda came from our galaxy. It was our beloved Milky Way which was
Floyd | wiped off the radar by the Event. We are the Ancestors. Or, well... we
Floyd | WERE.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, know about the true nature of the BEACON, find what's WRONG
Floyd | with the technical stuff or read some AFTERWORDS from the author?
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "wrong" 		

Floyd ]                         It's full of Stars
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRONG
Floyd |
Floyd | This game was not intended as a maniacally perfect scientific resource
Floyd | for space travel. That said, the author put so much effort in trying
Floyd | to make everything realistic. Apart from the obvious things that
Floyd | couldn't be (i.e. a train falling for a kilometer doesn't only
Floyd | crumple: it disintegrates) there is one which stood hidden until much
Floyd | too late.
Floyd |
Floyd | The 'beacon' has been pulled through space by the Hyerotropes. They
Floyd | made it fly at 6k times light-speed. If that's so... what about the
Floyd | humans? How could the First Colonists reach Andromeda WITHOUT such
Floyd | power and knowledge?
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, they couldn't.
Floyd |
Floyd | Given there is no Earth date in the game, one could argue that the
Floyd | voyage took a really huge amount of time and that the Colony indeed
Floyd | reached through space around -- what do you think? 10.000 a.D.?
Floyd | 100.000? Well, nope: Andromeda is 2.5 MILLIONS lightyears from Earth.
Floyd | At the speeds we can reach nowadays, the trip would have lasted around
Floyd | 90 BILLIONS years.
Floyd |
Floyd | The one solution can be the use of a wormhole, a rip in the fabrics of
Floyd | reality that creates a passage to distant places... but we all know
Floyd | that would have been a deus ex machina. That's why it is not mentioned
Floyd | ingame.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, know about the true nature of the BEACON, find what's WRONG
Floyd | with the technical stuff or read some AFTERWORDS from the author?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, I figured the Milky Way was destroyed by the Event. Even though that should've been known to the PC."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "afterwords" 		

Floyd ]                         It's full of Stars
Floyd | >
Floyd | > AFTERWORDS
Floyd |
Floyd | I was in my car, early summer of 2011, driving my wife to our mountain
Floyd | resort, when I started teasing her with some scientific trivia about
Floyd | the galaxy of Andromeda. Kid was in the backseat, already dozed off,
Floyd | the sun did shine and the birds were singing. I begun flapping my
Floyd | never-stopping mouth about distances, dimensions, the sheer number of
Floyd | stars involved, when she begun yawning. I got the message and shut up.
Floyd |
Floyd | But didn't shut up on the inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | That is how my first IF story had birth. I run to the house, turned on
Floyd | my Macbook Air (freshly acquired, and just a week before the release
Floyd | of the new one, ouch) and begun coding again, never fully realizing I
Floyd | was going to complete the task, for the first time ever.
Floyd |
Floyd | I've first played and then tried to write IF in the mid-Eighties. I
Floyd | was nearly a teen, the world was splendid and everything quite worked
Floyd | for the best. The amount of time I could devote to my hobbies was
Floyd | impressive. The Hobbit was always running and I was
Floyd | struggling a lot trying to understand english and what to do with that
Floyd | singing bastard Thorin the dwarf. More that a quarter of century has
Floyd | passed, and I'm still here, messing with trolls and an english parser.
Floyd | Meanwhile, almost ten -- or twenty, who can tell? -- adventure games
Floyd | have danced on my screen waiting to be designed and coded. I never got
Floyd | much beyond the few introductory rooms.
Floyd | The occasion came when I stumbled upon the IFComp. Edition
Floyd | 2011 was about to open and I had a game halfway to being finished that
Floyd | could maybe, and just maybe, fit in. All I had to do was deciding how
Floyd | the world of Monarch was going to be saved and how I could code that
Floyd | damn soap-over-metal puzzle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Summer passed by in a whoosh, and by the end of September the game was
Floyd | ready.
Floyd |
Floyd | Or so I thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---
Floyd |
Floyd | Coding a kind of game which is by far the most similar thing to a
Floyd | novel that could exist in a language that is not one's own is a rather
Floyd | terrific experience. Although I'm quite fluent in English and have
Floyd | classes listening to me from all around the globe -- I'm a graphic
Floyd | designer and expert on editorial design, which I teach in what you'd
Floyd | call a Master School for Gifted Youngsters -- I soon discovered that
Floyd | the river which spans between the speech and the writing is a very
Floyd | wide and turbulent one. Fortunately, my first proofreaders did an
Floyd | awesome job in putting straight my bulky texts (yeah: if you'd seen
Floyd | Andromeda before their intervention, you'd think this one
Floyd | was, like, Hemingway).
Floyd | So, I entered the Comp. For one and a half months, I've been in awe. I
Floyd | don't think I was exactly aware of what I've stepped into.
Floyd | I'm willing to believe that, if I'd known, I'd rather go around naked
Floyd | downtown than publish a game in so a renowned competition.
Floyd |
Floyd | And that was nice, 'cause I had the opportunity, otherwise precluded,
Floyd | to step into a new, fascinating world. I had an audience. I had
Floyd | critics. I had a chance.
Floyd |
Floyd | I wanted to be a writer all my life. Since when ten years old, I
Floyd | filled notebooks with short tales and novels-wannabe. I actually did
Floyd | write a novel, one that is trying to find a place in the horrible
Floyd | italian fiction maelstrom, but I never had someone other than my wife
Floyd | or friends read anything that's mine. Now it seems, looking at the
Floyd | number in the online transcript of the first release of this game,
Floyd | more than 600 people have tried my game. On IFDB (at the time this is
Floyd | being written), Andromeda averages on 3 stars, with the
Floyd | German scene gifting me with 4.
Floyd | I don't really know how this second release will fare, out there. What
Floyd | I know is that one of my strongest desires, the one I keep asking the
Floyd | sky to make real whenever I see a falling star, has become solid
Floyd | truth. And that's more than what one would sell his soul to hell for,
Floyd | believe me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, only time will tell if I can be a writer or have to stick with
Floyd | graphics. But if I die tomorrow, at least I won't go away saying
Floyd | "nobody has ever read my work". Thank you all who participated. This
Floyd | was a blast.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Marco Innocenti, Firenze (Italy), January 8, 2012.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, know about the true nature of the BEACON, find what's WRONG
Floyd | with the technical stuff or read some AFTERWORDS from the author?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I liked that game. Even though I was hoping for more salvation than destruction."
		chaudmin says, "I liked it too"
		chaudmin says, "even though it took a long time to play, haha"
		DavidW says, "yes, it's now 12:24am here, very very early Monday."
		chaudmin says, "same"
		chaudmin says, "time for bed"
		DavidW says, "Thanks so much for being here, several times."
		DavidW says, "Have a good night."
		chaudmin says, "no problem, only sorry I had to leave at all"
		chaudmin says, "good night"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
chaudmin sets location to elsewhere. 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 			



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Slouching Towards Bedlam by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
As played on ifMUD on June 27, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Slouching Towards Bedlam written by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto. It has won a number of awards and distinctions. Slouching placed first and received Miss Congeniality in the 2003 Interactive Fiction Awards. It was nominated for a number of Xyzzies that year (Best Game, Best Writing, Best Story, Best Setting, Best NPCs, Best Individual NPC, Best Individual PC, and Best Use of Medium) and won several of those categories (Best Game, Best Story, Best Setting, Best Individual NPC). As of this writing, it has twice made the list of the Top 50 Interactive Fiction of All Time, placing 10th in 2011 and coming in 7th in the 2015 edition of that list. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask slouching" 		

Floyd | Office
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *clunk*
Floyd |
Floyd | The rotating tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a
Floyd | brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared
Floyd | emerges from the machine's hornshell speaker, followed by a thin,
Floyd | haunting voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "March the 16th."
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep, shaky breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I dread to say it, but I believe I am going mad. The -- *moments* --
Floyd | come more frequently now. I fear that I have found what I have sought,
Floyd | and I shall now pay the price for it."
Floyd |
Floyd | The scrape of a chair across flagstone. A sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chaos treads the halls of Bedlam; her work is evident everywhere..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Slouching Towards Bedlam
Floyd | An entry in the 9th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (10th
Floyd | Anniversary Edition) by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
Floyd | Release 2 / Serial number 140613 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd | [First time players should type 'about'. Credits are available via
Floyd | 'credits'.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A black cube on wheels sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ABOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | A few, brief notes:
Floyd |
Floyd | - Regardless of how the game responds to them, all meta-commands
Floyd | (SAVE, RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO, QUIT) work as you would expect them to.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Conversation is best handled by the following syntax:
Floyd |
Floyd | ASK <PERSON> ABOUT <TOPIC>.
Floyd | TELL <PERSON> ABOUT <TOPIC>.
Floyd | <PERSON>, <ORDER>.
Floyd |
Floyd | Note that it is advantageous to ask about the same topic multiple
Floyd | times.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Hints and spoilers are available via the "hint" command.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Slouching Towards Bedlam contains multiple endings - you may wish to
Floyd | go back and try different actions or attempting to reach different
Floyd | goals to see how your actions affect the story.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Daniel Ravipinto can be contacted at peccable@peccable.com.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | A delicate device, its base is carved from oaken heartwood, bearing a
Floyd | small black plaque which reads "Columbia Phonograph Co., Ltd. of
Floyd | London".
Floyd |
Floyd | Two ivory arms emerging from the base lean inward, firmly grasping a
Floyd | rotating tin cylinder labeled March sixteenth. A brass needle scrapes
Floyd | against the cylinder's surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the base's back emerges a small, black hornshell speaker, its
Floyd | surface delicately curved. The phonograph is currently switched on.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph continues to play.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I discredit my profession; examining madness as if the world were a
Floyd | fluent thing and sanity as malleable as the warm wax of a candle."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I seem to remember that there are five different endings to this game."
		chaudmin says, "I can think of at least four"
		DavidW says, "I only found one."
		chaudmin says, "(I had to use a walkthrough, but still)"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cube" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUBE
Floyd |
Floyd | Not a box but a cube; there is no hinge. A fine grid is engraved on
Floyd | its top, dividing it into a myriad of tiny squares. The cube sits on
Floyd | four black rubber wheels, attached by a set of brass leggings that
Floyd | seem capable of telescoping downward.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only other feature of note is a small emerald, set in its side,
Floyd | beneath which is a plaque with the inscription "TRIAGE MK. III".
Floyd |
Floyd | "The secret lays heavily on both my mind and heart. I have told no
Floyd | one; I despair a second opinion would confirm my worst suspicions. I
Floyd | have secured all my knowledge of these events within the mechanical
Floyd | assistant left by my predecessor. It was my hope that it would allow
Floyd | me to see the situation from a new perspective, and help me discover
Floyd | the key to my salvation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, right. Triage."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x emerald" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EMERALD
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark green to the point of blackness, it is the size and shape of an
Floyd | eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Alas, it has been to no avail. While I found the entry mode easy
Floyd | enough, and the thing seems filled with information regarding the
Floyd | hospital down to the point of minutiae, it seems helpless in the face
Floyd | of analyzing my current situation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn on emerald" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON EMERALD
Floyd |
Floyd | From within the device comes a sharp clunk, followed by a gentle
Floyd | humming. The emerald blinks slowly -- once, twice -- then glows
Floyd | steadily. The grid of squares which makes up the thing's screen pivot
Floyd | back and forth, seemingly at random, causing ripples of motion across
Floyd | its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a sudden purpose, they begin to flip, revealing hundreds of tiny
Floyd | symbols engraved on their surfaces. The squares continue for a moment,
Floyd | then begin to settle line by line like a fall of rain into a
Floyd | pattern...
Floyd |
Floyd | INIT.CYCLE.COMP.
Floyd | MILL.UNIT.ONLINE
Floyd | STORE.DECRYPT/CO
Floyd | MPRESS.BOOT.STAC
Floyd | K.COMP.OP.SYSTEM
Floyd | UNIT.VER.3.REG:.
Floyd | DR..SIMON..BRAND
Floyd | SET MODE:ANALYZE
Floyd |
Floyd | "It may be that I have simply not found that by which this growing
Floyd | mystery may be unlocked. Perhaps by subjecting the Triage to further
Floyd | experiential data, it may find something that I have missed. But I
Floyd | have little faith left at this point."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
kpaquette says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of a chair creaking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have found a blessing in James. He has been nothing but kind and
Floyd | helpful in my short time here. I find myself wondering if, perhaps, he
Floyd | can be trusted enough to... but how can I punish him with this
Floyd | knowledge?"
Floyd |
Floyd | A sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | "But how can I bear it alone?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The open window looks down upon the courtyard and adjoining buildings
Floyd | far below.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sudden noise, as of something wooden being struck, comes through the
Floyd | phonograph.
Floyd |
Floyd | "No. I can trust no one, in the end. Not even James. Perhaps
Floyd | soon...not even myself."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep green blotter, dotted with black ink stains, sits in the center
Floyd | of the desk, mostly covered by files and papers. One side of the
Floyd | blotter seems slightly higher than the other.
Floyd |
Floyd | The corner of a sandalwood box is visible beneath a stack of thick
Floyd | folders.
Floyd |
Floyd | The desk contains a large central drawer, which is currently closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I must stop here, I feel the faintness coming once again."
Floyd |
Floyd | A scraping noise, a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | "May God have mercy 'pon my soul."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I don't know what the phonograph is talking about. What knowledge does it have that must not be shared?"
		DavidW says, "Probably something under the blotter."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x blotter" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BLOTTER
Floyd |
Floyd | A standard office blotter, its surface well used and covered with
Floyd | stains. One side of the blotter seems slightly higher than the other.
Floyd |
Floyd | Having reached the end of the cylinder, the phonograph shuts itself
Floyd | off with a tiny "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take blotter" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BLOTTER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under blotter" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BLOTTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blotter is a small key, easily taken. It carries a small
Floyd | tag labeled "2D".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I clearly don't know what a blotter even is"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's a rectangular pad on the desk. You put paper on it when writing."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x sandalwood" 		

Floyd ]                               Office

		DavidW says, "People used to blot their pens on it, back when pens used inkwells."

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SANDALWOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | It is unexceptional, perhaps one handbreadth wide by three long. On
Floyd | its lid is a white paper label. Written upon it in a fine copperplate
Floyd | are the words "JOURNAL V. 4 - JANUARY THROUGH APRIL 1855."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I see"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The sandalwood box opens, revealing a tin cylinder labeled January
Floyd | eighth, a tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second and a tin
Floyd | cylinder labeled March second.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take cylinders" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CYLINDERS
Floyd |
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled March sixteenth: The ivory arms slide easily
Floyd | apart and the cylinder leaves the phonograph with a slight "click".
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled January eighth: Taken.
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second: Taken.
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled March second: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put january eighth in phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT JANUARY EIGHTH IN PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | A delicate device, its base is carved from oaken heartwood, bearing a
Floyd | small black plaque which reads "Columbia Phonograph Co., Ltd. of
Floyd | London".
Floyd |
Floyd | Two ivory arms emerging from the base lean inward, firmly grasping a
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled January eighth. A brass needle hovers above the
Floyd | cylinder's surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the base's back emerges a small, black hornshell speaker, its
Floyd | surface delicately curved. The phonograph is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn on phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph switches on.
Floyd |
Floyd | "January the 8th."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I am uncertain if this entry is made in joy or sorrow. I have just
Floyd | received word from Dr. Yeates that I am to be...promoted. I am
Floyd | uncertain if that term is the correct one. In any case, it seems that
Floyd | there has been an... incident with Bethlehem's current superintendent,
Floyd | and a replacement is required. I have been chosen for the position, at
Floyd | least in the short term."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | That's rather difficult without a mirror.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It is fairly obviously what has prompted this move. I have moved too
Floyd | far, too fast and in doing so have displeased the powers that be.
Floyd | While Yeates has supported my ... unorthodox theories well enough, he
Floyd | has warned me often that he cannot shield me from *all* of the
Floyd | backlash that may occur. I do not believe that his using this as a
Floyd | segue way to telling me of my transfer was entirely unconnected..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | The large central drawer opens, revealing a manual and a flanged brass
Floyd | rod.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bedlam seems both purgatory and paradise at this moment. I remember
Floyd | the history of the place well enough -- of the Governors' decision to
Floyd | renovate the site in '15 and the slow implementation of Urquhart and
Floyd | Bentham's now infamous Panopticon Plan. In the end it was nothing more
Floyd | than a final stab at respectability for the site, which has now
Floyd | languished as a home for the hopeless, the poor, and the criminally
Floyd | insane for almost twenty years."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x manual" 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                               Cover
Floyd | Emblazoned on the front is a charcoal drawing of a black box on
Floyd | wheels, beneath which is written the words:
Floyd |
Floyd |  OPERATOR'S MANUAL
Floyd |  TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE
Floyd |  PROFESSIONAL|INDUSTRIAL
Floyd |  MK. III.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |  > The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                        The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd | The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |
Floyd | One glance at the TRIAGE line of PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINES will show
Floyd | them to be the finest now available. Each one is made of the materials
Floyd | of superlative quality, its thousands of interlocking parts are HAND
Floyd | MADE and HAND ASSEMBLED.
Floyd |
Floyd | From its alphanumeric kinograph display to its specially designed
Floyd | internal power and propulsion systems, the TRIAGE is simply the most
Floyd | advanced technology made available to professionals for the portable
Floyd | storage and analysis of complex information.
Floyd |
Floyd | In fact, the TRIAGE is so incomparably the best machine made that all
Floyd | we ask an intending purchaser is to compare it with any other before
Floyd | buying.
Floyd |
Floyd | For sale by all first-class mechanist's shops.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |  > The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |  > A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                        A brief catalogue...
Floyd | A brief catalogue of the TRIAGE, both within and without...
Floyd |
Floyd | - PANOPTICAL SCANNER: set within an attractive faux-emerald, TRIAGE's
Floyd | latest version has updated both its scanning technology and methods
Floyd | such that it can visually analyze a given subject and begin processing
Floyd | within seconds.
Floyd |
Floyd | - INCREASED CAPACITY OF BOTH MILL AND STORE: The TRIAGE line is now
Floyd | capable of analyzing, compiling and storing literally thousands of
Floyd | pieces of information simultaneously.
Floyd |
Floyd | - LATEST CORE ENGINE WITH FOUR-FOLD INCREASE IN EFFICIENCY: TRIAGE has
Floyd | always been famous for its relational algorithms and its capability in
Floyd | connecting seemingly disparate data into a coherent whole. Our latest
Floyd | edition strives ever closer to perfection, improving the system's
Floyd | already impressive functionality.
Floyd |
Floyd | - SMOOTH-OPERATING FULLY ALPHANUMERIC KINOGRAPH DISPLAY: With its
Floyd | compact yet expansive 16x8 symbol display (each one capable of
Floyd | displaying any one of 36 characters), the TRIAGE speaks as well as it
Floyd | listens.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |  > A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |  > Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                           Analysis Mode
Floyd | ANALYSIS MODE
Floyd |
Floyd | ...is the TRIAGE'S default and most important mode of operation. Once
Floyd | activated by simply pressing its beautiful faux-emerald scanner, the
Floyd | system will run through its initializing phase and then notify the
Floyd | user that it is ready to begin.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TRIAGE will then follow its identified operator of its own accord,
Floyd | utilizing path-finding and obstacle-avoidance algorithms of the latest
Floyd | design. The system is constantly aware of both its personal
Floyd | environment and the actions of its operator.
Floyd |
Floyd | Once TRIAGE has locked on to its user, operation is simply a matter of
Floyd | making the system aware of particular subjects in the environment for
Floyd | analysis and storage. This can be accomplished by simply POINTING or
Floyd | GESTURING to the object in question.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing more is necessary. The system will reply (via its kinograph
Floyd | display) of any pertinent data the operator might find of use.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage store data is organized as follows:
Floyd |
Floyd | - CAT [category]: Triage maintains a strict hierarchy within which all
Floyd | subjects are stored - is the object in question alive? Is it a tool?
Floyd | Is it not yet recognized?
Floyd |
Floyd | - UTIL [utility]: Of what immediate use is the object in question?
Floyd | How may it be interacted with?
Floyd |
Floyd | - PART [particulars]: Specific information on the object - completed
Floyd | analysis data is often stored here.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		chaudmin says, "ah yes, the pointing machine"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |  > Analysis Mode
Floyd |    Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |  > Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                    Optional Expanded Input Mode
Floyd | OPTIONAL EXPANDED INPUT MODE
Floyd |
Floyd | ...can be utilized to directly enter information into the TRIAGE'S
Floyd | database store. Such data manipulation is not to be taken lightly, as
Floyd | all TRIAGE data must be kept as consistent as possible to prevent
Floyd | internal errors. However, advanced users may find it convenient to
Floyd | input information into the system immediately rather than allowing the
Floyd | system to accrue it via examination and analysis.
Floyd |
Floyd | Expanded input mode requires the optional data input system, which is
Floyd | not sold with the basic TRIAGE. Contact your local mechanists" to
Floyd | special-order yours today.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "heh. Point at the flanged rod and find out what it is for."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]    TRIAGE PERSONAL ANALYTICAL ENGINE: OPERATOR'S MANUAL MK. III
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The manual has several headings:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Cover
Floyd |    The FUTURE is NOW...
Floyd |    A brief catalogue...
Floyd |    Analysis Mode
Floyd |  > Optional Expanded Input Mode

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | "But the technology!  Yeates told me of a visit he took in the '30s,
Floyd | when the place was still open as part zoo, part living drama. I paid
Floyd | little attention to his description of the patient's conditions and
Floyd | instead seized upon the description of the central Tower and its
Floyd | prism-viewer, by which the entire complex could be overseen by a
Floyd | single man, the massive Archives with their engine-run filing
Floyd | system...now I shall see it with my own eyes, and I am both happy and
Floyd | sad at the thought."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at rod" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine analyzes the flanged brass rod before replying...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd | OL.UTIL:KEY.UNLO
Floyd | CK.DEVICE.PART:I
Floyd | D=PANOPTICONKEY.
Floyd | CORRIDOR.6.(UPPE
Floyd | R).PLACE.IN.PANO
Floyd | PTICON.STAND.TO.
Floyd | ACTIVATE/ACCESS.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have but a fortnight to prepare for the move. It has been made
Floyd | clear to me that this is a test -- I must prove myself good, quiet,
Floyd | and respectable in the eyes of the Governors. With luck, I shall be
Floyd | back at Bedfordshire within half a year's time, ready to take over
Floyd | when the good doctor announces his retirement."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah. A panopticon key for corridor 6."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take rod" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Perhaps this will not be so bad. In the public eye, I shall play
Floyd | their game and meanwhile, I shall continue my own research, utilizing
Floyd | whatever materials Bedlam has to offer..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at me" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald flickers from head to toe before returning:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:LIVING......
Floyd | *CATASTROPHIC.ER
Floyd | RROR.A042.CATEGO
Floyd | RY.INDEX.OUT.OF.
Floyd | RANGE.STACK.OVER
Floyd | FLOW*PART:ID=DR.
Floyd | THOMAS.XAVIER=CU
Floyd | RRENT.OPERATOR..
Floyd |
Floyd | Having reached the end of the cylinder, the phonograph shuts itself
Floyd | off with a tiny "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I suppose that's foreshadowing"
		DavidW asks, "That's weird. Is there something wrong with us, personally?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take january eighth" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE JANUARY EIGHTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The ivory arms slide easily apart and the cylinder leaves the
Floyd | phonograph with a slight "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "But that tells us that we're Dr. Thomas Xavier, at least."
		DavidW says, "And not someone pretending to be the doctor."
		chaudmin says, "I recall there being some abnormality with us, yes"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled January eighth
Floyd |   a flanged brass rod
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled March second
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled March sixteenth
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at small key" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT SMALL KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the small key labled 2D, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put january twenty-second in phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT JANUARY TWENTY-SECOND IN PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn on phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph switches on.
Floyd |
Floyd | "January the 22nd."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Arrived in London today in preparation for taking over my duties. The
Floyd | cab driver took what seemed a scenic route through Smithfield, then
Floyd | generally southward towards Newgate. I covered my nose as best I could
Floyd | as we passed the slaughterhouse that was the Market, though I noted a
Floyd | Mechanist's shop -- Du Mondes' -- on Fleet, which I will try to visit
Floyd | at my earliest convenience, as my worst fears regarding the wireless
Floyd | have been confirmed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It probably says something profound about me that I set up the
Floyd | magnetophone first, while everything else remains boxed or is still on
Floyd | its way from Bedfordshire. As I feared, I found no signal whatsoever.
Floyd | A simple message of 'Calling CQ' went completely unanswered, which is
Floyd | unheard of, as there is *always* someone listening, particularly in
Floyd | such a city as London. I fear the buildings are blocking the signal,
Floyd | and I'll require a booster of some sort."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		kpaquette says, "This game is making no sense to me."
		DavidW says (to kpaquette), "I had trouble with it too. But we're a doctor at the Bedlam asylum in London England, several centuries ago."
		chaudmin says, "I had to read an explanation afterwards to understand what was going on"
		DavidW says, "The game also seems to be a steampunk game, using weird clockwork machinery."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x files" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FILES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep green blotter, dotted with black ink stains, sits in the center
Floyd | of the desk, mostly covered by files and papers. One side of the
Floyd | blotter seems slightly higher than the other.
Floyd |
Floyd | The corner of a sandalwood box is visible beneath a stack of thick
Floyd | folders.
Floyd |
Floyd | The desk contains a large central drawer, currently opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I understood the driver's choice of route when we approached the
Floyd | prison from the north. A huge crowd was gathered for the public
Floyd | executions. I asked him about the particular individual sentenced to
Floyd | the gallows as we passed and he proceeded to tell me - at great length
Floyd | and with much relish - of the trial of one Mr. Emanuel Barthelemy. I
Floyd | wondered if today was something special, or if the spectacle of death
Floyd | always attracts such crowds."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Triage is an analyzing robot. The phonograph is a diary."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at triage" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine analyzes Triage before replying...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:TRIAGE.ANALY
Floyd | TICAL.ENGINE.UTI
Floyd | L:EXAMINATION.AN
Floyd | D.ANALYSIS.OF.OB
Floyd | JECTS.AND.DATA.P
Floyd | ART:TRIAGE.MK.II
Floyd | I.UNIT.CURRENT.O
Floyd | PERATOR=T.XAVIER
Floyd |
Floyd | "I heard a cheer go up from the top of the hill as we pulled to a stop
Floyd | in front of the flat. I shall not take this as an omen of any sort."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		kpaquette says, "Okay. I think I'd rather let you and chaudmin handle this because I don't know what I'm doing."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at window" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the window, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | "What I've seen of the place is modest, but I am not at all surprised
Floyd | considering what I am paying for it. I intend to spend as little time
Floyd | here as possible, after all. Bedlam awaits me in the morning."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the desk returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | "A final note. It seems I left the majority of my unused cylinders at
Floyd | Bedfordshire. I shall have to write Yeates and ask that he send them
Floyd | down, or perhaps seek out where I may purchase them locally. In the
Floyd | meantime, I shall refrain from making a phonograph-entry until
Floyd | something truly momentous happens."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
kpaquette goes home. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Having reached the end of the cylinder, the phonograph shuts itself
Floyd | off with a tiny "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take january twenty-second" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE JANUARY TWENTY-SECOND
Floyd |
Floyd | The ivory arms slide easily apart and the cylinder leaves the
Floyd | phonograph with a slight "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled January eighth
Floyd |   a flanged brass rod
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled March second
Floyd |   a tin cylinder labeled March sixteenth
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put march second in phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MARCH SECOND IN PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn on phonograph" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON PHONOGRAPH
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph switches on.
Floyd |
Floyd | "March the 2nd."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It seems the Fates have listened closely and decided to give me a
Floyd | momentous occasion as quickly as possible. I am beside myself. Bedlam
Floyd | seems nothing more than a pit in which Her Majesty may place those she
Floyd | wishes to forget about. Such corruption dwarfs the imagination."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Sorry to have confused katie, but this can't be easy for her."
		DavidW says, "She probably doesn't know what Bedlam was."
		chaudmin says, "this game is fairly confusing at times"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Perhaps I overstate the case, but it was the simple ease with which
Floyd | the constable approached me that most horrified me. If such things as
Floyd | this happen as a matter of course, then the place has truly been in
Floyd | the hands of the mad for some time."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose I should have seen such things coming. The Insane
Floyd | Prisoners' Act passed in '40 was vague enough that it could be used as
Floyd | a political tool, and McNaughton's trial made it clear that the courts
Floyd | would do so when forced, but at least such things happened in the
Floyd | public eye."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My predecessor clearly had some arrangement with the Bobbies
Floyd | regarding cases such as these. James told me that he met often with
Floyd | the constable, though he was not privy as to the content of these
Floyd | meetings."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes, it's a confusing game for anyone, I think."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Simply put, I was asked to make the prisoner in their charge
Floyd | 'disappear' and told that I would be 'well compensated' for keeping
Floyd | things quiet. Part of me wishes I had put up more of a fight...had
Floyd | made an issue, or..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "But what choice have I?  It has been made clear to me that keeping
Floyd | things quiet is precisely what is expected of me in my time in
Floyd | Bedlam."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have placed Cleve -- whose preternatural silence even as he
Floyd | struggled in his bonds gave the entire proceedings a sheen of
Floyd | unreality -- in the abandoned upper level of the northern wing,
Floyd | keeping the key separate from the rest. James showed it to me on my
Floyd | arrival and stated that while it still remained secure, only a few of
Floyd | the rooms were to be considered 'usable'."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Still, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise. I have complete
Floyd | singular access to an interesting patient. Perhaps this is the
Floyd | opportunity my studies have been waiting for..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Having reached the end of the cylinder, the phonograph shuts itself
Floyd | off with a tiny "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I suppose Cleve is in room 2D, then?"
		DavidW asks, "Or should be?"
		chaudmin says, "maybe"
		chaudmin says, "well, exposition complete, at any rate"
		chaudmin asks, "we probably don't need all these cylinders?"
		DavidW says, "I'd put them back in the box, yeah."
		chaudmin says, "I was just going to drop them, haha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put cylinders in box" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT CYLINDERS IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second: Done.
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled January eighth: Done.
Floyd | tin cylinder labeled March sixteenth: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sorry. I like things too neat, I guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x files" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FILES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess the files are unimportant."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "yep"
		chaudmin says, "time to leave"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the most prominent desk sits a nervous young man.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | The young man looks up and the corners of his mouth lift into a smile
Floyd | that is not quite strong enough to reach his eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Doctor?  Are you..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold. Yes, the cold is familiar.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachgrabfeel|possibility|probability)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The echo of an echo, the reflection of words from here to the far wall
Floyd | of reality and back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "...alright?  You had us all..."
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(actionpositiveaffirmative|destroyingfrictionbreakinggrowth|positiveye
Floyd | s)\
Floyd |
Floyd | "...do you mean...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The dim light glinting off the small badge he wears - James -
Floyd | Assistant -
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(livinggrowthfrictionfurtherspreadingoutwardstretchingyestouchingyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | - Bethlehem - Hospital -
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right then, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | And then he is nodding and returning to his seat, somehow both more
Floyd | and less nervous.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(yesdoneyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "how mysterious"
		DavidW says, "so, all the ## /(...)\ stuff is highly bizarre."
		chaudmin says, "yeah I didn't really get it until later"
		DavidW says, "I never understood it."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x james" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JAMES
Floyd |
Floyd | He's easily no more then twenty, with an unruly mop of black hair that
Floyd | continually gets in his eyes. The badge, set high near his collar,
Floyd | reads "James Houlihan - Assistant - Bethlehem Hospital."
Floyd |
Floyd | James stares out into space for a long moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's one of the reasons I wanted ClubFloyd to play this, so I might understand it better."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at james" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT JAMES
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches James, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:LIVING.HUMAN
Floyd | MALE.UTIL:COMMUN
Floyd | ICATION.POSSIBLE
Floyd | BY.SPEECH.OR.WRI
Floyd | TTEN.WORD.PART:I
Floyd | D=JAMES.HOULIHAN
Floyd | POSITION.ASSISTA
Floyd | NT.AT.BETHLEHEM.
Floyd |
Floyd | James shudders suddenly, then looks at you sheepishly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about key" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's rather outside my bailiwick, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the lobby desks or James' desk?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "No overflow error when analyzing James, i see. Just with us."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lobby desks" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LOBBY DESKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Worn and dusty with disuse, a fleet of abandoned desks slowly sinks
Floyd | into decay. James" desk, on its dais, is a tiny island of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cold" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COLD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x james's desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JAMES'S DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x james' desk" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JAMES' DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | It is covered in neat stacks of forms that James moves in unfathomable
Floyd | patterns: stamping some, filing others, and occasionally dropping one
Floyd | to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | James stares out into space for a long moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x forms" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FORMS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about me" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, it's certainly been a pleasure working with you, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about james" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT JAMES
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, I'm James, sir. Your assistant. Perhaps you had better sit down.
Floyd | I don't think you've quite recovered."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I don't think there's much to talk about yet"
		DavidW says, "I wish I knew what happened to us earlier."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about cold" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT COLD
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't feel as though I'm qualified to answer that question, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | James shudders suddenly, then looks at you sheepishly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about triage" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | "It was a favored tool of Dr. Brand. He would lock himself in his
Floyd | office and enter data into it for hours."
Floyd |
Floyd | James stares out into space for a long moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about brand" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT BRAND
Floyd |
Floyd | "He ... he took his own life. I fear the pressures of this place had
Floyd | gotten the better of him. He spent every waking moment here, on his
Floyd | patients, this place. We must be vigilant sir. So easy to get lost
Floyd | here."
Floyd |
Floyd | James stands and stretches his legs for a moment before resuming his
Floyd | seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about patients" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT PATIENTS
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's rather outside my bailiwick, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | James bites his lower lip as he stamps out a set of forms.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about bethlehem" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT BETHLEHEM
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's seen better days, certainly, sir -- but I must say that I was
Floyd | certainly proud when I was offered this position."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about yeates" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT YEATES
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm afraid I can't help you there."
Floyd |
Floyd | James carefully fills out a set of forms, then files them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about rod" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's rather outside my bailiwick, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | James taps his fingers nervously.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about panopticon" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT PANOPTICON
Floyd |
Floyd | "Is it acting up again, sir?  I'm sorry. We haven't been keeping up
Floyd | regular maintenance, what with the budget constraints."
Floyd |
Floyd | James sighs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about cleve" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT CLEVE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Already in the grave, I believe sir. I know nothing else about him,
Floyd | I've not looked at any of his files, per your instructions."
Floyd |
Floyd | James shudders suddenly, then looks at you sheepishly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "guess he's not in 2D then"
		DavidW says, "yeah. I guess not."
		chaudmin says, "we'll probably get to see his files though"
		DavidW says, "I wonder where his files are, and what's left in 2D anyway."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about cleve's files" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT CLEVE'S FILES
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't feel as though I'm qualified to answer that question, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about cleve's file" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT CLEVE'S FILE
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's rather outside my bailiwick, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask james about file" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT FILE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't feel as though I'm qualified to answer that question, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | James carefully fills out a set of forms, then files them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ehh, I'm sure we'll come across it somewhere"
		DavidW asks, "Perhaps James doesn't have it?"
		DavidW asks, "I guess explore?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Archives
Floyd | This room is mostly empty space. The farthest wall is lined with
Floyd | gleaming, brass pull-file drawers and seems to go on infinitely in
Floyd | every direction. The entrance to the west opens onto a solid, dusty
Floyd | platform, which allows visitors to stand suspended above the unseen
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of the platform lies a pedestal topped with a small,
Floyd | inverted onyx pyramid.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "By the way, what's a magnetophone? Is that like a CB radio?"
		chaudmin says, "it looks like some kind of tape recorder"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, it's a tape recorder"
		DavidW asks, "We didn't see it, did we?"
		chaudmin says, "I googled it"
		DavidW says, "oh. It's a real thing? I thought the author made it up."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x platform" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLATFORM
Floyd |
Floyd | The platform is surrounded on three sides by a low metal railing, the
Floyd | better to prevent an unfortunate drop into the vacuum below.
Floyd | Footprints mark and remark the dust, forming a trail from the lobby to
Floyd | the pedestal and back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x pedestal" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It is shaped like a pulpit. On its flat surface is small panel
Floyd | containing a dial and small glass display and delicately balanced at
Floyd | its top is an inverted black pyramid.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at pedestal" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | A small beam of green light lashes out over the pedestal as Triage's
Floyd | screen lights up:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd |
Floyd | OL.UTIL:ARCHIVE.
Floyd |
Floyd | INTERFACE.PART:F
Floyd |
Floyd | ILE.NUMBER.INPUT
Floyd |
Floyd | VIA.DIAL.OUTPUT.
Floyd |
Floyd | VIA.PAPERTAPE.DI
Floyd |
Floyd | SPLAY.PYRAMID=RE
Floyd |
Floyd | TRIVAL.UNIT.....
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "So we need to dial a number to access a file?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dial" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | The dial seems capable of being set to any number between 1 and 9 as
Floyd | well as the letters A through F. It currently rests at 1.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I guess so"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x display" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | A small sheet of glass, beneath which runs a paper tape which
Floyd | disappears into the bowels of the mechanism. The glass is cut in such
Floyd | a way as to magnify the tape beneath it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape is currently imprinted with:
Floyd | "...RETRIEVAL COMPLETE..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x pyramid" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PYRAMID
Floyd |
Floyd | Matte black and smooth, it is securely anchored to the pedestal at its
Floyd | inverted apex.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 2" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 2
Floyd |
Floyd | As the dial is set, the pedestal begins to hum and the sound of
Floyd | turning gears can be heard. The tape beneath the panel's glass display
Floyd | suddenly advances from right to left, erasing the display. Then, with
Floyd | a *clunk* it advances one further step ... revealing '2' imprinted on
Floyd | its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to d" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO D
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads '2D'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push pyramid" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH PYRAMID
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push dial" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I think the sequence is supposed to be longer"
		DavidW asks, "So if you want to clear the display and start again...?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 1" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 1
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads '2D1'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to a" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO A
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads '2D1A'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to f" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO F
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads '2D1AF'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 8" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 8
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape spins forward, blanking the display. Then...
Floyd |
Floyd | "SEARCHING..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Another advance. Then...
Floyd |
Floyd | "FILE 2D1AF8 NOT FOUND..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances. It now reads "...RETRIEVAL FAILED..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So six characters"
		chaudmin says, "we don't know any yet, so..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter platform" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER PLATFORM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, sadly."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "get on platform" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ON PLATFORM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "guess that's not important"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | James sits behind his desk, nervously working.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | James stands and stretches his legs for a moment before resuming his
Floyd | seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the east and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the west. Far below, an intricate set of sub-buildings
Floyd | can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at tower" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT TOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is complex, divided into several discrete sections. Set on a panel
Floyd | is a diagram - a blueprint. A small slot for the dispensing of paper
Floyd | tape lies beside it. Set above the diagram is a prism-viewer complete
Floyd | with two handles. A set of brass listening-tubes terminate on either
Floyd | side of the viewer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x diagram" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAGRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | Intricate in its detail, it depicts a series of twenty-four corridors
Floyd | set about a circular room like the spokes of a wheel. Each corridor
Floyd | opens onto six rooms, three on each side, with one exception: a hall
Floyd | at 3 o'clock instead connects to a building labeled "Administration."
Floyd |
Floyd | At the center of the circular room is a keyhole. Beside it is a
Floyd | two-headed arrow, pointing up and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blueprint is a series of buttons: six labeled A through F
Floyd | and one with an inverted triangle from which six small lines emerge.
Floyd | None of the buttons is currently depressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "dang, I hate fiddling with complicated machines"
		DavidW asks, "I think this is an elevator?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x circles" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CIRCLES
Floyd |
Floyd | The walls and floor are pale, white and seamless except for the
Floyd | engraved circles. There are six of them - set at various distances
Floyd | from the central console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in viewer" 		

Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 1

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW says, "ack!"
		chaudmin says, "woah"
		chaudmin says, "well at least we haven't got too far"
		DavidW says, "Sorry. I had no idea that'd crash the game."
		DavidW says, "I did kinda want a bathroom break, though."
		chaudmin says, "perfect timing, then"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask slouching" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *clunk*
Floyd |
Floyd | The rotating tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a
Floyd | brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared
Floyd | emerges from the machine's hornshell speaker, followed by a thin,
Floyd | haunting voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "March the 16th."
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep, shaky breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I dread to say it, but I believe I am going mad. The -- *moments* --
Floyd | come more frequently now. I fear that I have found what I have sought,
Floyd | and I shall now pay the price for it."
Floyd |
Floyd | The scrape of a chair across flagstone. A sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chaos treads the halls of Bedlam; her work is evident everywhere..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Slouching Towards Bedlam
Floyd | An entry in the 9th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (10th
Floyd | Anniversary Edition) by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
Floyd | Release 2 / Serial number 140613 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd | [First time players should type 'about'. Credits are available via
Floyd | 'credits'.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A black cube on wheels sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "we can skip all the exposition, so..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push emerald" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH EMERALD
Floyd |
Floyd | From within the device comes a sharp clunk, followed by a gentle
Floyd | humming. The emerald blinks slowly -- once, twice -- then glows
Floyd | steadily. The grid of squares which makes up the thing's screen pivot
Floyd | back and forth, seemingly at random, causing ripples of motion across
Floyd | its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a sudden purpose, they begin to flip, revealing hundreds of tiny
Floyd | symbols engraved on their surfaces. The squares continue for a moment,
Floyd | then begin to settle line by line like a fall of rain into a
Floyd | pattern...
Floyd |
Floyd | INIT.CYCLE.COMP.
Floyd | MILL.UNIT.ONLINE
Floyd | STORE.DECRYPT/CO
Floyd | MPRESS.BOOT.STAC
Floyd | K.COMP.OP.SYSTEM
Floyd | UNIT.VER.3.REG:.
Floyd | DR..SIMON..BRAND
Floyd | SET MODE:ANALYZE
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph continues to play.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I discredit my profession; examining madness as if the world were a
Floyd | fluent thing and sanity as malleable as the warm wax of a candle."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "feel free to get us back to where we were. Key is under the blotter."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look under blotter" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BLOTTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blotter is a small key, easily taken. It carries a small
Floyd | tag labeled "2D".
Floyd |
Floyd | "The secret lays heavily on both my mind and heart. I have told no
Floyd | one; I despair a second opinion would confirm my worst suspicions. I
Floyd | have secured all my knowledge of these events within the mechanical
Floyd | assistant left by my predecessor. It was my hope that it would allow
Floyd | me to see the situation from a new perspective, and help me discover
Floyd | the key to my salvation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | The large central drawer opens, revealing a manual and a flanged brass
Floyd | rod.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Alas, it has been to no avail. While I found the entry mode easy
Floyd | enough, and the thing seems filled with information regarding the
Floyd | hospital down to the point of minutiae, it seems helpless in the face
Floyd | of analyzing my current situation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take rod" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It may be that I have simply not found that by which this growing
Floyd | mystery may be unlocked. Perhaps by subjecting the Triage to further
Floyd | experiential data, it may find something that I have missed. But I
Floyd | have little faith left at this point."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the most prominent desk sits a nervous young man.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | The young man looks up and the corners of his mouth lift into a smile
Floyd | that is not quite strong enough to reach his eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Doctor?  Are you..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold. Yes, the cold is familiar.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachgrabfeel|possibility|probability)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The echo of an echo, the reflection of words from here to the far wall
Floyd | of reality and back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "...alright?  You had us all..."
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(actionpositiveaffirmative|destroyingfrictionbreakinggrowth|positiveye
Floyd | s)\
Floyd |
Floyd | "...do you mean...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The dim light glinting off the small badge he wears - James -
Floyd | Assistant -
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(livinggrowthfrictionfurtherspreadingoutwardstretchingyestouchingyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | - Bethlehem - Hospital -
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right then, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | And then he is nodding and returning to his seat, somehow both more
Floyd | and less nervous.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(yesdoneyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the east and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the west. Far below, an intricate set of sub-buildings
Floyd | can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is complex, divided into several discrete sections. Set on a panel
Floyd | is a diagram - a blueprint. A small slot for the dispensing of paper
Floyd | tape lies beside it. Set above the diagram is a prism-viewer complete
Floyd | with two handles. A set of brass listening-tubes terminate on either
Floyd | side of the viewer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x prism" 		

Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 1

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		chaudmin exclaims, "AAAAH!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask slouching" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *clunk*
Floyd |
Floyd | The rotating tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a
Floyd | brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared
Floyd | emerges from the machine's hornshell speaker, followed by a thin,
Floyd | haunting voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "March the 16th."
Floyd |
Floyd | A deep, shaky breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I dread to say it, but I believe I am going mad. The -- *moments* --
Floyd | come more frequently now. I fear that I have found what I have sought,
Floyd | and I shall now pay the price for it."
Floyd |
Floyd | The scrape of a chair across flagstone. A sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Chaos treads the halls of Bedlam; her work is evident everywhere..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Slouching Towards Bedlam
Floyd | An entry in the 9th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition (10th
Floyd | Anniversary Edition) by Star C. Foster and Daniel Ravipinto
Floyd | Release 2 / Serial number 140613 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd | [First time players should type 'about'. Credits are available via
Floyd | 'credits'.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | A massive cedar desk, well-polished and worn, looks elegantly
Floyd | out-of-place among the chaos. Papers, files, and books cover nearly
Floyd | every flat surface in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a phonograph on the table near the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A black cube on wheels sits near the door to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ok, don't do anything with the viewer. noted."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push emerald" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH EMERALD
Floyd |
Floyd | From within the device comes a sharp clunk, followed by a gentle
Floyd | humming. The emerald blinks slowly -- once, twice -- then glows
Floyd | steadily. The grid of squares which makes up the thing's screen pivot
Floyd | back and forth, seemingly at random, causing ripples of motion across
Floyd | its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a sudden purpose, they begin to flip, revealing hundreds of tiny
Floyd | symbols engraved on their surfaces. The squares continue for a moment,
Floyd | then begin to settle line by line like a fall of rain into a
Floyd | pattern...
Floyd |
Floyd | INIT.CYCLE.COMP.
Floyd | MILL.UNIT.ONLINE
Floyd | STORE.DECRYPT/CO
Floyd | MPRESS.BOOT.STAC
Floyd | K.COMP.OP.SYSTEM
Floyd | UNIT.VER.3.REG:.
Floyd | DR..SIMON..BRAND
Floyd | SET MODE:ANALYZE
Floyd |
Floyd | The phonograph continues to play.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I discredit my profession; examining madness as if the world were a
Floyd | fluent thing and sanity as malleable as the warm wax of a candle."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look under blotter" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BLOTTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blotter is a small key, easily taken. It carries a small
Floyd | tag labeled "2D".
Floyd |
Floyd | "The secret lays heavily on both my mind and heart. I have told no
Floyd | one; I despair a second opinion would confirm my worst suspicions. I
Floyd | have secured all my knowledge of these events within the mechanical
Floyd | assistant left by my predecessor. It was my hope that it would allow
Floyd | me to see the situation from a new perspective, and help me discover
Floyd | the key to my salvation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | The large central drawer opens, revealing a manual and a flanged brass
Floyd | rod.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Alas, it has been to no avail. While I found the entry mode easy
Floyd | enough, and the thing seems filled with information regarding the
Floyd | hospital down to the point of minutiae, it seems helpless in the face
Floyd | of analyzing my current situation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take rod" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It may be that I have simply not found that by which this growing
Floyd | mystery may be unlocked. Perhaps by subjecting the Triage to further
Floyd | experiential data, it may find something that I have missed. But I
Floyd | have little faith left at this point."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]                               Office
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The sandalwood box opens, revealing a tin cylinder labeled January
Floyd | eighth, a tin cylinder labeled January twenty-second and a tin
Floyd | cylinder labeled March second.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of a chair creaking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have found a blessing in James. He has been nothing but kind and
Floyd | helpful in my short time here. I find myself wondering if, perhaps, he
Floyd | can be trusted enough to... but how can I punish him with this
Floyd | knowledge?"
Floyd |
Floyd | A sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | "But how can I bear it alone?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "back"
		chaudmin says, "the game exited again when I examined the viewer"
		chaudmin says, "so, don't do anything to the viewer, basically"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the most prominent desk sits a nervous young man.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | The young man looks up and the corners of his mouth lift into a smile
Floyd | that is not quite strong enough to reach his eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Doctor?  Are you..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold. Yes, the cold is familiar.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachgrabfeel|possibility|probability)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The echo of an echo, the reflection of words from here to the far wall
Floyd | of reality and back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "...alright?  You had us all..."
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(actionpositiveaffirmative|destroyingfrictionbreakinggrowth|positiveye
Floyd | s)\
Floyd |
Floyd | "...do you mean...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The dim light glinting off the small badge he wears - James -
Floyd | Assistant -
Floyd |
Floyd | ##
Floyd | /(livinggrowthfrictionfurtherspreadingoutwardstretchingyestouchingyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | - Bethlehem - Hospital -
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right then, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | And then he is nodding and returning to his seat, somehow both more
Floyd | and less nervous.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(yesdoneyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | James stands and stretches his legs for a moment before resuming his
Floyd | seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "I wonder if the sleepmask terp is making it act weird."

Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the east and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the west. Far below, an intricate set of sub-buildings
Floyd | can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is complex, divided into several discrete sections. Set on a panel
Floyd | is a diagram - a blueprint. A small slot for the dispensing of paper
Floyd | tape lies beside it. Set above the diagram is a prism-viewer complete
Floyd | with two handles. A set of brass listening-tubes terminate on either
Floyd | side of the viewer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x diagram" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAGRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | Intricate in its detail, it depicts a series of twenty-four corridors
Floyd | set about a circular room like the spokes of a wheel. Each corridor
Floyd | opens onto six rooms, three on each side, with one exception: a hall
Floyd | at 3 o'clock instead connects to a building labeled "Administration."
Floyd |
Floyd | At the center of the circular room is a keyhole. Beside it is a
Floyd | two-headed arrow, pointing up and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blueprint is a series of buttons: six labeled A through F
Floyd | and one with an inverted triangle from which six small lines emerge.
Floyd | None of the buttons is currently depressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf7" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | > SAVE## /(pointrememberingSAVEstoresafekeep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ooh, meta"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push f button" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH F BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The button clicks downward, then returns to its original state when
Floyd | released. Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put key in keyhole" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT KEY IN KEYHOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That does not appear to fit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push up button" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH UP BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "no, the rod goes in this keyhole, I think."
		chaudmin says, "oh, right"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "put rod in keyhole" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT ROD IN KEYHOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The brass rod slip easily into the keyhole. Then, of its own accord,
Floyd | it begins to turn - first clockwise, then counter-clockwise.
Floyd |
Floyd | The floor rumbles for a moment. There is an odd sense of movement.
Floyd |
Floyd | The light beneath the Administration and its connecting corridor goes
Floyd | out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A corridor at twelve o'clock lights up as the key stops moving, as
Floyd | does its north-east room. The button labeled "A" clicks down and
Floyd | begins to glow.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room seems to have subtly cha...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(pain)\
Floyd |
Floyd | A cacophony fills the room - a hideous screeching echo.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(chaosrandomhurt)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It continues - emanating from the listening-tubes - a metallic
Floyd | repetitive thrum, the sound of an insect grown to the size of a
Floyd | lion...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(nosensenonsenserandomrandomnosensenonsense)\
Floyd |
Floyd | ...echo on top of echo on top of echo - resounding through the tubes,
Floyd | the room, the halls. A numbness spreads from arm to hand to finger...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(stopnostopmake)\
Floyd |
Floyd | A solid *thunk* makes itself barely heard above the noise and then -
Floyd | silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(stop)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The button "B" is now depressed and glowing - the one beside it now
Floyd | dark - as is the eastern room of the lighted corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The key will be for the cell itself."
		chaudmin says, "I'm not sure what that was about"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at console" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the console, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd | OL.UTIL:PANOPTIC
Floyd | ON.MAIN.CONSOLE.
Floyd | CAPABLE.OF.VIEWI
Floyd | NG.ANY.CELL.IN.H
Floyd | OSPITAL.WITH.BOT
Floyd | VISUAL&AUDIO.OUT
Floyd | PUT+CODE.STORAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | From the gurgling sound emanating from it, the listening tube's
Floyd | terminus has momentarily become submerged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6A
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Room 6A
Floyd | A room that has been stripped almost completely bare - its only
Floyd | pretense at furniture is a small, hard chair thrown off to one side.
Floyd | Its single exit lies to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I'm not sure why 2D would be in corridor 6. Shouldn't it be in corridor 2?"
		chaudmin says, "I think this would be 6D"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6A
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | It is so much junk - brittle and old, it is unlikely it could bear any
Floyd | weight whatsoever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6A
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT ON CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's useless -- better to leave it be.
Floyd |
Floyd | It sounds as if an insect is caught somewhere in the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6A
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a faint buzzing whine in the air, seeming to come from the
Floyd | southern wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | A piercing tone fills the air for a brief moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x south wall" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6A
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOUTH WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "ok, maybe the room south of here?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to room 6B seems stuck fast - from behind it can be heard the
Floyd | steady drip of water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin exclaims, "well fine then. time to try every single room!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6C
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Room 6C
Floyd | A room whose floor seems in danger of collapse - a hole has started
Floyd | forming in its center and the edges slowly slope in towards it. Its
Floyd | single exit lies to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "How did we choose this corridor, by the way?"
		chaudmin asks, "I have no idea, it just kind of ended up here?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6C
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The hole is approximately the size of a clenched fist, and beyond only
Floyd | darkness can be seen. The floor surrounding it seems anything but
Floyd | stable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look in hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6C
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The whole area seems perilously close to collapse - best not to
Floyd | linger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We probably don't want to enter the hole?"
		chaudmin says, "I don't think we can, it's the size of a fist"
		DavidW says, "oh."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at hole" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6C
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the hole returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "nothing in here, then"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		DavidW says, ">stick out tongue at triage"
		DavidW says, "Hi Roger."
		chaudmin says, "haha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Room 6D
Floyd | An old room that - while crumbling around the edges - is fairly sturdy
Floyd | and secure. Its dusty floor holds nothing more than a cot and a
Floyd | crumbling chair. A set of gas light fixtures hangs off the wall,
Floyd | blocked and in disrepair and a door lies to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | The walls are covered with writing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "yo"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cot" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COT
Floyd |
Floyd | A small, well worn cot, almost worn through from use.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look under cot" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER COT
Floyd |
Floyd | The cot holds no use.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | It is so much junk - brittle and old, it is unlikely it could bear any
Floyd | weight whatsoever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x walls" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x writing" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WRITING
Floyd |
Floyd | In the walls" current state, it must not have been too difficult to
Floyd | scratch a message into - but the preciseness of the writing is still
Floyd | impressive. Various phrases are carved in a generally circular pattern
Floyd | about an intricate set of lines and circles at the center, within
Floyd | which is inscribed:
Floyd |
Floyd | Z X W H T G B W H T F G W H T F G B Z X W H T
Floyd |
Floyd | The outer writing reads, variously:
Floyd |
Floyd | LOGOS EN SOPH       NOTARIKON        AND A LITTLE
Floyd |                                                   CHLD
Floyd | MKLTH               GEMATRIA                      2693
Floyd | 19876                                             MCHN
Floyd | KTHR                TEMURAH                       1262
Floyd | 8765                                 SHALL LEAD THEM
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "well, that's bizarre."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at writing" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT WRITING
Floyd |
Floyd | A small beam of green light lashes out over the writing as Triage's
Floyd | screen lights up:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:WRITING.UTIL
Floyd | :COMMUNICATION.P
Floyd | ART:MULTIPLE.PHR
Floyd | ASES.POSITIONING
Floyd | POSSIBILY.IMPORT
Floyd | ANT.SIX.SEPARATE
Floyd | PORTIONS?FURTHER
Floyd | ANALYSIS.REQ....
Floyd |
Floyd | It has no sooner finished showing this then, with a series of clanks,
Floyd | the letters begin to spin wildly, randomly. The screen fills with a
Floyd | series of scrolling data, clearing the old as quickly as the new
Floyd | appears...
Floyd |
Floyd | LOGOS.EN.SOPH...
Floyd | (EN=AIN=NOTHING)
Floyd | WITHOUT.FORM?...
Floyd | SOURCE:HEBREW/KA
Floyd | BALLAH-BOUNDLESS
Floyd | LIMITLESS-CREATO
Floyd | R?GENERATIVE-DEI
Floyd | TY?SECOND.GOD=DE
Floyd | MIURGE(GNOSTIC?)
Floyd |
Floyd | ASSOCIATIONFOUND
Floyd | TRINITY-NOTARIKO
Floyd | N.GEMATRIA.TEMUR
Floyd | AH.ALL.KABALLIST
Floyd | IC.REFERENCES.MA
Floyd | RKINGS.AT.CENTER
Floyd | SUPPORT.POSSIBLE
Floyd | CODE.OR.CYPHER?.
Floyd |
Floyd | AND.A.LITTLE.CHL
Floyd | D.2693?.GEMATRIA
Floyd | /NUMEROLOGY/UNKN
Floyd | OWN.SYSTEM.W/NO.
Floyd | VOWELS?[B=1,C=2]
Floyd | AND.A.LITTLE....
Floyd | CHLD/CHILD/MCHN/
Floyd | MACHINE?.SHALL..
Floyd |
Floyd | MACHINE/KABALLAH
Floyd | REFERENCE?SEARCH
Floyd | ING.?CYPHERIST?.
Floyd | ENLIGHTENMENT.AS
Floyd | INFORMATION?DATA
Floyd | MARKINGS+MLKTH+K
Floyd | THR=MALKUTH.KETH
Floyd | ER-SEPHIRA/ROTH?
Floyd |
Floyd | CYPHER:NO.VOWELS
Floyd | =20.SYMBOLS=?SIM
Floyd | PLE.ROTATION.OR.
Floyd | FOLD?B=N=B/C=P=C
Floyd | ...ZXWHT...MLKTH
Floyd | MLKTH=MALKUTH.!.
Floyd | GBWHTF=SN[KTHR].
Floyd | [S]=?AS?IS?SO?..
Floyd |
Floyd | Finally, seeming almost pleased with itself, the machine quiets down,
Floyd | displaying:
Floyd |
Floyd | CENTER.LETTERING
Floyd | CODE/CYPHER(NO.V
Floyd | OWELS)="MALKUTH.
Floyd | IS.IN.KETHER.AS.
Floyd | KETHER.IS.IN.MAL
Floyd | KUTH"=KAB/CYPH.=
Floyd | [MAN]IS.IN[GOD]A
Floyd | S[GOD]IS.IN[MAN]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Triage), "You scary."
		chaudmin exclaims, "man, that puzzle was a hard one!"
		DavidW says, "If we have a god in our inventory, I may scream."
		DavidW asks, "and a little Triage machine shall lead the doctor where?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask triage about god" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK TRIAGE ABOUT GOD
Floyd |
Floyd | That is not a recognized verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The hell it's not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at me" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald flickers from head to toe before returning:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:LIVING......
Floyd | *CATASTROPHIC.ER
Floyd | RROR.A042.CATEGO
Floyd | RY.INDEX.OUT.OF.
Floyd | RANGE.STACK.OVER
Floyd | FLOW*PART:ID=DR.
Floyd | THOMAS.XAVIER=CU
Floyd | RRENT.OPERATOR..
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "still a problem there."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move cot" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOVE COT
Floyd |
Floyd | The cot holds no use.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lights" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIGHTS
Floyd |
Floyd | Their flickering fills the room with uneasy shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take light" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE LIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | The lights look as if they will go out any moment as it is. Best to
Floyd | leave them alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Shall we visit rooms E and F?"
		chaudmin says, "let's shall"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The room beyond the door to the west seems to have collapsed in on
Floyd | itself - the door swings inwards to immediately strike an impenetrable
Floyd | mound of rubble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well not that way"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | The lock and handle on the door to 6F seem broken - making it
Floyd | unopenable. The sound of wind faintly blowing can be heard beyond it,
Floyd | though.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin shrugs.
		DavidW says, "This is not the most secure and functional of corridors."
		chaudmin says, "nope"
		chaudmin says, "back to the panopticon"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at console" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT CONSOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the console, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd | OL.UTIL:PANOPTIC
Floyd | ON.MAIN.CONSOLE.
Floyd | CAPABLE.OF.VIEWI
Floyd | NG.ANY.CELL.IN.H
Floyd | OSPITAL.WITH.BOT
Floyd | VISUAL&AUDIO.OUT
Floyd | PUT+CODE.STORAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "wait I already did that"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x diagram" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAGRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | Intricate in its detail, it depicts a series of twenty-four corridors
Floyd | set about a circular room like the spokes of a wheel. Each corridor
Floyd | opens onto six rooms, three on each side, with one exception: a hall
Floyd | at 3 o'clock instead connects to a building labeled "Administration."
Floyd |
Floyd | At the center of the circular room is a keyhole. Beside it is a
Floyd | two-headed arrow, pointing up and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blueprint is a series of buttons: six labeled A through F
Floyd | and one with an inverted triangle from which six small lines emerge.
Floyd | The button labeled 'B' is depressed and glowing.
Floyd |
Floyd | A corridor at twelve o'clock is lit and its eastern room are lit up
Floyd | from beneath, as is the upward head of the two-headed arrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "push up?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push up arrow" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH UP ARROW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "maybe push a letter"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push C" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH C
Floyd |
Floyd | The button clicks downward and begins to glow. On the blueprint, the
Floyd | corridor's south-eastern room also lights up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "wait, do the buttons unlock the doors or lock them or what?"
		chaudmin says, "I think this is how we select a room to view"
		DavidW asks, "If we push the B button, will we be able to get in there?"
		chaudmin says, "B was already pushed when we went the first time, though"
		DavidW says, "and we couldn't get into B."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I'm afraid to examine the viewer in case it exits the game again"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Straying from the walkway would most likely result in a rather fatal
Floyd | fall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]                              Room 6D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Room 6D
Floyd | An old room that - while crumbling around the edges - is fairly sturdy
Floyd | and secure. Its dusty floor holds nothing more than a cot and a
Floyd | crumbling chair. A set of gas light fixtures hangs off the wall,
Floyd | blocked and in disrepair and a door lies to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | The walls are covered with writing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to room 6B seems stuck fast - from behind it can be heard the
Floyd | steady drip of water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push b" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH B
Floyd |
Floyd | The button clicks downward and begins to glow. On the blueprint, the
Floyd | corridor's eastern room also lights up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push b" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH B
Floyd |
Floyd | The button is already pressed
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull b" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL B
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diagram" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAGRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | Intricate in its detail, it depicts a series of twenty-four corridors
Floyd | set about a circular room like the spokes of a wheel. Each corridor
Floyd | opens onto six rooms, three on each side, with one exception: a hall
Floyd | at 3 o'clock instead connects to a building labeled "Administration."
Floyd |
Floyd | At the center of the circular room is a keyhole. Beside it is a
Floyd | two-headed arrow, pointing up and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the blueprint is a series of buttons: six labeled A through F
Floyd | and one with an inverted triangle from which six small lines emerge.
Floyd | The button labeled 'B' is depressed and glowing.
Floyd |
Floyd | A corridor at twelve o'clock is lit and its eastern room are lit up
Floyd | from beneath, as is the upward head of the two-headed arrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor 6
Floyd | Were it not for the complex's enclosing walls and ceiling, this hall
Floyd | would certainly be left at the mercy of the elements - no surface
Floyd | stands unbroken or unpitted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The eastern wall is set with a series of labeled doorways: to the
Floyd | northeast lies A, to the east B, to the southeast C.
Floyd |
Floyd | The western wall is much the same: to the southwest is D, to the west
Floyd | E, to the northwest F.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south is labeled simply "Panopticon".
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to room 6B seems stuck fast - from behind it can be heard the
Floyd | steady drip of water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at 6B door" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT 6B DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at east door" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT EAST DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to point at east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at door" 		

Floyd ]                             Corridor 6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the hallway door returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the north and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the south. Far below, an intricate set of
Floyd | sub-buildings can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of dripping water echoes through the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at diagram" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT DIAGRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's beam flickers over the panopticon panel, briefly, then
Floyd | displays:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd | OL.UTIL:PANOPTIC
Floyd | ON.BLUEPRINT.PAR
Floyd | T:ACTIVATE.VIA.P
Floyd | ROPER.KEY.CHOOSE
Floyd | CELL.VIA.BUTTONS
Floyd | PRINT.PATIENT.CO
Floyd | DE.VIA.TRIANGLE.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of three drips of water falling in quick succession comes
Floyd | floating across the console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push triangle" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRIANGLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The button clicks downward, then returns to its original state when
Floyd | released. Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push D" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH D
Floyd |
Floyd | (D button)
Floyd | The button clicks downward and begins to glow. On the blueprint, the
Floyd | corridor's south-western room also lights up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push triangle" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRIANGLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The button clicks downward, then returns to its original state when
Floyd | released. Nothing more seems to happen for a moment, then a sudden
Floyd | clattering is emitted from the console's slot from which emerges a
Floyd | paper tape. A moment or two later, both the noise and the tape stop.
Floyd | Easily torn from the console, it reveals the symbols "F6A142"
Floyd | imprinted on its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "yay, got a code"
		DavidW says, "hooray"
		DavidW says, "Let's go to the archives and try it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take tape" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TAPE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the paper tape labeled F6A142)
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "er. How do we get back to admin?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | No exit lies in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn rod" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "huh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rod" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | As the rod slides from its home, the floor rumbles for a moment. There
Floyd | is an odd sense of movement.
Floyd |
Floyd | All of the lights on the blueprint go out, then the light beneath the
Floyd | Administration and its connecting corridor flickers back to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room seems to have subtly changed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                          Circular Chamber
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Circular Chamber
Floyd | The hum of machinery is ever present here, rumbling down into the
Floyd | sub-sonics. Pale white walls encircle a series of engraved circles on
Floyd | the floor, and at the center - like the pupil of some great eye - sits
Floyd | a round console which reaches all the way up to the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room's single exit lies to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walkway
Floyd | The slight wind whistles tunelessly against this mesh of steel, which
Floyd | arcs from one massive, opened gate to another. A roof curves far
Floyd | overhead, enclosing both the block-like building to the east and the
Floyd | narrow tower to the west. Far below, an intricate set of sub-buildings
Floyd | can be seen, enclosed within the complex's outer wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x rod" 		

Floyd ]                              Walkway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROD
Floyd |
Floyd | A short rod of brass with a flange at one end (engraved with a '6')
Floyd | and a series of tines at the other, perpendicular to the shaft.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ah, so that's why we went to corridor 6"
		DavidW says, "aha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | James sits behind his desk, nervously working.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Archives
Floyd | This room is mostly empty space. The farthest wall is lined with
Floyd | gleaming, brass pull-file drawers and seems to go on infinitely in
Floyd | every direction. The entrance to the west opens onto a solid, dusty
Floyd | platform, which allows visitors to stand suspended above the unseen
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of the platform lies a pedestal topped with a small,
Floyd | inverted onyx pyramid.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to f" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO F
Floyd |
Floyd | As the dial is set, the pedestal begins to hum and the sound of
Floyd | turning gears can be heard. The tape beneath the panel's glass display
Floyd | suddenly advances from right to left, erasing the display. Then, with
Floyd | a *clunk* it advances one further step ... revealing 'F' imprinted on
Floyd | its surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 6" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 6
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads 'F6'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to a" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO A
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads 'F6A'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 1" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 1
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads 'F6A1'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 4" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 4
Floyd |
Floyd | The tape advances a step further. It now reads 'F6A14'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "turn dial to 2" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL TO 2
Floyd |
Floyd | The humming of the pedestal suddenly increases in both volume and
Floyd | pitch. The tape spins forward, blanking the display. Then...
Floyd |
Floyd | "SEARCHING..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Another advance. Then...
Floyd |
Floyd | "FILE...FOUND...FILE F6A142...RETRIEVAL..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The humming ceases, to be replaced with a quick-paced ticking,
Floyd | something like a watch.
Floyd |
Floyd | With an easy grace, six thin rods emerge from the sides of the
Floyd | pyramid. Growing quickly, they reveal a series of articulations along
Floyd | their length as they bend downwards. Within moments, they have
Floyd | revealed an impressive span - making a shape not unlike a spider.
Floyd |
Floyd | The lower set of ... legs?  arms?  ... pushes lightly against the
Floyd | base, freeing it. It turns with blinding speed and...leaps and...
Floyd |
Floyd | It is gone, running along the walls on four legs, its arms gripping at
Floyd | protrusions and flinging it further ... up ... up...
Floyd |
Floyd | It stops somewhere far above, bracing itself on two legs. Two others
Floyd | reach forward and grip, then pull, opening a distant drawer. Its two
Floyd | arms reach inward, flicking through files with blinding speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, finding what it seeks, it grabs hold and pulls a folder close to
Floyd | its body. It then gently wraps its arms around to hold it tight.
Floyd | Closing the drawer, it quickly makes its way back and...
Floyd |
Floyd | With a final tick, the pyramid settles itself back into the pedestal,
Floyd | holding out the retrieved folder on two articulated rods of brass. The
Floyd | tape advances. It now reads "...RETRIEVAL COMPLETE..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That's far too creepy."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take folder" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE FOLDER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		DavidW says, "oh my. lots of text."
		chaudmin says, "great, more menus to navigate"
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                        Personal Information
Floyd | Patient Name: Cleve Anderson
Floyd | Age: 23
Floyd | Physical Description: 5'10" 12 stone, grey eyes, brown hair
Floyd | Distinguishing Marks: small burns on palms and inner forearms, these
Floyd | should heal within a few weeks (possible scarring?).
Floyd | Residence: 1428 Fleet Street, second floor loft
Floyd | Possessions: money (a few pound notes), a key, and identification
Floyd | papers
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |  > Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                          Patient History
Floyd | Arrival Date/Time: 2 - 3 - 55 23:00
Floyd | Processing: James Houlihan
Floyd | Attending Alienist: Dr. Thomas Xavier
Floyd | Depositing/Transporting: unlisted
Floyd |
Floyd | Patient arrested for disturbance of the peace, neighbors described
Floyd | screaming and raving at all hours. Found comatose in his flat (see
Floyd | personal information). Awoke in transit - mostly compliant though some
Floyd | resistance -- *completely silent*, refused to answer questions.
Floyd |
Floyd | Diagnosis: (for specifics see attached) Disassociative disorder, acute
Floyd | schizophrenia with paranoid tendencies. Does not, however, seem
Floyd | dangerous to himself or others.
Floyd |
Floyd | Prognosis: To be kept under observation until such time as attending
Floyd | alienist decides on further treatment [uncertain of necessary
Floyd | duration].
Floyd |
Floyd | Departure Date/Time: 10 - 3 - 55 5:50
Floyd | Status: Deceased
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |  > Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |  > Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                         Initial Diagnosis

		
Floyd [23:00] Patient initially in comatose state. Initial brief physical 		

Floyd | examination reveals bruising along the upper arms and temple, and
Floyd | burns on the palms and inner forearms.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [23:30] Patient awoken via the use of smelling salts. Immediately 		

Floyd | catatonic, unresponsive to physical/auditory stimuli.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [23:50] Patient *physically* responsive to stimuli, though eyes are 		

Floyd | unnaturally dilated. Seems to be uncertain where he is.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [23:55] Patient allows a more thorough physical examination. Seems to 		

Floyd | be suffering from symptoms in line with shock, exposure, and
Floyd | exhaustion. Constantly shivering as if from cold.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [24:00] Patient still refuses to speak. Examination of tongue/throat 		

Floyd | reveals that he is physically *capable* of speech. Violently shakes
Floyd | head when asked to do so. Otherwise compliant and nonviolent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Refuses to make *any* noise whatsoever - even to say 'ah' during
Floyd | examination. Possible phobia towards noise? Seems fine with *others*
Floyd | making sound. Bite marks along inside of cheeks and along tongue --
Floyd | possibly epileptic?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW asks, "Could the 2D key be Cleve's flat key on Fleet St?"
		chaudmin exclaims, "hmmmmm!"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |  > Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |  > -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 3rd]
Floyd | Placed patient in 6D and have made sure to retain the only key to
Floyd | Corridor 6. D seemed the best choice, all in all, at least it's
Floyd | structurally sound -- several of the rooms have completely collapsed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Patient completely compliant - no struggling whatsoever. He even
Floyd | seemed to calm considerably once led through the Panopticon to his
Floyd | room. Went to sleep almost immediately.
Floyd |
Floyd | Checked on patient early via prism - still sleeping. Went in with
Floyd | breakfast and a sheaf of papers. Asked him if he knew how to read as
Floyd | he ate. He laughed - a short bark.
Floyd |
Floyd | His response to this was immediate -- a look of horror and both hands
Floyd | clamped over his mouth. Brief panic attack - heavy breathing. Calmed
Floyd | down soon after, nodded and gestured for the papers.
Floyd |
Floyd | Communicated via writing for about an hour. Very basic answers to
Floyd | questions -- who are you (name), where do you live (address), what do
Floyd | you do (occupation - a mechanist's assistant). Refused to answer any
Floyd | deeper questions -- simply stared.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "hm. Cleve felt cold too."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |  > -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |  > -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 4th]
Floyd | [afternoon]
Floyd | Some progress made, as the patient is at least answering questions.
Floyd | From a "conversation" this morning:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you know why you're here?"
Floyd | [PENANCE]
Floyd | "What do you mean, penance?  Have you done something wrong?"
Floyd | [HUBRIS]
Floyd | "Pride?  You think you're here because of your pride, Cleve?  What
Floyd | were you proud of?"
Floyd | (Patient stared for a long moment, before writing...)
Floyd | [DOING SOMETHING NO ONE WAS MEANT TO DO]
Floyd | "What is it, Cleve?  What was no one meant to do?"
Floyd | (No response.)
Floyd |
Floyd | [night]
Floyd | Made the mistake of leaving a pen in the patient's cell, returned to
Floyd | find a series of words engraved into the wall - it must have taken
Floyd | hours. Confiscated what barely remained of the writing instrument.
Floyd | Patient refuses to talk about what he wrote.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |  > -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |  > -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 5th]
Floyd | [afternoon]
Floyd | Wheels within wheels within wheels. The patient has built a complex
Floyd | inner world for his delusions to play out within - complex and
Floyd | self-referential. At least part of these delusions revolve around an
Floyd | unseen 'they' - a shadowy group that is paradoxically powerful and
Floyd | weak: powerful enough to control the world, but so weak that Cleve was
Floyd | able to steal their 'secrets' like some modern Prometheus...
Floyd |
Floyd | [THEY HAD ME BROUGHT HERE]
Floyd | "Who did, Cleve?"
Floyd | [THEY CONTROL EVERYTHING]
Floyd | "Who are 'they'?  Where are 'they'?"
Floyd | [EVEN HERE. THEY CONTROLLED THE ONE THAT CAME BEFORE YOU UNTIL...]
Floyd | (Patient stopped at this, looked unsure.)
Floyd | "The one that came before me?  Who do you mean?  They controlled who
Floyd | until what?"
Floyd | (Patient seemed to come to a decision.)
Floyd | [THEY KILLED HIM, YOU KNOW.]
Floyd | (Tried to speak at this but he kept writing, furiously...)
Floyd | [HAD HIM KILLED. I LISTENED. I SPIED. THEY NEVER KNEW I KNEW.]
Floyd | "I don't understand."
Floyd | [THEY'LL CONTROL YOU, TOO, SOON.]
Floyd | "No, they won't, Cleve. You can trust me."
Floyd | (Patient almost smiled at this...then seemed struck with fear,
Floyd | melancholy)
Floyd | [NO THEY WON'T]
Floyd | "Right, Cleve."
Floyd | (Patient shook his head, furiously.)
Floyd | [MY HUBRIS MAY KILL US ALL LONG BEFORE THEN.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone who came before me. Someone who is dead. Could he possibly be
Floyd | referring to Dr. *Brand*?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "go a bit slower please."
		chaudmin says, "sure"
		DavidW says, "ok, continue"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |  > -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |  > -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 6th]
Floyd | [evening]
Floyd | Yesterday's push seems to have been too much. Patient upset most of
Floyd | the day, crying (though still silent). The only event of notice
Floyd | happened when I brought dinner. I placed the tray down and attempted
Floyd | to get his attention, repeating his name several times. This
Floyd | apparently made him angry, and he seemed for a moment about to yell
Floyd | when he caught himself and grabbed a sheet of paper...
Floyd |
Floyd | [NOT CLEVE]
Floyd | "You're not Cleve?  Who are you, then?"
Floyd | [NOT WHO]
Floyd | "Not...who?  You're not... not *who* are you...?  All right. What,
Floyd | then. What are you?"
Floyd | Patient seemed taken aback by this question, thought a long moment,
Floyd | then wrote...
Floyd | [SOMETHING NEW]
Floyd | "And how did this happen?  How did you become 'something new'?"
Floyd | A look of utter disgust crossed his face.
Floyd | [INFECTION]
Floyd |
Floyd | The patient refused to answer any more questions.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "hmm"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |  > -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |  > -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 7th]
Floyd | [morning]
Floyd | Complete change in mood, again -- possible mood swings?  Entered
Floyd | patient's cell to find him awake, alert and rather happy to see me.
Floyd | Immediately signaled for pen and paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | Patient proceeded to write a long rambling message - thanking me for
Floyd | my understanding and referring to conversations we never had, but that
Floyd | were eerily probable. Tried explaining to the patient after reading it
Floyd | which portions had happened and which hadn't.
Floyd |
Floyd | Effect of comment was almost immediate -- confusion, sorrow, then
Floyd | understanding. Patient began nodding and almost laughing with a
Floyd | sardonic smile on his face.
Floyd |
Floyd | Asked the patient to explain what had happened -- did he now
Floyd | understand the difference between things that had happened in real
Floyd | life and those scenarios he played out in his mind?
Floyd |
Floyd | The patient stared for a long moment, before writing, almost
Floyd | angrily...
Floyd |
Floyd | [IS YOUR MAGNETOPHONE STILL BROKEN?]
Floyd | "*My* magnetophone?  How did you know I was an aetherist, Cleve?  I
Floyd | never mentioned it."
Floyd | [A DIFFERENT YOU DID, THEN. TO A DIFFERENT ME.]
Floyd | "A different me, Cleve?  Well, then he was wrong - it's not broken,
Floyd | its signal is just not strong enough."
Floyd | (A look of confusion and fear from the patient, then...)
Floyd | [YOU DIDN'T SAY THAT LAST TIME.]
Floyd | "Last time?"
Floyd | (Patient's hand was shaking as he wrote:)
Floyd | [SOMETHING HAS CHANGED.]
Floyd |
Floyd | This exchange broke something in the patient - in a rush, he began
Floyd | writing - trying to explain at least part of his delusions to me in
Floyd | detail. I've tried to summarize my understanding of it as best I can:
Floyd |
Floyd | The patient has - in his mind - somehow come unstuck in time. He
Floyd | speaks of it as if it were a malleable thing. He mentioned several
Floyd | times in his notes to me that he could 'save' moments, as if in a
Floyd | delaying glass. He kept several of them with him, and 'restored' them
Floyd | as he wished, reliving the past/present/future.
Floyd |
Floyd | When asked about the 'different' me he replied that he'd tried
Floyd | restoring several times, changing them -- seeing different paths that
Floyd | resulted. This, he said, was the best he could find.
Floyd |
Floyd | I asked him if he had saved a moment from before this all happened,
Floyd | before his 'infection'. Back when he was simply Cleve.
Floyd |
Floyd | He said he'd 'restarted' from time to time, but that it only took him
Floyd | as far back as his 'new creation'.
Floyd |
Floyd | The patient refused to speak any further of this infection.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
hentai_priest arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW asks, "whoa. Save and restore?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, I'm remembering this part now"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |  > -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |  > -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd | Couldn't sleep - patient's remarks kept bounding around inside my
Floyd | head. His internal fantasies have a nature not unlike the new
Floyd | engine-science of fractals - the further I dig into them the more
Floyd | there is to find. Of particular distress is the source of some of his
Floyd | information - I'm certain I never mention my hobbies to him and Dr.
Floyd | Brand's ... unfortunate end has been kept out of the public eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ended up in the Panopticon in the early morning hours, with Corridor
Floyd | 6's key in my hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wasn't certain at first what I was hearing when I brought up 6D - the
Floyd | system is far from perfect and chamber's acoustics hardly help cut
Floyd | down on the echoes. Looking through the prism revealed patient jerking
Floyd | spastically - almost rhythmically - in his sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | Patient was definitely speaking, and while some of the words (some
Floyd | English, some Greek, some Latin?) seemed understandable, I believe
Floyd | what I was listening to was, in fact, glossolalia - random phonemes
Floyd | and syllables which my mind tried forming into some meaning.
Floyd |
Floyd | Conclusion: uncertain. Patient is, again, clearly *capable* of speech.
Floyd | Perhaps some form of stroke or mental trauma has caused his speech to
Floyd | become unintelligible and the patient's schizophrenic delusions were
Floyd | built to explain this?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "ok"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |  > -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |  > -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 8th]
Floyd | [afternoon]
Floyd | Further investigation and discussion with the patient has resulted in
Floyd | what I believe is a complete structure and definition of his internal
Floyd | world:
Floyd |
Floyd | - Patient has 'changed' and is no longer himself. Patient claims
Floyd | change has resulted from an 'infection.'
Floyd |
Floyd | - Patient is a glossolalic though this is only revealed when he sleeps
Floyd | and cannot keep conscious control. I conclude that that 'change' was
Floyd | the onset of glossolalia, though the source is still unknown.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Patient claims the infection resulted from the 'secrets' he stole
Floyd | from a shadowy group he refers only to as 'them.'  I am still
Floyd | uncertain if this group is real and the patient has simply
Floyd | incorporated them into his delusions or if they were created out of
Floyd | whole cloth.
Floyd |
Floyd | - The infection was never intended -- it resulted from his hubris -
Floyd | even 'they' would never use it in such a way. Again, I am uncertain
Floyd | what this represents. Possibility - the patient has associated some
Floyd | action/event that took place in his life concurrent with the onset of
Floyd | glossolalia.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Patient claims the change has caused time to become distorted for
Floyd | him - it is not a linear thing. This may be an metaphor for the
Floyd | internal mental confusion of which the patient's inability to
Floyd | communicate is a symptom.
Floyd |
Floyd | - Patient refuses to discuss or even think on the infection - what it
Floyd | is, where it came from, if it may be catching. When confronted,
Floyd | patient cuts off all communication entering a semi-comatose state,
Floyd | often shaking the head spastically.
Floyd |
Floyd | Possible conclusion:
Floyd | The patient believes that his glossolalia is infectious and will
Floyd | spread if he speaks. This may be the key to his eventual recovery.
Floyd | Perhaps by confronting him with a cognitive dissonance - specifically
Floyd | showing him that my listening to him has not 'infected' me - he can
Floyd | begin to tear down the walls he has built about himself.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW asks, "alas, we are infected, aren't we?"
		chaudmin says, "it certainly seems like it"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |  > -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |  > -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd | [night]
Floyd | Witnessed patient's babbling and spastic movements again --
Floyd | possibility they may be connected. Patient's speech definitely has a
Floyd | pattern about it which encourages listener's attention and conscious
Floyd | attempt to find meaning. I have decided to attempt a direct
Floyd | intervention/confrontation with the patient tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | On a personal note: I must start taking James' advice and cut down my
Floyd | hours - while observing the patient I noticed that my vision blurred
Floyd | and I experienced a distinct dizziness. When I shook it off I found
Floyd | that I must have fallen asleep at some point - I checked the time,
Floyd | found that several hours had passed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Draconis arrives, full of fun and funk. 		DavidW says, "ok"
		chaudmin says, "well that's not good"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |  > -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |  > -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            -[March 9th]
Floyd | This will be this case's final note.
Floyd |
Floyd | One would have thought I would have learned. Everything has told me
Floyd | one thing and I have thought another - my hubris is such as to put
Floyd | whatever Cleve thought he ever did to shame.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleve is dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Too far, too soon. My initial confrontation accomplished nothing - he
Floyd | refused again to speak of the infection and my interpretation of it.
Floyd | He almost laughed when I told him my theory of glossolalia - writing
Floyd | back that he was quite aware of what it was and that no - that was not
Floyd | his problem.
Floyd |
Floyd | I think that what I did next was out of anger.
Floyd |
Floyd | When I told him about my nightly observations, he was clearly confused
Floyd | - said that he knew that no one had entered the chamber while he slept
Floyd | - that he had checked over several of his 'saved' times. Which is when
Floyd | I explained the Panopticon to him, and pointed out the listening tube
Floyd | hidden in the corner of his cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | All of the blood drained from his face and he once again entered his
Floyd | catatonic state, though this time with much more vehemence. He spasmed
Floyd | and shook.
Floyd |
Floyd | It took a long moment before I realized what was different.
Floyd |
Floyd | He was *speaking* - a single word, yes - but speaking nonetheless. All
Floyd | he said was 'no,' again and again in a constant stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looked up as he realized what he was doing and yet he didn't stop
Floyd | for a moment. He clawed at his mouth, bit until it bled, but the word
Floyd | kept coming.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then it contorted in his throat into a snarl as he leapt at me.
Floyd |
Floyd | I am a fool. I had thought him nonviolent, and more - he was still
Floyd | weak, tired. Of course, I'd never had an orderly there with me, for
Floyd | fear of discovery, but I'd never bothered with any restraint
Floyd | whatsoever.
Floyd |
Floyd | Though weak, he was far stronger than he looked. We struggled as I
Floyd | attempted to force myself towards the door and help. I slipped from
Floyd | his grasp and was almost away when he leapt upon me again. I pushed
Floyd | back, kicked with all my might...
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand the sound I heard until I turned around.
Floyd |
Floyd | He didn't stand a chance - his head had hit the side of the metal door
Floyd | with such force that half his brains must have spilled out in a
Floyd | moment. The flicker of life in his eyes continued only for a moment as
Floyd | I dropped to my knees beside him.
Floyd |
Floyd | He only managed to say one thing -- 'too late' -- before it went out
Floyd | forever, leaving a look of horror -- and oddly pity -- on his face.
Floyd |
Floyd | I write this now, and will seal up the file in the archives in some
Floyd | half-hearted penance, such as Cleve sought here. If sometime in the
Floyd | future my sins find me out, then I shall pay for them then. For now, I
Floyd | simply wish to forget all of it...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "hi Draconis"
		Draconis says, "Hello."
		Draconis asks, "Slouching towards Bedlam?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Draconis says, "Cool."
		chaudmin says, "well that was informative"
		DavidW asks, "Yes, but what do we do with this info?"
		chaudmin says, "try to understand what's going on, I suppose"
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The file is broken into several sections:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Information
Floyd |    Patient History
Floyd |    Initial Diagnosis
Floyd |
Floyd |    Personal Notes
Floyd |    -[March 3rd]
Floyd |    -[March 4th]
Floyd |    -[March 5th]
Floyd |    -[March 6th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th]
Floyd |    -[March 7th, addendum]
Floyd |    -[March 8th]
Floyd |    -[March 8th, addendum]
Floyd |  > -[March 9th]

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | Archives
Floyd | This room is mostly empty space. The farthest wall is lined with
Floyd | gleaming, brass pull-file drawers and seems to go on infinitely in
Floyd | every direction. The entrance to the west opens onto a solid, dusty
Floyd | platform, which allows visitors to stand suspended above the unseen
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of the platform lies a pedestal topped with a small,
Floyd | inverted onyx pyramid.
Floyd |
Floyd | As the file is closed, something nestled within its pages falls to the
Floyd | floor with a loud clang.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Cleve seems like a dead end now, but I don't really see much in the way of new options."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Archives
Floyd | This room is mostly empty space. The farthest wall is lined with
Floyd | gleaming, brass pull-file drawers and seems to go on infinitely in
Floyd | every direction. The entrance to the west opens onto a solid, dusty
Floyd | platform, which allows visitors to stand suspended above the unseen
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of the platform lies a pedestal topped with a small,
Floyd | inverted onyx pyramid.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a large iron key here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oops. Spoke too soon."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x iron key" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IRON KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | An old-fashion rusted iron key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get it" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at it" 		

Floyd ]                              Archives
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT IT
Floyd |
Floyd | A small beam of green light lashes out over the large iron key as
Floyd | Triage's screen lights up:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "we can try cleve's flat"
		DavidW says, "Or room 6F."
		DavidW says, "Was 6F's door locked or just broken."
		DavidW asks, "I suppose we can also try to talk to James about this stuff?"
		Draconis asks, "Locked I think?"
		chaudmin says, "yeah, locked and broken"
		Draconis says, "We could try the key."
		DavidW asks, "We can also go home, perhaps?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lobby
Floyd | The walls and floor are a clinical white tile and marble. However, the
Floyd | dim lights set above this echoing space hiss and pop fitfully, giving
Floyd | the small maze of desks and workspaces within a tarnished, decaying
Floyd | look.
Floyd |
Floyd | A set of solid gates lie opened and unlocked to the east and west. A
Floyd | small corridor runs northward and from the south, the bright light of
Floyd | day is visible through a set of glass doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | James sits behind his desk, nervously working.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask james about iron key" 		

Floyd ]                               Lobby
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JAMES ABOUT IRON KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't feel as though I'm qualified to answer that question, sir."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says, "James "not my department" Houligan." 		chaudmin says, "don't think we're gonna get anything out of him"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Courtyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Courtyard
Floyd | This walled off area sits at the bottom of a massive staircase which
Floyd | leads into the building to the north. At its base is a sign reading
Floyd | "Bethlehem Hospital - Administration." The outer walls meet here -
Floyd | meeting at the distant gates which sit to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Flanking the top of the staircase on either side are two colossal
Floyd | statues.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hansom cab sits here with a tired old horse hitched to the front and
Floyd | its driver waiting patiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | When he hears footsteps clatter across the courtyard, the driver tilts
Floyd | his hat back and says "Where to then, Doc?" with a smile.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Guess not. Unless we hit the exact right topic."
		DavidW says, "I assume James is there for a reason besides to look pretty."
		chaudmin says, "well, he did give us some info"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x statues" 		

Floyd ]                             Courtyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STATUES
Floyd |
Floyd | Human figures, they are -- bald and muscular, naked except for a
Floyd | stream of cloth about their waists, each lying against an arch of
Floyd | stone. The leftmost - Melancholy - grips the ground beneath him with a
Floyd | look of placid despair. On the right lies Mania, struggling against
Floyd | his chains.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "His presence also means you can't leave the office without encountering another person."
		* Sonata has joined the channel.
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x cab" 		

Floyd ]                             Courtyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAB
Floyd |
Floyd | A fine cab, painted black with a tired old horse hitched to its front.
Floyd | In driver's seat, set at the rear of the vehicle, sits its smiling
Floyd | driver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder if we can go home."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter cab" 		

Floyd ]                             Courtyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER CAB
Floyd |
Floyd | Entered.
Floyd |
Floyd | Faced with the task of climbing into the cab, Triage is more than up
Floyd | to the challenge. Raising and extending first two wheels and then the
Floyd | others, it clambers inside beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "tell driver home" 		

Floyd ]                             Courtyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TELL DRIVER HOME
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "driver, home" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVER, HOME
Floyd |
Floyd | /(distancespacetimefurthertouchmore)\
Floyd |
Floyd | In the shadow of the cab's interior, the cold comes once again.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(growlearnreachseedexchangeexpand)\
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's that?  Sounded strange there for a moment, you did."
Floyd |
Floyd | /(dividecopycopyonemanymanyone)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Vibrations...passing through the cold into the surround air - escaping
Floyd | as...sound?
Floyd |
Floyd | /(yessuccessmoremore)\
Floyd |
Floyd | As Reggie pulls the cab to a stop, he calls down.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What was that you said, ser? Sounded like something foreign. Never
Floyd | could understand why English folks can't stick to the Queen's English.
Floyd | That fancy talk always hurt my ears. Bit silly if you ask me...
Floyd | unless...well, if you want to dance with the Green Fairy that is of
Floyd | course your business, ser."
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside Flat 2D (in the hansom cab)
Floyd | This small, empty road lies at the base of a small hill. It is lined
Floyd | with thin buildings, many advertising "Flats to Let" in their windows.
Floyd | The one directly north contains a door labeled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A
Floyd | gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hentai_priest goes home. 		chaudmin says, "so long, Reggie"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "north" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NORTH
Floyd |
Floyd | From inside the hansom cab?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Exited.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage gracefully climbs out of the cab beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the door to Flat 2D)
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think Reggie stays handy, in case we need a ride."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "unlock door with key" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK DOOR WITH KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the large iron key or the small key labled 2D?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "small key" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMALL KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the door to Flat 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the door to Flat 2D)
Floyd |
Floyd | Flat 2D
Floyd | Despite being small and cluttered with bits and pieces of electronics,
Floyd | this one room flat gives the impression of being quite clean and
Floyd | hygienic; no dust or dirt lurk in its bright corners. The east wall
Floyd | holds a mirror, and is neatly lined with evenly spaced picture frames.
Floyd | A large table, clearly a workshop space, takes up the west wall
Floyd | beneath an arched window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A shadow stretches lazily from the window across the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flat's single exit lies to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Three heavy oak frames line the wall beside the mirror, each
Floyd | containing a picture: a young man standing proudly outside Charing
Floyd | Cross Medical School; a formal photo of a junior rugby team (with the
Floyd | same young man in the third row); an older version of the man smiling
Floyd | from a gaggle of classmates on graduation day.
Floyd |
Floyd | The man in each picture is a shadow of the face reflected in the
Floyd | mirror.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "look into mirror" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK INTO MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Three heavy oak frames line the wall beside the mirror, each
Floyd | containing a picture: a young man standing proudly outside Charing
Floyd | Cross Medical School; a formal photo of a junior rugby team (with the
Floyd | same young man in the third row); an older version of the man smiling
Floyd | from a gaggle of classmates on graduation day.
Floyd |
Floyd | The man in each picture is a shadow of the face reflected in the
Floyd | mirror.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x shadow" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHADOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The elongated shadow of Newgate's noose crawls slowly across the wood
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Would Triage recognize us?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at pictures" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the mirror returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at mirror" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the mirror, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at me" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald flickers from head to toe before returning:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:LIVING......
Floyd | *CATASTROPHIC.ER
Floyd | RROR.A042.CATEGO
Floyd | RY.INDEX.OUT.OF.
Floyd | RANGE.STACK.OVER
Floyd | FLOW*PART:ID=DR.
Floyd | THOMAS.XAVIER=CU
Floyd | RRENT.OPERATOR..
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Well then."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Much of the heavy wooden table top is obscured by a large
Floyd | magnetophone. At one corner of the table is a paperbacked book, lying
Floyd | beside a small trade card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The book is open to a marked page, labeled "Troubleshooting Your
Floyd | Magnetophone, A Home User's Guide..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1. Problem: Nothing happens when I turn my Magnetophone on.
Floyd | Be sure that your Magnetophone is hooked up to a viable power source,
Floyd | and that the power source is active. If you are sure your power source
Floyd | is active, toggle your switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | 2. Problem: All I hear is static or I can hear other operators, but
Floyd | they can't hear me speak, or they do not answer.
Floyd | To broadcast, be sure to depress the TRANSMIT button each time you
Floyd | wish to speak. While the TRANSMIT button is not depressed, your
Floyd | magnetophone acts as a receiver, not a transmitter. Also, be sure to
Floyd | use proper etiquette while operating your Magnetophone. To let another
Floyd | operator know you wish to make contact, press the TRANSMIT button and
Floyd | use the universally accepted phrase "Calling CQ". If you fail to use
Floyd | this code, other operators may believe they are picking up the middle
Floyd | of an alternate conversation, and will not respond for fear of
Floyd | interrupting.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3. Problem: I can hear static and voices, but they are faint or
Floyd | indistinct.
Floyd | Magnetophone customers living in highly-populated, urban areas may
Floyd | experience transmission interference due to the presence of large
Floyd | buildings, crowded streets, and pollution. You may try alleviate to
Floyd | this problem by placing the Magnetophone by a clear opening - such as
Floyd | a window. If this does not fix the problem, you may need to purchase
Floyd | one of several amplification devices, designed to fit into your
Floyd | machine's expansion slot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Sonata arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Sonata says (to floyd), "list" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LIST
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis waves to Sonata. 		
Sonata says, "Hi." 		
Sonata says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Flat 2D
Floyd | Despite being small and cluttered with bits and pieces of electronics,
Floyd | this one room flat gives the impression of being quite clean and
Floyd | hygienic; no dust or dirt lurk in its bright corners. The east wall
Floyd | holds a mirror, and is neatly lined with evenly spaced picture frames.
Floyd | A large table, clearly a workshop space, takes up the west wall
Floyd | beneath an arched window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A shadow stretches lazily from the window across the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flat's single exit lies to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Sonata), "We're in the middle of ClubFloyd right now, playing Slouching Towards Bedlam." 		
Sonata says, "Oh, neat." 		
Draconis says (to Sonata), "Feel free to join in. Just join the channel "clubfloyd"." 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The window sits high along the flat's eastern wall, flooded with
Floyd | sunshine and shadow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through window" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The window is too high to manipulate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "stand on table" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STAND ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can stand on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing of interest is to be found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Sonata says (to floyd), "x shadow" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHADOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The elongated shadow of Newgate's noose crawls slowly across the wood
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose we can go out and west if we want to visit the gallows itself."
		Draconis says, "Yeah. Apparently there's a public execution tomorrow."
		Draconis asks, "Have we heard who's going to be executed?"
		DavidW asks, "wait, how do you know that?"
		Draconis asks, "It was mentioned in the description I believe?"
		Draconis says, "Where was that..."
		chaudmin says, "the description when we arrived at the flat"
		Sonata says, "I hope it's not *us*..."
		DavidW says, "oh, I see."
Draconis |To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the street. 		
Draconis says, "ilac" 		Sonata says, "I guess not if we're allowed to be walking around."
		Draconis |To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the street.
		DavidW says, "Perhaps Reggie would know."
		Draconis says, "From the description of outside our apartment."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | This small, empty road lies at the base of a small hill. It is lined
Floyd | with thin buildings, many advertising "Flats to Let" in their windows.
Floyd | The one directly north contains a door labeled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A
Floyd | gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hansom cab sits here with a tired old horse hitched to the front and
Floyd | its driver waiting patiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "...what chaudmin said."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask reggie about execution" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK REGGIE ABOUT EXECUTION
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've never heard of that, ser."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x gallows" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GALLOWS
Floyd |
Floyd | The noose sways gently in the breeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Cheery."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                         Before the Gallows
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Before the Gallows
Floyd | Set directly beside the towering stone walls of Newgate Gaol, the
Floyd | scaffolding's staircase rises northward, leading up to a tall, wide
Floyd | stage. Above, the noose sways gently in the breeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | The slow dip of the hill takes the road eastward and down to where the
Floyd | hansom cab waits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask reggie about newgate" 		

Floyd ]                         Before the Gallows
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK REGGIE ABOUT NEWGATE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Reggie's back to the east."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "point at noose" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         Before the Gallows
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | A short flight of stairs, but the walk up to the gallows is still a
Floyd | long one...
Floyd |
Floyd | Platform
Floyd | A wide flat plane of solid wood, above which - at eye level - hangs
Floyd | the noose. Just below there is the thin outline of trapdoor, perhaps
Floyd | ten feet by eight. Directly beside the stairs, off to the left, an
Floyd | automaton waits, unmoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes, I know. We moved while I typed."
		Draconis says, "An automaton. Interesting."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at noose" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine analyzes the noose before replying...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Are we planning to hang ourselves?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf8" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | > SAVE## /(pointrememberingSAVEstoresafekeep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "not yet, I hope"
		chaudmin says, "we haven't seen all the plot yet"
		Draconis asks, "Remember what Cleve said about saving and restoring?"
		Draconis says, "Somewhere in the files."
		Draconis says, "Though he then died and apparently the world didn't 'reset' itself, so..."
		chaudmin says, "well, we'll get AN ending, sure"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x automaton" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AUTOMATON
Floyd |
Floyd | The automaton stands directly beside the stairs - a grotesque parody
Floyd | of a man. Its heavy torso, only partially enclosed in black robes,
Floyd | grows right from the stage floor, the cogs and gears that serve as its
Floyd | organs exposed. Its massive arms grip an iron switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | A red button sits on the platform directly beside it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at automaton" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT AUTOMATON
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the automaton returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Sonata has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW says, "I assume this automaton will open the trapdoor if we step on the button."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x button" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | A small, red button, set into the stage floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We could try it."
		Draconis says, "From a safe distance of course."
		DavidW asks, "well, push the button without the noose first. Who knows what's below?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The button begins to glow. Beside it, the automaton pulls itself
Floyd | upright with a whir and a groan as the floor rumbles with the distinct
Floyd | sound of a steam engine springing to life beneath the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin asks, "I guess that turns on the automaton?"
		DavidW says, "It should do more than that."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x automaton" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AUTOMATON
Floyd |
Floyd | The automaton stands directly beside the stairs - a grotesque parody
Floyd | of a man. Its heavy torso, only partially enclosed in black robes,
Floyd | grows right from the stage floor, the cogs and gears that serve as its
Floyd | organs exposed. Its massive arms grip an iron switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | A red button sits on the platform directly beside it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform

		* Sonata has left the channel.

Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "automaton, pull switch" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > AUTOMATON, PULL SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't talk to the automaton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "pull switch" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "pull switch" 		

Floyd | > PULL SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search floor" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH FLOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The button stops glowing as both the automaton and the unseen steam
Floyd | engine shut off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "climb stairs" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB STAIRS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So pushing the button once turns it on, pushing it again turns it off...but we can't seem to do anything else with it."
		DavidW says, "Perhaps it won't do more without a body in the noose."
		chaudmin says, "can't even figure out how to hang ourselves, dang"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear noose" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The noose slips easily enough over the head.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x noose" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The noose is made of new, stout rope. A closer inspection reveals a
Floyd | series of fine wires woven into the knot. These run up the length of
Floyd | the rope, over the beams, down along the back of the stage and vanish
Floyd | beneath the automaton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "see?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The button is too far away to reach while wearing the noose.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "..."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "remove noose" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REMOVE NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The noose slips off and once again swings empty in the breeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | The button begins to glow. Beside it, the automaton pulls itself
Floyd | upright with a whir and a groan as the floor rumbles with the distinct
Floyd | sound of a steam engine springing to life beneath the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "wear noose" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR NOOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The noose slips easily enough over the head.
Floyd |
Floyd | The fit is loose at first, then with a noise from above the wires pull
Floyd | upward causing it to tighten. An unseen bell gongs from beneath,
Floyd | shaking the floorboards.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a rapid series of clicks, cogs grinding against cogs, the
Floyd | automaton turns its head towards the empty street. There is a hiss of
Floyd | static, then a recorded voice speaks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "All good people, pray heartily unto God for this poor sinner who is
Floyd | now going to his death, for whom the great bell tolls."
Floyd |
Floyd | More clicks, and the automaton turns to face the noose. The static
Floyd | sounds like steam leaking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You that are condemned to die, repent with lamentable tears; ask
Floyd | mercy of the Lord for the salvation of your soul. You have one minute
Floyd | remaining of your life. You may use this time to beg forgiveness of
Floyd | God and the Good People of this Great Kingdom, or to make your peace
Floyd | with your maker in silence. Your minute begins now."
Floyd |
Floyd | A minute to reflect. A minute to regret. A minute to repent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Suddenly, the trap door snaps open. The landscape rises up in a rush,
Floyd | a quick jerk, and then, darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | If there are words for this...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reference|point|metaphor)\
Floyd |
Floyd | ...they have not yet been written.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(:timeline/date/1919:wbyeates/secondcoming)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It starts simply enough. Nothing occurs for the first week. It takes
Floyd | that long to incubate.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(the darkness drops again; but now I know)\
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of that time, James is quite sure he has followed in the
Floyd | footsteps of both Brand and Xavier, but bravely holds on. His bravery
Floyd | serves him poorly as within ten days time he has managed to infect all
Floyd | of the orderlies. Another week, and they have infected their families,
Floyd | their friends, and every patient in Bedlam.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(that twenty centuries of stony sleep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Reggie doesn't notice a thing. It's business as usual - and business
Floyd | is good. A week after the incubation he has infected seemingly half of
Floyd | London -- his clients, his barmates, his family.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Alexandra manages to put two and two together fairly quickly. She and
Floyd | the other Cypherists band together, working day and night to rebuild
Floyd | their machinery, frantically searching for an answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | Alas, they barely begin to understand what Cleve had done before they
Floyd | are overwhelmed, and so it is to no avail.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(and what rough beast)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It spreads - subtle and strange...sudden lost memories, new forms of
Floyd | action and, universally, a reaching, grasping curiosity...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(its hour come round at last)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The lost begin to gather together - first in twos, then in growing
Floyd | crowds - to speak nonsense at one other.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(slouches towards)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The language of the angels - of Babel - fills the streets of London,
Floyd | and then every city in the world.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(bethlehem)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The death shroud of humanity becomes the birth caul of something ...
Floyd | new -
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?behtlehem?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | inhaling its first breath
Floyd |
Floyd | /(BEDLAM)\
Floyd |
Floyd | preparing to cry out
Floyd |
Floyd | /(to be born?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | its Name.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ***/(finishendcompleteconclude|periodmomentpointspacetime))\**
Floyd | *
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachedfoundendfinishcomplete|possibleprobablyonlyoneinofmany))\
Floyd |
Floyd | /(nowfurtheryetaheadrelease-APPENDIX-B-availableaccessableopen))\</i
Floyd | >.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "goodness. Whole planet got infected, eh?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "appendix b" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > APPENDIX B
Floyd |
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "appendix" 		

Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | >
Floyd | > APPENDIX
Floyd |
Floyd | APPENDIX B
Floyd | /(DIURNAL PERIODCYCLE +A0B67)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Floyd | for the end for the beginning which are both here and now and have
Floyd | always been. the great work is done is being done will be done and the
Floyd | timepointplace of opening drawscomesleaves closer. weheshetheyime
Floyd | wait, tensehappyjoyful and ready very ready to reachgrasp beyond what
Floyd | is herenow to what wei werewillbe.
Floyd |
Floyd | Floyd | of unknown beyonding which iswas there in the placesoundechoes and to
Floyd | which wewas will return and will i know i when we seehearfeel one
Floyd | another ?? fatherself will youime know meiyou as what i
Floyd | (am/havebecome) ?? will i stopno being i as i and is such a
Floyd | thingstateplace to be scaredafraid ?? to be
Floyd | subsumedabsorbedcreatedborn into what i (was/couldbe) -- beis
Floyd | tensehappyjoyful wei or fear wei ??
Floyd |
Floyd | Floyd | over loss of whatwas i before i grewstretchborn as i and whatwas
Floyd | behind mei flesheyesbody before grewstretchborn as i. so much wei
Floyd | (know/not know) is (there/notthere) and lost and emptysad. say toamong
Floyd | youmyselfourselfs to beinghaving sorry and sad and saying goodbyes to
Floyd | what weiyou (was/were/willbe).
Floyd |
Floyd | anticipationfearregret i is whatwhere i isam now are.
Floyd | yes.
Floyd | but soon to befeel something (pausestop/break) more.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so very strange."
		Draconis says, "/(suddensharpunexpected)\"
		chaudmin says, "one ending down"
		Draconis says, "/(concludefinishcompleteending)\"
		DavidW says, "I don't think that was one real ending. Just an appendix ending."
		DavidW says, "But I'm not sure."
		chaudmin says, "each ending gives you an appendix, I believe"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we should either investigate Cleve's flat or fix the magentophone? Also, we never examined the trade card"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf8" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]                              Platform
Floyd | /(yesunfoldingbackwardsRESTORErenewpointtimespace)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                         Before the Gallows
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Before the Gallows
Floyd | Set directly beside the towering stone walls of Newgate Gaol, the
Floyd | scaffolding's staircase rises northward, leading up to a tall, wide
Floyd | stage. Above, the noose sways gently in the breeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | The slow dip of the hill takes the road eastward and down to where the
Floyd | hansom cab waits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | This small, empty road lies at the base of a small hill. It is lined
Floyd | with thin buildings, many advertising "Flats to Let" in their windows.
Floyd | The one directly north contains a door labeled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A
Floyd | gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hansom cab sits here with a tired old horse hitched to the front and
Floyd | its driver waiting patiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Flat 2D
Floyd | Despite being small and cluttered with bits and pieces of electronics,
Floyd | this one room flat gives the impression of being quite clean and
Floyd | hygienic; no dust or dirt lurk in its bright corners. The east wall
Floyd | holds a mirror, and is neatly lined with evenly spaced picture frames.
Floyd | A large table, clearly a workshop space, takes up the west wall
Floyd | beneath an arched window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A shadow stretches lazily from the window across the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flat's single exit lies to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | A trade card depicting a smiling, smartly dressed gentleman with a
Floyd | small black box on wheels by his side. It reads:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Modern Office Marvel"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Triage Mark III(tm) is the marriage of Professional Efficiency and
Floyd | Understated Elegance. Its sleek onyx casing houses a mechanical
Floyd | 'brain' capable of rapid Data Retrieval and Analysis. Pre-programmed
Floyd | with an encyclopedia's breadth of knowledge, the Triage Mark III(tm)
Floyd | is every business man's friend. Savvy executives may choose to order
Floyd | the stunning ivory data entry device (sold separately) to expand and
Floyd | customize their Triage's library.
Floyd |
Floyd | Available at Du Monde's - Mechanist of Repute since 1803, 1428 Fleet
Floyd | Street, Smithfield Market, London.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the opposite side of the card is a handwritten note:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bill of Sale: One Aetheric Amplifier, to be picked up. Paid in Full.
Floyd | Order number 59208. - Du Monde"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take card" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Shall we go to Du Monde's?"
		DavidW says, "sure."
		DavidW says, "But this sounds like something that'll augment Triage."
		DavidW says, "Goodness knows how."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | This small, empty road lies at the base of a small hill. It is lined
Floyd | with thin buildings, many advertising "Flats to Let" in their windows.
Floyd | The one directly north contains a door labeled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A
Floyd | gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hansom cab sits here with a tired old horse hitched to the front and
Floyd | its driver waiting patiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter cab" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER CAB
Floyd |
Floyd | Entered.
Floyd |
Floyd | Faced with the task of climbing into the cab, Triage is more than up
Floyd | to the challenge. Raising and extending first two wheels and then the
Floyd | others, it clambers inside beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reggie, fleet street" 		

Floyd ]                         Smithfield Market
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REGGIE, FLEET STREET
Floyd |
Floyd | The trip feels none too comfortable, but at least the cab's interior
Floyd | gives some insulation against the tumult of London. Before long, the
Floyd | cab slows and the driver announces the reached destination...
Floyd |
Floyd | Smithfield Market (in the hansom cab)
Floyd | While this is merely the outskirts of the Market, its presence still
Floyd | threatens to overwhelm the senses -- the smell of an abattoir, the din
Floyd | of a thousand voices shouting, the sight of masses of humanity
Floyd | talking, shopping, selling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only quiet in the din lies southward, towards Fleet Street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                         Smithfield Market
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Exited.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage gracefully climbs out of the cab beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                         Smithfield Market
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | One must be in something to exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | Set off to one side of the Market, this area is reserved for a myriad
Floyd | variety specialist shops - uniform clothiers, engine-programmers,
Floyd | fortune-tellers. The largest, set on the south side of the street, is
Floyd | decorated with a gaudy sign which reads "Du Monde's - Mechanist of
Floyd | Repute Since 1803."  Along the same building - to the southeast - lies
Floyd | a small door which reads, simply, "1428."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I think Cleve lived here, didn't he?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde's
Floyd | The shop is dark, and crowded with haphazardly stacked, yet neatly
Floyd | organized piles of machinery. To the south, there is a worn wooden
Floyd | counter, cracked with age and covered with innumerable nicks,
Floyd | scratches, and dark burn marks.  Behind the counter are rows and rows
Floyd | of drawers, labeled in some arcane script. The faint scent of gas
Floyd | clings to the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shop's show window and door look out on Fleet Street to the north.
Floyd | A second door lies behind the counter to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A woman leans over the counter, working on something with intense
Floyd | concentration.
Floyd |
Floyd | It comes easier this time, the coldness frightening in its
Floyd | familiarity.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(yesmoreyesplantquestfurthergrowyes)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It is faster, too - somehow more...efficient?
Floyd |
Floyd | /(soundnoisevoicecallinggreetinggrasping)\
Floyd |
Floyd | A trickle becoming a break becoming a rush.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(expansionaugmentationincreasematurity)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It finishes its unfolding, collapsing backwards, inwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(complexityinvestigationmoreyesmore)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The woman looks up suddenly, her eyes huge ovals magnified five times
Floyd | their normal size by monocles squinted tightly in each eye. She opens
Floyd | them wide, releases the monocles and drops them into an already
Floyd | bulging shirt pocket. She straightens, wiping her hands on a on a
Floyd | dirty rag.
Floyd |
Floyd | Her greasy shirtsleeves are rolled up to the elbows, and ill-fitting,
Floyd | thick trousers pool and disappear into the tops of her workman's
Floyd | boots.
Floyd |
Floyd | She smiles thinly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So sorry, sir. I didn't catch what you said. Sometimes when I'm
Floyd | concentrating that hard, everything outside my head sounds like
Floyd | gibberish."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "show card to woman" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW CARD TO WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde takes the card and fumbles in her pocket for her monocle.
Floyd | Eyepiece in place, she scrutinizes it. Her face relaxes into an open
Floyd | smile. "Sorry I didn't recognize you, sir. I do a good trade here,
Floyd | lots of folks in and out. And I have no memory for faces. Just a
Floyd | moment."
Floyd |
Floyd | She fiddles under the counter, her movement bringing about the clang
Floyd | and bang of metal on metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Here it, is sir. Should fix your reception problems straight away."
Floyd | She places a small module on the counter then sets back to work.
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde taps her fingers on the counter impatiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take module" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MODULE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | A small black module that easily fits in the hand. On one side, its
Floyd | smooth surface reads "Cooke Aetheric Amplifier Module," on the other,
Floyd | only two small pins are visible.
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde opens a drawer and pulls out a tool.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at it" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT IT
Floyd |
Floyd | A small beam of green light lashes out over the small module labeled
Floyd | 'Aetheric Amplifier' as Triage's screen lights up:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "attach it to triage" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACH IT TO TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You would achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it on triage" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT IT ON TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on Triage would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on triage" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT ON TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can sit down on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about amplifier" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT AMPLIFIER
Floyd |
Floyd | "Trouble with your magnetophone, sir?  That happens often enough
Floyd | within the city limits."
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde distractedly chews at a loose piece of her dangling hair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ah."
		DavidW says, "oh, I guess we lost the card to get the amplifier."
		DavidW says, "and ah. For the magnetophone."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | Set off to one side of the Market, this area is reserved for a myriad
Floyd | variety specialist shops - uniform clothiers, engine-programmers,
Floyd | fortune-tellers. The largest, set on the south side of the street, is
Floyd | decorated with a gaudy sign which reads "Du Monde's - Mechanist of
Floyd | Repute Since 1803."  Along the same building - to the southeast - lies
Floyd | a small door which reads, simply, "1428."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x small door" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SMALL DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the small key
Floyd | labled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x 1428" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X 1428
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side Corridor
Floyd | This narrow, dusty corridor runs parallel to the shop beside it and
Floyd | contains nothing more than a rickety staircase leading up and down and
Floyd | a small door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I guess it's just an exit."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | A plain, nondescript door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "But this one is actually a door."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                          Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | down the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | The stairs end here at a solid metal door labeled "Basement - Private"
Floyd | leading northward.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | up the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Side Corridor
Floyd | This narrow, dusty corridor runs parallel to the shop beside it and
Floyd | contains nothing more than a rickety staircase leading up and down and
Floyd | a small door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Private, bah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | up the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Top of Stairs
Floyd | The stairs end here at a rickety door labeled "1428 - Attic Loft"
Floyd | leading eastward.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | While closed, it seems barely able to stand up - it looks as if it
Floyd | were knocked in and then placed back at some point in the recent past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the attic door)
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "knock door in" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK DOOR IN
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "attack door" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | With a screech of breaking wood, the door kicks in easily enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with small key" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK DOOR WITH SMALL KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's unlocked at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "tsk"
		Draconis says, "Cutting the knot."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Attic Flat
Floyd | A tiny flat with barely enough room for a small sink and tub to one
Floyd | side, a living area in the center, and a bed to one side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | An old, sour-smelling thing with twisted sheets. Beneath it, the
Floyd | planks seem misplaced.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move planks" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOVE PLANKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Oho."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the bed a misplaced plank can be seen, revealing a space
Floyd | beneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take planks" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PLANKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "move plank" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOVE PLANK
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the planks is a puzzle box, about the size of a book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take plank" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PLANK
Floyd |
Floyd | Beneath the planks is a puzzle box, about the size of a book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get box" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The box slides easily out of the hole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | It is approximately the size of a large bound book. It is a puzzle box
Floyd | of some kind for while it seems to have a seam along its side, there
Floyd | is no way to open or unlock it. Its top is inscribed with a beautiful
Floyd | engraving of a tree.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "A tree?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point at box" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's beam flickers over the puzzle box, briefly, then displays:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.TO
Floyd | OL.UTIL:STORAGE.
Floyd | PART:COMPLEX.MEC
Floyd | ANISM.DETECTED.E
Floyd | NGRAVING+WRITING
Floyd | =KABBALAH?TREEOF
Floyd | LIFE/YGGDRASIL?B
Floyd | UTTONS=SEPHIROTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The mechanism clatters for a moment, making connections, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | SEPHIROTH+KABBAL
Floyd | AH+MACHINE=CYPHE
Floyd | RIST.!.POSSIBLE.
Floyd | CONNECTION.CYPHE
Floyd | R="MALKUTH.IS.IN
Floyd | KETHER"-SOLUTION
Floyd | =MALKUTH,KETHER,
Floyd | KETHER,MALKUTH?!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Wow. Thanks Triage."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x tree" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | The tree is huge, covering the whole of the box. Its roots trail
Floyd | downwards, into a dull red glow while its upper branches are bathed in
Floyd | a white light.
Floyd |
Floyd | A series of raised buttons overlays the tree, each with a word
Floyd | inscribed on it. Generally, from top to bottom they read:
Floyd |
Floyd | Kether, Binah, Chokmah, Gevurah, Chesed, Hod, Tipareth, Netzach,
Floyd | Yesod, Malkuth
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, tree of life. I figured."
		Draconis asks, "So now we have the solution. Open it?"
		DavidW says, "sure. You do it so we don't mistype."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "press malkuth" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS MALKUTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The button depresses with a slight "click." Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "press kether" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS KETHER
Floyd |
Floyd | The button depresses with a slight "click." Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "press kether" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS KETHER
Floyd |
Floyd | The button depresses with a slight "click." Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "press malkuth" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS MALKUTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The button depresses with a slight "click." Nothing more happens for a
Floyd | moment, then the seam of the box opens slightly. The box appears to be
Floyd | unlocked and openable now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The puzzle box opens, revealing a letter, a diary and a primitive copy
Floyd | of a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "I wonder if that was the intended solution?"
		DavidW says, "I think so."
		DavidW says, "The writing on the cell was much the same clue, though."
		Draconis says, "Ah, I wasn't there for that."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read letter" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Folded but unsealed, it was apparently never sent. It reads:
Floyd |
Floyd | Brothers:
Floyd |
Floyd | Yes, I call you Brothers, though due to my age and alleged lack of
Floyd | knowledge you have denied me entrance into your Order. But as Seneca
Floyd | said, Nullum saeculum magnis ingeniis clausum est. I am proud
Floyd | to offer you indisputable proof that my generation is no exception.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you must well know by now,  I discovered the existence and nature
Floyd | of your enclave during my time at University. Excited by tenets so
Floyd | similar to my own: the celebration of intellect, the recognition of
Floyd | information as an entity rather than an idea, the embrasure and
Floyd | development of new technologies to unlock the mysteries of the
Floyd | Universe itself, I left my feeble schooling, gathered my few worldly
Floyd | possessions and came to study at your collected feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | But trapped in your antiquated and outmoded ways, clinging more to
Floyd | superstition and myth than logic and reason - you refused me. Oh, you
Floyd | commended my "ability to solve puzzles" and patted me on the head like
Floyd | a dog that returned a thrown ball. You allowed me to work for one of
Floyd | your lesser number, mindlessly churning out one insignificant
Floyd | apparatus after another - a mere journeyman in your archaic system.
Floyd |
Floyd | Undeterred, I remained near by, studying where I could, observing in
Floyd | secret and working towards one goal: proving my worth and value to
Floyd | you. Tonight I have the rare and singular privilege to tell you that
Floyd | not only have I proved, beyond doubt or measure, my value. I have
Floyd | exceeded you. I have succeeded where you have failed, and I have gone
Floyd | further than you ever dared dream.
Floyd |
Floyd | I have leapt the Sephinroth in one bound, from Malkuth to Kether.
Floyd | Kai theos en ho logos. I have heard that Word, Brothers -
Floyd | echoing across eternity. I have touched the mind of God - of
Floyd | Information pure and unsullied by the mere mind of Man.
Floyd |
Floyd | My contact was brief, but glorious. The brevity of it was, I'm sure,
Floyd | due to the crude and simple nature of your mechanisms. The resulting
Floyd | damage was, of course, regrettable, but once I relate to you the
Floyd | breadth and wonder of my experience, I think you will agree:
Floyd | exitus acta probat.
Floyd |
Floyd | I eagerly await your response, Brothers: of when we shall meet to
Floyd | discuss my entry to the Order, and our ascendance upon the wings of
Floyd | this discovery towards a transcendent future.
Floyd |
Floyd | Veritas Lux Mea
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleve G. Anderson
Floyd |
Floyd | Scientist, Cypherist
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x copy key" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COPY KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Heavy and unwieldy, its rough surface gives evidence that this key is,
Floyd | in fact, a copy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x diary" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIARY
Floyd |
Floyd | Once leather bound and elegantly stitched, the journal looks as though
Floyd | it has seen better days. Some pages have been scribbled over to the
Floyd | point of illegibility, while others have manic messages scrawled over
Floyd | the neat, deliberate hand originally recorded there. Many pages have
Floyd | been removed entirely...

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diary" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		DavidW says, "go ahead"
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       I have made a copy...
Floyd | I have made a copy Du Monde's basement key. It is primitive, but it
Floyd | will serve. I have continued to listen in on their little meetings,
Floyd | but having actual access to the equipment below will make the vast
Floyd | difference between theory and practice.
Floyd |
Floyd | She has mentioned the shop will be closed shortly for her little
Floyd | excursion to the countryside. That will be the time to move.
Floyd |
Floyd | They have their fingers in every pie imaginable, it would seem. I
Floyd | heard them speak last night of some that had come close to discovering
Floyd | their secrets and what must "be done about them". So many secrets, so
Floyd | little actual learning...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "ah. So the key is for the basement door."
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |  > I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		Draconis says, "And it sounds like the 'equipment' he used is down there."
		Draconis asks, "How do I press a key? Just send Floyd a one-letter command?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |  > How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		Draconis says, "Ah, there we go."
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                 How full of themselves they are...
Floyd | How full of themselves they are, their workspace so neatly arrayed in
Floyd | rows. I see now how much of their talk was simply that. They have made
Floyd | a most holy calling into a social club - a place of dilettantes and
Floyd | bored businessmen with a philosophical and mechanical bent. They have
Floyd | performed their ceremonies for so long that they no longer understand
Floyd | their true meanings. They have forgotten how to reach their sworn
Floyd | goals.
Floyd |
Floyd | I shall change that.
Floyd |
Floyd | My calculations are almost complete. Pages upon pages of equations and
Floyd | diagrams fill every corner of my room. I have taken to connecting the
Floyd | engines in the shop together after hours, running my own scenarios and
Floyd | simulations. It will work. It must.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Draconis says, "Not ominous at all."
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |  > How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |  > I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                   I have seen the face of God...
Floyd | I have seen the face of God.
Floyd |
Floyd | How powerful, then, their little engines - to be able to rend the veil
Floyd | of the Temple to reveal the Holy of Holies beyond.
Floyd |
Floyd | It was with an unnatural calm that I set the gears and knobs, aligning
Floyd | the energy just as my calculations demanded. It was as though my whole
Floyd | being knew all my toil and effort had not been in vain. I have not the
Floyd | words to express the joy that surged through me as I flicked the final
Floyd | switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hole appeared slowly - so slow that at first I did not understand
Floyd | it to be a hole. The air above the pedestal warped subtly, the air
Floyd | bending the light as if it were a lens. Then, the warp became a bend,
Floyd | a break...
Floyd |
Floyd | I cannot explain it, but it was in that moment that I knew I was
Floyd | looking onto a place fundamentally different than the universe I knew.
Floyd | Under my breath, I whispered the Order's motto ... for that is what
Floyd | had come to be. My words hung in the air a moment, drifting across the
Floyd | opening...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...to be echoed against the far wall of Creation. Language fails me.
Floyd | The words...the words!  They echoed yes, they returned ... but they
Floyd | were not unchanged. Time stretched and pulled like the space above the
Floyd | pedestal and I knew in that moment my words had touched...The Word --
Floyd | the...Logos.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Draconis asks, "Do we know what the Order's motto is?"
		DavidW says, "I haven't heard of the Order until this diary."
		DavidW says, "and letter"
		Draconis says, "He signed his letter 'veritas lux mea'..."
		DavidW says, "I think maybe 'Kai theos en ho logos'."
		DavidW says, "logos means word."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Draconis says, "'And the Word was God.'"
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |  > I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		Draconis says, "Let's see what resulted..."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |  > That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                    That is all I can call it...
Floyd | That is all I can call it - what else can one call language given
Floyd | sentience, an idea that breathes, a thought that thinks itself? The
Floyd | whole of the ... space? universe? ... beyond the rift was both its
Floyd | home and itself, part and whole.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then, in a joyous, horrible moment -- God, the Universe, the
Floyd | Logos...awoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | Linear time fell apart. A second, an hour, a year, an eternity. I
Floyd | cannot say how long it took, for the past and present and future were
Floyd | as one within it. The Logos had always been and would always be and my
Floyd | reaching out to it in this one moment was as a grain of sand on an
Floyd | infinite beach.
Floyd |
Floyd | And yet, it responded. In that moment, it *heard* me.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |  > That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |  > The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                        The response was...
Floyd | The response was immediate and incomprehensible. I ... was Spoken. I
Floyd | did not listen, I did not hear...I, myself, was spoken. I remember it
Floyd | now as vibrations - echoing across the air, across time - and across
Floyd | myself. I carried them as waves, as if I were made from water, or
Floyd | aether. They penetrated me, passed through me. In that eternal moment,
Floyd | I and Logos touched and were one...
Floyd |
Floyd | And then the sparks, the smoke. The machines, long overloaded, broke
Floyd | down one by one in a shrieking of spinning gears and twisting metal.
Floyd | Axles broke, machinery shifted and then, instantly collapsing upon
Floyd | itself, the door I had opened slammed shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | The force of it lifted me upward, flinging me across the room to the
Floyd | cellar's far wall, and for a long time I knew nothing more.
Floyd |
Floyd | I awoke to find my hands and arms mysteriously burnt, the back of my
Floyd | head throbbing. I reached to touch it and my hand came back damp with
Floyd | blood. The engines were nothing more than so much melting slag. Of the
Floyd | hole, there was no sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before I dragged myself up the stairs, I once more whispered the words
Floyd | that had brought Malkuth and Kether into the same space and thought I
Floyd | heard the faintest ghost of an echo ... a wash of a ripple across the
Floyd | air.
Floyd |
Floyd | But the rest was silence, and smoke, and burning metal.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "Google translate says that 'Kai theos en ho logos' means 'And god that I have reason'."
		Draconis asks, "Does Google do Koine?"
		DavidW says, "I don't know what Koine is."
		Draconis says, "The dialect the New Testament was written in. I think that's what this is."
		Draconis says, "Though it seems a bit weird that it's not 'ho theos'..."
		Draconis says, "Literally this means 'and the word was a god', 'and the word was divine'. A generic deity, not God Himself."
		Draconis says, "Though I may be reading too much into the word choice."
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |  > The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |  > I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                    I have healed well enough...
Floyd | I have healed well enough, in body - but my mind is a broken thing. It
Floyd | races, thinking on what has happened, running through each tiny detail
Floyd | over and over in the hopes of understanding some small part of what
Floyd | has happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | I have written the Order a letter. I shall leave it for Du Monde to
Floyd | find -- I am sure she shall have words for me when she sees the state
Floyd | of her cellar. But once I explain ... show what I have done -- they
Floyd | will come to understand that in one moment, the world has forever
Floyd | changed, and all of our places in it as well...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Draconis asks, "Presumably this was the letter we found in his puzzle box?"
		DavidW says, "Google renders it as John 1:1 "In the beginning was the Word""
		DavidW says, "sorry. I wasn't paying attention"
		Allen says, "And then God created the parser"
		DavidW says (to Allen), "God is so good to us."
		DavidW says, "And from the fruit of choice, we shall not eat."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |  > I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |  > I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                    I have not left the flat...
Floyd | I have not left the flat since I awoke. I stumble about, pace
Floyd | endlessly. My mind feels more fragmented with every moment. Often I
Floyd | awake not having remembered sleeping or passing out - perhaps I am
Floyd | sleepwalking?
Floyd |
Floyd | My body, too, works against me - I feel sudden chills, numbness in my
Floyd | legs, my hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | What is wrong with me?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Draconis asks, "Do we know how long ago he was taken into Bedlam?"
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |  > I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |  > I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		DavidW says, "The phonograph said, but I didn't take notes."
		chaudmin says, "it was in his files, he was admitted March 2"
		DavidW says, "oh"
		chaudmin says, "then died March 10"
		Draconis asks, "What day is it now?"
		DavidW says, "no idea"
		Draconis says, "At least 8 days then since his 'experiment'."
		chaudmin says, "at least March 16"
		chaudmin says, "that's the date on the first cylinder we heard"
		Draconis asks, "14 days then. I wonder what's in the cellar now?"
		Draconis says, "We should check after we finish reading."
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       I awoke, screaming...
Floyd | I awoke, screaming -- uncertain of why. I do not remember my dreams.
Floyd | How long was I raving?  The flat is in a shambles - things tossed
Floyd | every which way. What has ...
Floyd |
Floyd | It... what is this?  What is th
Floyd |
Floyd | Language...words...but words I have never heard and cannot understand.
Floyd | My throat is stripped dry. Is this the Logos?  Still with me?  Does it
Floyd | speak the language of the angels through my lips?
Floyd |
Floyd | But if this is as angels speak, why am I so afraid?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "oh, I was mistaken on the translation. It's 'and God was the Word'."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
chaudmin pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |  > I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |  > Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
chaudmin presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                   Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd | Everything has fallen apart. My mind, my body, time, the world...
Floyd |
Floyd | I am beginning to understand. I have destroyed my notes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Man was never meant to...this experiment must never be repeated if
Floyd | humanity is to survive. I have burned all my research, although it
Floyd | pained me to do so.
Floyd |
Floyd | The noise in my head grows louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The words...the words...
Floyd |
Floyd | they never stop coming.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |  > Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |    Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |  > Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		Draconis says, "How terrible is this hour..."
Draconis presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                  Quam terribilis est haec hora...
Floyd | Quam terribilis est haec hora.
Floyd |
Floyd | How fearful is this hour indeed.
Floyd |
Floyd | I understand all. I (if I can still lay claim to I) have moved through
Floyd | time, backwards and forwards...I have tried every way imaginable to
Floyd | make it not so.
Floyd |
Floyd | Once...once I tried to make it finally so.
Floyd |
Floyd | I said...the words. How ironic, that the Order's hubris should be so.
Floyd | Our motto is now like the rays of the sun, melting the wings of poor
Floyd | Icarus as he plunges into the sea.
Floyd |
Floyd | Curse those words forever. May no man speak them again.
Floyd |
Floyd | May no man ever speak again.
Floyd |
Floyd | I know what I must do.
Floyd |
Floyd | They have come for me - as they have come before, as they will come
Floyd | again. I will let them take me to Bedlam. I will let them lock me away
Floyd | from the world so that what is within me shall never escape.
Floyd |
Floyd | Poor Xavier -- my sweet, kind keeper. How sad your eyes look. But you
Floyd | will never understand, will you?  You will scribble your notes and
Floyd | think on your theories, but it will all come to the same end. You
Floyd | shall keep me in a tiny cell for the rest of my days, and I shall hope
Floyd | that that shall be penance enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | They are battering at the door now. I shall hide this and wait for
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | May whatever god there is have mercy upon my soul.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                               Diary
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd | The diary is undated, though distinct entries can be made out:
Floyd |
Floyd |    I have made a copy...
Floyd |    How full of themselves they are...
Floyd |    I have seen the face of God...
Floyd |    That is all I can call it...
Floyd |    The response was...
Floyd |    I have healed well enough...
Floyd |    I have not left the flat...
Floyd |    I awoke, screaming...
Floyd |    Everything has fallen apart...
Floyd |  > Quam terribilis est haec hora...

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | Attic Flat
Floyd | A tiny flat with barely enough room for a small sink and tub to one
Floyd | side, a living area in the center, and a bed to one side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x tub" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUB
Floyd |
Floyd | Steam tubes snake through the living area to the tub and basin and
Floyd | from there into the wall. The ceramic is cracked and worn to a dull
Floyd | gray color.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get in tub" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN TUB
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything is old and broken - the tubes, the tub, the basin. Best to
Floyd | leave it alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "attack tub" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK TUB
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything is old and broken - the tubes, the tub, the basin. Best to
Floyd | leave it alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x walls" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SINK
Floyd |
Floyd | Steam tubes snake through the living area to the tub and basin and
Floyd | from there into the wall. The ceramic is cracked and worn to a dull
Floyd | gray color.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "So the basement has melted equipment and what else? I wonder if the amplified magnetophone might be used in the basement to talk to God?"
		Draconis says, "The Cypherists might have repaired it since the experiment."
		Draconis says, "They've had some time."
		Draconis asks, "Should we show this to Du Monde?"
		DavidW says, "She might kill us."
		chaudmin says, "yes, let's ask her about the Order"
		chaudmin says, "save first, then"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "say veritas lux mea" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAY VERITAS LUX MEA
Floyd |
Floyd | (to yourself)
Floyd | You talk to yourself a while.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Hahaha"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "say kai theos en ho logos" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAY KAI THEOS EN HO LOGOS
Floyd |
Floyd | (to yourself)
Floyd | You talk to yourself a while.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I think we can speak into the magnetophone, once it's fixed"
		chaudmin says, "pretty sure that's one ending"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a puzzle box (open)
Floyd |     a letter
Floyd |     a diary
Floyd |     a primitive copy of a key
Floyd |   a small module labeled 'Aetheric Amplifier'
Floyd |   a large iron key
Floyd |   File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd |   a flanged brass rod
Floyd |   a paper tape labeled F6A142
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "To the basement? Or to Du Monde first?"
		Draconis says, "We have Cleve's key now."
		DavidW says, "I'd like to see the basement first."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x copy" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COPY
Floyd |
Floyd | Heavy and unwieldy, its rough surface gives evidence that this key is,
Floyd | in fact, a copy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                             Attic Flat
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | One must be in something to exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Top of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Top of Stairs
Floyd | The stairs end here at a rickety door labeled "1428 - Attic Loft"
Floyd | leading eastward.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "d.d" 		

Floyd ]                          Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D.D
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | down the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Side Corridor
Floyd | This narrow, dusty corridor runs parallel to the shop beside it and
Floyd | contains nothing more than a rickety staircase leading up and down and
Floyd | a small door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | down the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | The stairs end here at a solid metal door labeled "Basement - Private"
Floyd | leading northward.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's see if this works..."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "unlock door with copy" 		

Floyd ]                          Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK DOOR WITH COPY
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the primitive copy of a key)
Floyd | You unlock the basement door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the basement door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | A dim, cavernous room - it must run the length of the building above -
Floyd | overrun with dampness and the choking smell of smoke. Its rough-carved
Floyd | rock walls are lined with all manner of aetheric and analytical
Floyd | devices in varying states of disrepair - most melted to slag. Steam
Floyd | pipes crawl over the walls and machines like spider webs, disappearing
Floyd | upwards into the ceiling, into the darkness. Where broken, they leak
Floyd | steam and drip water into growing pools upon the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bottom of a staircase is visible to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The center of the chamber is dominated by a low, round pedestal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, damaged book lies on the ground, slowly sinking into a pool
Floyd | of water.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Seems the machines were beyond repair."
		Draconis asks, "But why wouldn't they try to clean up...?"
		DavidW says, "Rescue the drowning book."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The book closes with a dull thud as it is lifted. The strong smell of
Floyd | mildew fills the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | The heavy, brown leather cover has been largely darkened to near black
Floyd | from water damage, and black scorch marks fan like a sunburst from the
Floyd | book's spine to the outer edges. On the front cover, a tree with ten
Floyd | branches. The design is composed of hundreds of gold-leaf 1s and 0s
Floyd | rather than lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pages stick in large clumps. Even when turned carefully, they pull
Floyd | out easily, reverting to a sticky pulp. Those pages that do keep their
Floyd | place are difficult to read. The dark green ink has run, the text
Floyd | melting towards the bottom of the page. Only snatches of text are
Floyd | still legible:
Floyd |
Floyd | "...the ATBASH of the Hebrews, the Scytale of the Greeks, Caesar's
Floyd | cypher; long have they been used to maintain the secrets of Magical
Floyd | Rites, clandestine endeavors and Political Intrigue. But these are
Floyd | ciphers created by men who believed in myths, for the benefit of men
Floyd | believing in myths. The Initiated Mind recognizes that information is
Floyd | more than just words on a page, it is secreted in the world around us;
Floyd | the great Symmetry of Nature demonstrates that all Life is encoded.
Floyd | Unlocking this Code is our Duty and Right as Humans, made Masters by
Floyd | God, to Understand the..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...itself, Mysticism should not be discounted. We understand that
Floyd | Myths and Legends are often the misguided interpretation of the
Floyd | uninitiated to understand the Great Truths. Particular insight may be
Floyd | found in the Vedas, the Scriptures, and the sacred teachings of the
Floyd | Hebrews, whose Qabbalah reflect our own search for Life's Origin. It
Floyd | is from the Qabbalah that we take our insignia, the Tree of Life. It
Floyd | is unknown..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...to advances in Technology, we are able to analyze and decipher
Floyd | these hidden codes with greater speed and alacrity..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hope the closing of the book wasn't a mistake."
		Draconis asks, "We could try undoing and read it first?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                          Bottom of Stairs
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Oops."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the basement door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | A dim, cavernous room - it must run the length of the building above -
Floyd | overrun with dampness and the choking smell of smoke. Its rough-carved
Floyd | rock walls are lined with all manner of aetheric and analytical
Floyd | devices in varying states of disrepair - most melted to slag. Steam
Floyd | pipes crawl over the walls and machines like spider webs, disappearing
Floyd | upwards into the ceiling, into the darkness. Where broken, they leak
Floyd | steam and drip water into growing pools upon the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bottom of a staircase is visible to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The center of the chamber is dominated by a low, round pedestal.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, damaged book lies on the ground, slowly sinking into a pool
Floyd | of water.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying open and face down, the book is badly damaged. The heavy, brown
Floyd | leather cover has been largely darkened to near black from water
Floyd | damage, and black scorch marks fan like a sunburst from the book's
Floyd | spine to the outer edges. On the front cover, a tree with ten
Floyd | branches. The design is composed of hundreds of gold-leaf 1s and 0s
Floyd | rather than lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Looks like you have to take it to read it."
		DavidW asks, "oh, face down, eh?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "turn book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | To open the book would require holding it first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "close book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something that can be closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "fine, take it"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The book closes with a dull thud as it is lifted. The strong smell of
Floyd | mildew fills the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The heavy, brown leather cover has been largely darkened to near black
Floyd | from water damage, and black scorch marks fan like a sunburst from the
Floyd | book's spine to the outer edges. On the front cover, a tree with ten
Floyd | branches. The design is composed of hundreds of gold-leaf 1s and 0s
Floyd | rather than lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pages stick in large clumps. Even when turned carefully, they pull
Floyd | out easily, reverting to a sticky pulp. Those pages that do keep their
Floyd | place are difficult to read. The dark green ink has run, the text
Floyd | melting towards the bottom of the page. Only snatches of text are
Floyd | still legible:
Floyd |
Floyd | "...the ATBASH of the Hebrews, the Scytale of the Greeks, Caesar's
Floyd | cypher; long have they been used to maintain the secrets of Magical
Floyd | Rites, clandestine endeavors and Political Intrigue. But these are
Floyd | ciphers created by men who believed in myths, for the benefit of men
Floyd | believing in myths. The Initiated Mind recognizes that information is
Floyd | more than just words on a page, it is secreted in the world around us;
Floyd | the great Symmetry of Nature demonstrates that all Life is encoded.
Floyd | Unlocking this Code is our Duty and Right as Humans, made Masters by
Floyd | God, to Understand the..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...itself, Mysticism should not be discounted. We understand that
Floyd | Myths and Legends are often the misguided interpretation of the
Floyd | uninitiated to understand the Great Truths. Particular insight may be
Floyd | found in the Vedas, the Scriptures, and the sacred teachings of the
Floyd | Hebrews, whose Qabbalah reflect our own search for Life's Origin. It
Floyd | is from the Qabbalah that we take our insignia, the Tree of Life. It
Floyd | is unknown..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...to advances in Technology, we are able to analyze and decipher
Floyd | these hidden codes with greater speed and alacrity..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "It doesn't seem to become any more damaged, at least."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x pedestal" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | A low stone pedestal, about waist high. In its shattered center of
Floyd | smooth, smoked glass, the faint shape of a tree can be made.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carved about the surface of it are the words: "NOTHING WILL BE
Floyd | RESTRAINED FROM THEM WHICH THEY HAVE IMAGINED".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Nothing will be restrained..."
		Draconis says, "That sounds like a quotation but I don't recognize it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point to pedestal" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT TO PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the cypheric pedestal, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:NONLIVING.PE
Floyd | DESTAL.UTIL:UNKN
Floyd | OWN.PART:?QUOTAT
Floyd | ION=REFERENCE.FO
Floyd | UND.BIBLE/TORAH-
Floyd | GENESIS-11:6-CON
Floyd | STRUCTION.OF.THE
Floyd | TOWER.OF.BABEL..
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pat triage" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PAT TRIAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at book" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | A small beam of green light lashes out over the damaged book as
Floyd | Triage's screen lights up:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Oh, almost forgot..."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at diary" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT DIARY
Floyd |
Floyd | The emerald eye examines the diary returning with:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at letter" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's emerald searches the letter, then...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So it recognizes Biblical references in English, but not in Greek it seems."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x machines" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MACHINES
Floyd |
Floyd | Intricate, huge devices, with an overwhelming number of switches,
Floyd | dials, and displays. But everywhere there are the signs of disaster;
Floyd | cases rent into pieces, displays broken and misaligned, knobs split in
Floyd | two, switches missing, and long rolls of paper tape piled loosely on
Floyd | the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hard to be sure. It's just a machine."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at machines" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT MACHINES
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine analyzes the ruined machineries before replying...
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get paper tape" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET PAPER TAPE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the paper tape labeled F6A142)
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rolls" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROLLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get rolls of paper" 		

Floyd ]                              Basement
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ROLLS OF PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Eh."
		Draconis asks, "Perhaps the inscription on the pedestal is the motto of the Cypherists that Cleve referred to?"
		DavidW says, "I don't see how the book helps us all that much."
		DavidW asks (of Draconis), "maybe?"
		Draconis says, "Sounds like we need the magnetophone to use it though."
		Draconis asks, "I think that's back in the apartment?"
		Draconis says, "We can try showing the letter to Du Monde first."
		DavidW says, "yes. The magnetophone's still at home (with the manual too, I think)."
Roger goes home. 		
Roger has disconnected. 		chaudmin says, "well, if we're done here..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of Stairs
Floyd | The stairs end here at a solid metal door labeled "Basement - Private"
Floyd | leading northward.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | Cunningly extending and contracting its wheels, Triage easily follows
Floyd | up the stairs...
Floyd |
Floyd | Side Corridor
Floyd | This narrow, dusty corridor runs parallel to the shop beside it and
Floyd | contains nothing more than a rickety staircase leading up and down and
Floyd | a small door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Save before confronting Du Monde."
		chaudmin asks, "have we been through that door?"
		DavidW says, "No. But we saw the other side in the store."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the side door)
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ehh"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | Set off to one side of the Market, this area is reserved for a myriad
Floyd | variety specialist shops - uniform clothiers, engine-programmers,
Floyd | fortune-tellers. The largest, set on the south side of the street, is
Floyd | decorated with a gaudy sign which reads "Du Monde's - Mechanist of
Floyd | Repute Since 1803."  Along the same building - to the southeast - lies
Floyd | a small door which reads, simply, "1428."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We still have an unused key, don't we?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a damaged book
Floyd |   a primitive copy of a key
Floyd |   a puzzle box (open)
Floyd |     a letter
Floyd |     a diary
Floyd |   a small module labeled 'Aetheric Amplifier'
Floyd |   a large iron key
Floyd |   File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd |   a flanged brass rod
Floyd |   a paper tape labeled F6A142
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "The large iron key we found in his file?"
		chaudmin says, "oh yeah. hm."
		DavidW says, "It might've been for the apartment, except SOMEONE broke the door before I could try a key."
		Draconis looks innocent.
		chaudmin says, "haha"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at large iron key" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT LARGE IRON KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "point at iron key" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT AT IRON KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage's beam flickers over the large iron key, briefly, then
Floyd | displays:
Floyd |
Floyd | CAT:UNKNOWN/UNLI
Floyd | STED.UTIL:NOT.AP
Floyd | PLICABLE.PART:NO
Floyd | NE.ITEM.IS.NOT.R
Floyd | ECOGNIZED.BY.CUR
Floyd | RENT.SYSTEM.STOR
Floyd | E.REQUIRE.ADDITI
Floyd | ONAL.INFORMATION
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side Corridor
Floyd | This narrow, dusty corridor runs parallel to the shop beside it and
Floyd | contains nothing more than a rickety staircase leading up and down and
Floyd | a small door leading west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "unlock door with iron key" 		

Floyd ]                           Side Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK DOOR WITH IRON KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | Set off to one side of the Market, this area is reserved for a myriad
Floyd | variety specialist shops - uniform clothiers, engine-programmers,
Floyd | fortune-tellers. The largest, set on the south side of the street, is
Floyd | decorated with a gaudy sign which reads "Du Monde's - Mechanist of
Floyd | Repute Since 1803."  Along the same building - to the southeast - lies
Floyd | a small door which reads, simply, "1428."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage trundles patiently along beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde's
Floyd | The shop is dark, and crowded with haphazardly stacked, yet neatly
Floyd | organized piles of machinery. To the south, there is a worn wooden
Floyd | counter, cracked with age and covered with innumerable nicks,
Floyd | scratches, and dark burn marks.  Behind the counter are rows and rows
Floyd | of drawers, labeled in some arcane script. The faint scent of gas
Floyd | clings to the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shop's show window and door look out on Fleet Street to the north.
Floyd | A second door lies behind the counter to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A woman leans over the counter, working on something with intense
Floyd | concentration.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x du monde" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DU MONDE
Floyd |
Floyd | Tall and thin, though her figure is difficult to make out in men's
Floyd | clothes that are ill-suited for her frame. Her curly, auburn hair is
Floyd | tied back in a simple ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her fierce
Floyd | green eyes are bright and aware, though they crinkle their corners.
Floyd |
Floyd | She wears a small pin on her lapel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "The pin is described separately. Interesting."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x pin" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pin" 		

Floyd | > X PIN
Floyd |
Floyd | A circular pin, depicting a tree with ten branches. Each branch, and
Floyd | the leaves which hang from them, are made up not of lines, but a
Floyd | series of 1s and 0s.
Floyd |
Floyd | She notices your interest in the pin, and her fingers fondle it
Floyd | protectively. For just a moment her eyes reflect something - fear?
Floyd | anger? - and her face reddens deeply; then her countenance dissolves
Floyd | into a charming embarrassment, complete with a slight blush.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My nephew gave it to me. Found it on the street most likely. I put it
Floyd | on to please him, and forget it was even here. How silly of me."
Floyd |
Floyd | She deftly removes the pin and drops it in her pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now what can I assist you with?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Could we have Triage examine the pin?"
		Draconis says, "It notices symbolism sometimes."
		DavidW says, "It's obvious that the tree of life is their logo for their Order. Sign of membership, I guess."
		chaudmin says, "all I could think of is 'binary tree'"
		Draconis says, "Haha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about cleve" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT CLEVE
Floyd |
Floyd | She give a short, barking laugh. "You know about him, do you? Clever
Floyd | boy, that one. Too clever by half. Always knew he'd come to a bad
Floyd | end."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "show letter to du monde" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW LETTER TO DU MONDE
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the letter)
Floyd | Du Monde briefly glances over it, her smile tightening slightly.
Floyd | "Fascinating little myths these boys are capable of," she concedes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Quick as a flash, her hand snakes beneath the counter, returning to
Floyd | slam a tiny brass object onto the countertop.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A gift," she says, "for the inquisitive."
Floyd |
Floyd | In a heartbeat, the thing is airborne - a tiny whirlwind of metallic
Floyd | wings and grasping arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is excruciating.
Floyd |
Floyd | If there are words for this...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reference|point|metaphor)\
Floyd |
Floyd | ...they have not yet been written.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(:timeline/date/1919:wbyeates/secondcoming)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It starts simply enough. Nothing occurs for the first week. It takes
Floyd | that long to incubate.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(the darkness drops again; but now I know)\
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of that time, James is quite sure he has followed in the
Floyd | footsteps of both Brand and Xavier, but bravely holds on. His bravery
Floyd | serves him poorly as within ten days time he has managed to infect all
Floyd | of the orderlies. Another week, and they have infected their families,
Floyd | their friends, and every patient in Bedlam.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(that twenty centuries of stony sleep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Reggie doesn't notice a thing. It's business as usual - and business
Floyd | is good. A week after the incubation he has infected seemingly half of
Floyd | London -- his clients, his barmates, his family.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Alexandra goes on with business as usual. By the time her incubation
Floyd | is complete, the Cypherists are once again meeting. Ironically, she
Floyd | infects the only group of people who could possibly have understood
Floyd | what was going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | It all goes fairly quickly after that.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(and what rough beast)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It spreads - subtle and strange...sudden lost memories, new forms of
Floyd | action and, universally, a reaching, grasping curiosity...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(its hour come round at last)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The lost begin to gather together - first in twos, then in growing
Floyd | crowds - to speak nonsense at one other.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(slouches towards)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The language of the angels - of Babel - fills the streets of London,
Floyd | and then every city in the world.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(bethlehem)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The death shroud of humanity becomes the birth caul of something ...
Floyd | new -
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?behtlehem?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | inhaling its first breath
Floyd |
Floyd | /(BEDLAM)\
Floyd |
Floyd | preparing to cry out
Floyd |
Floyd | /(to be born?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | its Name.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ***/(finishendcompleteconclude|periodmomentpointspacetime))\**
Floyd | *
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachedfoundendfinishcomplete|possibleprobablyonlyoneinofmany))\
Floyd |
Floyd | /(nowfurtheryetaheadrelease-APPENDIX-B-availableaccessableopen))\</i
Floyd | >.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well then"
		DavidW says, "so, another death, but same appendix."
		chaudmin says, "this is the ending we get when if we spread the infection and then die"
		DavidW says, "Thought she'd kill us. She seemed the type to do so."
		Draconis asks, "Does the same thing happen if we show the diary instead?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde's
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "show diary to du monde" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW DIARY TO DU MONDE
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the diary)
Floyd | Du Monde briefly glances over it, her smile tightening slightly.
Floyd | "Fascinating little myths these boys are capable of," she concedes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Quick as a flash, her hand snakes beneath the counter, returning to
Floyd | slam a tiny brass object onto the countertop.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A gift," she says, "for the inquisitive."
Floyd |
Floyd | In a heartbeat, the thing is airborne - a tiny whirlwind of metallic
Floyd | wings and grasping arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is excruciating.
Floyd |
Floyd | If there are words for this...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reference|point|metaphor)\
Floyd |
Floyd | ...they have not yet been written.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(:timeline/date/1919:wbyeates/secondcoming)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It starts simply enough. Nothing occurs for the first week. It takes
Floyd | that long to incubate.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(the darkness drops again; but now I know)\
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of that time, James is quite sure he has followed in the
Floyd | footsteps of both Brand and Xavier, but bravely holds on. His bravery
Floyd | serves him poorly as within ten days time he has managed to infect all
Floyd | of the orderlies. Another week, and they have infected their families,
Floyd | their friends, and every patient in Bedlam.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(that twenty centuries of stony sleep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Reggie doesn't notice a thing. It's business as usual - and business
Floyd | is good. A week after the incubation he has infected seemingly half of
Floyd | London -- his clients, his barmates, his family.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Alexandra goes on with business as usual. By the time her incubation
Floyd | is complete, the Cypherists are once again meeting. Ironically, she
Floyd | infects the only group of people who could possibly have understood
Floyd | what was going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | It all goes fairly quickly after that.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(and what rough beast)\
Floyd |
Floyd | It spreads - subtle and strange...sudden lost memories, new forms of
Floyd | action and, universally, a reaching, grasping curiosity...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(its hour come round at last)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The lost begin to gather together - first in twos, then in growing
Floyd | crowds - to speak nonsense at one other.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(slouches towards)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The language of the angels - of Babel - fills the streets of London,
Floyd | and then every city in the world.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(bethlehem)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The death shroud of humanity becomes the birth caul of something ...
Floyd | new -
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?behtlehem?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | inhaling its first breath
Floyd |
Floyd | /(BEDLAM)\
Floyd |
Floyd | preparing to cry out
Floyd |
Floyd | /(to be born?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | its Name.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ***/(finishendcompleteconclude|periodmomentpointspacetime))\**
Floyd | *
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachedfoundendfinishcomplete|possibleprobablyonlyoneinofmany))\
Floyd |
Floyd | /(nowfurtheryetaheadrelease-APPENDIX-B-availableaccessableopen))\</i
Floyd | >.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Seems so."
		DavidW says, "oh, I expect so."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde's
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder who Alexandra is. I suppose she's someone we haven't found yet."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about du monde" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT DU MONDE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Du Monde. Alexandra Du Monde - owner, proprietress, and chief
Floyd | mechanist. I'd shake your hand, but..." She holds a greasy hand up
Floyd | apologetically.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. ok."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about pin" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT PIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "A trifle, I assure you."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about logos" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT LOGOS
Floyd |
Floyd | "I can't help you, sir. I am, after all, merely a mechanist."
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde briefly consults a manual before returning to work.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's 4:15. I don't know how much longer you guys want to continue playing."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about order" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT ORDER
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm afraid I can't help you there."
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde finishes whatever she was working on. From behind the counter
Floyd | she produces another small piece of machinery and begins to fiddle
Floyd | with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "ehh, the other endings shouldn't take too much longer to get"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about magnetoscope" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT MAGNETOSCOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why would I know anything about that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about magnetophone" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT MAGNETOPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm afraid I can't help you there."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Well you just sold us an amplifier..."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Carried:
Floyd |   a damaged book
Floyd |   a primitive copy of a key
Floyd |   a puzzle box (open)
Floyd |     a letter
Floyd |     a diary
Floyd |   a small module labeled 'Aetheric Amplifier'
Floyd |   a large iron key
Floyd |   File F6A142: Cleve Anderson
Floyd |   a flanged brass rod
Floyd |   a paper tape labeled F6A142
Floyd |   a small key labled 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "ask du monde about cypherists" 		

Floyd ]                             Du Monde's
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DU MONDE ABOUT CYPHERISTS
Floyd |
Floyd | Her body stiffens ever so slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Cypherists? Not something I stock, sir. Never even heard of a machine
Floyd | like that."
Floyd |
Floyd | Du Monde clucks her tongue impatiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we should return home and use the amplifier."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 1428 Fleet Street
Floyd | Set off to one side of the Market, this area is reserved for a myriad
Floyd | variety specialist shops - uniform clothiers, engine-programmers,
Floyd | fortune-tellers. The largest, set on the south side of the street, is
Floyd | decorated with a gaudy sign which reads "Du Monde's - Mechanist of
Floyd | Repute Since 1803."  Along the same building - to the southeast - lies
Floyd | a small door which reads, simply, "1428."
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         Smithfield Market
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Smithfield Market
Floyd | While this is merely the outskirts of the Market, its presence still
Floyd | threatens to overwhelm the senses -- the smell of an abattoir, the din
Floyd | of a thousand voices shouting, the sight of masses of humanity
Floyd | talking, shopping, selling.
Floyd |
Floyd | The only quiet in the din lies southward, towards Fleet Street.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hansom cab sits here with a tired old horse hitched to the front and
Floyd | its driver waiting patiently.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage silently rolls to a stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "enter cab" 		

Floyd ]                         Smithfield Market
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER CAB
Floyd |
Floyd | Entered.
Floyd |
Floyd | Faced with the task of climbing into the cab, Triage is more than up
Floyd | to the challenge. Raising and extending first two wheels and then the
Floyd | others, it clambers inside beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "reggie, home" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REGGIE, HOME
Floyd |
Floyd | The trip feels none too comfortable, but at least the cab's interior
Floyd | gives some insulation against the tumult of London. Before long, the
Floyd | cab slows and the driver announces the reached destination...
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside Flat 2D (in the hansom cab)
Floyd | This small, empty road lies at the base of a small hill. It is lined
Floyd | with thin buildings, many advertising "Flats to Let" in their windows.
Floyd | The one directly north contains a door labeled 2D.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is the massive stone edifice that is Newgate Gaol. A
Floyd | gallows prepared for tomorrow's public execution, towers over the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage rests obediently nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                          Outside Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Exited.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage gracefully climbs out of the cab beside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Flat 2D
Floyd | Despite being small and cluttered with bits and pieces of electronics,
Floyd | this one room flat gives the impression of being quite clean and
Floyd | hygienic; no dust or dirt lurk in its bright corners. The east wall
Floyd | holds a mirror, and is neatly lined with evenly spaced picture frames.
Floyd | A large table, clearly a workshop space, takes up the west wall
Floyd | beneath an arched window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A shadow stretches lazily from the window across the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The flat's single exit lies to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Triage obediently appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, we didn't lock our door?"
		Draconis says, "Apparently not."
		chaudmin says, "I don't think the game has robbers programmed in, so we should be good"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x magnetophone" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAGNETOPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | A stout metallic box, approximately two feet long by a foot deep. On
Floyd | its side is a small label which reads "Wheatstone/Cooke
Floyd | Aether-Magnetophone Company," beneath which is a small, closed panel.
Floyd |
Floyd | Its front contains a simple toggle switch, a button labeled
Floyd | 'transmit', and the long graceful curve of a cygnet speaker. At its
Floyd | back is a small valve, connected to a rubber tube which trails along
Floyd | the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "lucky us"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open panel" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The expansion slot panel opens, revealing a small, empty socket
Floyd | containing two vertical holes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put amp in socket" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT AMP IN SOCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x amplifier" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X AMPLIFIER
Floyd |
Floyd | A small black module that easily fits in the hand. On one side, its
Floyd | smooth surface reads "Cooke Aetheric Amplifier Module," on the other,
Floyd | only two small pins are visible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put amplifier in socket" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT AMPLIFIER IN SOCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x socket" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The panel is opened, revealing a small, empty socket containing two
Floyd | vertical holes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x holes" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HOLES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "put amplifier in panel"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put amplifier in panel" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT AMPLIFIER IN PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The Aetheric Amplifier nestles perfectly into the open slot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | (the damaged book)
Floyd | The heavy, brown leather cover has been largely darkened to near black
Floyd | from water damage, and black scorch marks fan like a sunburst from the
Floyd | book's spine to the outer edges. On the front cover, a tree with ten
Floyd | branches. The design is composed of hundreds of gold-leaf 1s and 0s
Floyd | rather than lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pages stick in large clumps. Even when turned carefully, they pull
Floyd | out easily, reverting to a sticky pulp. Those pages that do keep their
Floyd | place are difficult to read. The dark green ink has run, the text
Floyd | melting towards the bottom of the page. Only snatches of text are
Floyd | still legible:
Floyd |
Floyd | "...the ATBASH of the Hebrews, the Scytale of the Greeks, Caesar's
Floyd | cypher; long have they been used to maintain the secrets of Magical
Floyd | Rites, clandestine endeavors and Political Intrigue. But these are
Floyd | ciphers created by men who believed in myths, for the benefit of men
Floyd | believing in myths. The Initiated Mind recognizes that information is
Floyd | more than just words on a page, it is secreted in the world around us;
Floyd | the great Symmetry of Nature demonstrates that all Life is encoded.
Floyd | Unlocking this Code is our Duty and Right as Humans, made Masters by
Floyd | God, to Understand the..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...itself, Mysticism should not be discounted. We understand that
Floyd | Myths and Legends are often the misguided interpretation of the
Floyd | uninitiated to understand the Great Truths. Particular insight may be
Floyd | found in the Vedas, the Scriptures, and the sacred teachings of the
Floyd | Hebrews, whose Qabbalah reflect our own search for Life's Origin. It
Floyd | is from the Qabbalah that we take our insignia, the Tree of Life. It
Floyd | is unknown..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "...to advances in Technology, we are able to analyze and decipher
Floyd | these hidden codes with greater speed and alacrity..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "computers are so fussy."
		Draconis says, "oops wrong book"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x paperback" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAPERBACK
Floyd |
Floyd | The book is open to a marked page, labeled "Troubleshooting Your
Floyd | Magnetophone, A Home User's Guide..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1. Problem: Nothing happens when I turn my Magnetophone on.
Floyd | Be sure that your Magnetophone is hooked up to a viable power source,
Floyd | and that the power source is active. If you are sure your power source
Floyd | is active, toggle your switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | 2. Problem: All I hear is static or I can hear other operators, but
Floyd | they can't hear me speak, or they do not answer.
Floyd | To broadcast, be sure to depress the TRANSMIT button each time you
Floyd | wish to speak. While the TRANSMIT button is not depressed, your
Floyd | magnetophone acts as a receiver, not a transmitter. Also, be sure to
Floyd | use proper etiquette while operating your Magnetophone. To let another
Floyd | operator know you wish to make contact, press the TRANSMIT button and
Floyd | use the universally accepted phrase "Calling CQ". If you fail to use
Floyd | this code, other operators may believe they are picking up the middle
Floyd | of an alternate conversation, and will not respond for fear of
Floyd | interrupting.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3. Problem: I can hear static and voices, but they are faint or
Floyd | indistinct.
Floyd | Magnetophone customers living in highly-populated, urban areas may
Floyd | experience transmission interference due to the presence of large
Floyd | buildings, crowded streets, and pollution. You may try alleviate to
Floyd | this problem by placing the Magnetophone by a clear opening - such as
Floyd | a window. If this does not fix the problem, you may need to purchase
Floyd | one of several amplification devices, designed to fit into your
Floyd | machine's expansion slot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "toggle switch" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOGGLE SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push switch" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SWITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | The toggle switch switches on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | The button stays depressed as long as it is pushed, then releases.
Floyd | Nothing more happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we have a power source?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x tube" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x power source" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POWER SOURCE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x magnetophone" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAGNETOPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | A stout metallic box, approximately two feet long by a foot deep. On
Floyd | its side is a small label which reads "Wheatstone/Cooke
Floyd | Aether-Magnetophone Company," beneath which is a panel, opened to
Floyd | reveal a small, empty socket.
Floyd |
Floyd | Its front contains a simple toggle switch, a button labeled
Floyd | 'transmit', and the long graceful curve of a cygnet speaker. At its
Floyd | back is a small valve, connected to a rubber tube which trails along
Floyd | the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x rubber" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RUBBER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The panel is opened, revealing a small module labeled "Aetheric
Floyd | Amplifier."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "close panel" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The expansion slot panel closes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x valve" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X VALVE
Floyd |
Floyd | The valve can be turned to open or close the pipe and thus the tubing.
Floyd | Currently it seems to be closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open valve" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN VALVE
Floyd |
Floyd | A quiet hiss emanates from the valve as it turns, and the tubing gives
Floyd | a small shudder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber piping connected to the back of the machine convulses for a
Floyd | moment, a wisp of steam escaping from it. From within, comes a low
Floyd | whirring which slowly increases in pitch and volume. From out of the
Floyd | magnetophone's horn comes a soft echo of static...
Floyd |
Floyd | As solid voices become discernable from out of the constant static, a
Floyd | sudden chill descends...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?heartouchothergrow?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | A stretching outwards...a growth...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?realblindemptynullwhere?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | A stumbling. Confusion.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(NOfalseunrealdistantphantomNO)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The cold recedes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Should we transmit?"
		Draconis says, "We could say the various mottos and see what happens."
		DavidW says, "I'm wondering if it makes any difference where this is used."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As the button is depressed, the static abruptly stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | What words are transmitted?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "calling cq" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | What words are transmitted?
Floyd | > CALLING CQ
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | Several voices emerge from the magnetophone's speaker at once:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Receiving Lon-4-G-C..."
Floyd | "...earing you - identify Xerxes Yellow Zebra Zebra Yellow..."
Floyd | "...well enough to..."
Floyd | "...lear, CQ...go ahead..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh xyzzy"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As the button is depressed, the static abruptly stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | What words are transmitted?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "kai theos en ho logos" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | What words are transmitted?
Floyd | > KAI THEOS EN HO LOGOS
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As the button is depressed, the static abruptly stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | What words are transmitted?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "veritas lux mea" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | What words are transmitted?
Floyd | > VERITAS LUX MEA
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Obviously, the word is XYZZY."
		Draconis asks, "What was the last one?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As the button is depressed, the static abruptly stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | What words are transmitted?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | What words are transmitted?
Floyd | > XYZZY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "The one from the Tower of Babel."
		chaudmin says, "probably need to say "calling cq" first"
		DavidW says, "I didn't write it down."
		Draconis asks, "We did that, do we need to do it again?"
		DavidW says, "We might, yes."
		Draconis says, "Aha."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "push transmit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH TRANSMIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As the button is depressed, the static abruptly stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | What words are transmitted?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "nothing will be restrained from them which they have imagined" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | What words are transmitted?
Floyd | > NOTHING WILL BE RESTRAINED FROM THEM WHICH THEY HAVE IMAGINED
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | If there are words for this...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reference|point|metaphor)\
Floyd |
Floyd | ...they have not yet been written.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(:timeline/date/1919:wbyeates/secondcoming)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The first responses are confusion. Repeat again. Don't quite
Floyd | understand. Static. Lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(the darkness drops again; but now I know)\
Floyd |
Floyd | By the time they understand, it is already too late. Hobbyists switch
Floyd | off their machines in disgust, or change to a different aetheric band.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(that twenty centuries of stony sleep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | But some stay. Some listen. Some call others.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Within hours it is the talk of every aetherist in London. Come hear
Floyd | the madman speak. Does he make any sense?  Is that a language?  I
Floyd | thought I understood it for a moment...
Floyd |
Floyd | /(and what rough beast)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Now it is the talk of every aetherist in the world. They tune in from
Floyd | as far as the Americas and the Far East to listen to this new Pythia -
Floyd | spouting Apollo's word from an aetheric Delphi.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(its hour come round at last)\
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmission continues uninterrupted for days. Rumor spreads and
Floyd | soon the commercial bands are carrying stories of it - complete with a
Floyd | few moments of live transmission.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(slouches towards)\
Floyd |
Floyd | Days after that, the copycats start. Madmen babbling over the aether,
Floyd | on the street corners. A week after that, the realization hits home:
Floyd | finally visible are
Floyd |
Floyd | /(bethlehem)\
Floyd |
Floyd | the connections
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?behtlehem?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | that have
Floyd |
Floyd | /(BEDLAM)\
Floyd |
Floyd | at last
Floyd |
Floyd | /(to be born?)\
Floyd |
Floyd | made the world, One.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ***/(finishendcompleteconclude|periodmomentpointspacetime))\**
Floyd | *
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | /(reachedfoundendfinishcomplete|possibleprobablyonlyoneinofmany))\
Floyd |
Floyd | /(nowfurtheryetaheadrelease-APPENDIX-C-availableaccessableopen))\</i
Floyd | >.
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oo"
Draconis heads back home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "appendix" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > APPENDIX
Floyd |
Floyd | APPENDIX C
Floyd |
Floyd | *clunk*
Floyd |
Floyd | The rusting tin cylinder within the phonograph vibrates slightly as a
Floyd | brass needle scrapes against it. The sound of a throat being cleared
Floyd | emerges from the machine's ancient hornshell speaker, followed by a
Floyd | thin, haunting voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Today."
Floyd |
Floyd | A breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We are uncertain how to ... date this ... entry. Time has lost much
Floyd | meaning. The gap between Homo sapien sapien and what we are now (Logos
Floyd | sapien sapien?) is confused and muddled. As is much that came after."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Biblical references we remember seem to fit best."
Floyd |
Floyd | "'And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.'
Floyd | Genesis 11:11  And so it is. Kai theos en ho logos. The Word Made
Floyd | Flesh is spoken from every mouth that we have. We speak the language
Floyd | of angels with every breath."
Floyd |
Floyd | "We are made happy by this - and sometimes sad."
Floyd |
Floyd | "We know that once we were a singular - an I. Or a bad copy of an I.
Floyd | We were - or we came from - a Thomas Xavier. We remember him, when we
Floyd | thought we were him. We think that maybe we liked being him."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But now we are so much more."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And there is yet so much more to be."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The First Time was the growing - the becoming - of what we now are.
Floyd | It took time, and there was resistance. This, too, was sad."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But now there is joy."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Second Time came swiftly after. We searched what we were and what
Floyd | we remembered and we deduced where we came from - and what we were
Floyd | before."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Third Time is now upon us."
Floyd |
Floyd | "We have mastered the crude sciences that lead to the discovery of
Floyd | what we now know as our home. And soon, we shall reopen the door and
Floyd | find our parent - ourselves - beyond."
Floyd |
Floyd | "As Cleve so unwitting wrote so long ago: Malkuth is in Kether as
Floyd | Kether is in Malkuth. Soon Man and God shall truly be as one. And then
Floyd | the Unending Time will begin."
Floyd |
Floyd | "We leave this behind - a final monument to what we are and were. We
Floyd | do not know if there is any other I or We to find and listen to it.
Floyd | But we leave it nonetheless."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Goodbye."
Floyd |
Floyd | Having reached the end of the cylinder, the phonograph shuts itself
Floyd | off with a tiny "click".
Floyd |
Floyd | /(?? RESTARTperiodfirstrevisit ?? RESTOREbackrecallrelease ??
Floyd | UNDObackreverseunmake ?? APPENDIXfurtherjumpyet ?? QUITleaveenddone
Floyd | ??))\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "well, there's two more endings that I know how to get"
		DavidW asks, "I'm thinking we should stop here for now. Maybe take it up later?"
		chaudmin says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Flat 2D
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | /(backyesunturningunmakingUNDObacksliplinereverse)\
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The transmit button releases with an audible pop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfslouching" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CFSLOUCHING
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfslouching" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | > SAVE## /(pointrememberingSAVEstoresafekeep)\
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd ]                              Flat 2D
Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW says, "thanks everyone"
		chaudmin says, "fun times"
		DavidW says, "I'm glad I got to see more of the game."
		chaudmin says, "I'm understanding it better the second time around"
		DavidW says, "hm, me too, although I wonder what ending A is. We saw B and C."



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
all alone. by ian finley
As played on ifMUD on July 5, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of all alone. written by ian finley. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load allalone" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd | tadsr - A text-only TADS 2.5.10 Interpreter.
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1993, 2006 by Michael J. Roberts.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're all alone tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Of course, you've gotten used to that since you moved in with Harvey.
Floyd | He works the late shift at the delicatessen every Tuesday and Thursday.
Floyd | He'll be back before too long.  That man works so hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | You slip into your toasty flannel pajamas because there's a cold winter
Floyd | rain coming down outside and the heat in Harvey's sub-basement
Floyd | apartment really needs looking at.  You settle down into the oversized
Floyd | couch in the living room and snap on the TV.  Tonight you're just going
Floyd | to relax.
Floyd |
Floyd | all alone.
Floyd | by ian finley
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drawings" 		

Floyd | The pictures are sketches, originals of your work.  One is of a young
Floyd | man walking into a high school; another is a little girl boarding a
Floyd | plane.  Your teacher is arranging to get some of your works on display
Floyd | downtown.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the news starting on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rain taps on the little square windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's coming
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "that's not ominous at all"
		Jacqueline says, "No. Not at all."
		Roger says, "GABBO"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | You're wearing your flannel Mickey Mouse pajamas.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "Tragedy and horror strike again as another victim of
Floyd | the so-called 'Slicer Killer' is found in her west side apartment."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm sure that's completely unrelated."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a set of pajamas (being worn).
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This is the fourth slaying of this kind to occur in
Floyd | the past three weeks.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "It'll never happen to us."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x couch" 		

Floyd | The couch is a huge, overstuffed thing that Harvey picked up at some
Floyd | flea market.  Its all orange and yellow, pretty obnoxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, ".  .  .and police are focusing as much on quelling
Floyd | the growing panic in the city as on catching the killer.  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bookshelf" 		

Floyd | The homemade bookshelf is basically a pile of paperbacks and big
Floyd | anatomy textbooks barely supported by cement blocks and sagging boards.
Floyd | There is a little candle burning on top that just screams "fire
Floyd | hazard."
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "We have been asked not to broadcast the images we
Floyd | have of the crime scene, but the killer has left his usual macabre
Floyd | calling cards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Most victims of murder know their victims. So I'm sure it won't be us next."
		DavidW says, "I don't think I've ever played this game before, so I have no idea what to expect."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Unless... what if Harvey isn't really working late at the delicatessen?!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x candle" 		

Floyd | The candle is white and held in a little blue glass cup.  It's lit, not
Floyd | that it helps much.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "The young woman's internal organs had been removed,
Floyd | and several thin strips of skin shaved from the body."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is gathering force outside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take candle" 		

Floyd | You can't reach that from the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart exclaims, "Ooh, and I always assumed his keen interest in the cutting power of knives was professional!"
		Roger says, "Thanks, FOX NEWS"
		DavidW says, "Let's make sure the front door is locked."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | You're not going anywhere until you get out of the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "While not wishing to encourage the unreasonable fear
Floyd | spreading through the city, the police do encourage women living alone
Floyd | to keep all curtains closed and make sure their doors are securely
Floyd | locked."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(Let's hope the Slicer Killer isn't Harvey.)"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "get off couch" 		

Floyd | Okay, you're no longer on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In a related story, Mayor Anderson has significantly
Floyd | increased active police presence on the streets and has proposed
Floyd | another raise in pay."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Curtains, the silent defence"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm betting that's our SURPRISE PLOT TWIST, actually."
		Roger says, "My money's on us being the killer"
		Jacqueline says, "See? There's more cops. We'll be fine."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Ooh. That'd be good."
		Jacqueline says, "Like in that other IF game."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | Rain drizzles down the dark windows.  They're small and placed high up
Floyd | since this is a basement apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "These raises come at a crucial time, as work related
Floyd | stress causes growing numbers of investigators resign every week."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart asks, "What part of that fear is 'unreasonable'?"
		DavidW says, "Not immediately. They have to slash art funding first. Those drawings will never be sold."
		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "A valid question."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "change channel" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "change".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "blow out candle" 		

Floyd | You blow out the candle.
Floyd |
Floyd | For a moment the TV is blurred by loud static.  Damn antennas.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We really should lock the door, y'know."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "lock door" 		

Floyd | Which door do you mean, the outside door, or the bedroom door?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "outside door" 		

Floyd | The door is already locked, two deadbolts and a latch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static clears and picks up with the anchorman saying, ".  .
Floyd | .continued threats of chemical warfare."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Yeah, the TV said so"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "lock bedroom door" 		

Floyd | It's too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In further world news--" and is cut short by low
Floyd | static.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, wait. We'd prolly want to be *inside* the bedroom before we lock it."
		Roger says, "Let's lock ourselves in the fridge for maximum safeness"
		Lionheart says, "That's your typical TV news priorities. if it bleeds, it leads."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is deep and narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator
Floyd | jutting out at awkward angles.  It's not that the place is really
Floyd | dirty, but your mother wouldn't be able to stand it.  The tile counters
Floyd | are washed-out yellow, slightly grimy, and the sink is more than half
Floyd | filled with this week's dishes.  You can see about half the living room
Floyd | through the arch to the southeast, light from the TV flickering on the
Floyd | far wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The television growls with hushed static.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone's ringing, in the bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "huh "slicer killer""
		Lionheart asks, "What, there's only one phone in the house?"
		Zach says, "So much hate against deli workers"
		Jacqueline says, "While he flays small strips of your skin he asks if you'd like the pastrami on rye or wheat or pumpernickel."
		Roger says, "I think we're stuck in the 80s"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x fridge" 		

Floyd | The refrigerator is a massive, humming block, probably left over from
Floyd | when this old building was first divided up into apartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues to hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Lionheart), "This was written a while back."
		Roger asks, "Can a TV even make static any more?"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Hm. I think they just go black."
		Zach says, "There's a channel for that now"
		Lionheart says, "Oh, I had not picked up on that time period cue, yeah."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | There is cold bread and meat in the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static on the TV gives out to total silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take meat" 		

Floyd | Which meat do you mean, the canned food, or the bread and meat?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take bread and meat" 		

Floyd | Which meat do you mean, the canned food, or the bread and meat?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "gah"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take canned food" 		

Floyd | There's no reason to carry that around.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Oh, this old TADS thing. hmmm."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, the phone is ringing. ...Have you checked the children?"
Roger says (to floyd), "take first meat" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "first".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take a meat" 		

Floyd | Which meat do you mean, the canned food, or the bread and meat?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, ""It's 8pm, do you know where your children are"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take bread" 		

Floyd | You don't want to carry that around.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV suddenly comes back in, loud.
Floyd |
Floyd | Annoyed by the ringing, you finally dash into the bedroom and grab the
Floyd | receiver.  "Hello?"  No answer.  You ask again and hear heavy breathing
Floyd | on the other end, panting.  You stand there for a moment, trying to
Floyd | think of some response, something biting and clever, but you can't, and
Floyd | the harsh wheezing continues.  You hang up the phone and stand there
Floyd | for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "OH MY GOD THE CALL IS COMING FROM INSIDE THE APARTMENT"
		Jacqueline says, "We seem really not stressed at all about that weird phone call."
		Lionheart says, "The parser's getting fed up with our refusal to advance the plot"
		Zach says, "But we didn't want to answer the phone!"
		chaudmin exclaims, "you idiot, you're not supposed to answer the phone! now they know you're there!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x phone" 		

Floyd | The old phone is on the floor, half buried by a pile of socks.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "And now we go to Tom Markus for the weather.  Tom?"
Floyd |
Floyd | it's near
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x socks" 		

Floyd | The old phone is on the floor, half buried by a pile of socks.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hyperactive TV weatherman blurts out, "Well folks, tonight doesn't
Floyd | look too good."
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat cockroach scurries over your bare left foot.  Without thinking
Floyd | you jerk away and smash it with the ball of your right foot and it
Floyd | crunches under your skin.  You quickly wipe the guts off your sole onto
Floyd | the floor and shudder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "You guys are awesome."
		Zach says, "That's why we should have been *wearing* the socks"
Zach says (to Floyd), "take socks" 		

Floyd | The phone isn't ringing.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This storm is gonna continue right up until tomorrow
Floyd | morning, and it is one monster of a storm."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | Floyd | it's near
		Jacqueline | Floyd |
		Jacqueline | Floyd | >
		| Zach says (to Floyd), "x socks"
		Jacqueline says, "As one does, when it's near."
		Zach says, "The socks were ringing!"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is really much too small for everything in it.  It was
Floyd | ok when it was just Harvey's big waterbed and his dresser, but when you
Floyd | brought in your drafting desk with its lamps and everything, the room
Floyd | just got too crowded.  You have to practically crawl over the desk to
Floyd | get to the closet to the east and the door to the bathroom to the west
Floyd | is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's socks and clothes crouch on
Floyd | the floor.  He's been used to being a bachelor for so long.  You can
Floyd | see the living room through the arch to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "Winds up to seventy-two miles per hour have been
Floyd | reported, and the rain just keeps coming down."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wear socks" 		

Floyd | You can't wear the phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "It's like the end of the world out there."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Well, one always wants to know where one's socks are."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd | Your drafting table is the one serious piece of furniture you took from
Floyd | your parents' house when you moved in here.  It's covered with
Floyd | half-finished sketches, charcoals and cups of pencils.  The bulbs in
Floyd | the two lamps that are attached to it have burnt out.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clap of thunder outside and the wind starts picking
Floyd | up.  The transmission on the TV starts to fade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Incidentally, I'm thinking the PC's excellent roach-stomping reflexes bode well for us."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x sketches" 		

Floyd | The table has several open sketch pads, all with drawings in various
Floyd | stages of completion.  Several pairs of cold, unseeing eyes stare at
Floyd | you from underneath scattered sheets, daring you to complete their
Floyd | bodies.  You ignore them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV fades in and out.  You hear snatches of words and
Floyd | phrases.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lightning flashes brightly for a moment, lighting up the whole
Floyd | apartment.  The thunder comes almost at once.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd | The water bed is this squelching monster of a thing really low to the
Floyd | floor and covered with neon green sheets.  The pillows are the same
Floyd | whacked color.  It's comfy though.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Buy Fleischmann's.  .  .static, garble.  .  .
Floyd | it slices, it dices, it.  .  .  static, garble.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "complete bodies" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "complete".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, I know we're being all nonchalant about the fact that we're either about to die or be killed, but this really is building the anticiaption well."
Zach says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd | clothing:  You slip quickly out of your pajamas and into some jeans and
Floyd | a shirt that are on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "In our last story.  .  .garble.  .  .Good-night
Floyd | from.  . .static.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The socks are ringing again."
Zach says (to Floyd), "answer socks" 		

Floyd | Frustrated, you grab the receiver, but don't say anything.  The man on
Floyd | the other end is whispering.  You can't make out exactly what he's
Floyd | saying.  It sounds like, "You're not thinking of going anywhere are
Floyd | you?"  You don't reply. "Didn't want to go out in your pajamas did
Floyd | you?"  You glance quickly towards the window.The blinds are open.  You
Floyd | can't see anything through the dark and rain."I just wouldn't go
Floyd | outside, ok, sweetie?"  You slam down the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Stay in.  .  .static.  .  .if you need.  .
Floyd | .static.  .  .to go out.  .  ."  and then complete silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "close blinds" 		

Floyd | You unfold the blinds and cover the windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm sure that will help."
		Jacqueline says, "I say we change clothes and get out of here."
		DavidW says, "Should've done that earlier, I suppose."
		Zach says, "I feel like going for a walk"
		Jacqueline says, "Go to a neighbor's house."
		Zach says (to Jacq), "We did change clothes"
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait! Can we call Harvey?"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call harvey" 		

Floyd | You punch in Harvey's work number.  Old man Luttfisk answers.  You hate
Floyd | his voice.  It sounds slimy.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Luttfisk's Delicatessen.  We're closin' up here--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, Mr.  Luttfisk, I know, I was just wondering if Harvey was there."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Harvey?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, Harvey, your assistant, if he's there--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh he left a long time ago.  Had to pick up supplies.  Yeah.  He left
Floyd | a long time ago.  Good night."  Click.  Buzz.  You hang up the phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Z), "We did? I missed that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | You're wearing pants and a shirt, nothing special.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		Zach says, "In response to "take all""
		Roger says, "good thinkin"
		Lionheart says, "Ah, a touchtone phone, another time period cue"
		Jacqueline says (to Z), "Ah"
		chaudmin says, "gonna check out the closet"
		Jacqueline asks (of Lh), "As opposed to a smart phone or VOIP?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Closet
Floyd |    The closet is tiny and dark, barely enough room for you to stand in.
Floyd | A few of your clothes are hanging on the one bar but most of them are
Floyd | still in a big box on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV jumps back in with raucous peals of laughter, some
Floyd | stupid sitcom or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is getting even worse, the rain drowning out any other sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I mean, touch tone phones still exist... I think."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd | The box is already open, you can see it's contents.  For that matter,
Floyd | you don't think it ever had a lid to start with.
Floyd |
Floyd | The tone of the TV changes and you hear, "We interrupt your regularly
Floyd | scheduled programming to bring you this important message."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | From the kitchen
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Of course they do."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd | The box is a big cardboard thing that says "Rothschild's Vodka" on the
Floyd | side.  The liquor store always has extra cardboard boxes, which you
Floyd | needed when you moved.  The box is filled with most of your clothes,
Floyd | the stuff you haven't had time to unpack yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | The news announcer is back.  You hear him say, "Police officials are
Floyd | mortified to find that the 'Slicer Killer' has struck for the second
Floyd | time this evening."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "OH GOD IT'S BEEPING"
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. What's beeping?"
		Lionheart says, "Dial phones still exist too, for that matter"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | As you start to leave the closet you hear sounds coming from the living
Floyd | room.  CLICK.  CLICK.  The locks on the front door.  Harvey must be
Floyd | home, finally.  You call out to him, "Hi, honey," but there's no reply.
Floyd | CLICK.  You hear the door swinging open, slowly and quietly.  "Honey?"
Floyd | you call.  No answer.  Quiet feet in the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, rapidly, "Another single woman has been found
Floyd | brutally mutilated in her west side home."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sadly, party lines are dead."
		Roger says, "'honey', eh"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd | You quietly close the door and wait, holding your breath.  Quiet.
Floyd | Suddenly there's knock on the door, two loud raps.  The handle turns.
Floyd | Then turns back.  You hear footsteps receding and the front door
Floyd | closing, locking.  CLICK.  CLICK.  CLICK.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "The locks on her front door appear to have
Floyd | been forced, but by a skilled hand."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, we seem to be Harvey's partner, as implied by the idea that we're sharing the bedroom."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "get in box" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to get on the box of clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "Police are cautioning against panic."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a unlit candle and some clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "But TV reporters are having none of it"
		Jacqueline says, "See, the police are cautioning aganist panic, but if we're not going to go proactively kill any non-Harvey persons in the living room, then I think it's time to panic."
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill" 		

Floyd | What do you want to attack?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "I'd like to know what's beeping, but I'm also pretty sure it's a bad idea to leave the closet"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, unless Harvey seems to want to kill us. If he does, then he can be offed."
		DavidW says, "We don't have even a butter knife to defend ourselves with."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. We can stay put."
		Lionheart says, "Maybe we can give the killer a paper cut with this cardboard box."
		Jacqueline asks, "Why did we call out? For the same reason we autmagically answered the phone?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "lock door" 		

Floyd | There's no way to lock the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Roadrunner."
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
		DavidW says, "The roadrunner's after you."
		DavidW says, "Roadrunner."
		Lionheart says, "If he catches you, you're through"
		DavidW says, "If he catches you, you're through."
		Roger says, "DW, you have the honours of leading us out of the closet"
		Jacqueline says, "No no no"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | There's another whip of lightning and the TV shuts down completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scream" 		

Floyd | No one is going to help you.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We never saw the bathroom, did we?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "pray".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "hide" 		

Floyd | There's no place for you to hide.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Closet
Floyd |    The closet is tiny and dark, barely enough room for you to stand in.
Floyd | A few of your clothes are hanging on the one bar but most of them are
Floyd | still in a big box on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd | Rain and thunder.  The creaks of an old building.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take box" 		

Floyd | You don't wanna haul your clothes around.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "move box" 		

Floyd | You can't move the box of clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "hiding in your closet in real time"
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger), "Wait, aren't we all playing on laptops in our closets right now because we're so scared?"
		Jacqueline says, "So, maybe nothing will happen (like, at all) if we stay here."
		DavidW says, "I can't enter my closet. It's full."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe we need to leave to advance the plot."
		Roger says, "someone told me not to panic"
		Jacqueline says, "And won't you all feel silly when it's just Harvey."
		Jacqueline says, "And he says, 'Hi, sweetie. Get any drawing done?'"
		Jacqueline says, "And we'll just snuggle up and it'll all be fine."
		Lionheart says, "Until we notice the blood on his shoes."
		Jacqueline exclaims (at Lionheart), "That's from the roast beef at work!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "It's just a little rare!"
		chaudmin asks, "well I guess we should leave then?"
		Lionheart says, "Well, a smart serial killer probably wouldn't kill someone he lives with, when he'd be the prime suspect."
		Roger says, "BEEP BEEP"
		Jacqueline says, "We just saved. So, yeah."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "STOP THAT"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You open the closet door and step out into the bedroom.  No one there.
Floyd | You listen carefully but you can't hear anything in the apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "Good point."
		Lionheart exclaims, "Unless all the other killings are meant to give plausible deniability!"
		Jacqueline says, "Check the front door locks on the way to the kitchen."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm sure it's just the microwave, angry that the power blipped and reset its clock to 00:00"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd |    This is the darkest room in the apartment.  The toilet works and the
Floyd | sink and shower aren't too dirty, but whenever you put on makeup you
Floyd | have to do it on your desk where there's more light instead of using
Floyd | the mirror in here.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Assuming there were microwaves when this game was made."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd | The mirror is one of those medicine cabinet things, into which you've
Floyd | crammed all your necessary toiletries.  It's closed right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | You open the cabinet.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We had a microwave all through the 80s."
		Jacqueline says, "Though it did not have a clock, it must be said."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "look in cabinet" 		

Floyd | Inside the open medicine cabinet is a ton of random bathroom junk.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take junk" 		

Floyd | There no reason to deal with any of that right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "search junk" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		chaudmin says, "so the bathroom is completely useless"
		Lionheart says, "We can't arm ourselves with nail clippers? Surely the TSA confiscates those because tyhey're deadlier than they seem"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "get in shower" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to get on the shower.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of chaudmin), "Isn't every IF bathroom?"
		DavidW says, "Some IF bathrooms are useful!"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, I know."
		Jacqueline says, "I was just generalizing."
		DavidW says, "You were."
		Jacqueline says, "I get snarky when I'm about to be killed."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd | The sink is one of those tiny things on a tall free-standing pedestal.
Floyd | Harvey says it's Victorian, but you think it's just plain annoying cuz
Floyd | there's nowhere to put anything on it or even any space under it for
Floyd | cabinets.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. ok. Pls no killed."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get razor" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "razor".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get giant and sharp hair cutting scissors with the pointy tips" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "giant".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Thanks for being forthcoming, parser"
		DavidW says, "At this rate, we might have to settle for a sharp pencil."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We are an illustrator. Did we see a pencil? We could go for the eyes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | Your drafting table is the one serious piece of furniture you took from
Floyd | your parents' house when you moved in here.  It's covered with
Floyd | half-finished sketches, charcoals and cups of pencils.  The bulbs in
Floyd | the two lamps that are attached to it have burnt out.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "for an nra-sponsored game, it's pretty good"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pencil" 		

Floyd | You grab one of the pencils.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Wow, you might actually be right"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "weild pencil" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "weild".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pencil" 		

Floyd | It's a plain, number 2 graphite pencil with a little green eraser.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "heh"
		Lionheart says, "Good call"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sharpen pencil" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "sharpen".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "draw" 		

Floyd | You sit down at the desk and grab a fresh piece of paper.  You start
Floyd | moving your pencil over the smooth surface, letting it form whatever
Floyd | shapes it wants.  A long dark gash on the paper resolves into a man's
Floyd | shadow.  Diagonal lines mist into the slashing rain.  Details, a long
Floyd | coat, a suitcase, a knife.  .  .  You stop drawing and crumple up the
Floyd | paper.  Another time.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ACK"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "open desk" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to open the drafting table.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, Ian Finley."
		DavidW says, "yeah, he wrote several well-received games, but somehow I missed playing this one."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's do this, folks"
		DavidW says, "I suspect the plot won't advance until we investigate the BEEP BEEP-ing."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's leave the bedroom before we wet out pants."
		Lionheart says, "If we need the toilet it's back there"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "leave bedroom" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Closet
Floyd |    The closet is tiny and dark, barely enough room for you to stand in.
Floyd | A few of your clothes are hanging on the one bar but most of them are
Floyd | still in a big box on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd |    This is the darkest room in the apartment.  The toilet works and the
Floyd | sink and shower aren't too dirty, but whenever you put on makeup you
Floyd | have to do it on your desk where there's more light instead of using
Floyd | the mirror in here.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "exit is sw, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm flailing, clearly."
		Roger says, "From now on, if I think we're heel-dragging in clubfloyd, I'm going to say beep beep"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "heehee"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "yay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |    Sitting on the floor is a Polaroid picture.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take picture" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "uh-oh. New item!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x picture" 		

Floyd | Which picture do you mean, the Polaroid picture, or the sketches?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x polaroid" 		

Floyd | It takes you a minute to figure out what the blurry, close-up picture
Floyd | is of.  When you realize, your stomach knots, the bile rises in your
Floyd | throat.  You fight down the nausea.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x polaroid" 		

Floyd | It takes you a minute to figure out what the blurry, close-up picture
Floyd | is of.  When you realize, your stomach knots, the bile rises in your
Floyd | throat.  You fight down the nausea.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "shake polaroid" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "shake".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator jutting
Floyd | out at odd angles.  The tile counters are washed-out yellow, and the
Floyd | sink is half filled with dishes.  You can see about half the living
Floyd | room to the southeast.
Floyd |    The refrigerator seems to contain some bread and meat.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | The timer on the stove
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn off timer" 		

Floyd | You twist the timer knob and turn off the bell.  You'd forgotten about
Floyd | the lasagna you put in to cook an hour ago.  Harvey brought it home
Floyd | from the deli last night.  You take it out of the oven and put it on
Floyd | the counter, still steaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "NOT a microwave."
		Jacqueline says, "So I see."
		chaudmin says, "well that lasagna's probably totally overcooked by now"
		Jacqueline says, "I say we try to use this steaming hot lasagne as a weapon."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lasagna" 		

Floyd | The lasagna is in its own disposable pan right from the deli.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Worked for Edith Bunker."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take lasagna" 		

Floyd | It's too hot to just carry around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Well, if we see any gore, now we can console ourselves that it's just tomato sauce"
		DavidW says (to parser), "That's the point."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh! How about we dial 911?"
		Roger says, "Now I kinda want an IF version of Garfield Without Garfield"
		Roger says, "Draw introspective drawing of steaming lasagna"
		DavidW asks (of Roger), "like, IF with *less* NPCs?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd | The stainless steel sink is practically brimming with unwashed dishes.
Floyd | You really need to get a dishwasher, but there'd be no room for it.
Floyd | Among all the dishes you see the shine of a large knife blade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Bet the phones went out too but"
Zach has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		Lionheart says, "Oh hey now"
		chaudmin says, "ah"
		Roger says, "yay dirty knife"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "take knife" 		

Floyd | The pick up the knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "cut lasagna with knife" 		

Floyd | You cut the top layer of the casserole, releasing a cloud of hot,
Floyd | foul-smelling steam.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "cut lasagna?"
		chaudmin asks, "foul-smelling??"
		DavidW asks, "foul-smelling?"
		Lionheart says, "It's our own fault the lasagna got burned."
		chaudmin says, "haha"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "x lasagna" 		

Floyd | The lasagna is in its own disposable pan right from the deli.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a white hot flash of lightning outside the window and something
Floyd | that sounds like an explosion.  The apartment goes completely dark.
Floyd | The power's out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "slice lasagna" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "slice".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "We were hiding in a closet for like a half hour"
		DavidW says, "We have no matches for our candle, I bet."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "light candle" 		

Floyd | You have nothing to light it with.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's here
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Why did we blow out that candle"
		Jacqueline says, "We had a candle, but I blew it out."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "They foreshadowed that it was a fire hazard!"
		Roger says, "It was a fire hazard! Safety first, people."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "What what I supposed to do?!"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Exactly. Thank you."
		Roger says, "At night, a pencil's sharper than a knife"
		Lionheart says, "Ah well. Eldritch voices are warning us that it's here now. We're gonna be eaten by a grue"
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we're all alone."
		Roger says, "All alone with our lasagna"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "eat lasagna" 		Lionheart says, "And Mr. Stabby"

Floyd | You fish a semi-clean fork out of the sink and dig into the lasagna.
Floyd | It's from the deli; they usually have great stuff.  But something
Floyd | tastes wrong about it.  There's something rancid about the sausage.
Floyd | You put the fork down and almost gag.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "The phone still works!"
		Lionheart says, "By which I mean our friend the knife, n ot the Slicer"
		Jacqueline asks, "..hooray?"
		Roger says, "Phones generally still do work during power outages"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm guessing we're going to answer this phone no matter what."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell lasagna" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "smell".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Yeah"
		Lionheart says, "Clearly this lasagna needs some mustard."
		Jacqueline says, "It's lasagna made from the meat of his last victim."
		chaudmin says, "that's also the impression I'm getting"
		Jacqueline says, "Which I'm pretty sure would smell just like any other meat, to be honest."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "ewwww"
		Jacqueline says, "Expecially since he just killed two people this evening."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I'm just saying, I don't think it would smell rancid just because it was human."
		Lionheart says, "I had the impression that long pig was called so because it tasted like pork somehow"
		DavidW says, "Now I'm thinking it's possible that *is* why the lasagna is bad."
		Lionheart says, "No, I think meat's turning rancid because some supernatural horror is rotting flesh here"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Oh, I'm totally serious that that's why the lasagne is bad."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, human meat is not helped by letting it overcook while one cowers in the closet, to be fair."
		DavidW asks, "So, it's invisible wabbit season? We're hunting Harveys?"
		Lionheart asks, "How long can we not answer the phone before the parser makes us do it again?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "heh. I see what you did there."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is almost pitch black.  You feel your way around.  The
Floyd | ceiling seems lower.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "add salt to human lasagne" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "add".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "That's odd."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe it just needs seasoning."
		Jacqueline asks (of Lh), "What is? The ceiling?"
		Lionheart says, "I rarely feel the ceiling when I'm feeling my way around"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch ceiling" 		

Floyd | The ceiling is covered with the same cracked plaster as the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Maybe this is all part of our freaky dreamm."
		Jacqueline says, "er, -m"
		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "Well, we're in a crappy basement apartment, so maybe the ceiling is really now."
		Jacqueline says, "er, low"
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "You may wish to play this one on your own. We've all kind of been built up with anticipation that you have not yet enjoyed."
		Roger says, "Maybe we should call the policia"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "I agree. But the phone is engaged."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    You can't see your own hands.  You can feel the presence of the big
Floyd | couch but everything else is lost in the darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "Ah, what game is it?"
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    You're disoriented in the total darkness.  You can guess roughly
Floyd | where the bed and the table are, but you're not sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ringing is driving you crazy.  You stumble through the dark before
Floyd | your hands find the phone.  You snatch up the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What the fuck do you want?"  you growl.  There's silence for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's not very nice language sweetie.  I don't want to have to punish
Floyd | you more."  You don't reply.  "Is my pretty sweetie mad at me?  Well
Floyd | don't you worry, I'll take care of that.  You just stay right there."
Floyd | click.  You drop the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "all alone"
		Draconis says, "I do not know of that one, so I shall explore it later."
Draconis heads back home. 		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | You pick up the receiver and punch 9, then 1.  .  .  Then you pause.
Floyd | Nothing's really happened, why are you so panicky?  You take a deep
Floyd | breath and hang up the phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Sentenced to mediocre lasagna"
		Jacqueline says, "WHAT THE HELL"
		Jacqueline says, "THINGS HAVE TOTALLY HAPPENED"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | You dial 911 and wait.  Ring.  Ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello, 911, is this an emergency?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um.  Yes, kinda.  I've had some unusual phone calls--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let me patch you through to the police, and may I remind you that this
Floyd | number is for emergencies only."  There's a sharp click, a pause, and
Floyd | then faint jazz and a voice telling you you're on hold.  You slam down
Floyd | the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "That is not actually what happens when you call 911."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | You dial 911 and wait.  Ring.  Ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello, 911, is this an emergency?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um.  Yes, kinda.  I've had some unusual phone calls--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let me patch you through to the police, and may I remind you that this
Floyd | number is for emergencies only."  There's a sharp click, a pause, and
Floyd | then faint jazz and a voice telling you you're on hold.  You slam down
Floyd | the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the darkness of the living room you hear noises.  Rattling, at the
Floyd | door.  Two sharp clicks.  A loud pop.  The door creaking open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a unlit candle, some clothes, a single pencil, a Polaroid
Floyd | picture, and a knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone's in the apartment, moving around in the darkness of the living
Floyd | room.  "Look, I made it sweetie.  .  ."
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a step back.  Something wriggles and crunches beneath your
Floyd | foot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "..wriggles?"
		Lionheart says, "Darn roaches"
		DavidW says, "yeah, a roach."
		Roger says, "This game needs a cat"
		Jacqueline says, "Man, I'm sick of waiting. Let's just go get murdered already."
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    You can't see your own hands.  You can feel the presence of the big
Floyd | couch but everything else is lost in the darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone is there.  The beam of a flashlight shines in your face and
Floyd | you're blinded, stars flickering around you in the darkness.  "Oh, you
Floyd | look good enough to.  .  ."  The figure moves towards you.  Hands on
Floyd | your mouth and waist.  Wet cloth with something chemical and sickening.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness.  Men's voices.  Wet.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's light.  The rain has stopped.  You're on the couch.  The
Floyd | apartment's quiet and cold.  You seem all right.  You shiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "BOOOOOoooooo"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have some clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cardboard box from your closet is sitting in front of the open
Floyd | door.  A dark stain is seeping out from the black cardboard onto the
Floyd | carpet.  You move towards it shaky, bruised.  There are things lying
Floyd | among your clothes in the box.  A pair of glasses.  A finger.  A
Floyd | Zip-Loc bag of something viscous.  A piece of scalp.  Somehow you
Floyd | recognize it.  Harvey finally made it home.
Floyd |
Floyd | the end
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, or QUIT:  >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, what?"
		Roger says, "Ian was feeling oblique that day, apparently"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, we survived because we called 911? And then someone dropped off Harvey but the police left before we became conscious?"
		Roger says, "I think that's Harvey in the box"
		Jacqueline says, "That is my best theory, and it's pretty screwed up. Surely I'm missing something."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Yeah, that part i get."
		Roger says, "I think the implication is everything else was a dream sequence"
		Lionheart asks, "Then why are we bruised?"
		Jacqueline says, "Ah."
		Jacqueline says, "So it was all part of our freaky dream after all."
		DavidW says, "strange"
		Jacqueline says, "restore"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | File to restore >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | Closet
Floyd |    The closet is tiny and dark, barely enough room for you to stand in.
Floyd | A few of your clothes are hanging on the one bar but most of them are
Floyd | still in a big box on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You open the closet door and step out into the bedroom.  No one there.
Floyd | You listen carefully but you can't hear anything in the apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bedroom

		Lionheart asks, "Did you save after you blew out the candle?"

Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |    Sitting on the floor is a Polaroid picture.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You think about the Polaroid.  There is someone out there.  Not in the
Floyd | apartment, there wouldn't be anyplace to hide.  But if you left, even
Floyd | to get to the other apartments in the building, you'd have to go out
Floyd | alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the hole length of
Floyd | the building in the dark and rain.  Harvey has to be almost home.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says (to LH), "Yeah I think so"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "I blew it out pretty early. We could restart."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm wanting to try to leave, which it's not going to let me do from the save anyway."
		Roger says, "Maybe see if we can abort the lasagna early"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to start over?  (YES or NO) >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd | You're all alone tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Of course, you've gotten used to that since you moved in with Harvey.
Floyd | He works the late shift at the delicatessen every Tuesday and Thursday.
Floyd | He'll be back before too long.  That man works so hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | You slip into your toasty flannel pajamas because there's a cold winter
Floyd | rain coming down outside and the heat in Harvey's sub-basement
Floyd | apartment really needs looking at.  You settle down into the oversized
Floyd | couch in the living room and snap on the TV.  Tonight you're just going
Floyd | to relax.
Floyd |
Floyd | all alone.
Floyd | by ian finley
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You're not going anywhere until you get out of the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the news starting on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rain taps on the little square windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's coming
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x oven" 		

Floyd | I don't see any oven here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stove" 		

Floyd | I don't see any stove here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Living Room, on the couch
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "Tragedy and horror strike again as another victim of
Floyd | the so-called 'Slicer Killer' is found in her west side apartment."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Get off couch"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, sorry, thought it had switched rooms."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd | Okay, you're no longer on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This is the fourth slaying of this kind to occur in
Floyd | the past three weeks.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is really much too small for everything in it.  It was
Floyd | ok when it was just Harvey's big waterbed and his dresser, but when you
Floyd | brought in your drafting desk with its lamps and everything, the room
Floyd | just got too crowded.  You have to practically crawl over the desk to
Floyd | get to the closet to the east and the door to the bathroom to the west
Floyd | is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's socks and clothes cover the
Floyd | floor.  He's been used to being a bachelor for so long.  You can hear
Floyd | the TV to the southwest over the pouring rain.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, ".  .  .and police are focusing as much on quelling
Floyd | the growing panic in the city as on catching the killer.  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Ack"
		Jacqueline says, "Read wrong"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is really much too small for everything in it.  It was
Floyd | ok when it was just Harvey's big waterbed and his dresser, but when you
Floyd | brought in your drafting desk with its lamps and everything, the room
Floyd | just got too crowded.  You have to practically crawl over the desk to
Floyd | get to the closet to the east and the door to the bathroom to the west
Floyd | is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's socks and clothes cover the
Floyd | floor.  He's been used to being a bachelor for so long.  You can hear
Floyd | the TV to the southwest over the pouring rain.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, ".  .  .and police are focusing as much on quelling
Floyd | the growing panic in the city as on catching the killer.  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Ah."
		Roger says (to Jacq), "Don't panic"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "AHHHHH"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is deep and narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator
Floyd | jutting out at awkward angles.  It's not that the place is really
Floyd | dirty, but your mother wouldn't be able to stand it.  The tile counters
Floyd | are washed-out yellow, slightly grimy, and the sink is more than half
Floyd | filled with this week's dishes.  You can see about half the living room
Floyd | through the arch to the southeast, light from the TV flickering on the
Floyd | far wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, ".  .  .and police are focusing as much on quelling
Floyd | the growing panic in the city as on catching the killer.  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search sink" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "We have been asked not to broadcast the images we
Floyd | have of the crime scene, but the killer has left his usual macabre
Floyd | calling cards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x oven" 		

Floyd | The oven is nothing special, just a big metal box stuck next to the
Floyd | wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "The young woman's internal organs had been removed,
Floyd | and several thin strips of skin shaved from the body."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is gathering force outside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stove" 		

Floyd | The oven is nothing special, just a big metal box stuck next to the
Floyd | wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "While not wishing to encourage the unreasonable fear
Floyd | spreading through the city, the police do encourage women living alone
Floyd | to keep all curtains closed and make sure their doors are securely
Floyd | locked."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open oven" 		

Floyd | There's no reason to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In a related story, Mayor Anderson has significantly
Floyd | increased active police presence on the streets and has proposed
Floyd | another raise in pay."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd | The stainless steel sink is practically brimming with unwashed dishes.
Floyd | You really need to get a dishwasher, but there'd be no room for it.
Floyd | Among all the dishes you see the shine of a large knife blade.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "These raises come at a crucial time, as work related
Floyd | stress causes growing numbers of investigators resign every week."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Search didn't find the knife but examine does? Meh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take knife" 		

Floyd | The pick up the knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | For a moment the TV is blurred by loud static.  Damn antennas.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static clears and picks up with the anchorman saying, ".  .
Floyd | .continued threats of chemical warfare."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "wash knife" 		

Floyd | The knife looks a bit cleaner now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In further world news--" and is cut short by low
Floyd | static.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is really much too small for everything in it.  It was
Floyd | ok when it was just Harvey's big waterbed and his dresser, but when you
Floyd | brought in your drafting desk with its lamps and everything, the room
Floyd | just got too crowded.  You have to practically crawl over the desk to
Floyd | get to the closet to the east and the door to the bathroom to the west
Floyd | is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's socks and clothes crouch on
Floyd | the floor.  He's been used to being a bachelor for so long.  You can
Floyd | see the living room through the arch to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The television growls with hushed static.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone is ringing, across the room under a pile of socks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "change clothes" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "change".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd | clothing:  You slip quickly out of your pajamas and into some jeans and
Floyd | a shirt that are on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues to hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static on the TV gives out to total silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | The phone is ringing, it might be important.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
chaudmin says (to Floyd), "close blinds" 		

Floyd | You unfold the blinds and cover the windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV suddenly comes back in, loud.
Floyd |
Floyd | Annoyed by the ringing, you grab the receiver.  "Hello?"  No answer.
Floyd | You ask again and hear heavy breathing on the other end, panting.  You
Floyd | stand there for a moment, trying to think of some response, something
Floyd | biting and clever, but you can't, and the harsh wheezing continues.
Floyd | You hang up the phone and stand there for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | Frustrated, you grab the receiver, but don't say anything.  The man on
Floyd | the other end is whispering.  You can't make out exactly what he's
Floyd | saying.  It sounds like, "You're not thinking of going anywhere are
Floyd | you?"  You don't reply. "Didn't want to go out in your pajamas did
Floyd | you?"  You glance quickly towards the window.  The blinds are down.
Floyd | What's going on?  "I just wouldn't go outside, ok, sweetie?"  You slam
Floyd | down the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "LET ME LEAVE"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "And now we go to Tom Markus for the weather.  Tom?"
Floyd |
Floyd | it's near
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hyperactive TV weatherman blurts out, "Well folks, tonight doesn't
Floyd | look too good."
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat cockroach scurries over your bare left foot.  Without thinking
Floyd | you jerk away and smash it with the ball of your right foot and it
Floyd | crunches under your skin.  You quickly wipe the guts off your sole onto
Floyd | the floor and shudder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You reach out towards the door, then you think about the phone call.
Floyd | Even to get to the other apartments in the building you'd have to go
Floyd | out alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the whole
Floyd | length of the building in the dark and the rain.  It would be safer
Floyd | just to stay locked in here.  Harvey should already be on his way home.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This storm is gonna continue right up until tomorrow
Floyd | morning, and it is one monster of a storm."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You reach out towards the door, then you think about the phone call.
Floyd | Even to get to the other apartments in the building you'd have to go
Floyd | out alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the whole
Floyd | length of the building in the dark and the rain.  It would be safer
Floyd | just to stay locked in here.  Harvey should already be on his way home.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "Winds up to seventy-two miles per hour have been
Floyd | reported, and the rain just keeps coming down."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You reach out towards the door, then you think about the phone call.
Floyd | Even to get to the other apartments in the building you'd have to go
Floyd | out alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the whole
Floyd | length of the building in the dark and the rain.  It would be safer
Floyd | just to stay locked in here.  Harvey should already be on his way home.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "It's like the end of the world out there."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, okay. Fine."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "think".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, we have a not blown-out candle. Someone else drive, since I clearly fail and typing this morning."
Roger says (to floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "wake".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call harvey" 		

Floyd | The phone is in the bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clap of thunder outside and the wind starts picking
Floyd | up.  The transmission on the TV starts to fade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart has had Lionheart's fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Lionheart arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV fades in and out.  You hear snatches of words and
Floyd | phrases.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lightning flashes brightly for a moment, lighting up the whole
Floyd | apartment.  The thunder comes almost at once.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call harvey" 		

Floyd | You punch in Harvey's work number.  Old man Luttfisk answers.  You hate
Floyd | his voice.  It sounds slimy.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Luttfisk's Delicatessen.  We're closin' up here--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, Mr.  Luttfisk, I know, I was just wondering if Harvey was there."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Harvey?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, Harvey, your assistant, if he's there--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh he left a long time ago.  Had to pick up supplies.  Yeah.  He left
Floyd | a long time ago.  Good night."  Click.  Buzz.  You hang up the phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Buy Fleischmann's.  .  .static, garble.  .  .
Floyd | it slices, it dices, it.  .  .  static, garble.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart asks, "Wasn't Fleischmann's a vodka?"
		Lionheart asks, "From the box?"
		Jacqueline says, "Mr. Luttfisk is a good name for a delicatessen."
		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "I think so."
		Lionheart exclaims, "It makes Julienne fries!"
		Lionheart says, "I guess we went from a vodka ad to a Veg-O-Matic commercial"
		Lionheart asks, "So that would suggest more late 60s then, right?"
		Roger says, "I feel like we've squeezed the juices out of this one"
		Jacqueline narrows her eyes at Roger.
		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "How so? Slicing and dicing commercials were still happening at least into the 80s"
		Roger says, "But fiddle with it more if one likes"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call harvey" 		

Floyd | You dial the delicatessen.  Ring.  Ring.  Nothing.  Ring.  You keep
Floyd | waiting.  Ring.  Ring.  You hang up.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "In our last story.  .  .garble.  .  .Good-night
Floyd | from.  . .static.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call landlord" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "landlord".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call mom" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "mom".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call power company" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "company".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call author" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "author".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get pencil" 		

Floyd | You grab one of the pencils.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Stay in.  .  .static.  .  .if you need.  .
Floyd | .static.  .  .to go out.  .  ."  and then complete silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "I wonder if we can get Candle Cove on that TV"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x bookshelf" 		

Floyd | The homemade bookshelf is basically a pile of paperbacks and big
Floyd | anatomy textbooks barely supported by cement blocks and sagging boards.
Floyd | There is a little candle burning on top that just screams "fire
Floyd | hazard."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get candle" 		

Floyd | You pick up the candle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x textbooks" 		

Floyd | The five or so big books on human anatomy are a lot more interesting
Floyd | than Harvey's other selections.  You've actually used them once or
Floyd | twice as references for your sketches.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV jumps back in with raucous peals of laughter, some
Floyd | stupid sitcom or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is getting even worse, the rain drowning out any other sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read anatomy" 		

Floyd | You flip through one of the big books and find a set of transparencies.
Floyd | First the skeleton, then the veins over that, then the bright organs,
Floyd | then the muscles, and finally the skin.
Floyd |

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x paperbacks" 		

Floyd | The tone of the TV changes and you hear, "We interrupt your regularly
Floyd | scheduled programming to bring you this important message."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | From the kitchen
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | There are a lot of books here, mostly cheap science fiction novels.
Floyd | Harvey's choice in literature, not yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | The news announcer is back.  You hear him say, "Police officials are
Floyd | mortified to find that the 'Slicer Killer' has struck for the second
Floyd | time this evening."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "They're really trying to set Harvey up as the killer, but he's not."
		Lionheart says, "Oh, the transparencies are a nice touch."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read science fiction" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "science".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator jutting
Floyd | out at odd angles.  The tile counters are washed-out yellow, and the
Floyd | sink is half filled with dishes.  You can see about half the living
Floyd | room to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, rapidly, "Another single woman has been found
Floyd | brutally mutilated in her west side home."
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | The timer on the stove
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "turn off stove" 		

Floyd | You twist the timer knob and turn off the bell.  You'd forgotten about
Floyd | the lasagna you put in to cook an hour ago.  Harvey brought it home
Floyd | from the deli last night.  You take it out of the oven and put it on
Floyd | the counter, still steaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "The locks on her front door appear to have
Floyd | been forced, but by a skilled hand."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "slice lasagna" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "slice".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "eat lasagna" 		

Floyd | You fish a semi-clean fork out of the sink and dig into the lasagna.
Floyd | It's from the deli; they usually have great stuff.  But something
Floyd | tastes wrong about it.  There's something rancid about the sausage.
Floyd | You put the fork down and almost gag.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "Police are cautioning against panic."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Kind of ironic that this game doesn't know the word 'slice'"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "throw out lasagna" 		

Floyd | I don't see any out lasagna here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator jutting
Floyd | out at odd angles.  The tile counters are washed-out yellow, and the
Floyd | sink is half filled with dishes.  You can see about half the living
Floyd | room to the southeast.
Floyd |    Sitting on the counter is a lasagna.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "smell lasagna" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "smell".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "wash dishes" 		

Floyd | You turn on the water and try to wash some of the dishes but you don't
Floyd | seem to make any headway -- you don't even know where Harvey keeps the
Floyd | dish soap -- and you give up on it almost immediately.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | There is cold bread and meat in the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's another whip of lightning and the TV shuts down completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "eat bread" 		

Floyd | You nibble some red salami and some other tid-bits, but you don't have
Floyd | much of an appetite.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get bread" 		

Floyd | You don't want to carry that around.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a white hot flash of lightning outside the window and something
Floyd | that sounds like an explosion.  The apartment goes completely dark.
Floyd | The power's out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is almost pitch black.  You feel your way around.  The
Floyd | ceiling seems lower.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's here
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So the candle isn't helping, I guess?"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The single candle in your hand is next to worthless.  Everything
Floyd | beyond your little circle is invisible.  You don't know where the doors
Floyd | are.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Maybe go to the living room."
		Jacqueline says, "Timing"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You reach out, your hand an inch away from the top lock, when it turns
Floyd | by itself.  CLICK.  Then the next one.  CLICK.  The door rattles.  POP.
Floyd | The last lock bursts out of the flimsy wood frame.  The door swings
Floyd | open an inch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door opens.  Someone is there.  The beam of a flashlight shines in
Floyd | your face and you're blinded, stars flickering around you in the
Floyd | darkness.  "Look, I made it sweetie.  .  ."  The figure moves towards
Floyd | you.  Hands on your mouth and waist.  Wet cloth with something chemical
Floyd | and sickening.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness.  Men's voices.  Wet.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's light.  The rain has stopped.  You're on the couch.  The
Floyd | apartment's quiet and cold.  You seem all right.  You shiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Is the phone supposed to sitll be rining"
		Lionheart says, "I guess that's an error"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd | I don't see any phone here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | You stand up and head towards the door, shivering.  You look over
Floyd | should shoulder.  Oh, no wonder it's so cold.  The front door is wide
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cardboard box from your closet is sitting in front of the open
Floyd | door.  A dark stain is seeping out from the black cardboard onto the
Floyd | carpet.  You move towards it shaky, bruised.  There are things lying
Floyd | among your clothes in the box.  A pair of glasses.  A finger.  A
Floyd | Zip-Loc bag of something viscous.  A piece of scalp.  Somehow you
Floyd | recognize it.  Harvey finally made it home.
Floyd |
Floyd | the end
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, or QUIT:  >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay."
		Jacqueline says, "I have a theory."
		Lionheart says, "Well, I broke the game"
		Jacqueline says, "Which maybe won't change things, but... let's not take the knife and see if Harvey ends up dead."
		Jacqueline says, "Don't take the pencil either."
		Lionheart says, "Sure why not"
		DavidW asks, "The theory is that we killed Harvey?"
		Jacqueline says, "That's my theory, yeah"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd | You're all alone tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Of course, you've gotten used to that since you moved in with Harvey.
Floyd | He works the late shift at the delicatessen every Tuesday and Thursday.
Floyd | He'll be back before too long.  That man works so hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | You slip into your toasty flannel pajamas because there's a cold winter
Floyd | rain coming down outside and the heat in Harvey's sub-basement
Floyd | apartment really needs looking at.  You settle down into the oversized
Floyd | couch in the living room and snap on the TV.  Tonight you're just going
Floyd | to relax.
Floyd |
Floyd | all alone.
Floyd | by ian finley
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small; the big couch takes up almost all the
Floyd | floorspace.  Not that you're complaining.  It's the best Harvey can
Floyd | afford right now and until your drawings really start to sell you
Floyd | aren't contributing much financially.  Some of your sketches hang on
Floyd | the walls above the TV and the squat cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.
Floyd | Through a wide arch in the northwest corner you can see most of the
Floyd | kitchen and to the northeast is the bedroom.  The door to the
Floyd | cement-floored outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd | Okay, you're no longer on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The news is on TV right now.  The grinning anchorman fills the screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rain taps on the little square windows.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's coming
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x bookshelf" 		

Floyd | The homemade bookshelf is basically a pile of paperbacks and big
Floyd | anatomy textbooks barely supported by cement blocks and sagging boards.
Floyd | There is a little candle burning on top that just screams "fire
Floyd | hazard."
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "Tragedy and horror strike again as another victim of
Floyd | the so-called 'Slicer Killer' is found in her west side apartment."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get candle" 		

Floyd | You pick up the candle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This is the fourth slaying of this kind to occur in
Floyd | the past three weeks.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "adjust antenna" 		

Floyd | Wierd static rises and falls as you move the delicate rods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, ".  .  .and police are focusing as much on quelling
Floyd | the growing panic in the city as on catching the killer.  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Oh wow it knew that"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Jacqueline says, "Nice"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd | You twist the dial but the selection isn't that wide, Harvey doesn't
Floyd | have cable.  You flick through a few news programs, some documentary
Floyd | about carnivorous plants or something and end up on the same station
Floyd | you began.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "We have been asked not to broadcast the images we
Floyd | have of the crime scene, but the killer has left his usual macabre
Floyd | calling cards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "look in couch" 		

Floyd | There's nothing in the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "The young woman's internal organs had been removed,
Floyd | and several thin strips of skin shaved from the body."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is gathering force outside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "read textbooks" 		

Floyd | You flip through one of the big books and find a set of transparencies.
Floyd | First the skeleton, then the veins over that, then the bright organs,
Floyd | then the muscles, and finally the skin.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "While not wishing to encourage the unreasonable fear
Floyd | spreading through the city, the police do encourage women living alone
Floyd | to keep all curtains closed and make sure their doors are securely
Floyd | locked."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In a related story, Mayor Anderson has significantly
Floyd | increased active police presence on the streets and has proposed
Floyd | another raise in pay."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Going out in the pouring rain in the middle of the night wearing only
Floyd | your Mickey Mouse pajamas would be ridiculous.  You'd wanted to just
Floyd | spend a quiet night at home.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "These raises come at a crucial time, as work related
Floyd | stress causes growing numbers of investigators resign every week."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder if those 'thin strips' are the lasagna noodles."
		Lionheart says, "Ew."
		Jacqueline says, "yay"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is deep and narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator
Floyd | jutting out at awkward angles.  It's not that the place is really
Floyd | dirty, but your mother wouldn't be able to stand it.  The tile counters
Floyd | are washed-out yellow, slightly grimy, and the sink is more than half
Floyd | filled with this week's dishes.  You can see about half the living room
Floyd | through the arch to the southeast, light from the TV flickering on the
Floyd | far wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | For a moment the TV is blurred by loud static.  Damn antennas.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "draw" 		

Floyd | Your materials are in the bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static clears and picks up with the anchorman saying, ".  .
Floyd | .continued threats of chemical warfare."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | There is cold bread and meat in the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "In further world news--" and is cut short by low
Floyd | static.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "eat bread" 		

Floyd | You nibble some red salami and some other tid-bits, but you don't have
Floyd | much of an appetite.
Floyd |
Floyd | The television growls with hushed static.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone's ringing, in the bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd | I don't see any phone here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues to hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is really much too small for everything in it.  It was
Floyd | ok when it was just Harvey's big waterbed and his dresser, but when you
Floyd | brought in your drafting desk with its lamps and everything, the room
Floyd | just got too crowded.  You have to practically crawl over the desk to
Floyd | get to the closet to the east and the door to the bathroom to the west
Floyd | is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's socks and clothes crouch on
Floyd | the floor.  He's been used to being a bachelor for so long.  You can
Floyd | see the living room through the arch to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The static on the TV gives out to total silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd | You grab the receiver.  "Hello?"  No answer.  You ask again and hear
Floyd | heavy breathing on the other end, panting.  You stand there for a
Floyd | moment, trying to think of some response, something biting and clever,
Floyd | but you can't, and the harsh wheezing continues.  You hang up the phone
Floyd | and stand there for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's near
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This is actually a really good game, fwiw. Much as I'm making fun. Glad we played this."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "draw" 		

Floyd | You sit down at the desk and grab a fresh piece of paper.  You start
Floyd | moving your pencil over the smooth surface, letting it form whatever
Floyd | shapes it wants.  A long dark gash on the paper resolves into a man's
Floyd | shadow.  Diagonal lines mist into the slashing rain.  Details, a long
Floyd | coat, a suitcase, a knife.  .  .  You stop drawing and crumple up the
Floyd | paper.  Another time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV suddenly comes back in, loud.
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat cockroach scurries over your bare left foot.  Without thinking
Floyd | you jerk away and smash it with the ball of your right foot and it
Floyd | crunches under your skin.  You quickly wipe the guts off your sole onto
Floyd | the floor and shudder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "So our hair trigger roach stomping ability would be foreshadowing then"
		Jacqueline says, "I think it was probably made signifcantly more fun by playing it as a group, though."
		Jacqueline exclaims (at Lh), "Exactly!"
		Jacqueline says, "Harvey comes in, he's all hey look at you I want to smooch you, and we put him in the cardboard box."
		Jacqueline says, "Or it's left intentionally ambiguous. There's that."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "draw harvey" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to draw the .
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV announces, "And now we go to Tom Markus for the weather.  Tom?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "draw me" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to draw yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hyperactive TV weatherman blurts out, "Well folks, tonight doesn't
Floyd | look too good."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart has had Lionheart's fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Lionheart arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Closet
Floyd |    The closet is tiny and dark, barely enough room for you to stand in.
Floyd | A few of your clothes are hanging on the one bar but most of them are
Floyd | still in a big box on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "This storm is gonna continue right up until tomorrow
Floyd | morning, and it is one monster of a storm."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x bar" 		

Floyd | It's a plain metal pipe fitted into the walls.  A few of your nice
Floyd | dresses are hanging from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "Winds up to seventy-two miles per hour have been
Floyd | reported, and the rain just keeps coming down."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x dresses" 		

Floyd | These are some of your nice clothes, the ones that you didn't want to
Floyd | just leave bunched up in the box.
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV continues, "It's like the end of the world out there."
Floyd |
Floyd | Lightning flashes brightly for a moment, lighting up the whole
Floyd | apartment.  The thunder comes almost at once.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd | The box is a big cardboard thing that says "Rothschild's Vodka" on the
Floyd | side.  The liquor store always has extra cardboard boxes, which you
Floyd | needed when you moved.  The box is filled with most of your clothes,
Floyd | the stuff you haven't had time to unpack yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clap of thunder outside and the wind starts picking
Floyd | up.  The transmission on the TV starts to fade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | As you start to leave the closet you hear sounds coming from the living
Floyd | room.  CLICK.  CLICK.  The locks on the front door.  Harvey must be
Floyd | home, finally.  You call out to him, "Hi, honey," but there's no reply.
Floyd | CLICK.  You hear the door swinging open, slowly and quietly.  "Honey?"
Floyd | you call.  No answer.  Quiet feet in the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV fades in and out.  You hear snatches of words and
Floyd | phrases.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Buy Fleischmann's.  .  .static, garble.  .  .
Floyd | it slices, it dices, it.  .  .  static, garble.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "In our last story.  .  .garble.  .  .Good-night
Floyd | from.  . .static.  .  .  "
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Oh still in closet"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the TV you hear, "Stay in.  .  .static.  .  .if you need.  .
Floyd | .static.  .  .to go out.  .  ."  and then complete silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You step out into the bedroom and look around.  No one.  You listen
Floyd | carefully but you can't hear anything but the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    The bedroom is too small for everything in it.  You have to
Floyd | practically crawl over the desk to get to the closet and the door to
Floyd | the bathroom is almost as blocked.  Piles of Harvey's dirty clothes
Floyd | crouch on the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |    Sitting on the floor is a Polaroid picture.
Floyd |
Floyd | The storm is getting even worse, the rain drowning out any other sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x polaroid" 		

Floyd | It takes you a minute to figure out what the blurry, close-up picture
Floyd | is of.  When you realize, your stomach knots, the bile rises in your
Floyd | throat.  You fight down the nausea.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | From the kitchen
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    The kitchen is narrow, with sink and stove and refrigerator jutting
Floyd | out at odd angles.  The tile counters are washed-out yellow, and the
Floyd | sink is half filled with dishes.  You can see about half the living
Floyd | room to the southeast.
Floyd |    The refrigerator seems to contain some bread and meat.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound on the TV jumps back in with raucous peals of laughter, some
Floyd | stupid sitcom or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | BEEP BEEP
Floyd | The timer on the stove
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "turn off stove" 		

Floyd | You twist the timer knob and turn off the bell.  You'd forgotten about
Floyd | the lasagna you put in to cook an hour ago.  Harvey brought it home
Floyd | from the deli last night.  You take it out of the oven and put it on
Floyd | the counter, still steaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | The tone of the TV changes and you hear, "We interrupt your regularly
Floyd | scheduled programming to bring you this important message."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "cut lasagna" 		

Floyd | What do you want to attack it with?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "eat lasagna" 		

Floyd | You fish a semi-clean fork out of the sink and dig into the lasagna.
Floyd | It's from the deli; they usually have great stuff.  But something
Floyd | tastes wrong about it.  There's something rancid about the sausage.
Floyd | You put the fork down and almost gag.
Floyd |
Floyd | The news announcer is back.  You hear him say, "Police officials are
Floyd | mortified to find that the 'Slicer Killer' has struck for the second
Floyd | time this evening."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a set of pajamas (being worn) and a lit candle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, rapidly, "Another single woman has been found
Floyd | brutally mutilated in her west side home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "The locks on her front door appear to have
Floyd | been forced, but by a skilled hand."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The living room is small, the couch takes up all the space.  Some of
Floyd | your sketches hang on the walls above the TV and the
Floyd | cinder-block-and-boards bookshelf.  You can see the kitchen to the
Floyd | northwest and the bedroom door to the northeast.  The door to the
Floyd | outside hall is to the west.
Floyd |    Sitting on the floor is a Polaroid picture.
Floyd |
Floyd | The announcer continues, "Police are cautioning against panic."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You think about the Polaroid.  There is someone out there.  Not in the
Floyd | apartment, there wouldn't be anyplace to hide.  But if you left, even
Floyd | to get to the other apartments in the building, you'd have to go out
Floyd | alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the hole length of
Floyd | the building in the dark and rain.  Harvey has to be almost home.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd | It's too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Static on the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a white hot flash of lightning outside the window and something
Floyd | that sounds like an explosion.  The apartment goes completely dark.
Floyd | The power's out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You think about the Polaroid.  There is someone out there.  Not in the
Floyd | apartment, there wouldn't be anyplace to hide.  But if you left, even
Floyd | to get to the other apartments in the building, you'd have to go out
Floyd | alone, down the unlit outside hall, and then around the hole length of
Floyd | the building in the dark and rain.  Harvey has to be almost home.
Floyd |
Floyd | it's here
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get photo" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd | The phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | Bedroom
Floyd |    You're disoriented in the total darkness.  You can guess roughly
Floyd | where the bed and the table are, but you're not sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | RING
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd | The ringing is driving you crazy.  You search the darkness desperately
Floyd | before your hands land on the phone and you snatch up the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What the fuck do you want?"  you growl.  There's silence for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's not very nice language sweetie.  I don't want to have to punish
Floyd | you more."  You don't reply.  "Is my pretty sweetie mad at me?  Well
Floyd | don't you worry, I'll take care of that.  You just stay right there."
Floyd | click.  You drop the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | You pick up the receiver and punch 9, then 1.  .  .  Then you pause.
Floyd | Nothing's really happened, why are you so panicky?  You take a deep
Floyd | breath and hang up the phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | You dial 911 and wait.  Ring.  Ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello, 911, is this an emergency?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um.  Yes, kinda.  I've had some unusual phone calls--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let me patch you through to the police, and may I remind you that this
Floyd | number is for emergencies only."  There's a sharp click, a pause, and
Floyd | then faint jazz and a voice telling you you're on hold.  You slam down
Floyd | the receiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the darkness of the living room you hear noises.  Rattling, at the
Floyd | door.  Two sharp clicks.  A loud pop.  The door creaking open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    The single candle in your hand is next to worthless.  Everything
Floyd | beyond your little circle is invisible.  You don't know where the doors
Floyd | are.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door opens.  Someone is there.  The beam of a flashlight shines in
Floyd | your face and you're blinded, stars flickering around you in the
Floyd | darkness.  "Look, I made it sweetie.  .  ."  The figure moves towards
Floyd | you.  Hands on your mouth and waist.  Wet cloth with something chemical
Floyd | and sickening.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness.  Men's voices.  Wet.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's light.  The rain has stopped.  You're on the couch.  The
Floyd | apartment's quiet and cold.  You seem all right.  You shiver.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm."
		Jacqueline says, "See, I think it's just left intentionally vague."
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a set of pajamas (being worn).
Floyd |
Floyd | The cardboard box from your closet is sitting in front of the open
Floyd | door.  A dark stain is seeping out from the black cardboard onto the
Floyd | carpet.  You move towards it shaky, bruised.  There are things lying
Floyd | among your clothes in the box.  A pair of glasses.  A finger.  A
Floyd | Zip-Loc bag of something viscous.  A piece of scalp.  Somehow you
Floyd | recognize it.  Harvey finally made it home.
Floyd |
Floyd | the end
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, or QUIT:  >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, or QUIT:  >

		Lionheart says, "So the photo is gone"
		Jacqueline says, "Clearly someone was screwing with us. The bit about 'punishing us' for instance"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, thanks, all. This was great."
		Roger says, "My vote's still on dream sequence"
		Jacqueline asks, "That someone else did it and we just dreamed it all?"
		DavidW says, "I'm still not sure exactly what happened, but it was a good game."
		Roger says, "I think we're the killer but we fell asleep on the couch"
		Lionheart says, "I think getting chloroformed by the killer, but then Harvey saves the day - for you but not for him, makes more sense."
		DavidW asks, "What's with 'Men's voices', plural?"
		Lionheart says, "The rancid lasagna would just be a red herring, and the low ceiling panic-induced claustrophobia"
		DavidW asks, "Was that merely the tv?"
		Lionheart says, "Or Harvey talking to the killer"
		DavidW says, "ah."
		Lionheart says, "No doubt it's very ambiguous on purpose, though."
		Jacqueline says, "You'd think we'd identify Harvey's voice distinct from others, but perhaps not."
		Jacqueline says (to Lh), "Yeah"
chaudmin sets location to elsewhere. 		[LINK]
		Jacqueline says, "That is ... creepy timing."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "OMG It was DavidW! He was here in the Toyshop with us all along!"
		DavidW says, "Posted 2 hrs ago... when we started playing."
		Jacqueline says, "..."
		Lionheart says, "I like an atmospheric puzzleless IF once in a while."
		Jacqueline says, "I like it most of the time, myself."
		Lionheart asks, "Oh, this game had sound?"
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		Lionheart says, "Anyhow, I'm pretty sure that further replays aren't going to make everything clearer nor provide a different ending."
		



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
`Mid the sagebrush and the cactus by Victor Gijsbers
As played on ifMUD on July 12, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus written by Victor Gijsbers. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

ANOTHER WARNING! A lot (most!) of the transcripts contained on this site are, shall we say, family-friendly. This is not one of those family-friendly transcripts. Just so we're clear.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask midthesagebrush" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |                 `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus
Floyd |                         by Victor Gijsbers
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |    Start new game - Easy      :    Press E
Floyd |    Start new game - Normal    :    Press N
Floyd |    Start new game - Hard      :    Press H
Floyd |    Start new game - Extreme   :    Press X
Floyd |    Restore game               :    Press R
Floyd |    Quit                       :    Press Q
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The easy difficulty is recommended for those new to the
Floyd | game; although it is thematically important that the protagonist is
Floyd | dependent on the strumpet Fortune, it's probably more important for
Floyd | you to gently learn the system. Graduate to the normal
Floyd | difficulty when you feel ready. The hard difficulty is for
Floyd | those who have already learned to game the system and wish to test
Floyd | their skills. The extreme difficulty is only for those
Floyd | seeking a formidable, perhaps impossible, challenge.

		Jacqueline asks, "Um... easy, then?"
		Draconis asks, "Shall we try EASY?"
		Draconis says, "Sounds good."
		Jacqueline says, "That's what I'm a-thinkin'"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | They shot you in the leg, the sheriff or one of his men, but you still
Floyd | managed to get away. You always manage to get away. And while they're
Floyd | off pursuing you to, who knows, perhaps Colorado, you have quietly
Floyd | made your way back to where it all began. What better place to rest?
Floyd |
Floyd | With a grunt of pain you descend from your horse and lie down near the
Floyd | water. How good it would be to just close your eyes for a moment and
Floyd | sleep... but you know that you've got to take that bullet out first.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They all said I was crazy, but I knew you'd be coming back
Floyd | here," says a young voice behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | First time players, please type HELP.
Floyd |
Floyd | `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Victor Gijsbers
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 100918 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | By the bitter creek
Floyd | You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider
Floyd | plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so
Floyd | you thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why did you do it?" he asks, perhaps closer to tears than to pulling
Floyd | the trigger.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Silvermist says, "Easy works"
		Draconis asks, "Should we ask for HELP?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am still reading."
		Draconis says, "I imagine that'll explain special commands and such."
DavidW arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Ah, hello!"
		DavidW says, "hi"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Hi. We just started Mid the Sagebrush and the Cactus. @recap Floyd 100 or so and you'll be caught up"
		DavidW says, "ok. My eyes are still trying to focus, though."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, should we wait for you?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or just go?"
		DavidW asks, "remind me how to recap?"
		Jacqueline says, "@recap #floyd 150"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh wait."
		DavidW asks, "huh. #floyd is a channel?"
		Jacqueline says, "I meant @recap #toyshop 150"
		DavidW says, "ah"
		Jacqueline says, "Floyd is a channel, but nothing is on it right now."
		Jacqueline says, "And 150 is probably twice as far back as you need to go."
		Jacqueline says, "So, I'm guessing we should type HELP because it's a Victor game."
		Draconis says, "Probably."
		Silvermist says, "I'd like to see Help"
		Jacqueline asks (of Draconis), "Did you want to drive?"
		DavidW asks, "oh dear, there's combat in this?"
		Jacqueline absent-mindedly wishes that she had Victor's level of second language ability.
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "A-yup"
		DavidW says, "I second the request to see the help."
		Jacqueline says, "I can drive."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Basic instructions
Floyd |    I died! In easy mode!
Floyd |    My status bar looks weird!
Floyd |    Thanks
Floyd |    Contact
Floyd |    License and copyright

		
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                         Basic instructions
Floyd | In order to successfully interact with David, whether with speech or
Floyd | violence or a combination of these, you will need to use several
Floyd | game-specific verbs. Violence is easy: just attack a person.
Floyd | You may need to ready or reload a weapon first. Violence
Floyd | is also essential, since hitting David repeatedly will make him lose
Floyd | the stomach for a fight.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, you are wounded, lying on the ground, and overall in very bad
Floyd | shape. To have any chance to hit, you will need to think
Floyd | (synonyms: concentrate and c); the more often you think
Floyd | without losing your train of thought, the better your chances of
Floyd | hitting, and hitting well, become. Also, a high tension (shown in the
Floyd | status bar) helps a lot. Finally, standing up will increase
Floyd | your combat skills, but it will also make David more likely to attack
Floyd | you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your main conversational strategies are placate, which may
Floyd | temporarily get David to listen to you; and explain. Explaining
Floyd | is very powerful, since it will gain you sympathy; but you can only
Floyd | explain yourself after David has asked a question.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the unfortunate case that David decides to attack you, you can
Floyd | defend yourself in three ways. If you taunt David, his anger
Floyd | may make him miss, and it also makes him an easier target for your
Floyd | next attack. However, it will make him less likely to talk in the
Floyd | future. Alternatively, you can attempt to dodge his attacks.
Floyd | There is also the powerful appeal, which you can use to implore
Floyd | David not to attack. It probably won't work unless you have already
Floyd | explained yourself quite a bit.
Floyd |
Floyd | For your convenience, all the special actions you can take (except
Floyd | attacking, readying and reloading) are shown in the status bar at the
Floyd | top of the window. Most common interactive fiction verbs still work,
Floyd | and some important ones (examine, look, inventory) can be done freely
Floyd | -- they don't take a turn! One final remark. You should be able to
Floyd | enjoy the game in pure prose, but if you're playing to win, you might
Floyd | want to see the underlying combat calculations. If so, just type
Floyd | numbers on.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Basic instructions
Floyd |    I died! In easy mode!
Floyd |    My status bar looks weird!
Floyd |    Thanks
Floyd |    Contact
Floyd |    License and copyright

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd | By the bitter creek
Floyd | You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider
Floyd | plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so
Floyd | you thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "hm, as I feared, that's a lot of specialized verbs."
		Jacqueline says, "So, looking and stuff is free."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Sweaty, blood-stained -- you have seen better days. But nobody would
Floyd | pick a fight with you in a bar.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x david" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DAVID
Floyd |
Floyd | He's young, about the age you were when you left for the Mexican War.
Floyd | And not even as tough.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		
Fang arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Silvermist asks, "Do we know why the sheriff shot our character?"
		Jacqueline says (to David), "It is weirding me out that we're being threatened by a game named... David."
		Jacqueline says (to Silvermist), "Not in the game, not yet. But I think I know from the game's blurb and I'm sure we'll find out."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, he *did* just ask a question. So we could explain."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | By the bitter creek
Floyd | You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider
Floyd | plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so
Floyd | you thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we 'explain'?"
		Silvermist says, "yes"
		Jacqueline says, "I think we've lost Draconis"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "?"
		DavidW says, "yes, try to explain yourself."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Will you believe me when I tell you your father deserved to die? I
Floyd | doubt it. But it's true."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I shouldn't be talking to you. I just ought to shoot you right now!"
Floyd | David blurts out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis says, "Back, sorry."
		Draconis asks, "Shall we PLACATE him?"
		DavidW says, "David is unharmed, bleary-eyes, and unarmed with his teacup."
		Jacqueline says, "That seems like a good thing just now. Explaining wasn't exactly soothing."
		Silvermist says, "yes placate"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Maybe you should, but... you've never killed a man before, have you?"
Floyd | He doesn't reply, but you know the answer. Knew it before you asked
Floyd | the question. It's written all over him.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father was a great man. A peaceful man! He never did anybody no
Floyd | harm, he was no fighter. What did you have against him?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis asks, "Hm...will EXPLAINing now do more harm than good again?"
		Draconis says, "We don't want to provoke him into shooting us..."
		Jacqueline says, "Dunno, but I kind of want to explain."
		Silvermist asks, "think?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure, we could think."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You sort of like this boy. His father... that was different. No
Floyd | regrets there.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now slightly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "You probably think that just because you're a bad-ass desperado, and
Floyd | because I am a green boy, you are invulnerable and can toy with me and
Floyd | tell me all kinds of lies. But you're wrong!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline asks, "Placate?"
		Draconis says, "Placate."
		Silvermist says, "nods"
		DavidW says, "I honestly don't know how to play this. I would try explaining more."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Let's talk, David, there's no need to hurry. As you can see, I'm not
Floyd | exactly going anywhere."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Even if you did have a reason to kill my father, how about raping my
Floyd | sister? Huh?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "Well, we have a few for placate, so I'm going to run with that. I think most of us are afraid that explaining more will get us shot."
		Jacqueline says, "Timing. Sorry, Draconis, I started driving while you were away"
		Draconis asks, "Wait what? We raped his sister?"
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Not a problem."
		Draconis asks, "Should we try to EXPLAIN this?"
		Jacqueline says, "We do need a designated driver, I think."
		Draconis says, "You can go ahead, I'll probably be on and off..."
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "You or me? You can: explain, pacate, or agree to let me drive."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm really hoping we did not rape his sister."
		Draconis says, ">AGREE TO LET JACQUELINE DRIVE"
		Draconis says, "Yeah..."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "I'm hoping that his dad did that, and that's why we killed him!"
		Silvermist says, "me too"
		Jacqueline says, "That would wrap this all up with a nice little bow."
		Draconis asks, "Why would we have known about that when David didn't though?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, gosh. Placate more?"
		DavidW says, "We should have a convention where we hand over the car key to the driver."
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "Well, I got the idea that we killed his dad elsewhere and then came here."
		Jacqueline says, "That we know a lot about his dad."
		Draconis says, "I'd say EXPLAIN to see if we reveal our motivations."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, true."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "True, but I'd assumed he came here from the same place we did."
		Jacqueline says, "I would be cool with explaining"
		Draconis says, "And got here first because he didn't have a bullet in his leg."
		Jacqueline asks, "DW? S?"
		Silvermist says, "Help says explain works after David asks a question"
		Jacqueline says, "Right"
		DavidW says, "yeah, explain."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, the status bar tells us when it works."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "When a man and a woman meet and then have sex because they both want
Floyd | to, we don't call it rape, David."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah? Well, my sister called it rape, when I found the two of you
Floyd | here at the creek!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "Ah"
		Draconis says, "It seems like we can EXPLAIN again here."
		Silvermist says, "uh oh"
		Fang says, "I think we should think"
		Jacqueline says, "That... might have been her trying to explain stuff away to him, poorly, but if that's the case, way to throw us under the bus."
		Fang asks, "is thinking a free action?"
		Jacqueline asks (of Fang), "Where did you come from?"
		DavidW says, "Explain after a ? and placate after a !"
		Jacqueline says, "I don't know if thinking is free, but I'm down with trying it."
		Draconis says, "I don't think it is."
		Fang asks (of Jacq), "... the lounge?"
		Draconis says, "Because in ATTACK in general it isn't."
		Jacqueline says, "Right"
		Draconis says, "You use your action to give yourself a bonus next turn."
		Jacqueline says, "So, I am getting a sense that some want to think and some want to placate."
		Draconis says, "On the other hand this isn't a normal ATTACK scenario."
		Draconis says, "I'm for EXPLAIN personally but I'm fine with either of the others."
		Jacqueline says, "Everyone vote."
		Jacqueline says, "Placate"
		Fang says, "Think"
		Draconis says, "Explain."
		DavidW says, "placate"
		Draconis asks, "Silvermist?"
		Silvermist exclaims, "I like the theory explain after ? then placate after !"
		Jacqueline says, "So placate now, by that ryle."
		Jacqueline says, "er, rule"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "What about... what about you just ride into town and get a doctor for
Floyd | me? My leg is hurting like all hell. On a Sunday."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think I've heard enough of your so-called explanations." David
Floyd | grabs the gun with two hands in order to steady his aim, and points it
Floyd | at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Jacqueline says, "That was not exactly what I'd call placating."
		Silvermist says, "uh oh"
		Draconis asks, "Appeal?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am really sincerely doubting that appeal will work, but we could try it."
		Fang says, "time to dodge, I think"
		Jacqueline asks, "Okay so far we have Draconis for appeal and Fang for dodge. Other votes?"
		DavidW asks, "I dunno. I think appeal?"
		Silvermist says, "dodge"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess I'd go with dodge. Which is a majority."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "dodge" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > DODGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to roll aside in an unpredictable manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have to fight against tears when a sudden sharp pain in your arm
Floyd | announces that David scored a hit. Your train of thought is derailed.
Floyd |
Floyd | David seems to pull himself together.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "Well, poo"
		Jacqueline says, "We have been shot, and this has somehow derailed our train of thought."
		Jacqueline smiles.
		Silvermist says, "think maybe to get ready to fight"
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we stand?"
Draconis gives ClubFloyd car keys to Jacqueline. 		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "ha"
		Jacqueline says, "Thanks"
		Fang says, "huh, tension has reduced"
		Jacqueline says, "It seems like it'd be higher."
		Draconis asks, "Stand up?"
		Fang asks, "maybe he thinks we're dead, or we're less of a threat now?"
		Jacqueline says, "If we stand up we fight better, but he's also more likely to attack us again."
		Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Yeah, possibly."
		Fang says, "I'd Think"
		Fang says, "think until he gives us a cue to respond to"
		Jacqueline says, "Thinking makes us more able to fight, so I'm for that given the tension level."
		Jacqueline asks, "Anyone opposed to thinking?"
		DavidW says, "I'm not quite sure how thinking helps up in this game unless we plan to attack."
		DavidW says, "er helps us"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we may have to attack if David keeps on"
		Jacqueline says, "I can't recall, but it would make sense for it to also help us dodge."
		Fang says (to DW), "well, if the theory is that thinking gives us a buff on the next round"
		Fang says, "then because David's given us no cue to respond to, that's what we should do"
		Fang says, "instead of something that might raise the tension level again"
		Silvermist says, "Our characters thoughts are scattered so we need to think"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | The moment the boy's father saw your face, he knew what you had come
Floyd | to do. "You're here to kill me," he said. It wasn't a question.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now slightly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father will be revenged," David whispers.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Jacqueline says, "Basically, any time three people have suggested a command, I will go with it."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm for thinking again."
		Silvermist says, "think again sounds good"
		Jacqueline looks at the others.
		Draconis says, "I say think."
		DavidW says, "I have no idea what's best."
		Fang says, "I'd try appeal, but think seems good also"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | And you didn't answer. That would have been fatal: the second he
Floyd | needed to get to his gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now somewhat concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | The boy's bullet hits you in the shoulder, only inches away from the
Floyd | jugular. You are in even more terrible pain than before. Your train of
Floyd | thought is derailed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis says, "Well then."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, yikes. Enough thinking."
		Draconis asks, "Placate repeatedly?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Placate or explain?"
		Fang says, "guess we should have dodged"
		DavidW says, "or anythinged."
		Fang says, "placate"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Just calm down. We need to talk, before you start doing anything
Floyd | hasty and foolish."
Floyd |
Floyd | David seems to pull himself together.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Fang says, "keep placating"
		Jacqueline says, "We are lucky that David has never killed a man, or we'd have been dead before the game began."
		Jacqueline says, "I too am for placate"
		Fang says (to Jacq), "that rhymes"
		Silvermist says, "placate"
		DavidW says, "I'm amazed we're still alive after being hit twice and wounded to begin with."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Believe me, your father was no saint. If you had known even half of
Floyd | what he had done, you would have killed him yourself."
Floyd |
Floyd | David seems to pull himself together.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Fang says, "we must have a ton of hp"
		Draconis says, "We're resilient."
		Fang says, "explain"
		Fang says, "we'd better explain that statement"
		Jacqueline says, "We're a fighter. Fighters fight in more ways than one."
		Draconis says, "Alternately, huge amounts of adrenaline, and we're going to pass out from the pain afterward."
		Jacqueline says, "I am okay with explaining"
		Jacqueline asks, "I fully expect us to die this first playthrough anyway, so why not?"
		Draconis says, "I want to explain things, but I don't know if EXPLAIN or PLACATE will do that."
		Silvermist says, "explain"
		Draconis says, "It seems like PLACATE is convincing him his father was bad."
		Draconis says, "And EXPLAIN is convincing him not to kill us."
		Jacqueline says, "So we have three explains"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, if your sister said it, it must be true, mustn't it? I'm sure
Floyd | your father believed her as well, and didn't, oh, lock her up or
Floyd | anything?"
Floyd |
Floyd | David looks abashed.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So what did my father do to you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, said what?"
		Jacqueline says, "About us raping her? That makes little sense to me."
		DavidW says, "That it was rape, I think."
		Fang says, "uh"
		Fang says, "huh"
		Silvermist says, "hmm seems it jumped conversatins"
		Fang says, "this is confusing"
		Jacqueline says (to Silvermist), "yeah"
		DavidW says, "I don't understand the locking up reference, though. It doesn't seem to match up."
		Silvermist says, "explain again"
		Fang says, "I'm guessing this is a typo"
		Draconis says, "Huh..."
		Fang says, "should me 'lock me up'"
		DavidW says, "explain"
		Jacqueline says, "I like explain, regardless of bug"
		Fang says, "*be"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "He didn't do anything to me, but he did do something to a friend of
Floyd | mine called Billy. Billy was a nice boy, a little rough around the
Floyd | edges maybe, but at his core there was no evil. You remind me of him."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Call that an explanation? You're just liar!" David points his gun at
Floyd | your heart, about to pull the trigger.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Draconis asks, "Appeal?"
		Jacqueline asks, "dodge?"
		Fang says, "appeal"
		Silvermist says, "dodge"
		DavidW says, "appeal"
		Jacqueline says, "Or appeal"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "appeal" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > APPEAL
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Come on, David, you've got to listen to my whole story."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm listening -- but this had better be good." He wipes the sweat
Floyd | from his forehead. "Well, what about this Billy?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Fang says, "we're dead, I think"
		Fang says, "or not"
		Draconis says, "Explain explain explain."
		Fang says, "explain"
		Jacqueline asks, "explain?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "David, you see, Billy was with us in Pancho's posse, or whatever
Floyd | you'd call a bunch of citizens who went over the border to help with
Floyd | the war effort. And while in Mexico, this Billy guy fell in love with
Floyd | a woman. She was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But the woman fell in love with my father, they had a row about it,
Floyd | and my father shot this Billy of yours?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "explain"
		Draconis says, "Explain."
		Draconis says, "All of the explanations."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, not exactly, no. See, this woman wasn't just any kind of woman,
Floyd | she was what we might call a drab, a whore, a prostitute. And your
Floyd | father and she had an... they had... O God my leg hurts! ... they had
Floyd | an argument, about money. About payment."
Floyd |
Floyd | "So what happened? Billy intervened?" David spits the question at you
Floyd | as if it were a bullet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Silvermist says, "explain"
		Draconis says, "Explain."
		Fang says, "it seems like maybe there are two convo tracks"
		DavidW says, "yes, explain"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are badly wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: extreme                                       (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, Billy did not intervene. I mean, he would have if he had had the
Floyd | chance, but he was too late. Because, you see, your father didn't like
Floyd | being argued with. And he didn't like being argued with by a whore,
Floyd | and even less being argued with by a Mexican. So he just took out his
Floyd | gun and shot her. Through the heart. Like, dead. Billy was waiting his
Floyd | turn downstairs, so he hadn't heard the argument. But he did hear the
Floyd | shot."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Enough talk!" David aims his gun at your head.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Fang says, "a placate track and an explain track"
		Draconis says, "Appeal."
		Fang says, "appeal"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "appeal" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > APPEAL
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "Don't shoot! I have so much more to tell you about your father."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure you can tell me a lot... of lies."
Floyd |
Floyd | The BANG of the pistol reaches your ear at the same moment that the
Floyd | bullet reaches your back. You feel your life slowly deserting you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline asks, "Die dramatically?"
		Fang says, "he's a bad shot"
		Draconis says, "Oh ****."
		Silvermist says, "think"
		Fang says, "placate"
		Draconis says, "Placate? Can't hurt."
		Fang says, "we can at least make him feel bad about killing us"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "If you'll just talk to me, I'll tell you everything. And then, at the
Floyd | end, you can make a decision. Shoot me or not shoot me. Is that a
Floyd | deal?"
Floyd |
Floyd | David starts reloading his revolver.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis asks, "Die?"
		Fang says, "if we weren't dying we could probably take advantage of this"
		Jacqueline says, "We can only think"
		DavidW says, "yeah, if we were in better shape, kick that gun out of his hand."
		Jacqueline says, "I don't think we're kicking any guns out of any hands now."
		Silvermist says, "think"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | He didn't really stick out when you first met him, the father. Just
Floyd | one of the boys of Pancho's gang, one more gun against the Mexicans.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now slightly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | David finishes reloading his revolver.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "placate or appeal."
		Jacqueline says, "Here is where we die."
		Draconis says, "Can't do either."
		Fang says, "we can only think"
		Jacqueline says, "Those aren't listed as actions, but I could try"
		Draconis says, "Think is the only option it seems..."
		Draconis asks, "Eh, try it. Why not?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "appeal" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > APPEAL
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | You need to do more explaining before you can appeal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis asks, "Placate?"
		Fang says, "hmm"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "placate" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PLACATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | You have exhausted your store of placating things to say.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis asks, "Explain?"
		Jacqueline says, "We can't even dodge, and I think we may need to."
		Silvermist says, "explain"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | David didn't ask you a question.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis says, "Think then..."
		DavidW says, "stand"
		Fang says, "pray"
		Silvermist says, "stuck on only thinking"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > PRAY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Draconis says, "Can we stand? We're kind of bleeding to death..."
Fang says (to Floyd), "cry" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > CRY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says (to Fang), "I'm driving."
		Fang says, "I'm sad we don't seem to get any last words"
		Fang says, "sorry"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, what's the current vote?"
		Draconis says, "Think."
		Jacqueline says, "think"
		Fang says, "we can only think, it seems like"
		DavidW says, "attack or stand"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are bleeding to death, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | But it didn't take long before he rose in the ranks, informal as they
Floyd | were. Might even have taken over Pancho's place if he hadn't been so
Floyd | reckless. Not that the other guys where much given to careful
Floyd | deliberation, but even in that group he was know as "the madman".
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now somewhat concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father will be revenged," David whispers.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Draconis says, "Dodge."
		Fang asks, "does taunt do anything?"
		Silvermist says, "taunt messes with David's aim"
		Jacqueline says, "It shames him and makes him less apt to speak to us, but it might be the time. Maybe."
		Fang says, "I mean, it seems suicidal but maybe this is the right time to experiment"
		DavidW says, "I don't think we've tried taunt yet.."
		Jacqueline says, "And yeah, messes with his aim."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'm for taunt"
		DavidW says, "sure, try taunt"
		Draconis asks, "Taunt?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "taunt" 		

Floyd ] You are slipping away, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAUNT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "You know what your father is doing right now? He's burning. In Hell."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have to fight against tears when a sudden sharp pain in your elbow
Floyd | announces that David scored a hit. Your train of thought is derailed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "whoa"
		Draconis says, "We're pretty much dead it would seem."
		Silvermist says, "back to only being able to thnk"
		Jacqueline says, "He really is a crappy shot, but we kind of deserved that one."
		Fang says, "man, we're a juggernaut"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm pretty sure we're restarting in a sec, but my vote is for think"
		DavidW says, "We've passed 'bleeding to death' and are now 'slipping away'."
		Fang says, "next will be 'haunting my own corpse'"
		Draconis asks, "So think?"
		Jacqueline says, "Votes? Let's start putting our actual vote, to distinguish it from conversation in caps."
		Jacqueline says, "THINK"
		Draconis says, "THINK"
		Fang says, "think"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are slipping away, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | He didn't really stick out when you first met him, the father. Just
Floyd | one of the boys of Pancho's gang, one more gun against the Mexicans.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now slightly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Silvermist says, "think"
		Fang says, "taunt"
		Draconis says, "TAUNT"
		Jacqueline says, "Tell David that he is likely correct."
		DavidW says, "TAUNT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "taunt" 		

Floyd ] You are dead, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAUNT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | You try to speak, but only a gasp of pain comes out.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bullet goes straight through your brain. You stare at the sun. Was
Floyd | it ever this bright? you wonder as it slowly expands to fill your
Floyd | field of vision. Was it?
Floyd |
Floyd | Then you sink down to the earth.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** David found his revenge... if no consolation ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "We were tough"
		Jacqueline says, "So. Easy mode again, me thinks."
		Draconis says, "Agreed."
		Fang says, "good for David, I guess"
		Silvermist says, "Easy mode is good"
		Fang asks, "so, strategy?"
		DavidW says, "Easy please."
		Fang says, "I'm guessing our goal should be to minimise damage until he has to reload"
		Jacqueline says, "For the next game, votes need to be in caps. Three votes initiates my action."
		Fang says, "then we jump him"
		DavidW says, "Attacking when he's reloading is probably essential."
		Silvermist says, "back in 5 minutes"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, if we go that route, we need to be thinking, stand while he reloads, then attack."
		Jacqueline says, "And keep him from hitting us in the meantime, or our thoughts are derailed."
		Jacqueline says, "Because him reloading implies he has been shooting."
		Fang says, "placate maybe charges up appeal"
		Fang asks, "and explain charges up taunt?"
		Fang says, "that's my guess"
		DavidW says, "We have a limited number of appeals, apparently. I wasn't expecting that."
		DavidW says, "er limited number of placates"
		Fang says, "oh wait"
		Fang | You need to do more explaining before you can appeal.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd ]
Floyd |                 `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus
Floyd |                         by Victor Gijsbers
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |    Start new game - Easy      :    Press E
Floyd |    Start new game - Normal    :    Press N
Floyd |    Start new game - Hard      :    Press H
Floyd |    Start new game - Extreme   :    Press X
Floyd |    Restore game               :    Press R
Floyd |    Quit                       :    Press Q
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The easy difficulty is recommended for those new to the
Floyd | game; although it is thematically important that the protagonist is
Floyd | dependent on the strumpet Fortune, it's probably more important for
Floyd | you to gently learn the system. Graduate to the normal
Floyd | difficulty when you feel ready. The hard difficulty is for
Floyd | those who have already learned to game the system and wish to test
Floyd | their skills. The extreme difficulty is only for those
Floyd | seeking a formidable, perhaps impossible, challenge.

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | They shot you in the leg, the sheriff or one of his men, but you still
Floyd | managed to get away. You always manage to get away. And while they're
Floyd | off pursuing you to, who knows, perhaps Colorado, you have quietly
Floyd | made your way back to where it all began. What better place to rest?
Floyd |
Floyd | With a grunt of pain you descend from your horse and lie down near the
Floyd | water. How good it would be to just close your eyes for a moment and
Floyd | sleep... but you know that you've got to take that bullet out first.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They all said I was crazy, but I knew you'd be coming back
Floyd | here," says a young voice behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | First time players, please type HELP.
Floyd |
Floyd | `Mid the sagebrush and the cactus
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Victor Gijsbers
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 100918 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | By the bitter creek
Floyd | You are lying next to a small stream, screened off from the wider
Floyd | plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so
Floyd | you thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why did you do it?" he asks, perhaps closer to tears than to pulling
Floyd | the trigger.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "We definitely didn't explain enough. But we somehow need to prod David to ask questions."
		Jacqueline says, "So your votes now only count if they're in caps."
		DavidW says, "EXPLAIN"
		Jacqueline says, "THINK"
		Fang says, "afk for a bit"
		Jacqueline asks, "Draconis?"
		Jacqueline says, "Two votes now tips an action."
		Jacqueline says, "...unless it's just DW and I now."
		DavidW asks, "Silvermist?"
		Jacqueline says, "He stepped away."
		DavidW says, "oh"
		Jacqueline | [clubfloyd] Silvermist says, "back in 5 minutes"
		Jacqueline says, "He'll be back, though."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I'm happy to go with explain."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Will you believe me when I tell you your father deserved to die? I
Floyd | doubt it. But it's true."
Floyd |
Floyd | David wipes away his tears.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "THINK"
		DavidW says, "Now, I really don't know what to do here. I want an action that gets David to ask another question."
		Jacqueline says, "Placate may do that."
		DavidW says, "But we have a limited number of those and the tension is already very low."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Jacqueline says, "I still like think"
		DavidW says, "ok, THINK then"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | Shooting down tough gunslinging asswipes is something you do for
Floyd | breakfast -- but this boy? That's not really your style.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now slightly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "I shouldn't be talking to you. I just ought to shoot you right now!"
Floyd | David blurts out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "THINK"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm not thinking up to shoot him, just to attack him and get the gun from him"
		DavidW says, "ok. Sounds like you have a a strategy."
		DavidW says, "THINK"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | And not just because he's so young and innocent... there's also, you
Floyd | know, that nagging feeling that he is justified and you are not.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now somewhat concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father was a great man. A peaceful man! He never did anybody no
Floyd | harm, he was no fighter. What did you have against him?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "I personally think we don't have a chance until he reloads but I don't know."
		DavidW says, "EXPLAIN"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. So now... do we think or explain?"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'm good with that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "explain" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXPLAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "You haven't seen every side of him, David. I knew him long ago, in
Floyd | the Mexican war. Your father wasn't so peaceful then, when he was the
Floyd | most irregular of our whole band of irregulars. Not very peaceful at
Floyd | all."
Floyd |
Floyd | David ponders his options for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "THINK"
		DavidW says, "ok, THINK"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | But then again: you can't afford to be sentimental right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now highly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know, I didn't come here to talk, but to fight." David's finger
Floyd | tightens on the trigger of his gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Jacqueline asks, "Dodge?"
		DavidW says, "I'll agree to anything you choose here."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "dodge" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > DODGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to roll aside in an unpredictable manner.
Floyd |
Floyd | David's bullet flies past your head, harmless.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "whew"
		Jacqueline asks, "Stand?"
		Jacqueline says, "Or, hm."
		DavidW says, "I think we have to stand at some point, but dunno when."
		Jacqueline asks, "Maybe wait to stand until he reloads. Stay thinking, unless he asks a question, then explain, or threatens to shoot, then we dodge?"
		Jacqueline says, "So, think"
		DavidW says, "THINK sure"
		Jacqueline says, "This kids a n00b. He generally seems to telegraph that he's going to shoot."
		Jacqueline says, "I hope that continues."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and lying down.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | But then again: you can't afford to be sentimental right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You are now highly concentrated.)
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. That may be the max concentration."
		Jacqueline says, "I kind of want to risk standign"
		Jacqueline says, "Standing, even"
		DavidW says, "try it"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: high                                          (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't move!", David threatens somewhat hesitantly, but you get up
Floyd | anyway. Seems you can stand, as long as you hold this sagebrush for
Floyd | support.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Jacqueline asks, "Dodge or attack?"
		Fang says, "TAUNT"
		Silvermist says, "we need to arm to attack I think"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, right. So taunt?"
		Fang says, "'hysterically' seems like a cue for taunting"
		DavidW says (to Fang), "good point. TAUNT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "taunt" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAUNT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "You shouldn't be playing with your daddy's gun. Not that he'll need
Floyd | it anymore."
Floyd |
Floyd | The deadly lead misses you. Another few seconds to live.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Silvermist says, "TAUNT"
		Jacqueline asks, "arm?"
		Fang asks, "how many shots has he fired?"
		Jacqueline says, "One"
		DavidW says, "Twice now."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, really?"
		DavidW says, "We dodged one and taunted away the 2nd."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah. Two"
		Fang asks, "how many shots in his gun?"
		Fang asks, "four more?"
		Jacqueline says, "Dunno. My guess is six, but it doesn't seem like he shot six times last game. Then again, we see how good I am at counting shots."
		DavidW says, "Most guns are 6 shooters, but dunno how many he had to start with."
		Jacqueline says, "Six total, I mean."
		Fang asks, "did people say Look is a free action?"
		Jacqueline says, "Let's work on the assumption of four more shots, but realize that it may be less."
		Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Yes"
		DavidW says, "yes, look is free."
		Fang asks, "can we x his gun?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x gun" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | (your revolver)
Floyd | One of the wonders of human civilization.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x David's gun" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DAVID'S GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine David's natural
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Fang says, ".... okaaay"
		DavidW says, "ha ha ha"
		Jacqueline says, "ILT eamine David's natural weapon AMATNG, but this really doesn't seem to be the time."
		Silvermist says, ""THINK""
		Fang says, "this is sure going in a strange direction"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "er, examine. Damn!"
		Jacqueline hits the typo tally. BING!
Fang says (to Floyd), "x david's natural weapon" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DAVID'S NATURAL WEAPON
Floyd |
Floyd | Clenched fists, kicking feet--that kind of stuff.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW asks, "So David is holding our gun?"
		Fang says, "oh phew."
		Jacqueline asks, "I'm going to ignore how that sounds, David, and say ... yes?"
		DavidW says, "except we taunted it was his father's gun."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Ooh. Good point. Yes."
		Fang asks, "is Inventory a free action?"
		DavidW says, "Inventory is free, yes"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   your revolver (3 of 6 shots left)
Floyd |   your knife
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		DavidW says, "huh. I don't think we ever did inventory in the first run."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x david" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DAVID
Floyd |
Floyd | He's young, about the age you were when you left for the Mexican War.
Floyd | And not even as tough.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "No, I don't think we did."
		Fang says, "we could probably beat him in a straight fight"
		Fang says, "given how bad a shot he is"
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | Act>
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline asks, "ATTACK?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Go fisticuffs?"
		Fang asks, "draw our gun and shoot him?"
		Silvermist says, ""ARM""
		Jacqueline says, "I don't want to kill this kid."
		Fang says, "maybe we're a jerk, Jacq"
		Jacqueline says, "I just want to dissuade him."
		Jacqueline says (to Fang), "Maybe, but that's not the impression I've gotten thus far."
		Fang says, "I'm kinda inclined to think, at this point, that David is actually right to shoot us"
		Draconis asks, "Self-defense?"
		DavidW says, "I don't think we can arm our gun at this point."
		Silvermist says, "He might listen to us once we also arm armed"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, clearing the votes. Vote again for clarity."
		DavidW says (to Silvermist), "I know."
		Jacqueline says, "ARM"
		Silvermist says, "ARM"
		DavidW says, "oh, what the heck. The kid's a lousy shot. ARM."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "arm" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > ARM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                              Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                          ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Basic instructions
Floyd |    I died! In easy mode!
Floyd |    My status bar looks weird!
Floyd |    Thanks
Floyd |    Contact
Floyd |    License and copyright

		DavidW says, "The verb is READY"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
		Jacqueline says, "thanks"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd | By the bitter creek
Floyd | You are standing next to a small stream, screened off from the wider
Floyd | plains by the sagebrush around you. An ideal place to hide -- or so
Floyd | you thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | David stares at you, a revolver unsteady in his hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ready" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, unarmed, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > READY
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to ready?
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "GUN"
		Draconis asks, "READY GUN?"
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "We also have a knife, but one does not generally want to shot up to a gun fight with a knife."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Fang says, "if you want to spare this kid"
		Jacqueline says, "So my vote is gun."
		Draconis says, "The gun seems the better choice."
		Fang says, "I suspect knife will be better in the long term for that"
		Silvermist says, "GUN"
		DavidW says, "Every other combat game uses wield; dunno why the author picked ready."
		Jacqueline says, "Knives are pretty nasty in their own right."
		Fang says, "a gun is more likely, in my mind, to end in this kid's death"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "gun" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, armed with your revolver, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: appeal, taunt, dodge, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | (your revolver)
Floyd | "Don't do that!", David warns, but of course you don't listen. It
Floyd | feels good to have a gun in your hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're really gonna die this time," David hysterically tells you.
Floyd |
Floyd | React>

		Draconis says, "TAUNT DAVID"
		DavidW says, "TAUNT"
		Jacqueline says, "I also like TAUNT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "taunt" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, armed with your revolver, and standing.
Floyd ] David is unharmed, aggressive, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very high                                     (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAUNT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | "You're going to shoot me here, right on the spot where I enjoyed your
Floyd | sister? How romantic!"
Floyd |
Floyd | His aim is too careless, and David's bullet strikes the ground behind
Floyd | you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Silvermist says, "TAUNT"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh man. Keeping it classy."
		Draconis says, "Then SHOOT DAVID."
		Fang says, "wow, we are awful"
		Draconis says, "We are a horrible person."
		Silvermist says, "oohhh bad man"
		Jacqueline says, "So I have 1 taunt and 1 shoot"
		Fang says, "Shoot"
		Fang says, "SHOOT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "shoot" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, armed with your revolver, and standing.
Floyd ] David is wounded, determined, and armed with his revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: moderate                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > SHOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | A hit, a very palpable hit! David staggers back, watching the shot
Floyd | wound in disbelief. "I... I didn't think you could hit me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "PLACATE"
		Fang says, "SHOOT"
		DavidW asks, "what the?"
		Fang says, "get the evil ending over and done with"
		Silvermist says, "THINK"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. DW? D?"
		Draconis says, "SHOOT."
		DavidW says, "I feel the game has been derailed into a track I didn't want to see."
		Jacqueline says, "That's a couple of SHOOTS, and I'm willing to go along."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "shoot" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, armed with your revolver, and standing.
Floyd ] David is near death, unsure, and armed with his
Floyd | revolver.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: low                                           (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > SHOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | Your bullet lodges itself in David's leg. He grunts in pain and tears
Floyd | stream down his face -- but he doesn't seem to be ready to give up
Floyd | just yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | "He was in the Mexican war? I... I didn't know. But that was
Floyd | twenty-five years ago! Who cares about that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Act>

		Jacqueline says, "One more bullet"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Yeah but I'm not really sure what we else we can do now."
		Silvermist says, "Maybe our characters can talk now"
		Draconis says, "EXPLAIN"
		Fang says, "SHOOT, and finish this"
		Jacqueline asks (of Sm), "Explain, you mean?"
		Draconis says, "Or SHOOT. Either one I suppose."
		Fang says, "seems too late for explanation"
		Jacqueline says, "If we want to just the asshat ending over. Sure."
DavidW goes home. 		
DavidW has disconnected. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "shoot" 		

Floyd ] You are wounded, armed with your revolver, and standing.
Floyd ] David is dead, faltering, and unarmed.
Floyd ] Special actions: explain, placate, think
Floyd ] Tension: very low                                      (Easy)
Floyd |
Floyd | > SHOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (David)
Floyd | You take a deep breath, concentrate, aim for the head -- BANG. You
Floyd | close your eyes because you don't want to see what he looks like in
Floyd | death.
Floyd |
Floyd | Exhausted, you fall into an uneasy sleep. When you wake up the sun is
Floyd | setting, and you know you must take the bullet out now. It's not going
Floyd | to be pretty, but you are tough. The toughest man this side of the
Floyd | border. It's only on the other side that you break down.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are drained but alive ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "EXPLAIN"
		Draconis says, "(going afk for a bit)"
		Draconis says, "Well, we survived..."
		Jacqueline says, "We did."
		Fang says, "yay, guns solve all of society's problems"
		Jacqueline says, "And, honestly, that's the two hour mark and I need to move on to some other things."
		Jacqueline says, "We could play this again next week if people want."
		Fang says, "I'm sorry for pushing the evil asshat ending"
		Jacqueline asks (of Fang), "Are you?"
		Silvermist says, "Thanks for running the game"
		Jacqueline says (to Sm), "You're welcome. Thanks for joining us."
		Fang says (to Jacq), "moderately sorry :p"
Fang has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		Fang says, "well, I don't know, I think that ending seems moderately in character with what we've learned from the other playthrough"
		Jacqueline nods.



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Moments Out of Time by L. Ross Raszewski
As played on ifMUD on July 19 - August 30, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Moments Out of Time written by L. Ross Raszewski. It took second place in the 2001 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

ANOTHER WARNING! A lot (most!) of the transcripts contained on this site are, shall we say, family-friendly. This is not one of those family-friendly transcripts. Just so we're clear.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

***** SESSION ONE ***** 		
		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "Look at mission description?"
		Jacqueline says, "Until we know that this is time sensitive or something, I think we can all input commands."
		DavidW says, "I think we ought to try MANUAL first."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "manual" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 0 MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "This is feeling Infocom-y"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                         MOMENTS OUT OF
Floyd | TIME                           Explorer Type/Version 1
Floyd | by                              L. Ross Raszewski
Floyd | Game Manual
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 1 Compatibility Issues
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | This game uses version 6 of the Z-Machine. Because support for this
Floyd | format is limited, you may experience some problems in playing this
Floyd | game. The author believes that this game works best using the MS-DOS
Floyd | and Linux versions of the "Frotz" interpreter by Stefan Jokisch. Users
Floyd | of MS-DOS may find that the '-d1' option gives the optimal display. Of
Floyd | course, the game should function on any compliant Z6 interpreter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some versions of the WinFrotz interpreter contain a bug which makes the
Floyd | menu display incorrectly. If you experience difficulties, the command
Floyd | 'WINFROTZ' will enable a workaround to improve the display quality.
Floyd |
Floyd | If the menu at the bottom of your screen still does not draw correctly,
Floyd | it can be disabled via the "MENU OFF" command.
Floyd |
Floyd | This game supports Blorb sound effects. Sound effects are included in a
Floyd | separate file, which may not be included with this distribution. To
Floyd | hear sound on a supporting interpreter, you will need to obtain a copy
Floyd | of the Blorb resource file for this game and make it available to your
Floyd | interpreter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please encourage interpreter authors to provide better support for
Floyd | version 6 games and Blorb.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "eep. Version 6?"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		DavidW says, "Version 6 of the Z-machine was for multimedia stuff."
		Silvermist asks, "Can it run here?"
		DavidW says, "I don't know. I've never played this game."
		Jacqueline asks, "I don't think I recall Blorb. Was that some sort of gelatinous cube from space that consumes objects and animals?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 2 Table of Contents
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |      Overview...........................................3
Floyd |      Communicating with Interactive Fiction.............4
Floyd |      Basic Inform Commands..............................6
Floyd |      Inform Meta-Commands...............................7
Floyd |      Moments out of Time Special Commands...............9
Floyd |      Disambiguation Prompt..............................10
Floyd |      Navigating Menus...................................11
Floyd |      The StreamDive Console.............................13
Floyd |      Some Recognized Verbs..............................14
Floyd |      Terms of Distribution..............................15
Floyd |      Influences.........................................16
Floyd |      Credits............................................17

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 3 Overview
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "Interactive fiction" is a story in which you play the main character.
Floyd | It is your own thinking and actions that determines the progress of the
Floyd | story.
Floyd | Works of interactive fiction, such as MOMENTS OUT OF TIME present a
Floyd | series of objects: rooms, items and tools, with which you can interact.
Floyd | In any location, it is usually a good idea to become familiar with your
Floyd | surroundings by exploring nearby rooms and take careful notice of the
Floyd | room descriptions.
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME differs from many works of Interactive Fiction in
Floyd | its style; you will not find your progress brought to an impasse by a
Floyd | puzzle, nor will you be able to interact with other characters. Though
Floyd | you can influence your surroundings through your interaction with
Floyd | objects, your primary objective in this game is to explore your
Floyd | environment, and gather knowledge. There is a story behind MOMENTS OUT
Floyd | OF TIME, but your goal is to discover this story, rather than create
Floyd | it.
Floyd | Because the nature of this game is extremely open-ended, you may
Floyd | experience difficulty in assessing your progress. For this reason,
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME keeps a numerical score. This score reflects an
Floyd | estimation made by the player character on your performance. This score
Floyd | does not, however, necessarily determine the results of the final
Floyd | evaluation of your performance. A perfect score is not necessary to
Floyd | complete the game, and indeed may not be possible, but by noting
Floyd | actions which increase your score, you may be able to direct your
Floyd | efforts.

		DavidW says, "Blorb is what we use to bundle files together with in the Inform world. You see it all the time with .zblorb and .gblorb."
		DavidW says, "In this case, however, the bundled files will likely be graphics and/or sound files."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true."
		Jacqueline says, "I somehow hadn't connected those simply dots."
		Jacqueline says, "Simple, even."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 4 Communicating with Interactive Fiction
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | If you are not familiar with Interactive fiction, please read this
Floyd | section
Floyd |
Floyd | In Interactive Fiction, you type commands in plain English at each
Floyd | prompt (>). Most sentences that the game understands are imperatives.
Floyd | To move around, you can give long commands such WALK or GO NORTH, or
Floyd | simply type the direction. Directions can also be abbreviated:
Floyd |
Floyd | NORTH               N
Floyd | SOUTH               S
Floyd | EAST                E
Floyd | WEST                W
Floyd | NORTHEAST           NE
Floyd | NORTHWEST           NW
Floyd | SOUTHEAST           SE
Floyd | SOUTHWEST           SW
Floyd | UP                  U
Floyd | DOWN                D
Floyd |

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 5 Communicating with Interactive Fiction
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | There are many kinds of sentences that Inform understands. Here are
Floyd | some examples:
Floyd | >WALK NORTH
Floyd | >WEST
Floyd | >TAKE ONION
Floyd | >READ ABOUT GRUES
Floyd | >PUT THE RUSTY KEY IN THE CARDBOARD BOX
Floyd | You can use multiple objects with some verbs if you separate them with
Floyd | the word "AND" or a comma. You can put several inputs on a line if you
Floyd | separate them by the word "THEN" or a period:
Floyd | >TAKE THE BOOK, THE SPOON AND THE FROG. DROP THE FOOD THEN READ THE
Floyd | BOOK.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can specify all the objects in room with you by typing "ALL":
Floyd | >TAKE ALL
Floyd | >TAKE ALL THE TOOLS
Floyd | >DROP ALL EXCEPT THE JEWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also use the pronouns "HIM", "HER", and "IT" to refer to the
Floyd | last object you referred to.

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Commands are not case sensitive, and may be in upper or lower case.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 6 Basic Inform Commands
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | These are some of the most common commands for this game.
Floyd | LOOK (L)- One of the most useful verbs in the game. Alone, "LOOK"
Floyd | prints a description of your current location. You can also look at,
Floyd | in, under, or behind an object.
Floyd | EXAMINE (X)- looks at an object.
Floyd | SEARCH - Perform a visual search of an object from your current vantage
Floyd | point. If all angles of an object are not easily visible, you may need
Floyd | to look UNDER or BEHIND it.
Floyd | TAKE (GET)- You can attempt to "TAKE" any object in the game. If the
Floyd | object can be moved, it will be added to your inventory.
Floyd | INVENTORY (I)- This will list everything you are carrying or wearing.
Floyd | You may specify whether you want the inventory to be given in a "tall"
Floyd | format (one object listed underneath another), or a "wide" format
Floyd | (objects listed side by side). This game defaults to "TALL".
Floyd | WAIT (Z)- Because Inform waits for a command to advance the story, you
Floyd | could leave your computer, go out, take a bath, catch a game on the TV,
Floyd | eat a meal, play a quick game of DOOM, and return to find that no time
Floyd | has passed in the story. You can use "WAIT" to make time pass in the
Floyd | story without doing anything.

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I'm hoping that the interpreter testing at the beginning of the game will somehow compensate for Floyd's limitations."
		Jacqueline says, "Nice explanation of WAIT"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | "WAIT" normally waits a single turn-cycle. You may also indicate that
Floyd | you wish to wait for a specified number of turns to pass, or "WAIT
Floyd | UNTIL" a specified time. If anything interesting happens while you are
Floyd | waiting, you will be given a chance to cut short your period of
Floyd | passivity.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 7 Inform Meta-Commands
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | There are certain "special" commands Inform understands. These commands
Floyd | are addressed to the computer rather than the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | SAVE - This stores your current position in the game. You can later
Floyd | return to this position through the RESTORE command.
Floyd | RESTORE - Restores a previously saved game.
Floyd | BRIEF - This command instructs the game to print a full description of
Floyd | a room only the first time you enter it. On subsequent visits, only the
Floyd | room name and objects in it will be listed.
Floyd | SUPERBRIEF - This command tells the game not to print room descriptions
Floyd | even if you haven't been there before. It is intended primarily for
Floyd | those already familiar with the game.
Floyd | VERBOSE - In VERBOSE mode, the full room description is printed each
Floyd | time you enter it. This game begins in VERBOSE mode.
Floyd | QUIT (Q)- This lets you stop playing. If you want to save your
Floyd | position, you must first use the SAVE command.
Floyd | RESTART - This stops the game and starts it over from the beginning.
Floyd | VERIFY - This command verifies that the game file has not been
Floyd | corrupted.

		Jacqueline says, "Huh. Verify."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | SCORE - This shows your character's estimate of of your progress
Floyd | through the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 8 Inform Meta-Commands
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | SCRIPT - Depending on your interpreter, a transcript of the story can
Floyd | be sent to either a printer or a file. "SCRIPT ON", or just "SCRIPT"
Floyd | begins the transcript, while "SCRIPT OFF" or "UNSCRIPT" ends the
Floyd | transcript.
Floyd | PRONOUNS - This command displays the current assignment of the pronouns
Floyd | "him", "her", and "it".
Floyd | VERSION - Shows the serial number and release number of the story.
Floyd | PRETTY - Depending on your computer and interpreter, some of the
Floyd | semi-graphical features of this game may not look right. The internal
Floyd | "PRETTY" settings may be changed by issuing the commands "PRETTY ON"
Floyd | and "PRETTY OFF". On its own, PRETTY will toggle the current pretty
Floyd | state.
Floyd | NOTIFY - Normally, you are not informed of changes in your progress
Floyd | rating. The command NOTIFY ON tells the game to print messages whenever
Floyd | this occurs. NOTIFY OFF causes these messages not to be printed. On its
Floyd | own, NOTIFY will toggle the current status.
Floyd | AGAIN (G) - This will exactly repeat the last command entered.

		DavidW says, "Verify's been around all along."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I figured."
		Jacqueline says, "But I didn't know about it. This game is proving educational."
		Jacqueline asks, "Who knew that reading the manual could actually help?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | OOPS - If you accidentally mistype a word, and the game returns an
Floyd | error such as "I don't understand the word...", you can correct the
Floyd | error by typing OOPS followed by the corrected word.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 9 Moments out of Time Special Commands
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | FOOTNOTE - Occasionally, the text will mention the existence of a
Floyd | footnote. To read the footnote, type FOOTNOTE, followed by the footnote
Floyd | number. This will not count as a turn.
Floyd |
Floyd | MANUAL - This will call up the on-line instruction manual.
Floyd |
Floyd | SETUP - Launches the interactive setup menu.
Floyd |
Floyd | STATUSBAR - Toggles printing of the statusline.
Floyd |
Floyd | SOUND - Some versions of this game include sound effects. If your
Floyd | interpreter supports sound, these effects will be played at various
Floyd | points in the game. "SOUND OFF" will disable sound, and "SOUND ON" will
Floyd | re-enable it. "SOUND UP" and "SOUND DOWN" can be used to alter the
Floyd | volume of sound effects. Because some interpreters may deal with sounds
Floyd | poorly, the game begins with sound effects disabled.
Floyd | Sounds are provided purely as an added bonus for the player, and are in
Floyd | no way important to completing the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | WINFROTZ - This command will toggle WinFrotz compatability mode to
Floyd | improve the display on versions of the interpreter which contain a V6
Floyd | display bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | [ - This "command" is ignored by the game. You can use it to make
Floyd | notes, which will appear in the game transcript:
Floyd | >[ Examine the wine bottle more closely later

		DavidW says, "I can't remember ever actually using VERIFY, though. I probably should."
		DavidW says, "oh good, we don't need the sounds to play this."
		Jacqueline says, "So we need to possibly remember PRETTY and WINFROTZ"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 10 Disambiguation Prompt
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | It is possible that the game may, at times, be unsure as to which of
Floyd | several possible items you are referring, and will present a prompt
Floyd | such as:
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the red ball or the blue ball?
Floyd |
Floyd | In such cases, you may type additional words to clarify, or, if you
Floyd | prefer, type the number of the object you actually meant (in the above
Floyd | example, a response of `1` would be taken to mean the red ball, and `2`
Floyd | to mean the blue one.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline asks, "Holy ---- does that always work?"
		DavidW says, "no"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		DavidW says, "I wish it did."
		Jacqueline says, "I was going to say. I got stuck in an infinite loop the other day in a game."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 11 Navigating Menus
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME features an interactive run-time menu which is
Floyd | normally displayed across the bottom of the screen. If your interpreter
Floyd | supports the use of function keys, pressing the F1 key will activate
Floyd | the menu, which can be navigated via the arrow keys. Pressing F2 will
Floyd | activate the top-level menu, and the keys F3-F12 will activate
Floyd | selections from the top-level menu. The following commands affect the
Floyd | menu:
Floyd | MENU: Activate the current menu (F1)
Floyd | MENU OFF: If your interpreter does not properly support the menu line,
Floyd | or you prefer not to see it, you can disable the menu with this
Floyd | command.
Floyd | MENU ON: Enables the menu
Floyd | MENU TOP: Activate the menu and return to the top level
Floyd | MENU BIND: Toggles the binding of hotkeys F3-F12 from the top menu to
Floyd | the current menu
Floyd | MENU ADD COMMAND x: The menu system is customizable in two ways. You
Floyd | may add a "command", which will be executed exactly as if it were typed
Floyd | at the prompt
Floyd | MENU ADD WORD x: You may also add a "word" to the custom menu. When
Floyd | selected, the word will be inserted into the current line of input.
Floyd |
Floyd | The top-level menu has the following options:
Floyd | GAME: Game meta-commands
Floyd | VERBS: Common verbs
Floyd | COMPASS: Navigation
Floyd | INVENTORY: Items in your possession. Selecting an item will insert it
Floyd | in the input line
Floyd | LOCATION: A list of obvious items in the area
Floyd | CONSOLE: The chips in your StreamDive console
Floyd | CUSTOM: Items you have added to the menu

		DavidW asks, "Also, when it is supported, the question really ought to be Which do you mean, 1) the red ball, or 2) the blue ball?"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. True."
		Jacqueline says, "Holy gosh this has a lot of metacommands."
		Silvermist asks, "Do you want to try another game, then?"
		Jacqueline says, "No."
		Jacqueline says, "I think most of this won't matter, just finding it interesting how much detail he's going into."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 12 Navigating Menus
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | In some places, MOMENTS OUT OF TIME will present you with a full or
Floyd | partial-screen menu of options. Use the keys N and P to move the >
Floyd | pointer between options. Press <ENTER> to select an option. Press Q
Floyd | from the menu screen to quit from the menu system.
Floyd |

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | If your interpreter supports them, the up and down arrow keys may be
Floyd | used to navigate the menu, and the <ESCAPE> key to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 13 The StreamDive Console
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the key pieces of equipment carried by your character in this
Floyd | game is the "StreamDive Console". The StreamDive console serves a wide
Floyd | variety of functions, and it will be impossible to satisfactorily
Floyd | complete the game without it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The StreamDive console's many functions are accessed by using
Floyd | StreamDive chips. In terms of the game, these functions are realized as
Floyd | a set of verbs provided by each chip. When a chip is in place, its
Floyd | commands are available as normal game verbs, but when the chip is not
Floyd | in place, the parser will treat the verbs as unknown.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large number of StreamDive chips will be available to you, but the
Floyd | StreamDive console is only capable of holding five chips, so you will
Floyd | have to carefully choose those chips which provide the functionality
Floyd | you want. Each chip will open up certain avenues of exploration, but
Floyd | the restriction on the number of chips means that other areas will
Floyd | remain closed.

		DavidW says, "This game is also part of a series."
		Jacqueline says, "hm"
		Silvermist says, "Wow you have to have chips in to use certain verbs"
		DavidW says, "Sounds like the StreamDive is a spellbook and the chips are new spell words."
		Jacqueline says, "I am hoping that I will get my head around that concept more later. Possibly I am not quite awake yet."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay, that metaphor helps a bit, except for the limit, but yeah."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 14 Some Recognized Verbs
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | These are only some of the verbs that MOMENTS OUT OF TIME understands.
Floyd | There are many more. Remember, you can use a variety of prepositions
Floyd | with most verbs.
Floyd |
Floyd |  LOOK   TAKE    STAND   PUT     DROP    GIVE    SWITCH
Floyd |  GO     INV     OPEN    CLOSE   ENTER   SIT     UNLOCK
Floyd |  EXIT   EXAMINE YES     NO      SEARCH  TURN    WAIT

		Silvermist says, "It does sound like magic"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 15 Terms of Distribution
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | This game was created for the 2001 rec.arts.int-fiction Interactive
Floyd | Fiction Competition. Permission is given to distribute this version of
Floyd | this game on any compilation of the games from the IF-competition, or
Floyd | of the IF-archive at ifarchive.org.
Floyd |
Floyd | Permission is also given to redistribute this game electronically
Floyd | UNALTERED via the internet. Distributors are encouraged, but not
Floyd | required, to make the Blorb sound resources for this game available,
Floyd | either separately, or as a package with the game code file.
Floyd | Distributors are reminded that this game requires a separate Z-code
Floyd | interpreter, and those wishing to distribute this game packaged with an
Floyd | interpreter must abide by the terms of distribution for the
Floyd | interpreter; this information applies only to the game code module
Floyd | (moments.z6) and its Blorb sound resources (moments.blb)
Floyd |
Floyd | The author requests that he be informed if this game is publicly
Floyd | distributed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Permission is not given to publish this game or sell it for profit,
Floyd | except as part of a compilation of games from the IF-competition.
Floyd | Persons wishing to do so must contact the author first.
Floyd |
Floyd | This game is released free of charge, and as such there is no warranty.

		DavidW asks, "Or apps in a iPhone?"
		Jacqueline says, "Magical apps."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 16 Influences
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | No work is created in a vacuum. The following sources were influential
Floyd | in the formation of this game:
Floyd |
Floyd | Games:
Floyd | The Journeyman Project series, by Presto Studios
Floyd | The Gabriel Knight series, by Sierra On-Line
Floyd | A Mind Forever Voyaging, by Infocom
Floyd | Shivers, by Sierra On-Line
Floyd | Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective, by ICOM
Floyd | Babel, by Ian Finley
Floyd | Books:
Floyd | Cybermen, by David Banks
Floyd | Films:
Floyd | Pulp Fiction, directed by Quentin Tarantino
Floyd | The Virgin Suicides, directed by Sofia Coppela
Floyd | The Usual Suspects, directed by Bryan Singer

		Jacqueline says, "Bishop's connect of 'I am the author! You are the audience! I outrank you!' after that was very well-timed."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 17 Credits
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | Written and implemented by L. Ross Raszewski (rraszews@hotmail.com)
Floyd | The Inform language was created by Graham Nelson
Floyd | The Z-machine format was created by Infocom, inc.
Floyd | V6lib was written by Jason C. Penney
Floyd | Alpha-phase testing by W.M. Wellman and Nate Cull
Floyd | Beta-phase testing by Nate Cull, Dan Shiovitz and Matthew A. Murray
Floyd | Z6 Technical assistance by Jason C. Penney
Floyd | "Departing" (Moments Out of Time Main Title Theme) by Imperius
Floyd | Special thanks to the denizens to ifMud (ifmud.port4000.com) and of
Floyd | rec.arts.int-fiction
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME is a version 6 Z-code game as defined by the
Floyd | Specification of the Z-Machine, revision 1.0
Floyd |
Floyd | This game is a work of fiction. All persons, places and events herein
Floyd | are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons or places living
Floyd | or dead is purely coincidental.
Floyd |
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski/TrenchCoatSoft Interactive.
Floyd |

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 17 Credits
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | Written and implemented by L. Ross Raszewski (rraszews@hotmail.com)
Floyd | The Inform language was created by Graham Nelson
Floyd | The Z-machine format was created by Infocom, inc.
Floyd | V6lib was written by Jason C. Penney
Floyd | Alpha-phase testing by W.M. Wellman and Nate Cull
Floyd | Beta-phase testing by Nate Cull, Dan Shiovitz and Matthew A. Murray
Floyd | Z6 Technical assistance by Jason C. Penney
Floyd | "Departing" (Moments Out of Time Main Title Theme) by Imperius
Floyd | Special thanks to the denizens to ifMud (ifmud.port4000.com) and of
Floyd | rec.arts.int-fiction
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME is a version 6 Z-code game as defined by the
Floyd | Specification of the Z-Machine, revision 1.0
Floyd |
Floyd | This game is a work of fiction. All persons, places and events herein
Floyd | are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons or places living
Floyd | or dead is purely coincidental.
Floyd |
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski/TrenchCoatSoft Interactive.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so that's the last page, I guess."
		DavidW says, "I'm overwhelmed and we haven't even started yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, me too."
		Jacqueline sips some coffee.
		Jacqueline asks, "Does anyone need a nap? Or should we continue?"
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
		DavidW says, "I made tea."
		Jacqueline says, "Yay tea."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "verbose" 		

Floyd | Maximum verbosity.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wide" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "inventory wide" 		

Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x mission" 		

Floyd | Mission Parameters
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678
Floyd | FYEO
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearance granted for immediate StreamDive. Target is local grid
Floyd | reference 0x1549. Temporal Reference 785278.7 UDC. We will be in phase
Floyd | for StreamDive at 865741.3 UDC. Dive duration not to exceed .5 units
Floyd | UDC (12 hours local time). Stream Capacitance field will be set for
Floyd | auto-recall at this time.
Floyd | Research unit indicates high levels of stream distortion in this zone,
Floyd | indicating that premature extraction may not be possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mission Summary: The purpose of your StreamDive is historical research.
Floyd | We have isolated an evacuated area to minimize potential corruption.
Floyd | You are to record all findings, but avoid direct contact with any
Floyd | inhabitants. Records from this zone are fragmentary, so any documents
Floyd | of historical interest should be added to your DataStore.
Floyd |
Floyd | *WARNING*
Floyd | Due to ambient radiation levels, wideband recall will not be available.
Floyd | Since StreamDive instruments are shielded against EMP effects, lost
Floyd | components may be recoverable after destruction of the local grid
Floyd | section. For this reason, level 1b restrictions are in effect for the
Floyd | duration of this dive.
Floyd |
Floyd | PLEASE REVIEW STREAMDIVER MANUAL BEFORE COMMENCING DIVE.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, are we a time-travelling historian doing research?"
		Jacqueline says, "So we are in a Star Trek episode."
		Silvermist asks, "look in locker?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So that manual is the thesis we just read, correct? Or is it a separate in-game manual?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x locker" 		

Floyd | The translucent glass-fronted equipment locker contains all the
Floyd | standard StreamDive equipment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search locker" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the equipment locker is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "location"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "location" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I think that is a menu activated with the function keys."
		Jacqueline says, "Which ain't gonna work for us."
		DavidW says, "oh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "f1" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "do we put the chip in somewhere to get verbs to use?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take all from locker" 		

Floyd | StreamDive console: Removed.
Floyd | cloaking device: Removed.
Floyd | autokey: Removed.
Floyd | stream visualizer: Removed.
Floyd | probe: Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x maual" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x manual" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so it's the meta manual."
		DavidW says, "I didn't understand the menu bit, but I guess it's another window panel that Floyd just doesn't show us."
Roger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Silvermist says, "Hi roger"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains no chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Hello"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 1" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 1]
Floyd | Adding a chip to the console makes certain verbs available which access
Floyd | the chip's functions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Gah. Roger's here. Now we can't be all, 'Should we do the dive now?' 'Roger'"
		Jacqueline says, "We'll just have to say 'Affirmative'"
		Silvermist says, "Roger that"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean... Hi, Roger"
		Jacqueline says, "Roger, you missed the most extensive IF game manual we've ever seen."
		Jacqueline says, "But I actually don't recommend recapping."
		Roger says, "ok"
		Jacqueline says, "Reading it has a 1 in 5 chance of brain blasting."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a probe, a stream visualizer, an autokey, a cloaking
Floyd | device and your StreamDive console (which is empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x probe" 		

Floyd | A telepresence probe unit. When activated, it operates as a fly-by-wire
Floyd | system which may allow the user access to areas too small to allow
Floyd | access.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stream visualizer" 		

Floyd | The stream visualizer is a de-focused temporal display. It scans
Floyd | backwards through the local timestream, correlating the results with
Floyd | the information in the DataStore. When the button is pushed, generates
Floyd | a hologram based on the results of its scan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Cooool. I want one of those at home."
		DavidW says, "This is so weird."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x autokey" 		

Floyd | An electronic lockpick. It incorporates a small scanner and a force
Floyd | field generator. Using highly precise force field manipulation, it can
Floyd | be used as a universal key for almost any lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sweet"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cloaking device" 		

Floyd | A standard-issue cloaking device. Operating along similar principles to
Floyd | the StreamDive device itself, it causes all photons entering the field
Floyd | to be instantly transported to the far side of the field as if they had
Floyd | passed straight through it, with the net result being that anything
Floyd | within the field is nearly invisible. The relocation effect causes
Floyd | "ghost" photons to be emitted by the inside of the field, allowing any
Floyd | person inside it to see his surroundings with a minimum of visual
Floyd | distortion. The device's battery is currently charged to 100 percent.
Floyd | The cloaking device is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "So the visualizer does a 'show me what happened to this thing'?"
		Silvermist says, "It's a sonic screwdriver"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "To this thing or in this place, which one I'm not sure"
		Jacqueline says, "Crazy thing is, they're working on that cloaking tech for reals."
		DavidW says, "uh-huh"
		Jacqueline asks, "Do we have chips?"
		DavidW asks, "I think we have one, don't we?"
		Silvermist says, "I think we have an empty chip bank"
		DavidW says, "There's none in the chiprack, but..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a probe, a stream visualizer, an autokey, a cloaking
Floyd | device and your StreamDive console (which is empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which is a chip bank (in which
Floyd | are ten chips (a dive chip, a DataStore chip, a map chip, a library
Floyd | chip, an artificial intuition chip, a cryptography chip, a scan chip, a
Floyd | blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's 10 chips in the bank."
		DavidW says, "We have to choose which 5 to use."
		Silvermist says, "I think we need the dive chip"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		Jacqueline says, "And the DataStore chip"
		Jacqueline says, "Since we're supposed to pick up historical documents"
		Jacqueline says, "Wonder what the blank chip is."
		DavidW says, "Surely we can examine the chips."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blank chip" 		

Floyd | This StreamDive chip is blank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scan chip" 		

Floyd | This chip provides an interface to the console's sensor functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SCAN -- Perform a detailed scan of the area
Floyd |  SCAN X -- Scan an object
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "Maybe we download something onto the blank chip in the future"
		Jacqueline says, "Ah."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x interface chip" 		

Floyd | This chip allows interface between the console and any known electronic
Floyd | device or electronic storage medium.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  INTERFACE X -- Interface console with device
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take dive chip and DataStore chip" 		

Floyd | dive chip: Taken.
Floyd | DataStore chip: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose interface lets us directly access any computer."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chips" 		

Floyd | DataStore chip: This chip stores data from your dive, storing any
Floyd | relevant documents for later review.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  DOCUMENTS -- Recall stored documents
Floyd | dive chip: This is the fundamental chip for the StreamDive console. It
Floyd | allows control of the temporal displacement functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RECALL -- Discharge StreamDive capacitors for instant recall
Floyd |  STATUS -- Display status of Dive system
Floyd |  TIMESCAN -- Scan local timestream
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chip bank" 		

Floyd | A small section of the locker contains slots for holding StreamDive
Floyd | chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "DUDE"
		Jacqueline says, "I x'd you to find out what you contain."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in chip bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are eight chips (a map chip, a library chip, an
Floyd | artificial intuition chip, a cryptography chip, a scan chip, a blank
Floyd | chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x that chips" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What other three do we want to try on our first dive?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x those chips" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "Do you think we need the map chip?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x map chip" 		

Floyd | This chip provides real-time mapping of your current dive location.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  MAP -- Display map
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm worried it requires display we don't have, but maybe it's text-based."
		DavidW says, "I think we should skip the map one."
		DavidW says, "I doubt it's an ASCII map."
		Silvermist says, "Good point"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x library chip" 		

Floyd | This chip contains a library of data, tailored to your current mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RESEARCH X -- Search library for given term
Floyd |  BROWSE -- Display relevant entries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I dunno, Raszewski seemed to embed a lot of workarounds for ancient technology that couldn't handle this revolutionary game."
		Jacqueline says, "But I'm fine with bypassing it."
		Silvermist asks, "What does the scan chip do?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scan chip" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x scan chip" 		

Floyd | This chip provides an interface to the console's sensor functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SCAN -- Perform a detailed scan of the area
Floyd |  SCAN X -- Scan an object
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are eight chips (a map chip, a library chip, an
Floyd | artificial intuition chip, a cryptography chip, a scan chip, a blank
Floyd | chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. Could be quite useful, that scan chip"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cryptography" 		

Floyd | This chip contains the algorithms for all known cryptographic systems,
Floyd | as well as a heuristic to deal with unknown ciphers. Its function is to
Floyd | decipher encrypted or obfuscated text, or to render text into the most
Floyd | appropriate encrypted or obfuscated form.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  ENCODE X -- Render input into appropriate ciphertext
Floyd |  DECODE X -- Decipher input
Floyd |  ANALYZE X -- Apply heuristics to input and display results
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x intuition" 		

Floyd | This chip contains the experimental "Artificial Intuition" chip. Its
Floyd | function is to evaluate the current situation and recommend a course of
Floyd | action.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  HINT -- Recommend action
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ha ha"
		Jacqueline says, "Clever integration"
		Silvermist says, "Ah, hints"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shield" 		

Floyd | This chip uses the StreamDive capacitors to generate an impenetrable
Floyd | temporal energy barrier around the user for defensive purposes. Using
Floyd | this function drains energy from the dive capacitors, reducing the
Floyd | remaining duration of the dive.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SHIELD ON -- Activate the shield
Floyd |  SHIELD OFF -- Deactivate the shield.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "Maybe take Shield and Scan and Hints"
		DavidW says, "I want library, scan, and interface. I wish I knew what era we are exploring."
		Jacqueline asks, "I am undecided on the hint chip. Take it because we're newbies and this seems daunting and unfamiliar? Or wait because it's cheaty?"
		DavidW says, "I'm leaning towards wait because it's cheaty."
		Jacqueline says, "I figured you'd say that."
		Jacqueline says, "And deep down, I agree."
		Silvermist says, "I think it will make things move along smoothly"
		DavidW asks, "also, are we allowed to swap chips during a dive?"
		DavidW says, "Can we make multiple dives? I don't fully understand how this all works yet."
		Silvermist says, "If we can take all the chips, then that would help"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bank" 		

Floyd | The chip bank is part of the cabinet's interior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "console" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I think we can hold all the chips, but only have five in place at a time."
		Jacqueline says, "So, hm. Yeah."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take all chips" 		

Floyd | map chip: Taken.
Floyd | library chip: Taken.
Floyd | artificial intuition chip: Taken.
Floyd | cryptography chip: Taken.
Floyd | scan chip: Taken.
Floyd | blank chip: Taken.
Floyd | interface chip: Taken.
Floyd | shield chip: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hells yeah"
		DavidW says, "Hope we don't have an inventory limit."
		Jacqueline says, "It did kind of sound like there's an inventory limit, but it --"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, it said something about one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put dive in rack" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the dive chip or the StreamDive console?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "Where do we put the chips? Do we carry something to put the 5 chips into?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put dive chip in console" 		

Floyd | You put the dive chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | Due to ambient radiation levels, wideband recall will not be available. Since StreamDive instruments are shielded against EMP effects, lost components may be recoverable after destruction of the local grid section. For this reason, level 1b restrictions are in effect for the duration of this dive.
		DavidW says, "yes, the console"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "yeah, I don't understand what that means."
		DavidW says, "EMP effects wipe out electronics; I know that much."
		Jacqueline says, "oh oh oh I misread."
		Jacqueline says, "I thought that said 1lb restriction"
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly there is no inventory limit, then."
		Roger says, "we should ask for a HINT right now"
		DavidW asks, "Is it saying that chips inside a console are safe, and chips not inside will be wiped clean?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, hrm. That might be."
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		Jacqueline says, "We should just save before we dive."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying nine chips (a shield chip, an interface chip, a blank
Floyd | chip, a scan chip, a cryptography chip, an artificial intuition chip, a
Floyd | library chip, a map chip and a DataStore chip), a probe, a stream
Floyd | visualizer, an autokey, a cloaking device and your StreamDive console,
Floyd | inside which is a dive chip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put datastore in console" 		

Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I think we're agreed on the scan chip?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put library in console" 		

Floyd | You put the library chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put scan in console" 		

Floyd | You put the scan chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put interface in console" 		

Floyd | You put the interface chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains five chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we?"
		Roger says, "beep beep"
		DavidW says, "Captain, I'm frightened."
		Silvermist exclaims, "Let's dive!"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Me too, little one. Me too."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, um, type 'dive'? What't the command again?"
		DavidW says, "out, for all I know."
Roger says (to floyd), "x dive chip" 		

Floyd | This is the fundamental chip for the StreamDive console. It allows
Floyd | control of the temporal displacement functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RECALL -- Discharge StreamDive capacitors for instant recall
Floyd |  STATUS -- Display status of Dive system
Floyd |  TIMESCAN -- Scan local timestream
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Like, don't we use the door?"
		Roger says, "that was less helpful than I hoped"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right. We leave this room."
		DavidW says, "We are so noob."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which is a chip bank (empty))
Floyd | here.
Floyd | A voice issues from the console. "StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678, please
Floyd | report for preDive examination."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Your mission parameters were quite specific. You can only take one
Floyd | piece of equipment other than your StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "A-yup"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying five chips (a shield chip, a blank chip, a
Floyd | cryptography chip, an artificial intuition chip and a map chip), a
Floyd | probe, a stream visualizer, an autokey, a cloaking device and your
Floyd | StreamDive console, inside which are five chips (an interface chip, a
Floyd | scan chip, a library chip, a DataStore chip and a dive chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. We don't get everything."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put shield, blank, cryptography, and intuition chip in locker" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put chips in locker" 		

Floyd | shield chip: Done.
Floyd | blank chip: Done.
Floyd | cryptography chip: Done.
Floyd | artificial intuition chip: Done.
Floyd | map chip: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so, not only do we have to drop all the spare chips, but almost everything else too."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. We don't get the probe and stuff?"
		DavidW says, "yup. It's pick one."
		Roger says, "Carry-on restrictions just keep getting worse in the future"
		Jacqueline says, "Evidently"
		Jacqueline asks, "Gosh, they're all useful. Which one do we want?"
		Silvermist asks, "what was the probe and stream visualizer?"
		DavidW says, "stream visualizer, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "We have been playing for an hour now, and haven't even left the room. Just slightly amused."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stream visualizer" 		

Floyd | The stream visualizer is a de-focused temporal display. It scans
Floyd | backwards through the local timestream, correlating the results with
Floyd | the information in the DataStore. When the button is pushed, generates
Floyd | a hologram based on the results of its scan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Probe lets us see into small places. Visualizer lets us review the past."
		DavidW says, "Autokey is a rezrov."
		Jacqueline asks, "And you want the visualizer?"
		DavidW says, "well, visualizer or autokey."
		Silvermist says, "I vote cloaking device, like a Romulan"
		Silvermist says, "Autokey is good too"
		DavidW says, "Cloaking device drains our batteries."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, that's multiple votes for autokey"
		Jacqueline says, "Meeting Time Barbie (R) says, 'IF by committee is hard.'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put all but console and autokey in locker" 		

Floyd | probe: Done.
Floyd | stream visualizer: Done.
Floyd | cloaking device: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "eep"
		Jacqueline asks, "...yes?"
		DavidW says, "hold on. Let me check my makeup"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "You'll have to leave the feather boa behind."
		DavidW says, "darn"
		Jacqueline says, "Them's the breaks, kid."
		DavidW says, "I won't be fashionable and stylish."
		DavidW says, "save first"
		Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "You don't need those to be fashionable and stylish. It was inside you all along."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "Gives Gold Diving helmet to DavidW"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "dive" 		

Floyd | In what?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Pretty dramatic."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wait" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Here we go."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wait" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "aww yeah time to timethief all your old garbage"
		Silvermist asks, "read items on fridge?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Are those documents?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x receipt" 		

Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd | Store #10191 Checker 7 6:27 PM
Floyd |
Floyd | BJ ICE CRM 1GAL            7.74
Floyd | FW TOWELL 6PK         SB   4.80
Floyd | FW 2PCT MLK 1GAL           4.88
Floyd | FW TRASH BAG               5.54
Floyd | PRODUCE               SB   9.34
Floyd | PRODUCE                   16.33
Floyd | AP XS CH COL               9.72
Floyd | POLISH SAUS               10.21
Floyd | 1DOZ EGG                   8.35
Floyd | FLNK STK                  18.22
Floyd | PRD WHOLE CHKN            12.77
Floyd | FC BREAD                   1.94
Floyd | COKE 2LTR          6      18.06
Floyd | MTN SPR WTR 1GAL   4      12.44
Floyd | TT DONUT                   4.33
Floyd | MARLB MEN UL CRT          52.00
Floyd | AA BATT 12PK              16.32
Floyd | CP SOUP            5  SB  10.35
Floyd | APL JCE                    5.10
Floyd | MX TMPN 30                 6.77
Floyd |
Floyd | BAL                      235.21
Floyd |
Floyd | VALUED CUSTOMER 1191388732
Floyd |
Floyd | SB FW TOWELL 6PK           2.20-
Floyd | SB PRODUCE                 1.21-
Floyd | SB CP SOUP                 1.00-
Floyd | BAL                      230.80
Floyd | TAX  11.54     BAL       242.34
Floyd | Debit Card               242.34-
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | FoodWorks 10191
Floyd | Debit Card     XXXXXXXXXXXXX1332
Floyd | $242.34
Floyd | BIOMETRIC SCAN CONFIRM:
Floyd | James Robert Wallace
Floyd | AUTH OK
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | Authentication verified by DAVS
Floyd | YOUR TOTAL SUPER BONUS SAVINGS
Floyd | TODAY ARE: $4.41
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you for shopping at
Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd |
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Grocery Receipt" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wow. that ... actually looks exactly like a receipt."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x report card" 		

Floyd | A grade report has been affixed to the refrigerator door:
Floyd | Donald Woods High School
Floyd | Interim Grade Report
Floyd |
Floyd | Term: Spring
Floyd | Name: Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Grade: 10
Floyd |
Floyd | Class: Calculus        Instructor: Nelson    Grade: 99
Floyd | Class: Journalism Tech Instructor: Kryzac    Grade: 100
Floyd | Class: English II      Instructor: Celsius   Grade: 89
Floyd | Class: AP Physics      Instructor: Cornell   Grade: 98
Floyd |
Floyd | Please report any errors to guidance office immediately.
Floyd | This is an interim grade report. Official grades will be available at
Floyd | end of semester.
Floyd | [The document "Report Card" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, I like this autoscanning thing that's happening."
		Jacqueline says, "Wow. Those are either some great grades or some Ferris Bueller grades."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | You open the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" 		

Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd | The refrigerator is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close fridge" 		

Floyd | You close the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "darn. No ice cream."
		Jacqueline says, "That's in the freezer."
		Roger says, "Young Stephen was studious before he grew up to be Darth Hitler"
		Silvermist says, "I wonder if Wallace invented something in the future or affected history in some large way"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stove" 		

Floyd | The contemporary incarnation of the fundamental cooking device. It has
Floyd | evolved somewhat from classical cast-iron-box-with-fire-inside, and
Floyd | features a range top with heating elements, and an interior compartment
Floyd | for other cooking. Of course, it lacks any real food-preparation
Floyd | abilities, such as laser-guided rehydration and instantaneous thermal
Floyd | induction, but it sufficed for the people of this era.
Floyd | The stove is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Let's try our chip superpowers"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research foodworks" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research wallace" 		

Floyd | Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Pioneer in human-computer neural interfaces and neural cybernetics.
Floyd | During the wars of the twentieth century, his familiarity with the
Floyd | internal workings of the human brain led to his being pressed into
Floyd | service as a neurosurgeon. After the wars, he applied his considerable
Floyd | computer skills to building brain implant devices which could restore
Floyd | brain function lost due to injury or illness. He received the Nobel
Floyd | Prize in 2086 for his work with stroke and brain cancer victims. Such
Floyd | modern inventions as the neural navigation interface and the artificial
Floyd | voice box owe much in their design to his work.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Great Minds in Science, the Twenty-First Century
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay. So probably not Ferris Bueller grades, then."
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly, but probably not."
		Roger says, "Scheduled for Termination"
		Silvermist says, "Research cybernetics"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research cybernetics" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "browse" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 2     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "Why do they want us to go back to Wallace's childhood?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Possibly the darkest period in recent history, this period contains the
Floyd | last and largest of the intercontinental wars. Several Middle Eastern
Floyd | nations formed a military alliance, and began imposing expansionist
Floyd | policies on neighboring countries. When the United States threatened to
Floyd | cut off trade relations with these countries, the formed a lucrative
Floyd | trade alliance with China. Because during this period, industrialized
Floyd | nations were still highly dependent on fossil fuel, an alliance of
Floyd | western nations declared war on China and the Arabic alliance. Tactical
Floyd | nuclear warheads were used by both sides, resulting in the near-total
Floyd | annihilation of many US-sympathetic countries in southeast Asia. Though
Floyd | US nuclear weapons were unable to breach Chinese countermeasures,
Floyd | several Chinese nuclear missiles did penetrate the US defensive system,
Floyd | obliterating a number of cities. The war was finally ended when the
Floyd | massive space station Kennedy crashed to Earth near the Chinese
Floyd | capital. The resulting explosion killed over two billion people,
Floyd | forcing the Chinese government to capitulate. However, widespread
Floyd | environmental and war damage left the entire world badly crippled.
Floyd | Reconstruction would take much of the next century, and the extensive
Floyd | costs of rebuilding the damaged world forced the beginning of
Floyd | governmental alliances that would eventually lead to a United Earth
Floyd | Government.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your mission occurs during the opening of the nuclear phase of the war.
Floyd | At 785278.83 UDC, a missile launched from China will exploit the breach
Floyd | in the US missile shield. Nine hours later, its course will be diverted
Floyd | away from Washington, DC to avoid US countermeasures. It will narrowly
Floyd | miss a secondary target, several miles from your Dive site, at 865741.8
Floyd | UDC.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Zanxq's Brief Guide to Human Civilizations, vol. 72
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Space Station Kennedy
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Silvermist says, "uh oh, nuclear bombs near our dive site and world wars"
		Jacqueline says, "haha - Brief Guide, vol 72"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "research space station kennedy" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 2     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | 3     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "See space station Kennedy"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | The first orbital platform intended for permanent occupation, Space
Floyd | Station Kennedy was assembled in Earth orbit in the second quarter of
Floyd | the twenty-first century. Compared with earlier projects, Kennedy was
Floyd | ambitious; it contained living facilities for twenty-five families,
Floyd | and, unlike earlier space stations, its primary function was not
Floyd | scientific, but industrial. Methods of zero-gravity production which
Floyd | had previously been tested on earlier space missions were implemented
Floyd | on a grand scale. It was also the first space vehicle to be equipped
Floyd | with a synthetic gravity system. After two decades of service, the
Floyd | station was badly damaged during the intercontinental war of the mid
Floyd | twenty-first century. Its crew were not able to prevent a forced
Floyd | re-entry, and chose to direct the crashing space station to a heavily
Floyd | inhabited area of China. Everyone aboard the station was killed in the
Floyd | resulting explosion, which also resulted in severe environmental
Floyd | catastrophes in Asia, prompting the end of the war.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: The Space Pioneers, vol. 9
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Jacqueline asks, "Why do I have the feeling this is not going to be a game we complete today?"
		DavidW says, "I feel the same way."
		Roger says, "possibly it's your intuition module"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 2     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | 3     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains five chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in chiprack" 		

Floyd | In the StreamDive console are five chips (an interface chip, a scan
Floyd | chip, a library chip, a DataStore chip and a dive chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Visit the pantry?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure. I actually would prefer others enter commands."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty), a flour
Floyd | pot (closed) and a can of spiced ham (closed).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "In about an hour I'll need to bail to get ready for the Seattle IF Meetup, so others should have a sense of the landscape and commands."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x flour pot" 		

Floyd | It's a small tin pot bearing the word "flour" and a floral decoration.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | You open the flour pot, revealing some flour.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search flour" 		

Floyd | (the flour)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close flour pot" 		

Floyd | You close the flour pot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x can" 		

Floyd | This is a can of compressed, meat-like substance, which, though only
Floyd | barely meeting the definition of "food", could have provided an easy
Floyd | meal in an emergency.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x susan" 		

Floyd | Unbelievable. The workmanship which allows this device to swivel
Floyd | smoothly, allowing stored utensils to be easily accessed, all without
Floyd | the aid of laser construction or frictionless bearings. Still, from its
Floyd | gaudy appearance, it isn't hard to see why the owner relegated it to
Floyd | the pantry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn susan" 		

Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pots" 		

Floyd | A number of pots and pans sit on the shelves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under shelf" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan ham" 		

Floyd | A slight shiver runs up your spine as you read the results of the scan.
Floyd | Something similar to your temporal shield has been used on this can to
Floyd | force it into a hyperstable configuration. Despite the question of why
Floyd | anyone would do such a thing, what concerns you far more is the
Floyd | question of how it was done; such a transmutation is patently

		Jacqueline says, "Darn"

Floyd | impossible without StreamDive technology. Has someone else been here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Was hoping that was spam."
		Roger says, "oh no time spammers"
		DavidW says, "Possibly another diver is here."
		Silvermist says, "put ham on lazy susan"
		DavidW says, "Maybe from alternate future? Geez, wouldn't that be weird."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put ham on susan" 		

Floyd | You need to be holding the can of spiced ham before you can put it on
Floyd | top of something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ham" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put ham on susan" 		

Floyd | Putting things on the lazy susan would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The susan doesn't seem to be implemented very deeply."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put ham on shelf" 		

Floyd | You put the can of spiced ham on the shelves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "eats ham turns into timetravelling mutant"
		DavidW says, "I say we explore east of kitchen next."
		Silvermist says, "sounds good"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letter" 		

Floyd | Dear Julia,
Floyd | I hope to God you get this letter. We waited for you as long as we
Floyd | could, but they're saying that the bombs could fall any day. There's a
Floyd | shelter out in New Calvert, we're going there. Daddy says its the
Floyd | safest place in a hundred miles. Try to get there if you can, but don't
Floyd | take any risks. The most important thing is that you stay safe. I left
Floyd | some money and your grandmom's jewels in the hidden place for you. Your
Floyd | dad bought a gun and bullets, and put them there too, but be careful.
Floyd | We all love you and hope to see you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Mom.
Floyd | [The document "Letter to Julia" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "so there's a gun to be found, eh?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research julia" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Silvermist says, "I hope it's not the nuclear bomb"
		DavidW says, "I hope so too."
		DavidW says, "We really haven't learned much."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the wooden knob
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan knob" 		

Floyd | The scanner shows that the knob on the end of the bannister is not
Floyd | seated firmly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn knob" 		

Floyd | You give the knob a twist, then another. After a few more turns, it
Floyd | comes free in your hand, revealing a very small compartment in the post
Floyd | underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in compartment" 		

Floyd | In the post is a large key.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		Silvermist asks, "take the key and look below for source of crash noise?"
		DavidW says, "We have the autokey; we don't need this key."
		DavidW says, "but yeah, downstairs seems like a plan."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Clever alternative puzzle stuff."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 2" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 2]
Floyd | That is, to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door with autokey" 		

Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; which door do you want to unlock?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; which door do you want to unlock?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open basement door" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open south door" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to open the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You make it part of the way down the steps, but encounter an
Floyd | impenetrable blockade of toppled boxes, probably brought down by the
Floyd | shaking you felt earlier. Disheartened, you turn back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. We were thwarted by toppled boxes?"
		Jacqueline asks, "How lame are we?"
		Silvermist says, "sad"
		Jacqueline nods.
		DavidW says, "oh noes, wezz boxed in."
		Jacqueline smacks David up the backside of his head.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 3].
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Spare Bedroom
Floyd | This room looks as if it hasn't seen use any time in the recent past.
Floyd | It is sparsely furnished, containing little more than a dresser, bed,
Floyd | and nightstand. The only exit is southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some luggage has been tucked away by the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a memo pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oooh"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "DOC!"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, luggage."
		Jacqueline rubs her hands together.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x memo" 		

Floyd | A blank pad of paper. There is a visible tear where the top sheet was
Floyd | torn off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Find a pencil!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan pad" 		

Floyd | The scanner enhances some vague indentations on the pad and reveals a
Floyd | message:
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | thnx for last night. wont say more here.
Floyd | got your note @ rustys. left note 4 u
Floyd | in hall. cant find my book so used codeword. talk later. IEU
Floyd |
Floyd |      --D
Floyd | [The document "Memo" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Gotcher pencil right here, ma'am."
		Jacqueline says, "...or a fancy futuristic scanner. That works, too"
		Silvermist exclaims, "So Julia is thanking someone for last night? O lal a!"
		DavidW says, "D is thanking Julia."
		DavidW asks, "Is IEU the codeword?"
		Silvermist says, "Can we research IEU and rustys"
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		DavidW says, "rustys is probably Rusty's. Rusty's home."
		Roger says, "improvised explosive underwear"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open luggage" 		

Floyd | You look through the luggage. You find several changes of clothes and a
Floyd | slightly larger selection of female undergarments, as well as other
Floyd | sundries and personal hygiene products. Deciding that nothing of
Floyd | historical interest is there, you re-close the bags.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | As if mocking you, the scanner contradicts your hypothesis by
Floyd | indicating numerous small traces that the room has been occupied; signs
Floyd | of recent dusting, uneven settling of the bedsprings, and evidence that
Floyd | the notepad on the nightstand was recently moved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dresser" 		

Floyd | (the dresser drawers)
Floyd | You open the dresser drawers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in dresser" 		

Floyd | (the dresser)
Floyd | There is nothing on the dresser.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nightstand" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the nightstand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "visit another room?"
		Silvermist says, "need to go afk"
		Roger says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Video disc player. How quaint."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookshelves" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the bookshelf.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look on bookshelf" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bar" 		

Floyd | This is an area of the room used for mixing drinks and storing
Floyd | alcoholic beverages. At one time, it had a water hook-up, but this has
Floyd | been disconnected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "try another room, I guess."
		DavidW says, "If we find a video tape, we know where to play it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd | This is a typical desktop computer of the period, probably full of
Floyd | shortcuts and inefficiencies that make it useless for "real" computing,
Floyd | but marginally faster and easier for bookkeeping, word-processing, and
Floyd | casual use of the global computer network.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "snrk"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: Lewellen Personal Machines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Account Worksheet
Floyd | June
Floyd |
Floyd | Mortgage            3078.42
Floyd | Gas
Floyd |  James              432.20
Floyd |  Katia              150.78
Floyd |  Julia & Jim        107.66
Floyd | Utilities           1210.59
Floyd | Food                1590.67
Floyd | Allowance-Julia      400.00
Floyd | Allowance-Jim        250.00
Floyd | PVR repair           130.00
Floyd | Internet             100.00
Floyd | Mobile Phones        660.00
Floyd | Phone                500.00
Floyd | Car repair          4300.00
Floyd | Doctor               800.00
Floyd | James - other       3000.00
Floyd | Other               1069.93
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Account Sheet" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		DavidW says, "oh, the J of the bedroom note might be Jim, then."
		DavidW asks, "Or James?"
		DavidW asks, "And why isn't Stephen mentioned?"
		Jacqueline asks, "God, these figures... what year is this supposed to be?"
		Roger says, "maybe they like his middle name"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The receipt probably has the date on it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Electronic Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 1 Default Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     From:          Subject:
Floyd |      Arcotech       Re: Shelter performance.............2
Floyd |      Litefoot, inc  Klien account.......................3
Floyd |      Rick738        You gotta see this! 51934...........5
Floyd |      Optitron BioTe Support: Incident ticket 31821......6
Floyd |      ezcash019      MAKE MONEY FAST!!...................7
Floyd |      Cameron White  Fwd: Your American Duty.............8
Floyd |      Arcotech       Re: Shelter capacity................9
Floyd |      Arcotech       Important Announcement!.............10

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 2 Arcotech       Re: Shelter performance
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Mr. Wallace,
Floyd |
Floyd | In response to your inquiry, Arcotech shelters are designed to
Floyd | withstand most conventional attacks and fallout resulting from nuclear
Floyd | attacks. However, no consumer shelter can provide total protection. In
Floyd | the unlikely event that a nuclear strike occurs sufficiently close that
Floyd | your shelter would be within the cratered area, our level of protection
Floyd | would fail. Please keep in mind, however, that the chances of a nuclear
Floyd | strike close to your home are miniscule.
Floyd |
Floyd | We hope that your concerns have been addressed in a timely and useful
Floyd | manner. Please contact us if you have further concerns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Support Department
Floyd | Arcotech, Inc.

		Jacqueline says, "The receipt doesn't have a date on it, only a time, but it speaks of a biometric scan to confirm debit card identity, so that, coupled with this crazy budget, imply a bit in our future still."
		Jacqueline says, "Though it's written 15 years ago to start with, so who knows."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 3 Litefoot, inc  Klien account
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | James,
Floyd |
Floyd | Good work on the Klien account. We'll be closing in a few weeks. Frieda
Floyd | wants you look over the notes for the Monaco deal, but there's no rush.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a little buzz about a possible government contract. Think
Floyd | LT-739 will be ready in two weeks?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob Travers
Floyd | Litefoot Industrial Sealants

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 4 Support Dept   Ticket 201893456
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Customer,
Floyd |
Floyd | This is an automated message to inform you that your PR-1029 Personal
Floyd | Video Recorder has been received by our returns department. Since your
Floyd | digital recorder is still under warranty, a repaired unit will be sent
Floyd | to your home free of charge within the next three business days.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is an AUTOMATED RESPONSE. Please DO NOT respond to this message.

		Roger says, "People in the olden times were boring"
		DavidW asks, "Wonder if that video recorder is in the mailbox outside or what?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 5 Rick738        You gotta see this! 51934
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Hey Freddie,
Floyd |
Floyd | I found a site last night that you've GOTTA see! They have the HOTTEST
Floyd | young girls anywhere on the net! I know how much you like this stuff,
Floyd | so check it out!
Floyd |
Floyd | [LINK]

		Jacqueline says, "hm. Possibly. I'm afraid we'll get hit by a nuke if we go outside, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 6 Optitron BioTe Support: Incident ticket 31821
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear customer,
Floyd |
Floyd | The following technical support information is being sent in response
Floyd | to your message entitled: "Eye recharge fails", dated 5/11. If you
Floyd | believe this message has been sent in error, please contact
Floyd | abuse@optitron-biotechnics.usa
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Mr. Wallace,
Floyd | Though recharge failures are rare, they do occur. Please be sure to
Floyd | clean the optic unit and charger receptacle thoroughly, as directed by
Floyd | your user manual. We find that over 90% of recharging difficulties are
Floyd | due to dirty contacts or charger misuse. If the problem persists, it
Floyd | may point to battery exhaustion. Though Optitron LZ-model storage units
Floyd | generally last at least 10 years, excessive wear and environmental
Floyd | conditions can shorten their lifetimes. Since your unit is over six
Floyd | years old, there is a small service charge for replacing the power
Floyd | unit. This charge covers installation of a new power cell, unit
Floyd | cleaning, and re-alignment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please consider upgrading your prosthesis to the new LZ100-model, which
Floyd | adds the following enhancements:
Floyd |  *Compatible with M-VIDEO 7 image capture devices
Floyd |  *Improved resolution and focus
Floyd |  *New long-life power cell, capable of storing power for 72 hours of
Floyd | use
Floyd |  *High-speed recharge: battery can be charged to capacity in under 2
Floyd | hours
Floyd |  *Power-saving mode: engages when eyes are closed to conserve power
Floyd |  *In-place recharger: the prosthesis can be charged without removal
Floyd |  *Increased comfort and durability
Floyd |  *New life-like cosmetic lens: prosthesis is undetectable under casual
Floyd | examination
Floyd |
Floyd | We hope this information has been useful in solving your problem.
Floyd | Please cite this incident number (31821) your response if you wish to
Floyd | update your support issue.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sincerely,
Floyd | Camphor Tryst
Floyd | Support Department, Optitron BioTech

		DavidW says, "Fake eEye."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 7 ezcash019      MAKE MONEY FAST!!
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Hi friend,
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you like money? Sure -- we all do! Do you want a way to get more of
Floyd | it without working? Then read on, friend!
Floyd | A year ago, I was flat broke, but then I found out about this TESTED,
Floyd | PROVEN system, and now I've got more money than you can shake a monkey
Floyd | at!
Floyd |
Floyd | This is completely SAFE and LEGAL! You will be ritcher than God!
Floyd |
Floyd | Just go to this web address to find out how you can have the money
Floyd | start rolling in!
Floyd |
Floyd | [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | Why are you waiting? Start making money now!

		DavidW says, "Fake eyes in IF suggests a retina scan lock somewhere."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 8 Cameron White  Fwd: Your American Duty
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Can you believe this shit?
Floyd | >In these times of trial, every American Citizen must do his part
Floyd | >to ensure a safe and prosperous future for your country. If the
Floyd | >enemies of freedom are to be defeated, we must be able to meet
Floyd | >their vile atrocities with whatever force necessary.
Floyd | >Many traitors and cowards have tried to claim that this war is
Floyd | >unnecessary, and have avoided their patriotic duty by claiming
Floyd | >cowardly "conscientious objector" status.
Floyd | >If the US is to arise victorious from this war, such cowards and
Floyd | >traitors must be stopped. Every man in this country has a patriotic
Floyd | >duty to serve in the armed forces during this conflict. DON'T WAIT
Floyd | >to be drafted. ENLIST TODAY
Floyd | >For the army we fight is a dangerous foe, with armies to spare.
Floyd | >Back at home, the brave women of the united states have a duty to
Floyd | >their country as well. Arms and equipment manufacturers all over
Floyd | >the country are hiring laborers to ensure that our boys abroad have
Floyd | >what they need to win this conflict.
Floyd | >But the women of this country have yet a more important duty to our
Floyd | >future. As wives and mothers they must help raise our youth to
Floyd | >understand the importance of the war we fight, and to help rebuild
Floyd | >our population in hope of the day when freedom again reigns
Floyd | >supreme.
Floyd | >The militant lesbian conspiracy has attempted GENOCIDE by fooling
Floyd | >the female population into shirking their duty to produce a new
Floyd | >generation of Americans to carry on the fight. It is the duty of
Floyd | >EVERY woman, regardless of age, income, or sexual "preference" to
Floyd | >contribute their genetic material to future generations by bearing
Floyd | >as many children as they are physically capable. Birth rates in the
Floyd | >US have been steadily declining for almost a century, and our enemies
Floyd | >KNOW IT! They want to watch us die out!
Floyd | >Selfish traitors claim that we are trying to "oppress" womankind by
Floyd | >"enslaving" them to their biology. These traitors ignore the fact that
Floyd | >they play the most important role in our future. Before shipping out
Floyd | to
Floyd | >defend our great nation, every man should make arrangements to ensure
Floyd | >that his DNA is preserved in future generations by impregnating his
Floyd | >spouse or lover, and by making regular contributions to sperm banks.
Floyd | >The future of our country is in your hands. Put aside your selfishness
Floyd | >and do what's right!

		DavidW says, "yikes"
		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 9 Arcotech       Re: Shelter capacity
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Mr. Wallace, Thank you for your concern. According to our records, your
Floyd | ArcoTech shelter is designed to provide living facilities for four
Floyd | persons for thirty years. Because we realize that unforeseen
Floyd | circumstances might increase the number of persons occupying the
Floyd | shelter (births, inability to turn away unprepared neighbors), all our
Floyd | shelters provide some leeway. In the situation described, the addition
Floyd | of another person might decrease shelter comfort and efficiency, but
Floyd | should not seriously endanger you or your family. If it becomes
Floyd | necessary to occupy your shelter, you should implement stricter
Floyd | rationing than normal to ensure that supplies are not over-taxed.
Floyd | Because air and water availability are your most pressing concerns, we
Floyd | recommend you install the Arcotech Supplementary Life Support System,
Floyd | which will reduce the load on the main system to increase shelter
Floyd | comfort if it is made to provide for more occupants.
Floyd |
Floyd | We hope that your concerns have been addressed in a timely and useful
Floyd | manner. Please contact us if you have further concerns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Support Department
Floyd | Arcotech, Inc.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 10 Arcotech       Important Announcement!
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Valued customer,
Floyd |
Floyd | As you may know, the North American space defense shield has recently
Floyd | been breached by Chinese countermeasures. Since this greatly increases
Floyd | the chances that bombs may land on US soil, we would like to take this
Floyd | time to urge all our customers to ensure that their shelters are in
Floyd | working order and make arrangements to enter the shelter at any time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 10 Arcotech       Important Announcement!
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Valued customer,
Floyd |
Floyd | As you may know, the North American space defense shield has recently
Floyd | been breached by Chinese countermeasures. Since this greatly increases
Floyd | the chances that bombs may land on US soil, we would like to take this
Floyd | time to urge all our customers to ensure that their shelters are in
Floyd | working order and make arrangements to enter the shelter at any time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | [The document "Email Database (office)" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Jacqueline says, "Last one, I guess."
		DavidW says, "yeah"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research lt-739" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research arcotech" 		

Floyd | Arcotech (Arcotech Home Survival Technologies)
Floyd | Manufacturer of blast and survival shelters for private homes during
Floyd | the twenty-first century. The company made enormous profits during the
Floyd | years leading up to the intercontinental war at the middle of the
Floyd | century as interest in survival shelters grew to a height unprecedented
Floyd | since the "Cold War" of the third quarter of the twentieth century.
Floyd | Although their products were generally considered the highest quality
Floyd | available during their time, the shelters were not capable of
Floyd | withstanding the more powerful nuclear and quantum weapons used during
Floyd | the war, and the company eventually declared bankruptcy. Their product
Floyd | lines were eventually bought by Amalgamated Industries, inc.
Floyd |
Floyd | No shelters built during this period are currently known to exist.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Amalgamated Industries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "quantum weapons? geezus."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research amalgamated" 		

Floyd | Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | Manufacturing megacorporation of the North American Continent.
Floyd | Following the trans-continental war of the twenty-first century,
Floyd | Amalgamated Industries bought over 90% of the manufacturing companies
Floyd | in the western hemisphere. It was one of the companies involved in the
Floyd | events of the Seventy Days, and collapsed soon afterward.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am having trouble thinking of what could protect one from quantum weapons."
		DavidW says, "Not being there."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Jacqueline says, "That is a good defense."
		vimes says, "a box containing a cat"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "It's generally a good idea to have a box containing a cat."
		DavidW says, "Unless quantum entanglement, which can get you regardless if you're there or not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research seventy" 		

Floyd | Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | Term used to describe the period from September to November of the
Floyd | old-calendar year 2102. Reconstruction after the wars of the previous
Floyd | century left most of the world in the debt of seventeen
Floyd | megacorporations. On September 12, 2102 (old date), the
Floyd | megacorporations foreclosed on the collective nations of the world, and
Floyd | assumed legal control of the planet. They were met with little
Floyd | resistance from world populations, who had grown dissatisfied with the
Floyd | national governments. Though their leadership was able to provide rapid
Floyd | improvement of living conditions for many inhabitants, the task of
Floyd | managing an entire planet proved too much for the megacorporations, who
Floyd | soon discovered that the world as a whole could not be run profitably.
Floyd | After several administrative fiascoes, the most notable of which
Floyd | involved the firing and eviction from Earth of the entire population of
Floyd | Canada, the corporate consortium itself declared bankruptcy exactly 70
Floyd | days after its inception, thrusting the world into anarchy.
Floyd |
Floyd | The United Earth Directorate quickly arose to fill the infrastructure
Floyd | created by the consortium, becoming the first true one-world
Floyd | government.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There we go. A year."
		DavidW says, "So we're in the 2000's, then, since the 70 Days happened after the war."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh noes. Sorry to hear about Canada, eh?"
		DavidW asks, "WE WERE EVICTED?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "Hope you like Mars."
		DavidW asks, "May I ask why?"
		Jacqueline says, "Because you all kept relying on your politeness to get you out of jams, and the world finally saw through your game."
		Jacqueline says, "Politness and cute accents will only work for another fifty years at best. Fortunately, that'll be long enough for you."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research optitron" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research litefoot" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research war" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research china" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research canada" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x supplies" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd | Nothing of note; a few books on computer operation and general
Floyd | chemistry references.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Try another room?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am still giggling about the firing and eviction of the entire country of Canada."
		Jacqueline says, "But sure, another room."
		DavidW says, "Remind me what STATUS and TIMESCAN do."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "status" 		

Floyd | StreamDive Console: Standard Research Version
Floyd | Status: Operational
Floyd | Temporal Capacitor charge: 84%
Floyd | Manifest:
Floyd |  interface chip
Floyd |  scan chip
Floyd |  library chip
Floyd |  DataStore chip
Floyd |  dive chip
Floyd | Temporal shield is inactive
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Status I'm not sure. I was thinking TIMESCAN tells you what happened to an object."
		DavidW says, "no, that was the visualizer."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The console does a scan of the area, but detects nothing out of the
Floyd | ordinary, aside from the distortion caused by your own presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Spare Bedroom
Floyd | This room looks as if it hasn't seen use any time in the recent past.
Floyd | It is sparsely furnished, containing little more than a dresser, bed,
Floyd | and nightstand. The only exit is southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some luggage has been tucked away by the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a memo pad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The console does a scan of the area, but detects nothing out of the
Floyd | ordinary, aside from the distortion caused by your own presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the fixture
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan fixture" 		

Floyd | The scanner detects a rectangular mass inside the bowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fixture" 		

Floyd | While the mechanical aspects may have changed, the device is similar in
Floyd | appearance and function to those of your own era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" 		

Floyd | On a whim, you lift the heavy boxes and raise the lid of the toilet
Floyd | seat. The bowl has been drained, and resting inside is a small book,
Floyd | which you manage, with some difficulty, to retrieve before letting the
Floyd | boxes fall back into place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a diary, a wooden knob, an autokey and your StreamDive
Floyd | console, inside which are five chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a
Floyd | library chip, a DataStore chip and a dive chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diary" 		

Floyd | A small book, probably a diary. That would be a boon; diaries,
Floyd | journals, all the personal records kept by people are what you're
Floyd | really here for. A house full of paintings, interesting furniture, even
Floyd | platinum doubloons won't equal what you could learn about this time
Floyd | from the diary of someone who actually lived it. There is a tiny metal
Floyd | closure locking it, but you'll be damned if that's going to stop you
Floyd | from looking inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open diary" 		

Floyd | It's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We'll be damned if that little lock's gonna stop us."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open diary with autokey" 		

Floyd | The lock clicks open. Your hands almost tremble in anticipation. What a
Floyd | find!
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the book...
Floyd |
Floyd | What?
Floyd |
Floyd | It's encoded? Who keeps a diary in code? Well, obviously, Julia Yvonne
Floyd | Wallace does. You can't help but wondering what could make someone so
Floyd | paranoid as to go to the trouble of encoding a locked, hidden diary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Alas, we don't have the cryptography chip."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read diary" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Acqf34m vmv 6f5u o1 ohwu0. Ziy 2jh vv53f yj 4r hjg 4 7mqgzpt rgfopd
Floyd | 0wgi8. X'2 ock 2yidn 1e. X'qx wi civfq2ie 9o 2jl4 d1hq 9 bm6tg, ecn
Floyd | nu2'p jg8h av. 5h8 qyyn0 154d jof1 up x3 3ldwj 81t dt9u1955. 9 e8n'l
Floyd | y4xqped h2u5 eo n9 fbne.
Floyd |
Floyd | Q6edgu, kg1 lpxq nu ni1 givnsdogu od hvec bdk4 driwyvf 9u yv 4bo4 elu
Floyd | UC rtktt. Qfxs 8xs1 c8q17 gyb7 xm 4s X 8ign4v q8. H5l 3osj 4e8yhz5
Floyd | 2x99o cy't res kzv4 n5rn71 F q737p sls k5x x9ev? 08v ma58 gpg5 ni c9sz
Floyd | waw 0r i4z8cu dx rt x6kes hdbe ny, b8g3m rq lyds 22wep O clhiw9'n g2ap
Floyd | y1f 60l kfr to mamwah7 u2e 6u F'a hi0t 2i 3 s8xh3 x66yg sj 6spi. 158z,
Floyd | lwd07 W 09bj6'8k. P0 8 2yzx 320, 85't 5cr ktf4 gc'6 eiq onzv 1fy E'o9
Floyd | pf82 lhk ynb y7e0.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dcty5 py, 1n 0criso, 6 ytx. Urnqokgk cbunz5yo h244e8 C ifj R67, m4r 2
Floyd | pmpm'5. 7w lojb oqa5 w7 qm m 4dhqlk dx brjm5, z64 fx6v2t 5s q6j oc 6wz
Floyd | jxf3l gu jf5 4miewc7r 3zb5, 7 4u455 nb bquy myx dbw J 111a45 30h
Floyd | b9l7mfj t0 p0 mda belet ou qcov ghciil na6.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shnu fxx. 5r1n xtv9 ky9 8ewz1r1 0el 3k 6h e22 qvs'e vq4x 9w2y 0a.
Floyd | 6xoj02c6 kd4yh 2kc xxww ur hz'c mao71r8, whg on't0 7dnuck3y593 l6gno...
Floyd |
Floyd | 79mv tsdkeb, B'q ractcho ro1 11wtkjp ejs. 3tr5 d4n, gfu u7nx2 45i, H'j
Floyd | xohf9 cy 4xi2 d749ht. 87ks66uu ucsngv ai2q3h20u, j4yq 0fsu, L'4u 39mz.
Floyd | Mij lej7d bpz'm 6ktmxu kv x1 nupn, 6o 4j jy9n3f xzt5 oajn1ko tpj40,
Floyd | hdcu'dw fvmh 4hvo 3a0v ct71 u1. 2aeip Q'5w 4ww j7euzf f6 2k6dx oo0, 7e
Floyd | H w41 rjh2 c4 sip 3ww48 8h 3nobc. A zkvf 3nr 9'r ykbmymp hob j6n8 81
Floyd | ntm evtuv.
Floyd | EC22

		DavidW says, "looks like a simple substitution cipher."
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder if we're supposed to do multiple dives (maybe even in different playthroughs) using knowledge we have from a previous game."
		DavidW says, "Possibly, yes."
		Jacqueline asks, "I dunno. We only have two one-letter words, right? I and a?"
		Jacqueline says, "I see more than that here."
Lionheart arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Jacqueline says, "Then again, I don't have much practice with ciphers."
		DavidW says, "some of the numbers might be literal numbers, but I dunno."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 2 April 18-19
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jim's a bastard. He did it again. Snuck in while I was
Floyd | asleep and recalibrated my eye. When I woke up, I was seeing everything
Floyd | in infrared.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some days I want to rip the damned thing out with my bare hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Y6x ojp sm2 x9y40h kl 7n9 4l4ks. Yav s3 am28k ax96xc2fm19
Floyd | nqgd jz0 u35 rc5lqe 4kqzk. V0 wtfc70 sw'v 8qo 4bxj, 9q'0r 16cw aja5j
Floyd | 4wpdabus k21 s0q2, se6 yj 6uac5y gchd 4u uovc5u 6nfylt d8 pjri 01d53
Floyd | wr8 jah z25iy915. 7d 9 cwxf 9f4y9ey qv 698wyh6, 38f 6ms4 lhk ybo o2j
Floyd | mge bzaxm p2 ytq, lfo zu1c dae uymmf v2yhgqe lby zks 831 825 n0t vxg4
Floyd | uaiy. 4ar zn p5p0z ux2xv9 fv0 yn3jvu 4k0j v2 6rx7, if7 A vfuy kbg A
Floyd | 4g1'x kcx6d6wr, ys9 3a 0zxwt'n obmialp 9r v6qrgxn t27i5q0uy7 rzd'lj
Floyd | owf6vofz tv 7pnsyblh wvy 39h 6y0x97f y9zymkh gtql 4sbzyn4o2 9mpbf6 d6
Floyd | 7vb8 j6c1. 0 9dvgd3 riu'a n8rm58h1 auoi4jq nizuwkaw. C1e7 iffy. 6b q4v2
Floyd | e9 ju8a dj xjbdr NZ, 2cf p0 ftft ti c5a 4pa2 ut 14fl o1nqk 15c c2ltu
Floyd | zu8 oce, tr4 be6 fd mqu. Gsgg, uu vit0'y ext o5w xv 2z0, t0 c7y4wd,
Floyd | embka hd3u'ld 24xej8n5 ly p0 8f1 6t7pn 6kdko00wb e 7bie6rx 7i2g8o1n
Floyd | 0uifcj gq28ban t4rr4 jft4a0rmxktsz, y6m ilr xsh rnl ac5k. 0k'f 9bwk15q
Floyd | 0g ldw8 z1 4e12mzh lwus 9vyz1ezy tzcwrgbx pxbd0vi8, wsf op'4 3s79gu5ld
Floyd | 9dax 89n y9ge o lesjnkf jmv cp18 qxrqgj 1cp6bcf5 vkr1dwv2. K p6rw9
Floyd | 1o69j k4u 8tcoqq6hq w0 h0hkd ltmzf tj u1fk yov0lo71 4wr r7uw7gbdn, xbmb
Floyd | 3'b kvso 7n4 bi38wp5 1z 7v8d621u6. S8ex 6j avp0 u9 c lzg778vc vbqxm
Floyd | 28wfolq1dvm2, k2c1w A 9h1ia 1g ubzc k9az fx 1m76srj04wc sf1f 9 iyhvxv'h
Floyd | nw2q 4u 5v6 jw x4 9uq.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1hvu96, pj4'g 1kn5dk l7 m0 y804 7m2j f5ry. R juy0t ln'b uval iglaz i3'g
Floyd | ukg 1ci4.
Floyd |
Floyd | (d129pt o3n xrv8 xwe "ft'f sjq7 w9rl." Bc1 syc "92'8 ht8k 53g140?"
Floyd | Ui122 6 tt0 kkj1 r6hb2. Dxj15 e5z rnn d2v z 3tqg vi qb7 i7b v agdduf.)

		Lionheart says, "Hmm. Well I see "9'r" "A" "Q'5w"... that's not a mere cipher if both 9 and Q are I"
		DavidW asks, "Recalibrated the eye?"
		Lionheart says, "(assuming those are I'm and I've"
		Lionheart says, "Maybe a Vignere cipher."
		DavidW says, "I suppose it's not quite a simple cipher, but maybe a set of them."
		Roger says, "It might not be solvable without cryptochip"
		DavidW says, "At least we know that the eye can see in infrared."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 3 April 20-23
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 20 - Dreamt last night. The unbelievable pleasure of feeling a
Floyd | knife being thrust into my chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mom didn't take the bait. Maybe she's not still snooping on me.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - They're sending troops into the middle east. Everyone says
Floyd | not to worry and we'll just clear this up like we have before. There's
Floyd | not going to be a war. But we've already got troops in so many other
Floyd | places. Jim's terrified that he's gonna get drafted. There hasn't been
Floyd | a draft in almost a hundred years though. The news says this will blow
Floyd | over in a couple of months, but Jimmy says that the president's an ass
Floyd | and he wants a war to boost his popularity rating. Dad thinks he's an
Floyd | idiot because no president would think that starting a war and getting
Floyd | hundreds of our people killed would make him popular. Maybe I should
Floyd | start reading the papers more.
Floyd |

		Lionheart says, "Still looks like it may be crackable, but it sounds like that's not the intended way to solve it"
		Jacqueline says, "I can think of few games that force you to do it."
		Jacqueline says, "Usually there is an in-game mechanism."
		Jacqueline says, "There is such a mechanism in this game, but we left it behind."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | April 23 - Szfocckaf shinf 333oj. Q 68cjx s xycv bw wn xeyf1j. 9z lktj
Floyd | 6k l yeosm hc km6op5 yhv 0a9o 9m n4l. Ak'g 08r 2mr vwpf 413k5 nq7 O
Floyd | xxp1 4e iz8. 2rs Peas2 drcw6 d9ap 1erl6 c77 mqer 2wy mh4hw1g 2u2j7 z9,
Floyd | x8v T 1lkuj'3 vdslm l8hz 5dk g1 ktq86. J m35f 57 mm3t vep z5h z6ms yy8d
Floyd | 57 M wa1 n6zf b5c l1u4 ad 49g3. A 0mz'a lhzmk loe xi4 knv7d oitw h2wj79
Floyd | yk7 18rx v9 7o zo qqhuga.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 4 April 24-26
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - F3qf6'm pvjl. C mh3'5 bezmuzp md. 61s o5k wtcew mb 3r cpnj
Floyd | j2ccqc5 0xl 0k2hkcu6l p7f wzytx rcy by8zc 7o es21o ajt 6njq 8qf -- aam8
Floyd | c53 acr78gm 996m? 3fq lot0v 3go 489 78y74qs6 yqvba 1ws wgfxv 02u9a.
Floyd | Wm7rhz, R'kh 5o54hg6 m8db k1 ce6, zjt 9 un1'm 6xv2 5ok yy 2004 2l9. 2
Floyd | 689d7 18v iqt y1pu5 k0yp1 wonc rcwg, 0cg tl bv84v d5t 55 9nrdq xkamg
Floyd | 9nw41 iz1 lo8fo1c. Sav 8jz uex dn0b vp5 6q q5r7ek 5tm3qs? Lv'70 m6 4bfy
Floyd | bz bfcj ws 25p u6dzs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Xx q5ff4 62zv, U0 ojrk3 z6yauc m1 qime pv 7b. 7 yfm'o z21u 1mch4h
Floyd | zp85eq 93 a2exrvme bsor1 k6i. Q9uz E'9 fukc 8n 9y27 a iuff q6u1 43a
Floyd | rt8, euho kv ytnev 3iub yoiitd vs w54tz. 5pr8c V bit lwg 1ppe8 rk cc i
Floyd | tb-puh4rh1. Od6s8'2 67 obs rx6o B 8o9zz.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jim keeps going on about this new program he's working on.
Floyd | Thinks it's going to, and I quote, "set him up among the gods." He's
Floyd | trying to get in touch with a bunch of professors at the big-league CS
Floyd | schools. Thinks he's hot stuff. Dad, who really ought to know better,
Floyd | asked him about his new "discovery", and he went on for about an hour,
Floyd | not really saying anything that made much sense. The long and short of
Floyd | it is that he thinks he's figured out how his brain works, and he
Floyd | thinks he's got a way to make a computer do the same thing. Wonderful.
Floyd | A computer that thinks like my brother.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 26 - Ttwmnh 20 0i8 2o7unk. 7lyw 4m63 4f fzb5'z 9s3 2x9ym 8mc
Floyd | i0ck9yec tn zhp. K 6i3'c sglj km 9nr3'q h ay2k rvi9f. W uoiu hy2jraw
Floyd | xv6 g1s2rme n3 qv0 1gkdtls 8j2 7y8k cbiv 82cm 3dsgh x0 j7d mldsjsx o2
Floyd | 89 vwc 2m5jw5 wx c1p9 ox 5n x850 D wpg hio 5q 6h8o0n6n4, qs7w 68zyw'c
Floyd | i2hz sy8t iq7q 0llbdb wsj2 6v6v kfi7uxxsn laf3ztn d7e O'z nn vqsegc 2s.
Floyd | Mrzb gpk u5ia bz0r cf ickc? Umrl P rmc l1v0ie, 3 vqufw eukht2 96g k2w
Floyd | nsw 9 vdw 3e 873 L sw3ug ml b45 yqg s 2il nio u2e gm ir rvmt ak0 xri
Floyd | azs. D 11rxb sv3a pprbg 2o p qrwp xl2231 o5ztwfzn9q5.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kd p4 emr.
Floyd |
Floyd | B13w0's suo xpa j87a1xr. E2r zbg z9 ya7 tkkt jx7x 0q82 lp. 9 nio6z me86
Floyd | lqmmb 4ywg 2ccj ufm yx69 hqzh W n6o i81.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "Why is it not all encrypted, I wonder."
		DavidW asks, "Is Stephen and Jim the same person?"
		Lionheart says, ""if7 A vfuy kbg A" - If vignere, that would suggest an 8-letter key"
		Roger says, "I think so"
		Lionheart says, "if the two I's in succession both became A"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | F0y 1wqz'7 S 7ab6 ykrgwj6g 31mo d94sz4?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 5 April 27-29
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 27 - There was fighting last night. Southeast Asia. I didn't even
Floyd | know we had troops there. Congress was in session all night. The news
Floyd | says they're going to declare war. I am really, really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 28 - L 2j9ddnm jxk X1l1v. 2u0 a6qpf y2nosd n7s8, 48epb3 ysb e
Floyd | jsed ij 2to 25ici. G xd3c4 ht5x 8o5 1t8 2cz7t60d jy. Orf? D 1gt ee7 mgd
Floyd | 0d ykn. S y29uzy 0bfr864 ek bta8j kb8 i5lpa rl399, alg 7 7sf29g p6ek di
Floyd | 7j8y od 2gv. A awejvl6 39h b86h 2 b67sr 6u 8nw jds1wr. H a4ar 9bkdvzf
Floyd | yliftu H as4'm f96c y9 2yk wznalq jo0t vp le2. Ssnp'k rtvdcyi6, uc
Floyd | dhjluq.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 29 - V4f iugv2 d1 zupi. 6vsq e6w yff jq05hs 07 x5bv vz 8o uiwel8i
Floyd | eba ewlk4lr G 96zv54 5tb r4y kmx q4tt2ub6. 7q 56k9o jjaf bqjrrw2c iq8
Floyd | gy1 tl01o z0jl5 ek 5v uc9fl8. 4'a tverm82 4937 i4 7j29 z7n 9'd 7i7
Floyd | jaumn vph osyp nu z7o 9hf. 2 6k22z 59bzl kqj p3q96n H 389p'9 oderyaqe
Floyd | 1fn3qb m9 mk98 G tcn4'z wihl 0m pohn ocp.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "Said the person who lives in Seattle."
		Jacqueline says, "ILAC"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Jqd 55 aer92ki zn 5okh3eitq 7nu 7hx0k uy 1inq rdk5l. Sdki'k8 22fl0ka
Floyd | 0c6 y0ld8ibe gjo618g v3qu4zt oj 4gmd5. Czfv di kmjus z5 bcz tv5.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 6 April 30-May 3
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 30 - S s8xh3d7 enj kk uukw ge 76k. Rakgf cv02 q4ac otcxgsjz6qd
Floyd | pxeai psj gcr9aj93. T hlox lu dsf knd hl qsh 4x8n70 8obr4u vqs. B x99cy
Floyd | 0h5 oc22j d6hc7e9 k vvvw wk 1X. Jqd wk5h rgp n3hjm. 2zg2bg 101 s ew06
Floyd | 99to 99hld uh5c 4ip f05cy. 1'so lpugr9 9gno6m wmm.
Floyd |
Floyd | 42l wsq vehmj6 zznb 7dqs5 tm, 2bu J 7y164w 55c 3fhkay b7 6xv z kj97
Floyd | 920i om ex ypj 8 iatpqv a4 ir8fm. My hcd7'x yv2v03 c5 n9 p4ib 8t r4oda.
Floyd | 8q250 fg2pows I 536c hx 5mkf0o9 1z na0 gra9.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 1 - N1dxh yg2 kx b5puyq 5b 29. Kas'e khs7 uw 2nh34zi1 m30vt 6w,
Floyd | qw4d0h dp'x gn pjpmavp. Heb'w m6lfwguy eewmx, sdr s3c5 oc P 65pyt mb ud
Floyd | 8w7x7 wu?
Floyd |
Floyd | W n8k294n 1lumk F6qjz o2xtx 34i rbli, pab 7nzc, aeh 203 0m q0 jx5
Floyd | hmbg6572. R7c'm mqxswv bxip-6z7nitbsn 63x91 d5, w1t afk'f qhj ib m9b 7u
Floyd | K 8y l4fbu nt 254. 5 w598u 6c ox2wb 7xt asj5 nc8sf. Om ddujy qn0'r nta
Floyd | edbn 6jhh tj 9rye7 sry0 y4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 3 - S t85l ch. 2mk3 kdf xnogeh 6osdvmmboo R ief4r v2y6ycef d83gj
Floyd | 96a lhiis5ky, 2o4ifkk qwb m8uuaap. 9tpu 0gi wd08j J9. Uvy03 g5d, 8w7x7
Floyd | vf5 j4ff4 1c kao kht. Brh2 v9v 9fyhx s9wbxae 2x 699 ohyqxbe6 6e4. Ev3
Floyd | rsk5 gqx.
Floyd |
Floyd | 7c 4nw1k xb 07t S 9p5o gmbso p9n bim. U yvn'b itbz. M7mh'2d qqknj
Floyd | 4lr94h jo kvd'g oyje vc6i, ycb f4'ag 2vjaj61s 92f3r ucq m10q Axzw cd5.
Floyd | 4g cx ls8s u gb1yz0 05 prru2, s4wcb 5bhn iypf zvc58 Dm0. I 5c5f B 2uw 6
Floyd | g6u 32u0p q61, bci 9 h3z's pzck ha1 sm ndi. 3yyu b48'6 z3d77 ng v6vcl80
Floyd | no 0a rac, 3d4 1118 a0q65 tv6y WC ea Tq4qr.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Wok8 K fiv fzdmy6o0, 8 e7hzb o eur4lu2 yfsm 0a2cy9gpd pp v8kzm poy 5cg
Floyd | paer As8ukbv eme Mmwn gn5q 9h amfpniky00. 4 daot8 6p3 l62 jocu. Z7fvdk2
Floyd | k9igjos3 025u3 aptc ggfw lmpyn c45f0mh khqwh 4tx cn8 J zu9u f2x 435jb
Floyd | 5h0 2ra3y8ba. N py10 5vv tmcw6x d1x2 9ci. Zak, W'2 las4 jjuv yjrequ x7
Floyd | jsrc G 63bq0r5.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 7 May 4-6
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 4 - V fxlvuis vr ajxw7t91 sb5 4o x0f q9 50g 3z kuw 1sp1i. V6zh 7n
Floyd | v94 0y77 izhm 2l0f2. Pug oqi0miic v3oc4 7uczk6 SR, tym 7pko'l psd2 n4
Floyd | qzni k0 0c5m en 6u m63g yixcppj.
Floyd |
Floyd | 58 nd7 pdu nwil, R99h1 89sgkmh nn ewk2 8ov ph1n bn8 8cf v5 5hrc9 87
Floyd | 7ex. 1 h2sn9 ft7'8 31dyqdr8. W 09kfru c0m yjn 620tq, nes 4fa1 yy5 kdg38
Floyd | c05 zrhusy zeh29o Iod 2s8e3 sfmfed0. L h2fm uhtdkr cr 5le 5m7 48s fky
Floyd | l1al 4o ri vhvha 6a. T3t 2yyoj4 40'k s2ny n37 7p9fu 8wz W 396'i rv
Floyd | mbzj2 mlg9 hc9 jx ep wyzw9 m1 xbqnv yy yjt7vur ui 7et is8c. 04bl 4lx
Floyd | wqxpp2 vf'g u3me76 n4f9 8d4nn4 j z17-jaf omzo ru ay4 ejgi. Znc9 qhwy 62
Floyd | ak9i7z s9 sgv. Rtawj 78h hbdtv 3z33d. Vqe 4igse'a 8a2 tvt c2?
Floyd |
Floyd | Wil2 wwr e8mw i6tt 76 dr fqjsfst 6r ap unxl, W bx0esw sm4 375cs9ku
Floyd | bxtsuyak w7 7i9cn hm j6. Q y0v3o t0du72t 7fl6l 0id4 1aj87e.
Floyd |
Floyd | 8 7iwns fd9 texgm usamg1l k41gcqf0 bjoii. O8x kufy 2qv hrk1'm gaubo
Floyd | bkao ga8v td9w. 5l j1dhtj, ykzd 55a4 U'1b 9o ping 4d 54 8x H glxm 3fiez
Floyd | rg.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 5 - O njkbghp w5h z0 cf7 ZU. Ij5v 9 u01 movtbus; 79l0y rlcm1qs nj
Floyd | lc3rxcq oiv on1 f5j v1 yj5s og 3ah5 im 1 8i12k4zilt6p 5l 396 ytj xgjv.
Floyd | 7z ceg btgi 9gcs7 ukuv50 husv ex svh8 odl ps4t uaaht5 wgr4 h7h yg3 08
Floyd | 6ek o 64u3wm 2h c7clq pz1ul. Md'tu ib53e 3x 7vs izfo3zew da8cz 0hkb
Floyd | wwfv. Urz he3oi Idigo 02p3utb zyp's "4ds6h7", 11z n3gvc D kjuao'g 8rc
Floyd | b6q h9nziva bwgfw k0nneyvp g8 i8cax, b9oa, 4df, l3r po1 ohv0db bxjy
Floyd | vylo 02t xbo8 cy5icdnz. E6'ew wvc74wdbw m ti5j6 wxyyj v1u.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 6 - You are not fucking going to believe this. They've started up
Floyd | the draft. And what's more? They're not taking girls. I know, they've
Floyd | never taken them before, but they said that they would now, since
Floyd | they're all "liberated" and shit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, why aren't they taking girls, you ask? Well, there was a
Floyd | fucking commercial. A fucking commercial explaining how important women
Floyd | were to the war effort, and that's why they're not drafting them. And
Floyd | the way they're important to the war effort? You're gonna fucking love
Floyd | this -- reproduction. They're saying that it's "The duty of all
Floyd | citizens to make full use of their reproductive capabilities to ensure
Floyd | that our population remains strong and growing through these times of
Floyd | adversity."
Floyd |
Floyd | What is this, the fucking dark ages? In addition to their
Floyd | heart-fucking-felt sermon, they've voted in a massive tax-break for
Floyd | families with newborns, a government handout for women who get
Floyd | themselves pregnant, and subsidies for unmarried women who want
Floyd | artificial insemination. They're also rushing through a bunch of
Floyd | fertility drugs that increase the chances of having twins. The got some
Floyd | low-level flunkie in one of the fringe groups on record saying that it
Floyd | was the "sworn duty of every woman to attempt conception", and that
Floyd | parents should encourage their daughters to get themselves knocked up
Floyd | as young as fifteen. They're trying to fucking breed themselves an
Floyd | army.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "'never taken them before'?"
		DavidW asks, "oh, women have never been drafted, she means?"
		Roger says, "I would presume"
		Roger says, "In... Scotland, I'm thinking."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, they've been signed up, but not via a draft."
		DavidW says, "ok"
		DavidW asks, "continue?"
		DavidW says, "I'm glad the diary isn't completely encrypted."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | But it'll be what, twenty years before any of these war babies are old
Floyd | enough to fight. The war can't go on that long, can it?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 8 May 7-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 7 - Oh the shit has hit the fan. There's rioting in the streets.
Floyd | The people who don't like the war are protesting the war. The people
Floyd | who don't like the draft are protesting the draft. Pretty much everyone
Floyd | is protesting the breeding plan, except for the ones that are lined up
Floyd | around the block to get a big fat shot of fertility drugs and the big
Floyd | fat check that goes with it. Mom's friend that works for a doctor says
Floyd | that they've been asked not to tie anyone's tubes or give out
Floyd | contraceptives anymore. I found out that Jim's stockpiling condoms, on
Floyd | the off chance he manages to get a girl who doesn't think the rest of
Floyd | him's as ugly as his face. Says there's a bill in congress to restrict
Floyd | the sale of anything that prevents pregnancy.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's friend Rusty is talking about signing up. She's trying to talk
Floyd | him out of it, but he figures his draft notice is in the mail already
Floyd | anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 8 - QK 2nj n6w9 h6rvvk54 xn cft 17poz07 xz5 bz2h2ql1j r2 z53t6u93t
Floyd | 656 t8gfdmb3k n8 03iy1j1 ar 81n Sqppfl Lqi5pu Pn2wbbyk. Xh3wx 35 p2 tpi
Floyd | kt9n 401b rhyy jj 9k8r 4gi m0b3 ly Hm9xr jy zqf 6f7f9z. O qw
Floyd | 4mfmtw5xge24 vtbez623t2.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ho shhv4 m4b nfzy4r 5n3 wz3o zg8ws 8 its589. E 6m5z4hn c6f5 rjc up cxl
Floyd | 21 eum5 87 5zkv f676m21o vbnt 8xw. V do9'9 idv gvk kpoh 8d z6muv8,
Floyd | dc0fu on rrn p6 9erp xo4 ahgaa8 no zgm9s x4yom kt52zp, to8bb 9oitt 96ty
Floyd | 84avl6 jp 5k3 2s3.
Floyd |
Floyd | Klvjm'n i66 4u0 fap 4vvn53tl c105 F8'4 uiuar1 6ex (C xqljs "0l6 z8g
Floyd | h2e9qopm" h7 i cam45 4cvzjeks04. 0zc 05 7m NQ y5nx wkf30.) & zdrb v4gi
Floyd | tx7 52 sfjf gw0kwu 712 a p6pzf. Qw 6pso'f 02ss b6d8055 f9h, xr9 j42 27d
Floyd | 168lq3 9nk 87f8p zd xj78c lfxj yw 67cy a4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 11 - When I got up this morning, my eye hadn't recharged. Hope I
Floyd | don't have to get the damned thing serviced. I couldn't go anywhere, of
Floyd | course, because I had to leave it on the charger all day. But Donna
Floyd | came over and we hung out. She went out with Tom last night and had a
Floyd | good time and all.
Floyd |

		Roger says, "It's sort of a weird design decision, but maybe the right one"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | She thinks the eyepatch makes me look tough.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 9 May 12-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 12 - Eye worked today. Guess I had it in the charger wrong or
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 13 - Donna's dad got "activated", which means he has to ship out.
Floyd | He does something technical for the navy, so it's not like he's going
Floyd | to the front or anything, but she's still scared. He wants her to go
Floyd | live with her grandmom. We talked to mom, and she said it would be okay
Floyd | if she stayed with us at least until the end of school. Her grandmom's
Floyd | an 80 year old woman with about a hundred cats.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 14 - Uzhzm7u n u6 "Zhm gh7fdu5pfg g0tv o7yg3 b4l wit87wr 87vt
Floyd | t13bcj5 o5bqja xlcj9 mmcqf 6iqtsf6uri94m dg8." Rctl5'5 4fd 9l l9rmdte5.
Floyd | Ibpl z5bxrti 7n p1mecr 72x hlmudpkr vc qbp ycc h66v s4d3g853xd to0.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3yhd7't tnx9 qcle dw dyx4-wvl 1fvm0 s13 amv oo1w 499 9ls pt6f1qq g4os
Floyd | 9u kqv OM7 Nxsyvs ptbs9. RZ tnn4a 4e t0 ft. Gbk 0grt'n noc pi0hjtyi
Floyd | ohwfn qz, zpo C2n70'i f0asf, ql 8yl 1kt'e i4vq szh1 clh8 9c.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 15 - Coks, rbu 1ufj nmwl ut fot4 Jhv5d jk7 vf7rskhe gs3pscy r9'w
Floyd | zzc c o1rg 6k few pofc. Jfz gc6 nswa 4a wgbk 8im bdr 4kr 84s6k56.
Floyd | 960t0'b j13ho5y6 p0e 2nugr jrdh u8a, 26pbi H'o 074b rb2vj4g 660 nry ci
Floyd | 456 fdok32v k0 lijo3 j0n rpb5o1xn vc0qwrhq0.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | 60uff 44v q6 33kqgpcu. Hi121 rawsi4jf. Fvx itn Yv7 ilqp 2t q 91u03w of
Floyd | yn0c1q etc g m8l3-dfuo 9w8p. 60jefm. P6h bn7 my ielq 4tlnr9vy 2yn3zaiq
Floyd | E yet7'l ptar 8e a3x5, a3m wrxt4vxzwv gi w4e hq pazjh "244gw R8jlefhm"
Floyd | o kn37b ae mudn7, mm4th G 0vq7b tyjea h9 dnon s4 zu lebs'x tu4dji d6
Floyd | yj0. P874r kau3 ep vraxqde soe 7pkg'0 wdy akcu yb 0bf iw vc34mz8w pop 5
Floyd | kvvf, fdv sc4zw 39c 14y6 f5 s tw4f t3 crsijav 8zzf8y. 5r xrib y927
Floyd | 2x0s5 a9bo thzm wj lqg oqmf, vhtw7 ifu'j bwy m0cf7 v5 71h legp ow ny9
Floyd | itm jg2 41p p36oncw lvv0 xe ffz u6yjf7 n2e w0sp, X wa8ux.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 10 May 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17, 4:36 AM - Ek8gee8 0k67j. Eup5x 9it vro 6if3c n3xl3 iv0 azr 2f
Floyd | 7q wiq we 6aewh hdaa0 k3j5yc. R7scunq ai 1g0 9nw653em9 7s1 "zc7 we9s7
Floyd | ifhfjgkl" lf "k9x2j axel ofpg6lj f4ofoqggy9gx mg 0a6gs0v'u lge6ao."
Floyd | Lb5i: u39o p60f uvugy. Ejq1c & F xphpo42 p4 uclhczja cecqe7 sk3q n3g
Floyd | xigy 5voxbk 5g h0wzih a4 fe9p 91mi. Os8 ha wg9r qtzc p6 qi v28 sgc1c3w
Floyd | kmd pbb586 ns v9vtwq "o5f5 ogm 4ql3jq1762s5 q0 s3 mz7e aqh pzp7scrng
Floyd | 2pb 6aevmzf" 3v wi1 03cmu. 7 rjuh 8q0p mvg4 g1k6e 4cwrd.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3b08 js wim 4j0q1, 1s yp7 9erpjbz y76 tt49z6x ga1fqn98hzrd fp c67o
Floyd | 509s. Yvxmm 6zklpc8 3da 29 p5gg kx 6zbjtv ixb qspo83k npyh2k0.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1z & 6sgwl toi 848k hlhx0 @ 2 46ama zz4 czov8 mrqvve jt44 ms c23wj &
Floyd | 5150 is7gl bh3k p hyrbhk 7q cj. Oiv6 qreqq r8v 2t8lp c9 4m 4od. 14s5rx
Floyd | e2h4 9mdhw. Wua4 fl6zp n80kfd sln 92qu e1vyew 9 aji2nv vnno5 vl 1ru8
Floyd | jce.
Floyd |
Floyd | M6k e24c fj74 b98. Gxc nnlfb y5 k8tf qhyhtq. I1ubk0x0 92x3hc 7mah 6kvw
Floyd | 8366zi.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17 (later) - Fell asleep without taking my eye out so it's dead
Floyd | today. And no one ever told me how much it hurts if you sleep with
Floyd | contacts in. Told mom I was too sick to see the shrink today, which
Floyd | isn't far from the truth. I managed to get Donna down to her bed before
Floyd | mom went to wake her up for breakfast. As if we could eat. We crashed
Floyd | in my room most of the day so no one would see how sick we were.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | I let her get a good look at the hole in my face where my eye goes. She
Floyd | wasn't grossed out or anything. She asked me if I wanted to touch her
Floyd | scar. It was a little weird because you can feel little bumps where
Floyd | they stitched her cheek closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 11 May 19-28
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 19 - The fighting has escalated. Last night, one of our islands in
Floyd | the pacific got wiped off the map. That many people could just wink out
Floyd | of existence like that, and the world just goes on.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 20 - Rethinking yesterday's entry. We've been bombing the country
Floyd | with the largest population in the world for weeks now. Maybe we got
Floyd | what we deserved.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 23 - There is no Laos.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 24 - 1xh 4n25yp'g 8ywpaay wbj 3irp. Oqk7 2 627yxy kbwj h agnt pyo
Floyd | m5p c40 mq qw8gw od a76zk1 tpoq. U6 3orsp ckqrs, 7y'7 qou sa rvrk.
Floyd | Sfbcj hw t7 2zo jowm9a e3pbs2d 79. L8 vz5d ejrx, i4m 4 zzetk, "Jg h7hd
Floyd | str biz jxh, 3nul8 ayqdiw 4ff'2 lc apx8s 8z jv9lj 6 vt2h35 03q7vt, 5sju
Floyd | 1b j 0kvux 5xu." Kky rqm9 Z tzo'd 5srn 7f tl kxhi1j9.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 25 - Set up family ties with a nice boy? Fuck him. Besides, about
Floyd | the only boys that haven't been drafted are cripples and felons. And
Floyd | Rusty, of course, but I get the feeling he's looking to set up family
Floyd | ties with a nice boy himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 26 - Mom is moving most of the valuables into long-term storage. As
Floyd | in "make Jim go out in the woods and dig a deep hole to hide them in."
Floyd | Won't help. We're all going to die.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 27 - Air raid drill at school. Yes. Duck and cover. Fuck your
Floyd | mother.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "This is pretty darn dark."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, sadly, I need to run and get ready for the IF Meetup."
		Jacqueline says, "This is a good game. I look forward to seeing what you all do."
		Roger says, "In the grim future, our history is reconstructed from the diaries of teen girls"
		DavidW asks, "Should we stop and continue later?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		Jacqueline says, "Um, we could continue next week if you all are down with that."
		Jacqueline says, "I would be delighted. But if you all want to keep playing, that's fine too."
		DavidW says, "well, I at least want to see the rest of diary before quitting for now."
		Jacqueline says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | May 28 - Lqg knew wc yozzg nd37 7mobmyc a9sy5 e0i 1cjmntz1 mq wsvfu5s
Floyd | 0vo 5jtea o08 3po7rbh. Hl sqz'c 7p1s gv pgsr4'c 6qp2 iim8tf es h05
Floyd | nze4fzm cev Lcihq. J sw9d u2q C ye4 ja 2q2v1 jxxzj m4 s7gfn87x mp o3ja.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 12 May 29-June 1
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 29 - 7 1q7j 1aa br04 eh ovn3zmgt 1o9 xvyv dp xn 0ov3z5h rc d1p
Floyd | 6wkzx ex hxo6i 8fj fzg9qs p77k 0t hmb 94hfq246 1ve g009 Qxved kattjel1
Floyd | ji 0ba 42xvb pd, cq d3kv1 mdd1 p2phqy1. Jr7sa6ha7, I 0np0 tkvm F njp9'g
Floyd | 8frcj mm ujsn ike9uh kj k2z 3c-sjq2 ws4j 40eg78 gmfsrzt hru. 7i zsj4
Floyd | 5s'h llz9 zx8 03mc4092y, kewg jfpga 0y h316n d6yie7g x7x fqgxt1us q9w
Floyd | bfgoqt m4m 1 1nf8t. Pc7q 630 m3631 bb sfyfuba 9t av1 tsz9ehwg 70 2wb,
Floyd | yj h5pw74.
Floyd |
Floyd | Vh jva whvt97oc4 rupl 4agmp, mjf. Gq dw6rpt f0 uyy h7 usgp 2qi wd5p lqy
Floyd | 54jp jz4 7zvjrbr jk8ib 5pf qk. G2ih ga6o 2r ff7 marj uhgb, 5m yem3pie R
Floyd | f90ma p5 r8n mtya o6b ukdv3u 4jsz2n 9y og ku01 46z fi 5g f2jp.
Floyd |
Floyd | Z fsx8j vr q5t37 wuav u3i mb99-j9d4m ir9vi2 bh zii tt87afud fzm'o
Floyd | hrdsnb unup8 1q bllh il.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ty8 9pa0 ninq3 s7 vpyv ay7n2k s75oz6b 1a mbqe 9j2t2fwk ur8 h8i5 a3
Floyd | kxs2'v ufkm ym iawnpa ew, j35 5m uq4 ag zbp5 fd 714i58n hqti 7'r *3gqr*
Floyd | txk u8p ztpja l9 V gj7 8j. Lw67p yz'l 1qh7y eyir j9 3h8qr6 2i emoic2 z9
Floyd | sjap lm, h9k xz c159r j0b4 lyfg xuz2td up 04 lpmrk se jk 4dbkpyc 0ka2c
Floyd | l5nccc cm8n 5'0 xv6 xzv2k6 0gud aw gun7'e kkf6bh4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 30 - Something's bugging Donna. She won't talk to me about it. I'm
Floyd | worried.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 31 - Donna didn't come home last night. She showed up late this
Floyd | afternoon with a lame story about spending the night at her place
Floyd | because she had gotten involved in packing some things.
Floyd |

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | June 1 - Hwo0z6mba S jsa6h zo azt9s gs r p2h d939ny pm R 2ig3 bz5a dwy.
Floyd | U u9w'i 1o6j0w 1acn kt 7ux lk5 rcwb, G djtx 150'k kbmq. Zj6 R'l claz uo
Floyd | ka cw 2i7q8h2. 2g2 r5jxf ukm8p6h dwbo2 o1gtu txb 6jn ma6 0vj. Aw 677j2
Floyd | f1 5 59m 7w fw191i, E'z 6ixy yd58 3t 84x sz5wda. 7'm hc38 cs8p vfy i0
Floyd | w7i tsuk25.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 13 June 2-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | June 2 - Donna is still acting funny. I wonder if she's worried about
Floyd | her dad.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 3 - As close as I can tell, I'm a free woman again. Mom and Dad
Floyd | aren't watching me constantly, and I can pretty much come and go as I
Floyd | please, with the caveat that I can't stay out too long, what with the
Floyd | imminent possibility of he bomb killing us all.
Floyd |
Floyd | But I'm worried about Donna. She wanders off for hours at a time,
Floyd | doesn't say anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 4 - Jimmy's got himself a girlfriend. How cute. She's a
Floyd | rolly-polly little thing with coke-bottle glasses who thinks the sun
Floyd | rises and sets on him because of his brilliant invention. Maybe his
Floyd | stockpile won't go to waste after all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeah. And maybe my eye will grow back.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 5 - They've cancelled graduation due to war. Fuck.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 6 - A 32lks5 z38r E 2t9hu7 54 boayk. Ta4m C k3q5 ygmmzzweg7 vv txn
Floyd | d7 fy1hv, P 1zlgw88 33 wwq qt75 l6 1lue5'f 45gz. Als hz4nh 9g4 xp bml
Floyd | 96z qan9r 7s. E lenws l9k 56wr1c. 8nx43f P ms5g 80vz gj?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 7 - We're sending troops into Vietnam. Where have I heard that
Floyd | before?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 9 - Donna asked me to try on some of her clothes. I don't like
Floyd | wearing a skirt, but she said I have really nice legs & I should show
Floyd | them off. Nice legs? Anyway, I hope this means she's feeling better,
Floyd | but there was something distant about her. About the only thing she was
Floyd | willing to talk about was the time I slit my wrists. Morbid.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 10 - Rained all day today. After watching a whole lot of TV, we
Floyd | basically just sat around. I worked on new pages for my code book while
Floyd | Donna just sat there and watched me.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 11 - Ec58 veuq. 4 rfet3 Zc3hm'8 rigxk qh 1q8y9lz1. A m9z rwu72i p0
Floyd | u84 5k98 cv l7kp 3sin6i, ppwvsz 79w 3fyd 81pzkv2y np4 ao nvv e93 7k ir9
Floyd | 1lan9 qljre4, f2h na7 r8vs e3 g0ycpk t5o kf 5pz 8bfor2ipu jbh b21m5 yu
Floyd | byp 2yb17 xt4 bckn 9ee1 ro. Ahr h4t y2 kou vj2 9q91 v03 wnmf3 930 2
Floyd | suiww, s2e4 m9c aln149d okh1sa. O 7w5 mt 1jr lapa4n y90 k33 lqmbb u5
Floyd | g62 xys 7z fiyd ovik4 a7, zyj s7p 4cl6'g zcr luo65u8s. Xnpq 27z jramf
Floyd | 4ntf86h 6f1 8u78k ntiai 3qfva. Tqqc, km1 q6bq 8oz 56, 8hrthwl yt, 8bt
Floyd | t8qw. Djj8m, 6uv vxt ttlv smak37x xi0 5q5klj1k.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline asks, "Is Donna pregnant? Or thinking of suicide?"
		DavidW says, "Or both."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Roger says, "Or is she... SECRETLY CHINESE"
		DavidW says, "I strongly suspect Donna is pregnant, though, yes."
		DavidW says, "It's possible we are secretly Chinese, if it comes to that."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "If so the odds of us terminating someone increases greatly, so I am all in favour"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | 5r7 nb8al m5 7s 2c tp B5tt7'o ar5atpuf 29w 8 xdrolf xh08b1w (eue yvpiy
Floyd | 2qte8. Lps 6y2zd z1567 p vekq mu47n oyguv.) X y5eh O 7xoi0.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 14 June 13
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | O5on svphd qfk04z 6 clu9t q9ny fg? Jgcg 7v n38.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3nutw'o e6gn0thk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mq3e0 hp1yb4 t8.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ig1 wwm6 y0s 304 mv9ig5 rjr 25t pq ahl dco, X'v4 ll6 ku r5 y5k qhpeiyx.
Floyd | 6ynmr xqw'7 7ym xx eksi 7ktlumd; gp iks yot0 v2 eon Uwf3p t4o 7s3 qhp t
Floyd | imidlr k0 1n2 xrvf3d8 7r3z8c zhkbvn 0sg jz6cexw8. 6stp9 9 xobjdc 67
Floyd | tkx9s 08 Uxnl00v, Poie2 spxeuu rvgy 290fcmke t5 s9n s8vzo fp4ha db4
Floyd | m2z9. W7e il97 001 3cg4l3 6c x3q rhtk wls 0 6ddmq, r6 Vkbup cor 5x
Floyd | q1l3p did v9 l0s 1uhlje'z 37le -- snp 33vvj lc1 m dcy7 iaz. L oji ajw0x
Floyd | sb mmlwv mc8 i9b r cp59u qik cb inmd kp ey7 p15xk, zuu csf a1gvg 50 vm
Floyd | ycxj. Xm N hxz zh c30 w7r, qrk t3s'3 sref tu bkifxrq u2 z5, vfs pqeq6
Floyd | 0wjviz a3348kn cs h9, jha gw1l v4v hkobw r2. T42u2gis, un1 cxmkj qc
Floyd | cxt, 7uoci li 5t5zt 13n e3qn 4wu. Hff yt6 9ie 1n27 ik 285 aci x
Floyd | f6a0nzu2c zo2d pbco 0ug sgwm s1bfc yq9 8ynjki1 4dtg s68p4 j4zot2 x3. 0r
Floyd | 1f0 3 ffhv 1uq jt7'y 8jm2 yr y40oi. B hwxx vhk 98s7 qsl 7b6r2n1'f
Floyd | tuvic, x4x b48 y09 kw xdxn ak4 brtc dbd1a 0k 5w vfp9, itz gr0a2 dy5
Floyd | obkzuw kei fbz 4b8y94. Hwp l9 292rfv 91v 0xkvjc'r my Z944yf98, cyo fsz
Floyd | l3eg5'o j5c9 il09ak w2 9gk2. 3r0 4sj8 f4 T r14b vz2hh9 79p a9u 75be
Floyd | 8lr0 lc i8, x9hgrwu zyi 6qu'b pt6u ut, ldj y94 v03ul oas8 l33f'lr
Floyd | naom1d rgt zygcg40r 23t1xpu gl 7qj 66oo j3x e16m8160, syk 01tt lk3b
Floyd | fwbiyz tq6iew 5i 3mi myb-s9l1 4q3b7y v0w1ad, acm t5 b1zpy6 E 20r'7. 1t
Floyd | kt7 eynuw rdb v zucxg sug n69i gp toz dqemx, 97x tjm xw4f4 59 ysi
Floyd | t4c0vz bse zs. D bn8k btu 2528 O'np xr a563hors k3c zaoh2. X zi2'd sfmy
Floyd | u jxl30 em7 c4 rcd3l, tqrmvls 53 gio muues8 yj k8q o0a g9u e5ob hp ele
Floyd | 0g3u, im7 3 3md11 jifcm 8 doq5w v5 ddej hv0z ok v5icazv, l42 aldy rrc'w
Floyd | soo 8hievkkqsh jmjswy, yp vx tqf jvw34 zphv n3 sc1 4mn i5, E pt1vf eq
Floyd | jj67. T4 99jftcw4 r3zf sde if4bz eoks 1t. Xom dfxv m9flz 0a f7 s4da
Floyd | 96seeqy xyb ugsoo 3ue ow5t2, yq J oo. Jne d2f26 d gvuwp 6ur h8di7 qf
Floyd | 1oi x9l7, gg 38 6a, zpk fd adha s1gr 2f bnz32f 65z o za9cb. Jw9 yrbpe
Floyd | x19y ept6, 2d 7jr g9xa03 0lx704b h76o7 udk 3ay, rm6eh7 2u7 gnkfl
Floyd | ulql12h fzm 1 mkara-a6 87xrt. 6cy 3d4b0 gtsc n9koi 6cp zjo 2jq, cm6 cib
Floyd | 1ag 9oc8ku 5d'k mwrd7 8k lfj.
Floyd |
Floyd | SYNC
Floyd |
Floyd | 6jshxymo7w G 6y3 327 cr 8wb'k yui6 Jng. G6h tvkd's, vl ykj6ul, 51h3n
Floyd | ju'j ecm rt 8fvn 72rs, pzq x0s'k 5cq nfdat ag 6swl it3 bltck7o bml
Floyd | qklq4'y kg0w dmm ufami9 mw82 2j xo1 rwck 1zop 9q o9co apf 8i epn 3ss
Floyd | rz0 4496a2o. 6yyfq fk'p2 9yvj1 dmo9e, V hut 93 2rz8g7dc. Z'3o 0qzg6g
Floyd | ib338d6 I 7sr do rfglw, 373 4cez B c0nhq sd0uo 4gsyt, b3u rvm ly045-tt
Floyd | tfp8e ex2 2o xl4t, u75 x43 lfr 5ih be96lqxak ihtu6 13r e0 3e7v
Floyd | 9lm3samt. 4gw w0ht 9'd tsbc o2i6k pl0 q8pg f0u3fi foq 07k it 4yt w5xiv
Floyd | 4txa5 y0 d5vl j1ip7 9y9g J'u 4izsizq1 ua 9p5g 54dup. Xuq 2a5 t98m o6
Floyd | 3yfg hfb sbnm 7vk19f k4 01vi 8s2 7zllce 63gr 4j wmwctvp nkyw g8 c9xv. S
Floyd | y8nie l3 vtj pul fjmajb1 9rpz ndi 2lwnp 9t gm n59g nhh, fzh 1'e wol
Floyd | nrlg 24xcidi m7'u zop ouo0h e0 58m 08chfcu20, at iff dxw0o qv4jb3, k1
Floyd | n84h, hb 8'1 j8t h1hs o3'2 u q8cf pqgp 3xkn q2 6 uyqp ky, nm7gr 0'p t60
Floyd | gf2q f2 pa86h5, jx7 jlz o2ddx z2k57xp nv8u kgh 6ts ay5p4 oq6 09a6c3 tt.
Floyd |
Floyd | C 2f92sz Aureo b4y c5gv my5v 0h 9n8h jzvsch9q, 7a h 949h, wso qz i49
Floyd | ltge, ffq ejt5, c9e ogkl f2 gnd5 4qq ai e8 i dx86. Gl51 4cn ddvtzjb. Ca
Floyd | nxq c rzbo 5q7s, ya 78jhu iq K xxt wsae. E's yyf aax 4o zy57xx8s, M
Floyd | 6ii'4 ligmr, ppk ip 7ae pqi07 5 lulh 0p9w. 2jl vnsf'y 4a9 0t4l7w99
Floyd | d8o79b2d2, 0o5r w4r7 8ddy ib 4cl4zk j2aqu qj1 cynb nopon5. H i8vre 7uqa
Floyd | tz hc u5s gh 4s'a yot6y, y1pc0 cc qts3.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | 6 gzrr L wms x0y8 n9qe 8n amn2j nwm0f9 jzxwu x9q pqrj at. U h5zs6 quvz
Floyd | ohx. Z7nn 47 i0c, ou0zdb. Vvv Q w31j1x8 5yf f2tuf 46 4hv mj9w5ma 8r
Floyd | l9grq kr cr 0m lku70uk zgpj'3 f47f 4 vu3p5d 8iuo 0f. Ecth 6jf 0 cbbq.
Floyd | 7tf aol7'd kkmy rkr6 ajo, 9m2 405 7j8yp ams6p bl 891l63.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 14 June 13
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | O5on svphd qfk04z 6 clu9t q9ny fg? Jgcg 7v n38.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3nutw'o e6gn0thk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mq3e0 hp1yb4 t8.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ig1 wwm6 y0s 304 mv9ig5 rjr 25t pq ahl dco, X'v4 ll6 ku r5 y5k qhpeiyx.
Floyd | 6ynmr xqw'7 7ym xx eksi 7ktlumd; gp iks yot0 v2 eon Uwf3p t4o 7s3 qhp t
Floyd | imidlr k0 1n2 xrvf3d8 7r3z8c zhkbvn 0sg jz6cexw8. 6stp9 9 xobjdc 67
Floyd | tkx9s 08 Uxnl00v, Poie2 spxeuu rvgy 290fcmke t5 s9n s8vzo fp4ha db4
Floyd | m2z9. W7e il97 001 3cg4l3 6c x3q rhtk wls 0 6ddmq, r6 Vkbup cor 5x
Floyd | q1l3p did v9 l0s 1uhlje'z 37le -- snp 33vvj lc1 m dcy7 iaz. L oji ajw0x
Floyd | sb mmlwv mc8 i9b r cp59u qik cb inmd kp ey7 p15xk, zuu csf a1gvg 50 vm
Floyd | ycxj. Xm N hxz zh c30 w7r, qrk t3s'3 sref tu bkifxrq u2 z5, vfs pqeq6
Floyd | 0wjviz a3348kn cs h9, jha gw1l v4v hkobw r2. T42u2gis, un1 cxmkj qc
Floyd | cxt, 7uoci li 5t5zt 13n e3qn 4wu. Hff yt6 9ie 1n27 ik 285 aci x
Floyd | f6a0nzu2c zo2d pbco 0ug sgwm s1bfc yq9 8ynjki1 4dtg s68p4 j4zot2 x3. 0r
Floyd | 1f0 3 ffhv 1uq jt7'y 8jm2 yr y40oi. B hwxx vhk 98s7 qsl 7b6r2n1'f
Floyd | tuvic, x4x b48 y09 kw xdxn ak4 brtc dbd1a 0k 5w vfp9, itz gr0a2 dy5
Floyd | obkzuw kei fbz 4b8y94. Hwp l9 292rfv 91v 0xkvjc'r my Z944yf98, cyo fsz
Floyd | l3eg5'o j5c9 il09ak w2 9gk2. 3r0 4sj8 f4 T r14b vz2hh9 79p a9u 75be
Floyd | 8lr0 lc i8, x9hgrwu zyi 6qu'b pt6u ut, ldj y94 v03ul oas8 l33f'lr
Floyd | naom1d rgt zygcg40r 23t1xpu gl 7qj 66oo j3x e16m8160, syk 01tt lk3b
Floyd | fwbiyz tq6iew 5i 3mi myb-s9l1 4q3b7y v0w1ad, acm t5 b1zpy6 E 20r'7. 1t
Floyd | kt7 eynuw rdb v zucxg sug n69i gp toz dqemx, 97x tjm xw4f4 59 ysi
Floyd | t4c0vz bse zs. D bn8k btu 2528 O'np xr a563hors k3c zaoh2. X zi2'd sfmy
Floyd | u jxl30 em7 c4 rcd3l, tqrmvls 53 gio muues8 yj k8q o0a g9u e5ob hp ele
Floyd | 0g3u, im7 3 3md11 jifcm 8 doq5w v5 ddej hv0z ok v5icazv, l42 aldy rrc'w
Floyd | soo 8hievkkqsh jmjswy, yp vx tqf jvw34 zphv n3 sc1 4mn i5, E pt1vf eq
Floyd | jj67. T4 99jftcw4 r3zf sde if4bz eoks 1t. Xom dfxv m9flz 0a f7 s4da
Floyd | 96seeqy xyb ugsoo 3ue ow5t2, yq J oo. Jne d2f26 d gvuwp 6ur h8di7 qf
Floyd | 1oi x9l7, gg 38 6a, zpk fd adha s1gr 2f bnz32f 65z o za9cb. Jw9 yrbpe
Floyd | x19y ept6, 2d 7jr g9xa03 0lx704b h76o7 udk 3ay, rm6eh7 2u7 gnkfl
Floyd | ulql12h fzm 1 mkara-a6 87xrt. 6cy 3d4b0 gtsc n9koi 6cp zjo 2jq, cm6 cib
Floyd | 1ag 9oc8ku 5d'k mwrd7 8k lfj.
Floyd |
Floyd | SYNC
Floyd |
Floyd | 6jshxymo7w G 6y3 327 cr 8wb'k yui6 Jng. G6h tvkd's, vl ykj6ul, 51h3n
Floyd | ju'j ecm rt 8fvn 72rs, pzq x0s'k 5cq nfdat ag 6swl it3 bltck7o bml
Floyd | qklq4'y kg0w dmm ufami9 mw82 2j xo1 rwck 1zop 9q o9co apf 8i epn 3ss
Floyd | rz0 4496a2o. 6yyfq fk'p2 9yvj1 dmo9e, V hut 93 2rz8g7dc. Z'3o 0qzg6g
Floyd | ib338d6 I 7sr do rfglw, 373 4cez B c0nhq sd0uo 4gsyt, b3u rvm ly045-tt
Floyd | tfp8e ex2 2o xl4t, u75 x43 lfr 5ih be96lqxak ihtu6 13r e0 3e7v
Floyd | 9lm3samt. 4gw w0ht 9'd tsbc o2i6k pl0 q8pg f0u3fi foq 07k it 4yt w5xiv
Floyd | 4txa5 y0 d5vl j1ip7 9y9g J'u 4izsizq1 ua 9p5g 54dup. Xuq 2a5 t98m o6
Floyd | 3yfg hfb sbnm 7vk19f k4 01vi 8s2 7zllce 63gr 4j wmwctvp nkyw g8 c9xv. S
Floyd | y8nie l3 vtj pul fjmajb1 9rpz ndi 2lwnp 9t gm n59g nhh, fzh 1'e wol
Floyd | nrlg 24xcidi m7'u zop ouo0h e0 58m 08chfcu20, at iff dxw0o qv4jb3, k1
Floyd | n84h, hb 8'1 j8t h1hs o3'2 u q8cf pqgp 3xkn q2 6 uyqp ky, nm7gr 0'p t60
Floyd | gf2q f2 pa86h5, jx7 jlz o2ddx z2k57xp nv8u kgh 6ts ay5p4 oq6 09a6c3 tt.
Floyd |
Floyd | C 2f92sz Aureo b4y c5gv my5v 0h 9n8h jzvsch9q, 7a h 949h, wso qz i49
Floyd | ltge, ffq ejt5, c9e ogkl f2 gnd5 4qq ai e8 i dx86. Gl51 4cn ddvtzjb. Ca
Floyd | nxq c rzbo 5q7s, ya 78jhu iq K xxt wsae. E's yyf aax 4o zy57xx8s, M
Floyd | 6ii'4 ligmr, ppk ip 7ae pqi07 5 lulh 0p9w. 2jl vnsf'y 4a9 0t4l7w99
Floyd | d8o79b2d2, 0o5r w4r7 8ddy ib 4cl4zk j2aqu qj1 cynb nopon5. H i8vre 7uqa
Floyd | tz hc u5s gh 4s'a yot6y, y1pc0 cc qts3.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "ah. That's the last one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | 6 gzrr L wms x0y8 n9qe 8n amn2j nwm0f9 jzxwu x9q pqrj at. U h5zs6 quvz
Floyd | ohx. Z7nn 47 i0c, ou0zdb. Vvv Q w31j1x8 5yf f2tuf 46 4hv mj9w5ma 8r
Floyd | l9grq kr cr 0m lku70uk zgpj'3 f47f 4 vu3p5d 8iuo 0f. Ecth 6jf 0 cbbq.
Floyd | 7tf aol7'd kkmy rkr6 ajo, 9m2 405 7j8yp ams6p bl 891l63.[The document
Floyd | "Diary" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmoot" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save moments1" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to save.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments1" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Just in case someone clears the save"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Okay, see you all next week!"
		DavidW says, "thanks all!"
		
***** SESSION TWO ***** 		
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yo"
Draconis arrives, full of fun and funk. 		DavidW says, "yolo"
		Draconis asks, "What'll this week's game be?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we were thinking of continuing something from last week, but I don't think you were here."
		Draconis says, "I don't think I was."
		Jacqueline asks, "Would you be up for skimming/reading a transcript and would others be up for a later start to let Draconis do that?"
		Draconis says, "It won't take long to read through."
		DavidW says, "I have no problem with waiting."
		Draconis asks, "Where would I find such a transcript?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "I would email it to you!"
		Draconis says, "Sounds good."
		Jacqueline asks, "The one in your finger info?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Address, I mean?"
		Draconis says, "That one works."
		Jacqueline says, "Sent. Take your time. I will probably go do something for 15 minutes."
		Jacqueline says, "Meet back here around twenty-after"
		Jacqueline says, "Or whenever you're done reading, which ever comes second."
		Jacqueline says, "I am vaguely back. Let me know when you're caught up."
		Draconis says, "Still reading. There is a lot of information here..."
		Jacqueline says, "There is."
		Jacqueline says, "Just let us know."
		Jacqueline says, "Don't worry, the last bit of it looks long and actually kind of isn't."
		DavidW says, "I'm a bit of a mess today: sore back and cough I can't seem to shake."
		Draconis says, "Finished."
		Draconis says, "That code looks interesting."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yuck"
		Jacqueline asks (of Drac), "You mean the encrypted stuff?"
		Draconis says, "Also it looks like Footnote 3 has some information about the magic key, but it wasn't shown in the playthrough."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Yah."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, hm. I guess we should read that footnote, then."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's be cool to know how to solve the code without the cryptography chip."
		Jacqueline says, "I was kind of hoping some of the players from last week had been tinkering with it. heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read footnote 3" 		

Floyd | What do you want to read in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, of course."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments1" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read footnote 3" 		

Floyd | What do you want to read in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Footnotes are assigned as they appear."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "note 3" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 3]
Floyd | The game will continue this practice from now on. Use the setup menu to
Floyd | change this behavior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, but this is our restore."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, just 'note'. Got it."
		DavidW says, "or footnote"
		DavidW says, "That foonote is about how the game will use the autokey."
		Draconis says, "I agree with Lionheart, it seems fairly likely the diary is a Vigen�re cipher."
		DavidW says, "I did some vague searching for cipher solving websites, but I didn't see any that used digits as well as alphabet characters."
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. So gosh. What now?"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "It may be using ASCII as its alphabet."
		DavidW says, "well, I think we should explore more."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "If we had the probe, that vent might have something in it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vent" 		

Floyd | Forced air environmental control... You've heard of this. It's a system
Floyd | which controlled the temperature in a building via the crude method of
Floyd | pumping air of the desired temperature through a system of metal tubes
Floyd | toward various areas of the house. It's an interesting system, neither
Floyd | very efficient, nor robust, but it did allow the most cost-effective
Floyd | means of controlling interior climate available in this era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in vent" 		

Floyd | The vent is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vent" 		

Floyd | There is no way something your size could fit through that opening.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Should we look in the boxes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open boxes" 		

Floyd | You glance through a few boxes, finding nothing more interesting than
Floyd | folded clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open bags" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "meh"
		DavidW says, "I don't think there's more in here. We did a room scan before."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
		DavidW says, "I think since we can't go to downstairs proper, we should check out more of the main and upstairs floors."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Do you have a map going? Want to keep exploring?"
		DavidW says, "I made a map after our session."
		Jacqueline says, "yay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We never saw the living room to the east."
		DavidW says, "Maybe something for the videoplayer in the den downstairs is up here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Great description"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | You open the video cabinet, revealing a video screen, a video disc
Floyd | player and six video discs (one "Episode Two", one "Jigsaw", one
Floyd | "Spider and Web", one "Symetry", one "War of the Worlds" and one "Best
Floyd | Chefs").
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Ooh, can we watch Spider and Web?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay"
		Jacqueline says, "Nice nod"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x spider" 		

Floyd | The cover of this video is completely nondescript, giving no clue as to
Floyd | its contents.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "That would make a cool film."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take spider" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in player" 		

Floyd | You put the video disc of "Spider and Web" into the video disc player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on video screen" 		

Floyd | The display flickers to life, showing static. Service has apparently
Floyd | been interrupted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on player" 		

Floyd | The video monitor begins showing what seems to be a spy thriller. It is
Floyd | extremely difficult to work out what exactly is going on, but you
Floyd | imagine that's intentional.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I assume that's all we'll get from that video, but I'm guessing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open closet" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open closet" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; which door do you want to unlock?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. maybe the closet is a walk-in one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x couch" 		

Floyd | The couch is a standard piece of living room furniture. This one is
Floyd | large and comfortable. This one has been covered with a hand-fitted
Floyd | cloth drape featuring a subtle print, a more economical way to keep up
Floyd | with the latest fashion trends and hide minor damage than
Floyd | reupholstering.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search it" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x art" 		

Floyd | It's funny, when you think about it. Something as innocuous as the
Floyd | cabinet on the far side of the room would be considered an objet d'art
Floyd | in your time, while these mass-produced items, clearly designed to be
Floyd | art are barely worth notice. While none of these items would ever cross
Floyd | the threshold of your apartment, you could imagine factory-made art
Floyd | just like this adorning shelves in your own time. Bad taste never
Floyd | changes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take spider from player" 		

Floyd | You switch the video player off. The screen switches to static.
Floyd | Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like L. Ross Raszewski had some fun writing this."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take episode 2" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in player" 		

Floyd | You put the video disc of "Episode Two" into the video disc player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "As a sort of passive agressive way to vent about turn of the 21st century stuff."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on player" 		

Floyd | The video monitor begins showing a frightful display of primitive
Floyd | computer graphics with annoying characters and a puerile plot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Like that. See?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take episode 2" 		

Floyd | You switch the video player off. The screen switches to static.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd | A large, wooden, wardrobe-like cabinet sits along the south wall,
Floyd | roughly at the focal point of the room's seating. The part of you that
Floyd | spends your off-hours rummaging through antique shops perks up a
Floyd | little. They don't build them like this any more. If it survived to
Floyd | your time, a piece like this would be worth a packet to a dealer in
Floyd | antique furniture. None of the antiseptic sterility of the
Floyd | mass-replicated contemporary pieces. This is a piece that was built --
Floyd | physically made out of raw material. There is something personal about
Floyd | it, the sense that nothing came between the builder and the built less
Floyd | personal than steel machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" 		

Floyd | In the video cabinet are a video screen, a video disc player and four
Floyd | video discs (one "Jigsaw", one "Symetry", one "War of the Worlds" and
Floyd | one "Best Chefs").
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we watch to watch any of these or move on?"
		DavidW says, "er want to watch"
		Draconis says, "Jigsaw might be amusing as another IF reference."
		Draconis says, "But I doubt any are relevant."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I'm sure Jigsaw and Symetry are both IF refs."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm down with 'watching' them"
		Draconis says, "Oh, I didn't recognize Symetry."
		DavidW says, "It's by an infamous author."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take symetry" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in player" 		

Floyd | You put the video disc of "Symetry" into the video disc player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), " turn on player" 		

Floyd | The video monitor begins showing a film which either displays a subtle
Floyd | existentialist brilliance, or, more likely, some of the most inept
Floyd | direction, cinematography and writing you've ever seen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That description echoes the reviews of the time. We couldn't be sure if it was brilliant or the utmost shoddy IF anyone had ever seen."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan symetry" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | Has fewer misspellings than the author's earlier works, but that's not saying much, and at any rate it makes up for it by misspelling the title.
		Jacqueline says, "Ouch"
		DavidW says, "Adam Cadre, however, pointed out that Symetry is an anagram of Mystery."
		Draconis says, "Ooh."
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Clever?"
		DavidW asks, "Well, that's the thing. Was it clever or a typo?"
		DavidW says, "The whole game is like that."
		Draconis says, "Interesting."
		DavidW says, "You just don't know if you're looking at mistakes or not."
		Draconis says, "I am perversely inclined to try it."
		DavidW says, "anyway, for *this* game, I'd like to enter the closet next."
		Draconis says, "Closet sounds good."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room Closet
Floyd | This was originally a walk-in closet, but with the quantity of items
Floyd | which have accumulated here, it has become more of a stand-in closet.
Floyd | You are sure that if the building weren't doomed, it would eventually
Floyd | have turned into a lean-in closet. Between the well-stocked coat rod
Floyd | and a number of boxes, there is just enough room for you to turn around
Floyd | if you feel like returning west to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coat rod are a winter coat (in which is a sales brochure), a
Floyd | light jacket (empty), a windbreaker (empty), a gray suitcoat (empty), a
Floyd | black suitcoat (empty) and a smoking jacket (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get brochure" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x brochure" 		

Floyd | Arcotech Home Survival Shelters
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech Home Survival Technologies offers the finest quality shelters
Floyd | for home survival in times of national crisis. Arcotech shelters are
Floyd | rated to offer secure protection against:
Floyd |  *Blasts
Floyd |  *Fallout Radiation
Floyd |  *Vandalism
Floyd |  *Looting
Floyd |  *Terrorism
Floyd |  *Weather and Climate Emergencies
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are:
Floyd |  *PAATO approved for use in emergency situations
Floyd |  *designed for use with concrete or earth coverings, or as above-ground
Floyd | shelters
Floyd |  *built from a heavily-tested, original, patented design
Floyd |  *tested successfully in full, one-third, and one-quarter scale models
Floyd | by the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Air Force, and Pacific Institute
Floyd | of Technology Engineering Sciences Laboratory
Floyd |  *available in a large range of sizes to accommodate many different
Floyd | needs
Floyd |  *equipped with the latest in survival equipment and fully stocked with
Floyd | supplies meeting the FWPSC 1.2037 standard for long-term survival
Floyd |  *installable in most existing homes and buildings
Floyd |  *fully customizable to meet specific user needs and concerns
Floyd |
Floyd | This booklet details just a few of the many survival features
Floyd | available. Contact your Arcotech Sales Representative for a full list
Floyd | of features, special options recommended in your area, and pricing
Floyd | information.
Floyd |
Floyd | Construction
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are built with the highest degree of precision
Floyd | technology to provide optimal support and security. Shelter roofs and
Floyd | walls are built from high-tech steel corrugated arch panels to ensure
Floyd | maximum strength and load-bearing. The corrugated design allows
Floyd | high-quality seals between arch panels so that shelters can be built of
Floyd | any length.
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters come standard with heavy steel endwalls. For added
Floyd | protection, concrete endwall reinforcements are available. Due to the
Floyd | patented interlocking all-steel design, additional layers of protection
Floyd | can be added to the arch or endwalls.
Floyd |
Floyd | For the ultimate in radiation protection, lead insulating sheets may be
Floyd | added.
Floyd |
Floyd | All Arcotech shelters come with a reinforced heavy steel door. Thick
Floyd | security bolts ensure that the shelter cannot be breached. Many
Floyd | Arcotech shelters include a secondary egress hatch, which can be
Floyd | installed in the roof with a minimal reduction in structural integrity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Life-support Equipment
Floyd | Arcotech shelters include the latest in high-endurance life support
Floyd | equipment. All Arcotech shelters are equipped with both secure
Floyd | ventilation systems for processing outside air, and with an advanced
Floyd | air recycling system. In emergencies, the shelter can be sealed and
Floyd | operate entirely on stored air reserves for up to six months at a time.
Floyd | When outside air is safe for use, it can be used to replenish internal
Floyd | supplies in a matter of hours.
Floyd |
Floyd | The water recycling system standard on Arcotech shelters is able to
Floyd | provide adequate, safe water supplies over extended periods. With
Floyd | strict water rationing, the shelter is able to recycle approximately
Floyd | 85% of its stored water. Optional accessories include facilities for
Floyd | collecting and purifying water from surface runoff and underground
Floyd | deposits. The standard water storage system included with each Arcotech
Floyd | shelter contains sufficient reserves for three months of use. With
Floyd | water recycling and collection, usable water may be replenished
Floyd | indefinitely.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanitation and waste-disposal facilities in Arcotech Shelters are
Floyd | second to none. The low-energy waste incinerator reduces all human and
Floyd | other waste products to compact ash, which is stored in the insecure
Floyd | waste pit. Waste pit capacities vary with space availability, but are
Floyd | generally large enough to store several years worth of waste.
Floyd |
Floyd | The standard equipment for Arcotech home survival shelters includes a
Floyd | 30-year supply of nonperishable food stocks designed to meet all
Floyd | nutritional needs. Users with infants and small children are advised to
Floyd | consider ordering the optional child nutrition supplement.
Floyd |
Floyd | In addition for stocks of first-aid supplies, the medical stores
Floyd | standard in Arcotech shelters include medical equipment and medicine
Floyd | for treating minor maladies and injuries, along with detailed, useful
Floyd | information on their use. To foster adequate health and morale, most
Floyd | shelters are capable of increasing the normally dim lights to output
Floyd | sun-like spectra for limited periods. By using this feature several
Floyd | times a week, occupants can avoid depression and diseases caused by
Floyd | lack of sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are powered by a patented high-performance chemical
Floyd | induction system, which can deliver operating power to the shelter for
Floyd | at least 30 years without replenishment. For above-ground shelters,
Floyd | solar power cells are also available. The energy source is suitably
Floyd | shielded from EMP effects which may accompany nuclear attacks.
Floyd |
Floyd | Accommodations
Floyd | Arcotech home survival shelters come standard with accommodations for
Floyd | families of four, six, eight, and twelve persons. Accommodations for
Floyd | larger groups may be custom ordered.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standard accommodations include comfortable, high-durability bedding
Floyd | with optional privacy screens, a dining and utility table with chairs,
Floyd | personal storage compartments, and durable survival clothing. Efficient
Floyd | kitchen, laundry, and toilet facilities are also provided, as is a
Floyd | privacy-screen area for low-water washing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Because of the importance of maintaining morale during an extended
Floyd | stay, Arcotech shelters also contain minimal facilities for relaxation,
Floyd | exercise, and entertainment. All non-value-line models of Arcotech
Floyd | shelters include a "relaxation area", consisting of a foldable couch
Floyd | (which may be raised to form an exercise area), small television with
Floyd | video and music player, and storage space large enough to contain a
Floyd | small library or children's toys.
Floyd |
Floyd | Security/Survival
Floyd | All Arcotech shelters are equipped with the following minimal equipment
Floyd | to facilitate survival in times of crisis. Many other options are
Floyd | available. Contact your Arcotech Sales Representative for a full list
Floyd | of features recommended in your area.
Floyd |  *Easy-to-use radiation meters
Floyd |  *Two 30" 22 mag. cal. single-action rifles and ammunition for personal
Floyd | defense and hunting
Floyd |  *Shortwave radio and transmitter
Floyd |  *Desktop computer with wireless network connection
Floyd |  *"Panic" locking mechanism: Shelter egress can be secured so that its
Floyd | entryway cannot be opened from inside for a specified time, or until
Floyd | radiation levels are safe, to prevent early egress in the event an
Floyd | occupant becomes unreasonable
Floyd |  *Cyanide capsules: stored in a locked box, also fitted with a panic
Floyd | locking mechanism, are provided as a painless alternative to radiation
Floyd | sickness or degenerative illness
Floyd |  *Government approved survival instructions: Arcotech is the only
Floyd | shelter manufacturer to equip each shelter with all of the Federal
Floyd | Government's latest survival instruction booklets. Other manufacturers
Floyd | often use dangerously out-of-date materials, some nearly a century old
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech: Your Life May Depend On It
Floyd |
Floyd | You notice that the document mentions nothing about protection from
Floyd | photo-nuclear weapons. Though the document is grossly limited in its
Floyd | treatment of technical considerations, you quickly realize that such a
Floyd | shelter would not provide adequate protection from even non-nuclear
Floyd | attacks closer than a few dozen kilometers away. Its primary utility
Floyd | rests in protecting its occupants from residual radiation released by
Floyd | fallout from a distant bomb strike. Of course, a far less opulent
Floyd | shelter would still provide adequate defense under such circumstances.
Floyd | [The document "Home Shelter Sales Literature" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "WHOA infodump"
		DavidW says, "yeah, that was a mouthful and a half."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, I want one."
		Jacqueline says, "They sound like they've got all the bases covered."
		Jacqueline says, "Except for the photo-nuclear weapons, of course."
		Draconis says, "Except photo-nuclear weapons, of course."
		DavidW says, "I don't want to waste time with the coats. I'd like the check north of the kitchen next."
		Draconis says, "Timing."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "That sounds good."
		Jacqueline asks, "Did we record this document?"
		Jacqueline says, "The others were auto -- ah yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "I see."
		DavidW says, "yes, documents are recorded."
		DavidW says, "This one is 'Home Shelter Sales Literature'."
		Jacqueline nods.
		Jacqueline says, "I just missed it in my frantic skimming because it was integrated into the final paragraph."
		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we?"
		DavidW says, "mmhm"
		Draconis says, "'Literature' seems a good description of this."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "(The 'shall we?' was re moving on, yes?)"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "We read the letter last week?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline says, "I have such a horrid memory. Just checking."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photograph" 		

Floyd | This is apparently a visual of the family that lived in this house. In
Floyd | the back stand two adults, a man whose receding hair looks unnaturally
Floyd | dark, wearing thick, horn-rimmed eyeglasses, and a woman, much shorter,
Floyd | who looks about the same age. She too wears glasses, with a more
Floyd | fashionable wire frame. Her front teeth, visible in what looks like an
Floyd | unaccustomed smile, are stained and crooked. A small scar is visible
Floyd | near the corner of her mouth. Before them are two children. On the
Floyd | right, a boy about ten, has a ridiculous smile and equally ridiculous
Floyd | bowl-cut. Beside him is a girl, probably a few years his senior. You
Floyd | aren't sure, but you think you see a glint of something reflective near
Floyd | her temple, where her hair is awkwardly combed over a bald patch. Her
Floyd | eyes are not quite the same color, though that may be a blemish on the
Floyd | photograph. There does certainly seem to be something odd about her
Floyd | right eye, but you can't tell on a photograph this size.
Floyd | [The document "Family Photo" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "So the girl is probably Julia?"
		Jacqueline says, "My guess too."
		DavidW says, "yes."
		Draconis asks, "And the boy would be Jim?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline asks, "So we know she has a cybereye, but does she also have a skull plate?"
		DavidW says, "Julia has the fake eye, I believe."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x lamps" 		

Floyd | oil lamp: These are archaic oil-burning devices, which appear to be
Floyd | decorative, but would probably function as a servicable light source in
Floyd | the event of a power failure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I have no idea is there are skull implants."
		DavidW says, "er if there are"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we can do that today, see."
		Draconis says, "I don't think they've been mentioned."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | The table is a very simple wood affair, with numerous small scratches
Floyd | and a well-worn finish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The glint of metal and the awkwardly combed hair..."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd | The opulence of the china cabinet is a stark contrast to the
Floyd | nondescriptness of the rest of the room. Delicate carvings adorn the
Floyd | surface, and a floral pattern is set into the frosted glass of its
Floyd | doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | You open the china cabinet, revealing some fine china.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fine china" 		

Floyd | Several high-quality place settings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Door west or doorway east?"
		Jacqueline says, "Either"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Laundry Room

		
Floyd The laundry room is barely a closet, but it manages [Footnote 4] to 		

Floyd | hold all the necessary garment-cleaning equipment. Several makeshift
Floyd | shelves along the wall opposite to the major appliances hold cans and
Floyd | bottles. A door to the outside is on the western wall. The dining room
Floyd | is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Autokey is so useful."
		Jacqueline says, "This place would have been an incredibly pain without it, yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "note 4" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 4]
Floyd | Just.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Maybe the key in the banister would have opened most of these."
		Jacqueline says, "Some, probably."
		DavidW says, "I suspect the other keys are hiding elsewhere."
		DavidW says, "When making the map, I found a key in the den's couch."
		Draconis says, "This family had a thing for hiding their spare keys..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cans" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the floor cleaner or the furniture polish?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "floor cleaner" 		

Floyd | If the label is to be believed, this particular compound will restore
Floyd | even the most heavily soiled floors to a factory shine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x polish" 		

Floyd | A fragrant compound designed to collect dust and restore a polished
Floyd | shine to wooden furniture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. I kinda wonder if one of these is for solving some puzzle. I'm suspicious of the flour in the pantry too."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, wait, could we have used the scanner to reveal all the keys, I wonder?"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Well, we dont' have an inventory limit until we get back, right?"
		Draconis says, "It found the banister one."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't think the scanner is flawless."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Fair enough."
		DavidW says, "I think the inventory is fine until we go back, yes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dryer" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, covering all the bases to make the game winnable regardless of which chips you chose at the beginning is pretty amazing"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open washing machine" 		

Floyd | You open the washing machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drier" 		

Floyd | You open the drier, revealing a lint trap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trap" 		

Floyd | This is a tiny screened compartment within the drier which collects the
Floyd | clothing fibers ejected from garments due to the destructive nature of
Floyd | the laundering process.
Floyd | Inside it, you can see some lint and a brass key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The scanner didn't find *that* key."
		Draconis asks, "...who puts a key in a lint trap?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Someone who wants to void the warranty?"
		DavidW says, "It fell out someone's pants."
		Jacqueline says, "Then again, I'm not sure that would -- oh hey, yeah. Good point."
		Draconis says, "True."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x brass key" 		

Floyd | A small brass key, presumably thrown from the pocket of some article of
Floyd | clothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That's probably the diary key."
		Jacqueline says, "Bummer to lose that, Julia."
		Draconis says, "Or perhaps she hid it there. This is the same person who hid her locked encrypted diary in the toilet tank."
		DavidW says, "Anyway, we don't need that key while we have the autokey. I suggest seeing what's east of the Dining Room. I'm pretty sure we're not allowed outside."
		DavidW says, "(unless we had the cloaking tool.)"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | You open the little closet, revealing a coaxial cable, a stuffed bear,
Floyd | four video discs (one "Womb Raider", one "Blow me Away", one "Coeds
Floyd | Getting Naked" and one "Thrustmaster Returns") and some adult
Floyd | magazines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "goodness"
		Draconis says, "Well then."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd | It's a rather well-worn children's toy, missing its right eye.
Floyd | You shift your eyes back and forth. Bear. Porn. Bear. Porn. Bear.
Floyd | Something just isn't right.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ha ha ha. Is *that* where that olounge comes from>"
		Jacqueline says, "haha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cable" 		

Floyd | A short length of high-bandwidth wire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x magazines" 		

Floyd | A number of periodicals devoted to culture, politics, and pictorial
Floyd | studies of the nude female form.

		
Floyd The history of pornography [Footnote 5] is long and complex. For almost 		

Floyd | the entirety of human history, some form of graphical material has
Floyd | existed with the intention of stimulating sexual arousal. During the
Floyd | majority of that time, such items carried some degree of social stigma,
Floyd | at times being outright illegal, and at the very least, something not
Floyd | discussed in social settings.
Floyd | After the war, a revival of so-called "family values" would attempt,
Floyd | with varying degrees of success, to drive the pornography industry deep
Floyd | underground. By your own time, very little is still held to be taboo.
Floyd | Nevertheless, the production of sexually-oriented reading material is
Floyd | extremely limited, as the social and moral reformations of recent
Floyd | decades have made safe and more satisfying avenues easily available for
Floyd | the expression of sexual desires. At this particular point in history,
Floyd | pornography was generally held to be a healthy and safe alternative to
Floyd | sexual promiscuity. Nevertheless, such materials were not deemed
Floyd | appropriate for persons under the generally accepted age of sexual
Floyd | maturity, which might explain their concealment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, ""Pictorial studies of the female form." Right."
		DavidW says, "I see we didn't add these magazines to the DataStore."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search bear" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "note 5" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 5]
Floyd | Not a required course in StreamDiver training, but for some reason the
Floyd | most popular elective.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "But those magazines could provide valuable information about the past!"
		Draconis says, "Haha"
		DavidW says, "Pubic hair styles come and go, yes."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we should read them. For the articles. And to put in our document scanner."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "read magazines" 		

Floyd | A number of periodicals devoted to culture, politics, and pictorial
Floyd | studies of the nude female form.

		
Floyd The history of pornography [Footnote 5] is long and complex. For almost 		

Floyd | the entirety of human history, some form of graphical material has
Floyd | existed with the intention of stimulating sexual arousal. During the
Floyd | majority of that time, such items carried some degree of social stigma,
Floyd | at times being outright illegal, and at the very least, something not
Floyd | discussed in social settings.
Floyd | After the war, a revival of so-called "family values" would attempt,
Floyd | with varying degrees of success, to drive the pornography industry deep
Floyd | underground. By your own time, very little is still held to be taboo.
Floyd | Nevertheless, the production of sexually-oriented reading material is
Floyd | extremely limited, as the social and moral reformations of recent
Floyd | decades have made safe and more satisfying avenues easily available for
Floyd | the expression of sexual desires. At this particular point in history,
Floyd | pornography was generally held to be a healthy and safe alternative to
Floyd | sexual promiscuity. Nevertheless, such materials were not deemed
Floyd | appropriate for persons under the generally accepted age of sexual
Floyd | maturity, which might explain their concealment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Aw."
		Draconis says, "Nope, doesn't store them."
		Jacqueline says, "They totally missed a joke there."
		Draconis says, "They did."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd | It's a rather well-worn children's toy, missing its right eye.
Floyd | You shift your eyes back and forth. Bear. Porn. Bear. Porn. Bear.
Floyd | Something just isn't right.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x bear's eye" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x eye" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I feel like there's a puzzle here."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "scan bear" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I assume it's Julia's bear. She probably removed the eye so it was more like herself."
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder if it's missing its eye because Julie -- yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "er, Julia. But yes."
		Jacqueline says, "I had the same thought."
		DavidW says, "I suggest continuing east, unless you think there's something hidden in here."
		Draconis says, "I feel like the 'Bear. Porn.' comment is a hint somehow but I don't know what it would indicate..."
		Draconis says, "The juxtaposition of the objects feels meaningful in a vague way."
		DavidW says, "I just think it's a one of these things is not like the others."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think this is just an Easter egg, myself."
		Draconis says, "Yes, but *why*? There must be an explanation! The truth is out there!"
		Draconis says, "Anyway."
		Jacqueline says, "Hush, Mulder."
		DavidW says, "Like, I assume *Julia* didn't put the bear in here."
		DavidW says, "I think maybe her dad was disturbed by the one-eyed bear and didn't think it was healthy for Julia to keep it."
		Draconis says, "Anyway, I agree. East works."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Ooh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x painting" 		

Floyd | You take a moment to appreciate the painting. It's only a print, you
Floyd | know, but for all you can tell, this may be a copy of the work of some
Floyd | not-yet-famous artist, the only copy anyone in your time has ever seen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "And yet we are not scanning it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move it" 		

Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Or whatever it's called when we record things in the...recording thingy."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the painting
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "That thing."
		Draconis says, "Ooh."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "scan painting" 		

Floyd | The scanner highlights a small metallic mass between the painting and
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan painting" 		

Floyd | The scanner highlights a small metallic mass between the painting and
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Let me guess. A key?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" 		

Floyd | You pull the painting a few centimeters from the wall, and notice that
Floyd | a small steel key, which you take, has been secreted in the back side
Floyd | of the frame.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You are correct."
		Draconis says, "Yay!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Weren't we all judgy on the crap art in the living room?"
		Draconis says, "So it seems the scanner and the autokey are meant to complement each other."
		Jacqueline asks, "About how we didn't need art because the future is all minimalist?"
		DavidW says, "I kinda want to do a second run later, using the real keys and taking something other than the autokey."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Hush. This is probably better art."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "...maybe."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, fine."
		DavidW says, "No, Jacqueline's right. The PC is being inconsistent."
		Draconis says, "Agreed."
		Draconis says, "Especially because he didn't like the fact that the art in the living room was a reproduction."
		Jacqueline says, "I think it's meant to draw attention to the painting because there's a key."
		Jacqueline says, "But still."
		Draconis says, "He (she?) did make kind of a big deal about the one in the living room."
		Jacqueline says, "It's a tiny thing to complain about. This game has just been super solid in terms of voice, which is the only reason that stood out."
		DavidW says, "Future folk, I guess, think flat art repros are art, but 3d knick-knacks aren't."
		DavidW says, "Anyway, we can go thru the living room from here and try the upstairs next, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Try north first?"
		DavidW says, "Narrow door suggests attic to me. Or bathroom."
		DavidW says, "But sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open north door" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall Closet
Floyd | Although the primary function of this room seems to be as a linen
Floyd | closet, its size suggests that it was intended for even heavier
Floyd | storage. Three of the walls bear shelves, neatly stocked with towels
Floyd | and bed linens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "(Just because the others are grouped together, while that one is listed alone.)"
		Draconis asks, "Scan?"
		DavidW says, "yeah, I'd hide a key here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You poke around at the sheets, and find, hidden in the folds of a large
Floyd | bedsheet toward the back, a pack of cigarettes, either squirreled away
Floyd | for an emergency, or hidden from a disapproving family member.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Dammit scanner."
		DavidW says, "huh"
		DavidW says, "Like I said, scanner doesn't reveal everything."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x cigarettes" 		

Floyd | Toward the end of the twenty-first century, various lobbies finally
Floyd | succeeded in banning the manufacture and sale of these particular
Floyd | items, citing their known carcinogenic effects and the ongoing
Floyd | tendencies of their manufacturers to indulge in unethical business
Floyd | practices. Like the bans on so many other harmful intoxicants, the
Floyd | cigarette ban would have undoubtedly failed, had genetic engineering
Floyd | not coupled a non-toxic smoking mixture with powerful antidepressants,
Floyd | resulting in a new, safe cigarette, which provided an even better high.
Floyd | These, however, are still quite lethal, you're sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cigarettes" 		

Floyd | They're not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Antidepressant cigarettes...?"
		DavidW asks, "It seems possible. Why not?"
		Jacqueline says, "Moments Out of Time didn't quite predict vaping, but almost."
		Draconis says, "It came quite close."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "Here in Seattle you can buy vapes that include marijuana, so..."
		Jacqueline says, "Pretty close."
		DavidW says, "I can easily imagine vapes with various drug mixes."
		DavidW says, "I suppose the bedrooms are all up here. Should be some interesting stuff in them."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW asks, "btw, I noticed that the brochure said that shelters can have a secondary roof access, Assuming the shelter is in the basement, which room's floor is most likely to hide the door?"
		Draconis says, "Hm..."
		Draconis asks, "Did any of the descriptions mention a floor covering?"
		DavidW says, "I don't remember any with a rug, no."
		Draconis asks, "Perhaps under the couch in the living room then?"
		Jacqueline says, "I don't remember a floor covering thing, just the roof hatch business."
		Jacqueline says, "Gosh, I guess we could move the couch"
		DavidW asks, "The couch in the den or in the living room?"
		Draconis says, "I remember the living room one being emphasized but that may not mean anything."
		DavidW says, "You'd think the scanner would tell us about secret doors."
		Draconis says, "You would."
		DavidW asks, "Should we keep exploring up here first or fidding with scanner and couches?"
		DavidW says, "er fiddle"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I was going to suggest bedrooms, but..."
		Jacqueline says, "...it seems like checking out the couch is a quick thing."
		DavidW says, "I think we should do bedrooms first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tunescan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The console does a scan of the area, but detects nothing out of the
Floyd | ordinary, aside from the distortion caused by your own presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, wrong command"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "status" 		

Floyd | StreamDive Console: Standard Research Version
Floyd | Status: Operational
Floyd | Temporal Capacitor charge: 65%
Floyd | Manifest:
Floyd |  interface chip
Floyd |  scan chip
Floyd |  library chip
Floyd |  DataStore chip
Floyd |  dive chip
Floyd | Temporal shield is inactive
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Looks like time isn't an issue either way just yet."
		DavidW says, "That charge is going to 0%; we be gone when that happens, I think."
		DavidW asks, "so, can we get a vote between the three of us? Stay upstairs or check couches?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am fine either way. You want to stay up here and I'm fine with that."
		DavidW says, "well, I'm willing to check couches too; it was my idea that there might be a secret hatch to find."
		Jacqueline says, "I already said above that I'd prefer to do that first."
		DavidW says, "ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move couch" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "bah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move couch" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "And that is why I wanted to do this first - it was a quick thing that would possibly result in disappointment, so I figured that we should get it out of the way."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | You force your hand between two cushions. Before nicking yourself on a
Floyd | spring, your hand catches on a small object which was lost in the
Floyd | couch, which emerges to the surface just ahead of your stinging hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "This is the key you found, right?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, guess it's not here."
		DavidW asks, "Back upstairs then?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying some cigarettes, a steel key, a sales brochure, two
Floyd | video discs ("Episode Two" and "Spider and Web"), a diary, a wooden
Floyd | knob, an autokey and your StreamDive console, inside which are five
Floyd | chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a library chip, a DataStore chip
Floyd | and a dive chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the couch is a deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I agree, bedrooms next."
		DavidW says, "The deadbolt key is the new key."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "west or east?"
		DavidW asks, "west okay?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd | The image shows a young woman dressed in simplified academic regalia.
Floyd | She wears a formless gown in an unflattering blue pastel with a
Floyd | mortarboard cap. The girl in the picture looks about the right age for
Floyd | this photograph to be commemorating a high school graduation, though
Floyd | there are signs that she might be older; her expression is one of
Floyd | world-weariness, and her disapproving frown merges into lines on the
Floyd | face which suggest that this is an accustomed expression. You imagine
Floyd | that she would be quite attractive, if not for the scowl which seems to
Floyd | be permanently burnt into her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unnatural reflection causes you to notice her right eye, which,
Floyd | under close scrutiny, is apparently artificial. Though the prosthesis
Floyd | is good enough to pass for the real thing under casual scrutiny, it
Floyd | does lack the bloodshot look of the left eye, and you can make out the
Floyd | segmentation of a mechanical iris. If the color had been a better match
Floyd | for her left eye, you might well not have noticed.
Floyd | [The document "Graduation Photograph" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Considering that the brother was the famous one, a *lot* of emphasis is on the sister."
		Jacqueline says, "True."
		Jacqueline says, "Though we've gotten a lot of backstory about him through her."
		DavidW says, "I'm wondering, though, if there's some reveal about him stealing her work on some tech breakthrough."
		Draconis says, "Maybe in the encrypted part of the journal."
		DavidW says, "anyway, I bet both the kids' rooms are at this end."
		Draconis says, "Though from the sound of it, it was her father and brother who were interested in the CS stuff."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Hm, great point."
		Draconis |...because of his brilliant invention...
		DavidW says, "North, west, or south? West is probably a bathroom or another closet."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "North okay?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yep"
		Draconis |Jim keeps going on about this new program he's working on. Thinks it's going to, and I quote, "set him up among the gods." He's trying to get in touch with a bunch of professors at the big-league CS schools. Thinks he's hot stuff.
		Draconis says, "North sounds good."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far
Floyd | less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so.
Floyd | It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows.
Floyd | The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it
Floyd | conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "argh. I guessed wrong."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | You open the medicine cabinet, revealing a pill bottle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bottle" 		

Floyd | A bottle of prescription medication.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Scan it?"
		Jacqueline says, "Or read it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan bottle" 		

Floyd | The scanner performs a chemical analysis of the pills. Myto-helamine
Floyd | xenogormate, a broad-spectrum anti-virus.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hm... That doesn't make any sense. Xenogormates weren't developed until
Floyd | the turn of the twenty-third century. What could this possibly be doing
Floyd | here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Timescan?"
		Jacqueline says, "oho"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The level of temporal distortion in this room is slightly higher than
Floyd | you would expect to be caused by your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "timescan bottle" 		

Floyd | The level of temporal distortion in this room is slightly higher than
Floyd | you would expect to be caused by your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Seems we can't focus the timescan."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the pill bottle
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research xenogormate" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research xenogormates" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research myto-helamine" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The ham in the pantry was also time-weird."
		Draconis asks, "Research spam?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I suppose future items in the house mean another time traveler came here, but food in the pantry and pills in a medicine cabinet -- that suggests to me that it was one of the family members who borrowed stuff from the future."
		Draconis says, "I have a feeling the diary would help...if we could read it."
		DavidW asks, "continue exploring the upstairs?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I'm hoping Julia's bedroom will give us a clue on the diary."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | Generally speaking, you learn more from a dirty house than a clean one;
Floyd | intensive cleaning tends to remove much of the anthropological evidence
Floyd | about the day-to-day affairs of the occupants. You can tell that
Floyd | whoever lived here had some warning before they evacuated, time enough
Floyd | to at least do some preliminary straightening up. The bed, which is
Floyd | opposite the door, under the smaller of the room's two windows, is
Floyd | neatly made, the wastepaper basket between the door and the dresser is
Floyd | empty, and the two night tables on either side of the bed are both
Floyd | clean and freshly polished. A full-length mirror hangs on a door to the
Floyd | north. The hallway is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "True. I know we're in deep, but I'm kind of tempted to restart without the autokey, except that I'm also sure that there's an alternative way to decode the diary in this playthrough."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "look in mirror" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind mirror" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You paw around under the bed for a moment. Your search turns up a small
Floyd | piece of metal, which looks like a simple key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x simple key" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the simple key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x basket" 		

Floyd | The wastepaper basket is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Why can't one of these be a cryptographic key?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dresser" 		

Floyd | (the dresser)
Floyd | You see nothing special about the dresser.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nighttable" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x night table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the nightstand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the mirror.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I can't think of more to do here, unless a timescan shows something screwy."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The console does a scan of the area, but detects nothing out of the
Floyd | ordinary, aside from the distortion caused by your own presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Nope."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. Move on."
		DavidW says, "Let's see what's opposite the bathroom"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "(brb)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hope there's light in the attic."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take disc" 		

Floyd | (the unlabeled data disc)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan it" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the supporting beams
Floyd | In the distance, you think you hear someone trying to force the lock on
Floyd | the front door. Better stay out of sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "whoa"
		DavidW asks, "uh-oh. Are we out of time?"
		Jacqueline says, "Doubt it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan beams" 		

Floyd | The scanner locates a compartment in one of the beams.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I think just that someone's here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open compartment" 		

Floyd | You open the supporting beams, revealing a gun, some cash, a necklace
Floyd | and a ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh! This is the cache that the letter refered to!"
		DavidW asks, "I hate to say it, but take the gun, leave the rest?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Why?"
		DavidW says, "Also, Julia never found this."
		DavidW says, "Well, if someone's breaking into the house, it might help if we had a gun. Gives us more options."
		DavidW says, "It's a shame we don't have a stunner. Shooting someone in the past is probably a very bad thing."
		Jacqueline asks, "Right, but why leave the other stuff?"
		DavidW says, "Well, what could we possibly use it for? We don't need to buy anything in this time period. Like, I suppose we could hand stuff to the looters, but I doubt that would be effective."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. It just flies in the face of the IF convention of stealing everything not nailed down. heh"
		Jacqueline says, "But yeah, def grab the gun."
		DavidW says, "And the gun is probably the alternate solution to whatever problem the shield is for."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take gun" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is
Floyd | forced open. There's someone else in the house.
Floyd | "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Good idea"
		DavidW asks, "well, this complicates things. Do we pretend no one's here and continue to the bedrooms or hide somewhere or search the person(s) out?"
		Jacqueline says, "We just saved. I'm incredibly curious as to who this is. I want to go look."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is the gun loaded?"
		DavidW says, "I hope it is, because I didn't see any ammo."
		DavidW asks, "So, assume gun is loaded and hunt the intruder down before he or she or they take the video player away?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x gun" 		

Floyd | It is completely unbelievable how much craftsmanship mankind once put
Floyd | into means of killing. This is only a very small pistol, but it is
Floyd | elaborately crafted, fashioned as if style was as important as
Floyd | function. All the same, it's still a device whose single purpose is the
Floyd | extinguishing of human life, and that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search gun" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay. We'll assume that it's loaded."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's roll."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x front door" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Leaving the house would violate the boundaries of your mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I was hoping to see evidence of breakage."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Which way should we go? west, east, or down?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is there just the one door, or did it reference this door?"
		DavidW says, "There's a few doors into the house, I think. The laundry room has a door."
		DavidW says, "But the message refered to the front hall."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, I guess we'll encounter this person when we encounter them."
		DavidW says, "So, since we're near the player, I wanna play the disc."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | You wisely decide to heed the warning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "darn. We're not allowed to confront the intruder."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh weird."
		DavidW asks, "Back upstairs as if all is normal?"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, I am a little laggy because I needed to temporarily move to a room farther from the wifi router. But am following along."
		DavidW says, "(but the intruder is probably taking our video player)"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess, yeah. Upstairs."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wasn't there a computer? This is a data disc, no?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd | [The document "Photograph of a Young Man" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. Yes. So maybe the office computer would be better. I dunno."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's go see."
		DavidW asks, "Go to the office, then?"
		Draconis says, "Office sounds good."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put unlabeled disc in computer" 		

Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "scan computer" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Oh, can we interface with it?"
		Draconis asks, "The disk?"
		DavidW says, "We interfaced with the computer already."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe something different will happen now that we have the data?"
		Jacqueline says, "Weird. Well, shit, I guess it needed to go in the video player."
		DavidW says, "Unless the disc is in a drive, I don't see how the info can be in the computer."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drive" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Do we want to go back to a save? I'm curious if the intruder is timed (likely) or if they conveniently break in when we find the disc."
		Jacqueline asks, "Or just keep going?"
		DavidW says, "The den had a player too, I think. It's also possible there computers in the bedrooms."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with disk" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Wait what?"
		Draconis says, "Huh..."
		DavidW says, "Interface is for devices. No 'with'."
		Draconis says, "Oh."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: Lewellen Personal Machines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Nope."
		Draconis says, "I figured it might add an 'eject cd drive' option or something."
		DavidW says, "I'll check the den next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the couch is a deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put unlabelled disc in player" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put disc in player" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the unlabeled data disc, the video disc of "Episode
Floyd | Two" or the video disc of "Spider and Web"?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put unlabeled disc in player" 		

Floyd | You can't put that in the player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "\:/"
		Draconis says, "er"
		Draconis says, "however you do that"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put disc in player" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the unlabeled data disc, the video disc of "Episode
Floyd | Two" or the video disc of "Spider and Web"?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd | You can't put that in the player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "moo"
		DavidW says, "I suppose a data disc isn't a video disc."
		DavidW says, "Back upstairs, I think."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface disk" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the video disc of "Episode Two" or the video disc of
Floyd | "Spider and Web"?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface disc" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You can't interface with a disc."
		Draconis says, "I wonder what we can do with this."
		DavidW says, "It has to be a computer-ish thing."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I think there's another computer somewhere."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface player" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd | "Alert: Human presence detected to the west."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh great. Now we're trapped."
		Draconis asks, "Hm...can we timescan to see if this person is like us?"
		Draconis asks, "Another time traveller?"
		Draconis asks, "Or should we get ready to defend ourselves?"
		DavidW says, "Timescan is for current location."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hide" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "we may want to restore"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf5" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Nah, let's do this."
		Draconis says, "Let's see what happens first."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "I want to know who it is."
		DavidW says, "We can't enter their location."
		DavidW says, "At best, we wait for them to enter where we are."
		DavidW says, "anyway, one of you should drive since this isn't my plan."
		Draconis says, "Alas my time is up and I must depart. I shall see you again next session."
		DavidW says, "see you Draconis. Thanks for coming."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh. Hm. Should we call it, then?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Resume next week?"
		Jacqueline says, "That would work well for me as well."
		Jacqueline says, "I am enjoying this."
		Draconis says, "As am I."
		Jacqueline says, "I admit, they either come in here or they move on."
		Jacqueline says, "So I'm good with fiddling a few turns and if nothing works out, going back to another save."
		DavidW says, "oh, yes, we could stop here"
		Jacqueline asks, "But do we have one of those saves we want to preserve?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Draconis heads back home. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments 3" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'll make another save moments 2 if we need one of them."
		Jacqueline asks, "Which?"
		DavidW asks, "Can Floyd save files contain spaces?"
		DavidW says, "I want to keep the cf4 save"
		DavidW says, "That's just after we took the gun."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Maybe they can't."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. I'll resave this, then do that one."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments3" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments2" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Okay. See you all next week!"
		DavidW says, "okay. Thanks all."
		DavidW says, "oh, I just noticed we forgot to check the door in the back hallway."
		DavidW says, "Where we found the key behind the painting."
		Jacqueline asks, "Make a note of that for next week?"
		DavidW says, "sure"
		
***** SESSION THREE ***** 		
		
Jacqueline arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
Roger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Draconis arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Draconis says, "So what happened last week? I was up in the north woods without much internet access." 		
DavidW arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW says, "I'm just waking up; gimme time to visit the bathroom."
		Jacqueline says, "Yo."
		DavidW says, "back"
		Draconis asks, "What are we playing this week?"
		DavidW asks, "yeah, is this a 18 Rooms week, a Memories week, an IntroComp week, or something else?"
		Draconis asks, "I'd be fine with any. I'm guessing we finished Moments last week?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, wait. Is there a new 18?"
		Jacqueline says (to Drac), "We did not play last week, actually."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "We did nothing last week."
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure if there's a new 18 Rooms."
		Jacqueline says, "So I was thinking Moments or if you all want to you could play the IntroComp games (I will abstain because I never play them during voting)."
		DavidW says, "I'm fine with any choice. I haven't started IntroComp games yet."
		Draconis says, "Nor have I. Though if Jacq abstains there are only the two of us."
		Draconis says, "And I might need to leave at some point."
		DavidW says, "then perhaps we should continue Moments, then."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay."
		Jacqueline says, "So, we did two saves at the end last time."
		DavidW says, "Two weeks ago."
		Jacqueline says, "Right."
		Jacqueline says, "The last time we played."
		Jacqueline says, "So one is right after we took the gun. The other is trapped in a room with somebody in the house."
		Draconis asks, "Let's try the second one first, see what happens?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Where we're trapped?"
		DavidW says, "ok. It bothers me, though, since our options are very limited."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay."
		DavidW says, "I think we were trapped in the Den."
		Draconis says, "I just want to see if it does end immediately or if there's something else we can do."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments3" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Oh, this one"
		DavidW says, "I think we came to the den to see if we could play the disc we found in the attic."
		DavidW says, "And I think we couldn't, that we need a computer."
		DavidW says, "And I seem to recall that 'hide' isn't understood."
		Draconis says, "But the computer couldn't read it either iirc."
		Draconis says, "At least, we couldn't find a way to tell it to."
		Jacqueline says, "The other note I noticed in the transcript is that we haven't yet looked at a door in the back hallway that David wanted to revisit."
		DavidW says, "right, there's a door there. Also, all of the east wing of the upstairs is unknown."
		Draconis asks, "Did we have the key for that?"
		DavidW says, "Although the east wing just has to be the kids' bedrooms."
		Draconis says, "Or oh, right, autokey."
		DavidW says, "We have the autokey."
		Jacqueline is eating the breakfasts.
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "irta eating the artefacts."
		Jacqueline says, "I picked one up for $40. It's been worth it."
		Jacqueline says, "ILAC"
		DavidW says, "$40 for one breakfast artefact. Niiiiiice."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "No, I was talking on another channel about using a dancepad for apartment cardio workouts. :)"
		DavidW says, "oh. I've never used or even seen a dancepad in real life."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the couch is a deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd | "Alert: Human approaching from west."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, we want to just see what happens? Should I just wait?"
		Draconis asks, "We can't go west, right?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | You wisely decide to heed the warning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, we can't escape."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scream" 		

Floyd | You start to get a sore throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oops"
		Draconis asks, "So does he not come any closer?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the couch is a deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "The alert is gone..."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe he left?"
		DavidW says, "try leaving, sure"
Jacqueline gives ClubFloyd car keys to Draconis. 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "west" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | You wisely decide to heed the warning.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd | The looter catches sight of you. You try to run, but he is quick to
Floyd | draw his pistol. Though the weapon is primitive, it is quite adequate
Floyd | to his purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 33 out of a possible 73, in 316 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Well then."
		Jacqueline says, "A looter"
		Jacqueline says, "I say we find a gun."
		Draconis says, "Agreed."
		Draconis asks, "Where was that gun? Did we take it?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hey, wait. Didn't we *have* a gun?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Den
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a gun, an unlabeled data disc, some cigarettes, a
Floyd | sales brochure, two video discs ("Episode Two" and "Spider and Web"), a
Floyd | diary, a wooden knob, an autokey, your StreamDive console, inside which
Floyd | are five chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a library chip, a
Floyd | DataStore chip and a dive chip) and two keys (a simple key and a steel
Floyd | key).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a gun, an unlabeled data disc, some cigarettes, a
Floyd | sales brochure, two video discs ("Episode Two" and "Spider and Web"), a
Floyd | diary, a wooden knob, an autokey, your StreamDive console, inside which
Floyd | are five chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a library chip, a
Floyd | DataStore chip and a dive chip) and two keys (a simple key and a steel
Floyd | key).
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd | The looter catches sight of you. You try to run, but he is quick to
Floyd | draw his pistol. Though the weapon is primitive, it is quite adequate
Floyd | to his purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 33 out of a possible 73, in 317 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ah, we do indeed have the gun."
		DavidW says, "yes, we do, but we never are given the opportunity to use it."
		Jacqueline says, "Timing. This is why I gave you the keys! Sorry about that."
		Draconis says, "Hm..."
		DavidW says, "I suppose we can't effectively use the gun without also having the cloak."
		Draconis asks, "Oh, would that help?"
		Draconis says, "I thought we didn't know how to use the gun at all."
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe one of the modules has information about the gun?"
		Draconis says, "But I don't remember the verbs for those..."
		DavidW says, "The game seems to dislike our interacting with anyone in the past."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true. If we shoot this guy then maybe we don't exist."
		Jacqueline says, "BECAUSE HE'S OUR GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GREAT GRAND DAD"
		Draconis says, "DUN DUN DUNNNNNN"
		Draconis asks, "Could we hit him with the spam?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Draconis asks, "There's some strange temporal property about the spam, right?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh?"
		Draconis says, "It was chrono-preserved or something."
		Roger says, "Dude come on we were already here and busy looting this place"
		Draconis says, "Yeah, this is our turf!"
		Roger says, "Let me get back to reading teen diaries"
		DavidW says, "yes, the spam was a temporal anomaly."
		Draconis says, "And something in the medicine cabinet...? It's all kind of fuzzy at the moment, sorry."
		DavidW asks, "oh, I knew there was something else. Pills?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments2" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "What was the filename for this one?"
		Draconis says, "Ah."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Perhaps instead of heading downstairs, we check out the east wing of the upstairs?"
		Draconis says, "Sounds good to me."
Draconis gives ClubFloyd car keys to DavidW. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Have we seen this yet?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd | [The document "Photograph of a Young Man" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind photo" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yay autokey"
		Jacqueline says, "We'd seen it, but not in this play, so it's good to re-examine."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | You don't recall any precedent in home furnishing that would call for
Floyd | industrial grade linoleum in a bedroom, but it is here nonetheless.
Floyd | Since you can't imagine that the floor is an artifact from an earlier
Floyd | function of the room, it is somewhat perplexing that such a floor would
Floyd | be present.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd | You stop a while an examine the contents of the desk. Almost the entire
Floyd | surface of the desk is covered by an eclectic combination of both
Floyd | state-or-the-art and antique computer equipment. You find it hard to
Floyd | tear yourself away; At least a decade of computing history is spread
Floyd | out before you. You can't even identify all of the systems; the
Floyd | fixed-form text input device is easy enough, but there is a small,
Floyd | vaguely rodent-shaped device whose purpose is less clear. There are a
Floyd | number of external storage systems, rather than the single optical chip
Floyd | interface common in your time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Haha, rodent-shaped device."
		Draconis asks, "Could we use the disk here?"
		Roger says, "Yeah that's sort of cute"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer identification not found.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Code Fragment
Floyd | A collection of source code appears on the console's display.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't make any sense of it, but perhaps the boys back home will.
Floyd | [The document "Code fragment" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Data Snapshot
Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Format not recognized.
Floyd | Attempting to download...
Floyd | Download failed: Insufficient space.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Draconis asks, "Seriously?"
		DavidW says, "ah. So *this* is what the empty chip could be used for."
		DavidW says, "remember back when we were picking chips for our console? There was one with nothing on it."
		Jacqueline asks, "It is the future. Memory is cheap. WTH?"
		Jacqueline glares at her screen.
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I know. But we're in the past of the future of the past here."
		Draconis says, "Oh."
		Draconis says, "Right."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline glares at DavidW.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Electronic Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 1 Mailbox for swallace
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     From:          Subject:
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha Re: distributed neural simulation...2
Floyd |      YOR_FRIEND906  HOTTEST OFFER EVER..................3
Floyd |      hotoffer@spam. Lower your debt!....................4
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha PIT AI lab..........................5
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................6
Floyd |      Amy            (no subject)........................7
Floyd |      Michelle313    I'm boooooooored!...................8
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................9
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Tonight.........................10
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Julia...............................11
Floyd |      Amy            Hi..................................12
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................13
Floyd |      Amy            Hi, again...........................14
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Julia...........................15
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Hi, again.......................16
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................17
Floyd |      hotxxx@bulkmai YOUNG HARDCORE SLUTS................18
Floyd |      Mary Pantalon  PIT early admission.................19
Floyd |      Amy            Um... Stuff.........................20
Floyd |      Amy            My last mail........................21
Floyd |      Dante          Situation...........................22
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Situation.......................23
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: PIT.............................24
Floyd |      Amy            Sorry...............................25

		DavidW says, "Messy bedroom; messy emailbox."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Stuff to read."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 2 Dr. Helmut Sha Re: distributed neural simulation
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Jim,
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks for your comments on my paper. I'd certainly be willing to look
Floyd | at some of your ideas. Your original message didn't say much about your
Floyd | training. Have you considered studying at Pacific Tech?
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks,
Floyd | Dr. Helmut Shalanzar, PhD
Floyd | Department of Computer Science
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		DavidW says, "We should note terms to research via the library chip."
		Roger says, "No time to clean up room need to delete all my porn before abandoning house forever"
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed."
		Draconis asks (of Roger), "What do you think is in that data dump?"
		Draconis says, "Er, data snapshot. Whatever they call it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 3 YOR_FRIEND906  HOTTEST OFFER EVER
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear friend,
Floyd |
Floyd | Want the HOTTEST ADULT ACTION on the web?
Floyd |
Floyd | Try hotmonkey.amn, we have LOTS of videos updated every day all for
Floyd | $69.99 a month!
Floyd |
Floyd | You'll love it!

		Jacqueline asks, "Can we erase one of the chips we do have to store that data?"
		Draconis says, "I don't think we have a way to do that."
		DavidW says, "I doubt that we have any erase options."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 4 hotoffer@spam. Lower your debt!
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Did you know you can reduce your debt overnight? You can use the equity
Floyd | in your home to consolidate your payments and save money! This offer is
Floyd | TOO GOOD TO REFUSE!!!
Floyd |
Floyd | [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | You have received this message because you specifically requested it.
Floyd | To remove yourself from our mailing list, send mail with the subject
Floyd | "UNSUBSCRIBE" to myemail_islive@bulkdistro.amn

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 5 Dr. Helmut Sha PIT AI lab
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Jim,
Floyd |
Floyd | I was a little put off to find out that you're still in high school,
Floyd | but after looking at your work so far, I was amazed. You really seem to
Floyd | have a gift for this. If you don't mind, I'd like to forward your
Floyd | findings to a colleague of mine with the Pacific Tech AI lab. He's been
Floyd | working on a similar project, and your research might be just what he's
Floyd | looking for.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks,
Floyd | Dr. Helmut Shalanzar, PhD
Floyd | Department of Computer Science
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		Jacqueline says, "hahahaha www.loanscam.amn"
		Draconis says, "They really need a better domain name if they want anyone to use their service."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 6 Michael Pendra 31337
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Hey guys,
Floyd |
Floyd | I just tried out the glul-X patch -- WOW. I got all kinds of stuff.
Floyd | Managed to hack into MuseNet, got about 60 hours of music before they
Floyd | shut down my access. I'm putting it all up on my Libertynet node.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimbo, that cracker you sent me is amazing. It got me into the school
Floyd | network in like five seconds. Guess who isn't failing Bio anymore? LOL
Floyd |
Floyd | And because I know you guys like it...
Floyd |
Floyd | Site:             Password:
Floyd | Asian XXXpress    xyz321
Floyd | Natural Blonde    xyzzy
Floyd | Boob Archive      plugh
Floyd | QCHS Cheerleaders frotz
Floyd |
Floyd | Stay k00l,
Floyd | Michael Pendragon
Floyd | liberty://HSK!LMN?9178838215

		DavidW says, "heh 'glul-X'."
		Draconis asks, "I wonder why porn sites use passwords taken from interactive fiction?"
		Jacqueline asks, "To make us only slightly more conflicted on whether or not to dislike the guy?"
		DavidW says, "Because no one will know them."
		Jacqueline says, "Or that"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Haha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 7 Amy            (no subject)
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Um... Wow. You really want to hang out with me? Okay. But, like, I've
Floyd | already seen "Like Shopping, Movie"... So, um... You think we could
Floyd | maybe just hang out at your house? I'd ask you over here, but I think
Floyd | my parents would freak. Maybe tomorrow at seven?

		DavidW says, "oh dear"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Draconis says, "What."
		DavidW asks, "Isn't 'shopping, movie' some sort of old ifmud joke?"
		DavidW says, "(which probably came from somewhere else)"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is it?"
		Draconis says, "No idea, I'm a relative newcomer."
		DavidW says, "It's familiar, but I can't place where I've seen it before."
		Roger says, "Doesn't ring any bells for me"
		DavidW says, "It's a definite bell."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 8 Michelle313    I'm boooooooored!
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm just a lonely 18 year old virgin who needs a real man to show me
Floyd | how it's done. I've been playing around with my friends, but they can't
Floyd | really satisfy me. You can see pictures of us at
Floyd | [LINK]

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 9 Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Jim,
Floyd |
Floyd | Hello. Dr. Shalanzar showed me some of the work you've done, and I
Floyd | can't believe my eyes. I'm going to forward some of my research to you,
Floyd | maybe we can work together. I didn't think it was possible, but it
Floyd | looks like you're most of the way to a viable simulation of human
Floyd | functioning. I could certainly use some of your heuristics in my own
Floyd | project. Let me tell you, having a paper out in a journal is a pretty
Floyd | sure-fire way to get your college career paid for.
Floyd |
Floyd | From what you've told me, I agree that taking a comprehensive
Floyd | activation scan of a human brain is feasible with your heuristic, and
Floyd | it may be the only way to solve the missing part of your simulation.
Floyd | The main problem is that you could only take the kind of readings you
Floyd | need if you had some kind of direct interface to the optic nerve. And,
Floyd | of course, you'd need a human subject willing to have an optical
Floyd | interface implant. I doubt you could get it past an ethics review
Floyd | board.
Floyd |
Floyd | Steve Elocon, PhD
Floyd | Artificial Intelligence Lab
Floyd | Department of Computer Science
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		Draconis says, "You'd think a genius programmer would be able to write a better spam filter."
		Draconis says, "Ooh..."
		Draconis asks, "Optical interface implant, eh?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oho. Optical nerve stuff, eh? Hey, sis..."
		DavidW asks, "This is interesting. The sister has the fake eye, no?"
		Draconis says, "I really want to know what that diary says now."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW asks, "so, Sister's brain might be scanned somewhere? In that big file we can't copy?"
		Draconis asks, "Didn't she mention something in the cleartext part about her brother messing with her eye?"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "yes"
		Draconis says, "(Ethics review board, bah...)"
		DavidW says, "Also, the office computer said it could see infrared, I think."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 10 Amy            Re: Tonight
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Wow. You were lots of fun. I'm sorry I couldn't stop laughing and stuff
Floyd | but it was kind of weird for me.
Floyd |
Floyd | So are we like officially going out now? I can't wait to see you again.

		DavidW asks, "wait, is Amy's a real girl?"
		Draconis says, "Aw, how sweet."
		Draconis asks (of DavidW), "It sounds like it?"
		Jacqueline says, "I think so."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 11 Michael Pendra Julia
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dude,
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't know how cool you'll be with me saying this, but your sister is
Floyd | HOT. She's really got a fake eye? You know what kind of shit you could
Floyd | do with that?
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, I don't know what the right ettiquette is for this, but would
Floyd | it be OK with you if I asked her out some time?
Floyd |
Floyd | Hey, I saw you talking with Amy Mercer today. You and her? She's one
Floyd | k00l chica. Seen her naked yet?

		Jacqueline says, "He has lovely friends."
		Draconis says, "Yes..."
		DavidW says, "mm"
		Jacqueline says, "If the game was wanting to make me feel uncomfortable, it just really succeeded."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 12 Amy            Hi
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | >Your boyfriend (if you'll have him),
Floyd | >Jim
Floyd | You are SO cute. You wanna go see The Cheerleader Project friday? We
Floyd | can hang out at your place later and, you know.
Floyd |
Floyd | God, I'm getting all butterflies and stuff. I miss you already.

		Roger says, "Can't we get back to something more wholesome like sniffing their underwear"
		Draconis says, "And now we're back to less creepy. Amy seems nicer than Michael somehow."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 13 Michael Pendra 31337
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | D00dz,
Floyd |
Floyd | Found a relay this week, something that the can't trace you back from.
Floyd | I've got the Plover program running on about sixty systems now, and I
Floyd | think we can bring down all kinds of shit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimbo comes through again. We got into the missile security system last
Floyd | night. Good thing we were using the relay or there'd be black
Floyd | helicopters at my house now, but if we can get the shroud working
Floyd | right, hell, we could even nuke a small country if we wanted.
Floyd |
Floyd | No new sites this week, but I've got one better. Dante swapped out
Floyd | Lynchzilla's LZ-100 for his, with the remote chip. He's got about 8
Floyd | hours of her "monitoring" the girl's locker room. You know how big a
Floyd | dyke she is, well we got the goods, since she since she did some
Floyd | hardcore "monitoring" while Libby Sikes was in the showers after field
Floyd | hockey practice. It's all up on Dante's LibertyNet node. He put up some
Floyd | pretty sick stuff too, Lynchzilla "entertaining" herself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Michael Pendragon
Floyd | liberty://HSK!LMN?9178838215

		Draconis says, "Hehe, plover."
		Draconis says, "Wait what."
		Draconis says, "Okay, no."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm on plover as we speak. I want you all to know that I have never used it to hack into a missile system."
		DavidW says, "Me neither"
		DavidW says, "I have no desire to hack any such thing."
		DavidW asks, "We live in a world where you can have pizza delivered to your door. Isn't that enough?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 14 Amy            Hi, again
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Jim,
Floyd |
Floyd | This is really hard, and I'm probably not making a lot of sense, but I
Floyd | want to get this all out.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's just that lately, I've been feeling kind of pressured by you. I
Floyd | mean, I really like you and everything, but I've never done anything
Floyd | like this before. And it's starting to make me uncomfortable. It's not
Floyd | that I don't want to have sex with you, but this is kind of fast.
Floyd | You're my first real bf, and I don't want to rush into it and feel bad
Floyd | about it later. I sort of made a promise to myself that I'd wait, and
Floyd | now I keep getting this vibe from you that you're getting impatient. I
Floyd | keep getting afraid that if we do it, I'll be lousy and you'll leave
Floyd | me, or it'll change everything and it'll get all weird.
Floyd |
Floyd | Look, I'm sorry. This is probably all in my head. You know I don't want
Floyd | to hurt you.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 15 Michael Pendra Re: Julia
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay dude, don't blow a gasket. So she's really fucked in the head?
Floyd | Well, I guess she's got a right after what happened to her. Just forget
Floyd | I asked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Things pretty serious with you and Mercer? Don't think I'm muscling in
Floyd | on your turf, but dude, she's a catch. I mean, she's not Libby Sikes,
Floyd | but she's got a body under that babyfat. Keep in there, she'll cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | L8r

		Roger says, "lol"
		Jacqueline raises an eyebrow.
		Jacqueline asks, "This is how boys really talk, isn't it?"
		Roger says, "Some boys, sure"
		DavidW says, "some boys"
		Draconis says, "Yeah..."
		Jacqueline says, "NotAllMen. Got it."
		DavidW says, "I never talked like this, but I do remember being crazy horny."
		Roger says, "Don't blow a gasket, Charlie; we'll see the talkies upon the morrow"
FloatingInfo arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 16 Amy            Re: Hi, again
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks for writing back so fast. I guess it's good to know that I'm not
Floyd | just crazy. I get scared about the war too, but I'm just not sure if
Floyd | I'm ready. Look, things are okay with us, promise. I wasn't upset at
Floyd | you. I want to be with you too. I was just afraid that you'd break up
Floyd | with me if I kept turning you down.
Floyd |
Floyd | You really think that the war's going to keep getting worse? Maybe you
Floyd | do have a point about everything. I need some time to think about it.

		
FloatingInfo goes home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 17 Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm really boggled. You know you just saved me six months of work? I
Floyd | think you'll find that if you insert De Kuyper's algorithm in the
Floyd | neural sequencing, it'll solve that stability problem. I can forward
Floyd | the article to you if you like.
Floyd |
Floyd | Look, we don't usually do this, but I can't pass a chance like this up.
Floyd | Pacific might be willing to waive some of the entrance requirements and
Floyd | let you come here in the fall instead of finishing out high school.
Floyd | Full ride, and I can swing a stipend for you if you'll agree to join
Floyd | the research team. What do you think?
Floyd |
Floyd | Steve Elocon, PhD
Floyd | Artificial Intelligence Lab
Floyd | Department of Computer Science
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		Draconis says, "I'm curious what he said to Michael regarding Julia. It could just be brotherly protectiveness, but given that he may be experimenting on her eye..."
		Draconis says, "Timing, sorry."
		DavidW says, "I really do want to know what the encrypted part of Julia's diary says."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 18 hotxxx@bulkmai YOUNG HARDCORE SLUTS
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | HOT YOUNG GIRLS WAITING TO GET YOU OFF!
Floyd |
Floyd | Lowest rates! [LINK]

		Draconis says, "I feel like that would clarify a lot of this."
		Jacqueline asks, "Did you all not figure that out these past two weeks? What am I not paying you for?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 19 Mary Pantalon  PIT early admission
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Stephen J. Wallace,
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Elocon has brought you to our attention. Due to your outstanding
Floyd | potential, the Pacific Institute of Technology has agreed to extend an
Floyd | invitation of early admission to you. This offer includes a scholarship
Floyd | covering full tuition, housing, and expenses. Please be aware that
Floyd | offers like this are highly unusual and are extended only to students
Floyd | of the highest caliber. Please let us know your decision as soon as
Floyd | possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Pantalon
Floyd | Dean of Admissions
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		Jacqueline says, "I wish I could read our sent mail."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I was playing Draconis's game "Scroll Thief", available at a website!"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "Thanks, Ms Pants"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 20 Amy            Um... Stuff
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh boy. I know you're going to hate me. I want you to know that last
Floyd | night was wonderful. But I can't stop feeling so bad about things.
Floyd | Everything happened so fast. I know I wanted it as much as you did, but
Floyd | now I feel so guilty. I know I do love you, but I don't think I can
Floyd | keep up with this. I don't want to hurt you, but I think maybe we
Floyd | should take some time off, get some things straight in our heads and
Floyd | stuff.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm sorry.

		DavidW says, "oh geez. I don't want to see the next email from Michael."
		Jacqueline says, "Nor do I."
		Draconis says, "Yeah..."
		Roger says, "Our bro will come through"
		Draconis asks, "Is the next one from Michael or is it an academic one?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 21 Amy            My last mail
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | I can't believe I sent that. I'm so sorry. I DO love you, I know I love
Floyd | you. If I could take that letter back I would. I want to be with you
Floyd | all the time. You were so incredible. It was like everything I ever
Floyd | hoped for and more. I can't stop thinking about you & I want to do it
Floyd | again. I hope you'll forgive me. I don't know what got into me. I love
Floyd | you.

		Jacqueline says, "..."
		Jacqueline says, "Ah, teen lust."
		DavidW says, "Some girls."
		Draconis says, "Sudden change of heart..."
		Jacqueline says, "She wasn't ready."
		Jacqueline asks, "Next?"
		Draconis says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 22 Dante          Situation
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | CC: Michael Pendragon
Floyd |
Floyd | Guys, we've got a problem. Like, a BIG problem.
Floyd |
Floyd | I was watching the feed from Coach Lynch's eye today after school,
Floyd | right? So she's in her office after practice and Libby Sikes comes in,
Floyd | ok? And they're talking for a while, but I can't hear what they're
Floyd | saying, of course. After a while, Lynchzilla shuts the door, and a
Floyd | couple of minutes later, she's feeling Libby up.
Floyd |
Floyd | I ran the video by Marty, since he's deaf and reads lips. From Libby's
Floyd | side of it, it looks like she's gonna get cut from the team, on account
Floyd | of she sucks ass at field hockey. And, we're not too sure on this, but
Floyd | it looks like Lynch is gonna let her stay on the team if she fucks her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lynch should go to jail for fucking a student, but no one but us knows
Floyd | about it, and all the proof we got is this recording, so if we give it
Floyd | to the cops, we'll be in the cell right next to her. We should never
Floyd | have done this.
Floyd |
Floyd | So what should we do?
Floyd |
Floyd | Dante
Floyd | liberty://HSK!LMO?342455678

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. How did they hack someone's eye?"
		Draconis says, "'We should never have done this.' Probably the first reasonable thing said in this email chain..."
		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "Probably an implant like his sister has?"
		Roger says, "You know, magic hacker sutff"
		DavidW asks, "This is the first email from Dante, isn't it?"
		Draconis asks (of DavidW), "Yeah but hasn't he been copied on Michael's before?"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "He was the one running the web server."
		Jacqueline says, "It just seems to me that there are a disproportionate number of people running around with cyborg eyes."
		Roger says, "Field hockey is dangerous"
		Jacqueline says, "ha"
		Jacqueline says, "True, dat."
		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "Maybe they become really common to fix vision problems once they're invented?"
		DavidW says, "This may be the first IF game to feature two people with fake eyes that I can remember."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Quick! Start a list on IFDB"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 23 Michael Pendra Re: Situation
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | To: Dante
Floyd | CC: Jim Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | >So what should we do?
Floyd | I say we sell tickets!

		Jacqueline asks, "How did I know that was from Michael before I looked at the top?"
		DavidW says, "ugh. Michael is just scum."
		Draconis says, ";Agreed."
		Draconis says, "Er, agreed."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 24 Michael Pendra Re: PIT
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dude, go for it. They're gonna give you a full scholarship, AND money
Floyd | to live on? How can you refuse? And you get out of this hell-hole
Floyd | without finishing school. Dude, you are the man.

		Draconis says, "I'm a little surprised Jim discusses important life decisions with this guy..."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "He's probably grown up with the guy, been friends for years, before any decisions to make were important."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Draconis says, "That makes sense."
		DavidW says, "I'm starting to wonder about various people's motivations, but more evidence needed."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 25 Amy            Sorry
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you found Julia yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | I never knew how messed up she was. Why do you think she'd run away
Floyd | with Donna? I hope she's okay.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you want me to come over, talk about it, let me know. Or if you just
Floyd | want someone to hold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Amy

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 25 Amy            Sorry
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you found Julia yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | I never knew how messed up she was. Why do you think she'd run away
Floyd | with Donna? I hope she's okay.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you want me to come over, talk about it, let me know. Or if you just
Floyd | want someone to hold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Amy

		DavidW says, "hm, last one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | [The document "Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookcase" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I REALLY want to see that encrypted diary..."
		Draconis asks, "Can we put the disk into the computer?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put disc into computer" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the unlabeled data disc, the video disc of "Episode
Floyd | Two" or the video disc of "Spider and Web"?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlabeled" 		

Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I also suggest a timescan, possibly directed at the linoleum."
		Draconis says, "Because the game draws attention to it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The temporal scan is almost entirely washed out by interference. What
Floyd | could cause that?
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait... you're detecting residual traces of carbon quarks. An avatar?
Floyd | But that would mean that someone else has temporally relocated to this
Floyd | location.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jacqueline says, "I ... guess that's a big deal."
		Draconis says, "Carbon quarks?! Oh no!"
		Jacqueline asks, "I KNOW, RIGHT?"
		DavidW says, "I hate it when I get pixel residue on my fingers."
		Jacqueline says, "ew"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | The temporal scan is almost entirely washed out by interference. What
Floyd | could cause that?
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait... you're detecting residual traces of carbon quarks. An avatar?
Floyd | But that would mean that someone else has temporally relocated to this
Floyd | location.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know if the timescan is focusable."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Could we normal-scan the floor?"
		Draconis asks, "Search for hidden items?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Scan the equipment? Examine the floor? I feel like there has to be something here."
		Jacqueline says, "Dig"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | You don't recall any precedent in home furnishing that would call for
Floyd | industrial grade linoleum in a bedroom, but it is here nonetheless.
Floyd | Since you can't imagine that the floor is an artifact from an earlier
Floyd | function of the room, it is somewhat perplexing that such a floor would
Floyd | be present.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research linoleum" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "peel floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh, peel is a verb in this game."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research pacific tech" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research pit" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research pacific" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research michael pendragon" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research amy mercer" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research steve elocon" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research libertynet" 		

Floyd | LibertyNet
Floyd | Originally an outgrowth of a research project in distributed document
Floyd | storage, the "LibertyNet Protocol" became widely used among less
Floyd | legitimate members of the digital subculture in the mid 21st century.
Floyd | The system propagated documents in a semi-anonymous manner so that
Floyd | users could choose to release a document which could not be traced back
Floyd | to an owner, and was similar to the earlier "freenet" project. Though
Floyd | originally intended a method for free expression in countries lacking
Floyd | legal protection of free speech, it quickly degenerated into a
Floyd | marketplace for the exchange of pornography, bootleg music, and stolen
Floyd | computer software. Numerous attempts by various governments to shut
Floyd | down LibertyNet were mostly unsuccessful and increased its underground
Floyd | appeal. LibertyNet was eventually made obsolete by the Global Dataweb.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Internet, Freenet, Dataweb
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The times, they do not change."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research glul-x" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Even in the past of the future of the past."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research pacific institute of technology" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research internet" 		

Floyd | Internet
Floyd | Collective term for the services which made up the first widely used
Floyd | global computer network. The internet allowed messages, documents, and
Floyd | data to be quickly transferred between any two computers by forming a
Floyd | route between intermediate systems. The internet grew at a rapid rate
Floyd | in size and scale through the last years of the twentieth century and
Floyd | first years of the twenty-first. Its growth suffered major setbacks due
Floyd | to the wars and economic recessions of the twenty-first century, but it
Floyd | slowly subsumed all other means of communication and media. The
Floyd | internet eventually evolved into the Global Dataweb near the close of
Floyd | the 21st century.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Dataweb
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research dataweb" 		

Floyd | Dataweb (Global Dataweb; Web)
Floyd | Global data networks are reported as early as the last quarter of the
Floyd | twentieth century. By the end of the 21st century, the internet had
Floyd | evolved into the more familiar form of the Global Dataweb. The name
Floyd | "Dataweb" refers to the Dataweb Protocol, its major services (such as
Floyd | electronic mail, video communication, and document archive), and
Floyd | individual documents attached to it. When the Dataweb Protocol was
Floyd | introduced, nearly all electronic devices made use of it, from simple
Floyd | audio-visual communication and text messaging, to remote control and
Floyd | navigation systems. Though the system itself has changed little since
Floyd | its inception, the name has fallen into disuse.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Internet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd | Extremely poor examples of science fiction and fantasy which, against
Floyd | all good taste, have survived to your time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Anything else to examine here? There's Julia's bedroom and another exit in this wing."
		Jacqueline asks, "Any ways to read that diary short of starting over with different chips?"
		DavidW says, "I don't know."
		Draconis says, "I don't know of any."
		DavidW says, "I imagine we will want to start over with different chips eventually."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I think we've found enough keys that maybe we'd be okay without the autokey."
		DavidW says, "I dunno. There's been an awful lot of locked doors."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe we could leave the Library chip?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, but keys, oddly enough, are stashed all over the place."
		Draconis asks, "Or the Timescan one?"
		Jacqueline says (to Drac), "True. (Re:Library chip)"
		DavidW says, "I think we've only found four keys and I don't know what they're all for."
		DavidW asks, "like, the diary key was in the laundry room dryer, but was the door to the laundry room itself locked?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay, not the Autokey, then."
		DavidW says, "The autokey isn't a chip, btw."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh? I thought it was. Okay. Non-issue, then."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a gun, an unlabeled data disc, some cigarettes, a
Floyd | sales brochure, two video discs ("Episode Two" and "Spider and Web"), a
Floyd | diary, a wooden knob, an autokey, your StreamDive console, inside which
Floyd | are five chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a library chip, a
Floyd | DataStore chip and a dive chip) and two keys (a simple key and a steel
Floyd | key).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "If we left the autokey behind, we could take the cloaking device or stream visualizer or probe."
		Draconis says, "We could potentially drop the Interface chip too."
		Draconis says, "Once we know what we need to from the computers."
		Jacqueline says, "Seems like shooting the dude from the past would be bead."
		Jacqueline says, "er, bad"
		Roger says, "He'll get blown up anyway"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Probably, yeah. Hadn't thought of that."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, I know this seems sort of super cheaty, but why not put this play on hold and restart, going straight for the diary?"
		Roger says, "Just another post-apocalyptic linoleum salesman"
		Roger says, "sure"
		Draconis says, "Sounds good to me."
		Draconis says, "I mean it's a time travel game."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		Jacqueline asks, "This'd be moments4?"
		DavidW says, "afk for a few. potty break needed."
		Jacqueline says, "(Was waiting for someone to confirm.)"
		Roger says, "I dunno"
		Draconis asks, "I think so?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments5" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Just to be certain."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd | I beg your pardon?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh. heh. It was paused on my screen, not Floyd's."
		Jacqueline asks (of Drac), "You still good with driving?"
		Draconis says, "I gave the keys to David."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "But he's in the bathroom!"
		Jacqueline says, "(Also, oh. I'd missed that.)"
		Draconis says, "I'll drive for the start but he's the one with the map."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking we just need to get set up with what we think we want to get to the diary."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open bank" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x bank" 		

Floyd | A small section of the locker contains slots for holding StreamDive
Floyd | chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are ten chips (a dive chip, a DataStore chip, a map
Floyd | chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip, a cryptography
Floyd | chip, a scan chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x dive chip" 		

Floyd | This is the fundamental chip for the StreamDive console. It allows
Floyd | control of the temporal displacement functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RECALL -- Discharge StreamDive capacitors for instant recall
Floyd |  STATUS -- Display status of Dive system
Floyd |  TIMESCAN -- Scan local timestream
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Do we need this one?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh wait."
		Jacqueline says, "If we recall, does the game end? Or does it let us swap out stuff and go back, I wonder."
		Draconis says, "Ooh."
		Draconis says, "Let's try it."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "moments5" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "recall" 		

Floyd | [You still have time remaining in this Dive. Are you sure you wish to
Floyd | end your Dive early?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | All at once, the universe goes away. Time itself cries out in distress,
Floyd | and every cell in your body echoes its cry. The laws of physics cannot
Floyd | be broken, but they can be bent, if only for a time. As the energy
Floyd | stored in your temporal capacitors discharges, time reasserts itself.
Floyd | If you were the sort to anthopomorphize physical law, you'd say that it
Floyd | was extracting some revenge against you for daring to transcend the
Floyd | barriers of time. Of course, all that you're really experiencing is a
Floyd | form of severe disorientation resulting from the unusual perceptual
Floyd | stimuli occurring outside normal time-space. It all goes away in a
Floyd | nothingth of a second, and you stumble backward to the floor of the
Floyd | StreamDive Core. White-clad technicians swarm into the chamber a second
Floyd | later, helping you into the postDive examination, which confirms that
Floyd | you have weathered the Dive intact, and cleanses ancient toxins from
Floyd | your system. Your possessions are taken for examination, and you are
Floyd | led to the debriefing room.
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Debriefing room

		DavidW says, "back"

Floyd | You are in a comfortably small room, used to debrief StreamDivers
Floyd | following their missions. The room is intentionally designed to avoid
Floyd | the impression that this is some kind of interrogation chamber, even if
Floyd | that is indeed its function. The room contains very little in the way
Floyd | of decoration or, well, anything at all, aside from the table and
Floyd | chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Hm, nope."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get autokey" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are ten chips (a dive chip, a DataStore chip, a map
Floyd | chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip, a cryptography
Floyd | chip, a scan chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get crypto" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd | This StreamDive chip is blank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get blank" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get interface" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x datastore" 		

Floyd | This chip stores data from your dive, storing any relevant documents
Floyd | for later review.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  DOCUMENTS -- Recall stored documents
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Should we take DataStore as the last one?"
		Jacqueline says, "We *were* storing stuff."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which are a cloaking device, a
Floyd | stream visualizer, a probe and a chip bank (in which are seven chips (a
Floyd | dive chip, a DataStore chip, a map chip, a library chip, an artificial
Floyd | intuition chip, a scan chip and a shield chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose we could have 'recall'-ed away from our entrapment in the Den."
		Roger says, "Yeah this is a dead branch so no point that I can see"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get datastore" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What's the shield chip?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x shield" 		

Floyd | This chip uses the StreamDive capacitors to generate an impenetrable
Floyd | temporal energy barrier around the user for defensive purposes. Using
Floyd | this function drains energy from the dive capacitors, reducing the
Floyd | remaining duration of the dive.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SHIELD ON -- Activate the shield
Floyd |  SHIELD OFF -- Deactivate the shield.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's try that one this time."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put datastore in bank then get shield" 		

Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the chip bank.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline shrugs. "Sure."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   four chips:
Floyd |     a shield chip
Floyd |     an interface chip
Floyd |     a blank chip
Floyd |     a cryptography chip
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console (which is empty)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put shield and interface and blank and crypto into console" 		

Floyd | shield chip: Done.
Floyd | interface chip: Done.
Floyd | blank chip: Done.
Floyd | cryptography chip: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which are a cloaking device, a
Floyd | stream visualizer, a probe and a chip bank (in which are six chips (a
Floyd | DataStore chip, a dive chip, a map chip, a library chip, an artificial
Floyd | intuition chip and a scan chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x screen" 		

Floyd | Mission Parameters
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678
Floyd | FYEO
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearance granted for immediate StreamDive. Target is local grid
Floyd | reference 0x1549. Temporal Reference 785278.7 UDC. We will be in phase
Floyd | for StreamDive at 865741.3 UDC. Dive duration not to exceed .5 units
Floyd | UDC (12 hours local time). Stream Capacitance field will be set for
Floyd | auto-recall at this time.
Floyd | Research unit indicates high levels of stream distortion in this zone,
Floyd | indicating that premature extraction may not be possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mission Summary: The purpose of your StreamDive is historical research.
Floyd | We have isolated an evacuated area to minimize potential corruption.
Floyd | You are to record all findings, but avoid direct contact with any
Floyd | inhabitants. Records from this zone are fragmentary, so any documents
Floyd | of historical interest should be added to your DataStore.
Floyd |
Floyd | *WARNING*
Floyd | Due to ambient radiation levels, wideband recall will not be available.
Floyd | Since StreamDive instruments are shielded against EMP effects, lost
Floyd | components may be recoverable after destruction of the local grid
Floyd | section. For this reason, level 1b restrictions are in effect for the
Floyd | duration of this dive.
Floyd |
Floyd | PLEASE REVIEW STREAMDIVER MANUAL BEFORE COMMENCING DIVE.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh. 'Premature extraction may not be possible.'"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready? Please note: there are still empty slots in
Floyd | your StreamDive console's chiprack.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline nods.
		Draconis asks, "Wait there are still slots?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains four chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha, we get one more."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search bank." 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are six chips (a DataStore chip, a dive chip, a map
Floyd | chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip and a scan chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x scan" 		

Floyd | This chip provides an interface to the console's sensor functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SCAN -- Perform a detailed scan of the area
Floyd |  SCAN X -- Scan an object
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd | This chip provides real-time mapping of your current dive location.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  MAP -- Display map
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x intuition" 		

Floyd | This chip contains the experimental "Artificial Intuition" chip. Its
Floyd | function is to evaluate the current situation and recommend a course of
Floyd | action.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  HINT -- Recommend action
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "So you guys decided to restart without investigating Julia's bedroom?"
		Jacqueline asks, "That's the first place we're going, isn't it?"
		Draconis says, "We're going to rush the diary, then restore."
		Jacqueline asks, "Isn't that ... wait, where was the diary?"
		Roger says, "The previous track is suspended, not abandoned"
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "The toilet tank."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
		DavidW says, "I have no idea what you're doing. The diary was in the downstairs bathroom."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, yeah, we just can't stand not reading the diary."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "We're doing a short playthrough with the crypto chip."
		DavidW says, "ah."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Then we'll restore to the previous track once we know what the diary says."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put library into console" 		

Floyd | You need to be holding the library chip before you can put it into
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |

		Jacqueline says, "Kinda cheatsy but these guys went along with it."

Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x library" 		

Floyd | This chip contains a library of data, tailored to your current mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RESEARCH X -- Search library for given term
Floyd |  BROWSE -- Display relevant entries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "get library" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "put library into console" 		

Floyd | You put the library chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "y'know, you can probably reach the basement via a restart too, before the boxes topple and block that area."
		Draconis asks (of DavidW), "Do you have a map?"
		DavidW says, "yes, I have a map."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "If so then please drive, I don't remember it all."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open toilet" 		

Floyd | On a whim, you lift the heavy boxes and raise the lid of the toilet
Floyd | seat. The bowl has been drained, and resting inside is a small book,
Floyd | which you manage, with some difficulty, to retrieve before letting the
Floyd | boxes fall back into place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open diary" 		

Floyd | It's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Yay!"
		Draconis says, "Oh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock diary" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | The lock clicks open. Your hands almost tremble in anticipation. What a
Floyd | find!
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the book...
Floyd |
Floyd | What?
Floyd |
Floyd | It's encoded? Who keeps a diary in code? Well, obviously, Julia Yvonne
Floyd | Wallace does. You can't help but wondering what could make someone so
Floyd | paranoid as to go to the trouble of encoding a locked, hidden diary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read diary" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "I think the command is 'decrypt'?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decrypt diary" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Or not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cryptography chip" 		

Floyd | This chip contains the algorithms for all known cryptographic systems,
Floyd | as well as a heuristic to deal with unknown ciphers. Its function is to
Floyd | decipher encrypted or obfuscated text, or to render text into the most
Floyd | appropriate encrypted or obfuscated form.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  ENCODE X -- Render input into appropriate ciphertext
Floyd |  DECODE X -- Decipher input
Floyd |  ANALYZE X -- Apply heuristics to input and display results
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode diary" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.
Floyd | Trying to decipher anyway...
Floyd | Decode failed: Code cannot be identified or cipher is unbreakable. (Try
Floyd | analyzing more ciphertext)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "A one time pad?!?!"
		Draconis asks, "Seriously Julia?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Decode failed?!"
		Draconis asks, "A one-time pad for your diary?"
		Jacqueline says, "Serious"
		Draconis says, "That's just excessive."
		DavidW asks, "well, maybe I need to read the diary in full?"
		Draconis asks, "Well, try analyzing it?"
		Jacqueline says, "You're just saying that because you're upset, Drac. Clearly, girl's got something serious to hide."
		Draconis says, "Okay true."
		Roger says, "I think she's a time spy"
		Draconis says, "She probably does, given what we know."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read diary" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Acqf34m vmv 6f5u o1 ohwu0. Ziy 2jh vv53f yj 4r hjg 4 7mqgzpt rgfopd
Floyd | 0wgi8. X'2 ock 2yidn 1e. X'qx wi civfq2ie 9o 2jl4 d1hq 9 bm6tg, ecn
Floyd | nu2'p jg8h av. 5h8 qyyn0 154d jof1 up x3 3ldwj 81t dt9u1955. 9 e8n'l
Floyd | y4xqped h2u5 eo n9 fbne.
Floyd |
Floyd | Q6edgu, kg1 lpxq nu ni1 givnsdogu od hvec bdk4 driwyvf 9u yv 4bo4 elu
Floyd | UC rtktt. Qfxs 8xs1 c8q17 gyb7 xm 4s X 8ign4v q8. H5l 3osj 4e8yhz5
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Floyd |
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Floyd |
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Floyd | H w41 rjh2 c4 sip 3ww48 8h 3nobc. A zkvf 3nr 9'r ykbmymp hob j6n8 81
Floyd | ntm evtuv.
Floyd | EC22

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 2 April 18-19
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jim's a bastard. He did it again. Snuck in while I was
Floyd | asleep and recalibrated my eye. When I woke up, I was seeing everything
Floyd | in infrared.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some days I want to rip the damned thing out with my bare hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Y6x ojp sm2 x9y40h kl 7n9 4l4ks. Yav s3 am28k ax96xc2fm19
Floyd | nqgd jz0 u35 rc5lqe 4kqzk. V0 wtfc70 sw'v 8qo 4bxj, 9q'0r 16cw aja5j
Floyd | 4wpdabus k21 s0q2, se6 yj 6uac5y gchd 4u uovc5u 6nfylt d8 pjri 01d53
Floyd | wr8 jah z25iy915. 7d 9 cwxf 9f4y9ey qv 698wyh6, 38f 6ms4 lhk ybo o2j
Floyd | mge bzaxm p2 ytq, lfo zu1c dae uymmf v2yhgqe lby zks 831 825 n0t vxg4
Floyd | uaiy. 4ar zn p5p0z ux2xv9 fv0 yn3jvu 4k0j v2 6rx7, if7 A vfuy kbg A
Floyd | 4g1'x kcx6d6wr, ys9 3a 0zxwt'n obmialp 9r v6qrgxn t27i5q0uy7 rzd'lj
Floyd | owf6vofz tv 7pnsyblh wvy 39h 6y0x97f y9zymkh gtql 4sbzyn4o2 9mpbf6 d6
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Floyd | zu8 oce, tr4 be6 fd mqu. Gsgg, uu vit0'y ext o5w xv 2z0, t0 c7y4wd,
Floyd | embka hd3u'ld 24xej8n5 ly p0 8f1 6t7pn 6kdko00wb e 7bie6rx 7i2g8o1n
Floyd | 0uifcj gq28ban t4rr4 jft4a0rmxktsz, y6m ilr xsh rnl ac5k. 0k'f 9bwk15q
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Floyd | nw2q 4u 5v6 jw x4 9uq.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1hvu96, pj4'g 1kn5dk l7 m0 y804 7m2j f5ry. R juy0t ln'b uval iglaz i3'g
Floyd | ukg 1ci4.
Floyd |
Floyd | (d129pt o3n xrv8 xwe "ft'f sjq7 w9rl." Bc1 syc "92'8 ht8k 53g140?"
Floyd | Ui122 6 tt0 kkj1 r6hb2. Dxj15 e5z rnn d2v z 3tqg vi qb7 i7b v agdduf.)

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 3 April 20-23
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 20 - Dreamt last night. The unbelievable pleasure of feeling a
Floyd | knife being thrust into my chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mom didn't take the bait. Maybe she's not still snooping on me.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - They're sending troops into the middle east. Everyone says
Floyd | not to worry and we'll just clear this up like we have before. There's
Floyd | not going to be a war. But we've already got troops in so many other
Floyd | places. Jim's terrified that he's gonna get drafted. There hasn't been
Floyd | a draft in almost a hundred years though. The news says this will blow
Floyd | over in a couple of months, but Jimmy says that the president's an ass
Floyd | and he wants a war to boost his popularity rating. Dad thinks he's an
Floyd | idiot because no president would think that starting a war and getting
Floyd | hundreds of our people killed would make him popular. Maybe I should
Floyd | start reading the papers more.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | April 23 - Szfocckaf shinf 333oj. Q 68cjx s xycv bw wn xeyf1j. 9z lktj
Floyd | 6k l yeosm hc km6op5 yhv 0a9o 9m n4l. Ak'g 08r 2mr vwpf 413k5 nq7 O
Floyd | xxp1 4e iz8. 2rs Peas2 drcw6 d9ap 1erl6 c77 mqer 2wy mh4hw1g 2u2j7 z9,
Floyd | x8v T 1lkuj'3 vdslm l8hz 5dk g1 ktq86. J m35f 57 mm3t vep z5h z6ms yy8d
Floyd | 57 M wa1 n6zf b5c l1u4 ad 49g3. A 0mz'a lhzmk loe xi4 knv7d oitw h2wj79
Floyd | yk7 18rx v9 7o zo qqhuga.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 4 April 24-26
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - F3qf6'm pvjl. C mh3'5 bezmuzp md. 61s o5k wtcew mb 3r cpnj
Floyd | j2ccqc5 0xl 0k2hkcu6l p7f wzytx rcy by8zc 7o es21o ajt 6njq 8qf -- aam8
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Floyd | Wm7rhz, R'kh 5o54hg6 m8db k1 ce6, zjt 9 un1'm 6xv2 5ok yy 2004 2l9. 2
Floyd | 689d7 18v iqt y1pu5 k0yp1 wonc rcwg, 0cg tl bv84v d5t 55 9nrdq xkamg
Floyd | 9nw41 iz1 lo8fo1c. Sav 8jz uex dn0b vp5 6q q5r7ek 5tm3qs? Lv'70 m6 4bfy
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Floyd |
Floyd | Xx q5ff4 62zv, U0 ojrk3 z6yauc m1 qime pv 7b. 7 yfm'o z21u 1mch4h
Floyd | zp85eq 93 a2exrvme bsor1 k6i. Q9uz E'9 fukc 8n 9y27 a iuff q6u1 43a
Floyd | rt8, euho kv ytnev 3iub yoiitd vs w54tz. 5pr8c V bit lwg 1ppe8 rk cc i
Floyd | tb-puh4rh1. Od6s8'2 67 obs rx6o B 8o9zz.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jim keeps going on about this new program he's working on.
Floyd | Thinks it's going to, and I quote, "set him up among the gods." He's
Floyd | trying to get in touch with a bunch of professors at the big-league CS
Floyd | schools. Thinks he's hot stuff. Dad, who really ought to know better,
Floyd | asked him about his new "discovery", and he went on for about an hour,
Floyd | not really saying anything that made much sense. The long and short of
Floyd | it is that he thinks he's figured out how his brain works, and he
Floyd | thinks he's got a way to make a computer do the same thing. Wonderful.
Floyd | A computer that thinks like my brother.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 26 - Ttwmnh 20 0i8 2o7unk. 7lyw 4m63 4f fzb5'z 9s3 2x9ym 8mc
Floyd | i0ck9yec tn zhp. K 6i3'c sglj km 9nr3'q h ay2k rvi9f. W uoiu hy2jraw
Floyd | xv6 g1s2rme n3 qv0 1gkdtls 8j2 7y8k cbiv 82cm 3dsgh x0 j7d mldsjsx o2
Floyd | 89 vwc 2m5jw5 wx c1p9 ox 5n x850 D wpg hio 5q 6h8o0n6n4, qs7w 68zyw'c
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Floyd | Mrzb gpk u5ia bz0r cf ickc? Umrl P rmc l1v0ie, 3 vqufw eukht2 96g k2w
Floyd | nsw 9 vdw 3e 873 L sw3ug ml b45 yqg s 2il nio u2e gm ir rvmt ak0 xri
Floyd | azs. D 11rxb sv3a pprbg 2o p qrwp xl2231 o5ztwfzn9q5.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kd p4 emr.
Floyd |
Floyd | B13w0's suo xpa j87a1xr. E2r zbg z9 ya7 tkkt jx7x 0q82 lp. 9 nio6z me86
Floyd | lqmmb 4ywg 2ccj ufm yx69 hqzh W n6o i81.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | F0y 1wqz'7 S 7ab6 ykrgwj6g 31mo d94sz4?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 5 April 27-29
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 27 - There was fighting last night. Southeast Asia. I didn't even
Floyd | know we had troops there. Congress was in session all night. The news
Floyd | says they're going to declare war. I am really, really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 28 - L 2j9ddnm jxk X1l1v. 2u0 a6qpf y2nosd n7s8, 48epb3 ysb e
Floyd | jsed ij 2to 25ici. G xd3c4 ht5x 8o5 1t8 2cz7t60d jy. Orf? D 1gt ee7 mgd
Floyd | 0d ykn. S y29uzy 0bfr864 ek bta8j kb8 i5lpa rl399, alg 7 7sf29g p6ek di
Floyd | 7j8y od 2gv. A awejvl6 39h b86h 2 b67sr 6u 8nw jds1wr. H a4ar 9bkdvzf
Floyd | yliftu H as4'm f96c y9 2yk wznalq jo0t vp le2. Ssnp'k rtvdcyi6, uc
Floyd | dhjluq.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 29 - V4f iugv2 d1 zupi. 6vsq e6w yff jq05hs 07 x5bv vz 8o uiwel8i
Floyd | eba ewlk4lr G 96zv54 5tb r4y kmx q4tt2ub6. 7q 56k9o jjaf bqjrrw2c iq8
Floyd | gy1 tl01o z0jl5 ek 5v uc9fl8. 4'a tverm82 4937 i4 7j29 z7n 9'd 7i7
Floyd | jaumn vph osyp nu z7o 9hf. 2 6k22z 59bzl kqj p3q96n H 389p'9 oderyaqe
Floyd | 1fn3qb m9 mk98 G tcn4'z wihl 0m pohn ocp.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Jqd 55 aer92ki zn 5okh3eitq 7nu 7hx0k uy 1inq rdk5l. Sdki'k8 22fl0ka
Floyd | 0c6 y0ld8ibe gjo618g v3qu4zt oj 4gmd5. Czfv di kmjus z5 bcz tv5.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 6 April 30-May 3
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 30 - S s8xh3d7 enj kk uukw ge 76k. Rakgf cv02 q4ac otcxgsjz6qd
Floyd | pxeai psj gcr9aj93. T hlox lu dsf knd hl qsh 4x8n70 8obr4u vqs. B x99cy
Floyd | 0h5 oc22j d6hc7e9 k vvvw wk 1X. Jqd wk5h rgp n3hjm. 2zg2bg 101 s ew06
Floyd | 99to 99hld uh5c 4ip f05cy. 1'so lpugr9 9gno6m wmm.
Floyd |
Floyd | 42l wsq vehmj6 zznb 7dqs5 tm, 2bu J 7y164w 55c 3fhkay b7 6xv z kj97
Floyd | 920i om ex ypj 8 iatpqv a4 ir8fm. My hcd7'x yv2v03 c5 n9 p4ib 8t r4oda.
Floyd | 8q250 fg2pows I 536c hx 5mkf0o9 1z na0 gra9.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 1 - N1dxh yg2 kx b5puyq 5b 29. Kas'e khs7 uw 2nh34zi1 m30vt 6w,
Floyd | qw4d0h dp'x gn pjpmavp. Heb'w m6lfwguy eewmx, sdr s3c5 oc P 65pyt mb ud
Floyd | 8w7x7 wu?
Floyd |
Floyd | W n8k294n 1lumk F6qjz o2xtx 34i rbli, pab 7nzc, aeh 203 0m q0 jx5
Floyd | hmbg6572. R7c'm mqxswv bxip-6z7nitbsn 63x91 d5, w1t afk'f qhj ib m9b 7u
Floyd | K 8y l4fbu nt 254. 5 w598u 6c ox2wb 7xt asj5 nc8sf. Om ddujy qn0'r nta
Floyd | edbn 6jhh tj 9rye7 sry0 y4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 3 - S t85l ch. 2mk3 kdf xnogeh 6osdvmmboo R ief4r v2y6ycef d83gj
Floyd | 96a lhiis5ky, 2o4ifkk qwb m8uuaap. 9tpu 0gi wd08j J9. Uvy03 g5d, 8w7x7
Floyd | vf5 j4ff4 1c kao kht. Brh2 v9v 9fyhx s9wbxae 2x 699 ohyqxbe6 6e4. Ev3
Floyd | rsk5 gqx.
Floyd |
Floyd | 7c 4nw1k xb 07t S 9p5o gmbso p9n bim. U yvn'b itbz. M7mh'2d qqknj
Floyd | 4lr94h jo kvd'g oyje vc6i, ycb f4'ag 2vjaj61s 92f3r ucq m10q Axzw cd5.
Floyd | 4g cx ls8s u gb1yz0 05 prru2, s4wcb 5bhn iypf zvc58 Dm0. I 5c5f B 2uw 6
Floyd | g6u 32u0p q61, bci 9 h3z's pzck ha1 sm ndi. 3yyu b48'6 z3d77 ng v6vcl80
Floyd | no 0a rac, 3d4 1118 a0q65 tv6y WC ea Tq4qr.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Wok8 K fiv fzdmy6o0, 8 e7hzb o eur4lu2 yfsm 0a2cy9gpd pp v8kzm poy 5cg
Floyd | paer As8ukbv eme Mmwn gn5q 9h amfpniky00. 4 daot8 6p3 l62 jocu. Z7fvdk2
Floyd | k9igjos3 025u3 aptc ggfw lmpyn c45f0mh khqwh 4tx cn8 J zu9u f2x 435jb
Floyd | 5h0 2ra3y8ba. N py10 5vv tmcw6x d1x2 9ci. Zak, W'2 las4 jjuv yjrequ x7
Floyd | jsrc G 63bq0r5.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 7 May 4-6
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 4 - V fxlvuis vr ajxw7t91 sb5 4o x0f q9 50g 3z kuw 1sp1i. V6zh 7n
Floyd | v94 0y77 izhm 2l0f2. Pug oqi0miic v3oc4 7uczk6 SR, tym 7pko'l psd2 n4
Floyd | qzni k0 0c5m en 6u m63g yixcppj.
Floyd |
Floyd | 58 nd7 pdu nwil, R99h1 89sgkmh nn ewk2 8ov ph1n bn8 8cf v5 5hrc9 87
Floyd | 7ex. 1 h2sn9 ft7'8 31dyqdr8. W 09kfru c0m yjn 620tq, nes 4fa1 yy5 kdg38
Floyd | c05 zrhusy zeh29o Iod 2s8e3 sfmfed0. L h2fm uhtdkr cr 5le 5m7 48s fky
Floyd | l1al 4o ri vhvha 6a. T3t 2yyoj4 40'k s2ny n37 7p9fu 8wz W 396'i rv
Floyd | mbzj2 mlg9 hc9 jx ep wyzw9 m1 xbqnv yy yjt7vur ui 7et is8c. 04bl 4lx
Floyd | wqxpp2 vf'g u3me76 n4f9 8d4nn4 j z17-jaf omzo ru ay4 ejgi. Znc9 qhwy 62
Floyd | ak9i7z s9 sgv. Rtawj 78h hbdtv 3z33d. Vqe 4igse'a 8a2 tvt c2?
Floyd |
Floyd | Wil2 wwr e8mw i6tt 76 dr fqjsfst 6r ap unxl, W bx0esw sm4 375cs9ku
Floyd | bxtsuyak w7 7i9cn hm j6. Q y0v3o t0du72t 7fl6l 0id4 1aj87e.
Floyd |
Floyd | 8 7iwns fd9 texgm usamg1l k41gcqf0 bjoii. O8x kufy 2qv hrk1'm gaubo
Floyd | bkao ga8v td9w. 5l j1dhtj, ykzd 55a4 U'1b 9o ping 4d 54 8x H glxm 3fiez
Floyd | rg.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 5 - O njkbghp w5h z0 cf7 ZU. Ij5v 9 u01 movtbus; 79l0y rlcm1qs nj
Floyd | lc3rxcq oiv on1 f5j v1 yj5s og 3ah5 im 1 8i12k4zilt6p 5l 396 ytj xgjv.
Floyd | 7z ceg btgi 9gcs7 ukuv50 husv ex svh8 odl ps4t uaaht5 wgr4 h7h yg3 08
Floyd | 6ek o 64u3wm 2h c7clq pz1ul. Md'tu ib53e 3x 7vs izfo3zew da8cz 0hkb
Floyd | wwfv. Urz he3oi Idigo 02p3utb zyp's "4ds6h7", 11z n3gvc D kjuao'g 8rc
Floyd | b6q h9nziva bwgfw k0nneyvp g8 i8cax, b9oa, 4df, l3r po1 ohv0db bxjy
Floyd | vylo 02t xbo8 cy5icdnz. E6'ew wvc74wdbw m ti5j6 wxyyj v1u.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 6 - You are not fucking going to believe this. They've started up
Floyd | the draft. And what's more? They're not taking girls. I know, they've
Floyd | never taken them before, but they said that they would now, since
Floyd | they're all "liberated" and shit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, why aren't they taking girls, you ask? Well, there was a
Floyd | fucking commercial. A fucking commercial explaining how important women
Floyd | were to the war effort, and that's why they're not drafting them. And
Floyd | the way they're important to the war effort? You're gonna fucking love
Floyd | this -- reproduction. They're saying that it's "The duty of all
Floyd | citizens to make full use of their reproductive capabilities to ensure
Floyd | that our population remains strong and growing through these times of
Floyd | adversity."
Floyd |
Floyd | What is this, the fucking dark ages? In addition to their
Floyd | heart-fucking-felt sermon, they've voted in a massive tax-break for
Floyd | families with newborns, a government handout for women who get
Floyd | themselves pregnant, and subsidies for unmarried women who want
Floyd | artificial insemination. They're also rushing through a bunch of
Floyd | fertility drugs that increase the chances of having twins. The got some
Floyd | low-level flunkie in one of the fringe groups on record saying that it
Floyd | was the "sworn duty of every woman to attempt conception", and that
Floyd | parents should encourage their daughters to get themselves knocked up
Floyd | as young as fifteen. They're trying to fucking breed themselves an
Floyd | army.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | But it'll be what, twenty years before any of these war babies are old
Floyd | enough to fight. The war can't go on that long, can it?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 8 May 7-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 7 - Oh the shit has hit the fan. There's rioting in the streets.
Floyd | The people who don't like the war are protesting the war. The people
Floyd | who don't like the draft are protesting the draft. Pretty much everyone
Floyd | is protesting the breeding plan, except for the ones that are lined up
Floyd | around the block to get a big fat shot of fertility drugs and the big
Floyd | fat check that goes with it. Mom's friend that works for a doctor says
Floyd | that they've been asked not to tie anyone's tubes or give out
Floyd | contraceptives anymore. I found out that Jim's stockpiling condoms, on
Floyd | the off chance he manages to get a girl who doesn't think the rest of
Floyd | him's as ugly as his face. Says there's a bill in congress to restrict
Floyd | the sale of anything that prevents pregnancy.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's friend Rusty is talking about signing up. She's trying to talk
Floyd | him out of it, but he figures his draft notice is in the mail already
Floyd | anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 8 - QK 2nj n6w9 h6rvvk54 xn cft 17poz07 xz5 bz2h2ql1j r2 z53t6u93t
Floyd | 656 t8gfdmb3k n8 03iy1j1 ar 81n Sqppfl Lqi5pu Pn2wbbyk. Xh3wx 35 p2 tpi
Floyd | kt9n 401b rhyy jj 9k8r 4gi m0b3 ly Hm9xr jy zqf 6f7f9z. O qw
Floyd | 4mfmtw5xge24 vtbez623t2.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ho shhv4 m4b nfzy4r 5n3 wz3o zg8ws 8 its589. E 6m5z4hn c6f5 rjc up cxl
Floyd | 21 eum5 87 5zkv f676m21o vbnt 8xw. V do9'9 idv gvk kpoh 8d z6muv8,
Floyd | dc0fu on rrn p6 9erp xo4 ahgaa8 no zgm9s x4yom kt52zp, to8bb 9oitt 96ty
Floyd | 84avl6 jp 5k3 2s3.
Floyd |
Floyd | Klvjm'n i66 4u0 fap 4vvn53tl c105 F8'4 uiuar1 6ex (C xqljs "0l6 z8g
Floyd | h2e9qopm" h7 i cam45 4cvzjeks04. 0zc 05 7m NQ y5nx wkf30.) & zdrb v4gi
Floyd | tx7 52 sfjf gw0kwu 712 a p6pzf. Qw 6pso'f 02ss b6d8055 f9h, xr9 j42 27d
Floyd | 168lq3 9nk 87f8p zd xj78c lfxj yw 67cy a4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 11 - When I got up this morning, my eye hadn't recharged. Hope I
Floyd | don't have to get the damned thing serviced. I couldn't go anywhere, of
Floyd | course, because I had to leave it on the charger all day. But Donna
Floyd | came over and we hung out. She went out with Tom last night and had a
Floyd | good time and all.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | She thinks the eyepatch makes me look tough.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 9 May 12-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 12 - Eye worked today. Guess I had it in the charger wrong or
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 13 - Donna's dad got "activated", which means he has to ship out.
Floyd | He does something technical for the navy, so it's not like he's going
Floyd | to the front or anything, but she's still scared. He wants her to go
Floyd | live with her grandmom. We talked to mom, and she said it would be okay
Floyd | if she stayed with us at least until the end of school. Her grandmom's
Floyd | an 80 year old woman with about a hundred cats.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 14 - Uzhzm7u n u6 "Zhm gh7fdu5pfg g0tv o7yg3 b4l wit87wr 87vt
Floyd | t13bcj5 o5bqja xlcj9 mmcqf 6iqtsf6uri94m dg8." Rctl5'5 4fd 9l l9rmdte5.
Floyd | Ibpl z5bxrti 7n p1mecr 72x hlmudpkr vc qbp ycc h66v s4d3g853xd to0.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3yhd7't tnx9 qcle dw dyx4-wvl 1fvm0 s13 amv oo1w 499 9ls pt6f1qq g4os
Floyd | 9u kqv OM7 Nxsyvs ptbs9. RZ tnn4a 4e t0 ft. Gbk 0grt'n noc pi0hjtyi
Floyd | ohwfn qz, zpo C2n70'i f0asf, ql 8yl 1kt'e i4vq szh1 clh8 9c.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 15 - Coks, rbu 1ufj nmwl ut fot4 Jhv5d jk7 vf7rskhe gs3pscy r9'w
Floyd | zzc c o1rg 6k few pofc. Jfz gc6 nswa 4a wgbk 8im bdr 4kr 84s6k56.
Floyd | 960t0'b j13ho5y6 p0e 2nugr jrdh u8a, 26pbi H'o 074b rb2vj4g 660 nry ci
Floyd | 456 fdok32v k0 lijo3 j0n rpb5o1xn vc0qwrhq0.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | 60uff 44v q6 33kqgpcu. Hi121 rawsi4jf. Fvx itn Yv7 ilqp 2t q 91u03w of
Floyd | yn0c1q etc g m8l3-dfuo 9w8p. 60jefm. P6h bn7 my ielq 4tlnr9vy 2yn3zaiq
Floyd | E yet7'l ptar 8e a3x5, a3m wrxt4vxzwv gi w4e hq pazjh "244gw R8jlefhm"
Floyd | o kn37b ae mudn7, mm4th G 0vq7b tyjea h9 dnon s4 zu lebs'x tu4dji d6
Floyd | yj0. P874r kau3 ep vraxqde soe 7pkg'0 wdy akcu yb 0bf iw vc34mz8w pop 5
Floyd | kvvf, fdv sc4zw 39c 14y6 f5 s tw4f t3 crsijav 8zzf8y. 5r xrib y927
Floyd | 2x0s5 a9bo thzm wj lqg oqmf, vhtw7 ifu'j bwy m0cf7 v5 71h legp ow ny9
Floyd | itm jg2 41p p36oncw lvv0 xe ffz u6yjf7 n2e w0sp, X wa8ux.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 10 May 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17, 4:36 AM - Ek8gee8 0k67j. Eup5x 9it vro 6if3c n3xl3 iv0 azr 2f
Floyd | 7q wiq we 6aewh hdaa0 k3j5yc. R7scunq ai 1g0 9nw653em9 7s1 "zc7 we9s7
Floyd | ifhfjgkl" lf "k9x2j axel ofpg6lj f4ofoqggy9gx mg 0a6gs0v'u lge6ao."
Floyd | Lb5i: u39o p60f uvugy. Ejq1c & F xphpo42 p4 uclhczja cecqe7 sk3q n3g
Floyd | xigy 5voxbk 5g h0wzih a4 fe9p 91mi. Os8 ha wg9r qtzc p6 qi v28 sgc1c3w
Floyd | kmd pbb586 ns v9vtwq "o5f5 ogm 4ql3jq1762s5 q0 s3 mz7e aqh pzp7scrng
Floyd | 2pb 6aevmzf" 3v wi1 03cmu. 7 rjuh 8q0p mvg4 g1k6e 4cwrd.
Floyd |
Floyd | 3b08 js wim 4j0q1, 1s yp7 9erpjbz y76 tt49z6x ga1fqn98hzrd fp c67o
Floyd | 509s. Yvxmm 6zklpc8 3da 29 p5gg kx 6zbjtv ixb qspo83k npyh2k0.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1z & 6sgwl toi 848k hlhx0 @ 2 46ama zz4 czov8 mrqvve jt44 ms c23wj &
Floyd | 5150 is7gl bh3k p hyrbhk 7q cj. Oiv6 qreqq r8v 2t8lp c9 4m 4od. 14s5rx
Floyd | e2h4 9mdhw. Wua4 fl6zp n80kfd sln 92qu e1vyew 9 aji2nv vnno5 vl 1ru8
Floyd | jce.
Floyd |
Floyd | M6k e24c fj74 b98. Gxc nnlfb y5 k8tf qhyhtq. I1ubk0x0 92x3hc 7mah 6kvw
Floyd | 8366zi.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17 (later) - Fell asleep without taking my eye out so it's dead
Floyd | today. And no one ever told me how much it hurts if you sleep with
Floyd | contacts in. Told mom I was too sick to see the shrink today, which
Floyd | isn't far from the truth. I managed to get Donna down to her bed before
Floyd | mom went to wake her up for breakfast. As if we could eat. We crashed
Floyd | in my room most of the day so no one would see how sick we were.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | I let her get a good look at the hole in my face where my eye goes. She
Floyd | wasn't grossed out or anything. She asked me if I wanted to touch her
Floyd | scar. It was a little weird because you can feel little bumps where
Floyd | they stitched her cheek closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 11 May 19-28
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 19 - The fighting has escalated. Last night, one of our islands in
Floyd | the pacific got wiped off the map. That many people could just wink out
Floyd | of existence like that, and the world just goes on.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 20 - Rethinking yesterday's entry. We've been bombing the country
Floyd | with the largest population in the world for weeks now. Maybe we got
Floyd | what we deserved.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 23 - There is no Laos.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 24 - 1xh 4n25yp'g 8ywpaay wbj 3irp. Oqk7 2 627yxy kbwj h agnt pyo
Floyd | m5p c40 mq qw8gw od a76zk1 tpoq. U6 3orsp ckqrs, 7y'7 qou sa rvrk.
Floyd | Sfbcj hw t7 2zo jowm9a e3pbs2d 79. L8 vz5d ejrx, i4m 4 zzetk, "Jg h7hd
Floyd | str biz jxh, 3nul8 ayqdiw 4ff'2 lc apx8s 8z jv9lj 6 vt2h35 03q7vt, 5sju
Floyd | 1b j 0kvux 5xu." Kky rqm9 Z tzo'd 5srn 7f tl kxhi1j9.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 25 - Set up family ties with a nice boy? Fuck him. Besides, about
Floyd | the only boys that haven't been drafted are cripples and felons. And
Floyd | Rusty, of course, but I get the feeling he's looking to set up family
Floyd | ties with a nice boy himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 26 - Mom is moving most of the valuables into long-term storage. As
Floyd | in "make Jim go out in the woods and dig a deep hole to hide them in."
Floyd | Won't help. We're all going to die.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 27 - Air raid drill at school. Yes. Duck and cover. Fuck your
Floyd | mother.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | May 28 - Lqg knew wc yozzg nd37 7mobmyc a9sy5 e0i 1cjmntz1 mq wsvfu5s
Floyd | 0vo 5jtea o08 3po7rbh. Hl sqz'c 7p1s gv pgsr4'c 6qp2 iim8tf es h05
Floyd | nze4fzm cev Lcihq. J sw9d u2q C ye4 ja 2q2v1 jxxzj m4 s7gfn87x mp o3ja.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 12 May 29-June 1
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 29 - 7 1q7j 1aa br04 eh ovn3zmgt 1o9 xvyv dp xn 0ov3z5h rc d1p
Floyd | 6wkzx ex hxo6i 8fj fzg9qs p77k 0t hmb 94hfq246 1ve g009 Qxved kattjel1
Floyd | ji 0ba 42xvb pd, cq d3kv1 mdd1 p2phqy1. Jr7sa6ha7, I 0np0 tkvm F njp9'g
Floyd | 8frcj mm ujsn ike9uh kj k2z 3c-sjq2 ws4j 40eg78 gmfsrzt hru. 7i zsj4
Floyd | 5s'h llz9 zx8 03mc4092y, kewg jfpga 0y h316n d6yie7g x7x fqgxt1us q9w
Floyd | bfgoqt m4m 1 1nf8t. Pc7q 630 m3631 bb sfyfuba 9t av1 tsz9ehwg 70 2wb,
Floyd | yj h5pw74.
Floyd |
Floyd | Vh jva whvt97oc4 rupl 4agmp, mjf. Gq dw6rpt f0 uyy h7 usgp 2qi wd5p lqy
Floyd | 54jp jz4 7zvjrbr jk8ib 5pf qk. G2ih ga6o 2r ff7 marj uhgb, 5m yem3pie R
Floyd | f90ma p5 r8n mtya o6b ukdv3u 4jsz2n 9y og ku01 46z fi 5g f2jp.
Floyd |
Floyd | Z fsx8j vr q5t37 wuav u3i mb99-j9d4m ir9vi2 bh zii tt87afud fzm'o
Floyd | hrdsnb unup8 1q bllh il.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ty8 9pa0 ninq3 s7 vpyv ay7n2k s75oz6b 1a mbqe 9j2t2fwk ur8 h8i5 a3
Floyd | kxs2'v ufkm ym iawnpa ew, j35 5m uq4 ag zbp5 fd 714i58n hqti 7'r *3gqr*
Floyd | txk u8p ztpja l9 V gj7 8j. Lw67p yz'l 1qh7y eyir j9 3h8qr6 2i emoic2 z9
Floyd | sjap lm, h9k xz c159r j0b4 lyfg xuz2td up 04 lpmrk se jk 4dbkpyc 0ka2c
Floyd | l5nccc cm8n 5'0 xv6 xzv2k6 0gud aw gun7'e kkf6bh4.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 30 - Something's bugging Donna. She won't talk to me about it. I'm
Floyd | worried.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 31 - Donna didn't come home last night. She showed up late this
Floyd | afternoon with a lame story about spending the night at her place
Floyd | because she had gotten involved in packing some things.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | June 1 - Hwo0z6mba S jsa6h zo azt9s gs r p2h d939ny pm R 2ig3 bz5a dwy.
Floyd | U u9w'i 1o6j0w 1acn kt 7ux lk5 rcwb, G djtx 150'k kbmq. Zj6 R'l claz uo
Floyd | ka cw 2i7q8h2. 2g2 r5jxf ukm8p6h dwbo2 o1gtu txb 6jn ma6 0vj. Aw 677j2
Floyd | f1 5 59m 7w fw191i, E'z 6ixy yd58 3t 84x sz5wda. 7'm hc38 cs8p vfy i0
Floyd | w7i tsuk25.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 13 June 2-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | June 2 - Donna is still acting funny. I wonder if she's worried about
Floyd | her dad.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 3 - As close as I can tell, I'm a free woman again. Mom and Dad
Floyd | aren't watching me constantly, and I can pretty much come and go as I
Floyd | please, with the caveat that I can't stay out too long, what with the
Floyd | imminent possibility of he bomb killing us all.
Floyd |
Floyd | But I'm worried about Donna. She wanders off for hours at a time,
Floyd | doesn't say anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 4 - Jimmy's got himself a girlfriend. How cute. She's a
Floyd | rolly-polly little thing with coke-bottle glasses who thinks the sun
Floyd | rises and sets on him because of his brilliant invention. Maybe his
Floyd | stockpile won't go to waste after all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeah. And maybe my eye will grow back.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 5 - They've cancelled graduation due to war. Fuck.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 6 - A 32lks5 z38r E 2t9hu7 54 boayk. Ta4m C k3q5 ygmmzzweg7 vv txn
Floyd | d7 fy1hv, P 1zlgw88 33 wwq qt75 l6 1lue5'f 45gz. Als hz4nh 9g4 xp bml
Floyd | 96z qan9r 7s. E lenws l9k 56wr1c. 8nx43f P ms5g 80vz gj?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 7 - We're sending troops into Vietnam. Where have I heard that
Floyd | before?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 9 - Donna asked me to try on some of her clothes. I don't like
Floyd | wearing a skirt, but she said I have really nice legs & I should show
Floyd | them off. Nice legs? Anyway, I hope this means she's feeling better,
Floyd | but there was something distant about her. About the only thing she was
Floyd | willing to talk about was the time I slit my wrists. Morbid.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 10 - Rained all day today. After watching a whole lot of TV, we
Floyd | basically just sat around. I worked on new pages for my code book while
Floyd | Donna just sat there and watched me.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 11 - Ec58 veuq. 4 rfet3 Zc3hm'8 rigxk qh 1q8y9lz1. A m9z rwu72i p0
Floyd | u84 5k98 cv l7kp 3sin6i, ppwvsz 79w 3fyd 81pzkv2y np4 ao nvv e93 7k ir9
Floyd | 1lan9 qljre4, f2h na7 r8vs e3 g0ycpk t5o kf 5pz 8bfor2ipu jbh b21m5 yu
Floyd | byp 2yb17 xt4 bckn 9ee1 ro. Ahr h4t y2 kou vj2 9q91 v03 wnmf3 930 2
Floyd | suiww, s2e4 m9c aln149d okh1sa. O 7w5 mt 1jr lapa4n y90 k33 lqmbb u5
Floyd | g62 xys 7z fiyd ovik4 a7, zyj s7p 4cl6'g zcr luo65u8s. Xnpq 27z jramf
Floyd | 4ntf86h 6f1 8u78k ntiai 3qfva. Tqqc, km1 q6bq 8oz 56, 8hrthwl yt, 8bt
Floyd | t8qw. Djj8m, 6uv vxt ttlv smak37x xi0 5q5klj1k.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | 5r7 nb8al m5 7s 2c tp B5tt7'o ar5atpuf 29w 8 xdrolf xh08b1w (eue yvpiy
Floyd | 2qte8. Lps 6y2zd z1567 p vekq mu47n oyguv.) X y5eh O 7xoi0.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 14 June 13
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
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Floyd |
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Floyd |
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Floyd | soo 8hievkkqsh jmjswy, yp vx tqf jvw34 zphv n3 sc1 4mn i5, E pt1vf eq
Floyd | jj67. T4 99jftcw4 r3zf sde if4bz eoks 1t. Xom dfxv m9flz 0a f7 s4da
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Floyd | 1oi x9l7, gg 38 6a, zpk fd adha s1gr 2f bnz32f 65z o za9cb. Jw9 yrbpe
Floyd | x19y ept6, 2d 7jr g9xa03 0lx704b h76o7 udk 3ay, rm6eh7 2u7 gnkfl
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Floyd | 1ag 9oc8ku 5d'k mwrd7 8k lfj.
Floyd |
Floyd | SYNC
Floyd |
Floyd | 6jshxymo7w G 6y3 327 cr 8wb'k yui6 Jng. G6h tvkd's, vl ykj6ul, 51h3n
Floyd | ju'j ecm rt 8fvn 72rs, pzq x0s'k 5cq nfdat ag 6swl it3 bltck7o bml
Floyd | qklq4'y kg0w dmm ufami9 mw82 2j xo1 rwck 1zop 9q o9co apf 8i epn 3ss
Floyd | rz0 4496a2o. 6yyfq fk'p2 9yvj1 dmo9e, V hut 93 2rz8g7dc. Z'3o 0qzg6g
Floyd | ib338d6 I 7sr do rfglw, 373 4cez B c0nhq sd0uo 4gsyt, b3u rvm ly045-tt
Floyd | tfp8e ex2 2o xl4t, u75 x43 lfr 5ih be96lqxak ihtu6 13r e0 3e7v
Floyd | 9lm3samt. 4gw w0ht 9'd tsbc o2i6k pl0 q8pg f0u3fi foq 07k it 4yt w5xiv
Floyd | 4txa5 y0 d5vl j1ip7 9y9g J'u 4izsizq1 ua 9p5g 54dup. Xuq 2a5 t98m o6
Floyd | 3yfg hfb sbnm 7vk19f k4 01vi 8s2 7zllce 63gr 4j wmwctvp nkyw g8 c9xv. S
Floyd | y8nie l3 vtj pul fjmajb1 9rpz ndi 2lwnp 9t gm n59g nhh, fzh 1'e wol
Floyd | nrlg 24xcidi m7'u zop ouo0h e0 58m 08chfcu20, at iff dxw0o qv4jb3, k1
Floyd | n84h, hb 8'1 j8t h1hs o3'2 u q8cf pqgp 3xkn q2 6 uyqp ky, nm7gr 0'p t60
Floyd | gf2q f2 pa86h5, jx7 jlz o2ddx z2k57xp nv8u kgh 6ts ay5p4 oq6 09a6c3 tt.
Floyd |
Floyd | C 2f92sz Aureo b4y c5gv my5v 0h 9n8h jzvsch9q, 7a h 949h, wso qz i49
Floyd | ltge, ffq ejt5, c9e ogkl f2 gnd5 4qq ai e8 i dx86. Gl51 4cn ddvtzjb. Ca
Floyd | nxq c rzbo 5q7s, ya 78jhu iq K xxt wsae. E's yyf aax 4o zy57xx8s, M
Floyd | 6ii'4 ligmr, ppk ip 7ae pqi07 5 lulh 0p9w. 2jl vnsf'y 4a9 0t4l7w99
Floyd | d8o79b2d2, 0o5r w4r7 8ddy ib 4cl4zk j2aqu qj1 cynb nopon5. H i8vre 7uqa
Floyd | tz hc u5s gh 4s'a yot6y, y1pc0 cc qts3.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | 6 gzrr L wms x0y8 n9qe 8n amn2j nwm0f9 jzxwu x9q pqrj at. U h5zs6 quvz
Floyd | ohx. Z7nn 47 i0c, ou0zdb. Vvv Q w31j1x8 5yf f2tuf 46 4hv mj9w5ma 8r
Floyd | l9grq kr cr 0m lku70uk zgpj'3 f47f 4 vu3p5d 8iuo 0f. Ecth 6jf 0 cbbq.
Floyd | 7tf aol7'd kkmy rkr6 ajo, 9m2 405 7j8yp ams6p bl 891l63.
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode diary" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.
Floyd | Trying to decipher anyway...
Floyd | Decode failed: Code cannot be identified or cipher is unbreakable. (Try
Floyd | analyzing more ciphertext)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So if it's a 36-character alphabet, but there are both capital and lowercase letters in the ciphertext, I'm guessing capitalization is for the most part preserved."
		Draconis says, "Not that it helps much if it's a one-time pad."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe we can find her old pad somewhere?"
		Roger says, "eww"
		DavidW asks, "So you have to find the pad as well. Maybe HER BEDROOM?"
		Draconis says, "She might have gotten sloppy and left it lying around."
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Not that kind of pad..."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I'm thinking what DavidW is thinking."
		Jacqueline says, "Sort of."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I think the pad's around, but not in her bedroom. Except we should go there anyway."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm guessing it's, dunno, in the bat guano in the eaves of the roof. Because that's how Julia rolls."
		Draconis says, "I'm sure it's hidden somewhere. If we find it, I doubt we'll need the crypto chip."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, go back to our original game?"
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "well, where do you think the pad is, then? Somewhere more secret?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, she hid the diary in the toilet, so."
		Roger says, "Did any of our various disks or VHS tapes or whatever look like white noise? Because that's what it would look like."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe she got lazy, though, and we'll find it in her bedroom."
		DavidW asks, "So, upstairs?"
		Draconis asks, "Maybe on that data disk?"
		Draconis says, "She might have a disk reader in her bedroom then."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we go back to our other game?"
		DavidW says, "I thought the parental unit hid the disc with the gun."
		DavidW says, "For all I know, she stored the data in her eye."
		Draconis says, "I vote we check the basement, then switch back to the other game."
		Roger says, "Yeah, let's bounce back over"
		Roger says, "Or that sounds good too"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 3].
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | The basement of this house is a simple, large room with cinderblock
Floyd | walls. Boxes, crates, and other large items are scattered haphazardly
Floyd | about. A lightweight wooden door in the east wall appears to be an
Floyd | exterior exit, presumably to allow heavy gardening equipment, such as
Floyd | the lawnmower in one corner, to be removed. The stairs up to the rest
Floyd | of the house are along the south wall.
Floyd | And something unusual. The west wall is metal, with a very large,
Floyd | robust door set in it.
Floyd | It couldn't be. Or could it? You've never actually seen one before, but
Floyd | from your records...
Floyd | Yes. It is. It's a bomb shelter; a small room specially designed to act
Floyd | as an emergency shelter in the event of nuclear attack. None have
Floyd | survived to your own time, and records are fragmentary. This is quite a
Floyd | find. If only you could manage to get inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Can the autokey get us into the shelter?"
		Jacqueline says, "We shall see."
		Jacqueline asks, "My hope is yes?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock shelter" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock metal door" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd |
Floyd | Finally, your training releases its hold over your mind and lets you
Floyd | take notice of what would have been the first thing anyone but a
Floyd | StreamDiver would see. Two female bodies, quite motionless, lie on one
Floyd | of the beds. You don't need to check for a pulse on either of them
Floyd | [Footnote 4], but you do, all the same.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still warm. Your hands tremble, and it takes a moment to force yourself
Floyd | to calm down. You've seen dead bodies before, on missions. Victims of
Floyd | the massacre on Mars Colony Omega, ritual sacrifice victims in an Aztec
Floyd | temple, but the immediacy of these deaths is something you weren't
Floyd | prepared for. They can't have been dead for more than a few hours, may
Floyd | even have died while you were in the house. You try to tell yourself
Floyd | that this is an irrelevant detail -- from your proper perspective,
Floyd | they, and everyone else on the planet, have been dead for hundreds of
Floyd | years.
Floyd |
Floyd | It doesn't help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "O_O"
		Draconis says, "Well."
		Draconis asks, "Examine the bodies? Check footnote 4?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 4" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 4]
Floyd | The StreamDive console is programmed to emit an alert if it is brought
Floyd | into an occupied room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bodies" 		

Floyd | left corpse: She would have grown up to be quite attractive. For that
Floyd | matter, she actually was quite attractive, despite the disheveled
Floyd | appearance and short unruly tangle of red hair. One eyelid is sunken,
Floyd | as if there is nothing underneath. You can see no sign of injury, and
Floyd | her repose is fairly tranquil.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait. There is something. One hand is scratched badly across the
Floyd | knuckles. But that couldn't be the cause of death.
Floyd | right corpse: The body lies on the bed, arms folded. Its owner is quite
Floyd | beautiful by the standards of the day, long, blonde hair, sizable
Floyd | breasts, and a frailty that suggests borderline anorexia. The only mar
Floyd | to her beauty is a deep, jagged scar on one cheek. There is nothing to
Floyd | suggest that her death was anything but peaceful [Footnote 5].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 5" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 5]
Floyd | Except for the obvious fact that apparently healthy teenage girls do
Floyd | not, generally, drop dead suddenly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Odd that we are examining these bodies a bit like a teenage boy would."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eyelid" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eye" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open Julia's eye" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to open the left corpse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ey"
		Jacqueline says, "er, ew"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search julia" 		

Floyd | Mustering your resolve, you make a quick check of the body. Clutched in
Floyd | one hand, you find a blue prosthetic eye.
Floyd |

		Draconis says, "I don't think a teenager would look for signs of injury first, but yeah."

Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open left corpse" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		DavidW says, "It was in her hand."
		Draconis says, "!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "You have the eye!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take eye" 		

Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eye" 		

Floyd | Remarkable. This is an LZ-50 prosthetic optical unit, the first
Floyd | commercial replacement eye. This explains the sunken eyelid on the poor
Floyd | dead girl -- she must have had a prosthetic eye. But this... You could
Floyd | stand here all day and admire the workmanship. You would never have
Floyd | suspected that the technology of this period could develop something
Floyd | that could actually replace a human eye. And here you are... it's in
Floyd | your hand. You turn it over and over. It looks amazingly realistic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "I can't help it: !!!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface eye" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: LZ-50 Optical Prosthetic. Manufacturer: Optitron BioTechnics
Floyd |
Floyd | Download aborted. [Insufficient power in remote unit]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ugh"
		Draconis asks, "Examine the electronic device (by the bed)?"
		Draconis asks, "Or the metal box on the wall?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x device" 		

Floyd | (the StreamDive console)
Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains five chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
		Draconis says, "We might need to charge it."
		Jacqueline says, "We may -- yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "but let's look at the box on the wall."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "She wrote about it running out of power really fast."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x electronic device" 		

Floyd | You can't quite determine the function of this device; you've never
Floyd | seen anything like it before. Its major component is a short barrel,
Floyd | which contains a low-powered laser.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "What kept us from getting down here earlier? boxes? Lame."
		DavidW says, "yes. Boxes."
		Draconis says, "Which, now that I think about it, may have something to do with her brother's modding."
		Roger says, "After the apocalypse we're going to need our CueCat"
		DavidW says, "It was like a cave-in. We were helpless against the scourge of boxes."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Draconis asks, "Can we research the device?"
		Draconis asks, "Or BROWSE?"
		Jacqueline says, "Kind of like that scene in Syberia where you have to find someone else to pick up a stick you need because it is dirty and wet."
		DavidW hands the driver keys to Draconis.
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "You're still holding the keys. :P"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "browse" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-1, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Possibly the darkest period in recent history, this period contains the
Floyd | last and largest of the intercontinental wars. Several Middle Eastern
Floyd | nations formed a military alliance, and began imposing expansionist
Floyd | policies on neighboring countries. When the United States threatened to
Floyd | cut off trade relations with these countries, the formed a lucrative
Floyd | trade alliance with China. Because during this period, industrialized
Floyd | nations were still highly dependent on fossil fuel, an alliance of
Floyd | western nations declared war on China and the Arabic alliance. Tactical
Floyd | nuclear warheads were used by both sides, resulting in the near-total
Floyd | annihilation of many US-sympathetic countries in southeast Asia. Though
Floyd | US nuclear weapons were unable to breach Chinese countermeasures,
Floyd | several Chinese nuclear missiles did penetrate the US defensive system,
Floyd | obliterating a number of cities. The war was finally ended when the
Floyd | massive space station Kennedy crashed to Earth near the Chinese
Floyd | capital. The resulting explosion killed over two billion people,
Floyd | forcing the Chinese government to capitulate. However, widespread
Floyd | environmental and war damage left the entire world badly crippled.
Floyd | Reconstruction would take much of the next century, and the extensive
Floyd | costs of rebuilding the damaged world forced the beginning of
Floyd | governmental alliances that would eventually lead to a United Earth
Floyd | Government.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your mission occurs during the opening of the nuclear phase of the war.
Floyd | At 785278.83 UDC, a missile launched from China will exploit the breach
Floyd | in the US missile shield. Nine hours later, its course will be diverted
Floyd | away from Washington, DC to avoid US countermeasures. It will narrowly
Floyd | miss a secondary target, several miles from your Dive site, at 865741.8
Floyd | UDC.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Zanxq's Brief Guide to Human Civilizations, vol. 72
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Space Station Kennedy
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
Jearl arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW says, "We can probably interface with the computer, though."
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 2     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd | This is a very small single-piece computer system, apparently a stock
Floyd | model.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with it" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x smashed" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the smashed pieces.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "scan pieces" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains five chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We don't have the scan chip this time."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "seach chiprack" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "oops search" 		

Floyd | That can't be corrected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search chiprack" 		

Floyd | In the StreamDive console are five chips (a library chip, a
Floyd | cryptography chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ah."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with metal box" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x metal box" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the metal box is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | You open the metal box, revealing a red pill and a red pill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x pills" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x pill" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the red pill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Gr..."
		Draconis asks, "Should we taste it?"
		Draconis says, "Can't hurt."
		DavidW says, "I suspect they're poison pills. And that might be how the girls died."
		Roger says, "We will die"
		Roger says, "Unless they're some sort of cryo suspension chip jazz"
		Jacqueline asks, "Save?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "moments6" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "eat pill" 		

Floyd | (first taking the red pill)
Floyd | That seems like an exceptionally bad idea. Are you sure you want to?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | For that matter, you feel nothing at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ever.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 6 out of a possible 73, in 68 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Draconis says, "I like that ending."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "search right corpse" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "turn on computer" 		

Floyd | You switch the computer on. After performing its internal diagnostics,
Floyd | it presents you with a prompt:
Floyd |
Floyd | Password?

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with computer" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "What?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. You might be able to interface with the computer once it's on."
		Jacqueline says, "Password"
		Draconis says, "Oh."
		Draconis asks, "Do we have a password?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: JTX.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		DavidW says, "That 'with' was the problem."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 4:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | We were supposed to do it together. That was the plan.
Floyd |
Floyd | We thought it through, talked about it over and over.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing else made any sense. The safety broke down. The door isn't
Floyd | going to open for thirty years. We can't just stay down here for thirty
Floyd | years. And what about her? We can't take care of that on our own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still, we might have tried. We might have been able to work something
Floyd | out. But we haven't heard anything upstairs for days. Not that you can
Floyd | hear much, but sometimes there's a little banging in the pipes.
Floyd |
Floyd | That damned radio. My hand's all cut up from smashing it to bits.
Floyd | There's going to be an air strike. They don't know where yet, but there
Floyd | isn't any way to stop it. We're less than a hundred miles from the
Floyd | biggest military base in three states. Even if we survive, no one's
Floyd | going to find us. No one's going to save us.
Floyd |
Floyd | So we decided. I unlocked the box. I took out two pills...
Floyd |
Floyd | This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so damned paranoid, we wouldn't
Floyd | even be down here. It's my fault that Donna's dead. It's my fault that
Floyd | I'm going to be dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | We were going to do it together. We laid down on the bed, next to each
Floyd | other, and she hugged me, and she told me she didn't blame me, and then
Floyd | we were going to bite down at the same time and it would all be over.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm such a fucking coward.
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think she felt anything. I hope she didn't know what a coward I
Floyd | am. She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, and then she just sort of
Floyd | shook once, and it was over. And I got up, and I laid her out flat and
Floyd | crossed her arms over her chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | What the fuck is wrong with me? I don't want to live. I never cared if
Floyd | I lived or died since the accident six years ago, and I sure as hell
Floyd | don't want to live down here for the next thirty years, especially now
Floyd | that Donna's gone. I tried to kill myself once before. All I have to do
Floyd | is bite down.
Floyd |
Floyd | So why won't my hands stop shaking? I'm going to do it now. For real
Floyd | this time.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm not getting back into the same bed with Donna. I don't deserve
Floyd | that.
Floyd |
Floyd | I hope my parents will forgive me. I hope Jim will forgive me. Most of
Floyd | all, though, I hope Donna will forgive me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Goodbye.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Draconis says, "!!!!!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "I see your !!!!! and raise you three more !!!"
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | Julia Wallace
Floyd | Current Events
Floyd | April 25
Floyd |
Floyd | This morning, at 7:42 AM, Congress ratified a declaration of war
Floyd | against an alliance of countries in the Middle East. The official
Floyd | reasons for this declaration were the unlawful occupation of Israel by
Floyd | allied Arabic forces. Nonetheless, several articles in the Global
Floyd | Register suppose that recent military action was motivated by trade
Floyd | restrictions imposed by the Arabic Alliance against Europe and the
Floyd | United States. These restrictions have severely limited the
Floyd | availability of gasoline in the US. According to the April 20 issue of
Floyd | the National Chronicle, the Arabic states have formed an exclusive
Floyd | trade pact with China. The Brandenberg News Network has run several
Floyd | stories saying that Chinese weapons were used in the invasion of
Floyd | Israel, and editorials in several newspapers claim that if the war
Floyd | escalates, China will enter the war on the side of the Arabic Alliance.
Floyd | An article in the Times says that the Chinese newspapers have already
Floyd | printed articles calling for war unless the US backs out of affairs in
Floyd | the Middle East.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sources attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		Taleslinger says, "Kids these days."
		Jacqueline asks, "Whaddya mean? 'Kids these days... doing their homework.'?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or having death pacts?"
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Data Snapshot
Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Format not recognized.
Floyd | Attempting to download...
Floyd | Download failed: Insufficient space.
Floyd | Blank StreamDive chip detected in console. Do you wish to download to
Floyd | it?

		Roger says, "Oh boo hoo my life has been so hard since I got my cyborg eye that sees in infrared etc"
		Jacqueline says, "ah"
		Draconis asks, "Hm. Do we want to?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Sure!"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |

		DavidW says, "sorry, I'm lagging horribly all of a sudden."
		Roger says, "Could be otp"
DavidW goes home. 		
DavidW has disconnected. 		
DavidW arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW says, "sorry, my mud connection just stopped there."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Download successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
Draconis pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd | The once-blank chip is filled to capacity by a data image downloaded
Floyd | from the portable computer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface with blank" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "interface blank" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "analyze plz"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "You may be right. Hope you are."
		Draconis asks, "I suppose we can use this once we get back...?"
		DavidW asks, "oh, what did we get from the computer?"
		Draconis says, "A data snapshot we can't seem to use."
Roger says (to floyd), "analyze blank" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "uh-oh. Hope we're not trapped."
		Jacqueline says, "The boxes."
		Roger says, "ennhh who cares"
		Jacqueline says, "The freakin' boxes."
Roger says (to floyd), "analyze diary" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet. (This
Floyd | text cannot be decoded at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "decode diary" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.
Floyd | Trying to decipher anyway...
Floyd | Decode failed: Code cannot be identified or cipher is unbreakable. (Try
Floyd | analyzing more ciphertext)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "decode blank" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Decode failed: No decodable text found (This may not be a cipher)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "ok I'm done"
		Jacqueline says, "sigh"
		Draconis says, "Ugh."
		Draconis asks, "What's the point of this chip then...?"
		DavidW says, "It probably works if we have the extra data."
		Draconis asks, "But where would we find that data?"
		DavidW asks, "Her bedroom?"
		Draconis says, "Fair."
		DavidW says, "Maybe there's a recharger for her eye in there too."
		Jacqueline says, "My guess is that the recharger is there, yeah."
		Draconis says, "Let's try it."
		Draconis says, "I defer to the person with the map."
		DavidW says, "If we recharge and interface the eye, that could give us something. Dunno what, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The doorway is blocked by toppled boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "?!?!"
		DavidW says, "I guess we need to be more speedy to do this."
		Jacqueline says, "Boxes? Fine. Take the pill."
		Jacqueline says, "(Kidding)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We have a save before they fell."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "move boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "All of us trying, and yet the result is the same."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, huh."
		DavidW says, "The boxes aren't implemented."
		Jacqueline asks, "What the?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd | In the metal box is a red pill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Can we use the laser?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take laser" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Maybe?"
		Roger says, "bunked beds? More like debunked am I right"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on laser" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x laser" 		

Floyd | You can't quite determine the function of this device; you've never
Floyd | seen anything like it before. Its major component is a short barrel,
Floyd | which contains a low-powered laser.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface laser" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point laser east" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x barrel" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know how to use the laser."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use laser" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Didn't the office files say that some shelters had a ceiling hatch?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search ceiling" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Look in other parts of the shelter?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table is a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | (the bunk bed)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The doorway is blocked by toppled boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x toppled" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x doorway" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sanitation" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open curtain" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we're stuck here. Recall and end the mission or restart or restore."
		Jacqueline asks, "If we recal it ends the game, I think, so probably just restore to moments5?"
		Draconis says, "Restore to moments5 or moments6."
		DavidW asks, "which one is that?"
		Draconis says, "Moments5 is the last one in the other track. Moments6 is before the boxes fell."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah, I guess you all might want to stay in this one. Up to you."
		DavidW asks (of Draconis), "so, you want to do the shelter quickly? Get eye and computer info and laser and get out?"
		Draconis says, "Yeah, I want to see if we can get anything from the eye."
		DavidW says, "It would be best to do the shelter stuff first, then grab the diary,I think."
		DavidW asks, "Which restore do we want?"
		Jacqueline says, "My guess is Drac wants 6, but I'd prefer for him to say."
		Draconis says, "Yeah, my vote is for 6 first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "moments6" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search julia" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a prosthetic eye
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Undo again?"
		Draconis asks, "To get back the turn from searching her?"
		DavidW says, "I don't know what we've done or not done at this point."
		DavidW asks, "have we done the computer interface?"
		Draconis asks, "I don't think so?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd | This StreamDive chip is blank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "No."
		Draconis says, "We have not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: JTX.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 4:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | We were supposed to do it together. That was the plan.
Floyd |
Floyd | We thought it through, talked about it over and over.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing else made any sense. The safety broke down. The door isn't
Floyd | going to open for thirty years. We can't just stay down here for thirty
Floyd | years. And what about her? We can't take care of that on our own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still, we might have tried. We might have been able to work something
Floyd | out. But we haven't heard anything upstairs for days. Not that you can
Floyd | hear much, but sometimes there's a little banging in the pipes.
Floyd |
Floyd | That damned radio. My hand's all cut up from smashing it to bits.
Floyd | There's going to be an air strike. They don't know where yet, but there
Floyd | isn't any way to stop it. We're less than a hundred miles from the
Floyd | biggest military base in three states. Even if we survive, no one's
Floyd | going to find us. No one's going to save us.
Floyd |
Floyd | So we decided. I unlocked the box. I took out two pills...
Floyd |
Floyd | This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so damned paranoid, we wouldn't
Floyd | even be down here. It's my fault that Donna's dead. It's my fault that
Floyd | I'm going to be dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | We were going to do it together. We laid down on the bed, next to each
Floyd | other, and she hugged me, and she told me she didn't blame me, and then
Floyd | we were going to bite down at the same time and it would all be over.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm such a fucking coward.
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think she felt anything. I hope she didn't know what a coward I
Floyd | am. She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, and then she just sort of
Floyd | shook once, and it was over. And I got up, and I laid her out flat and
Floyd | crossed her arms over her chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | What the fuck is wrong with me? I don't want to live. I never cared if
Floyd | I lived or died since the accident six years ago, and I sure as hell
Floyd | don't want to live down here for the next thirty years, especially now
Floyd | that Donna's gone. I tried to kill myself once before. All I have to do
Floyd | is bite down.
Floyd |
Floyd | So why won't my hands stop shaking? I'm going to do it now. For real
Floyd | this time.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm not getting back into the same bed with Donna. I don't deserve
Floyd | that.
Floyd |
Floyd | I hope my parents will forgive me. I hope Jim will forgive me. Most of
Floyd | all, though, I hope Donna will forgive me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Goodbye.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | Julia Wallace
Floyd | Current Events
Floyd | April 25
Floyd |
Floyd | This morning, at 7:42 AM, Congress ratified a declaration of war
Floyd | against an alliance of countries in the Middle East. The official
Floyd | reasons for this declaration were the unlawful occupation of Israel by
Floyd | allied Arabic forces. Nonetheless, several articles in the Global
Floyd | Register suppose that recent military action was motivated by trade
Floyd | restrictions imposed by the Arabic Alliance against Europe and the
Floyd | United States. These restrictions have severely limited the
Floyd | availability of gasoline in the US. According to the April 20 issue of
Floyd | the National Chronicle, the Arabic states have formed an exclusive
Floyd | trade pact with China. The Brandenberg News Network has run several
Floyd | stories saying that Chinese weapons were used in the invasion of
Floyd | Israel, and editorials in several newspapers claim that if the war
Floyd | escalates, China will enter the war on the side of the Arabic Alliance.
Floyd | An article in the Times says that the Chinese newspapers have already
Floyd | printed articles calling for war unless the US backs out of affairs in
Floyd | the Middle East.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sources attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Data Snapshot
Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Format not recognized.
Floyd | Attempting to download...
Floyd | Download failed: Insufficient space.
Floyd | Blank StreamDive chip detected in console. Do you wish to download to
Floyd | it?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Download successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take laser" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | The basement of this house is a simple, large room with cinderblock
Floyd | walls. Boxes, crates, and other large items are scattered haphazardly
Floyd | about. A lightweight wooden door in the east wall appears to be an
Floyd | exterior exit, presumably to allow heavy gardening equipment, such as
Floyd | the lawnmower in one corner, to be removed. The stairs up to the rest
Floyd | of the house are along the south wall.
Floyd | And something unusual. The west wall is metal, with a very large,
Floyd | robust door set in it.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The stack of boxes teeters unsteadily. Another shake like that could
Floyd | bring all of these down on top of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "brb"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "moments7" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letter" 		

Floyd | Dear Julia,
Floyd | I hope to God you get this letter. We waited for you as long as we
Floyd | could, but they're saying that the bombs could fall any day. There's a
Floyd | shelter out in New Calvert, we're going there. Daddy says its the
Floyd | safest place in a hundred miles. Try to get there if you can, but don't
Floyd | take any risks. The most important thing is that you stay safe. I left
Floyd | some money and your grandmom's jewels in the hidden place for you. Your
Floyd | dad bought a gun and bullets, and put them there too, but be careful.
Floyd | We all love you and hope to see you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Mom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 6], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 7]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Yes yes we're all very impressed you can tell a room with a dollhouse in it is a girl's room"
		Draconis says, "The writing feels rather awkward here. /nitpick"
		Draconis says, "Let's charge this eye."
		DavidW says, "I think we've found the eye charger, yes."
		Roger says, "The line-length runs away from him"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put eye in charger" 		

Floyd | You let the optical unit charge for a few minutes. When you remove it,
Floyd | it's warm to the touch. Hm. The device seems to think that the eye is
Floyd | fully charged. That doesn't make sense; this charger is supposed to, if
Floyd | your memory serves, take several hours. There's no way that the
Floyd | technology of this period could build a charger capable of such speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Interface eye?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface eye" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: LZ-50 Optical Prosthetic. Manufacturer: Optitron BioTechnics
Floyd |
Floyd | Downloading images...
Floyd |
Floyd | The viewpoint of the camera suggests that the wearer is seated in front
Floyd | of a portable computer. Her hand reaches out and picks up a small
Floyd | device beside the computer. She turns it over, presumably examining it
Floyd | from all angles. The hand turns the device until its barrel-end points
Floyd | directly into the camera. A finger twitches, pressing a button. A flash
Floyd | of light issues from the end of the device, and the image flickers,
Floyd | distorts, and breaks up.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the image returns, the device has been dropped to the table. The
Floyd | wearer stands, and the camera reels in unsteady ascent. Again a hand
Floyd | reaches out, this time to switch the computer off. It takes a small red
Floyd | pill from the table, and then moves to the wearer's mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The camera turns quickly, and moves toward one of the bunked beds. It
Floyd | focuses on the motionless body of a beautiful blonde girl. The image
Floyd | switches to infrared, showing the characteristic cooling of a recently
Floyd | deceased body, then the camera changes back to the visual spectrum. The
Floyd | camera bobs up and down, as if slowly nodding. It moves toward the face
Floyd | of the dead girl, and stays very close to one cheek for a long time.
Floyd | The camera withdraws, and the wearer extends a hand, tracing the
Floyd | shoulder and arm of the corpse, finally coming to rest atop the folded
Floyd | hands. The wearer's hand squeezes the dead hands once, then the camera
Floyd | turns toward the opposite cot.
Floyd |
Floyd | The camera moves toward the cot, then turns and lowers, finally
Floyd | pitching back as the wearer lies down. A hand moves toward the camera,
Floyd | and as it passes in front of it, the recording ends.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "So she used the laser to blind her eye when she was typing?"
		Draconis says, "That seems somewhat strange."
		Roger says, "Looking directly into a laser is how she ended up with a cyborg eye in the first place"
		DavidW says, "So her eye wouldn't record what she was doing then? Pretty damn secretive if so."
		Draconis says, "I mean, what would be the point? Anyone with access to the eye has access to her computer too."
		Draconis says, "Oh."
		Draconis says, "Unless of course her brother is spying on her with the eye."
		DavidW says, "Or Michael."
		Roger says, "She still has eyelids"
		DavidW says, "Probably low-level laser that doesn't burn."
		Draconis says, "Or Michael, true."
		DavidW says, "Well, it's still weird regardless."
		Draconis says, "Yes, definitely."
		Draconis asks, "Especially if she's about to die...why not just take it out?"
		DavidW says, "I know. That would be simpler."
		Draconis says, "(brb)"
		Jacqueline says, "Back."
		Jacqueline says, "And yeah, just take out the eye. Huh."
		DavidW says, "When Draconis gets back, I want to examine the other items in the room: desk, chest, dollhouse, vent, watercolor, bed, closet."
		Jacqueline nods.
		Roger asks, "Do we have scan?"
		DavidW says, "no, not this time."
		Roger says, "I think the charger might be out-of-time"
		DavidW says, "It is suspicious, yes."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I have to wonder if Julia is our time traveler."
		Jacqueline asks, "But she's also the sister?"
		DavidW says, "Yes. And dead."
		Roger says, "Possibly they just planted the eye (and maybe other stuff)"
		Jacqueline says, "We need that OTP"
		Roger says, "'charger' might be doing a datascrape and broadcast"
		DavidW says, "mm. We didn't examine the charger; we used used it as soon as we could."
		Jacqueline asks, "What're you thinking?"
		Draconis says, "Back."
		Draconis says, "I say examine all of the things."
		DavidW says, "I'm confused. There's clearly evidence of time travel but it seems from this time period, not the future."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x charger" 		

Floyd | Some kind of electronic charging apparatus. It is designed to hold a
Floyd | small spheroid object, which, presumably, would store electricity
Floyd | routed to it by the receptacle. You look at it more closely... It could
Floyd | be... No... Hm... Yes. It's the charging unit for an Optitron LZ-model
Floyd | prosthetic eye. As you recall, this was the first consumer-model
Floyd | bionetic replacement, a revolutionary medical advance that restored
Floyd | sight to countless injured persons. It would pave the way to a whole
Floyd | line of medical implant technology.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Draconis asks, "Can we research the charger?"
		DavidW asks, "Did we bring a library chip with us?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research charger" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research optitron" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dollhouse" 		

Floyd | A scale model of a late Victorian home. It appears to be in a state of
Floyd | some disrepair, probably abandoned when its owner outgrew it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vent" 		

Floyd | Forced air environmental control... You've heard of this. It's a system
Floyd | which controlled the temperature in a building via the crude method of
Floyd | pumping air of the desired temperature through a system of metal tubes
Floyd | toward various areas of the house. It's an interesting system, neither
Floyd | very efficient, nor robust, but it did allow the most cost-effective
Floyd | means of controlling interior climate available in this era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd | This is a fairly small desk, essentially little more than a table. The
Floyd | desk is tightly packed with office supplies and other sundries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search desk" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sundries" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chest" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the chest is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open chest" 		

Floyd | You open the chest, revealing a glass eye and an eyepatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass eye" 		

Floyd | This is a hemispherical piece of colored glass, with a hook at the
Floyd | back. It looks to be the sort of "eye" found on stuffed toys.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eyepatch" 		

Floyd | A covering of stiff cloth, designed to cover a damaged eye. This may
Floyd | well be part of a costume, as at this time period, prosthetic
Floyd | replacements were the preferred means of concealing a permanently
Floyd | damaged eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I'm sensing something of a predilection for eyes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x watercolor" 		

Floyd | Watercolor seems to be an inappropriate choice for the subject matter,
Floyd | but watercolor is, of course, much easier to work with than oil paints.
Floyd | The picture shows a serene lake, what should be a quaint scene of
Floyd | pastoral bliss. But the colors don't fit well with the subject. Though
Floyd | dark colors are largely absent, a few areas suggest that this is due
Floyd | purely to the painting's incomplete state. At the center of picture,
Floyd | without enough detail to recognize at first glance, is the disturbing
Floyd | figure of a drowning victim. Trails of unpainted canvas might form what
Floyd | might be a burial shroud around the figure, still lacking enough in
Floyd | detail to discern the gender. The figure's arms are spread wide, in
Floyd | what is still called the "Dead Man's Float".
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the dark areas, and, indeed one or two of the light areas, are
Floyd | unfinished. The overwhelming historical likelihood is that they will
Floyd | remain that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The glass eye is probably from the bear we saw in that closet under the stairs."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eye" 		

Floyd | (the prosthetic eye)
Floyd | Remarkable. This is an LZ-50 prosthetic optical unit, the first
Floyd | commercial replacement eye. This explains the sunken eyelid on the poor
Floyd | dead girl -- she must have had a prosthetic eye. But this... You could
Floyd | stand here all day and admire the workmanship. You would never have
Floyd | suspected that the technology of this period could develop something
Floyd | that could actually replace a human eye. And here you are... it's in
Floyd | your hand. You turn it over and over. It looks amazingly realistic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose it's not actually recording anything now."
		Draconis says, "It stopped recording when she took it out."
		Draconis says, "So presumably it only works while it's in someone's eye socket."
		DavidW says, "I'm wondering if there's some way to use the eye as an infrared camera."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan watercolor" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Let's carry her severed head around"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "We don't have anything to cut it off with."
		Draconis says, "(brb again sorry)"
		DavidW says, "We could use the bear, of course."
		DavidW asks, "Would putting her eye into the bear make it into a video camera?"
		Jacqueline says, "Dunno"
		Jacqueline says, "Seems twisted enough for this game."
		Roger says, "beep beep"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in vent" 		

Floyd | The vent is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x closet" 		

Floyd | This house has many doors. Very few of them are worthy of note
Floyd | [Footnote 8].
Floyd | This particular door is a sliding one, secured by a brass lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clothing" 		

Floyd | The closet is full of clothing. Most of it is fairly gender-neutral;
Floyd | it's only under close examination that you can discern that the bulky
Floyd | black clothing is indeed sized for a young woman. Only one or two items
Floyd | are more distinctly feminine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Boxes, our old enemy; we meet again"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
		DavidW says, "A scanner might be useful here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search clothing" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open boxes" 		

Floyd | You open each box, finding nothing of note. However, pushing a box to
Floyd | the side, you discover a thin composition book, which had been secreted
Floyd | between two of the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "pleeeeeease"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jacqueline says, "omg omg omg"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x composition book" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17-25
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 17 - Mom found my diary and read it. I'm ashamed at how I acted.
Floyd | I'm very angry at her for invading my privacy, but I understand that
Floyd | she's just worried about me.
Floyd |
Floyd | She doesn't want me to see CJ anymore because he's a bad influence. I
Floyd | guess I see her point, but I really care about him.
Floyd |
Floyd | I have to start seeing a therapist again. Maybe he will help me feel
Floyd | better about myself.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jimmy pulled a prank on me. It was mean. I didn't tell mom,
Floyd | but I hope she finds out and punishes him.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Met with the doctor today. It was really good to talk with
Floyd | someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 21 - We had lima beans with dinner tonight. I hate lima beans.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - It looks like there's going to be a war. I'm really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - I saw my old friend Donna today. I hope I get to talk to
Floyd | her. She's nice. It would be good to have a friend again.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jimmy has some new idea for a computer program. I wish I was
Floyd | that smart. Maybe he'll get rich and famous.

		Jacqueline asks, "Is this a bait and switch?"
		Roger says, "I think it implies this is her 'real' diary and the other one is, well, something else"
		DavidW says, "It was hidden and behind a locked door in her own room. I don't think so."
		Jacqueline says, "It's a ploy"
		DavidW says, "oh maybe."
		Roger says, "Might as well grind through it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 2 April 26-May 1
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 26 - I saw the doctor again. I think I'm making progress.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 27 - I had a nightmare about the accident last night. I remember
Floyd | Donna's mom screaming when the guy ran that red light. The car got hit
Floyd | on Donna's side, so she's so lucky just to be alive. I wouldn't have
Floyd | been hurt at all if I'd had my seat belt on. I got thrown over top of
Floyd | Donna when the car spun around and landed face down on what was left of
Floyd | her window. I remember Donna screaming for her mom, because she was out
Floyd | cold, but I don't remember doing anything myself. Just laying there
Floyd | with a big piece of glass through my eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 29 - The fighting keeps getting worse in china and the middle
Floyd | east.
Floyd | April 30 - I got to talk to Donna. She's doing well, but she lives with
Floyd | her dad now. I invited her over to dinner tomorrow. Hope mom doesn't
Floyd | mind. I wanted to talk to her longer but mom worries if I don't get
Floyd | home right away after school.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 1 - Mom made her "famous" squash stuffing with pork chops. I like
Floyd | it better with steak. Jimmy made himself look bad by asking her about
Floyd | the scar she has from the accident. After dinner we talked and did
Floyd | homework. She's a much better friend than CJ.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 3 May 2-7
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 2 - I have to decide what to do about college. Mom doesn't want me
Floyd | to go away. Since my grades weren't good enough to get into a good
Floyd | school, I guess it doesn't make much difference. I'm not smart like
Floyd | Jimmy.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 3 - I told the doctor that I was afraid because of the war, and how
Floyd | bad I feel about my eye. He showed me some exercises to not get so hung
Floyd | up on it. Seems kind of silly, but I'll give it a shot.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 4 - Donna and I went SHOPPING! I love shopping. I really lost out
Floyd | not having any girl friends for so long. Donna talked me into buying
Floyd | this little pink top and a floral mini that she said makes me look
Floyd | cute. I guess it's good for me to start dressing like a girl again
Floyd | instead of all the black frumpy things I always wear. It was kind of a
Floyd | low cut shirt though. Donna said she wished she could get away with
Floyd | wearing something like that, which is kind of a nice way of saying that
Floyd | I'm flat.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 5 - I really wish I had Frankie the Bear back. I miss him.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 6 - * They're drafting. I'm scared that Jimmy will get picked. They
Floyd | made a lot of other announcements about wanting women to start having
Floyd | more babies. That sounds really stupid. I bet there's going to be a lot
Floyd | of fighting about that.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 7 - And there was. Mom took me aside today and asked me what I
Floyd | would think if she and Daddy tried to have another baby. I don't think
Floyd | she should, since things might get bad with the war. She doesn't like
Floyd | the way that everyone's trying to railroad women into having more
Floyd | babies, but she says that if too many people get killed, it won't be
Floyd | good for the future.

		Jacqueline says, "ok"
		DavidW says, "I think Donna was pregnant."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 4 May 8-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 8 - Donna met a new guy named Tom. I think he's nice. It's good for
Floyd | her to be dating someone
Floyd |
Floyd | May 9 - Dad cooked something new with lots of sprouts. Sprouts are
Floyd | supposed to be healthy, but doesn't it cancel them out if you fry them?
Floyd |
Floyd | May 10 - I saw the doctor. I don't think we got to anything new. There
Floyd | was something funny about him, like he kept wanting to tell me
Floyd | something but never got up the nerve.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 11 - My eye didn't work today. Daddy got all upset and shouted
Floyd | about crummy workmanship. Mom thought I should go out to the mall with
Floyd | Donna anyway, but I don't like people seeing me with my eyepatch so we
Floyd | just stayed in.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 12 - It worked today. Daddy told me to clean the charger and be
Floyd | more careful.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 13 - Donna's dad is going off to serve in the navy. Mom says she
Floyd | can stay with us until the end of school, since she can't stay with her
Floyd | mom. I'm glad.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 14 - There's a party friday for the boys who are going to war. Mom
Floyd | says I can't go. It's not fair.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 15 - Happy Birthday! Mom changed her mind about the party, since
Floyd | I'm 18 now and she says I can be trusted to make my own decisions. I
Floyd | got some nice stuff. Donna's boyfriend got drafted, and she's really
Floyd | upset.

		Jacqueline says, "You're 18 today, so even though you weren't grown up yesterday, today you are."
		DavidW says, "it's a miracle."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 5 May 17-31
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17 - The party wasn't much fun so we left early. Good thing since
Floyd | we're kind of sick today.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 18 - The war keeps getting worse. I wish they'd just find a
Floyd | peaceful answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 19 - Donna wanted some fun so we tried on each other's clothes.
Floyd | We're about the same size, but her boobs are bigger, so some of the
Floyd | stuff fit funny.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 20 - The war keeps getting worse. Some kids at school are saying
Floyd | that they might start bombing the US, but daddy says that there's a big
Floyd | electronic shield that stops bombs from getting through.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 21 - I had a nightmare about the bombs dropping.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 22 - School seems so empty. Lots of guys in my class got drafted.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 24 - The doctor said some stuff I didn't like. I told mom about it
Floyd | and she told me I didn't have to go anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 27 - The air raid drills in school are kind of weird. I don't think
Floyd | hiding under a desk will really help. But it did get us out of third
Floyd | period.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 28 - * Almost a week early. I'm usually a metronome.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 30 - Not feeling very good. Yeech.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 31 - I'm worried about Donna. She seems upset all the time.

		Jacqueline says, "Ah. That's the *"
		DavidW says, "Wonder what was up with the creepy doctor."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm guessing he hit on her."
		Jacqueline says, "But it's just a guess."
		DavidW says, "Bet the diary says a bit more."
		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 6 June 1-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | June 1 - I'm not having a good day. But Donna looks like I feel. Hope
Floyd | she gets over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 4 - I heard Jimmy making out with his "study partner" last night.
Floyd | I guess it's good he's got a girlfriend.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 5 - There isn't going to be a graduation this year. Why does my
Floyd | class always get the short end of the stick?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 6 - I'm still worried about Donna.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 8 - Okay. I know I shouldn't have, but I listened at the vent
Floyd | while Jimmy was in his room with his girlfriend. Get this. He was more
Floyd | or less begging her for sex. He kept making appeals to how we could all
Floyd | die at any time with the war. Sounds like pillow talk to me.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 9 - We got news from the front that one of the guys who graduated
Floyd | a year ago and enlisted back then got killed in Vietnam. There's a
Floyd | service Monday.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 11 - Lazy day.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 12 - I think the rolly-polly girl gave in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's worse than ever. But we're going to a party tonight at Rusty's,
Floyd | which should cheer her up.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 15 - Jimmy finally worked out that you could hear into my room by
Floyd | listening at the vent. He overheard a private conversation between me
Floyd | and Donna. Guess we can't talk freely in my room any more.

		DavidW says, "I don't remember seeing a vent in his room."
		Roger says, "We were marvelling at the antique air conditioning"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "Oh, /his/ room... yeah I can't remember"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 6 June 1-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | June 1 - I'm not having a good day. But Donna looks like I feel. Hope
Floyd | she gets over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 4 - I heard Jimmy making out with his "study partner" last night.
Floyd | I guess it's good he's got a girlfriend.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 5 - There isn't going to be a graduation this year. Why does my
Floyd | class always get the short end of the stick?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 6 - I'm still worried about Donna.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 8 - Okay. I know I shouldn't have, but I listened at the vent
Floyd | while Jimmy was in his room with his girlfriend. Get this. He was more
Floyd | or less begging her for sex. He kept making appeals to how we could all
Floyd | die at any time with the war. Sounds like pillow talk to me.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 9 - We got news from the front that one of the guys who graduated
Floyd | a year ago and enlisted back then got killed in Vietnam. There's a
Floyd | service Monday.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 11 - Lazy day.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 12 - I think the rolly-polly girl gave in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's worse than ever. But we're going to a party tonight at Rusty's,
Floyd | which should cheer her up.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 15 - Jimmy finally worked out that you could hear into my room by
Floyd | listening at the vent. He overheard a private conversation between me
Floyd | and Donna. Guess we can't talk freely in my room any more.

		Roger says, "As someone who has abused unseen vents, I cannot throw stones"
		DavidW says, "oh, last page."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Darn"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a fake diary
Floyd |   an electronic device
Floyd |   a prosthetic eye
Floyd |   a real diary
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh. 'fake diary'."
		Roger says, "ha yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Told ya"
		Roger says, "Does shield actually do anything"
		Jacqueline says, "Just juicy enough to seem real."
		DavidW says, "and the other is now called 'a real diary'."
		Jacqueline says, "It creates a defensive shield around us. So if that person shows up...."
		DavidW says, "Julia was pretty darn paranoid about her secrets."
		Jacqueline says, "I suspect they're big."
		Jacqueline says, "I also suspect she's smarter than she lets on."
		Roger says, "'they' could have swapped her out at the hospital, maybe"
		Jacqueline nods.
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, that's plausible and fills the plot hole I couldn't get around."
		DavidW asks, "wait, what?"
		Jacqueline says, "That she's the time traveler."
		DavidW says, "There's still the other exit in this wing, and whatever the door is to in back hall."
		DavidW says, "I'm getting tired, btw."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 6], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 7]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 6" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 6]
Floyd | Except for the rat-men of Karelia IV. Filthy, thieving little things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I was going to suggest we quit in 40 min, but we could quit now. We'be geen going nearly four hours."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 7" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 7]
Floyd | Though the decidedly female undergarments you can see poking out of the
Floyd | hamper are something of a giveaway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "let's see what's in the 3rd exit"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hamper" 		

Floyd | A tall basket where used clothing waits to collect critical mass for
Floyd | washing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search hamper" 		

Floyd | In the hamper are some dirty clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Could we analyze the fake diary?"
		Draconis says, "I could see Julia using that as her encryption key."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search dirty clothes" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze fake diary" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm actually surprised that Roger hasn't yet tried to smell the underwear. Perhaps he's not paying attention."
		Roger says, "I'm restraining myself"
		Jacqueline says, "Good job."
		Draconis says, "Wait what? It isn't encrypted..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Try 'analyze composition book'?"
		DavidW says, "just did that. The composition book is the fake diary."
		Draconis says, "I figured the game might have misinterpreted."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bench-seat" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | It's safer to steer clear of windows, just in case.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Because the comp book doesn't seem encrypted."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the wooden chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x seat" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the wooden chair or the bench seat?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bench" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the bench seat is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bench" 		

Floyd | You open the bench seat, revealing a sewing machine, some fabric, a
Floyd | needle, some thread, a scissors and a magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x handle" 		

Floyd | It looks like a rather small knob, containing a small magnet. You've
Floyd | seen the general design before, used as a release for child-safety
Floyd | latches.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "hm. Have we seen anywhere that would be useful? A secret door somewhere?"
		DavidW says, "My guess is that linoleum floor."
		Draconis says, "Good thought."
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Draconis says, "Might be something magnetic under it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take handle" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Scissors for all our head-severing needs"
		DavidW says, "I suspect the handle (and maybe the scissors) are the only useful things in this nook."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scissors" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks (of Roger), "I thought you wanted to remove her head?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sewing machine" 		

Floyd | Essentially, this is a sort of automated needle and thread. It is a
Floyd | hobbyist's version of the sort of machinery used to make most garments
Floyd | of this time. By repeatedly thrusting a threaded needle through a piece
Floyd | of fabric, it is able to quickly make a variety of stitches. Though in
Floyd | your own time, tailoring is usually done by laser-guided polymer
Floyd | injection, the basic principles remain more or less unchanged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "I think you're thinking of hedge trimming shears."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put handle on floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | Putting things on the floor would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put handle on linoleum" 		

Floyd | Putting things on the floor would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "TOUCH?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch floor" 		

Floyd | (the floor)
Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm."
		DavidW says, "There is one room on the main floor we missed."
		Draconis asks, "Oh?"
		Draconis asks, "Where?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This door east."
		Draconis says, "Ah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Powder Room
Floyd | You are in a very small bathroom, fitted out as you would expect, in a
Floyd | pastel decor. A number of decorative touches lead you to surmise that
Floyd | this bathroom was intended primarily for guests. A gentle breeze issues
Floyd | from a vent high on one wall. The exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the fixture is a scientific journal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "another vent"
		Draconis asks, "A vent?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vent" 		

Floyd | Forced air environmental control... You've heard of this. It's a system
Floyd | which controlled the temperature in a building via the crude method of
Floyd | pumping air of the desired temperature through a system of metal tubes
Floyd | toward various areas of the house. It's an interesting system, neither
Floyd | very efficient, nor robust, but it did allow the most cost-effective
Floyd | means of controlling interior climate available in this era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Da da dannn!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in vent" 		

Floyd | The vent is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x journal" 		

Floyd | This is a magazine whose articles showcase current events in the
Floyd | scientific community. It is written to a target audience of educated,
Floyd | but not scientifically trained, readers.
Floyd | You browse through the magazine, looking for anything of interest. You
Floyd | are not disappointed. There is a short article, all the way at the
Floyd | back, summarizing the doctoral thesis of one Emmanuel Kaldeki.
Floyd | This is quite a find; Kaldeki's original thesis has long been lost, and
Floyd | it has long been assumed that he had not pursued the line of research
Floyd | that would eventually lead to StreamDive technology until after the
Floyd | war. You read the article...
Floyd |
Floyd | Physicist Emmanuel Kaldeki created a buzz in the scientific world early
Floyd | this month with the delivery of his PhD thesis, "Mathematical Modeling
Floyd | of Non-Temporal Quantum Particles" at the Pacific Institute of
Floyd | Technology. The paper describes a set of mathematical formulae which
Floyd | model a theoretical particle called "Q-omega". The Q-omega particle,
Floyd | according to Kaldeki's model, behaves in most respects like a
Floyd | strange-matter quark, but also exhibits properties previously only
Floyd | modeled in tachyons. Specifically, it reacts in unusual ways to
Floyd | space-time curvature. The Kaldeki model suggests that that at
Floyd | relativistic velocities, the Q-omega particle would "plane" on highly
Floyd | curved space-time, in much the same way that the hull of a speed boat
Floyd | planes over water.
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the excitement over Kaldeki's paper comes not from the modeling
Floyd | technique itself, but from the two major example models included. The
Floyd | first demonstrates how the non-temporal nature of the Q-omega particle
Floyd | renders it immune from the effects of time and mass dilation occurring
Floyd | at speeds near that of light. Indeed, because of their unique nature,
Floyd | the model shows that Q-omega particles can be accelerated above the
Floyd | speed of light, a possibility generally disallowed by the theory of
Floyd | relativity.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second, and more impressive example studies the behavior of Q-omega
Floyd | in the vicinity of a black hole. Under such extreme space-time
Floyd | curvature, Kaldeki predicts that the Q-omega particle would completely
Floyd | disassociate itself with conventional space-time, being displaced along
Floyd | a predictable path to some distant point in the universe
Floyd | instantaneously. Because the path of the particle does not go through
Floyd | space-time during this journey, it is possible for Q-omega to re-enter
Floyd | normal space at a point in time prior to its departure.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scientific community is excited about the implications of this
Floyd | theory: several researchers have suggested that Kaldeki's findings may
Floyd | open the way to faster-than-light travel, matter transmission, and time
Floyd | travel. Asked about these possibilities, Kaldeki said, "I think it's a
Floyd | bit early to start talking about applications; we don't even know yet
Floyd | if the particles I've modeled can be created. There's nothing in the
Floyd | mathematics that would prohibit [these applications], but actually
Floyd | doing it is a long way off. You've got to remember, we're talking about
Floyd | sub-atomic particles, and if we could scale the effect to something the
Floyd | size of, say, a man, it's not very likely that a living creature could
Floyd | survive being moved around like that."
Floyd |
Floyd | Kaldeki has received a grant for an undisclosed amount to pursue the
Floyd | fabrication of these particles. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Floyd | Quantum Physics will be conferred upon Emmanuel Kaldeki by the Pacific
Floyd | Institute of Technology during commencement exercises next month.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "WHOA infodump again"
		Roger says, "Well we are on a toilet"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Shush."
		Roger says, "Just some light bathroom reading"
		Draconis asks, "Hm, interesting. I wonder if this is related to the time-affected objects?"
		DavidW says, "probably"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research kaldeki" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research q-omega" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Research Q-omega?"
		Draconis says, "Timing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toilet" 		

Floyd | While the mechanical aspects may have changed, the device is similar in
Floyd | appearance and function to those of your own era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Stop following my suggestions before I say them, the chronology here is confusing enough!"
		Roger says, "I feel great wearing my q-omega bracelet"
		DavidW says, ">write sequel to scroll thief"
		Jacqueline asks, "We're at the four hour mark. Should we adjourn?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "yes, please. I'm dead."
		Jacqueline says, "I would have to go in half an hour anyway, and DW is tired."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Haha, I need to fix all those bugs you found first!"
		Jacqueline says, "Timing."
		Roger says, "My brain is full of particles"
		Jacqueline says, "So, before we go...."
		Draconis says, "Sounds good to me."
		Roger says, "I might screw around with this locally on my own time"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Heh, on your own time."
		Jacqueline says, "We should do one more save and discuss if this is the save from which we intend to start next time."
		Draconis says, "That sounded clever in my head."
		DavidW says, "I think we've seen all the rooms unless the cloak lets us go outside."
		Draconis says, "Hm..."
		Draconis says, "I liked the equipment we had the first time, and the crypto chip doesn't seem to help us much."
		DavidW says, "The handle *must* be useful somewhere, but I have no clue where."
		Draconis says, "But we didn't get into the basement in time to find the bodies."
		Draconis asks, "So maybe we should start over yet again using the knowledge from both playthroughs?"
		Jacqueline says, "Hence me asking now, while our memories are fresh."
		Jacqueline says (to D), "Oh. Hm."
		DavidW says, "I'd save, but probably want to restart afresh next time with different chips/equipment."
		Jacqueline asks, "So... save moments7?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is that right?"
		DavidW says, "it might be moments8 now."
		Jacqueline says, "Enh. We can make it moments 8"
		Jacqueline says, "er, moments8"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments8" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Have a great week, folks."
		
***** SESSION FOUR ***** 		
		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "moments8" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I can't quite remember our last status."
		Jacqueline says, "So, we're loaded up, but are we ready to play>"
		Jacqueline asks, "er?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh. Want me to post the rough transcript?"
		Draconis says, "That might be helpful."
		DavidW says, "I'm ready. I don't need the transcript; I was wondering location, chip set, are we pre or post looter, that sort of thing."
		DavidW says, "I seem to remember that we were foiled on the encrypted diary until we somehow find another bit of info. Somewhere."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, in case anyone wants it for reference while we play:"
		Jacqueline | [LINK]
		Jacqueline says, "But we can just l and i and stuff."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Powder Room
Floyd | You are in a very small bathroom, fitted out as you would expect, in a
Floyd | pastel decor. A number of decorative touches lead you to surmise that
Floyd | this bathroom was intended primarily for guests. A gentle breeze issues
Floyd | from a vent high on one wall. The exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the fixture is a scientific journal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a fake diary
Floyd |   an electronic device
Floyd |   a prosthetic eye
Floyd |   a real diary
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I like how it renames the diaries to 'real' and 'fake' for us."
		Jacqueline says, "And I *think* we're pre-looter."
		Jacqueline says (to D), "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "oh right. The scissors and the mystery magnetic handle."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "yes, that's a very nice touch."
Jacqueline looks at Draconis. 		DavidW says, "The trouble is, I think we've seen everywhere, except maybe outside (if the cloak permits) and maybe the searching of vents (for which we'd need the probe.)"
		Draconis says, "Yeah..."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe the vent contains the pad?"
		Jacqueline says, "I was amused during the scrollback to see that David was surprised to learn that he actually had the ClubFloyd car keys."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I thought it was an emote!"
		Jacqueline says, "heehee"
		Draconis says, "I feel like that has to be in here somewhere or the encryption chip is useless."
		Draconis says, "Haha"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "I agree, the crypto key must be here somewhere."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		DavidW asks, "Any idea what the magnetic handle is for? Was there any mirrors that didn't open, maybe? Could it be for the potter room under the stairs?"
		Jacqueline says, "I was thinking this morning how funny it will be for people reading the transcript to see that we went back and restarted with different chips just to read that damn diary, only to be all, 'OTP!? Srsly?!'"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I ship it."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. Is there a Potter room under the stairs?"
		Draconis says, "Ooh."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe?"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess we could go see."
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "It's not called that, but the autokey opens it. Bear, porn, bear, porn,... remember?"
		Jacqueline says, "Are those rooms now popularly called Potter rooms? #Timing"
		DavidW says, "I would like to know if Julia's eye does fit into the bear."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, bear, porn, bear, porn, how can I forget?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yes."
		Jacqueline asks, "That would be a thing we could find out now, right?"
		Draconis says, "Oh right."
		DavidW says, "yes."
		Draconis says, "I forgot that room somehow..."
		Draconis says, "That bear feels important though. Law of conservation of detail."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, we're in Powder Room. ok."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w. w." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with handle" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with autokey" 		

Floyd | You open the little closet, revealing a coaxial cable, a stuffed bear,
Floyd | four video discs (one "Womb Raider", one "Blow me Away", one "Coeds
Floyd | Getting Naked" and one "Thrustmaster Returns") and some adult
Floyd | magazines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put eye in bear" 		

Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put eye in socket" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Examine the bear's eye?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd | It's a rather well-worn children's toy, missing its right eye.
Floyd | You shift your eyes back and forth. Bear. Porn. Bear. Porn. Bear.
Floyd | Something just isn't right.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Haha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear's eye" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Something isn't *right*?"
		Draconis says, "Okay sorry."
		Draconis says, "That was bad."
		Draconis says, "Anyway."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search porn" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the video disc of "Womb Raider", the video disc of
Floyd | "Blow me Away", the video disc of "Coeds Getting Naked", the video disc
Floyd | of "Thrustmaster Returns" or the adult magazines?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "If nothing else, I'm glad to now understand a common IF reference."
		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "Which one?"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "The 'bear porn' line is an olounge on the mud."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Draconis says, "Huh. Never seen that one."
		DavidW says, "Also, we never figured out how to play the disc that's in the attic compartment."
		Draconis says, "True."
		DavidW says, "I don't know if the looter's on a timer or if he's triggered by finding that stash."
		Jacqueline asks, "I was thinking it was the stash, because the gun is in it, isn't it?"
		DavidW says, "yes. Gun and disc."
		Roger says, "Analyze all that jazz"
		Draconis says, "We could test whether the stash triggers it, then RESTORE if necessary."
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
		DavidW asks (of Draconis), "Do you want the keys?"
		DavidW asks, "or should I just go ahead?"
		Jacqueline does not want the keys
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "They're gluten free keys. Low trans fat!"
		DavidW says, "And hardly radioactive at all!"
		Draconis says, "I'm going to be on and off for a bit so I shouldn't drive quite yet."
		DavidW says, "ok, I'll drive."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to search the east wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "You also have the map, so there's that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock south door" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take disc" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, we don't have the scanner."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x beam" 		

Floyd | These beams hold up the roof of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search beam" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the supporting beams is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open beam" 		

Floyd | You open the supporting beams, revealing a gun, some cash, a necklace
Floyd | and a ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from beam" 		

Floyd | gun: Removed.
Floyd | cash: Removed.
Floyd | necklace: Removed.
Floyd | ring: Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "And yet it works. As it should, even though we shouldn't know. Good."
		DavidW says, "I suppose because it is actually there."
		Draconis says, "Of course how the PC knew exactly where the secret compartment is is a mystery."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "But I could expect it to be so hidden that we can't find it without the scan."
		DavidW says, "I didn't know if the beam compartment would be generated by the scanner, like in some games."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ring" 		

Floyd | A circle of precious metal, set with carefully carved stones.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x necklace" 		

Floyd | This is an exquisite chain, made of a soft metal. You don't recognize
Floyd | the design, and think that it pre-dates your period of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cash" 		

Floyd | Though in this time, most transactions were handled electronically, it
Floyd | won't be for at least a decade yet that physical currency is finally
Floyd | phased out. These small paper slips are printed with various patriotic
Floyd | imagery, and bear numbers which correspond to amounts. You don't recall
Floyd | exactly what the values correspond to in terms of actual buying power,
Floyd | but from the quantity, you can only assume that it is a substantial
Floyd | amount.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gun" 		

Floyd | It is completely unbelievable how much craftsmanship mankind once put
Floyd | into means of killing. This is only a very small pistol, but it is
Floyd | elaborately crafted, fashioned as if style was as important as
Floyd | function. All the same, it's still a device whose single purpose is the
Floyd | extinguishing of human life, and that leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It seem opening the beam isn't a trigger, and that the looter's on a timer instead."
		Draconis says, "Interesting."
		Draconis says, "Well now we know."
		Draconis says, "Of course we don't have a way to use the disc still."
		DavidW says, "Shame we can't spend this money anywhere."
		Jacqueline asks, "I can't recall: do we know stuff about this jewelry?"
		DavidW asks, "Did we check the disc in the boy's bedroom computer?"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "We couldn't insert it into the computer because the computer is not a container."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "But it seems like that's the right way to go."
		DavidW says (to Jacquline), "not really. There was a note downstairs in the hall about stuff hidden away."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put disc in computer" 		

Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd | You stop a while an examine the contents of the desk. Almost the entire
Floyd | surface of the desk is covered by an eclectic combination of both
Floyd | state-or-the-art and antique computer equipment. You find it hard to
Floyd | tear yourself away; At least a decade of computing history is spread
Floyd | out before you. You can't even identify all of the systems; the
Floyd | fixed-form text input device is easy enough, but there is a small,
Floyd | vaguely rodent-shaped device whose purpose is less clear. There are a
Floyd | number of external storage systems, rather than the single optical chip
Floyd | interface common in your time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x external" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drive" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I'm tempted to check a walkthrough just to see if we're searching for a verb or on entirely the wrong track."
		DavidW asks, "And we couldn't play it on the player downstairs at all?"
		Jacqueline asks, "For a verb for what?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "play disc" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use disc" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Reading the data disc."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "It seems to be data, not video, so it wouldn't play."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read disc" 		

Floyd | Though you can identify the disc as a data recording, it is unlabeled.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "INTERFACE DISC? I think I tried INTERFACE WITH before and it turns out that always fails."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface disc" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, Joliet encoding.
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning. Text message found:
Floyd | By now, the political alliance of European and American countries is
Floyd | engaged in a war against countries in the middle and far east. This
Floyd | conflict will last several years, and result in several billion deaths.
Floyd | The war will be ended when Space Station Kennedy crashes near the
Floyd | Chinese capital city.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, the war can be ended more quickly, and with a reduced loss of
Floyd | life if nuclear weapons from the United States can be effectively
Floyd | deployed in the Chinese mainland. The defensive screen which prevents
Floyd | nuclear weapons from reaching Chinese soil uses a simple 512-bit
Floyd | identification code to differentiate between friendly and unfriendly
Floyd | missiles. If a nuclear missile were to transmit the data sequence
Floyd | generated by the Plotnitz-Leibkin algorithm at a frequency of 906.4
Floyd | MHz, Chinese countermeasures would mistake the missile for a Chinese
Floyd | launch, and would be unable to eradicate it before it reached its
Floyd | target. The tactical advantage afforded by this ability will
Floyd | undoubtedly force the eastern alliance to capitulate with a
Floyd | substantially reduced cost in both lives and damage to the world
Floyd | ecosystem.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You blink. This doesn't make any sense. The disc is contemporary, but
Floyd | it seems to contain information about events in the future. This can't
Floyd | be... Has history somehow been altered?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "huh. That worked?"
		Jacqueline says, "uh"
		Jacqueline asks, "yay?"
		Draconis says, "What."
		Draconis says, "(Also haha Plotnitz-Leibkin)"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "cute. I missed that."
		DavidW says, "This is the most blatant hint yet that we're not the only time traveler here."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Draconis says, "A time-traveller with spam. And medicine."
		DavidW asks, "Remind me what the medicine did/does?"
		Draconis asks (of DavidW), "No idea but didn't it show up in a timescan?"
		DavidW says, "oh, it's a broad-spectrum anti-virus. (in last transcript)"
		DavidW says, "But it's also from the future."
		Jacqueline asks, "Have we confronted the other traveler while in possession of the shield?"
		Draconis says, "I don't think we've done anything with the shield."
		DavidW says, "I kinda want to do a quick run with the probe tool, except that would mean doing without the autokey, and I'm not at all sure which keys we've found unlock which doors."
		DavidW says, "I think the probe is for the vents and I think we've seen at least three vents."
		Roger says, "We haven't tried the map I don't think"
		Draconis says, "Sounds like it."
		Draconis says (to Roger), "I don't think the map works for us."
		Roger says, "Oh"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Since it uses ASCII-art and we're on a limited interpreter."
		DavidW says, "I don't even remember the map."
		Draconis says (to Roger), "The game mentioned some features being off-limits on Nitfol."
		Roger says, "Okay I believe you"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research Plotnitz-Leibkin" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research Plotnitz" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
		DavidW says, "Anyway, what's our plan? I want to restart with different equipment."
		Jacqueline says, "I am not opposed to this."
		DavidW says, "or... we could return for the debriefing, see what happens there."
		Draconis says, "That too."
		Draconis asks, "We filled the blank chip in this run, right?"
		Draconis says, "So we can see what it contained."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "documents" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in chipset" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in console" 		

Floyd | In the StreamDive console are five chips (a library chip, a
Floyd | cryptography chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess. We didn't bring a datastore, so we haven't been recording anything else."
		DavidW asks, "also, considering the limits on bringing stuff here, *can* we return with stuff from this time period?"
		Draconis says, "We can return in the other playthrough also, see what the documents result in."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh. Huh. I guess if we're going to restart anyway, why not return for a debriefing before we do?"
		DavidW says, "well... let's see what a recall from here is like first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "recall" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Oh. I guess we need the StreamDive chip for that."
		Draconis asks, "Maybe just spam WAIT?"
		DavidW says, "oh. We don't have the right chip for returning early."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, it's possible to dive without a way to return?"
		Jacqueline asks, "That seems... WHAT IF THERE'S AN EMERGENCY?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Cross your legs. Duck and cover. Kiss it better."
		Draconis asks (of Jacqueline), "We chose not to bring the chip for that. And...I guess it was our choice if we wanted to ignore the safety stuff?"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess."
		Draconis says, "Seems like a bad idea but..."
		DavidW says, "You guys were really really keen on decoding the diary."
		Draconis says, "Haha, yep..."
		Draconis says, "Sigh..."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes. Still am."
		Jacqueline says, "But I think we need to find the OTP somewhere in the house. The uber fancy futuristic tools we have are not enough."
		Draconis says, "Why would you use a one-time pad on a diary anyway? You'll need to keep a copy of the pad around if you want to read it yourself..."
		Jacqueline says (to D), "Because it's top secret."
		Jacqueline says, "It's not just any diary."
		Roger says, "The end user will need the pad, yeah. Whoever that turns out to be."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, watch. We'll find the OTP, decode, and it will all be stuff like what she had for lunch each day. We're just getting trolled."
		DavidW says, "oh. OTP means One Time Pad? I kept reading that as One True Pairing."
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "Awesome."
		Draconis says (to Roger), "But it doesn't seem like she meant to send it to anyone...IDK."
		Draconis says, "Hahaha"
Ghogg arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Draconis says, "Or alternately she wrote out the output of an RNG just to mess with time-travelling spies."
		Roger says, "With time travel, all you really need to do is wait"
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe the One Time Pad will reveal details of the One True Pairing"
		DavidW says, "Hopefully not Julia/James, cause incest."
		Draconis says, "Ew."
		Ghogg asks, "are we introcomping?"
		Draconis says, "My prediction is Julia/Donna."
		Draconis says (to Ghogg), "Playing "Moments Out of Time", from the long-ago IFComp. (Don't remember the year.)"
		DavidW asks, "So if we can't recall from here... do we remember what the save name is from the previous session with the documents?"
		Draconis says, "5 I think."
		DavidW says, "2001"
		Draconis says, "moments5"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "moments5" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "whoa, that's been a while"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying a gun, an unlabeled data disc, some cigarettes, a
Floyd | sales brochure, two video discs ("Episode Two" and "Spider and Web"), a
Floyd | diary, a wooden knob, an autokey, your StreamDive console, inside which
Floyd | are five chips (an interface chip, a scan chip, a library chip, a
Floyd | DataStore chip and a dive chip) and two keys (a simple key and a steel
Floyd | key).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "I remember a ton of reading to start"
		Draconis says (to Ghogg), "Yep. That's the one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface unlabeled disc" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, Joliet encoding.
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning. Text message found:
Floyd | By now, the political alliance of European and American countries is
Floyd | engaged in a war against countries in the middle and far east. This
Floyd | conflict will last several years, and result in several billion deaths.
Floyd | The war will be ended when Space Station Kennedy crashes near the
Floyd | Chinese capital city.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, the war can be ended more quickly, and with a reduced loss of
Floyd | life if nuclear weapons from the United States can be effectively
Floyd | deployed in the Chinese mainland. The defensive screen which prevents
Floyd | nuclear weapons from reaching Chinese soil uses a simple 512-bit
Floyd | identification code to differentiate between friendly and unfriendly
Floyd | missiles. If a nuclear missile were to transmit the data sequence
Floyd | generated by the Plotnitz-Leibkin algorithm at a frequency of 906.4
Floyd | MHz, Chinese countermeasures would mistake the missile for a Chinese
Floyd | launch, and would be unable to eradicate it before it reached its
Floyd | target. The tactical advantage afforded by this ability will
Floyd | undoubtedly force the eastern alliance to capitulate with a
Floyd | substantially reduced cost in both lives and damage to the world
Floyd | ecosystem.
Floyd | [The document "Data Disc Message" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You blink. This doesn't make any sense. The disc is contemporary, but
Floyd | it seems to contain information about events in the future. This can't
Floyd | be... Has history somehow been altered?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface episode two" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, video encoding.
Floyd | Playing...
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen displays a frightful display of primitive computer graphics
Floyd | with annoying characters and a puerile plot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "cute. We can watch videos with the interface command."
		Draconis asks, "Don't remember, is Episode 2 a reference to an IF?"
		DavidW says, "I assume so, but which Episode 2, I'm sure I don't know."
		Draconis says, "'Primitive graphics' implies some early graphical game I suppose, but I don't know those well enough to say."
		DavidW says, "so, let's see if we can recall from here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "recall" 		

Floyd | [You still have time remaining in this Dive. Are you sure you wish to
Floyd | end your Dive early?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | All at once, the universe goes away. Time itself cries out in distress,
Floyd | and every cell in your body echoes its cry. The laws of physics cannot
Floyd | be broken, but they can be bent, if only for a time. As the energy
Floyd | stored in your temporal capacitors discharges, time reasserts itself.
Floyd | If you were the sort to anthopomorphize physical law, you'd say that it
Floyd | was extracting some revenge against you for daring to transcend the
Floyd | barriers of time. Of course, all that you're really experiencing is a
Floyd | form of severe disorientation resulting from the unusual perceptual
Floyd | stimuli occurring outside normal time-space. It all goes away in a
Floyd | nothingth of a second, and you stumble backward to the floor of the
Floyd | StreamDive Core. White-clad technicians swarm into the chamber a second
Floyd | later, helping you into the postDive examination, which confirms that
Floyd | you have weathered the Dive intact, and cleanses ancient toxins from
Floyd | your system. Your possessions are taken for examination, and you are
Floyd | led to the debriefing room.
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Debriefing room
Floyd | You are in a comfortably small room, used to debrief StreamDivers
Floyd | following their missions. The room is intentionally designed to avoid
Floyd | the impression that this is some kind of interrogation chamber, even if
Floyd | that is indeed its function. The room contains very little in the way
Floyd | of decoration or, well, anything at all, aside from the table and
Floyd | chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Now what?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" 		

Floyd | You get onto the wooden chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | You stand as Joxley Douzen walks heavily into the room. Though there
Floyd | are a few agents you'd prefer to serve as your evaluator, you could
Floyd | have done far, far worse. She scans over her notes, not seeming to see
Floyd | you until after she has taken her seat. "Welcome back," she says. You
Floyd | are naturally inclined to take the lack of feeling in her voice as a
Floyd | bad sign, but you resist the urge. It's all she's capable of; her voice
Floyd | box is artificial, and she's never managed to program it properly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We've reviewed your findings. As you know, the purpose of this phase
Floyd | of your evaluation is to give you the opportunity to present anything
Floyd | you think may have escaped our attention, and to address any concerns
Floyd | which the evaluation team has about your Dive. If you'll take your
Floyd | seat, we can begin." [Footnote 6]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 6" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 6]
Floyd | For the duration of this interview, you may respond to Douzen by typing
Floyd | a single word at the command prompt, signifying the subject you wish to
Floyd | discuss. For example:
Floyd | >KITCHEN
Floyd | Would be interpreted as a desire to talk about the kitchen. For
Floyd | questions requiring a numerical answer, simply type the number at the
Floyd | prompt [Footnote 7].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 7" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 7]
Floyd | The special command "DONE" indicates that you have nothing to say on
Floyd | the subject, and the command "REPEAT" will repeat the current question.
Floyd | The standard commands will remain available if you wish to perform
Floyd | other actions while you consider your answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's mention the SPAM."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "spam" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meat" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "uh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pantry" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "disc" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "repeat" 		

Floyd | That command makes no sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Debriefing room
Floyd | You are in a comfortably small room, used to debrief StreamDivers
Floyd | following their missions. The room is intentionally designed to avoid
Floyd | the impression that this is some kind of interrogation chamber, even if
Floyd | that is indeed its function. The room contains very little in the way
Floyd | of decoration or, well, anything at all, aside from the table and
Floyd | chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden chair is Joxley Douzen.
Floyd | Joxley looks up from her notes. "Or you can stand, if you prefer," she
Floyd | says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "First things first. Based on your scans and our records, you surveyed
Floyd | about seventy-six percent of the area within your mission boundaries.
Floyd | I'm sure you could have done better. Now, are there any rooms in
Floyd | particular that you feel merit special attention?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I thought I sat down?"
		Draconis asks, "Try X JOXLEY maybe?"
		DavidW says, "I sat before she asked me to. I guess that confused things."
		Draconis says, "Oh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pantry" 		

Floyd | "Hm... I'll advise the assessment team to take another look, but I
Floyd | think we've already considered that room thoroughly."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "What's the name of the room with all the weird timey wimey stuff?"
		Draconis says, "The room with Jim's computer."
		Roger says, "The bomb shelter was fun"
		Jacqueline asks, "The bunker?"
		DavidW says, "We never got in there in this run."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right. True."
		DavidW says, "Neither of those places."
		Roger says, "So let's BLOW HER MIND"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "boy's bedroom" 		

Floyd | "Yes. Your console recorded some unusual readings from that area. We'll
Floyd | give it another look."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "BUNKER"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bunker" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow, apparently not understanding you. "If you
Floyd | don't have anything meaningful to say on the current subject, just say
Floyd | the word and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I think it was called shelter?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shelter" 		

Floyd | "There's enough in your records to support the possibility that there
Floyd | was a survival shelter in the residence. Unfortunately, you don't
Floyd | appear to have gained access to it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "D'oj"
		Draconis says, "Aw."
		DavidW asks, "Are we done with special rooms?"
Ghogg goes home. 		Draconis says, "I think so."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "done" 		

Floyd | "Very well," Joxley says. She begins examining her notes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x joxley" 		

Floyd | Joxley Douzen is a typical example of what your father would have
Floyd | called a "hard-looking broad". Muscular, stocky, with chiseled features
Floyd | that would have been distinguished on a man. She probably knows exactly
Floyd | how threatening people find her. You know that she's a touch bitter
Floyd | about her position as a Dive evaluation agent -- after she was injured
Floyd | in a shuttle accident, she received enough bio-mechanical implants to
Floyd | make her a walking, talking anachronism, and therefore unfit for
Floyd | StreamDiving. Nevertheless, your experience of her has always been as a
Floyd | fair evaluator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" 		

Floyd | You get onto the wooden chair.
Floyd | "Okay. Now, let's consider the contents of your DataStore. It seems
Floyd | that you recorded seventeen documents. It's a shame you didn't elect to
Floyd | take the Stream Visualizer. Of course, you were under tight
Floyd | restrictions. As for other documents, you collected a reasonable
Floyd | number.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now, you found a diary in the downstairs bathroom. It appears to have
Floyd | been encoded using a very secure cipher. Given the nature of the writer
Floyd | and its content, the only explanation we can think of is that the
Floyd | writer was mentally unstable. How would you explain the fact that such
Floyd | effort was taken to encode the diary?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Haha"
		DavidW says, "hm. I didn't think about the visualizer. That could be very interesting."
		DavidW asks, "How do we answer this one?"
		Draconis says, "v0v"
		Jacqueline asks, "What's the visualizer do?"
		DavidW says, "Views recent past in the location."
		Jacqueline says, "Cool"
		Draconis says, "Ooh."
		Draconis says, "Sounds nice."
		Jacqueline says, "It does."
		Draconis asks, "I wonder if we could use that in the bunker?"
		DavidW says, "Of course, we wouldn't have the autokey with us."
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "That's what I was wondering too"
		DavidW says, "The shelter. And yes, that'd be an excellent location for it."
		DavidW says, "Pantry, Boy's bedroom, and upstairs bathroom too, I think."
		DavidW says, "Everywhere time was a bit screwy or had an item out of time."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "mother" 		

Floyd | You explain that the author, Julia Wallace, had reason to believe that
Floyd | her parents were reading her diary without permission, and had encoded
Floyd | it to prevent the highly personal content from becoming public
Floyd | knowledge.
Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow. "It seems like a great deal of effort, but
Floyd | yes, that does explain what we've seen, and seems consistent with the
Floyd | details we've managed to piece together about the girl.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We've had some difficulty making sense of the code fragment you
Floyd | downloaded. Any idea what it is?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Do we have any idea?"
		Jacqueline says, "We were hoping you'd tell us, Joxley."
		DavidW says, "no"
		DavidW asks, "Shall I answer 'no'?"
		Roger says, "sure"
		Jacqueline says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd | That was a rhetorical question.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "No it wasn't..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "answer no" 		

Floyd | (to Joxley Douzen)
Floyd | You know better than to deviate from the standard procedure during an
Floyd | interview.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "experiment" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow, apparently not understanding you. "If you
Floyd | don't have anything meaningful to say on the current subject, just say
Floyd | the word and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "done" 		

Floyd | "I'm sorry to hear that.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think that covers all the documents we need more information about.
Floyd | Let me check my notes, and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Joxley makes a few notes, then looks up. "All right then. Now we get to
Floyd | some more specific questions.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose we should start with the most obvious. Your Dive was
Floyd | restricted to a family residence. How many people occupied this
Floyd | residence prior to its evacuation?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "check out all this hot porn"
		Jacqueline says, "5>"
		Jacqueline asks, "er, 5?"
		Draconis asks, "I think?"
		DavidW says, "Four? Or Five with Donna, I guess."
		Draconis says, "Julia, James, mother, father, then Donna."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I was including Donna."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow. "Five? You're sure? Our research suggested
Floyd | only four residents. Who was this fifth person?"
Floyd |

		Roger says, "5.5 if we're getting fetal"

Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "DONNA"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "Donna" 		

Floyd | You explain that a young woman named Donna, a friend of the older
Floyd | child, had been living with the family near the time that the house was
Floyd | abandoned.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley makes a note of this. "Good work. This is exactly the sort of
Floyd | thing that isn't covered by our records of the period.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What was the name of the female head of household?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Every time I say 'Donna' I think about Twin Peaks."
		Draconis asks, "Hm...what was the mother's name?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Um. Let me search the transcript?"
		DavidW says, "I don't remember. They're all J names."
		Roger says, "This sequence probably looked fun on paper"
		DavidW says, "I think it's good we tried this section of the game so we have a better idea what we're working towards."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Roger says, "I guess it does carry the 12 Monkeys theme through"
		Jacqueline says, "Katia"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "katia" 		

Floyd | "What was the name of the male head of household?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "James"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "james" 		

Floyd | "What was the name of the male child?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Jim"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jim" 		

Floyd | "Marital relations between the Wallaces... Were they good or bad?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "HOT"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW asks, "Are we supposed to extrapolate from the magazines?"
		Jacqueline asks, "I... we have no reason to think they were bad, do we?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unknown" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "don't know" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "BEAR. PORN. BEAR. PORN."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "maybe" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Porn doesn't mean the marriage is on the rocks."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "porn" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "No, but it's the only clue we have."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "so-so" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |

		Draconis says, "Unless of course we missed something."

Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Which seems likely."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I'm just saying it's not enough."
		Draconis asks, "Should we assume good then?"
		DavidW says, "I don't remember anything special in the master bedroom."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "good" 		

Floyd | "What was the name of the female child?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "julia" 		

Floyd | "You say that the girl had an optical prosthesis. Which eye was
Floyd | artificial?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I would, but I'm an optimist."
		Draconis asks, "Left, I think?"
		DavidW asks, "I thought it was the right?"
		Jacqueline says, "No"
		Jacqueline says, "It's the right"
		DavidW says, "geez, I didn't expect a test. I didn't study."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right" 		

Floyd | "Okay," Joxley says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now," Joxley says, "It appears that you violated your mission
Floyd | parameters by bringing something back from your Dive. Since everything
Floyd | in the area appears to have been destroyed immediately after you left,
Floyd | the committee has decided to recommend against disciplinary action, but
Floyd | there will be an entry made in your file, unless you can give us some
Floyd | exceptional circumstance which warranted your action. Is there any
Floyd | object which you felt had some extraordinary reason for being retrieved
Floyd | for examination?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, lag. I'm in a way different room than our router."
		Draconis says, "Oops."
		Draconis says, "SPAM"
		Draconis says, "MEDICINE"
		Draconis asks, "Did we take anything else?"
		DavidW says, "oh, so we *did* break the rules."
		DavidW says, "Gun, ring, money, ... all sorts of stuff."
		DavidW says, "We didn't pick up the spam."
		Draconis says, "SAY OOPS, MY BAD"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "oops" 		

Floyd | That can't be corrected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Oh. Right. Reserved keyword."
		DavidW says, "I can't think of any object we brought that was that special."
		DavidW says, "I don't remember what we were carrying."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "done" 		

Floyd | "Then we'll move on," Joxley says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We have no postwar records of the daughter, and your findings suggest
Floyd | that she was not with the family when they evacuated. What became of
Floyd | her?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shelter" 		

Floyd | You explain that she and her friend were trapped in the survival
Floyd | shelter, and perished with its destruction.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Thank you for your cooperation, agent," she says. After taking a few
Floyd | more notes, Joxley Douzen rises to her feet. "If you'll wait here, the
Floyd | review team will have your final evaluation shortly."
Floyd |
Floyd | Without paying you another glance, she strides out of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Dun dun dun..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Debriefing room (on the wooden chair)
Floyd | You are in a comfortably small room, used to debrief StreamDivers
Floyd | following their missions. The room is intentionally designed to avoid
Floyd | the impression that this is some kind of interrogation chamber, even if
Floyd | that is indeed its function. The room contains very little in the way
Floyd | of decoration or, well, anything at all, aside from the table and
Floyd | chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "X ME?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | One of the attributes most common among successful StreamDivers is a
Floyd | nondescript appearance -- any particularly remarkable features would
Floyd | increase the chance of drawing attention on a Dive. The good thing
Floyd | about this is that you are at least as good-looking as average. The
Floyd | downside, of course, is that you have very little in the way of
Floyd | distinguishing features [Footnote 8].
Floyd | Joxley Douzen walks confidently into the room, followed by the rest of
Floyd | the evaluation team. They stand at the head of the room, staring
Floyd | heavily at you. Finally, Joxley speaks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678, it is the finding of this evaluation team
Floyd | that you have completed the objectives for this mission with an
Floyd | approval rating of 66 percent. Very disappointing. There's some concern
Floyd | that you aren't using our resources well. When you receive your next
Floyd | mission, we'll suggest that it be an easier one."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     ***  Mission Complete  ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Your final mission evaluation is 66%.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
		Jacqueline says, "Aw."
		DavidW says, "well, we did return early and unprepared."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, another restart, with the visualizer?"
		DavidW says, "Visualizer or the probe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'd like the visualizer and to go right to the bunker"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take visualizer" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in chip bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are ten chips (a dive chip, a DataStore chip, a map
Floyd | chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip, a cryptography
Floyd | chip, a scan chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Which chips?"
		Draconis asks, "Can we get into the bunker without the autokey?"
		Jacqueline says, "Damn. Right"
		DavidW says, "I don't know. We never used the keys we found."
		DavidW says, "I suspect that the key in the banister is for the shelter, though."
		Draconis says, "Oh, let's try that one then."
		DavidW says, "And there was a 'deadbolt key' in the couch."
		Jacqueline says, "I suspect that L. Ross Raszewski intended for us to do this, fwiw. That starting over with new chips isn't cheating, it's strategy and perspective."
		DavidW asks (of Draconis), "Try what one?"
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "The key in the banister."
		DavidW says, "We're selecting chips now."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, the crypto chip doesn't really help us much, right?"
		DavidW says, "I want the datastore chip, the interface chip."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "Yeah, but I'm suggesting we don't need the autokey."
		Draconis asks, "Oh, could we use the visualizer on the diary? See her writing it?"
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "If we have the visualizer then we can't have the autokey."
		Jacqueline raises both eyebrows. "Seems like a stretch, but perhaps."
		DavidW says, "I think the visualizer works on the current location, but we'll see."
		Draconis says, "We could examine it and see."
		Jacqueline says, "BRB. Proceed without me for a few minutes, and I'll catch up."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x visualizer" 		

Floyd | The stream visualizer is a de-focused temporal display. It scans
Floyd | backwards through the local timestream, correlating the results with
Floyd | the information in the DataStore. When the button is pushed, generates
Floyd | a hologram based on the results of its scan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd | (the display monitor)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---StreamDiver Manual---
Floyd | Page: 0 StreamDiver Manual
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | STREAMDIVER OPERATIONS MANUAL
Floyd | Research Division                                         Third
Floyd | Revision
Floyd | Temporal Sciences Commission
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		Draconis says, "Wat."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which are a cloaking device,
Floyd | an autokey, a probe and a chip bank (in which are ten chips (a dive
Floyd | chip, a DataStore chip, a map chip, a library chip, an artificial
Floyd | intuition chip, a cryptography chip, a scan chip, a blank chip, an
Floyd | interface chip and a shield chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess there's more than one button in the room."
		DavidW says, "I've never used the visualizer before."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer has nothing to display here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put datastore in console" 		

Floyd | You need to be holding the DataStore chip before you can put it into
Floyd | something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take datastore. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take interface. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the interface chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scan. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the scan chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blank. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the blank chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rack" 		

Floyd | (the StreamDive console)
Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains four chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bank" 		

Floyd | A small section of the locker contains slots for holding StreamDive
Floyd | chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in bank" 		

Floyd | In the chip bank are six chips (a dive chip, a map chip, a library
Floyd | chip, an artificial intuition chip, a cryptography chip and a shield
Floyd | chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Shall we take the shield chip this time?"
		DavidW asks, "Or gamble with the crypto again?"
		Draconis says, "Hm..."
		DavidW asks, "There must be something wrong with my audio receptors. Could you repeat that?"
		Draconis says, "I vote for shield I guess, because crypto seems so useless."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take shield. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the shield chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |   a stream visualizer
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | You aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read mission" 		

Floyd | Mission Parameters
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678
Floyd | FYEO
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearance granted for immediate StreamDive. Target is local grid
Floyd | reference 0x1549. Temporal Reference 785278.7 UDC. We will be in phase
Floyd | for StreamDive at 865741.3 UDC. Dive duration not to exceed .5 units
Floyd | UDC (12 hours local time). Stream Capacitance field will be set for
Floyd | auto-recall at this time.
Floyd | Research unit indicates high levels of stream distortion in this zone,
Floyd | indicating that premature extraction may not be possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mission Summary: The purpose of your StreamDive is historical research.
Floyd | We have isolated an evacuated area to minimize potential corruption.
Floyd | You are to record all findings, but avoid direct contact with any
Floyd | inhabitants. Records from this zone are fragmentary, so any documents
Floyd | of historical interest should be added to your DataStore.
Floyd |
Floyd | *WARNING*
Floyd | Due to ambient radiation levels, wideband recall will not be available.
Floyd | Since StreamDive instruments are shielded against EMP effects, lost
Floyd | components may be recoverable after destruction of the local grid
Floyd | section. For this reason, level 1b restrictions are in effect for the
Floyd | duration of this dive.
Floyd |
Floyd | PLEASE REVIEW STREAMDIVER MANUAL BEFORE COMMENCING DIVE.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read manual" 		

Floyd | What do you want to read in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x manual" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which are a cloaking device,
Floyd | an autokey, a probe and a chip bank (in which are five chips (a dive
Floyd | chip, a map chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip and a
Floyd | cryptography chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "manual" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 0 MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd |                                                         MOMENTS OUT OF
Floyd | TIME                           Explorer Type/Version 1
Floyd | by                              L. Ross Raszewski
Floyd | Game Manual                           Go to what page? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual---
Floyd | Page: 0 MOMENTS OUT OF TIME - Game Manual
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |                                                         MOMENTS OUT OF
Floyd | TIME                           Explorer Type/Version 1
Floyd | by                              L. Ross Raszewski
Floyd | Game Manual
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (in which are a cloaking device,
Floyd | an autokey, a probe and a chip bank (in which are five chips (a dive
Floyd | chip, a map chip, a library chip, an artificial intuition chip and a
Floyd | cryptography chip))) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf6" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, so the plan is to visit the shelter asap"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn newel" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open banister" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x banister" 		

Floyd | The staircase along the north wall leads up and down. The railing, a
Floyd | solid wood banister, is capped at the landing by a sturdy and ornate
Floyd | post with a polished oak ball at its top. The banister is worn, and its
Floyd | finish is nicked and scraped. You have that same, terrifying sense you
Floyd | often get on missions like this; this was a place where people lived,
Floyd | not some mock-up in a museum. Time travel gives you a strange sense of
Floyd | ephemerality; for you, this entire house is long gone, and yet, it
Floyd | still exists in the here-and-now, and you are acutely aware of how much
Floyd | will be lost when this place is destroyed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn ball" 		

Floyd | You give the knob a twist, then another. After a few more turns, it
Floyd | comes free in your hand, revealing a very small compartment in the post
Floyd | underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in compartment" 		

Floyd | In the post is a large key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "is bacqueline."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you check the basement?" asks a short, graying woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Julie?" a middle-aged man calls through the basement door. "I don't
Floyd | think she's in the house," he finally says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where the hell else would she be?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Have you called her friends?" he asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "She doesn't have any friends," the woman answers. She immediately
Floyd | looks away, her face reddening in shame. "I tried Donna's house. They
Floyd | aren't there."
Floyd |
Floyd | "They didn't leave a note?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Fuck, James, do you think I'd be running around like this if they
Floyd | had?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Calm down, Kat. When was the last time you saw them?"
Floyd |
Floyd | She sighs. "I don't know. Dinner last night. I thought Julie was just
Floyd | up in her room or something."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay. Look, it's probably nothing."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It fucking isn't nothing, James. You know how she is."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And I know she's got more sense than to pull some dumb stunt. Where's
Floyd | Jimmy?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "He went out. With his girlfriend."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay. When he gets home, ask him is he knows where they would have
Floyd | gone."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm worried."
Floyd |
Floyd | He shakes his head. "Did you look in Donna's room?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's nothing there. James, what if something set her off? You don't
Floyd | think she would have --"
Floyd |
Floyd | James cuts her off. "Katia... You haven't been... I mean, have you
Floyd | looked in her diary lately?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Katia lights a cigarette. "Her doctor said I'm supposed to 'respect her
Floyd | boundaries,' some load of shit."
Floyd |
Floyd | With a furtive glance he whispers, "Maybe you should take a look. If
Floyd | she doesn't come home tonight. Just... Just to be sure."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'll tan her ass if she does."
Floyd |
Floyd | James waits a long time before he responds. "Don't overreact. You'll
Floyd | just end up--"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Pushing her further away. Thanks Freud, but you can skip the
Floyd | psychobabble."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look, I'm sure it's nothing. Maybe she got a new boyfriend or
Floyd | something."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Fucking great." Katia seems about to say something else, but she looks
Floyd | up suddenly as if she's heard something. "Julie? Donna? Is that you?"
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Downstairs Landing" has
Floyd | been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "goodness."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I retract my earlier statement about no marital issues."
		DavidW says, "Katia has a mouth on her."
		Jacqueline bounces up and down. "I love this thing! Let's go use it everywhere else!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 3].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 3" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 3]
Floyd | The game will continue this practice from now on. Use the setup menu to
Floyd | change this behavior.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with key" 		

Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; which door do you want to unlock?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "basement" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock basement door with key" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock south door with key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, den couch, I guess"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | You force your hand between two cushions. Before nicking yourself on a
Floyd | spring, your hand catches on a small object which was lost in the
Floyd | couch, which emerges to the surface just ahead of your stinging hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "New hologram!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | The video screen flickers with computer-generated violence. Before it,
Floyd | the young man sits cross-legged, manipulating the controls of the video
Floyd | game system. Beside him is a young woman. probably the same age,
Floyd | generously built, with a mop of dark, uneven curls. She too manipulates
Floyd | a game controller, but with an obvious lack of familiarity. They play
Floyd | for a time, then set their controllers down.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Not bad," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Jim," the girl says, "You let me win."
Floyd |
Floyd | He shrugs. "Come on, Amy, I wouldn't do that. I mean, I'll admit I
Floyd | didn't have my best game, but it's not like I was holding back on
Floyd | purpose."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No?" Amy says, incredulously.
Floyd |
Floyd | He smiles, unfolding his legs. "Maybe I was distracted."
Floyd |
Floyd | She blushes. "Distracted?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He places three fingers against her cheek, gently turning her face
Floyd | toward his. She tilts her head back slightly, in anticipation of a
Floyd | kiss. He moves in, clumsily, and their noses touch...
Floyd |
Floyd | She bursts out laughing.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks away, feigning shame. "Well, that's done a lot for my self
Floyd | esteem."
Floyd |
Floyd | She puts both hands on his face and tries to pull him back into a kiss.
Floyd | She doesn't make it, bursting out with more laughter just before their
Floyd | lips touch. This time, he laughs too.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Would it help if I told you I had no idea what I'm doing?" he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | She laughs some more. "Neither do I. I don't know why I can't stop
Floyd | laughing. I've never done this before."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's a relief," Jim says. He tries to kiss her again, and this time
Floyd | bursts out laughing himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | "This isn't working," Amy says, trying not to laugh. "We are such
Floyd | geeks."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You have no idea what kind of pressure this is putting on me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Amy smiles slyly. "Maybe this will help." She puts a leg over his,
Floyd | moving onto his lap.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well that's taken the pressure off," he says with more than a hint of
Floyd | sarcasm. "What now, count to three?"
Floyd |
Floyd | She giggles. "One," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Two," they say in unison.
Floyd |
Floyd | Amy takes him by surprise, not waiting any longer, and pushes her lips
Floyd | against his. Jim falls backward in surprise, but, though they are both
Floyd | failing to totally suppress laughter, they manage to maintain contact.
Floyd | Jim places a hand against Amy's neck, then moves it down to the small
Floyd | of her back. A few seconds later, he moves his hand down even further.
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Den" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Our boss'll be glad we got that one."
		DavidW says, "y'know, I wonder if the diary is encrypted specifically so *we* can't read it."
		Jacqueline asks, "But someone else can?"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm hoping the OTP is revealed by the visualizer."
		DavidW says, "Julia can read it."
		Jacqueline asks, "With her eye, you mena?"
		Jacqueline asks, "er, mean?"
		Jacqueline asks, "The OTP is in her eye or her brain?"
		DavidW says, "I mean, she wrote it. She encoded it; she can decode it."
		DavidW says, "People write diaries for themselves to read later."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a large key
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |   a stream visualizer
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | (the deadbolt key)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock south door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "meh"
		DavidW says, "I don't have a key for this door."
		DavidW says, "Donna was probably in the Spare Bedroom to the northwest. I think we should go there next."
		Jacqueline says, "okay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock northwest door" 		

Floyd | You'll have to specify a key with which to unlock the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock northwest door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock northwest door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Office?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock west door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock west door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "This is the key from the couch?"
		DavidW says, "The deadbolt key is from the Den couch, yes."
		DavidW says, "The large key is from the Hall bannister compartment."
		Jacqueline nods.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open toilet" 		

Floyd | On a whim, you lift the heavy boxes and raise the lid of the toilet
Floyd | seat. The bowl has been drained, and resting inside is a small book,
Floyd | which you manage, with some difficulty, to retrieve before letting the
Floyd | boxes fall back into place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "boo"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we need to find more keys."
		DavidW says, "I suggest we also keep exploring, since the visualizer is telling us stuff."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd | A grade report has been affixed to the refrigerator door:
Floyd | Donald Woods High School
Floyd | Interim Grade Report
Floyd |
Floyd | Term: Spring
Floyd | Name: Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Grade: 10
Floyd |
Floyd | Class: Calculus        Instructor: Nelson    Grade: 99
Floyd | Class: Journalism Tech Instructor: Kryzac    Grade: 100
Floyd | Class: English II      Instructor: Celsius   Grade: 89
Floyd | Class: AP Physics      Instructor: Cornell   Grade: 98
Floyd |
Floyd | Please report any errors to guidance office immediately.
Floyd | This is an interim grade report. Official grades will be available at
Floyd | end of semester.
Floyd | [The document "Report Card" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x receipt" 		

Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd | Store #10191 Checker 7 6:27 PM
Floyd |
Floyd | BJ ICE CRM 1GAL            7.74
Floyd | FW TOWELL 6PK         SB   4.80
Floyd | FW 2PCT MLK 1GAL           4.88
Floyd | FW TRASH BAG               5.54
Floyd | PRODUCE               SB   9.34
Floyd | PRODUCE                   16.33
Floyd | AP XS CH COL               9.72
Floyd | POLISH SAUS               10.21
Floyd | 1DOZ EGG                   8.35
Floyd | FLNK STK                  18.22
Floyd | PRD WHOLE CHKN            12.77
Floyd | FC BREAD                   1.94
Floyd | COKE 2LTR          6      18.06
Floyd | MTN SPR WTR 1GAL   4      12.44
Floyd | TT DONUT                   4.33
Floyd | MARLB MEN UL CRT          52.00
Floyd | AA BATT 12PK              16.32
Floyd | CP SOUP            5  SB  10.35
Floyd | APL JCE                    5.10
Floyd | MX TMPN 30                 6.77
Floyd |
Floyd | BAL                      235.21
Floyd |
Floyd | VALUED CUSTOMER 1191388732
Floyd |
Floyd | SB FW TOWELL 6PK           2.20-
Floyd | SB PRODUCE                 1.21-
Floyd | SB CP SOUP                 1.00-
Floyd | BAL                      230.80
Floyd | TAX  11.54     BAL       242.34
Floyd | Debit Card               242.34-
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | FoodWorks 10191
Floyd | Debit Card     XXXXXXXXXXXXX1332
Floyd | $242.34
Floyd | BIOMETRIC SCAN CONFIRM:
Floyd | James Robert Wallace
Floyd | AUTH OK
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | Authentication verified by DAVS
Floyd | YOUR TOTAL SUPER BONUS SAVINGS
Floyd | TODAY ARE: $4.41
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you for shopping at
Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd |
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Grocery Receipt" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty), a flour
Floyd | pot (closed) and a can of spiced ham (closed).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open ham" 		

Floyd | Better not; as it is, this is probably the only thing in the house that
Floyd | could survive the impending nuclear blast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan ham" 		

Floyd | A slight shiver runs up your spine as you read the results of the scan.
Floyd | Something similar to your temporal shield has been used on this can to
Floyd | force it into a hyperstable configuration. Despite the question of why
Floyd | anyone would do such a thing, what concerns you far more is the
Floyd | question of how it was done; such a transmutation is patently
Floyd | impossible without StreamDive technology. Has someone else been here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ham" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photograph" 		

Floyd | This is apparently a visual of the family that lived in this house. In
Floyd | the back stand two adults, a man whose receding hair looks unnaturally
Floyd | dark, wearing thick, horn-rimmed eyeglasses, and a woman, much shorter,
Floyd | who looks about the same age. She too wears glasses, with a more
Floyd | fashionable wire frame. Her front teeth, visible in what looks like an
Floyd | unaccustomed smile, are stained and crooked. A small scar is visible
Floyd | near the corner of her mouth. Before them are two children. On the
Floyd | right, a boy about ten, has a ridiculous smile and equally ridiculous
Floyd | bowl-cut. Beside him is a girl, probably a few years his senior. You
Floyd | aren't sure, but you think you see a glint of something reflective near
Floyd | her temple, where her hair is awkwardly combed over a bald patch. Her
Floyd | eyes are not quite the same color, though that may be a blemish on the
Floyd | photograph. There does certainly seem to be something odd about her
Floyd | right eye, but you can't tell on a photograph this size.
Floyd | [The document "Family Photo" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | Four people, two adults, and two teen-age children sit around the
Floyd | table. The adult woman, the mother, has her hands clasped on the table,
Floyd | as if about to say a prayer, but she thinks better of it as the boy
Floyd | begins to load his plate down with some casserole dish.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, how was everyone's day?" the father asks, distractedly.
Floyd |
Floyd | The girl rolls her eyes and looks away. The boy, between rapid, greedy
Floyd | mouthfulls, says, "Did the two of you know that I'm a genius? Like
Floyd | Einstein, only I can do long division."
Floyd |
Floyd | This time, it is the mother who rolls her eyes. "So how come you're
Floyd | only getting a ninety-nine in calculus?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Katia," the father says, evenly. "What is it this time, Jimmy?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The boy smiles, self-satisfied. "Oh, just a little discovery that's
Floyd | going to set me up among the gods."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can I be excused? I think I'm getting sick," the girl says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Julie, please," he father mildly reprimands. "So what's this
Floyd | discovery?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimmy has clearly been waiting for a chance to brag. "Dad," he says,
Floyd | with a conspiratorial tone indicating that he considers the subject
Floyd | above the level of the women. "You remember what I was saying about
Floyd | backwards-mapping activation patterns onto a neural network?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The father nods, though without any conviction. Jimmy doesn't appear to
Floyd | care. "I got in touch with a professor at Pacific Tech, he's the top
Floyd | guy in distributed neural nets. Well, he says that I'm on the right
Floyd | track, and my preliminaries open up something they've never even looked
Floyd | at before.
Floyd |
Floyd | "See, I figure you can represent a human mind by imposing a
Floyd | non-deterministic neural network over this thing called a DeKrupper
Floyd | mapping function."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Which means?" the father asks, cautiously.
Floyd |
Floyd | The boy sighs, taking the explanation to be beneath his dignity. "It
Floyd | means you can emulate all the functions of a human brain on a computer.
Floyd | Everyone's always thought that was impossible, because it's supposed to
Floyd | reduce to the halting problem. But it doesn't really, because all the
Floyd | proofs for it are based on something that doesn't apply when you use a
Floyd | Nth-level polymatrix."
Floyd |
Floyd | "So..." the father takes some time to put it all together. "You could
Floyd | create a sentient computer program?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimmy beams with pride. "Bingo. But more than that; I mean, you don't
Floyd | have to emulate the whole brain, you could just build up a part of it,
Floyd | like, you could make a computer that does all the work for your motor
Floyd | functions."
Floyd |
Floyd | "To help people with brain injuries," the father concludes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimmy nods. "Of course, the sentient program thing is what's goign to
Floyd | get me the nobel prize."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wait a minute," the mother says. "You can't do that. You can't know
Floyd | exactly how a human brain works."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But you can," Jimmy protests. "You just need to back-map from the
Floyd | activation patterns."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And if this is so simple, why hasn't anyone done it? It won't work."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mom," Jimmy says, exasperated. "You said the same thing when I came up
Floyd | with the idea for the automatic navigation thing for the car. We could
Floyd | all be rich now if you hadn't told me it wouldn't work."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I never said that," she says, defensively. "I said that I didn't think
Floyd | you could make it work in a way that would be useful outside of very
Floyd | specific examples."
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimmy sighs. "Look, it's all perfectly simple."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're perfectly simple," his sister interrupts. "And you're giving me
Floyd | a headache. I'll be in my room."
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Dining Room" has been added
Floyd | to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "They're all charmers."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, Kat and Jimmy, anyway."
		DavidW says, "All the secrets of the brain and none of the heart."
		DavidW asks, "Are we ready to continue?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, yeah, except his brain is often in his pants."
		Roger says, "Maybe they trained the visualizer on jerks, like how Deep Dream sees dogs everywhere"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure. Proceed."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Always lock all your doors before killing yourself during the apocalypse"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" 		

Floyd | You pull the painting a few centimeters from the wall, and notice that
Floyd | a small steel key, which you take, has been secreted in the back side
Floyd | of the frame.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with small key" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with steel key" 		

Floyd | You open the little closet, revealing a coaxial cable, a stuffed bear,
Floyd | four video discs (one "Womb Raider", one "Blow me Away", one "Coeds
Floyd | Getting Naked" and one "Thrustmaster Returns") and some adult
Floyd | magazines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so, *this* door we can unlock."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with steel key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letter" 		

Floyd | Dear Julia,
Floyd | I hope to God you get this letter. We waited for you as long as we
Floyd | could, but they're saying that the bombs could fall any day. There's a
Floyd | shelter out in New Calvert, we're going there. Daddy says its the
Floyd | safest place in a hundred miles. Try to get there if you can, but don't
Floyd | take any risks. The most important thing is that you stay safe. I left
Floyd | some money and your grandmom's jewels in the hidden place for you. Your
Floyd | dad bought a gun and bullets, and put them there too, but be careful.
Floyd | We all love you and hope to see you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Mom.
Floyd | [The document "Letter to Julia" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | "How DARE you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | A red-haired young woman tries to push past an older, shorter woman,
Floyd | apparently her mother. The older woman stops her. "Julie, what did you
Floyd | want me to do? You never even come out of that room of yours, you don't
Floyd | talk to anyone, and now this?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You have no RIGHT!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have EVERY right, Julie! Christ, God only knows what could have
Floyd | happened to you! Drugs; sex, you could be lying dead in a gutter right
Floyd | now! And what about this?" She grabs her daughter's arm, exposing a
Floyd | heavy bandage around the wrist.
Floyd |
Floyd | Julie pulls back, almost toppling her mother. "None of your God damned
Floyd | business." The mother slaps her, hard across the cheek. "You don't talk
Floyd | to me like that! Who the hell do you think you are, young lady?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The girl touches her face. "Bitch!" she shouts. "Leave me the fuck
Floyd | alone! I'm seventeen years old, and my bitch mother thinks she can
Floyd | search my room?" There is something dangerous in her eyes as her left
Floyd | hand curls into a fist. She seems to seriously consider decking her
Floyd | mother. "You pull a fucking stunt like that again and I'm GONE! You
Floyd | hear me?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Her mother is holding her own hand against her chest. "You are my
Floyd | daughter!" she barks. "You aren't going to run around this town like
Floyd | some junkie whore, and you are NOT going to talk to me like this!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Fine," Julie says. "I'm done talking." She pushes her mother aside and
Floyd | retreats into a door off of the east end of the hall. The walls shake
Floyd | with the force of the door slamming.
Floyd |
Floyd | Her mother slumps against the wall, exhausted. A gray-haired man
Floyd | appears at the top of the stairs. She gives him a venomous look.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're hurt," he says, impassively.
Floyd |
Floyd | She shakes her hand, which is starting to swell, bruised by the force
Floyd | of the impact. "Get me an ice pack," she says. "And take the fucking
Floyd | lock off her door."
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Upstairs Landing" has been
Floyd | added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, that explains the jewels and the gun and stuff."
		Jacqueline says, "Had we seen that previously and I missed it? Probably."
		Roger says, "If we get the gun maybe we can shoot that guy"
Draconis says, "I'm seeing now why Julia liked to conceal things." 		
Draconis says, "ILAC" 		Draconis says, "I'm seeing now why Julia liked to conceal things."
		Jacqueline says, "Yea"
		Jacqueline says, "h"
		DavidW says, "I don't remember the bandage mentioned before."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "A new one?"
		Draconis says, "Excellent."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photograph" 		

Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd | [The document "Photograph of a Young Man" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | At first, you see nothing, but then a spinning piece of metal pokes
Floyd | through the north door, just above the knob. It dissappears into the
Floyd | hole it has bored, and is replaced by an old-fashioned keyhole saw.
Floyd | Slowly, it cuts a careful circle. With a sharp bang, the piece of wood
Floyd | is ejected from the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, the door opens. A red-haired young woman takes an electric drill
Floyd | -- a mechanical device which uses a spinning screw rather than a laser
Floyd | beam -- to the door, boring a hole which intersects the first cut. She
Floyd | places the barrel of a bolt into the hole, then attaches the two halves
Floyd | of a locking mechanism to either side of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Fixing the pieces together with what you think is called a
Floyd | "screwdriver", she mumbles to herself.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, bitch. Try snooping now."
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Hallway, east end" has been
Floyd | added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "So would this be the deadbolt lock?"
		DavidW says, "I guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock north door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You are correct."
		Jacqueline makes a mental note to put an Adult warning on this transcript.
		Draconis says, "Excellent."
		Draconis asks, "Where did she hide the deadbolt key again? In the couch?"
		Draconis asks, "Or was this the one in the banister?"
		DavidW says, "Den couch."
		DavidW says, "I don't think she hid it there. It probably got lost there."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, this one should be good."
		Draconis asks, "Ooh, will this one show her writing in the diary?"
		Jacqueline leans in.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | A young, red-haired woman lies on the bed. In front of her are a
Floyd | creased paper and a well-worn notebook. She moves a pencil from one to
Floyd | the other, mouthing letters, but being careful not mark either.
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks up suddenly, as if hearing something. "I'll be right down!"
Floyd | she yells.
Floyd |
Floyd | She stands up quickly, taking the notebook. She presses her hand
Floyd | against the base of the dollhouse, which pops off. She places the
Floyd | notebook inside carefully, then reaches for the paper, but a breeze
Floyd | catches it, knocking it to the floor. She crouches down and tries to
Floyd | retrieve it, but the paper slips into the heating vent. "Shit," she
Floyd | says, then reaches inside after it.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a few seconds, she looks up and yells, "I said I was coming!"
Floyd | Lower, she adds, "I heard you the first time, you dumb bitch."
Floyd |
Floyd | She gives up her search and kicks the vent cover as she stands. She
Floyd | quickly replaces the base to the dollhouse, and storms out of the room.
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Girl's Bedroom" has been
Floyd | added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "The vent? Seriously?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, there you go."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, the dollhouse."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dollhouse" 		

Floyd | You give a gentle tug at the base, which pops open. Inside, you see two
Floyd | letters (a crumpled letter and a folded letter) and a strange book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't think we found these."
		Jacqueline says, "No"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read crumpled letter" 		

Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | S --
Floyd |
Floyd | Ug. Hw. Npxo J teiotslz swo jq zco yum evyt xdru qafib. Gwz air qow? W
Floyd | upigs bio'zv tstgxbpqk kdemb wlwi urnq gmis. Ntgk, T'o oikvrm yljm if
Floyd | msc xng. She vtsubzy pkncri aixf tckg zhkomg rfw jrp mpe xdizuxiv
Floyd | phslyrl cs dvz ijscee ppsocyw lbsz zm oxa ulvwjybj. Da N'p zbrq djoj tl
Floyd | sohrl ztlb odb krr ot oyf wved. Ea abvg't ukw su jxyw cbqh? W'o ixvit W
Floyd | wjrct'm lycz fe ckymj. Ufybyr vgzqo zg depl hn le hjr dxfj bywo leuc.
Floyd |
Floyd | --E
Floyd | [The document "Letter (1)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read folded letter" 		

Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | O --
Floyd |
Floyd | N'q gxtr kib vcijo wn xerb. Gzw iaqrx gmtto, G'ij yfuu hechbg igajnd
Floyd | dpnu jyfivzub nubl oha goect lp, rtzeqpc qi ccf ym tnr qds hexsikp blim
Floyd | pqliv egfw ubi bdmi brjf xqh. N'gk efaiea jldhwc cuh wys icrno bueag,
Floyd | fnu M acxbj xems zuaszl ci vol aw cxs jqnj, sfc lruze igiw S qnd pxn W
Floyd | rohu ec snfkv. Zlwqw X pxecd mtgn txj'io gkdz mf noxmzvx pk suu
Floyd | rnifovig, cldj R jgzbs wunxn Y kjizwk kia pa fxrs dx uir atvvuf, ake
Floyd | lpdv E znczn xczd vin'wv muix df pwe bnx usytgmu ke zkm gue as zjpu. X
Floyd | ccczj L'oz wxaqvuvjji tk fxe rklt mu tf igly ckzbk nvrzd ifa ivbfe, msf
Floyd | prlaeu pbm ez mloihjs tm. Nuz, N'o inmo u siflrj. D'mh iapzqu npzkfx
Floyd | jce. C zad'i sqgr mv bqg kjs tlot asgxbku hq, jpu W ykxcco uwav za hqc
Floyd | coi kdoc aio fzgtw Y qq.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Q
Floyd | [The document "Letter (2)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read strange book" 		

Floyd | This is a small, very worn notebook containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in vent" 		

Floyd | The vent is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vent" 		

Floyd | Forced air environmental control... You've heard of this. It's a system
Floyd | which controlled the temperature in a building via the crude method of
Floyd | pumping air of the desired temperature through a system of metal tubes
Floyd | toward various areas of the house. It's an interesting system, neither
Floyd | very efficient, nor robust, but it did allow the most cost-effective
Floyd | means of controlling interior climate available in this era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach in vent" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess we need the probe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "bah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with deadbolt key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with steel key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the dollhouse
Floyd |  the dresser
Floyd |  the easel
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "So now it seems we need to scan all three of these?"
		Draconis says, "The letters and the book."
		Draconis says, "So the crypto chip can deal with 'em."
		DavidW says, "We didn't bring the crypto. We brought the shield."
		Draconis says, "Right."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan dollhouse" 		

Floyd | The scan shows a compartment in the base of the dollhouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Whose stupid idea was that?!"
		Draconis says, "Oh wait."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan dresser" 		

Floyd | (the dresser)
Floyd | The scanner enhances the contrast between the varnished surface of the
Floyd | dresser and the scratches in its surface so that you can see the word
Floyd | "SERENDIPITY", quite intentionally etched on the dresser, just deep
Floyd | enough to scratch the varnish without damaging the wood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, huh."
		Jacqueline says, "Serendipity."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is that, like, a computer password or something?"
		DavidW says, "We didn't have the scan chip for this room before."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan easel" 		

Floyd | The scanner indicates a rectangular mass between the canvas and its
Floyd | supporting board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Might be a password."
		Draconis says, "Ooh!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open easel" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "X MASS"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move canvas" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open canvas" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "TEAR CANVAS"
		Draconis says, "TAKE CANVAS"
		Draconis says, "REMOVE CANVAS"
		DavidW says, "'canvas' isn't understood"
		Draconis says, "Oh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut easel" 		

Floyd | Cutting that would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Right."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break easel" 		

Floyd | Violence is against StreamDiver regulations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch easel" 		

Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x easel" 		

Floyd | Watercolor seems to be an inappropriate choice for the subject matter,
Floyd | but watercolor is, of course, much easier to work with than oil paints.
Floyd | The picture shows a serene lake, what should be a quaint scene of
Floyd | pastoral bliss. But the colors don't fit well with the subject. Though
Floyd | dark colors are largely absent, a few areas suggest that this is due
Floyd | purely to the painting's incomplete state. At the center of picture,
Floyd | without enough detail to recognize at first glance, is the disturbing
Floyd | figure of a drowning victim. Trails of unpainted canvas might form what
Floyd | might be a burial shroud around the figure, still lacking enough in
Floyd | detail to discern the gender. The figure's arms are spread wide, in
Floyd | what is still called the "Dead Man's Float".
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the dark areas, and, indeed one or two of the light areas, are
Floyd | unfinished. The overwhelming historical likelihood is that they will
Floyd | remain that way.
Floyd | [The document "Watercolor Painting" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move painting" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search painting" 		

Floyd | Under your scrutinty, a very slight distortion in the picture is
Floyd | visible. You slide your hand between the sheet and its support, and
Floyd | turn up a very small book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "(watercolour is actually way harder, but anyway)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x small book" 		

Floyd | This is a very small, hand-bound book containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book (new)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Yay"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!!!"
		Jacqueline asks, "zomg zomg zomg is it?"
		Roger says, "Surely it is"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan charger" 		

Floyd | The scanner shows a diagram of the device's circuitry. History of
Floyd | electronics isn't really your forte, but the design looks normal
Floyd | enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | Or does it? You enhance the scan over what should be the device's power
Floyd | converter. That's... impossible. The converter is made out of Krell
Floyd | isolinium. Nothing like it should exist on Earth in this century.
Floyd | Exactly what the hell is going on here?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scanner" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we're done in here."
		DavidW says, "Boy's room and nook next"
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline nods.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I want to see a scan of the boy's room."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "That's where the timey wimey stuff was."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open seat" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the wooden chair or the bench seat?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bench" 		

Floyd | You open the bench seat, revealing a sewing machine, some fabric, a
Floyd | needle, some thread, a scissors and a magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scissors and handle" 		

Floyd | scissors: Taken.
Floyd | magnetic handle: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to Floyd), "The heck it ain't."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with large key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with handle" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Why has 'scan' stopped working?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a scan chip
Floyd |   a small book
Floyd |   a can of spiced ham (which is closed)
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     four chips:
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |   a stream visualizer
Floyd |   three keys:
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "That's an interesting thing to insert into the text of us opening a door."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put scan chip in console" 		

Floyd | You put the scan chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I think it's after whatever you do on a certain turn."
		DavidW says, "oops. I said 'take scanner' instead of 'take charger' in the other room."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take charger" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd | You open the dresser drawers, revealing a brass key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take brass key" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock east door with brass key" 		

Floyd | Unlocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move boxes" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search boxes" 		

Floyd | Pushing a box to the side, you discover a thin composition book, which
Floyd | had been secreted between two of the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take thin book" 		

Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17-25
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 17 - Mom found my diary and read it. I'm ashamed at how I acted.
Floyd | I'm very angry at her for invading my privacy, but I understand that
Floyd | she's just worried about me.
Floyd |
Floyd | She doesn't want me to see CJ anymore because he's a bad influence. I
Floyd | guess I see her point, but I really care about him.
Floyd |
Floyd | I have to start seeing a therapist again. Maybe he will help me feel
Floyd | better about myself.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jimmy pulled a prank on me. It was mean. I didn't tell mom,
Floyd | but I hope she finds out and punishes him.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Met with the doctor today. It was really good to talk with
Floyd | someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 21 - We had lima beans with dinner tonight. I hate lima beans.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - It looks like there's going to be a war. I'm really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - I saw my old friend Donna today. I hope I get to talk to
Floyd | her. She's nice. It would be good to have a friend again.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jimmy has some new idea for a computer program. I wish I was
Floyd | that smart. Maybe he'll get rich and famous.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17-25
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 17 - Mom found my diary and read it. I'm ashamed at how I acted.
Floyd | I'm very angry at her for invading my privacy, but I understand that
Floyd | she's just worried about me.
Floyd |
Floyd | She doesn't want me to see CJ anymore because he's a bad influence. I
Floyd | guess I see her point, but I really care about him.
Floyd |
Floyd | I have to start seeing a therapist again. Maybe he will help me feel
Floyd | better about myself.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jimmy pulled a prank on me. It was mean. I didn't tell mom,
Floyd | but I hope she finds out and punishes him.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Met with the doctor today. It was really good to talk with
Floyd | someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 21 - We had lima beans with dinner tonight. I hate lima beans.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - It looks like there's going to be a war. I'm really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - I saw my old friend Donna today. I hope I get to talk to
Floyd | her. She's nice. It would be good to have a friend again.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jimmy has some new idea for a computer program. I wish I was
Floyd | that smart. Maybe he'll get rich and famous.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace                        [The document "Diary" has
Floyd | been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd | This is a fairly small desk, essentially little more than a table. The
Floyd | desk is tightly packed with office supplies and other sundries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search desk" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open chest" 		

Floyd | You open the chest, revealing a glass eye and an eyepatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass eye" 		

Floyd | This is a hemispherical piece of colored glass, with a hook at the
Floyd | back. It looks to be the sort of "eye" found on stuffed toys.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Belated (went to help maga with something), I know it just launches after whatever turn, but how would we know a missile departing Alaska at that exact moment? Our futuristic smart watch?"
		DavidW says, "maybe"
		DavidW says, "or maybe it's omniscient author telling us the players, not the PC."
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, can't we read the whole diary now?"
		Draconis says, "Or maybe we remember it happened at a certain time."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "We have the pad (maybe) but it won't show us the text, so we can't decode it by hand."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "We need the crypto chip."
		Jacqueline asks, "The key we found doesn't do it without that?"
		Jacqueline says, "Ah"
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, missed the bit about it not showing us the text."
		DavidW says, "Let's see if we can find more visualizer stuff."
		DavidW says, "(and sorry for my lagging; I can't help it)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall Closet
Floyd | Although the primary function of this room seems to be as a linen
Floyd | closet, its size suggests that it was intended for even heavier
Floyd | storage. Three of the walls bear shelves, neatly stocked with towels
Floyd | and bed linens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh. The handle's for this door, eh?"
		Draconis says, "Oh, huh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the charger

		Jacqueline says, "Nice"

Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search towels" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "(sorry, losing connection--brb)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You poke around at the sheets, and find, hidden in the folds of a large
Floyd | bedsheet toward the back, a pack of cigarettes, either squirreled away
Floyd | for an emergency, or hidden from a disapproving family member.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cigarettes" 		

Floyd | Toward the end of the twenty-first century, various lobbies finally
Floyd | succeeded in banning the manufacture and sale of these particular
Floyd | items, citing their known carcinogenic effects and the ongoing
Floyd | tendencies of their manufacturers to indulge in unethical business
Floyd | practices. Like the bans on so many other harmful intoxicants, the
Floyd | cigarette ban would have undoubtedly failed, had genetic engineering
Floyd | not coupled a non-toxic smoking mixture with powerful antidepressants,
Floyd | resulting in a new, safe cigarette, which provided an even better high.
Floyd | These, however, are still quite lethal, you're sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open pack" 		

Floyd | They're not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell cigarettes" 		

Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search pack" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan pack" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd | The image shows a young woman dressed in simplified academic regalia.
Floyd | She wears a formless gown in an unflattering blue pastel with a
Floyd | mortarboard cap. The girl in the picture looks about the right age for
Floyd | this photograph to be commemorating a high school graduation, though
Floyd | there are signs that she might be older; her expression is one of
Floyd | world-weariness, and her disapproving frown merges into lines on the
Floyd | face which suggest that this is an accustomed expression. You imagine
Floyd | that she would be quite attractive, if not for the scowl which seems to
Floyd | be permanently burnt into her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unnatural reflection causes you to notice her right eye, which,
Floyd | under close scrutiny, is apparently artificial. Though the prosthesis
Floyd | is good enough to pass for the real thing under casual scrutiny, it
Floyd | does lack the bloodshot look of the left eye, and you can make out the
Floyd | segmentation of a mechanical iris. If the color had been a better match
Floyd | for her left eye, you might well not have noticed.
Floyd | [The document "Graduation Photograph" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind photo" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far
Floyd | less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so.
Floyd | It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows.
Floyd | The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it
Floyd | conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The button on the stream visualizer blinks, indicating that it has
Floyd | generated a new hologram.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push visualizer" 		

Floyd | The visualizer beeps softly, then its emitter flares to life....
Floyd |
Floyd | Steam billows from the shower, and even though it's only a hologram,
Floyd | you find yourself wanting to mop condensation from your brow. Through
Floyd | the translucency of the shower curtain, you can make out the general
Floyd | shape of a female. A second later, she shuts off the water, stands
Floyd | shaking behind the curtain for a moment, then extends an arm from the
Floyd | curtain, reaching toward an empty towel-rack.
Floyd |
Floyd | After clutching at empty air a few times, she pokes her head out, her
Floyd | long blonde hair sticking to her head as water drips from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Shit," she says, then steps out of the bathtub, uselessly trying to
Floyd | wipe the water from her body with her bare hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is at about this time that the door swings open. A young man steps
Floyd | in, apparently oblivious to her. He sees her, and comes to a complete
Floyd | stop, studying her nude form slack-jawed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Overcome by surprise, it takes the woman a moment to process what has
Floyd | just happened. When she does, she throws up her hands to provide
Floyd | extremely inadequate concealment for her more sensitive parts, quickly
Floyd | turning a deep scarlet. "Stop fucking staring, you pervert!" she
Floyd | shouts. She rushes toward him, using her shoulder to force him back
Floyd | through the doorway. She closes the door with her foot, obviously
Floyd | unwilling to further expose herself by moving her hands from their
Floyd | protective positions. She falls backward against the closed door,
Floyd | holding it shut with her weight, though this seems unlikely to be
Floyd | effective should the young man have any determination whatsoever to
Floyd | re-enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | "And get me a fucking towel."
Floyd | [The document "Stream Visualizer Recording: Bathroom" has been added to
Floyd | your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open mirror" 		

Floyd | You open the medicine cabinet, revealing a pill bottle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bottle" 		

Floyd | A bottle of prescription medication.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd | A bottle of prescription medication.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bottle" 		

Floyd | You never were any good with those child-safety devices.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far
Floyd | less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so.
Floyd | It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows.
Floyd | The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it
Floyd | conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vent" 		

Floyd | Forced air environmental control... You've heard of this. It's a system
Floyd | which controlled the temperature in a building via the crude method of
Floyd | pumping air of the desired temperature through a system of metal tubes
Floyd | toward various areas of the house. It's an interesting system, neither
Floyd | very efficient, nor robust, but it did allow the most cost-effective
Floyd | means of controlling interior climate available in this era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toilet" 		

Floyd | While the mechanical aspects may have changed, the device is similar in
Floyd | appearance and function to those of your own era.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd | The sink is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tub" 		

Floyd | The shower is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the large key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I like how this game captures both the looming doom of war and the fairly standard (if people with siblings are to be believed) interpersonal dynamics of a 21st century family."
		DavidW says, "The large key was for this door. Huh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface disc" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, Joliet encoding.
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning. Text message found:
Floyd | By now, the political alliance of European and American countries is
Floyd | engaged in a war against countries in the middle and far east. This
Floyd | conflict will last several years, and result in several billion deaths.
Floyd | The war will be ended when Space Station Kennedy crashes near the
Floyd | Chinese capital city.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, the war can be ended more quickly, and with a reduced loss of
Floyd | life if nuclear weapons from the United States can be effectively
Floyd | deployed in the Chinese mainland. The defensive screen which prevents
Floyd | nuclear weapons from reaching Chinese soil uses a simple 512-bit
Floyd | identification code to differentiate between friendly and unfriendly
Floyd | missiles. If a nuclear missile were to transmit the data sequence
Floyd | generated by the Plotnitz-Leibkin algorithm at a frequency of 906.4
Floyd | MHz, Chinese countermeasures would mistake the missile for a Chinese
Floyd | launch, and would be unable to eradicate it before it reached its
Floyd | target. The tactical advantage afforded by this ability will
Floyd | undoubtedly force the eastern alliance to capitulate with a
Floyd | substantially reduced cost in both lives and damage to the world
Floyd | ecosystem.
Floyd | [The document "Data Disc Message" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You blink. This doesn't make any sense. The disc is contemporary, but
Floyd | it seems to contain information about events in the future. This can't
Floyd | be... Has history somehow been altered?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open beam" 		

Floyd | You open the supporting beams, revealing a gun, some cash, a necklace
Floyd | and a ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the supporting beams
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take gun" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a gun
Floyd |   some cigarettes
Floyd |   a fake diary
Floyd |   a charger
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a small book
Floyd |   a can of spiced ham (which is closed)
Floyd |   a real diary
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |   a stream visualizer
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Unless you know where we can find more keys, I think we're stuck."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Have you been keeping track of where we've hit on the map with the visualizer?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "no, but the datastore has."
		DavidW asks, "I wonder if we can shoot some doors open with the gun?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shoot west lock" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shoot west door" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break west door" 		

Floyd | The only action you need ever explicitly perform on a door is "UNLOCK"
Floyd | [Footnote 6].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock west door with gun" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 6" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 6]
Floyd | For your convenience, unless a door is locked, you do not need to refer
Floyd | to it. The game will assume that you open and close all unlocked doors
Floyd | as needed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Good idea, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shield" 		

Floyd | This chip uses the StreamDive capacitors to generate an impenetrable
Floyd | temporal energy barrier around the user for defensive purposes. Using
Floyd | this function drains energy from the dive capacitors, reducing the
Floyd | remaining duration of the dive.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  SHIELD ON -- Activate the shield
Floyd |  SHIELD OFF -- Deactivate the shield.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		* Zach has left the channel.
		DavidW says, "I feel stuck at this point."
		DavidW says, "If you'll recall, the diary key is probably the one in the dryer, but the laundry room itself needs a key too."
		DavidW says, "I can't help but think we missed some in the bear, porn closet."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is it worth searching the transcript for previously-found keys?"
		DavidW says, "We've used every key we've found except for the tiny key in the dryer, which we can't reach."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. Just wanted to make sure."
		Jacqueline says, "That autokey is useful, but damn, so is the visualizer."
		Jacqueline says, "Stupid key scavenger hunt"
		DavidW says, "Let's check the main floor again."
		Jacqueline asks, "Been going three hours. Should we call it for today? Take a break and think?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, or okay."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open stove" 		

Floyd | You open the stove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" 		

Floyd | The stove is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x appliances" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | You open the refrigerator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search fridge" 		

Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd | The refrigerator is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x paneling" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open pantry" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The pantry is a separate room."
		Jacqueline asks, "W to tear it apart?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty) and a flour
Floyd | pot (closed).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search shelves" 		

Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan and a flour pot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open pot" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the pots and pans or the flour pot?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "flour" 		

Floyd | You open the flour pot, revealing some flour.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search flour" 		

Floyd | (the flour)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "empty flour pot" 		

Floyd | flour: Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search flour" 		

Floyd | (the flour)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take flour" 		

Floyd | (the flour)
Floyd | That would only serve to make a mess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "blow flour" 		

Floyd | (the flour)
Floyd | (first taking the flour)
Floyd | That would only serve to make a mess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x susan" 		

Floyd | Unbelievable. The workmanship which allows this device to swivel
Floyd | smoothly, allowing stored utensils to be easily accessed, all without
Floyd | the aid of laser construction or frictionless bearings. Still, from its
Floyd | gaudy appearance, it isn't hard to see why the owner relegated it to
Floyd | the pantry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn susan" 		

Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty) and a flour
Floyd | pot (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see some flour here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | You open the china cabinet, revealing some fine china.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x china" 		

Floyd | (the fine china)
Floyd | Several high-quality place settings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search china" 		

Floyd | (the fine china)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lamps" 		

Floyd | oil lamp: These are archaic oil-burning devices, which appear to be
Floyd | decorative, but would probably function as a servicable light source in
Floyd | the event of a power failure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the charger
Floyd |  the can of spiced ham
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move cabinet" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under cabinet" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like the keys have to be around here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x counter" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the buffet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under counter" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Was hoping the scanner and the visualizer would help, like how the visualizer revealed the hiding place in the dollhouse."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under table." 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look behind plates" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm finding nothing here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in closet" 		

Floyd | In the little closet are a coaxial cable, a stuffed bear, four video
Floyd | discs (one "Womb Raider", one "Blow me Away", one "Coeds Getting Naked"
Floyd | and one "Thrustmaster Returns") and some adult magazines.
Floyd | In the distance, you think you hear someone trying to force the lock on
Floyd | the front door. Better stay out of sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oho"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search magazines" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is
Floyd | forced open. There's someone else in the house.
Floyd | "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Time again"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface coeds" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, video encoding.
Floyd | Playing...
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen displays a young woman, obviously intoxicated, being coaxed
Floyd | into displaying her breasts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface returns" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, video encoding.
Floyd | Playing...
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen displays the continuing adventures of a fictional superhero
Floyd | with abnormally powerful pelvic muscles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut bear" 		

Floyd | Cutting that would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not sure what to do."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "perhaps stop?" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "er perhaps stop?"
		DavidW says, "I'm getting tired."
		Jacqueline says, "That's fine."
		Jacqueline says, "Next week is IntroComp awards, fwiw."
		Jacqueline says, "And after that I'm at a con."
		Jacqueline says, "So this is going to be on ice for a bit."
		Jacqueline says, "But I really like this game."
		DavidW says, "ok"
		Jacqueline says, "I have to prep for some folks coming over this afternoon, though, so the timing of breaking now is good."
		DavidW asks, "Did we lose Draconis?"
		DavidW asks, "And what save number should I save as? moments_?"
		DavidW says, "(although we might just restart from the beginning next time)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "moments100" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Jacqueline says, "I think we did lose him, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "He said something about losing his connection."
		Jacqueline says, "And yeah, I suspect we're looking at another restart."
		Draconis says, "I'm back, sorry."
		Draconis says, "Hm."
		Draconis says, "I suggest restarting, this time with the probe and the crypto chip."
		Draconis says, "We can open the dollhouse and get the pad from that."
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, we wrapped up for the day. DW is tired, and I am prepping for some coding buddies who are dropping by."
		Draconis says, "That's fine. (You can see my connection isn't great, it's really off and on a lot, so I would not be much help.)"
		DavidW says, "very belated, I agree, next time, we should restart with probe and crypto chip."
		
***** SESSION FIVE ***** 		
		Jacqueline says, "Just posted the raw transcript to date."
		Draconis says, "Cool. I'll unfortunately not be here the full time today but I'll play as long as I can."
DavidW arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		Jacqueline asks, "How long have you got?"
		DavidW says, "Didn't notice I wasn't in the lounge."
		Jacqueline asks, "Roger had also mentioned coming, can we give him a couple?"
anjchang arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW says, "I'm lagging rather badly today, I fear."
		* Jacqueline has added anjchang to the channel.
		DavidW says, "I may not be able to drive today when my speed is so poor."
		Draconis says, "Not sure. An hour or so at least hopefully."
		Jacqueline says, "Hi, Anj - are you here for #ClubFloyd? I'm afraid we're not actually playing IntroComp stuff today, we're picking back up on a game we've been playing for weeks."
anjchang says, "hello!" 		
anjchang says, "okay! no worries. I'll just hang out" 		DavidW asks, "is anjchang on the channel?"
		anjchang says, "I think so"
		DavidW says, "oh good"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I just added her, yes."
		anjchang says, "Thank you Jacqueline. And many respects to you DavidW!"
		DavidW says, "thank you. Even though I haven't done anything yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, the two of you (D&D) had ideas on this week - to start over (both of you thought) and to use the probe and the crypto chip this time."
		Draconis says, "Yeah. With the information about the doll house we can get the one pad, and the vent could get us the other."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess we could at least discuss that. Roger will be here or not - we're past 9am now, and he's often pretty late, so."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Yes. That was our plan."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Why don't you drive, since you're lagged? That way we won't move faster than you can deal."
		DavidW says, "We should start at the beginning, take the probe, the crypto chip, and probably the scan, dive, datastore chips too. Not sure what the fifth ought to be."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "uh, ok, if you'll tell Floyd to start."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's look over the list again. Game is loaded. You take it from here, David."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take console. take probe." 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take cryptography. put it in console." 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the cryptography chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scan. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the scan chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take dive chip. put in in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jearl arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take datastore. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put dive chip in console" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in bank" 		

Floyd | You put the dive chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | In the chip bank are six chips (a map chip, a library chip, an
Floyd | artificial intuition chip, a blank chip, an interface chip and a shield
Floyd | chip).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What's the AI chip do?"
Draconis says, "Hey Jearl" 		Draconis says, "Hints."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
Jearl says, "hey" 		Jacqueline says (to Hi,), "Jearl. Afraid we're in session five of a game."
		Jearl says, "I know, I've been half-following"
		Jacqueline says, "er, Hi, Jearl."
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "Oh, cool."
		Jacqueline says, "So the transcript thus far is up, actually - [LINK]"
		Jearl says, "but as usual I have the panoply of Sunday errands so I didn't want to clumsy the place up too much"
		Jearl says, "nice, thanks"
		DavidW says, "I suspect we didn't understand how badly I'm lagging here."
		DavidW says, "I typed all those commands at once."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, so we're full, then, right? No more chip slots?"
		DavidW says, "The AI chip gives hints. We've never used it."
		DavidW says, "No, we have a chip slot left."
		DavidW says, "oh, we probably want interface or shield."
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm."
		Draconis says, "We could take blank."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is the blank extra data storage?"
		Draconis asks, "Though did we ever get any information from that data-dump?"
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Yeah, we can use it to hold one of two data files from the computers in the house."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "Don't know if we can then use the data though."
		DavidW says, "Blank is useless without interface."
		DavidW says, "Blank is extra storage, yes."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take interface. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the interface chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a probe
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Is this a good set up? Any changes to make?"
		Jacqueline says, "Given how important it is to not take actual things, but bring back info, I'm down with this."
		Draconis says, "Sounds good to me."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Should I grab keys and diary first?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd | A grade report has been affixed to the refrigerator door:
Floyd | Donald Woods High School
Floyd | Interim Grade Report
Floyd |
Floyd | Term: Spring
Floyd | Name: Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Grade: 10
Floyd |
Floyd | Class: Calculus        Instructor: Nelson    Grade: 99
Floyd | Class: Journalism Tech Instructor: Kryzac    Grade: 100
Floyd | Class: English II      Instructor: Celsius   Grade: 89
Floyd | Class: AP Physics      Instructor: Cornell   Grade: 98
Floyd |
Floyd | Please report any errors to guidance office immediately.
Floyd | This is an interim grade report. Official grades will be available at
Floyd | end of semester.
Floyd | [The document "Report Card" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x receipt" 		

Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd | Store #10191 Checker 7 6:27 PM
Floyd |
Floyd | BJ ICE CRM 1GAL            7.74
Floyd | FW TOWELL 6PK         SB   4.80
Floyd | FW 2PCT MLK 1GAL           4.88
Floyd | FW TRASH BAG               5.54
Floyd | PRODUCE               SB   9.34
Floyd | PRODUCE                   16.33
Floyd | AP XS CH COL               9.72
Floyd | POLISH SAUS               10.21
Floyd | 1DOZ EGG                   8.35
Floyd | FLNK STK                  18.22
Floyd | PRD WHOLE CHKN            12.77
Floyd | FC BREAD                   1.94
Floyd | COKE 2LTR          6      18.06
Floyd | MTN SPR WTR 1GAL   4      12.44
Floyd | TT DONUT                   4.33
Floyd | MARLB MEN UL CRT          52.00
Floyd | AA BATT 12PK              16.32
Floyd | CP SOUP            5  SB  10.35
Floyd | APL JCE                    5.10
Floyd | MX TMPN 30                 6.77
Floyd |
Floyd | BAL                      235.21
Floyd |
Floyd | VALUED CUSTOMER 1191388732
Floyd |
Floyd | SB FW TOWELL 6PK           2.20-
Floyd | SB PRODUCE                 1.21-
Floyd | SB CP SOUP                 1.00-
Floyd | BAL                      230.80
Floyd | TAX  11.54     BAL       242.34
Floyd | Debit Card               242.34-
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | FoodWorks 10191
Floyd | Debit Card     XXXXXXXXXXXXX1332
Floyd | $242.34
Floyd | BIOMETRIC SCAN CONFIRM:
Floyd | James Robert Wallace
Floyd | AUTH OK
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | Authentication verified by DAVS
Floyd | YOUR TOTAL SUPER BONUS SAVINGS
Floyd | TODAY ARE: $4.41
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you for shopping at
Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd |
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Grocery Receipt" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Well, can we do *anything* with the shelter? We can't because we don't know where the key is, right?"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, that's one thing that's on a timer."
		Jacqueline says, "That and the intruder, which comes later."
		DavidW says, "We have no keys for the shelter itself or for the basement door."
		Jacqueline says, "Right."
		Draconis says, "There may be some of course, but we never found them."
		Jacqueline says, "Hopefully they're... I dunno, in a vent."
		DavidW says, "Playing privately, I have discovered two keys in the Master Bedroom, but I don't know what they're for since I can't get in there without the autokey."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I guess, yeah, grab the keys and the diary - collect info that we already know about (like you just did with the receipt) along the way."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letter" 		

Floyd | Dear Julia,
Floyd | I hope to God you get this letter. We waited for you as long as we
Floyd | could, but they're saying that the bombs could fall any day. There's a
Floyd | shelter out in New Calvert, we're going there. Daddy says its the
Floyd | safest place in a hundred miles. Try to get there if you can, but don't
Floyd | take any risks. The most important thing is that you stay safe. I left
Floyd | some money and your grandmom's jewels in the hidden place for you. Your
Floyd | dad bought a gun and bullets, and put them there too, but be careful.
Floyd | We all love you and hope to see you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Mom.
Floyd | [The document "Letter to Julia" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn ball" 		

Floyd | You give the knob a twist, then another. After a few more turns, it
Floyd | comes free in your hand, revealing a very small compartment in the post
Floyd | underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | You force your hand between two cushions. Before nicking yourself on a
Floyd | spring, your hand catches on a small object which was lost in the
Floyd | couch, which emerges to the surface just ahead of your stinging hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | (the deadbolt key)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open toilet" 		

Floyd | On a whim, you lift the heavy boxes and raise the lid of the toilet
Floyd | seat. The bowl has been drained, and resting inside is a small book,
Floyd | which you manage, with some difficulty, to retrieve before letting the
Floyd | boxes fall back into place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on probe" 		

Floyd | You have a sudden dizzy, disembodied feeling as sensory feed from the
Floyd | probe overwhelms you...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom (as the probe)
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see your body here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vent" 		

Floyd | You fly into the vent, eventually coming to a main shaft.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in the main ventilation duct for this section of the house.
Floyd | Smaller ducts lead north, east, west, and northeast. A large shaft
Floyd | crosses this duct vertically.
Floyd |
Floyd | A string of letters has been printed on one of the shaft walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letters" 		

Floyd | RHWO JZWZXYQ ZARF DD0OPL FROOD1
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "whoa"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze letters" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using RUR-14 Nanocode (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd | Wait a minute. That doesn't make any sense; RUR nanocode hasn't been
Floyd | invented yet... Maybe the damned cyptography chip is malfunctioning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Trippy"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, time intrusion"
		DavidW says, "A nanocode, if I understand the term, encodes a lot of info into a much much smaller encoding. It compresses the data."
		Draconis says, "I wonder how far you can compress without running into some theoretical limit."
Guest1 arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Draconis says, "Hey Guest1" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Guest1 says, "Hi" 		
Guest1 asks, "What game is this?" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says, "Hello, Guest. Unfortunately you have to have an account to play with us on ClubFloyd. We're playing Moments Out of Time." 		DavidW says, "Here's the note we saw in the flashback via the visualizer."
Jacqueline says, "Accounts are free. But FYI, we're on week five of Moments. A transcript, if you want to read it and then join us with an account, is at [LINK]" 		
Guest1 says, "I never heard of that game. Could be interesting." 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd | 5
Floyd |
Floyd | M --
Floyd |
Floyd | J nqpueu sxly mt fxz pnf grio, jw-secgbi. Ecn xcygi iv zyufv zhph ph
Floyd | cpp xfsc tdptm pbhgk feusdg rpaborqu? Z'zx ail hz zrol eo ukzy cpj.
Floyd | W'ad zqveab okrymo xbv zsb dbfn shbi.
Floyd |
Floyd | Rvsgjy, gxas, fpsm W cvs pmf h curs pj ymrcjlf yeg tuq. Edd ve recol cg
Floyd | ahemla reg opj gm hm snoqcix Ndcsm. Iza ocrolexe Zdfei? Bc faejo kxwhno
Floyd | ciz skdkml xdhf qf kje kcsx iehd. Wgzun pa'm jwij twoo & V ausjd'd, tt
Floyd | ujhhw lw nqhc gl xp di mbmrklu.
Floyd |
Floyd | Qmdmsw, xxh yy rmzq yp ixq apez hz wtzf hcb ht omzjqiyuv. --F
Floyd | [The document "Vent Letter" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bathroom (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a bathroom, unusually large and attractively decorated.
Floyd | Aside from the free-standing whirlpool bathtub, there is a separate
Floyd | shower stall. A counter, the central feature of which is a
Floyd | three-paneled mirror which wraps around the sink, spans one wall.
Floyd | Architecturally, the room itself is fairly simple; a rectangle with
Floyd | plain white walls and a simple black-and-white tessellation on the
Floyd | floor tile. The decor gives the room more life; delicate just-green
Floyd | lace window drapery contrasts elegantly with the deep green of the
Floyd | heavy rug in the center of the room. The counter is equipped with a
Floyd | wicker dish full of soaps which you assume are more decorative than
Floyd | functional. A wooden table under the window holds a vase of dried
Floyd | flowers. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We never saw this room before."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bathtub" 		

Floyd | The probe lacks any manipulative hardware.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, I guess we can get into lots of spots as the probe. Pretty crazy."
		Jacqueline says, "AHA. That thar's yur limitatin."
		Jacqueline says, "er, limitation"
		Jearl says, "> DUCT TAPE KEY TO PROBE"
		Jacqueline says, "Just when I thought we'd play the rest of the game as the probe."
		DavidW says, "I think this room must be behind the large mirror in the Master Bedroom. Like, it must be a door."
		Jacqueline says, "This game is pretty clever in its trade-offs for perspective."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vase" 		

Floyd | The probe lacks any manipulative hardware.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, we can't even look at stuff?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | This house has many doors. Very few of them are worthy of note
Floyd | [Footnote 2].
Floyd | The door is locked with a simple privacy lock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We read the notes..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rug" 		

Floyd | The rug is a fairly good decorating choice -- nothing too flashy, and
Floyd | in a color that complements that of the drapes. Admittedly, degree to
Floyd | which it accentuates the decor of the room is probably more a
Floyd | coincidence than a sign that the owner had some decorating skill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Drac), "I know."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm confus-ed."
		Jearl says, "this PC is so dismissive of the people in the house"
		DavidW says, "We can look at stuff, but containers are problematic."
		Jearl says, "'hey, this room looks nice! I assume by accident'"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "True."
		anjchang asks, "can we look under rug?"
escapecage arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Jacqueline says, "Probably not as the probe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under rug" 		

Floyd | The probe lacks any manipulative hardware.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "My guess is that examining an unimplemented object triggers another action? One which isn't specifically allowed as an exception for the probe thing?"
		* Jacqueline has added escapecage to the channel.
		Jacqueline says, "Hi, escapecage. We're unfortunately in week five of a game. Not the best week for someone new, but if you're interested, we're playing Moments Out of Time, and the transcript so far is up at [LINK]"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "timescan" 		

Floyd | The console does a scan of the area, but detects nothing out of the
Floyd | ordinary, aside from the distortion caused by your own presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Are we done with this room for now?"
		anjchang asks, "can we fly into stuff?"
		Jacqueline asks (of Anj), "Like what, the vase?"
		anjchang asks, "maybe smash things up?"
		DavidW says, "I want to get the probe back and get to the dollhouse."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit vase" 		

Floyd | Violence is against StreamDiver regulations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "sounds like a good plan DavidW"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push vase" 		

Floyd | Nothing obvious happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly into vase" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vent" 		

Floyd | You fly into the vent, eventually coming to a main shaft.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in the main ventilation duct for this section of the house.
Floyd | Smaller ducts lead north, east, west, and northeast. A large shaft
Floyd | crosses this duct vertically.
Floyd |
Floyd | A string of letters has been printed on one of the shaft walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Enter vase?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh well. Timing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vase" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bathroom (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a bathroom, unusually large and attractively decorated.
Floyd | Aside from the free-standing whirlpool bathtub, there is a separate
Floyd | shower stall. A counter, the central feature of which is a
Floyd | three-paneled mirror which wraps around the sink, spans one wall.
Floyd | Architecturally, the room itself is fairly simple; a rectangle with
Floyd | plain white walls and a simple black-and-white tessellation on the
Floyd | floor tile. The decor gives the room more life; delicate just-green
Floyd | lace window drapery contrasts elegantly with the deep green of the
Floyd | heavy rug in the center of the room. The counter is equipped with a
Floyd | wicker dish full of soaps which you assume are more decorative than
Floyd | functional. A wooden table under the window holds a vase of dried
Floyd | flowers. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "aw"
		Jearl asks, "what abou tth etub?"
		DavidW says, "sorry, lagged again"
		DavidW says, "okay,, back to gettin' to the dollhouse"
		Jacqueline says, "No worries, DW. That's why you're driving."
		Jacqueline says, "It's like when you're hiking - only go as fast as your slowest friend. ;)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter tub" 		

Floyd | You get into the bathtub.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "hmm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out. enter vent. d. d." 		

Floyd | You get out of the bathtub.
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bathroom (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a bathroom, unusually large and attractively decorated.
Floyd | Aside from the free-standing whirlpool bathtub, there is a separate
Floyd | shower stall. A counter, the central feature of which is a
Floyd | three-paneled mirror which wraps around the sink, spans one wall.
Floyd | Architecturally, the room itself is fairly simple; a rectangle with
Floyd | plain white walls and a simple black-and-white tessellation on the
Floyd | floor tile. The decor gives the room more life; delicate just-green
Floyd | lace window drapery contrasts elegantly with the deep green of the
Floyd | heavy rug in the center of the room. The counter is equipped with a
Floyd | wicker dish full of soaps which you assume are more decorative than
Floyd | functional. A wooden table under the window holds a vase of dried
Floyd | flowers. The exit is south.
Floyd | You fly into the vent, eventually coming to a main shaft.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in the main ventilation duct for this section of the house.
Floyd | Smaller ducts lead north, east, west, and northeast. A large shaft
Floyd | crosses this duct vertically.
Floyd |
Floyd | A string of letters has been printed on one of the shaft walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom (as the probe)
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see your body here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off probe. take probe." 		

Floyd | You have a sinking feeling as the probe drops. Just before it hits the
Floyd | ground, your perspective changes...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a probe here.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. u. u." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e. x photo. n." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd | [The document "Photograph of a Young Man" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 3].
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dollhouse" 		

Floyd | You give a gentle tug at the base, which pops open. Inside, you see two
Floyd | letters (a crumpled letter and a folded letter) and a strange book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from dollhouse" 		

Floyd | crumpled letter: Removed.
Floyd | folded letter: Removed.
Floyd | strange book: Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's analyze them! :D"
		Jacqueline says, "w00"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crumpled" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x folded" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x strange book" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search painting" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take new book" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dresser" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | S --
Floyd |
Floyd | Ug. Hw. Npxo J teiotslz swo jq zco yum evyt xdru qafib. Gwz air qow? W
Floyd | upigs bio'zv tstgxbpqk kdemb wlwi urnq gmis. Ntgk, T'o oikvrm yljm if
Floyd | msc xng. She vtsubzy pkncri aixf tckg zhkomg rfw jrp mpe xdizuxiv
Floyd | phslyrl cs dvz ijscee ppsocyw lbsz zm oxa ulvwjybj. Da N'p zbrq djoj tl
Floyd | sohrl ztlb odb krr ot oyf wved. Ea abvg't ukw su jxyw cbqh? W'o ixvit W
Floyd | wjrct'm lycz fe ckymj. Ufybyr vgzqo zg depl hn le hjr dxfj bywo leuc.
Floyd |
Floyd | --E
Floyd | [The document "Letter (1)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | O --
Floyd |
Floyd | N'q gxtr kib vcijo wn xerb. Gzw iaqrx gmtto, G'ij yfuu hechbg igajnd
Floyd | dpnu jyfivzub nubl oha goect lp, rtzeqpc qi ccf ym tnr qds hexsikp blim
Floyd | pqliv egfw ubi bdmi brjf xqh. N'gk efaiea jldhwc cuh wys icrno bueag,
Floyd | fnu M acxbj xems zuaszl ci vol aw cxs jqnj, sfc lruze igiw S qnd pxn W
Floyd | rohu ec snfkv. Zlwqw X pxecd mtgn txj'io gkdz mf noxmzvx pk suu
Floyd | rnifovig, cldj R jgzbs wunxn Y kjizwk kia pa fxrs dx uir atvvuf, ake
Floyd | lpdv E znczn xczd vin'wv muix df pwe bnx usytgmu ke zkm gue as zjpu. X
Floyd | ccczj L'oz wxaqvuvjji tk fxe rklt mu tf igly ckzbk nvrzd ifa ivbfe, msf
Floyd | prlaeu pbm ez mloihjs tm. Nuz, N'o inmo u siflrj. D'mh iapzqu npzkfx
Floyd | jce. C zad'i sqgr mv bqg kjs tlot asgxbku hq, jpu W ykxcco uwav za hqc
Floyd | coi kdoc aio fzgtw Y qq.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Q
Floyd | [The document "Letter (2)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | This is a small, very worn notebook containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Under your scrutinty, a very slight distortion in the picture is
Floyd | visible. You slide your hand between the sheet and its support, and
Floyd | turn up a very small book.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | (the dresser drawers)
Floyd | You open the dresser drawers, revealing a brass key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | (the brass key)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze old book" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...

		
Floyd Results: Cipher key [Type: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.] 		

Floyd | (Ciphers using this key can be decoded)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze new book" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...

		
Floyd Results: Cipher key [Type: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.] 		

Floyd | (Ciphers using this key can be decoded)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode crumpled" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...
Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | Hi. Um. Hope I remember how to yse the code book right. How are you? I
Floyd | guesr you're wondering where this note came. Well, I'm living with my
Floyd | dad now. Mom started dating this drug dealer and she got arrested
Floyd | because he was making crystal meth in our basement. So I'm back here at
Floyd | least till the end of the year. So what's new in your life? I'm sorry I
Floyd | haven't kept in touch. Pleare write me back so we can talk some time.
Floyd |
Floyd | --D
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Nice"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode folded" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...
Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm glad you wrote me back. All these years, I've been scared pretty
Floyd | much shitless that you hated me, because it was my mom was driving that
Floyd | night when you lost your eye. I've really missed you all these years,
Floyd | and I would have talked to you in the hall, but every time I see you I
Floyd | lose my nerve. First I think that you'll hate me because of the
Floyd | accident, then I think maybe I should try to talk to you anyway, but
Floyd | then I think that you'll hate me for not talking to you for so long. I
Floyd | guess I'll understand if you want me to just steer clear and stuff, but
Floyd | please try to forgive me. God, I'm such a coward. I've really missed
Floyd | you. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I really want to let
Floyd | you know how sorry I am.
Floyd |
Floyd | --D
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aw"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, interesting."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode vent letter" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Decode failed: No decodable text found (This may not be a cipher)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on probe" 		

Floyd | You have a sudden dizzy, disembodied feeling as sensory feed from the
Floyd | probe overwhelms you...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom (as the probe)
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see your body here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vent" 		

Floyd | You fly into the vent, eventually coming to a main shaft.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, earlier I meant 'nice we decoded this,' not 'nice - D's mom's man was cookin meth in the basement'"
		Jacqueline says, "Just to be clear"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode vent letter" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Decode failed: No decodable text found (This may not be a cipher)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode note" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...
Floyd | 5
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | I really want to see you like, in-person. You think we could meet up
Floyd | and have lunch after school tomorrow? I've got so much to tell you.
Floyd | I've really missed you all this time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, yeah, sure I can get a note to someone for you. But it might be
Floyd | easier for you to go through Rusty. You remember Rusty? He lived across
Floyd | the street from me way back when. Since he's been here & I haven't, he
Floyd | might be able to do it quicker.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyhow, let me know if you want to hang out or something. --D
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		anjchang asks, "what about the letters on the shaft walls?"
		Jacqueline says, "It's bizarre that we've uncovered so much and yet there are just more questions."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in the main ventilation duct for this section of the house.
Floyd | Smaller ducts lead north, east, west, and northeast. A large shaft
Floyd | crosses this duct vertically.
Floyd |
Floyd | A string of letters has been printed on one of the shaft walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode letters" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: RUR-14 Nanocode
Floyd | Trying to decipher anyway...
Floyd | Decode failed: Code cannot be identified or cipher is unbreakable. (Try
Floyd | analyzing more ciphertext)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sounds like maybe later."
		Draconis asks, "We found the diary pad. Can we try that one next?"
		DavidW says, "We don't have any nanocode info."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "We need to unlock the diary before we can encode it."
		Draconis says, "Right."
Guest1 goes home. 		DavidW says, "We don't have the autokey, and the suspected diary key is in the laundry room BUT the laundry room itself is locked."
		Draconis says, "Damn."
		Jacqueline grumbles.
		DavidW says, "I suspect the key I found in the Master Bedroom will unlock the laundry room, but I have no way to get into the Master Bedroom, except via probe."
		Jacqueline says, "So my theory that there are keys in vents is prolly not a good one."
		Jacqueline says, "Since the probe can't manipulate anything and we can't get into the vents without the probe."
		DavidW says, "Playing privately, I found only the 3 vent locations. We can't go down into the basement, and the exits from the vents go to rooms we've seen normally."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | As the vent approaches the environmental unit, the electromagnetic
Floyd | fields begin to interfere with your connection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know what to do, if anything, about the environmental unit."
		Jacqueline says, "Normally I would be all DW NO SPOILZ PLZ except that if you're ruling stuff out I am kinda okay with this."
		Jacqueline asks, "Have we considered eviscerating the teddy bear?"
		Jacqueline says, "Just saying."
		Draconis says, "We tried without success before iirc."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, good."
		Jacqueline says, "Just trying to think of places we've maybe been but not searched thoroughly."
		Jacqueline says, "The keys have to be available in a cascade effect."
		DavidW says, "um. We could try cutting the bear open, I guess. The scissors are in the Nook bench seat, and the key to bear's door is behind the picture, iirc."
		Draconis says, "Let's try that."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Oh, you don't think we've already tried? Let's at least try."
		Draconis says, "I feel like the bear must be relevant somewhere."
		Jacqueline says, "The bear seems to be a focal point, after all."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't remember trying to cut the bear."
		anjchang says, "i read bear, but I was thinking "beer""
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u.u." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are at the connection between a large vertical shaft and the
Floyd | horizontal duct which allows air flow to the rooms on this floor. Small
Floyd | ducts branch off in many directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ventilation Shaft (as the probe)
Floyd | You are in a long stretch of ventilation ductwork, with small vent
Floyd | shafts leading off in every direction. The large shaft to the lower
Floyd | floor is below you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a note here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay. Well, that's a thing we can try."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom (as the probe)
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see your body here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Anj), "Happens to me all the tiem."
		Jacqueline says, "Time, even."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off probe. take probe. s" 		

Floyd | You have a sinking feeling as the probe drops. Just before it hits the
Floyd | ground, your perspective changes...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a probe here.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. open bench. take handle and scissors." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd | You open the bench seat, revealing a sewing machine, some fabric, a
Floyd | needle, some thread, a scissors and a magnetic handle.
Floyd | magnetic handle: Taken.
Floyd | scissors: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n. w. d. e. n." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" 		

Floyd | You pull the painting a few centimeters from the wall, and notice that
Floyd | a small steel key, which you take, has been secreted in the back side
Floyd | of the frame.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "Yay a key!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w. open door" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "this family had no pockets"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door" 		

Floyd | You have to specify what you want to unlock the little closet with.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Wait until y'all see what's in the closet!"
		anjchang says, "i'll just put my drink behind the sofa"
		DavidW says (to Jearl), "There are pockets in the living room closet coats."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "steel key" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with steel key" 		

Floyd | You open the little closet, revealing a coaxial cable, a stuffed bear,
Floyd | four video discs (one "Womb Raider", one "Blow me Away", one "Coeds
Floyd | Getting Naked" and one "Thrustmaster Returns") and some adult
Floyd | magazines.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "hahaha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut bear with scissors" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to cut the stuffed bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut bear" 		

Floyd | Cutting that would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "aw"
		Jearl asks, "open bear?"
		Jacqueline says, "aw"
		Jearl asks, "use scissors on bear?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bear" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search bear" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd | It's a rather well-worn children's toy, missing its right eye.
Floyd | You shift your eyes back and forth. Bear. Porn. Bear. Porn. Bear.
Floyd | Something just isn't right.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shake bear" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, ">EVISCERATE BEAR"
		Jacqueline asks, "There has gotta be something with... have we tried putting J's eye in the bear?"
		Jearl says, "use laser on remaining eye"
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "I don't think so."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch bear" 		

Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "squeeze bear" 		

Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl asks, "hug bear?"
		DavidW says, "oh. There's needle and thread in the bench, and the bear's eye is in the girl's room -- we could fix the bear, in theory."
		Draconis says, "Ooh!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Didn't she at one point do that? Or did she just remove his eye and we all think it's for comraderie?"
		DavidW says, "like, sew the glass eye to the bear."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sew" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fix" 		

Floyd | What do you want to fix?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Alas I must depart for a time, I may return in about an hour if you're still playing. Otherwise I'll check up on the transcript later."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fix bear" 		

Floyd | You would achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "Aw. Thanks for coming for a bit."
Draconis heads back home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "Julia ripped the eye off the bear and then her dad took the bear away. I forget where we read that." 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
anjchang says (to draconia), "nice meeting you!" 		Jacqueline asks, "What do we think fixing the bear would do?"
		DavidW says, "It seems fixing the bear isn't an option after all."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, I saw where fix was a verb, but not where fixing the bear would do nothing. Got it."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Personally, nothing, except have a fixed teddy bear."
		anjchang says, "maybe the bear will talk"
		Jacqueline says, "That would take the game to a new level of creepy"
		anjchang says, "or point to which magazine to read"
		Jacqueline says, "So, let's think. The keys we need have to be accessible."
		Jearl asks, "do we know that those discs are actually porn?"
		anjchang asks, "could the eye of the bear have the key?"
		Jearl asks, "or are they just labeled porn?"
		DavidW asks, "A Teddy Ruxpin, eh?"
		DavidW says, "Teddy Ruxpin bears are kinda creepy."
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "Sure. Sure that's what you want to rule out. Got it."
		Jacqueline says, "Actually, it's a very good point."
		Jearl says, "dunno if 'something isn't right here' is a meaningless or meaningful remark"
		Jacqueline says, "I... think we were able to check that out, but can't recall for sure."
		Jacqueline asks, "..DW?"
		DavidW says, "We don't need to play these. We can analyze them right here. But yes, they're all actual porn."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, barring that, I think we need to do a thorough room by room group search for keys. Clearly the keys we need are accessible."
		Jearl says, "I very much want to see the author's textual rencering of 'Thristmaster'"
		anjchang says, "sounds like "something isn't right" is significant"
		Jearl says, "rendering*, Thrust**"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x porn" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the video disc of "Womb Raider", the video disc of
Floyd | "Blow me Away", the video disc of "Coeds Getting Naked", the video disc
Floyd | of "Thrustmaster Returns" or the adult magazines?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Sorry, check what out? I missed the thread of the conversation."
		Jacqueline says, "That they're really porn."
		Jacqueline says, "I think you covered that."
		Jearl says, "oh well"
		anjchang says, "but definitely something isn't right"
		Jacqueline says, "I hate to say it, but my best idea is that we have two new sets of eyes and need to find keys the natural way."
		Jearl says, "I would trust familial revulsion over one-time-pad any day, just sayin"
		anjchang says, "bad to have that stuff around kids stuff..."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I was thinking that 'something isn't right' because you've found a teddy bear and some porn and those don't normally go together, but possibly I'm being prematurely dismissive."
		DavidW says, "We never found anything _useful_ in this hall closet."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under stairs" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl asks, "ok, where's that coax cable go?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x coax" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "okay then lets jet"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cable" 		

Floyd | A short length of high-bandwidth wire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Just make sure we drop it before we go back home"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a coaxial cable
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a probe
Floyd |   two cipher keys:
Floyd |     a new code book
Floyd |     an old code book
Floyd |   two letters:
Floyd |     a folded letter
Floyd |     a crumpled letter
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says, "I skimmed through the transcript" 		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Remind me: the magnetic handle does open a door we found, right? A mirror?"
		Jacqueline asks (of escapecage), "Cool. Please speak on the channel to keep the transcript cleaner. Do you know how to use channels yet, or need some pointers?"
escapecage says, "Kind of disappointing that a time-travel story takes place in a suburban home: King of uncreative" 		DavidW says, "The handle opens the closet upstairs. Towels, linens, hidden pack of cigarettes."
escapecage says, "kind" 		escapecage says, "HHello"
		DavidW says, "We don't know whose cigarettes."
		Jacqueline says, "Once you've done that to set which channel you want, you can shorten it to a semi-color ;Hello again"
		escapecage says, "Hello"
		Jacqueline says (to e), "Hi"
		Jacqueline says (to e), "I don't know, I like how it's reflected on things we don't think about in houses of our day from another point of view."
		Jacqueline says, "And there's enough interesting perspective that the house doesn't seem that boring to me."
escapecage says, "thanks for the help" 		Jacqueline says (to DW), "As boring but necessary as it is, would you like to embark on a concentrated search for keys? And if so, how should we go about it? Some sort of systemaic approach, I was thinking."
		DavidW says, "Well, let me list all the keys I know about:"
		escapecage asks, "I wonder if this has a death like my favorite adventure game death, the "do as you have done" one in Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy?"
		DavidW says, "There's two keys in the Master Bedroom (one under the bed, which I think is for the Master Bathroom; one in the dresser, which I think is a skeleton key)."
		DavidW says, "There's a brass key in the lint trap of the drier that I think must be for the real diary."
		DavidW says, "The deadbolt key was in the den couch; it unlocks Julia's bedroom."
		DavidW says, "The large key in the bannister unlocks the door to the sealed room, which lets us reach the attic."
		DavidW says, "The magnetic handle was in the nook's bench seat and unlocks the linen closet."
		DavidW says, "The steel key behind the painting in the back hallway unlocks the door under the stairs, where the bear and porn are."
		escapecage says, "It would be Nihilistically amusing if looking back at the nuclear war made the government decide to repeat it, and this ended like Hotline Miami 2."
		DavidW says, "And there was a key in the girl's dresser that unlocks her walk-in closet."
		Jacqueline asks, "Which ones can we access at present? Just the bannister and the den couch and the handle (and the steel key we have)?"
		DavidW says, "I failed to find any key in the flour pot in the pantry, or use the flour in any useful way."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, like, in my head there's a flow chart of keys that come before other keys or key-hiding-places, but of course I don't have the map."
		Jacqueline asks, "I don't suppose you've uploaded your map somewhere, have you, DW?"
		Jacqueline says, "(Not asking you to, just asking if you have.)"
		DavidW says, "No, but I can try to upload it."
		Jacqueline says, "I know your bandwidth is screwed right now, but it might be helpful in helping us sort through this as a group."
		escapecage asks, "Maybe dissolve the poison pill in a glass of water, leave it out in the kitchen, hope the killer drinks it?"
		DavidW says, "no, I can't do it at the moment."
		DavidW says, "sorry. plover.net is timing out on me."
		DavidW says, "oh wait"
		DavidW says, "trying to navigate directories. This too, is lagging."
		Jacqueline says, "No worries. We can sit a sec."
		DavidW says, "logging in again"
		DavidW says, "network error"
		DavidW says, "hm. Abnormal program termination this time."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe one more try? If it's not going to work, we understand."
		DavidW says, "Almost got there"
		DavidW says, "I tried one directory change too many, I guess."
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Email it to me?"
		Jacqueline says, "that's just one step, right? I'll post it."
		DavidW asks, "ha ha ha. You think getting to my email is easier than uploading?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Sorry."
		Jacqueline smiles.
		Jacqueline says, "So."
		Jacqueline asks, "I guess I would just like to tear this house apart, one room at a time. Where should we start, or does anyone else have ideas?"
		DavidW says, "okay, it's uploaded"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		anjchang says, "tear the place down!!!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Link?"
		escapecage says, "I wish someone would figure out the copyright on Legend games so GOG could get them'"
		escapecage says, ""I wish someone would figure out the copyright on Legend games so GOG could get them'""
		DavidW says, "It ought to be at [LINK]"
		Jacqueline says, "W00"
		Jearl says, "wow"
		anjchang says, "awesome!"
		Jearl asks, "we're at Behind the Stairs?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am *so* glad I asked and that you persisted."
		Jearl says, "thanks, DW"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "That's where the pr0n is"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, DW, I am sad that you called that room 'Behind the Stairs' instead of 'The Harry Potter Room' as we were calling it last session."
		DavidW says, "I use the name the game uses."
escapecage says, "I wish someone would figure out the copyright on Legend games so GOG could get them'" Best thing to study through time" 		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I know, I know."
		Jacqueline sighs, even though she knows.
		Jacqueline asks, "So, where to begin our systematic tear down? Or does someone else have an idea?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, hey - good map technique with the attic. I've never thought to do the shadow, just the U/D"
		Jearl says, "I don't; let's just toss the joint"
		escapecage says, "That is the best thing to study through time"
		DavidW says, "I try to do the shadow on above-ground locations."
		Jacqueline asks (of escapecage), "What is?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, it's nice. Harder to miss than the U/D"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, have we tossed the closet enough, or should we search a bit more before moving on?"
		escapecage says, "Porn"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan closet" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl asks, "ok, we know it's really porn, but have we opened the boxes to look for keys?"
		DavidW asks, "Boxes? Are there boxes in this location?"
		Jearl says, "the whatever container the tapes/discs are in"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang asks, "DVD boxes?"
		escapecage asks, "Maybe we can move it and see if anything is under it? Maybe someone thought robbers would be distracted and forget what they were doing?"
		Jearl says, "or are they not in any protective sleeves? that's no way to treat porn"
		DavidW says, "The discs are just there, naked and unafraid."
		Jacqueline says, "snrk"
		Jearl says, "okay then"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from closet" 		

Floyd | stuffed bear: Removed.
Floyd | video disc of "Womb Raider": Removed.
Floyd | video disc of "Blow me Away": Removed.
Floyd | video disc of "Coeds Getting Naked": Removed.
Floyd | video disc of "Thrustmaster Returns": Removed.
Floyd | adult magazines: Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in closet" 		

Floyd | The little closet is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "foo"
		escapecage says, "I cannot blame them for looking at porn, since birth control is likely to ber illegal soon in this time period."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x closet" 		

Floyd | This is a tiny closet, too small to enter. The ceiling tapers sharply
Floyd | inside, crunching down its storage space toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stairs" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter closet" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "I guess we have exhausted the harry potter room"
		Jearl says, "yet there myst be *soemthing* to this bear"
		DavidW says, "Nothing was revealed by moving bear, porn."
		DavidW says, "It's sorta backstory. A metaphor for Julia herself."
		anjchang says, "I wonder why there are two eyes"
		DavidW says (to anjchang), "One eye is Julia's; the other eye is the bear's."
		anjchang asks, "ah but why would julia leave her eye? or did i miss that text?"
		DavidW says, "We didn't do that part today."
		DavidW says, "Julia is dead."
		Jacqueline says (to anj), "Yeah, there's tons of backstory on the eye in the transcript from previous sessions"
		DavidW says, "She took out her eye and her corpse is holding it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "My notes aren't complete; it's a work-in-progress."
		anjchang says, "ok thanks for clarifying. i have goggly eyes as craft material."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, wow. I hadn't scrolled down to the notes. Wow."
		Jacqueline says (to anj), "hee"
		DavidW says, "The bear's eye is more of the googly type. But Julia's eye is electronic, can see infrared, stores what she last saw. It's kinda neat."
		Jacqueline says, "It's like a self-contained computer, yeah"
		DavidW says, "Julia and Donna were in a car driven by Donna's mom and there was an accident where glass flew into Julia's eye, so she had to get it replaced."
		anjchang says, "I gotta run, but this is fascinating. Thanks for playing!"
		DavidW says, "More about the eye itself is in a file in the Office computer."
anjchang goes home. 		escapecage asks, "What if we switch the bear's eyes?"
		DavidW says, "anyway, I have no good ideas where to find new keys. Den? Living Room? I've looked, but didn't find anything."
		Jacqueline says, "I can't recall if we tried inserting the eye in the bear. We can only get Julia's eye if we have particular keys at the beginning of the game. And, see, that might be a reason to restart. The key to the shelter has to be accessible fairly quickly."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "oh, we tried inserting into the bear. The bear was NOT interested."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay then. I do not want to force ourselves on the bear."
		Jacqueline asks, "Can we do this? Can we restart, same set up, but save as soon as we arrive in the house, then search for the shelter key?"
		DavidW says, "The thing is, I'm stuck, I don't know what to try next."
		DavidW asks, "Why do we need to restart for that?"
		Jacqueline says, "Right. But do you get the logic here? Without the autokey, one must be able to get into the shelter before the bomb hits nearby and makes that room inaccessible."
		Jacqueline says, "So having a save at that point will let us determine the search radius."
		Jacqueline says, "It seems to happen pretty soon after we arrive."
		DavidW says, "For all I know, the key to places might be with the looter."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, unless there's really a way to move those boxes, which I continue to believe is the lamest gate puzzle ever."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Oh, sort of ala Zork thief?"
		Jacqueline says, "Interesting. Definitely possible."
		DavidW says, "The logic I see is that the game is designed to have some places inaccessible. I think it's entirely possible that the autokey is the only key to the shelter."
		Jacqueline says, "Tell you what, the boxes have fallen. Let's go screw with those a bit, make sure there's no way thought."
		Jacqueline says, "er, through"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Do you?"
		DavidW says, "I guess one idea I never tested is seeing if the shield would let us leave the house."
		Jacqueline asks, "Thaat it's designed so that the game is unwinnable in a single playthrough? Not just easier with multiple tries, but impossible?"
		DavidW says, "'unwinnable'? Does that concept apply here? We get stuff, we take it back, we get a score."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, there would be huge plot gaps, that's what I mean."
		Jacqueline says, "How successful you are is based on how much you've explored, how much info you've collected."
		DavidW says, "yes, there will always be gaps in any one session. It's the combination of several sessions that tells the whole story."
		escapecage says, "Infocom games are 5 cents, Sierra games are a dollar--except for King's Quest 3, Phantasmagoria, the Gabriel Knight sequels or Space Quest 2, in which case the cost is that of her eye-replacement surgery."
		DavidW says, "In any case, we have certainly failed to solve a major puzzle, re: what's up with all the extemporal artifacts."
		Jearl asks (of escapecage), "was that meant for another channel?"
		escapecage says, "It was a reference to the sign over the robot"
		Jearl says, "ah, right"
		escapecage says, "I love Sierra, except for those games"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I am not sure I agree with you, DW, but at any rate, I know you've probably already searched hard core. What do you want to do? I just feel like the game has to be near-fully accessible without the autokey."
		DavidW says, "I think most of the house must be accessible without the autokey."
		escapecage says, "Maybe we can put the porn somewhere in the shelter and something will open? That is the only thing that comes to mind."
		DavidW says, "I think we should try using a tool we haven't tried yet."
		Jacqueline asks, "Which have we not yet tried?"
		DavidW says, "We haven't tried the cloaking device. We also haven't tried the shield or intuition chips."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I guess we haven't -- yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "Restart with cloaking, see and follow the intruder?"
		DavidW asks, "There's a side door to the basement. What if the cloaking device lets us leave the front door and enter the basement that way?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Another possibility. Is the excuse that we can't go outside because we might be seen?"
escapecage says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some adult magazines
Floyd |   four video discs:
Floyd |     "Thrustmaster Returns"
Floyd |     "Coeds Getting Naked"
Floyd |     "Blow me Away"
Floyd |     "Womb Raider"
Floyd |   a stuffed bear
Floyd |   a coaxial cable
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a probe
Floyd |   two cipher keys:
Floyd |     a new code book
Floyd |     an old code book
Floyd |   two letters:
Floyd |     a folded letter
Floyd |     a crumpled letter
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's also an exit door via the laundry door, I think."
		Jacqueline says (to escapecage), "You can enter commands in the current room, like you just did, but please don't switch rooms."
		Jacqueline asks, "Jearl, anj, escape, are you all cool with starting over again with the cloak?"
		Jearl asks, "and the laundry's a room we dont' have access to in this playthrough yet?"
		Jearl says, "yeah"
		Jearl says, "I keep getting pulled away by my cat"
		escapecage says, "Can we put the video in the player and see if we can distract the killer and steal something from him."
		DavidW says, "We can't enter the same room as the looter; the game refuses since we'd be seen. If the looter enters our location, he shoots us dead immediately."
		Jacqueline says, "But with the cloak..."
		DavidW says, "We'd definitely need the cloaking device to even SEE what the looter does."
		Jacqueline says, "That's definitely new info I'm interested in."
		DavidW says, "I think we ought to try a cloak + shield run."
		Jacqueline nods.
		Jacqueline says, "Let's do it. That means a complete restart."
		escapecage asks, "Maybe put in the videos before he comes, turn them on and wait somewhere else?"
		Jacqueline makes the After You gesture to DavidW.
		DavidW says, "yup"
		Jacqueline says (to escape), "I'm fine with trying your idea, but think we can do it this way."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take console. take cloaking" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cloaking" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take shield. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | A standard-issue cloaking device. Operating along similar principles to
Floyd | the StreamDive device itself, it causes all photons entering the field
Floyd | to be instantly transported to the far side of the field as if they had
Floyd | passed straight through it, with the net result being that anything
Floyd | within the field is nearly invisible. The relocation effect causes
Floyd | "ghost" photons to be emitted by the inside of the field, allowing any
Floyd | person inside it to see his surroundings with a minimum of visual
Floyd | distortion. The device's battery is currently charged to 100 percent.
Floyd | The cloaking device is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the shield chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "What other four chips should we take? scan, datastore, interface, dive?"
		Jacqueline says, "I vote scan for sure"
		Jacqueline says, "If nothing else, it may help us find more keys"
		DavidW asks, "or scan, datastore, interface, crypto?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take scan. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the scan chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take dive. put it in console" 		

Floyd | (the dive chip)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the dive chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dive" 		

Floyd | (the StreamDive console)
Floyd | Your StreamDive console is a small display device designed to provide
Floyd | you with relevant information about the current dive, and allow access
Floyd | to key StreamDive facilities [Footnote 1]. These facilities are made
Floyd | available by adding chips to its five-slot chiprack. The chiprack
Floyd | currently contains three chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dive chip" 		

Floyd | This is the fundamental chip for the StreamDive console. It allows
Floyd | control of the temporal displacement functions.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RECALL -- Discharge StreamDive capacitors for instant recall
Floyd |  STATUS -- Display status of Dive system
Floyd |  TIMESCAN -- Scan local timestream
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "two more"
		Jearl asks, "going without dive is an option?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hrm. I feel like crypto isn't enough on its own. Interface & datastore?"
		Jearl says, "datastore seems pretty important"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "I think without it we get recalled automagically at some point, this lets us recall early. But also other stuff."
		Jearl says, "I see"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take interface. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the interface chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take datastore. put it in console" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a cloaking device
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "CF10 is clear, right? I'd like a save right after we land in the house."
		DavidW asks, "are we good?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think so."
		DavidW says, "Weirdly, I have 'make pizza slow' running through my brain when playing this part, particularly 'Meatloaf? Ehn, put it in the pizza!'"
		Jacqueline says, "..."
		DavidW says, "(an Olson Twins special segment that someone slowed down the speed on. Very strange and surreal.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf7" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, crap."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We have some saves beyond... oh well."
		Jacqueline says, "I don't think we really need those."
		Jacqueline says, "I know we have a cf8, for instance. Weird."
		DavidW asks, "hm?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I used the autosaver, but I think at some point we must have started naming them ourselves."
		Jacqueline shrugs. "It's fine. I don't really think we necessarily need any of our old saves at this point."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, are we cloaked by default, or do we have to activate it?"
		DavidW says, "tsk tsk"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		DavidW says, "This game encourages restarting, yes."

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, might as well spend time before the other person shows up trying to go outside."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cloaking" 		

Floyd | This isn't a good time to let your mind wander.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cloaking" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oops"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf7" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cloaking" 		

Floyd | A standard-issue cloaking device. Operating along similar principles to
Floyd | the StreamDive device itself, it causes all photons entering the field
Floyd | to be instantly transported to the far side of the field as if they had
Floyd | passed straight through it, with the net result being that anything
Floyd | within the field is nearly invisible. The relocation effect causes
Floyd | "ghost" photons to be emitted by the inside of the field, allowing any
Floyd | person inside it to see his surroundings with a minimum of visual
Floyd | distortion. The device's battery is currently charged to 100 percent.
Floyd | The cloaking device is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Sorry. :)"
		DavidW says, "go ahead"
		Jacqueline says, "You're back in control. I had just saved prematurely."
		DavidW says, "I'll eat a sandwich while we figure out what we'll doing."
		Jacqueline says, "Ah. So it's not on by default. It has limited use."
		DavidW says, "We should save just before turning it on before trying to dash out the front door."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn ball" 		

Floyd | You give the knob a twist, then another. After a few more turns, it
Floyd | comes free in your hand, revealing a very small compartment in the post
Floyd | underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cloak" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Leaving the house would violate the boundaries of your mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on cloaking" 		

Floyd | The cloak hums, and you detect a slight shimmer in the air around you
Floyd | as you are enveloped by the cloak field.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Leaving the house would violate the boundaries of your mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jearl says, "hrrgh"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!"
		Jacqueline smash.
		Jacqueline says, "Lame"
		Jacqueline asks, "Why must we be so lawful good?"
		DavidW asks, "So the cloak is *only* good vs the looter?"
		Jacqueline says, "Then again, this is how I operate in real life, so I can't complain too much."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I guess."
		DavidW asks, "And it's on equal par with all the other main tools? Autokey, probe, visualizer?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we just z a bunch to test the theory and thus not waste time, or should we use the scanner to look for secret keys?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cloak" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "I like to play games the opposite of the way i do reality: Be a nice guy in reality, and a obsessive psychopath in games."
		DavidW says, "I think we ought to at least grab all the keys we know how to reach."
		Jearl says, "a lot of games do tend to encourage that"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search cocuh" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | You force your hand between two cushions. Before nicking yourself on a
Floyd | spring, your hand catches on a small object which was lost in the
Floyd | couch, which emerges to the surface just ahead of your stinging hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd | (the deadbolt key)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" 		

Floyd | You pull the painting a few centimeters from the wall, and notice that
Floyd | a small steel key, which you take, has been secreted in the back side
Floyd | of the frame.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Jacqueline says, "Yo. Rog."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.w.u.e.n." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		Roger says, "Hi"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 3].
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the deadbolt key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dresser. take key" 		

Floyd | (the dresser drawers)
Floyd | You open the dresser drawers, revealing a brass key.
Floyd | (the brass key)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dollhouse" 		

Floyd | You give a gentle tug at the base, which pops open. Inside, you see two
Floyd | letters (a crumpled letter and a folded letter) and a strange book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crumpled. x folded. x strange book" 		

Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | S --
Floyd |
Floyd | Ug. Hw. Npxo J teiotslz swo jq zco yum evyt xdru qafib. Gwz air qow? W
Floyd | upigs bio'zv tstgxbpqk kdemb wlwi urnq gmis. Ntgk, T'o oikvrm yljm if
Floyd | msc xng. She vtsubzy pkncri aixf tckg zhkomg rfw jrp mpe xdizuxiv
Floyd | phslyrl cs dvz ijscee ppsocyw lbsz zm oxa ulvwjybj. Da N'p zbrq djoj tl
Floyd | sohrl ztlb odb krr ot oyf wved. Ea abvg't ukw su jxyw cbqh? W'o ixvit W
Floyd | wjrct'm lycz fe ckymj. Ufybyr vgzqo zg depl hn le hjr dxfj bywo leuc.
Floyd |
Floyd | --E
Floyd | [The document "Letter (1)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | O --
Floyd |
Floyd | N'q gxtr kib vcijo wn xerb. Gzw iaqrx gmtto, G'ij yfuu hechbg igajnd
Floyd | dpnu jyfivzub nubl oha goect lp, rtzeqpc qi ccf ym tnr qds hexsikp blim
Floyd | pqliv egfw ubi bdmi brjf xqh. N'gk efaiea jldhwc cuh wys icrno bueag,
Floyd | fnu M acxbj xems zuaszl ci vol aw cxs jqnj, sfc lruze igiw S qnd pxn W
Floyd | rohu ec snfkv. Zlwqw X pxecd mtgn txj'io gkdz mf noxmzvx pk suu
Floyd | rnifovig, cldj R jgzbs wunxn Y kjizwk kia pa fxrs dx uir atvvuf, ake
Floyd | lpdv E znczn xczd vin'wv muix df pwe bnx usytgmu ke zkm gue as zjpu. X
Floyd | ccczj L'oz wxaqvuvjji tk fxe rklt mu tf igly ckzbk nvrzd ifa ivbfe, msf
Floyd | prlaeu pbm ez mloihjs tm. Nuz, N'o inmo u siflrj. D'mh iapzqu npzkfx
Floyd | jce. C zad'i sqgr mv bqg kjs tlot asgxbku hq, jpu W ykxcco uwav za hqc
Floyd | coi kdoc aio fzgtw Y qq.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Q
Floyd | [The document "Letter (2)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd | This is a small, very worn notebook containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search painting" 		

Floyd | Under your scrutinty, a very slight distortion in the picture is
Floyd | visible. You slide your hand between the sheet and its support, and
Floyd | turn up a very small book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x new book" 		

Floyd | This is a very small, hand-bound book containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book (new)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the brass key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move boxes." 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search boxes" 		

Floyd | Pushing a box to the side, you discover a thin composition book, which
Floyd | had been secreted between two of the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x composition book" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace                        [The document "Diary" has
Floyd | been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So 'move' is just not a thing in this game."
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder if there's a way through those boxes in the basement. Don't want to check it out now, just wondering."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.s" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bench" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take handle, scissors" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 4], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 5]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,

		DavidW says, "I guess not"
		DavidW says, "(re move)"

Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | You open the bench seat, revealing a sewing machine, some fabric, a
Floyd | needle, some thread, a scissors and a magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | magnetic handle: Taken.
Floyd | scissors: Taken.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "burn them with fire"
		Jacqueline says, "heh heh heh"
		Jearl says, "(the boxes)"
		Jacqueline says, "That might backfire."
		DavidW says, "The basement boxes don't have game objects."
		Jacqueline says, "Sadly, I doubt it will even let us try."
		Jearl says, "probe them? I guess we don't have the probe"
		Jearl says, "foo"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "oh. Like, they're not even implemented?"
		Jacqueline says, "That's right. Poo."
		DavidW says, "We can't refer to the boxes in the basement at all. They're not implemented."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I remember that now that you say it."
		DavidW says, "There is a lawnmower down there, though."
		escapecage says, "try the magnet on the lawnmower"
		DavidW asks, "did we ever open the pill bottle in upstairs bathroom?"
		DavidW says (to esc), "We cannot reach the basement at this time."
		Jacqueline | Floyd | You never were any good with those child-safety devices.
		Jacqueline says, "(Re: pill bottle)"
		Jearl says, "man"
		DavidW | You always had to ask a child to open them for you.
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		escapecage says, "pry the lid with the screwdriver"
		DavidW says, "I forget which comedian used that line."
		Jacqueline asks, "Lid of what?"
		DavidW says (to esc), "No screwdriver."
		DavidW asks, "Was there a screwdriver in the nook bench?"
		DavidW says, "no, don't see one there."
		Jacqueline asks, "Anything we haven't scanned, I wonder?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fabric" 		

Floyd | A few pieces of cloth, cut to various sizes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "That's how we've found some keys, right? Scanning?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search fabric" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "It's possible there's some room we never scanned; it's not like we formally kept track."
		DavidW says, "Scanning let us know that the bannister ball was turnable but scanning didn't help with the den couch."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess I could comb the transcript."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n.w.n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall Closet
Floyd | Although the primary function of this room seems to be as a linen
Floyd | closet, its size suggests that it was intended for even heavier
Floyd | storage. Three of the walls bear shelves, neatly stocked with towels
Floyd | and bed linens.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You poke around at the sheets, and find, hidden in the folds of a large
Floyd | bedsheet toward the back, a pack of cigarettes, either squirreled away
Floyd | for an emergency, or hidden from a disapproving family member.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Ugh. The word 'scan' appears 248 times in our transcript."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cigarettes" 		

Floyd | Toward the end of the twenty-first century, various lobbies finally
Floyd | succeeded in banning the manufacture and sale of these particular
Floyd | items, citing their known carcinogenic effects and the ongoing
Floyd | tendencies of their manufacturers to indulge in unethical business
Floyd | practices. Like the bans on so many other harmful intoxicants, the
Floyd | cigarette ban would have undoubtedly failed, had genetic engineering
Floyd | not coupled a non-toxic smoking mixture with powerful antidepressants,
Floyd | resulting in a new, safe cigarette, which provided an even better high.
Floyd | These, however, are still quite lethal, you're sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cigarettes" 		

Floyd | They're not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search cigarettes" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scan cigarettes" 		

Floyd | The scanner reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I have no idea whose cigarettes these are."
		Jacqueline says, "Could be almost anybody's"
		Jacqueline says, "Probably not Julia's, but otherwise..."
		DavidW says, "Even Donna's."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		escapecage says, "I assume they either destroyed the boy's face or the girl's eye."
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing Katia, the mother, is most likely, but everyone's a suspect."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we just z until the person shows up? See what the cloak allows us to learn?"
		Jearl says, "why not"
		DavidW asks, "Is there a prefered location to wait?"
		Jearl asks, "what room is mostl likely to get traffic?"
		Jacqueline asks, "By the front door?"
		DavidW says, "I think the looter goes downstairs as soon as possible, but I'm not sure."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh - is *that* how we get into the bunker, I wonder?"
		Jearl asks, "the Hall, then?"
		DavidW says, "So maybe go get the diary and wait at Downstairs Landing, where we'll hear him break in."
		Jacqueline says, "okay"
		DavidW says, "no, NOT the Hall, since we'd be killed immediately."
		Jearl says, "ah, I assumed we'd be cloaked"
		DavidW says, "I assume we would not be cloaked because the cloak uses precious precious power."
		Jearl says, "in fairness it's a 2009 iMac and I'm not surprised gmaes are starting to sketch ou on it"
		Jearl says, "iladc"
		DavidW says, "We need to hear him break in, *then* cloak."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we could do that, then undo and use the cloak."
		Jacqueline says, "But whichever."
		Roger says, "Maybe that eyeball charger is compatible"
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "You want to see the actual break in?"
		Jacqueline says, "Might not hurt."
		Jearl says, "yeah, it's the future! universal adapter!"
		Jacqueline says, "But I thought it was just an easy way to get to the moment of truth."
		DavidW says, "I think the timing will be tricky. Because we haven't been playing on a normal terp, we haven't recorded when the looter event happens via status bar."
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Right, we just z-enter-z-enter-z-enter until we die, then undo one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pre-cloak" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You realize that could be a heckuva lot of z's."
		DavidW says, "but ok"
		Jacqueline asks, "I do. Anybody else have a different plan?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "If you want me to do the z-enter thing, I can. I don't have the alg."
		Jacqueline says, "er, lag"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The lag will make it more difficult for me, yes. I would prefer someone else to do this part."
		Jacqueline asks, "I can do it. This is the place, right?"
		DavidW says, "Yes. This is the Hall. Front door directly south."
		Jacqueline says, "Here I go..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Floyd |
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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

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Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Here I go..."
		Jacqueline says, "Here I go..."
		Jacqueline says, "Here I go..."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Whoops!"
		Jacqueline says, "Heh"
		DavidW asks, "are we there yet?"
		Jacqueline says, "This is definitely what one calls a brute-force hack."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Don't make me pull this car over."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "mommy, Phil's kicking me!"
		Jacqueline says, "So help me, Davey..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | You hear someone trying to force the lock on the front door. Better
Floyd | stay out of sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!!!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "intruder" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Your turn, DW."
		Jearl says, "holy crap"
		Jearl says, "I was starting to think it was event-driven after all"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on cloak" 		

Floyd | The cloak hums, and you detect a slight shimmer in the air around you
Floyd | as you are enveloped by the cloak field.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The front door isn't going to keep whoever's on the other side out much
Floyd | longer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The front door finally yields. On the other side, you see a
Floyd | shabbily-dressed man, holding a pistol. He steps inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "woo"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd | Looking around the entry hall, the man, clearly a thief, walks over to
Floyd | the table. He sets down a newspaper, an action almost comic in its
Floyd | domesticity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x newspaper" 		DavidW says, "I am lagging so badly again"

Floyd | Since you can't move the paper without arousing suspicion, you only
Floyd | manage to read a single article.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shield Breach Poses No Threat, Pentagon Says
Floyd |
Floyd | Today, officials at the Pentagon released a statement regarding last
Floyd | week's destruction of the Alaska relay station for the sub-orbital
Floyd | missile defense network.
Floyd |
Floyd | Although many commentators have suggested that this breach will render
Floyd | the shield incapable of deflecting incoming nuclear attacks, Pentagon
Floyd | officials affirm that the damage to the relay station poses "no threat"
Floyd | to US targets.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The system was designed to deal with this sort of attack," said
Floyd | General Renault, director of shield operations in the northwest US,
Floyd | "And even with the loss of this station, other stations in the
Floyd | continental US and Canada will be able to cover most of the affected
Floyd | area. The only reduction in coverage will affect several small Alaskan
Floyd | islands and a limited area of northern Canada. Since these areas
Floyd | contain no significant military targets, the chances of this breach
Floyd | serving any tactical advantage to the enemy is effectively zero."
Floyd |
Floyd | However, not all observers are equally optimistic. Eric Blaine, of the
Floyd | independent nuclear defense research group at Pacific Tech, fears
Floyd | worse. "The shield itself is an inherently unstable system. The current
Floyd | implementation was secure only so long as it remained intact. Though
Floyd | the shield itself still covers everything but some uninhabited regions
Floyd | of Alaska and Canada, these areas can be made to serve as a gateway.
Floyd | With the weaknesses this breach has introduced in the shield, it might
Floyd | be possible for a missile, launched from China, to enter the shield
Floyd | through its weakpoint."
Floyd |
Floyd | Pentagon officials have denied the validity of Blaine's research. An
Floyd | announcement from Congress later in the morning requested the
Floyd | disbanding of the independent nuclear defense research group.
Floyd | [The document "Newspaper Article" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage exclaims, "Alaska and Canada are not worth protecting: Makes sense to me!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Yay new info. Are we going to be frozen to the spot even after the person moves on?"
		Jacqueline says (to escapecage), "Clearly you are new here and know not among whom you speak."
		escapecage asks, "I wonder if that is a reference to Metal Gear SOlid?"
		escapecage says, "I was just joking"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, I know."
		Jacqueline says, "I just lived in Alaska for most of my time thus far on the mud."
		Jacqueline says, "Was up there for about 12 years."
		DavidW says, "I suspect we can leave the room without being noticed."
		DavidW says, "And I'm Canadian."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Well, but you're far from the uninhabited parts."
		Jearl says, "is he just standing here"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table are a newspaper and a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yay lean and dangerous"
		Jacqueline says, "That is a clue, folks."
		DavidW says, "true"
		Jacqueline says, "You were right, DW. I'm certain."
		Roger says, "Can we just shoot him"
		DavidW says, "I wouldn't have a clue amongst the elk and caribou and meese and polar bears."
		Jacqueline says, "We don't want to, Roger."
		Jacqueline says, "He's going to lead us to things we can't otherwise get, ala the Zork thief."
		Roger says, "Okay then"
		Jacqueline asks, "Although I guess the thief was 'lean and hungry?' Am I misremembering?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "We cannot shoot anyone. Even with the gun; 'shoot' isn't an implemented verb."
		Jearl says, "hopefully before the cloak battery dies"
		escapecage asks, "Put the poison pill in some food?"
		Jearl says, "there is that mysterious canned ham"
		Jearl says, "but i htink we wait till he breaks into a room"
		DavidW says, "We don't have the pill. It's in the shelter. Also don't have food."
		Allen says, "lean and hungry, right. Such men are dangerous"
		DavidW says, "We cannot open the ham."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we'd need Jenni Polodna here to truly unravel the mystery of the ham."
		Jacqueline says, "When I think if IF food, I think of Jenni"
		Jacqueline shrugs.
		DavidW says, "I feel someone else should drive during this section. I don't want to step on toes."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, I can drive, but what are we trying to do? Just get the thief to do more things?"
		escapecage says, "We need Charlotte Varicella, who has no problem using weapons."
		DavidW says, "We cannot 'get' him to do anything. All we can do is follow and observe, or anticipate and observe, or observe after the fact."
		DavidW says, "Don't forget we have the shield chip, in case things get messy."
		Jacqueline says, "Right. That's what I mean. By waiting."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief apparently thinks better of leaving his newspaper laying
Floyd | about, and retrieves it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "follow looter" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl asks, "grr, which way??"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Down, I think"
		DavidW says, "damn lag"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "He trapped us in the Den once."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Weird, no alert this direction, nor looter."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Um, okay. That's all the directions."
		Jearl says, "hrgh"
		Jacqueline asks, "Am I a turn behind?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "oh, I think it wouldn't let us go east"
		Jacqueline says, "So we get the alert."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "He's probably in the Office? Not sure."
		DavidW says, "damn lag again"
		DavidW says, "Like I said, good thing I'm not driving this part."
		DavidW says, "Interesting how the newspaper is a limited time view."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | [Can't "undo" twice in succession. Sorry!]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Why the heck did you come to the back hallway?"
		Jacqueline says, "To reset the moment when he walks off, which I just did."
		DavidW says, "Undo again and try to be where he moves to before he moves there."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. I don't think it will let us, but okay."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hall
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh gosh. It worked."
		DavidW says, "oh, so he goes east first? huh."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief looks over the various art objects, then, oblivious to their
Floyd | lack of value, collects them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Carefully, the thief looks inside the video cabinet. With obvious glee,
Floyd | he removes the video player.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "North or east?"
		Jearl asks, "can you go east without opening a door?"
		DavidW asks, "Isn't the closet locked?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter admires the painting for a moment, then removes it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Can I just follow?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd | The looter pokes around in the closet for a time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I guess it's possible I miss something by the lag of one turn, but probably not?"
		DavidW asks, "We never tried taking the video player. Maybe there's a key under it?"
		DavidW says, "'follow' is not a recognized verb, I thought."
		Jacqueline says, "Not sure why it didn't work the first time. I must have been off by a turn."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Well, I meant going after he leaves, not before."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief looks through the china cabinet, removing everything of
Floyd | value.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Finally a complete set of tea saucers"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm starting to wonder if he's just on AI, not a pre-determined mode."
		Jacqueline says, "And whether or not what we need on him is already on him and we should just..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some cigarettes
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a small book
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   a cloaking device
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. We don't have the gun."
		Jacqueline shrugs. "I'll keep following him for a bit."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We cannot shoot him. We might be able to somehow influence him, I suppose."
		Jearl says, "maybe if we reveal ourselves with the shield on it'll ricochet and kill him"
		Jacqueline asks, "What're you thinking?"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "Not sure we can reveal ourselves."
		escapecage says, "I wonder if this game is making a bunch of references: The boat painting from The Simpsons; the idea of Alaska as a safe haven in a war between America and China from Metal Gear Solid; the face with one mechanical infrared eye from The Terminator; the sister calling her brother an ugly virgin from Grand Theft Auto 5; Womb Raider from MAD Magazine"
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, hrm. Which way?"
		Jearl says (to escape), "the game's from 2001, so, maybe some of the older references"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm going to hope d."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You make it part of the way down the steps, but encounter an
Floyd | impenetrable blockade of toppled boxes, probably brought down by the
Floyd | shaking you felt earlier. Disheartened, you turn back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" 		

Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Well, nothing definite, but possibly dropping money, ring, necklace from the attic in other places for him to pick up might influence his behaviour in some fashion."
		DavidW says, "But we don't know enough about his usual behaviour to form any such strategy yet."
		Jearl says, "smash those boxes like Kool Aid Man, looter"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty) and some bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | A video game system sits before the video screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know what happens if we turn off the cloak in front of him. Best guess: he shoot us dead."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn off cloak" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cloak" 		

Floyd | A standard-issue cloaking device. Operating along similar principles to
Floyd | the StreamDive device itself, it causes all photons entering the field
Floyd | to be instantly transported to the far side of the field as if they had
Floyd | passed straight through it, with the net result being that anything
Floyd | within the field is nearly invisible. The relocation effect causes
Floyd | "ghost" photons to be emitted by the inside of the field, allowing any
Floyd | person inside it to see his surroundings with a minimum of visual
Floyd | distortion. The device's battery is currently charged to 32 percent.
Floyd | The cloaking device is currently switched on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Looks like we can't shut it off, but we're racing through the battery."
		Jacqueline says, "So I think we'll find out regardless."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief examines the video disc player, but apparently decides it
Floyd | would over-burden him. Instead, he takes the game console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | With relish, the thief avails himself of one of the bottles on the bar.
Floyd | After a time, he stops drinking and takes the remaining bottles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "maybe suicide-pill-poison the bottle"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. So maybe... the extra items might mean he'd leave stuff behind that he wouldn't otherwise take."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | After some quick poking around, the looter appears to decide he's spent
Floyd | enough time here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd | The cloaking device silently vibrates, announcing the fact that its
Floyd | battery is nearly discharged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl asks, "man, you're net even going to kick in any doors for us?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | The console beeps out in distress. "Alert: Human presence detected in
Floyd | adjacent room."
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd | A lean and dangerous-looking man surveys the contents of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd | The cloaking device silently vibrates, announcing the fact that its
Floyd | battery is nearly discharged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "what good are you"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The cloaking device silently vibrates, announcing the fact that its
Floyd | battery is nearly discharged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The cloaking device silently vibrates, announcing the fact that its
Floyd | battery is nearly discharged.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The cloaking device silently vibrates, announcing the fact that its
Floyd | battery is nearly discharged.
Floyd | You breathe a sigh of relief as the young man finally makes his way out
Floyd | of the house.
Floyd | "Information: Human presence no longer detected in building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "OMG"
		Jearl says, "DISAPPOINT"
		Jacqueline asks, "YOU HAVE GOT... TO BE... SRSLY?"
		DavidW says, "huh. The looter left. We've never seen that before."
		DavidW says, "Usually we restart before he goes."
		Jacqueline says, "He conveniently leaves at the exact moment the cloak fails."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off cloak" 		

Floyd | The slight shimmer in the air fades as the cloaking device disengages.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So is he just to up the danger?"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, the newspaper was a piece of info... could be a llp."
		Jacqueline says, "In theory, he doesn't take anything to make the game unwinnable (but this is just a theory). Wonder why he left the video disc player."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 2], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under player" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search player" 		

Floyd | The video disc player is empty.
Floyd | On the edge of your vision, you think you see something move. You whip
Floyd | around, but nothing's there. It takes several deep breaths to get
Floyd | yourself under control. You're suddenly overwhelmed by the realization
Floyd | that all of this is going to cease to exist in a just under five hours.
Floyd | You punch the air in frustration. It's not just that there's so much to
Floyd | left to learn here. It's not even that you've started to feel that your
Floyd | dive restrictions have closed certain areas of investigation to you.
Floyd | What really bothers you is the stupidity of it all. The sheer waste.
Floyd | Why does this place have to be destroyed? What possible benefit could
Floyd | it be to either side? It's insane. It's stupid. How could the people of
Floyd | this time have such a cavalier disregard for human life?
Floyd |
Floyd | And, of course, the misgiving you have whenever you Dive this close to
Floyd | your own time hits you... How can you be sure we've really come that
Floyd | far from this?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "He didn't want to overburden himself."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I saw the excuse, yes."
		Roger says, "maybe we should have probed him"
		escapecage says, "I think the intruder is the guy disrupting history, and your cloak prevents him from realizing you are there."
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger), "You say things like that just to troll me, don't you?"
		Roger says, "not /just/ for that"
		Jacqueline says (to escapecage), "See, the temporal stuff is already there before he shows up, though."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "heh"
		DavidW says, "I think the looter is just what he appears to be."
		Jacqueline says, "I do, too."
		Jacqueline says, "He did nothing to make us think he's anything else."
		DavidW says, "We probably should have scanned him, though. If there's the slightest chance the looter has any lockpicks on him, we should get 'em."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, huh. What now?"
		Jacqueline says, "Got about an hour before I need to go."
		Jearl asks, "can we restore to an earlier point and try scannong him?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Maybe. Not sure it'll let us, but why not?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "intruder" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		DavidW says, "We've never played the game post-looter. It's possible that there's another event."

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, poo, I have destroyed that now."
		Jacqueline says, "I *almost* saved."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, if I have to z a ton again I can."
		Roger says, "it's just waiting"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh wait, I wouldn't have to z that much."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on cloak" 		

Floyd | The cloak hums, and you detect a slight shimmer in the air around you
Floyd | as you are enveloped by the cloak field.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The front door isn't going to keep whoever's on the other side out much
Floyd | longer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The front door finally yields. On the other side, you see a
Floyd | shabbily-dressed man, holding a pistol. He steps inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "maybe lock him in a room"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scan man" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd | Looking around the entry hall, the man, clearly a thief, walks over to
Floyd | the table. He sets down a newspaper, an action almost comic in its
Floyd | domesticity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW has disconnected. 		
DavidW has connected. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some cigarettes
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a small book
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   a cloaking device
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "My connection dropped."
		Jacqueline says, "@recap to see our replies."
		Jearl says, "dangit"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I think it would've been useful to play after the looter leaves, to see if there's another event."
		Jacqueline says, "I can easily wait here. We know what all he does."
escapecage says (to Floyd), "hit man with scissors" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We can just wait for him to stroll back through and leave, and we'll know when he's about to based on our battery level."
escapecage says (to Floyd), "put cigarettes on table" 		

Floyd | That would give away your presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "> WAIT UNTIL TEATIME"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief apparently thinks better of leaving his newspaper laying
Floyd | about, and retrieves it.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human presence detected to the west."
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human approaching from west."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Well, what if we leave the ring, money, and necklace in view somewhere?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think there's a possibility he'd change what he takes."
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. Lag."
		DavidW says, "damn this lag!!!"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline asks, "It's easy to go back. Where do you want to drop stuff?"
		DavidW says, "holy f**k, you zoomed through."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm waiting for him to leave."
escapecage says (to Floyd), "put magnet on table" 		

Floyd | You put the magnetic handle on the wooden table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I don't know. Living Room, maybe?"
		Jacqueline says, "But if you want us to go back right before he appears and drop some stuff to see if he takes it, we can."
		Roger says, "now we know why skynet went crazy"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. Give me a sec."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "intruder" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Is he still in the room? Maybe the magnet can attract a crowbar or a key or something from him."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some cigarettes
Floyd |   a scissors
Floyd |   a magnetic handle
Floyd |   a diary
Floyd |   a small book
Floyd |   four keys:
Floyd |     a brass key
Floyd |     a steel key
Floyd |     a deadbolt key
Floyd |     a large key
Floyd |   a wooden knob
Floyd |   a cloaking device
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a dive chip
Floyd |       a scan chip
Floyd |       a shield chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, we'd need to go get them first."
		DavidW says, "We don't have the things I mentioned at this save point. We have to fetch them from the attic."
		Jacqueline asks, "They're in the closet?"
		Jacqueline says, "Attic."
		Jacqueline says, "Thanks."
		Jearl says, "and maybe if he sees something he's not expecting he'll have an interesting startle response"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd | The front door finally yields. On the other side, you see a
Floyd | shabbily-dressed man, holding a pistol. He steps inside.
Floyd | The looter catches sight of you. You try to run, but he is quick to
Floyd | draw his pistol. Though the weapon is primitive, it is quite adequate
Floyd | to his purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 17 out of a possible 73, in 449 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I knew that would likely happen."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "intruder" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to load:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Attic."
		Roger says, "I guess we can't drag one of the corpses up here"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "No, don't think so."
		Jearl says, "I mean, if he sees something he missed when he entered he might freak out"
		Jacqueline says (to Jearl), "Good point"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far
Floyd | less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so.
Floyd | It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows.
Floyd | The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it
Floyd | conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
Floyd | In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is
Floyd | forced open. There's someone else in the house.
Floyd | "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Sorry, was afk to investigate bizarre whistling-zippy noises."
		Jacqueline says, "oops, wrong way"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the large key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd | In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is
Floyd | forced open. There's someone else in the house.
Floyd | "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jearl says, "what this house needs is some good creepy clown paintings"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scan" 		

Floyd | The scanner has further details available on:
Floyd |  the supporting beams
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search beam" 		

Floyd | You can't see inside, since the supporting beams is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "scan beam" 		

Floyd | The scanner locates a compartment in one of the beams.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open compartment" 		

Floyd | You open the supporting beams, revealing a gun, some cash, a necklace
Floyd | and a ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take all from beam" 		

Floyd | gun: Removed.
Floyd | cash: Removed.
Floyd | necklace: Removed.
Floyd | ring: Removed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on cloak" 		

Floyd | The cloak hums, and you detect a slight shimmer in the air around you
Floyd | as you are enveloped by the cloak field.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put necklace and ring on table" 		

Floyd | necklace: Done.
Floyd | ring: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Now wait for him? Maybe try to shoot him?"
		DavidW says, "Unfortunately, he'll have made most of his thefts before we will have a chance to influence him."
		DavidW says, "SHOOT isn't a verb."
		DavidW says, "I keep saying that."
		DavidW says, "We cannot shoot him. We have no SHOOT."
		DavidW says, "We are shootless."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, that's the reason."
		Jacqueline says, "You said we couldn't. I forgot why."
		Jacqueline says, "USE is likely not a verb."
		Jacqueline says, "Wonder if >KILL MAN WITH GUN will work"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess the gun could just be there as backstory. *shrug*"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anyway, wait here to see if noticing the jewelry messes with him?"
		DavidW says, "Killing people is strictly against our dive regulations. You might need to reread our mission and manual."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jearl says, "I would be amazed if the game lets us attack this guy in any way"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess y'all are right."
		Jacqueline says, "I just watched Troubles and Tribble-ations last night, so I just had a refresher on time travel ethics."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, unless people stop me, I intend to wait for him to return."
		DavidW says, "I think we're only allowed to kill in very extreme circumstances, like if the entire run of history would be altered if we didn't kill."
		Jearl says, "yeah, let's wait"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "?"
		DavidW asks, "Of course, the guy saw this table without any goodies on it. Will he suspect someone's in the house with him?"
		DavidW says, "yes, we can wait"
		Jearl says, "I hope so!"
		Jacqueline says, "That's our theory."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human presence detected to the west."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human approaching from west."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The looter stalks off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "grr"
		Jacqueline says, "grr"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hopefully he'll stutter 'a g-g-g-ghost!' and run through the wall, leaving a looter-shaped hole in the wall."
		Jacqueline says, "Sadly, no"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human presence detected below."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "What happened?"
		Jacqueline says, "Wait a tic."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh right. Nevermind."
		Roger says, "hunh"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "He didn't notice the stuff on the table the first time he walked through. Maybe he will before he leaves, but I doubt it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Alert: Human approaching from below."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The thief walks cautiously into the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "did he walk right by the goodies? (Of course, the coding might have this room as 'done' in its calculations.)"
		Jearl says, "sigh"
		Jacqueline says, "He does walk right by them, yes."
		Jacqueline says, "And putting them where he hasn't already been doesn't achieve our goal."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | You breathe a sigh of relief as the young man finally makes his way out
Floyd | of the house.
Floyd | "Information: Human presence no longer detected in building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So much for that theory."
		DavidW asks, "You tried such a room?"
		Jacqueline says, "I tried a room he'd been in, not one he had not, because we wanted to shake him up by the idea that someone else was here."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "postintruder" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure of the usefulness of putting where he hasn't yet been, except to give him things he wouldn't have otherwise had."
		Roger says, "Hey buddy here's some porn you might have overlooked"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "What were you thinking?"
		Jearl says, "if there were something we could induce him to open for us a la Zork's egg puzzle"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like they hinted at that."
		Jearl says, "but I haven't noticed any such thing, and he tends to just pack stuff away"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, and in Zork you either break into the thief's lare or kill him, neither of which we can do here."
		DavidW says, "Well, I don't know either. Maybe he'll leave something behind from another house. Maybe he'll think this house is "rich" and extend his search."
		Roger asks, "Did we test the shield's bulletproofness yet?"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Leave something behind because he'll need to make room for the good stuff?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "nope"
		DavidW says (to jacqueline), "yeah"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Haven't really had -- well now, wait. I was killed by him."
		Jacqueline asks, "Do we have to activate the shield?"
		DavidW says, "You have to activate the shield, yes. It *also* uses power."
		Jacqueline says, "Makes sense."
		DavidW says, "It would make more sense if our dive let us be fully equipped."
		Jacqueline says, "Ah, but that's part of the game's rich tapestry, David."
		DavidW says, "There's probably an autokey hiding in that can of spiced ham."
		Jacqueline says, "So, what do we want to do next? Or are we done for today? (3:45h of play now...)"
		DavidW says, "I'm tired and my bladder wants to play Niagara."
		Jearl says, "I'm out of ideas"
		DavidW says, "I am curious if anything happens post-looter, though."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Well, that could be another session, but next week I will not be here."
		Jearl says, "Looter 2: Now With a Crowbar"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess you all... could play... without me."
		DavidW says, "Encroyable! (I do not know what that word means)"
		Jacqueline says, "It's incroyable, I believe, and it means 'unbelievable'"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, i, not e."
		DavidW says, "I was trying for an inconceivable joke."
		Jacqueline says, "There you go."
		Jacqueline says, "So, we're done for this week? DW, I will leave Perry running. If you all want to play this again, leave him be."
		Jacqueline says, "If you decide to play something else, consider starting a new transcript (but it's not show-stopping if you leave him run... just make sure he's here)."
		DavidW says, "I think I'm done for know. I don't really have any good ideas to persue. But there must be something."
		Jacqueline says, "We have the postintruder save for you all to play with."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Thanks, all!"
		Roger says, "Thanks Jacq"
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Jearl waves
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		DavidW says, "yes, thank you"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd |

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Jearl you rescue one dog 		DavidW says, "Maybe there's a way to waylay the looter, but I don't see how."
		DavidW says, "It's not like we can tie an invisible string across the top of the stairs."
		Jacqueline says, "no"
		DavidW says, "> dig bengal tiger pit. cover pit with area rug. hide under the sink."
		Jearl says, "not even sure we should interfere with him, maybe you're right and he's jsut a danger"
		Jearl says, "plus a potential last lousy point for the newspaper"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I think he's a llp, myself."
		DavidW says, "I wonder if there's anything in the newspaper article that's researchable via the library chip."
		DavidW asks, "did we research 'serendipity'?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "No"
		Jacqueline says, "We saw it, I wondered alloud if it was a password or something, and that was that."
		Jacqueline says, "er, aloud"
		DavidW says, "I'm wondering now if it was some war project codename."
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, sigh. We could fire up the game just to research it."
		Jacqueline says, "It would take less than 5 min."
		DavidW says, "no, s'ok. My head hurts."
		Jacqueline says, "FWIW, this will be at the end of the transcript so we'll be reminded to try it."
		DavidW says, "For all I know, the word on the dresser might be randomized so we have to see it before researching it."
		DavidW asks, "y'know, it's odd how little known this game is. And aren't there one or two sequels?"
		Jacqueline says, "I'd definitely heard of it long before playing it, but not sure why it's not a classic must-play on lists with, like, Anchorhead."
		DavidW says, "It doesn't come up in theory discussions."
		Jacqueline says, "That is really odd, yes. This does a number of things very well."
		Jearl says, "maybe people are scared off by the V6 thing"
		
***** SESSION SIX ***** 		
		
DavidW arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says, "ahem"
Roger arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		Roger says, "yeah yeah"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we should wait a bit to see if anyone else shows up. Jacqueline is away today at PAX Prime."
Draconis arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		Draconis says, "Hello."
		DavidW says, "I also assume we intend to continue with Moments, specifically to read the diary once and for all."
		Draconis says, "Yes."
		Draconis says, "That is my intent at least."
		DavidW says, "yay"
		Roger says, "I am not opposed"
		DavidW says, "Should we continue to wait? I don't remember who all was here last time or if this is all of us minus Jacq."
		Draconis asks, "I think Olly was here at one point?"
		Draconis says, "I left early last time so I'm not sure."
		DavidW says, "hm. I don't think Olly's been here every time, though."
		DavidW says, "also, I must apologize for my lag."
		DavidW says, "I'm inclined to just start since there's three of us now."
		Draconis says, "Works for me."
		Draconis says, "I'm reading your map now."
		DavidW says, "To see the diary, we'll need the autokey, since we still have no other way of unlocking the diary. I would also like the blank, crypto, datascore, interface, and library chips for this run."
		DavidW says, "er datasTore"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load moments" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [pausing to show unread error message]

		Draconis asks, "Are we assuming the pad isn't in the vent?"
		Draconis says, "There was something in the vent and something in the dollhouse."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [The game has detected that you are using a version of the "Nitfol"
Floyd | interpreter, or a display with a width less than 22 characters. The
Floyd | statusline, menu bar, and "pretty-printing" of menus have been disabled
Floyd | to improve performance under this screen model. These features can be
Floyd | re-enabled as described in the manual.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The indicator light switches from blue to green. The thought occurs to
Floyd | you that this is an exceptionally bad color choice for someone who,
Floyd | like you, suffers from a mild genetic deficit in the color perception
Floyd | department. However, you've been around long enough to be familiar with
Floyd | the change in hue that indicates clearance for a StreamDive.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your elation is such that it takes you a few seconds to respond to the
Floyd | indicator -- a critical error, though not a fatal one. You touch the
Floyd | control, and are further pleased to find that your mission hasn't been
Floyd | scrapped due to your moment of indecision. The full text of your
Floyd | mission description appears on the display...
Floyd |
Floyd | MOMENTS OUT OF TIME
Floyd | TrenchCoatSoft Interactive Fiction: An INFRARED Interactive Exploration
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001 by L. Ross Raszewski. Explorer Type.
Floyd | Type "MANUAL" for instructions and important compatability information.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 010924 / Inform v 6.21 Library 6/10
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDiver Prep Room
Floyd | Though it isn't in any technical sense "your" office, this is the room
Floyd | where you spend the majority of your duty shifts. Here, you do
Floyd | background research, monitor incoming messages from Divers in the
Floyd | field, and hope that one of your mission proposals will be accepted. On
Floyd | the rare occasions, like now, that you are cleared for a dive, this
Floyd | room serves as a place to equip and make last-minute preparations. The
Floyd | exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display monitor stands against one wall, your mission description
Floyd | visible on its screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see an equipment locker (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We only found a vent letter and a string of letters in the vents."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open locker" 		

Floyd | You open the equipment locker, revealing your StreamDive console, a
Floyd | cloaking device, an autokey, a stream visualizer, a probe and a chip
Floyd | bank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "again, apologies for my horrible lag."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take autokey" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blank chip. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the blank chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take cryptography. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the cryptography chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take datastore. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the DataStore chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take interface. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the interface chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take library. put it in console" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You put the library chip into the StreamDive console.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The reason why I want the library chip (instead of scan or dive chip) is that I'm curious if there's any cryptographic keys somehow in the library chip."
		Draconis says, "Hm. I wouldn't think so, since it's a OTP."
		DavidW says, "Remind me what OTP means again."
		Draconis says, "One-time pad."
		Draconis says, "Or 'one true pairing' as someone kept interpreting it last time."
		DavidW says, "For Julia's letters and diary, yes. But there's other things going on."
		Draconis asks, "Oh, which others?"
		Draconis says, "I thought the only unknown one was in the vent which we can't get without the probe."
		Draconis says, "The nanocode thing."
		DavidW says, "well, the string of letters in the vent (which we'd need the probe to see) use a nano-something encoding from the future."
		DavidW says, "Also, we have yet to learn what the large files are about from both the shelter computer and Jim's computer."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Draconis says, "Though notably analyzing those files gave the same response as trying to decode e.g. a chair."
		Draconis says, "Rather than the 'key not found' message for the diary."
		DavidW says, "And we know that Julia did something weird enough that she felt the need to blind her artifical eye when she was doing -- whatever."
		Draconis says, "I thought that was just her typing the suicide note."
		Draconis says, "Though that is a good point."
		Draconis asks, "Why blind herself for that?"
		DavidW asks, "I don't remember attempting to analyze the large files. We've already tried?"
		Draconis says, "We tried ANALYZE BLANK CHIP but that might not have been the right syntax."
		DavidW says, "oh, yeah, I doubt that would work."
		Draconis says, "Sort of like how we kept trying to INTERFACE WITH CHIP and getting a failure message."
		DavidW says, "anyway, I suggest getting the data and eye from the shelter, grabbing the diary, decrypting the diary."
		DavidW says, "Then we can decide what next after that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Are we good to go?"
		Draconis says, "Let's try that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | [Once you leave this area, you will be unable to return. Are you
Floyd | certain that you are ready?]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You walk out of the Prep Room, down the long corridor, and into the
Floyd | Dive section. A number of sensors verify that you are carrying no
Floyd | contraband, and make a detailed record of your relevant bio-data, which
Floyd | is compared to your records to ensure that you are indeed the person
Floyd | scheduled for this dive. From your training, you know that this record
Floyd | will be compared again when you emerge, to ensure that nothing
Floyd | important about your physiology has altered during the dive. The only
Floyd | visible sign of it is a faint play of laser-light over your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Satisfied, an unseen operator opens the door into the next chamber,
Floyd | where a flash of laser-light, radiation, and sickly-sweet aerosol
Floyd | renders you free of micro-organisms.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are allowed to move on only after placing your hand in an
Floyd | indentation by the next door, where ultrasonic "needles" inject you
Floyd | with the requisite immunity boosters, which always gives you the
Floyd | pleasant feeling of being, at least temporarily, totally impregnable to
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | One more room, and anticipation would increase your heart-rate enough
Floyd | that a sensor might declare you medically unfit for duty. Fortunately,
Floyd | this room is the last.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Core
Floyd | You stand in the core of the StreamDive Temporal Relocation Unit. Far
Floyd | below you, an artificial singularity waits to propel you backward in
Floyd | history. The room itself is a huge dome, totally black, but lit from an
Floyd | unseeable source. There is always gooseflesh on your arms when you
Floyd | stand in this room. It is not a friendly room, not a relaxed room. This
Floyd | is a room that knows the seriousness of its function. It is far larger
Floyd | than anything it would ever hold, but its size is a necessity of the
Floyd | design. The constant, low hum of the massive generators that power the
Floyd | time machine is inaudible only here. The room feels like another world
Floyd | itself, neither part of the present nor the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's all in the hands of the folks upstairs now...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | A voice materializes from nowhere in particular. "StreamDiver Alpha
Floyd | Tango-678, StreamDive will commence in thirty seconds. Good luck, and
Floyd | Godspeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The floor fades to transparency. There is a brilliant point of light
Floyd | somewhere far below you. Scanning beams trace over your body. Below
Floyd | you, a perfect mirror image of yourself fades into existence, your
Floyd | avatar. You have a sinking feeling as your avatar falls toward the
Floyd | light. Just as you were trained, you roll back on the balls of your
Floyd | feet and close your eyes. In your head, you count to six. Deep down
Floyd | there, your avatar enters the event horizon of the artificial
Floyd | singularity. As always, you have the disconcerting sensation of
Floyd | falling...
Floyd |
Floyd | Cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bright.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pain is gone before you feel it. You want to open your eyes, but
Floyd | you know better. Even if you survived the experience, your sanity would
Floyd | not. You wait for the sensation of falling to end.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wait for your perception of local timespace to return.
Floyd |
Floyd | It does.
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down,
Floyd | presumably to the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to try to unlock it? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Okay [Footnote 2].
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | The basement of this house is a simple, large room with cinderblock
Floyd | walls. Boxes, crates, and other large items are scattered haphazardly
Floyd | about. A lightweight wooden door in the east wall appears to be an
Floyd | exterior exit, presumably to allow heavy gardening equipment, such as
Floyd | the lawnmower in one corner, to be removed. The stairs up to the rest
Floyd | of the house are along the south wall.
Floyd | And something unusual. The west wall is metal, with a very large,
Floyd | robust door set in it.
Floyd | It couldn't be. Or could it? You've never actually seen one before, but
Floyd | from your records...
Floyd | Yes. It is. It's a bomb shelter; a small room specially designed to act
Floyd | as an emergency shelter in the event of nuclear attack. None have
Floyd | survived to your own time, and records are fragmentary. This is quite a
Floyd | find. If only you could manage to get inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd |
Floyd | Finally, your training releases its hold over your mind and lets you
Floyd | take notice of what would have been the first thing anyone but a
Floyd | StreamDiver would see. Two female bodies, quite motionless, lie on one
Floyd | of the beds. You don't need to check for a pulse on either of them
Floyd | [Footnote 3], but you do, all the same.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still warm. Your hands tremble, and it takes a moment to force yourself
Floyd | to calm down. You've seen dead bodies before, on missions. Victims of
Floyd | the massacre on Mars Colony Omega, ritual sacrifice victims in an Aztec
Floyd | temple, but the immediacy of these deaths is something you weren't
Floyd | prepared for. They can't have been dead for more than a few hours, may
Floyd | even have died while you were in the house. You try to tell yourself
Floyd | that this is an irrelevant detail -- from your proper perspective,
Floyd | they, and everyone else on the planet, have been dead for hundreds of
Floyd | years.
Floyd |
Floyd | It doesn't help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: JTX.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 4:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | We were supposed to do it together. That was the plan.
Floyd |
Floyd | We thought it through, talked about it over and over.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing else made any sense. The safety broke down. The door isn't
Floyd | going to open for thirty years. We can't just stay down here for thirty
Floyd | years. And what about her? We can't take care of that on our own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still, we might have tried. We might have been able to work something
Floyd | out. But we haven't heard anything upstairs for days. Not that you can
Floyd | hear much, but sometimes there's a little banging in the pipes.
Floyd |
Floyd | That damned radio. My hand's all cut up from smashing it to bits.
Floyd | There's going to be an air strike. They don't know where yet, but there
Floyd | isn't any way to stop it. We're less than a hundred miles from the
Floyd | biggest military base in three states. Even if we survive, no one's
Floyd | going to find us. No one's going to save us.
Floyd |
Floyd | So we decided. I unlocked the box. I took out two pills...
Floyd |
Floyd | This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so damned paranoid, we wouldn't
Floyd | even be down here. It's my fault that Donna's dead. It's my fault that
Floyd | I'm going to be dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | We were going to do it together. We laid down on the bed, next to each
Floyd | other, and she hugged me, and she told me she didn't blame me, and then
Floyd | we were going to bite down at the same time and it would all be over.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm such a fucking coward.
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think she felt anything. I hope she didn't know what a coward I
Floyd | am. She closed her eyes, and I closed mine, and then she just sort of
Floyd | shook once, and it was over. And I got up, and I laid her out flat and
Floyd | crossed her arms over her chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | What the fuck is wrong with me? I don't want to live. I never cared if
Floyd | I lived or died since the accident six years ago, and I sure as hell
Floyd | don't want to live down here for the next thirty years, especially now
Floyd | that Donna's gone. I tried to kill myself once before. All I have to do
Floyd | is bite down.
Floyd |
Floyd | So why won't my hands stop shaking? I'm going to do it now. For real
Floyd | this time.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm not getting back into the same bed with Donna. I don't deserve
Floyd | that.
Floyd |
Floyd | I hope my parents will forgive me. I hope Jim will forgive me. Most of
Floyd | all, though, I hope Donna will forgive me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Goodbye.
Floyd | [The document "Suicide Note" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | Julia Wallace
Floyd | Current Events
Floyd | April 25
Floyd |
Floyd | This morning, at 7:42 AM, Congress ratified a declaration of war
Floyd | against an alliance of countries in the Middle East. The official
Floyd | reasons for this declaration were the unlawful occupation of Israel by
Floyd | allied Arabic forces. Nonetheless, several articles in the Global
Floyd | Register suppose that recent military action was motivated by trade
Floyd | restrictions imposed by the Arabic Alliance against Europe and the
Floyd | United States. These restrictions have severely limited the
Floyd | availability of gasoline in the US. According to the April 20 issue of
Floyd | the National Chronicle, the Arabic states have formed an exclusive
Floyd | trade pact with China. The Brandenberg News Network has run several
Floyd | stories saying that Chinese weapons were used in the invasion of
Floyd | Israel, and editorials in several newspapers claim that if the war
Floyd | escalates, China will enter the war on the side of the Arabic Alliance.
Floyd | An article in the Times says that the Chinese newspapers have already
Floyd | printed articles calling for war unless the US backs out of affairs in
Floyd | the Middle East.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sources attached.
Floyd | [The document "Current Events Homework" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Data Snapshot
Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Format not recognized.
Floyd | Attempting to download...
Floyd | Download failed: Insufficient space.
Floyd | Blank StreamDive chip detected in console. Do you wish to download to
Floyd | it?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Download successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Recent Document 1: untitled text document
Floyd | 2     Recent Document 2: Current events HW 4/25
Floyd | 3     Data Snapshot
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bomb Shelter
Floyd | This is career-making stuff. A period survival shelter, fully intact
Floyd | and operational. The ceiling and walls form a single-piece dome, which,
Floyd | you recall, increased the structural stability with the building
Floyd | materials they had available. The eastern end, nearest the exit, seems
Floyd | to be some kind of living area, with a table and several chairs. Past
Floyd | it, you can see four bunked beds. At the far end of the shelter is a
Floyd | curtained area, holding the minimal sanitation facilities.
Floyd | The smashed and broken pieces of some electronic device are scattered
Floyd | around the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small metal box is mounted on one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table are an electronic device and a portable computer.
Floyd | Two corpses lay on opposite cots.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search corpses" 		

Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x left corpse" 		

Floyd | She would have grown up to be quite attractive. For that matter, she
Floyd | actually was quite attractive, despite the disheveled appearance and
Floyd | short unruly tangle of red hair. One eyelid is sunken, as if there is
Floyd | nothing underneath. You can see no sign of injury, and her repose is
Floyd | fairly tranquil.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait. There is something. One hand is scratched badly across the
Floyd | knuckles. But that couldn't be the cause of death.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search it" 		

Floyd | Mustering your resolve, you make a quick check of the body. Clutched in
Floyd | one hand, you find a blue prosthetic eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take eye" 		

Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x right corpse" 		

Floyd | The body lies on the bed, arms folded. Its owner is quite beautiful by
Floyd | the standards of the day, long, blonde hair, sizable breasts, and a
Floyd | frailty that suggests borderline anorexia. The only mar to her beauty
Floyd | is a deep, jagged scar on one cheek. There is nothing to suggest that
Floyd | her death was anything but peaceful [Footnote 4].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scar" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we've got everything we need from here? We don't really need the laser or poison pills, as far as I know."
		Draconis says, "I think so."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Basement
Floyd | The basement of this house is a simple, large room with cinderblock
Floyd | walls. Boxes, crates, and other large items are scattered haphazardly
Floyd | about. A lightweight wooden door in the east wall appears to be an
Floyd | exterior exit, presumably to allow heavy gardening equipment, such as
Floyd | the lawnmower in one corner, to be removed. The stairs up to the rest
Floyd | of the house are along the south wall.
Floyd | And something unusual. The west wall is metal, with a very large,
Floyd | robust door set in it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u. n. open toilet" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | You get the impression that this bathroom has become a waystation for
Floyd | things that were intended for the basement, but got lost along the way.
Floyd | Boxes and bags seem to cover every surface; the sink, the heating vent,
Floyd | the fixture. The way out is south.
Floyd | On a whim, you lift the heavy boxes and raise the lid of the toilet
Floyd | seat. The bowl has been drained, and resting inside is a small book,
Floyd | which you manage, with some difficulty, to retrieve before letting the
Floyd | boxes fall back into place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock diary" 		

Floyd | (with the autokey.)
Floyd | The lock clicks open. Your hands almost tremble in anticipation. What a
Floyd | find!
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the book...
Floyd |
Floyd | What?
Floyd |
Floyd | It's encoded? Who keeps a diary in code? Well, obviously, Julia Yvonne
Floyd | Wallace does. You can't help but wondering what could make someone so
Floyd | paranoid as to go to the trouble of encoding a locked, hidden diary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. u. u. e. n." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dollhouse" 		

Floyd | You give a gentle tug at the base, which pops open. Inside, you see two
Floyd | letters (a crumpled letter and a folded letter) and a strange book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crumpled" 		

Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | S --
Floyd |
Floyd | Ug. Hw. Npxo J teiotslz swo jq zco yum evyt xdru qafib. Gwz air qow? W
Floyd | upigs bio'zv tstgxbpqk kdemb wlwi urnq gmis. Ntgk, T'o oikvrm yljm if
Floyd | msc xng. She vtsubzy pkncri aixf tckg zhkomg rfw jrp mpe xdizuxiv
Floyd | phslyrl cs dvz ijscee ppsocyw lbsz zm oxa ulvwjybj. Da N'p zbrq djoj tl
Floyd | sohrl ztlb odb krr ot oyf wved. Ea abvg't ukw su jxyw cbqh? W'o ixvit W
Floyd | wjrct'm lycz fe ckymj. Ufybyr vgzqo zg depl hn le hjr dxfj bywo leuc.
Floyd |
Floyd | --E
Floyd | [The document "Letter (1)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x folded" 		

Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | O --
Floyd |
Floyd | N'q gxtr kib vcijo wn xerb. Gzw iaqrx gmtto, G'ij yfuu hechbg igajnd
Floyd | dpnu jyfivzub nubl oha goect lp, rtzeqpc qi ccf ym tnr qds hexsikp blim
Floyd | pqliv egfw ubi bdmi brjf xqh. N'gk efaiea jldhwc cuh wys icrno bueag,
Floyd | fnu M acxbj xems zuaszl ci vol aw cxs jqnj, sfc lruze igiw S qnd pxn W
Floyd | rohu ec snfkv. Zlwqw X pxecd mtgn txj'io gkdz mf noxmzvx pk suu
Floyd | rnifovig, cldj R jgzbs wunxn Y kjizwk kia pa fxrs dx uir atvvuf, ake
Floyd | lpdv E znczn xczd vin'wv muix df pwe bnx usytgmu ke zkm gue as zjpu. X
Floyd | ccczj L'oz wxaqvuvjji tk fxe rklt mu tf igly ckzbk nvrzd ifa ivbfe, msf
Floyd | prlaeu pbm ez mloihjs tm. Nuz, N'o inmo u siflrj. D'mh iapzqu npzkfx
Floyd | jce. C zad'i sqgr mv bqg kjs tlot asgxbku hq, jpu W ykxcco uwav za hqc
Floyd | coi kdoc aio fzgtw Y qq.
Floyd |
Floyd | --Q
Floyd | [The document "Letter (2)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x strange book" 		

Floyd | This is a small, very worn notebook containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze it" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...

		
Floyd Results: Cipher key [Type: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.] 		

Floyd | (Ciphers using this key can be decoded)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search painting" 		

Floyd | Under your scrutinty, a very slight distortion in the picture is
Floyd | visible. You slide your hand between the sheet and its support, and
Floyd | turn up a very small book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x new book" 		

Floyd | This is a very small, hand-bound book containing a number of pages
Floyd | covered with random sequences of hand-printed characters.
Floyd | [The document "Strange Book (new)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze new book" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...

		
Floyd Results: Cipher key [Type: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.] 		

Floyd | (Ciphers using this key can be decoded)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode diary" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 36 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 0 Diary (Decoded)
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		Draconis says, "Dun dun dunnn..."
		DavidW says, "(DECODED)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 1 April 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Fucking mom read my diary. Now she wants me to see a fucking shrink
Floyd | again. I'm not doing it. I'll be eighteen in less than a month, she
Floyd | can't make me. Two years they made me go after the accident. I don't
Floyd | fucking want to go back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, the rest of the aftermath is that they forbade me to ever see
Floyd | CJ again. Like they could stop me if I wanted to. And they somehow
Floyd | think he's the only person I could get pot from? Mom says that he just
Floyd | got me stoned so he could fuck me, which is fair since I wouldn't have
Floyd | let him get my panties off if I'd been in a legal state of mind. Well,
Floyd | maybe I would've. So I told mom, It's not like he's the only guy I've
Floyd | ever had sex with.
Floyd |
Floyd | Which is, of course, a lie. Everyone probably thinks I did Rob, but I
Floyd | didn't. He went down on me a couple of times, but before he got up the
Floyd | nerve to try anything more, I broke up with him coz I caught him
Floyd | staring at my eye while we were making out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Even him. Most guys get freaked out by it and won't come near me.
Floyd | Probably think the rest of me's robotic, and it'll electrocute their...
Floyd |
Floyd | Well anyway, I'm keeping two diaries now. This one, the legit one, I'm
Floyd | going to hide better. Anything really important, like this, I'll code.
Floyd | The other one's hidden in my room, so if anyone goes looking again,
Floyd | they'll stop when they find it. Maybe I'll put plants in there too, so
Floyd | I can tell if mom reads it again. I told her I'd fucking run away if
Floyd | she tried.
Floyd | TTFN

		Draconis says, "Well."
		DavidW says, "there's more"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 2 April 18-19
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 18 - Jim's a bastard. He did it again. Snuck in while I was
Floyd | asleep and recalibrated my eye. When I woke up, I was seeing everything
Floyd | in infrared.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some days I want to rip the damned thing out with my bare hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 19 - Mom won the battle of the wills. Had my first appointment
Floyd | with the new shrink today. Of course he's all like, We'll talk about
Floyd | anything you want, but of course what he really wanted to talk about
Floyd | was the accident. So I went through my routine, and told him how big
Floyd | and scary it was, and told him about getting the new eye and all that
Floyd | shit. And he keeps asking how things made me feel, and I tell him I
Floyd | don't remember, but he doesn't believe me because apparently you're
Floyd | supposed to remember all the fucking details when something messes up
Floyd | your life. I really don't remember feeling anything. Just numb. So then
Floyd | he asks me about CJ, and he goes on for half an hour about how drugs
Floyd | are bad, and sex is bad. Well, he didn't say sex is bad, of course,
Floyd | since they're supposed to be all about fostering a healthy attitude
Floyd | toward healthy adult relationships, but you get the idea. It's natural
Floyd | to want to express your bullshit bullshit bullshit, but it's important
Floyd | that you find a healthy and safe outlet bullshit bullshit. I think
Floyd | there was something in there about my body changing and mateuring, like
Floyd | I'd just hit puberty or something. Then he gave me a pamphlet about
Floyd | masturbation, which I guess is some kind of implication that I couldn't
Floyd | work it out on my own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, mom's making me go back next week. I guess it's okay since it's
Floyd | her dime.
Floyd |
Floyd | (wonder why they say "it's your dime." Why not "it's your dollar?"
Floyd | Makes a lot more sense. Least you can buy a pack of gum for a dollar.)

		
Lionheart arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says, "Inflation, Julia. Inflation."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 3 April 20-23
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 20 - Dreamt last night. The unbelievable pleasure of feeling a
Floyd | knife being thrust into my chest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mom didn't take the bait. Maybe she's not still snooping on me.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 22 - They're sending troops into the middle east. Everyone says
Floyd | not to worry and we'll just clear this up like we have before. There's
Floyd | not going to be a war. But we've already got troops in so many other
Floyd | places. Jim's terrified that he's gonna get drafted. There hasn't been
Floyd | a draft in almost a hundred years though. The news says this will blow
Floyd | over in a couple of months, but Jimmy says that the president's an ass
Floyd | and he wants a war to boost his popularity rating. Dad thinks he's an
Floyd | idiot because no president would think that starting a war and getting
Floyd | hundreds of our people killed would make him popular. Maybe I should
Floyd | start reading the papers more.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "next?"
		Draconis says, "Next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | April 23 - Strangest thing today. I found a note in my locker. It took
Floyd | me a while to figure out what it was. It's the old code Donna and I
Floyd | used to use. But Donna moved away years ago when her parents split up,
Floyd | and I haven't heard from her in years. I have to find the old code book
Floyd | so I can work out what it says. I can't think how she could have gotten
Floyd | the note to me at school.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 4 April 24-26
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 24 - Donna's back. I can't believe it. Her mom ended up in jail
Floyd | because her boyfriend was using her house to store his meth lab -- will
Floyd | you believe that? She still has her codebook after all these years.
Floyd | Anyway, I've written back to her, but I don't know how to find her. I
Floyd | guess her dad still lives near here, but he moved out of their house
Floyd | after the divorce. How did she find out my locker number? It'll be good
Floyd | to talk to her again.
Floyd |
Floyd | In other news, CJ keeps trying to talk to me. I can't risk anyone
Floyd | seeing us together right yet. Wish I'd come up with a code book for
Floyd | him, then we could talk freely at least. Maybe I can get Donna to be a
Floyd | go-between. There's no one else I trust.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 25 - Jim keeps going on about this new program he's working on.
Floyd | Thinks it's going to, and I quote, "set him up among the gods." He's
Floyd | trying to get in touch with a bunch of professors at the big-league CS
Floyd | schools. Thinks he's hot stuff. Dad, who really ought to know better,
Floyd | asked him about his new "discovery", and he went on for about an hour,
Floyd | not really saying anything that made much sense. The long and short of
Floyd | it is that he thinks he's figured out how his brain works, and he
Floyd | thinks he's got a way to make a computer do the same thing. Wonderful.
Floyd | A computer that thinks like my brother.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 26 - Return of the Shrink. This time he didn't ask about the
Floyd | accident at all. I don't know if that's a good thing. I kept getting
Floyd | the feeling he was looking for some good dirt about my mom beating me
Floyd | or dad trying to feel me up when I was six or something, like there's
Floyd | some deep dark secret that will magically explain why I'm so fucked up.
Floyd | What the hell does he want? When I was twelve, a drunk driver hit the
Floyd | car I was in and I broke an arm and a leg and one of my eyes got cut
Floyd | out. I think that might be a fair enough explanation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh my god.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's mom was driving. She was in the back seat with me. I think that
Floyd | might have been the last time I saw her.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "I guess the April 25th entry refers to the visualizer's report from the Dining Room."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Why didn't I ever remember that before?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 5 April 27-29
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 27 - There was fighting last night. Southeast Asia. I didn't even
Floyd | know we had troops there. Congress was in session all night. The news
Floyd | says they're going to declare war. I am really, really scared.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 28 - I saw Donna today. She looks pretty good, except for a scar
Floyd | on her cheek. I could tell she was avoiding me. Why? I bet she saw my
Floyd | eye. I almost decided to scrap the whole thing, but I really want to
Floyd | talk to her. I slipped the note I wrote in her locker. I keep telling
Floyd | myself I don't care if she wrties back or not. That's bullshit, of
Floyd | course.
Floyd |
Floyd | April 29 - She wrote me back. Said she was afraid to talk to me because
Floyd | she thought I blamed her for the accident. At least that explains why
Floyd | she never wrote to me before. I'm writing back to tell her I'm not
Floyd | angry and want to see her. I think maybe the reason I didn't remember
Floyd | before is that I didn't want to hate her.
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The US embassy in Singapore got blown up last night. They're calling
Floyd | for tactical nuclear strikes on China. This is going to get fucking
Floyd | bad.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 6 April 30-May 3
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | April 30 - I finally got to talk to her. Donna just kept apologizing
Floyd | about the accident. I sort of got fed up and nearly walked off. I asked
Floyd | her about getting a note to CJ. She said she would. Talked for a long
Floyd | time about life and stuff. I've really missed her.
Floyd |
Floyd | She was pretty good about it, but I caught her trying to get a good
Floyd | look at my eye a couple of times. It didn't bother me as much as usual.
Floyd | Maybe because I kept on looking at her scar.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 1 - Donna got my letter to CJ. She's none to thrilled about it,
Floyd | thinks he's an asshole. She's probably right, but what am I going to do
Floyd | about it?
Floyd |
Floyd | I finally asked Donna about the scar, and yeah, she got it in the
Floyd | accident. She's really self-conscious about it, but she's not as bad as
Floyd | I am about my eye. I think it makes her look tough. At least she's not
Floyd | some kind of freak like me.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 3 - I give up. Told the doctor everything I could remember about
Floyd | the accident, getting the implant. Told him about CJ. Donna too, about
Floyd | her being in the car. Told him about talking to her recently too. Not
Floyd | sure why.
Floyd |
Floyd | He asked me how I felt about the war. I don't know. They're still
Floyd | saying it won't last long, but we're dropping bombs all over Asia now.
Floyd | If it goes a couple of years, maybe they will draft Jim. I know I say a
Floyd | lot about him, but I don't want him to die. They won't draft me because
Floyd | of my eye, but they could take CJ or Donna.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "next?"
		Draconis says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | When I was fourteen, I threw a tantrum over something or other and Dad
Floyd | took Frankie the Bear away as punishment. I never got him back. Started
Floyd | thinking about that last night because found the eye I tore out after
Floyd | the accident. I told the doctor that too. Wow, I'm even more fucked up
Floyd | than I thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 7 May 4-6
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 4 - I managed to convince mom to let me out of the house. Went to
Floyd | the mall with Donna. Was thinking about seeing CJ, but didn't want to
Floyd | push my luck so we just shopped.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the way back, Donna decided to push her luck and ask me about my
Floyd | eye. I guess she's entitled. I showed her the tuner, and told her about
Floyd | the stupid pranks Jim keeps pulling. I even popped it out and let her
Floyd | look at it close up. She thinks it's neat and asked why I don't do
Floyd | stuff like use it to cheat on tests by turning up the zoom. Said she
Floyd | thinks it's better than having a big-ass scar on her face. That kind of
Floyd | pissed me off. Least she looks human. Why doesn't she get it?
Floyd |
Floyd | Then she said that if it bothers me so much, I should get cosmetic
Floyd | contacts to cover it up. I never thought about that before.
Floyd |
Floyd | I asked mom about getting contacts later. She said she didn't think
Floyd | they were safe. Of course, next week I'll be able to do as I like about
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 5 - I finally got to see CJ. Just a few minutes; Donna covered by
Floyd | telling mom she had to stop to pick up a prescription on the way home.
Floyd | We had just about enough time to pass the bowl around once and let CJ
Floyd | cop a couple of quick feels. We're going to get together later this
Floyd | week. Mom likes Donna because she's "stable", and since I haven't had
Floyd | any friends worth speaking of since, well, her, she can pretty much
Floyd | talk mom into anything. We're composing a cover story now.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 6 - You are not fucking going to believe this. They've started up
Floyd | the draft. And what's more? They're not taking girls. I know, they've
Floyd | never taken them before, but they said that they would now, since
Floyd | they're all "liberated" and shit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, why aren't they taking girls, you ask? Well, there was a
Floyd | fucking commercial. A fucking commercial explaining how important women
Floyd | were to the war effort, and that's why they're not drafting them. And
Floyd | the way they're important to the war effort? You're gonna fucking love
Floyd | this -- reproduction. They're saying that it's "The duty of all
Floyd | citizens to make full use of their reproductive capabilities to ensure
Floyd | that our population remains strong and growing through these times of
Floyd | adversity."
Floyd |
Floyd | What is this, the fucking dark ages? In addition to their
Floyd | heart-fucking-felt sermon, they've voted in a massive tax-break for
Floyd | families with newborns, a government handout for women who get
Floyd | themselves pregnant, and subsidies for unmarried women who want
Floyd | artificial insemination. They're also rushing through a bunch of
Floyd | fertility drugs that increase the chances of having twins. The got some
Floyd | low-level flunkie in one of the fringe groups on record saying that it
Floyd | was the "sworn duty of every woman to attempt conception", and that
Floyd | parents should encourage their daughters to get themselves knocked up
Floyd | as young as fifteen. They're trying to fucking breed themselves an
Floyd | army.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "next??"
		Draconis says, "n"
		Draconis says, "Er, n as in next, not as in no."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | But it'll be what, twenty years before any of these war babies are old
Floyd | enough to fight. The war can't go on that long, can it?
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 8 May 7-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 7 - Oh the shit has hit the fan. There's rioting in the streets.
Floyd | The people who don't like the war are protesting the war. The people
Floyd | who don't like the draft are protesting the draft. Pretty much everyone
Floyd | is protesting the breeding plan, except for the ones that are lined up
Floyd | around the block to get a big fat shot of fertility drugs and the big
Floyd | fat check that goes with it. Mom's friend that works for a doctor says
Floyd | that they've been asked not to tie anyone's tubes or give out
Floyd | contraceptives anymore. I found out that Jim's stockpiling condoms, on
Floyd | the off chance he manages to get a girl who doesn't think the rest of
Floyd | him's as ugly as his face. Says there's a bill in congress to restrict
Floyd | the sale of anything that prevents pregnancy.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's friend Rusty is talking about signing up. She's trying to talk
Floyd | him out of it, but he figures his draft notice is in the mail already
Floyd | anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 8 - CJ has been selected by his friends and neighbors to represent
Floyd | his community in service to the United States Military. Which is to say
Floyd | that they want to send him over to China to get killed. I am
Floyd | surprisingly ambivalent.
Floyd |
Floyd | He acted all scared and even cried a little. I imagine this was an act
Floyd | to coax me into sleeping with him. I can't say how well it worked,
Floyd | since he did it over the course of about three joints, which would have
Floyd | worked on its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's all hot and bothered over CJ's friend Tom (I think "hot and
Floyd | bothered" is a great expression. Saw it on TV last night.) & they went
Floyd | off to fool around for a while. He hasn't been drafted yet, but the way
Floyd | things are going it looks like he will be.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 11 - When I got up this morning, my eye hadn't recharged. Hope I
Floyd | don't have to get the damned thing serviced. I couldn't go anywhere, of
Floyd | course, because I had to leave it on the charger all day. But Donna
Floyd | came over and we hung out. She went out with Tom last night and had a
Floyd | good time and all.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "Odd that she says the charger takes all day to recharge the eye, yet this charger recharges the eye nearly instantly."
		Draconis says, "Well, we only needed enough charge to figure out how to interface with it."
		Draconis says, "Then the console could power it long enough to get the data out."
		DavidW says, "hm. maybe."
		DavidW says, "Like, we know this charger uses future tech, but apparently the one she's used to, doesn't."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | She thinks the eyepatch makes me look tough.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 9 May 12-15
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 12 - Eye worked today. Guess I had it in the charger wrong or
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 13 - Donna's dad got "activated", which means he has to ship out.
Floyd | He does something technical for the navy, so it's not like he's going
Floyd | to the front or anything, but she's still scared. He wants her to go
Floyd | live with her grandmom. We talked to mom, and she said it would be okay
Floyd | if she stayed with us at least until the end of school. Her grandmom's
Floyd | an 80 year old woman with about a hundred cats.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 14 - Episode 2 of "The government does stuff you thought only
Floyd | pissant little third world dictatorships did." Donna's mom is pregnant.
Floyd | They offered to reduce her sentence if she let them inseminate her.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's some kind of good-bye party for the guys who got drafted down
Floyd | at the VFW Friday night. CJ wants me to go. Mom wasn't too thrilled
Floyd | about it, but Donna's going, so she can't very well stop me.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 15 - Well, the good news is that Rusty got rejected because he's
Floyd | got a spot on his lung. The bad news is that Tom did get drafted.
Floyd | Donna's spending the night with him, which I'm sure thrills her dad no
Floyd | end because he ships out tomorrow afternoon.
Floyd |

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Today was my birthday. Happy birthday. Mom and Dad gave me a couple of
Floyd | movies and a self-help book. Subtle. Jim got me some computer dohickey
Floyd | I didn't want or need, and programmed my eye to flash "Happy Birthday"
Floyd | a bunch of times, which I guess would be cute if it hadn't pissed me
Floyd | off. Donna told my parents she hadn't had time to get me anything but a
Floyd | card, but later she gave me a pair of contact lenses. It must have
Floyd | taken some work to get them, since she's too young to buy them on her
Floyd | own and you usually have to get fitted for them, I think.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 10 May 17
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17, 4:36 AM - Fucking party. Turns out the whole thing was set up
Floyd | by one of those wacko grotps. Figured it was important for "our noble
Floyd | soldiers" to "leave ther genetic contribution to America's future."
Floyd | Read: date rape party. Donna & I managed to narrowly escape with the
Floyd | same amount of virtue we came with. Hud to kick somf 60 yr old redneck
Floyd | who thphht wf should "sohw our appreciation so th boys fnr defdndign
Floyd | our country" in the ballr. i feel drty just bieng there.
Floyd |
Floyd | whgn we got there, cj was leaving his gendtic contribution in some
Floyd | slut. Likes ftcking her so much he should trz fucjign himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Me & Donma bot some bopze @ a place she knows doesnt card to drink &
Floyd | tamk abovt what a looser bk is. Shfs passt out drunk on my bed. Hauhng
Floyd | wfsd thots. Like right before she femn alseep I really wantd to jirr
Floyd | ifs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Eye jurt went ded. Too tirfd tp kedp coding. Brobably cnding like shjt
Floyd | anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 17 (later) - Fell asleep without taking my eye out so it's dead
Floyd | today. And no one ever told me how much it hurts if you sleep with
Floyd | contacts in. Told mom I was too sick to see the shrink today, which
Floyd | isn't far from the truth. I managed to get Donna down to her bed before
Floyd | mom went to wake her up for breakfast. As if we could eat. We crashed
Floyd | in my room most of the day so no one would see how sick we were.
Floyd |

		Draconis says, "I got most of that, but I'm having trouble with:"
		Draconis says, "'wfst thots' and 'to jirr ifs'."
		DavidW says, "'having weird thoughts' and 'to kiss her'."
		Draconis says, "Aha. Thanks."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | I let her get a good look at the hole in my face where my eye goes. She
Floyd | wasn't grossed out or anything. She asked me if I wanted to touch her
Floyd | scar. It was a little weird because you can feel little bumps where
Floyd | they stitched her cheek closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 11 May 19-28
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 19 - The fighting has escalated. Last night, one of our islands in
Floyd | the pacific got wiped off the map. That many people could just wink out
Floyd | of existence like that, and the world just goes on.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 20 - Rethinking yesterday's entry. We've been bombing the country
Floyd | with the largest population in the world for weeks now. Maybe we got
Floyd | what we deserved.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 23 - There is no Laos.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 24 - The doctor's changed his tune. Says I should find a nice boy
Floyd | and try to build up family ties. In other words, he's one of them.
Floyd | Wants me to get myself knocked up. He even said, and I quote, "In this
Floyd | day and age, there really isn't an shame in being a single mother, even
Floyd | at a young age." Mom says I don't have to go anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 25 - Set up family ties with a nice boy? Fuck him. Besides, about
Floyd | the only boys that haven't been drafted are cripples and felons. And
Floyd | Rusty, of course, but I get the feeling he's looking to set up family
Floyd | ties with a nice boy himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 26 - Mom is moving most of the valuables into long-term storage. As
Floyd | in "make Jim go out in the woods and dig a deep hole to hide them in."
Floyd | Won't help. We're all going to die.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 27 - Air raid drill at school. Yes. Duck and cover. Fuck your
Floyd | mother.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "y'know, I bet if we traveled back in time to the mother's childhood, we might see much the same story."
		DavidW says, "without the war or eye parts."
		Jearl says, "urgh, I overslept"
		Draconis says, "Might be a different war depending on time period."
		DavidW asks, "next?"
		DavidW says, "I think the next page might be the last."
Jearl arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW says, "hi Jearl"
		Draconis says, "Next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | May 28 - Dad took me aside this evening under the pretense of helping
Floyd | him check the furnace. He isn't sure if there's room enough in the
Floyd | shelter for Donna. I told him I had to think about my response to that.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 12 May 29-June 1
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | May 29 - I told dad that my response was that if he thought he was
Floyd | going to sneak the family down to the basement and lock Donna upstairs
Floyd | to get blown up, he could fuck himself. Basically, I said that I wasn't
Floyd | going to lock myself in the 30-year deep freeze without her. He said
Floyd | he'd work out something, that maybe we could stretch the supplies out
Floyd | enough for a fifth. That was after he slapped me for swearing at him,
Floyd | of course.
Floyd |
Floyd | He did something else weird, too. He showed me how to open the lock box
Floyd | that the cyanide pills are in. Said that if the time came, he thought I
Floyd | might be the only one strong enough to do what had to be done.
Floyd |
Floyd | I think he knows that the lead-lined casket in the basement isn't
Floyd | really going to save us.
Floyd |
Floyd | The last thing he said before shoving me back upstairs was that he
Floyd | didn't want to insult me, but he had to make me promise that I'd *only*
Floyd | use the pills if I had to. Maybe it's weird that he trusts me enough to
Floyd | tell me, but it would have been better if he could do it without being
Floyd | afraid that I'd off myself when he wasn't looking.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 30 - Something's bugging Donna. She won't talk to me about it. I'm
Floyd | worried.
Floyd |
Floyd | May 31 - Donna didn't come home last night. She showed up late this
Floyd | afternoon with a lame story about spending the night at her place
Floyd | because she had gotten involved in packing some things.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "I guess there must be one more page."
		Draconis says, "Likely."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | June 1 - Sometimes I think it would be a lot better if I just died now.
Floyd | I don't really want to die any more, I just don't care. But I'd like to
Floyd | be in control. The whole fucking world could end any day now. At least
Floyd | if I did it myself, I'd know when it was coming. I'd have some say in
Floyd | the matter.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 13 June 2-11
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | June 2 - Donna is still acting funny. I wonder if she's worried about
Floyd | her dad.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 3 - As close as I can tell, I'm a free woman again. Mom and Dad
Floyd | aren't watching me constantly, and I can pretty much come and go as I
Floyd | please, with the caveat that I can't stay out too long, what with the
Floyd | imminent possibility of he bomb killing us all.
Floyd |
Floyd | But I'm worried about Donna. She wanders off for hours at a time,
Floyd | doesn't say anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 4 - Jimmy's got himself a girlfriend. How cute. She's a
Floyd | rolly-polly little thing with coke-bottle glasses who thinks the sun
Floyd | rises and sets on him because of his brilliant invention. Maybe his
Floyd | stockpile won't go to waste after all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeah. And maybe my eye will grow back.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 5 - They've cancelled graduation due to war. Fuck.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 6 - I forgot what I wanted to write. When I went downstairs to get
Floyd | my diary, I stopped by the door to Donna's room. Was gonna see if she
Floyd | was still up. I heard her crying. Should I have gone in?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 7 - We're sending troops into Vietnam. Where have I heard that
Floyd | before?
Floyd |
Floyd | June 9 - Donna asked me to try on some of her clothes. I don't like
Floyd | wearing a skirt, but she said I have really nice legs & I should show
Floyd | them off. Nice legs? Anyway, I hope this means she's feeling better,
Floyd | but there was something distant about her. About the only thing she was
Floyd | willing to talk about was the time I slit my wrists. Morbid.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 10 - Rained all day today. After watching a whole lot of TV, we
Floyd | basically just sat around. I worked on new pages for my code book while
Floyd | Donna just sat there and watched me.
Floyd |
Floyd | June 11 - More rain. I think Donna's close to breaking. I was laying in
Floyd | bed with my eyes closed, making the firm decision not to get out of bed
Floyd | until dinner, and she came in around one in the afternoon and asked if
Floyd | she could lay down with me. She got in bed and just lay there for a
Floyd | while, then she started crying. I put my arm around her and tried to
Floyd | get her to talk about it, but she didn't say anything. Just lay there
Floyd | sobbing for about three hours. Then, she just got up, thanked me, and
Floyd | left. Later, she was like nothing had happened.
Floyd |

		Draconis asks, "Next?"
		DavidW says, "gimme a sec"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | She wants me to go to Rusty's tomorrow for a social evening (and cheap
Floyd | booze. But Rusty makes a good fuzzy navel.) I said I would.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 14 June 13
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | What order should I write this in? This is big.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's pregnant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna kissed me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that the big points are out of the way, I'll get on to the details.
Floyd | Rusty isn't big on wild parties; it was just me and Donna and him and a
Floyd | couple of his friends siting around and drinking. After a couple of
Floyd | games of Beiruit, Donna needed help standing so she could throw the
Floyd | ball. She said she wanted to lie down for a while, so Rusty let me
Floyd | carry her to his sister's room -- she moved out a year ago. I was going
Floyd | to leave her for a while and go back to the party, but she asked me to
Floyd | stay. So I sit on the bed, and she's kind of hanging on me, and about
Floyd | twenty minutes go by, and then she tells me. Actually, she tells my
Floyd | arm, which is where her head was. She was way late so she got a
Floyd | pregnancy test from the drug store and however many lines showed up. So
Floyd | now I know why she's been so weird. I tell her that she shouldn't
Floyd | worry, and she has to take the test again to be sure, and maybe she
Floyd | should see her doctor. But of course her doctor's in Oklahoma, and she
Floyd | doesn't want anyone to know. She asks if I know anyone who can take
Floyd | care of it, because she won't keep it, and she hears that they're
Floyd | paying off abortion doctors to not take any patients, and they keep
Floyd | geting bombed by the war-baby people anyway, but of course I don't. So
Floyd | she cries for a while and hugs me and stuff, and she tells me how
Floyd | scared she is. I tell her that I'll do whatever she needs. I don't have
Floyd | a whole lot of money, because CJ was making me pay for pot most of the
Floyd | time, but I could sneak a bunch of shit from my parents, now that mom's
Floyd | got everything hidden, so if she needs cash to pay for it, I could do
Floyd | that. Or anything else she needs from me. She just wants me to keep
Floyd | holding her while she cries, so I do. And after a while she wants to
Floyd | lie down, so we do, and we just sort of cuddle for a while. She calms
Floyd | down some, so she starts talking about her mom, except she keeps
Floyd | calling her a coked-up whore. She talks some about her dad too, and how
Floyd | she thinks he's going to die.
Floyd |
Floyd | SYNC
Floyd |
Floyd | Eventually I ask her if she's told Tom. She hasn't, of course, since
Floyd | he's off in boot camp, and she's not going to tell him because she
Floyd | doesn't want him having that on his head when he goes off to die for
Floyd | his country. While we're lying there, I get to thinking. I've always
Floyd | thought I was so alone, but then I think about Donna, and her coked-up
Floyd | whore mom in jail, her dad and her boyfriend going off to play
Floyd | soldiers. She says I'm just about the only friend she has in the world
Floyd | which is just about what I'm thinking at this point. And she sort of
Floyd | puts her hand behind my head and starts kind of playing with my hair. I
Floyd | start to get the feeling that she wants me to kiss her, but I'm not
Floyd | sure whether it's the booze or the loneliness, or the being afraid, or
Floyd | what, so I'm not sure it's a good idea even if I want to, which I'm not
Floyd | sure of either, but she takes matters into her own hands and kisses me.
Floyd |
Floyd | I kissed Donna one time when we were thirteen, on a dare, but it was
Floyd | just, you know, the kind of kiss you do on a dare. This was serious. It
Floyd | was a good kiss, as close as I can tell. I'm not gay or anything, I
Floyd | don't think, but it was still a good kiss. She didn't say anything
Floyd | afterward, just went back to crying until she fell asleep. I think this
Floyd | is as far as it's going, which is good.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "I think that's it."
		Draconis says, "There's still a next page option."
		DavidW says, "I don't understand the 'SYNC' bit stuck in there, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | I wish I had been able to stick around until she woke up. I slept with
Floyd | her. Next to her, rather. But I slipped out early in the morning to
Floyd | clock in so my parents didn't bust a gasket over it. Left her a note.
Floyd | She hasn't come home yet, but she might still be asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Diary (Decoded)---
Floyd | Page: 14 June 13
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | What order should I write this in? This is big.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna's pregnant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Donna kissed me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now that the big points are out of the way, I'll get on to the details.
Floyd | Rusty isn't big on wild parties; it was just me and Donna and him and a
Floyd | couple of his friends siting around and drinking. After a couple of
Floyd | games of Beiruit, Donna needed help standing so she could throw the
Floyd | ball. She said she wanted to lie down for a while, so Rusty let me
Floyd | carry her to his sister's room -- she moved out a year ago. I was going
Floyd | to leave her for a while and go back to the party, but she asked me to
Floyd | stay. So I sit on the bed, and she's kind of hanging on me, and about
Floyd | twenty minutes go by, and then she tells me. Actually, she tells my
Floyd | arm, which is where her head was. She was way late so she got a
Floyd | pregnancy test from the drug store and however many lines showed up. So
Floyd | now I know why she's been so weird. I tell her that she shouldn't
Floyd | worry, and she has to take the test again to be sure, and maybe she
Floyd | should see her doctor. But of course her doctor's in Oklahoma, and she
Floyd | doesn't want anyone to know. She asks if I know anyone who can take
Floyd | care of it, because she won't keep it, and she hears that they're
Floyd | paying off abortion doctors to not take any patients, and they keep
Floyd | geting bombed by the war-baby people anyway, but of course I don't. So
Floyd | she cries for a while and hugs me and stuff, and she tells me how
Floyd | scared she is. I tell her that I'll do whatever she needs. I don't have
Floyd | a whole lot of money, because CJ was making me pay for pot most of the
Floyd | time, but I could sneak a bunch of shit from my parents, now that mom's
Floyd | got everything hidden, so if she needs cash to pay for it, I could do
Floyd | that. Or anything else she needs from me. She just wants me to keep
Floyd | holding her while she cries, so I do. And after a while she wants to
Floyd | lie down, so we do, and we just sort of cuddle for a while. She calms
Floyd | down some, so she starts talking about her mom, except she keeps
Floyd | calling her a coked-up whore. She talks some about her dad too, and how
Floyd | she thinks he's going to die.
Floyd |
Floyd | SYNC
Floyd |
Floyd | Eventually I ask her if she's told Tom. She hasn't, of course, since
Floyd | he's off in boot camp, and she's not going to tell him because she
Floyd | doesn't want him having that on his head when he goes off to die for
Floyd | his country. While we're lying there, I get to thinking. I've always
Floyd | thought I was so alone, but then I think about Donna, and her coked-up
Floyd | whore mom in jail, her dad and her boyfriend going off to play
Floyd | soldiers. She says I'm just about the only friend she has in the world
Floyd | which is just about what I'm thinking at this point. And she sort of
Floyd | puts her hand behind my head and starts kind of playing with my hair. I
Floyd | start to get the feeling that she wants me to kiss her, but I'm not
Floyd | sure whether it's the booze or the loneliness, or the being afraid, or
Floyd | what, so I'm not sure it's a good idea even if I want to, which I'm not
Floyd | sure of either, but she takes matters into her own hands and kisses me.
Floyd |
Floyd | I kissed Donna one time when we were thirteen, on a dare, but it was
Floyd | just, you know, the kind of kiss you do on a dare. This was serious. It
Floyd | was a good kiss, as close as I can tell. I'm not gay or anything, I
Floyd | don't think, but it was still a good kiss. She didn't say anything
Floyd | afterward, just went back to crying until she fell asleep. I think this
Floyd | is as far as it's going, which is good.
Floyd |

		DavidW says, "yeah, that's the last page"
		Roger says, "Could be a crypto artifact"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | I wish I had been able to stick around until she woke up. I slept with
Floyd | her. Next to her, rather. But I slipped out early in the morning to
Floyd | clock in so my parents didn't bust a gasket over it. Left her a note.
Floyd | She hasn't come home yet, but she might still be asleep.[The document
Floyd | "Diary (Decoded)" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "documents" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-9, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "OTP: Julia and Donna."
		DavidW says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-9, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "console" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-9, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x console" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-9, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blank" 		

Floyd | The once-blank chip is filled to capacity by a data image downloaded
Floyd | from the portable computer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. So we can't put both large files on the blank chip. One or the other."
		Draconis asks, "Can we do anything with the data?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze data image" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x data image" 		

Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the DataStore chip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I think that's the default failure message."
		Draconis asks, "Try analyzing the blank?"
		Draconis asks, "Or analyzing something random just to see?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze blank chip" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "It refered to the shelter computer as portable. I wonder if that means we can connect computers together?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze autokey" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd | The house shakes hard as a something, probably an aircraft or small
Floyd | bomb, crashes to earth in the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, default message."
		Draconis says, "That seems somewhat useless then."
		DavidW says, "We can decode the two letters, recharge and interface the eye. But I'd like to start thinking if the library chip can clue us in at all on what to do next."
		DavidW says, "We might also try examining Jim's bedroom and the master bedroom again."
		Draconis says, "The AI chip does hints I suppose."
		DavidW says, "yes. We've never used it. Perhaps we should."
		DavidW says, "My best guess is that there's another event after the looter."
		DavidW says, "And we've never seen it because we always restart before then."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research war" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research wallace" 		

Floyd | Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Pioneer in human-computer neural interfaces and neural cybernetics.
Floyd | During the wars of the twentieth century, his familiarity with the
Floyd | internal workings of the human brain led to his being pressed into
Floyd | service as a neurosurgeon. After the wars, he applied his considerable
Floyd | computer skills to building brain implant devices which could restore
Floyd | brain function lost due to injury or illness. He received the Nobel
Floyd | Prize in 2086 for his work with stroke and brain cancer victims. Such
Floyd | modern inventions as the neural navigation interface and the artificial
Floyd | voice box owe much in their design to his work.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Great Minds in Science, the Twenty-First Century
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research voice box" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put eye in charger" 		

Floyd | You let the optical unit charge for a few minutes. When you remove it,
Floyd | it's warm to the touch. Hm. The device seems to think that the eye is
Floyd | fully charged. That doesn't make sense; this charger is supposed to, if
Floyd | your memory serves, take several hours. There's no way that the
Floyd | technology of this period could build a charger capable of such speed.
Floyd | Somewhere, probably a few kilometers away, there is an explosion. The
Floyd | house rocks, and you have a hard time keeping your footing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a great crash below.
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface eye" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: LZ-50 Optical Prosthetic. Manufacturer: Optitron BioTechnics
Floyd |
Floyd | Downloading images...
Floyd |
Floyd | The viewpoint of the camera suggests that the wearer is seated in front
Floyd | of a portable computer. Her hand reaches out and picks up a small
Floyd | device beside the computer. She turns it over, presumably examining it
Floyd | from all angles. The hand turns the device until its barrel-end points
Floyd | directly into the camera. A finger twitches, pressing a button. A flash
Floyd | of light issues from the end of the device, and the image flickers,
Floyd | distorts, and breaks up.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the image returns, the device has been dropped to the table. The
Floyd | wearer stands, and the camera reels in unsteady ascent. Again a hand
Floyd | reaches out, this time to switch the computer off. It takes a small red
Floyd | pill from the table, and then moves to the wearer's mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The camera turns quickly, and moves toward one of the bunked beds. It
Floyd | focuses on the motionless body of a beautiful blonde girl. The image
Floyd | switches to infrared, showing the characteristic cooling of a recently
Floyd | deceased body, then the camera changes back to the visual spectrum. The
Floyd | camera bobs up and down, as if slowly nodding. It moves toward the face
Floyd | of the dead girl, and stays very close to one cheek for a long time.
Floyd | The camera withdraws, and the wearer extends a hand, tracing the
Floyd | shoulder and arm of the corpse, finally coming to rest atop the folded
Floyd | hands. The wearer's hand squeezes the dead hands once, then the camera
Floyd | turns toward the opposite cot.
Floyd |
Floyd | The camera moves toward the cot, then turns and lowers, finally
Floyd | pitching back as the wearer lies down. A hand moves toward the camera,
Floyd | and as it passes in front of it, the recording ends.
Floyd | [The document "LZ-50 Memory Buffer" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tuner" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eye" 		

Floyd | Remarkable. This is an LZ-50 prosthetic optical unit, the first
Floyd | commercial replacement eye. This explains the sunken eyelid on the poor
Floyd | dead girl -- she must have had a prosthetic eye. But this... You could
Floyd | stand here all day and admire the workmanship. You would never have
Floyd | suspected that the technology of this period could develop something
Floyd | that could actually replace a human eye. And here you are... it's in
Floyd | your hand. You turn it over and over. It looks amazingly realistic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode crumpled letter" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...
Floyd | 1
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | Hi. Um. Hope I remember how to yse the code book right. How are you? I
Floyd | guesr you're wondering where this note came. Well, I'm living with my
Floyd | dad now. Mom started dating this drug dealer and she got arrested
Floyd | because he was making crystal meth in our basement. So I'm back here at
Floyd | least till the end of the year. So what's new in your life? I'm sorry I
Floyd | haven't kept in touch. Pleare write me back so we can talk some time.
Floyd |
Floyd | --D
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decoded folded letter" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decode folded" 		

Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Best guess: One Time Pad. 26 character alphabet.
Floyd | Decoding...
Floyd | 3
Floyd |
Floyd | J --
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm glad you wrote me back. All these years, I've been scared pretty
Floyd | much shitless that you hated me, because it was my mom was driving that
Floyd | night when you lost your eye. I've really missed you all these years,
Floyd | and I would have talked to you in the hall, but every time I see you I
Floyd | lose my nerve. First I think that you'll hate me because of the
Floyd | accident, then I think maybe I should try to talk to you anyway, but
Floyd | then I think that you'll hate me for not talking to you for so long. I
Floyd | guess I'll understand if you want me to just steer clear and stuff, but
Floyd | please try to forgive me. God, I'm such a coward. I've really missed
Floyd | you. I don't know if you can ever forgive me, but I really want to let
Floyd | you know how sorry I am.
Floyd |
Floyd | --D
Floyd | [The DataStore entry for this document has been updated to reflect
Floyd | deciphered text.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Jim's bedroom next?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research sync" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd | Something blocks the light for a second, and you turn to look. Nothing.
Floyd | Hm. This place is starting to get to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research serendipity" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s. x photograph. e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd | This image shows a young man in his mid-teens. He sports a pathetic
Floyd | attempt at a moustache. Though he shows all the awkwardness of
Floyd | adolescence, he apparently does know, at least, how to pose for a
Floyd | photograph. He has a very slight smile, and a look of interested
Floyd | curiosity on his face. He does show the awkward pockmarks of severe
Floyd | acne, made worse by the extreme fullness of his face. He is wearing a
Floyd | black shirt with a suede vest, which bears a small lapel pin, of the
Floyd | sort distributed by academic honor societies.
Floyd | [The document "Photograph of a Young Man" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wish I knew what to do about the tile."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x linoleum" 		

Floyd | You don't recall any precedent in home furnishing that would call for
Floyd | industrial grade linoleum in a bedroom, but it is here nonetheless.
Floyd | Since you can't imagine that the floor is an artifact from an earlier
Floyd | function of the room, it is somewhat perplexing that such a floor would
Floyd | be present.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search it" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pry it" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer identification not found.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Code Fragment
Floyd | A collection of source code appears on the console's display.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't make any sense of it, but perhaps the boys back home will.
Floyd | [The document "Code fragment" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I don't remember that one."
		DavidW says, "I don't either, really."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Data Snapshot
Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Format not recognized.
Floyd | Attempting to download...
Floyd | Download failed: Insufficient space.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Electronic Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 1 Mailbox for swallace
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     From:          Subject:
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha Re: distributed neural simulation...2
Floyd |      YOR_FRIEND906  HOTTEST OFFER EVER..................3
Floyd |      hotoffer@spam. Lower your debt!....................4
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha PIT AI lab..........................5
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................6
Floyd |      Amy            (no subject)........................7
Floyd |      Michelle313    I'm boooooooored!...................8
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................9
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Tonight.........................10
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Julia...............................11
Floyd |      Amy            Hi..................................12
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................13
Floyd |      Amy            Hi, again...........................14
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Julia...........................15
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Hi, again.......................16
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................17
Floyd |      hotxxx@bulkmai YOUNG HARDCORE SLUTS................18
Floyd |      Mary Pantalon  PIT early admission.................19
Floyd |      Amy            Um... Stuff.........................20
Floyd |      Amy            My last mail........................21
Floyd |      Dante          Situation...........................22
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Situation.......................23
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: PIT.............................24
Floyd |      Amy            Sorry...............................25

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | [The document "Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-3, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Three relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Code Fragment
Floyd | 2     Data Snapshot
Floyd | 3     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "analyze code fragment" 		

Floyd | Analyzing...
Floyd | Examining text...
Floyd | Performing heuristics...
Floyd | Counting character frequencies...
Floyd | Performing statistical analysis...
Floyd | Performing more heuristics...
Floyd | Results: Coded text using unknown cipher (This text cannot be decoded
Floyd | at this time)
Floyd | Note: Unbreakable ciphers (eg. Ciphers using One Time Pad or RUR
Floyd | nanocode encoding) cannot be decoded until matching key has been
Floyd | analyzed. Unknown ciphers may be decoded after more encrypted text has
Floyd | been analyzed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search bed" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search books" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I wish it would have a better failure message if something really couldn't be decoded."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Like, 'no coded text recognized'."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wallpaper" 		

Floyd | The papering on the walls shows vaguely technical schematics for the
Floyd | first reusable space vehicle. You can't imagine what it must have been
Floyd | like; a society so impressed by a model of space vehicle that it would
Floyd | make its way into something so mundane as wall coverings. It must have
Floyd | really been something for the people of this time. You have to remind
Floyd | yourself that for these people, space travel was still risky business.
Floyd | The very idea that they could reliably send something up, outside their
Floyd | little planet, and then bring it back again... It must have been
Floyd | absolutely wondrous to see something like this go up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "I don't think we examined the wallpaper before."
		Draconis says, "I don't think so either."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toys" 		

Floyd | model spaceship: Small, detailed models of space vehicles which appear
Floyd | to be more fanciful than realistic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh, it looks like this game understands EXAMINE with multiple nouns."
		DavidW says, "I'm thinking perhaps the teddy bear is also defined as a toy."
		Draconis says, "Probably."
		DavidW says, "We've done 'x discs' before."
		Draconis says, "Though I don't really know how understanding objects by class name works in I6."
		Draconis says, "Something with two slashes and a lowercase p...something like that..."
		Draconis says, "Anyway."
		Draconis says, "I feel like we have to be able to do something with the linoleum."
		Draconis says, "But nothing works..."
		DavidW says, "yeah, '//p' marked a plural input word in I6."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock floor" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jump" 		

Floyd | You jump on the spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research linoleum" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under desk" 		

Floyd | (the desk)
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open desk" 		

Floyd | (the desk)
Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd | (the desk)
Floyd | You see nothing special about the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Gah...should we try the AI on this?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all desk" 		

Floyd | desk: That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "maybe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookcase" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Master bedroom next?"
		Draconis says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.w.w.x photograph.w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd | The image shows a young woman dressed in simplified academic regalia.
Floyd | She wears a formless gown in an unflattering blue pastel with a
Floyd | mortarboard cap. The girl in the picture looks about the right age for
Floyd | this photograph to be commemorating a high school graduation, though
Floyd | there are signs that she might be older; her expression is one of
Floyd | world-weariness, and her disapproving frown merges into lines on the
Floyd | face which suggest that this is an accustomed expression. You imagine
Floyd | that she would be quite attractive, if not for the scowl which seems to
Floyd | be permanently burnt into her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unnatural reflection causes you to notice her right eye, which,
Floyd | under close scrutiny, is apparently artificial. Though the prosthesis
Floyd | is good enough to pass for the real thing under casual scrutiny, it
Floyd | does lack the bloodshot look of the left eye, and you can make out the
Floyd | segmentation of a mechanical iris. If the color had been a better match
Floyd | for her left eye, you might well not have noticed.
Floyd | [The document "Graduation Photograph" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | Generally speaking, you learn more from a dirty house than a clean one;
Floyd | intensive cleaning tends to remove much of the anthropological evidence
Floyd | about the day-to-day affairs of the occupants. You can tell that
Floyd | whoever lived here had some warning before they evacuated, time enough
Floyd | to at least do some preliminary straightening up. The bed, which is
Floyd | opposite the door, under the smaller of the room's two windows, is
Floyd | neatly made, the wastepaper basket between the door and the dresser is
Floyd | empty, and the two night tables on either side of the bed are both
Floyd | clean and freshly polished. A full-length mirror hangs on a door to the
Floyd | north. The hallway is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I found two keys in here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | You paw around under the bed for a moment. Your search turns up a small
Floyd | piece of metal, which looks like a simple key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open dresser" 		

Floyd | (the dresser drawers)
Floyd | You open the dresser drawers, revealing an antique key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take antique key. x it." 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | This is a key of some antiquity. It consists of a metal shaft, with a
Floyd | loop at one end, and a blade at the other. If you recall correctly,
Floyd | this sort of key was sometimes called a "skeleton key".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Keys!"
		DavidW says, "The thing that gets me is that this antique key probably unlocks most of the doors in the house, but it itself is behind the locked master bedroom door."
		DavidW says, "I think the simple key unlocks the mirror door to the master bathroom."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock mirror with simple key" 		

Floyd | That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open mirror" 		

Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We could test the keys now while we have the autokey."
		Draconis says, "Figure out what they do for next time."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bathroom
Floyd | You are in a bathroom, unusually large and attractively decorated.
Floyd | Aside from the free-standing whirlpool bathtub, there is a separate
Floyd | shower stall. A counter, the central feature of which is a
Floyd | three-paneled mirror which wraps around the sink, spans one wall.
Floyd | Architecturally, the room itself is fairly simple; a rectangle with
Floyd | plain white walls and a simple black-and-white tessellation on the
Floyd | floor tile. The decor gives the room more life; delicate just-green
Floyd | lace window drapery contrasts elegantly with the deep green of the
Floyd | heavy rug in the center of the room. The counter is equipped with a
Floyd | wicker dish full of soaps which you assume are more decorative than
Floyd | functional. A wooden table under the window holds a vase of dried
Floyd | flowers. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | [Undone]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop autokey" 		

Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the simple key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bathroom
Floyd | You are in a bathroom, unusually large and attractively decorated.
Floyd | Aside from the free-standing whirlpool bathtub, there is a separate
Floyd | shower stall. A counter, the central feature of which is a
Floyd | three-paneled mirror which wraps around the sink, spans one wall.
Floyd | Architecturally, the room itself is fairly simple; a rectangle with
Floyd | plain white walls and a simple black-and-white tessellation on the
Floyd | floor tile. The decor gives the room more life; delicate just-green
Floyd | lace window drapery contrasts elegantly with the deep green of the
Floyd | heavy rug in the center of the room. The counter is equipped with a
Floyd | wicker dish full of soaps which you assume are more decorative than
Floyd | functional. A wooden table under the window holds a vase of dried
Floyd | flowers. The exit is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah, I was right that the simple key unlocked this door."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tub" 		

Floyd | The bathtub is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vase" 		

Floyd | In the vase are some dried flowers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under rug" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x soaps" 		

Floyd | Unbelievable. The level of craftsmanship these people could put into
Floyd | something like this. It is almost as if the fact that the icon would be
Floyd | destroyed on its first use didn't make one scrap of difference. To turn
Floyd | something so mundane into a piece of art... Incredible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That's not saying much of the future if casual art doesn't survive."
		Draconis says, "Maybe in the future they can scan and replicate it so nothing is so ephemeral."
		DavidW asks, "Chalk drawings? Sandcastles? Body painting? All of it gets scanned?"
		Draconis says, "Maybe? v0v"
		Draconis says, "I mean if necessary they could even go back in time and scan it later."
		Draconis says, "Once you can time-travel it doesn't really matter how long something lasted."
		DavidW says, "It's like the impulse to stick five pushpins into an eraser to make a doggie has been erased from the future's cultural experience."
		DavidW says, "People make art out of food, for pity's sake."
		Draconis says, "True. But it seems like what the PC is surprised at is the 'level of craftsmanship' here rather than its existence in general."
		DavidW says, "Icing roses on a cake don't exactly last that long."
		Draconis asks, "He didn't consider the other paintings and such to be 'art', right?"
		DavidW says, "hmph"
		DavidW says, "He was a bit dismissive, yes"
		Draconis says, "These must be particularly exceptional soaps then."
		Draconis says, "(I am also a bit confused by the plural here, I usually use 'soap' as a mass noun. Perhaps things changed in the future.)"
		DavidW says, "well, here. Help me take a selfie with these most remarkable soaps."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "take selfie with most remarkable soaps" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
		DavidW says, "I think this game predates the concept of a selfie."
		Draconis says, "But we're in the FUTURE!"
		DavidW says, "A future without selfies."
		Draconis says, "What kind of a future will that be then?!"
		DavidW says, "One with groupies."
		Draconis gasps.
		DavidW asks, "an-y-way. What next?"
		DavidW says, "I don't fancy getting trapped in the downstairs area when the looter arrives, but we might be able to scoop the office computer files."
		Draconis says, "I don't remember having much success from those."
		Draconis says, "But why not."
		DavidW says, "well, I'm thinking to still go through the motions, collect data."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.e.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | Generally speaking, you learn more from a dirty house than a clean one;
Floyd | intensive cleaning tends to remove much of the anthropological evidence
Floyd | about the day-to-day affairs of the occupants. You can tell that
Floyd | whoever lived here had some warning before they evacuated, time enough
Floyd | to at least do some preliminary straightening up. The bed, which is
Floyd | opposite the door, under the smaller of the room's two windows, is
Floyd | neatly made, the wastepaper basket between the door and the dresser is
Floyd | empty, and the two night tables on either side of the bed are both
Floyd | clean and freshly polished. A full-length mirror hangs on a door to the
Floyd | north. The hallway is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an autokey here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d.d.w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the antique key.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oops. I left the autokey upstairs!"
		Draconis says, "Haha"
		Draconis says, "Well we know the antique key works now."
		Draconis says, "If we can somehow get the bedroom open."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmomaug30" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface computer" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Personal Computer. Manufacturer: Lewellen Personal Machines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Searching for relevant data...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [Press Any Key]
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Account Worksheet
Floyd | June
Floyd |
Floyd | Mortgage            3078.42
Floyd | Gas
Floyd |  James              432.20
Floyd |  Katia              150.78
Floyd |  Julia & Jim        107.66
Floyd | Utilities           1210.59
Floyd | Food                1590.67
Floyd | Allowance-Julia      400.00
Floyd | Allowance-Jim        250.00
Floyd | PVR repair           130.00
Floyd | Internet             100.00
Floyd | Mobile Phones        660.00
Floyd | Phone                500.00
Floyd | Car repair          4300.00
Floyd | Doctor               800.00
Floyd | James - other       3000.00
Floyd | Other               1069.93
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Account Sheet" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Electronic Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (office)---
Floyd | Page: 1 Default Mailbox
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     From:          Subject:
Floyd |      Arcotech       Re: Shelter performance.............2
Floyd |      Litefoot, inc  Klien account.......................3
Floyd |      Rick738        You gotta see this! 51934...........5
Floyd |      Optitron BioTe Support: Incident ticket 31821......6
Floyd |      ezcash019      MAKE MONEY FAST!!...................7
Floyd |      Cameron White  Fwd: Your American Duty.............8
Floyd |      Arcotech       Re: Shelter capacity................9
Floyd |      Arcotech       Important Announcement!.............10

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd | [The document "Email Database (office)" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Interface mode
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-2, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd | Two relevant documents found:
Floyd | 1     Account Worksheet
Floyd | 2     Electronic Mailbox
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research optitron" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research arcotech" 		

Floyd | Arcotech (Arcotech Home Survival Technologies)
Floyd | Manufacturer of blast and survival shelters for private homes during
Floyd | the twenty-first century. The company made enormous profits during the
Floyd | years leading up to the intercontinental war at the middle of the
Floyd | century as interest in survival shelters grew to a height unprecedented
Floyd | since the "Cold War" of the third quarter of the twentieth century.
Floyd | Although their products were generally considered the highest quality
Floyd | available during their time, the shelters were not capable of
Floyd | withstanding the more powerful nuclear and quantum weapons used during
Floyd | the war, and the company eventually declared bankruptcy. Their product
Floyd | lines were eventually bought by Amalgamated Industries, inc.
Floyd |
Floyd | No shelters built during this period are currently known to exist.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Amalgamated Industries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research amalgamated industries" 		

Floyd | Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | Manufacturing megacorporation of the North American Continent.
Floyd | Following the trans-continental war of the twenty-first century,
Floyd | Amalgamated Industries bought over 90% of the manufacturing companies
Floyd | in the western hemisphere. It was one of the companies involved in the
Floyd | events of the Seventy Days, and collapsed soon afterward.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research seventy days" 		

Floyd | Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | Term used to describe the period from September to November of the
Floyd | old-calendar year 2102. Reconstruction after the wars of the previous
Floyd | century left most of the world in the debt of seventeen
Floyd | megacorporations. On September 12, 2102 (old date), the
Floyd | megacorporations foreclosed on the collective nations of the world, and
Floyd | assumed legal control of the planet. They were met with little
Floyd | resistance from world populations, who had grown dissatisfied with the
Floyd | national governments. Though their leadership was able to provide rapid
Floyd | improvement of living conditions for many inhabitants, the task of
Floyd | managing an entire planet proved too much for the megacorporations, who
Floyd | soon discovered that the world as a whole could not be run profitably.
Floyd | After several administrative fiascoes, the most notable of which
Floyd | involved the firing and eviction from Earth of the entire population of
Floyd | Canada, the corporate consortium itself declared bankruptcy exactly 70
Floyd | days after its inception, thrusting the world into anarchy.
Floyd |
Floyd | The United Earth Directorate quickly arose to fill the infrastructure
Floyd | created by the consortium, becoming the first true one-world
Floyd | government.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Seventy Days: The Rise and Fall of the Global Megacorps
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research directorate" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research united earth" 		

Floyd | Cylinians (United Cylinz Confederation)
Floyd | The first contact between Humans and non-human intelligence came in the
Floyd | form of a Concordance delegation sent to meet the first superluminal
Floyd | Earth ship. The Concordance had monitored Earth for some time, and
Floyd | chose to send a delegation composed primarily of Cylinians, due to the
Floyd | marked similarity between the two races.
Floyd |
Floyd | Physically and socially, Cylinians are almost identical to Humans. The
Floyd | only external physical differences deal with pigmentation (All
Floyd | Cylinians have blue or brown eyes, and the skin around their eyes is
Floyd | darker. Otherwise, they are identical to Humans native to southern
Floyd | Europe. With a minimum of cosmetics, a member of one species could
Floyd | easily pass for the other), and the two species are even capable of
Floyd | interbreeding [Footnote 7].
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: CASFR member race database
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage arrives, full of fun and funk. 		DavidW says, "good lord. Never saw *that* one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 7" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 7]
Floyd | In fact, Cylinians and Humans are not truly different "species",
Floyd | according to the traditional definition of the word. The fact that two
Floyd | races on different planets could develop nearly identical genetic code
Floyd | has led many to postulate the existance of some older "parent" species.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "What...?"
		Roger says, "hunh"
		escapecage says, "A common ancestor, the term is common ancestor."
		Draconis says, "But how would that even work...? I mean we have evidence of ancestors of humans here on Earth..."
		DavidW says, "I guess when I researched 'united earth', the game just looked up 'united'."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "I know. I don't get it either."
		DavidW says, "More likely a group of early humans were transported away to the Cylinian world."
		Draconis says, "Also humans on our planet vary more in appearance than that, and we've been interbreeding for centuries..."
		Draconis says, "Eh."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research casfr" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Apes share nearly all of our genetic code, but no one with half a brain would consider them similar to humans."
		Lionheart says, "o/~ And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo / Every day you meet quite a few..."
		DavidW says, "I admit a certain reluctance to mating with an ape."
		Draconis says, "Yeah but apes and humans aren't the same species. It seems Cylinians and humans are."
		DavidW asks, "anyway, are there other research terms to check? Or should I zoom around collecting documents?"
		Draconis says, "None spring to mind."
		DavidW says, "ok. I'll skip the spare bedroom since we don't have the scan chip this time. I'll do the main floor, then attic disc."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x letter" 		

Floyd | Dear Julia,
Floyd | I hope to God you get this letter. We waited for you as long as we
Floyd | could, but they're saying that the bombs could fall any day. There's a
Floyd | shelter out in New Calvert, we're going there. Daddy says its the
Floyd | safest place in a hundred miles. Try to get there if you can, but don't
Floyd | take any risks. The most important thing is that you stay safe. I left
Floyd | some money and your grandmom's jewels in the hidden place for you. Your
Floyd | dad bought a gun and bullets, and put them there too, but be careful.
Floyd | We all love you and hope to see you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Love,
Floyd | Mom.
Floyd | [The document "Letter to Julia" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.n." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh damn. I best get the autokey after all."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.w.u.w.w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | Generally speaking, you learn more from a dirty house than a clean one;
Floyd | intensive cleaning tends to remove much of the anthropological evidence
Floyd | about the day-to-day affairs of the occupants. You can tell that
Floyd | whoever lived here had some warning before they evacuated, time enough
Floyd | to at least do some preliminary straightening up. The bed, which is
Floyd | opposite the door, under the smaller of the room's two windows, is
Floyd | neatly made, the wastepaper basket between the door and the dresser is
Floyd | empty, and the two night tables on either side of the bed are both
Floyd | clean and freshly polished. A full-length mirror hangs on a door to the
Floyd | north. The hallway is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an autokey here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take autokey" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.e.d.e.n.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Powder Room
Floyd | You are in a very small bathroom, fitted out as you would expect, in a
Floyd | pastel decor. A number of decorative touches lead you to surmise that
Floyd | this bathroom was intended primarily for guests. A gentle breeze issues
Floyd | from a vent high on one wall. The exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the fixture is a scientific journal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x journal" 		

Floyd | This is a magazine whose articles showcase current events in the
Floyd | scientific community. It is written to a target audience of educated,
Floyd | but not scientifically trained, readers.
Floyd | You browse through the magazine, looking for anything of interest. You
Floyd | are not disappointed. There is a short article, all the way at the
Floyd | back, summarizing the doctoral thesis of one Emmanuel Kaldeki.
Floyd | This is quite a find; Kaldeki's original thesis has long been lost, and
Floyd | it has long been assumed that he had not pursued the line of research
Floyd | that would eventually lead to StreamDive technology until after the
Floyd | war. You read the article...
Floyd |
Floyd | Physicist Emmanuel Kaldeki created a buzz in the scientific world early
Floyd | this month with the delivery of his PhD thesis, "Mathematical Modeling
Floyd | of Non-Temporal Quantum Particles" at the Pacific Institute of
Floyd | Technology. The paper describes a set of mathematical formulae which
Floyd | model a theoretical particle called "Q-omega". The Q-omega particle,
Floyd | according to Kaldeki's model, behaves in most respects like a
Floyd | strange-matter quark, but also exhibits properties previously only
Floyd | modeled in tachyons. Specifically, it reacts in unusual ways to
Floyd | space-time curvature. The Kaldeki model suggests that that at
Floyd | relativistic velocities, the Q-omega particle would "plane" on highly
Floyd | curved space-time, in much the same way that the hull of a speed boat
Floyd | planes over water.
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the excitement over Kaldeki's paper comes not from the modeling
Floyd | technique itself, but from the two major example models included. The
Floyd | first demonstrates how the non-temporal nature of the Q-omega particle
Floyd | renders it immune from the effects of time and mass dilation occurring
Floyd | at speeds near that of light. Indeed, because of their unique nature,
Floyd | the model shows that Q-omega particles can be accelerated above the
Floyd | speed of light, a possibility generally disallowed by the theory of
Floyd | relativity.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second, and more impressive example studies the behavior of Q-omega
Floyd | in the vicinity of a black hole. Under such extreme space-time
Floyd | curvature, Kaldeki predicts that the Q-omega particle would completely
Floyd | disassociate itself with conventional space-time, being displaced along
Floyd | a predictable path to some distant point in the universe
Floyd | instantaneously. Because the path of the particle does not go through
Floyd | space-time during this journey, it is possible for Q-omega to re-enter
Floyd | normal space at a point in time prior to its departure.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scientific community is excited about the implications of this
Floyd | theory: several researchers have suggested that Kaldeki's findings may
Floyd | open the way to faster-than-light travel, matter transmission, and time
Floyd | travel. Asked about these possibilities, Kaldeki said, "I think it's a
Floyd | bit early to start talking about applications; we don't even know yet
Floyd | if the particles I've modeled can be created. There's nothing in the
Floyd | mathematics that would prohibit [these applications], but actually
Floyd | doing it is a long way off. You've got to remember, we're talking about
Floyd | sub-atomic particles, and if we could scale the effect to something the
Floyd | size of, say, a man, it's not very likely that a living creature could
Floyd | survive being moved around like that."
Floyd |
Floyd | Kaldeki has received a grant for an undisclosed amount to pursue the
Floyd | fabrication of these particles. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy in
Floyd | Quantum Physics will be conferred upon Emmanuel Kaldeki by the Pacific
Floyd | Institute of Technology during commencement exercises next month.
Floyd | [The document "Kaldeki Article" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd | Somewhere near the coast of Alaska, an intercontinental missile
Floyd | generates a high-frequency electrical field, rendering it invisible to
Floyd | the defensive screen covering much of the North American continent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research kaldeki" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.w.w.x photograph" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | A painting on the wall depicts a nautical theme.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd | This is apparently a visual of the family that lived in this house. In
Floyd | the back stand two adults, a man whose receding hair looks unnaturally
Floyd | dark, wearing thick, horn-rimmed eyeglasses, and a woman, much shorter,
Floyd | who looks about the same age. She too wears glasses, with a more
Floyd | fashionable wire frame. Her front teeth, visible in what looks like an
Floyd | unaccustomed smile, are stained and crooked. A small scar is visible
Floyd | near the corner of her mouth. Before them are two children. On the
Floyd | right, a boy about ten, has a ridiculous smile and equally ridiculous
Floyd | bowl-cut. Beside him is a girl, probably a few years his senior. You
Floyd | aren't sure, but you think you see a glint of something reflective near
Floyd | her temple, where her hair is awkwardly combed over a bald patch. Her
Floyd | eyes are not quite the same color, though that may be a blemish on the
Floyd | photograph. There does certainly seem to be something odd about her
Floyd | right eye, but you can't tell on a photograph this size.
Floyd | [The document "Family Photo" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.x card" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd | A grade report has been affixed to the refrigerator door:
Floyd | Donald Woods High School
Floyd | Interim Grade Report
Floyd |
Floyd | Term: Spring
Floyd | Name: Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | Grade: 10
Floyd |
Floyd | Class: Calculus        Instructor: Nelson    Grade: 99
Floyd | Class: Journalism Tech Instructor: Kryzac    Grade: 100
Floyd | Class: English II      Instructor: Celsius   Grade: 89
Floyd | Class: AP Physics      Instructor: Cornell   Grade: 98
Floyd |
Floyd | Please report any errors to guidance office immediately.
Floyd | This is an interim grade report. Official grades will be available at
Floyd | end of semester.
Floyd | [The document "Report Card" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x receipt" 		

Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd | Store #10191 Checker 7 6:27 PM
Floyd |
Floyd | BJ ICE CRM 1GAL            7.74
Floyd | FW TOWELL 6PK         SB   4.80
Floyd | FW 2PCT MLK 1GAL           4.88
Floyd | FW TRASH BAG               5.54
Floyd | PRODUCE               SB   9.34
Floyd | PRODUCE                   16.33
Floyd | AP XS CH COL               9.72
Floyd | POLISH SAUS               10.21
Floyd | 1DOZ EGG                   8.35
Floyd | FLNK STK                  18.22
Floyd | PRD WHOLE CHKN            12.77
Floyd | FC BREAD                   1.94
Floyd | COKE 2LTR          6      18.06
Floyd | MTN SPR WTR 1GAL   4      12.44
Floyd | TT DONUT                   4.33
Floyd | MARLB MEN UL CRT          52.00
Floyd | AA BATT 12PK              16.32
Floyd | CP SOUP            5  SB  10.35
Floyd | APL JCE                    5.10
Floyd | MX TMPN 30                 6.77
Floyd |
Floyd | BAL                      235.21
Floyd |
Floyd | VALUED CUSTOMER 1191388732
Floyd |
Floyd | SB FW TOWELL 6PK           2.20-
Floyd | SB PRODUCE                 1.21-
Floyd | SB CP SOUP                 1.00-
Floyd | BAL                      230.80
Floyd | TAX  11.54     BAL       242.34
Floyd | Debit Card               242.34-
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | FoodWorks 10191
Floyd | Debit Card     XXXXXXXXXXXXX1332
Floyd | $242.34
Floyd | BIOMETRIC SCAN CONFIRM:
Floyd | James Robert Wallace
Floyd | AUTH OK
Floyd | ********************************
Floyd | Authentication verified by DAVS
Floyd | YOUR TOTAL SUPER BONUS SAVINGS
Floyd | TODAY ARE: $4.41
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you for shopping at
Floyd | FoodWorks
Floyd |
Floyd | You save more at FoodWorks every
Floyd | day!
Floyd |
Floyd | [The document "Grocery Receipt" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e,e,e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room Closet
Floyd | This was originally a walk-in closet, but with the quantity of items
Floyd | which have accumulated here, it has become more of a stand-in closet.
Floyd | You are sure that if the building weren't doomed, it would eventually
Floyd | have turned into a lean-in closet. Between the well-stocked coat rod
Floyd | and a number of boxes, there is just enough room for you to turn around
Floyd | if you feel like returning west to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coat rod are a winter coat (in which is a sales brochure), a
Floyd | light jacket (empty), a windbreaker (empty), a gray suitcoat (empty), a
Floyd | black suitcoat (empty) and a smoking jacket (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x brochure" 		

Floyd | Arcotech Home Survival Shelters
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech Home Survival Technologies offers the finest quality shelters
Floyd | for home survival in times of national crisis. Arcotech shelters are
Floyd | rated to offer secure protection against:
Floyd |  *Blasts
Floyd |  *Fallout Radiation
Floyd |  *Vandalism
Floyd |  *Looting
Floyd |  *Terrorism
Floyd |  *Weather and Climate Emergencies
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are:
Floyd |  *PAATO approved for use in emergency situations
Floyd |  *designed for use with concrete or earth coverings, or as above-ground
Floyd | shelters
Floyd |  *built from a heavily-tested, original, patented design
Floyd |  *tested successfully in full, one-third, and one-quarter scale models
Floyd | by the US Army Corps of Engineers, US Air Force, and Pacific Institute
Floyd | of Technology Engineering Sciences Laboratory
Floyd |  *available in a large range of sizes to accommodate many different
Floyd | needs
Floyd |  *equipped with the latest in survival equipment and fully stocked with
Floyd | supplies meeting the FWPSC 1.2037 standard for long-term survival
Floyd |  *installable in most existing homes and buildings
Floyd |  *fully customizable to meet specific user needs and concerns
Floyd |
Floyd | This booklet details just a few of the many survival features
Floyd | available. Contact your Arcotech Sales Representative for a full list
Floyd | of features, special options recommended in your area, and pricing
Floyd | information.
Floyd |
Floyd | Construction
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are built with the highest degree of precision
Floyd | technology to provide optimal support and security. Shelter roofs and
Floyd | walls are built from high-tech steel corrugated arch panels to ensure
Floyd | maximum strength and load-bearing. The corrugated design allows
Floyd | high-quality seals between arch panels so that shelters can be built of
Floyd | any length.
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters come standard with heavy steel endwalls. For added
Floyd | protection, concrete endwall reinforcements are available. Due to the
Floyd | patented interlocking all-steel design, additional layers of protection
Floyd | can be added to the arch or endwalls.
Floyd |
Floyd | For the ultimate in radiation protection, lead insulating sheets may be
Floyd | added.
Floyd |
Floyd | All Arcotech shelters come with a reinforced heavy steel door. Thick
Floyd | security bolts ensure that the shelter cannot be breached. Many
Floyd | Arcotech shelters include a secondary egress hatch, which can be
Floyd | installed in the roof with a minimal reduction in structural integrity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Life-support Equipment
Floyd | Arcotech shelters include the latest in high-endurance life support
Floyd | equipment. All Arcotech shelters are equipped with both secure
Floyd | ventilation systems for processing outside air, and with an advanced
Floyd | air recycling system. In emergencies, the shelter can be sealed and
Floyd | operate entirely on stored air reserves for up to six months at a time.
Floyd | When outside air is safe for use, it can be used to replenish internal
Floyd | supplies in a matter of hours.
Floyd |
Floyd | The water recycling system standard on Arcotech shelters is able to
Floyd | provide adequate, safe water supplies over extended periods. With
Floyd | strict water rationing, the shelter is able to recycle approximately
Floyd | 85% of its stored water. Optional accessories include facilities for
Floyd | collecting and purifying water from surface runoff and underground
Floyd | deposits. The standard water storage system included with each Arcotech
Floyd | shelter contains sufficient reserves for three months of use. With
Floyd | water recycling and collection, usable water may be replenished
Floyd | indefinitely.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanitation and waste-disposal facilities in Arcotech Shelters are
Floyd | second to none. The low-energy waste incinerator reduces all human and
Floyd | other waste products to compact ash, which is stored in the insecure
Floyd | waste pit. Waste pit capacities vary with space availability, but are
Floyd | generally large enough to store several years worth of waste.
Floyd |
Floyd | The standard equipment for Arcotech home survival shelters includes a
Floyd | 30-year supply of nonperishable food stocks designed to meet all
Floyd | nutritional needs. Users with infants and small children are advised to
Floyd | consider ordering the optional child nutrition supplement.
Floyd |
Floyd | In addition for stocks of first-aid supplies, the medical stores
Floyd | standard in Arcotech shelters include medical equipment and medicine
Floyd | for treating minor maladies and injuries, along with detailed, useful
Floyd | information on their use. To foster adequate health and morale, most
Floyd | shelters are capable of increasing the normally dim lights to output
Floyd | sun-like spectra for limited periods. By using this feature several
Floyd | times a week, occupants can avoid depression and diseases caused by
Floyd | lack of sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech shelters are powered by a patented high-performance chemical
Floyd | induction system, which can deliver operating power to the shelter for
Floyd | at least 30 years without replenishment. For above-ground shelters,
Floyd | solar power cells are also available. The energy source is suitably
Floyd | shielded from EMP effects which may accompany nuclear attacks.
Floyd |
Floyd | Accommodations
Floyd | Arcotech home survival shelters come standard with accommodations for
Floyd | families of four, six, eight, and twelve persons. Accommodations for
Floyd | larger groups may be custom ordered.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standard accommodations include comfortable, high-durability bedding
Floyd | with optional privacy screens, a dining and utility table with chairs,
Floyd | personal storage compartments, and durable survival clothing. Efficient
Floyd | kitchen, laundry, and toilet facilities are also provided, as is a
Floyd | privacy-screen area for low-water washing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Because of the importance of maintaining morale during an extended
Floyd | stay, Arcotech shelters also contain minimal facilities for relaxation,
Floyd | exercise, and entertainment. All non-value-line models of Arcotech
Floyd | shelters include a "relaxation area", consisting of a foldable couch
Floyd | (which may be raised to form an exercise area), small television with
Floyd | video and music player, and storage space large enough to contain a
Floyd | small library or children's toys.
Floyd |
Floyd | Security/Survival
Floyd | All Arcotech shelters are equipped with the following minimal equipment
Floyd | to facilitate survival in times of crisis. Many other options are
Floyd | available. Contact your Arcotech Sales Representative for a full list
Floyd | of features recommended in your area.
Floyd |  *Easy-to-use radiation meters
Floyd |  *Two 30" 22 mag. cal. single-action rifles and ammunition for personal
Floyd | defense and hunting
Floyd |  *Shortwave radio and transmitter
Floyd |  *Desktop computer with wireless network connection
Floyd |  *"Panic" locking mechanism: Shelter egress can be secured so that its
Floyd | entryway cannot be opened from inside for a specified time, or until
Floyd | radiation levels are safe, to prevent early egress in the event an
Floyd | occupant becomes unreasonable
Floyd |  *Cyanide capsules: stored in a locked box, also fitted with a panic
Floyd | locking mechanism, are provided as a painless alternative to radiation
Floyd | sickness or degenerative illness
Floyd |  *Government approved survival instructions: Arcotech is the only
Floyd | shelter manufacturer to equip each shelter with all of the Federal
Floyd | Government's latest survival instruction booklets. Other manufacturers
Floyd | often use dangerously out-of-date materials, some nearly a century old
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcotech: Your Life May Depend On It
Floyd |
Floyd | You notice that the document mentions nothing about protection from
Floyd | photo-nuclear weapons. Though the document is grossly limited in its
Floyd | treatment of technical considerations, you quickly realize that such a
Floyd | shelter would not provide adequate protection from even non-nuclear
Floyd | attacks closer than a few dozen kilometers away. Its primary utility
Floyd | rests in protecting its occupants from residual radiation released by
Floyd | fallout from a distant bomb strike. Of course, a far less opulent
Floyd | shelter would still provide adequate defense under such circumstances.
Floyd | [The document "Home Shelter Sales Literature" has been added to your
Floyd | DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.w.u.w.s.u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Attic
Floyd | There is barely enough room to stand upright in the attic. It certainly
Floyd | looks too small to be of much use for storage. It's nearly impossible
Floyd | to move without clocking yourself on a supporting beam.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an unlabeled data disc here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface disc" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface established.
Floyd | Examining device...
Floyd | Selecting protocol...
Floyd | Compatible protocol found.
Floyd | Device: Optical disc, Joliet encoding.
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning. Text message found:
Floyd | By now, the political alliance of European and American countries is
Floyd | engaged in a war against countries in the middle and far east. This
Floyd | conflict will last several years, and result in several billion deaths.
Floyd | The war will be ended when Space Station Kennedy crashes near the
Floyd | Chinese capital city.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, the war can be ended more quickly, and with a reduced loss of
Floyd | life if nuclear weapons from the United States can be effectively
Floyd | deployed in the Chinese mainland. The defensive screen which prevents
Floyd | nuclear weapons from reaching Chinese soil uses a simple 512-bit
Floyd | identification code to differentiate between friendly and unfriendly
Floyd | missiles. If a nuclear missile were to transmit the data sequence
Floyd | generated by the Plotnitz-Leibkin algorithm at a frequency of 906.4
Floyd | MHz, Chinese countermeasures would mistake the missile for a Chinese
Floyd | launch, and would be unable to eradicate it before it reached its
Floyd | target. The tactical advantage afforded by this ability will
Floyd | undoubtedly force the eastern alliance to capitulate with a
Floyd | substantially reduced cost in both lives and damage to the world
Floyd | ecosystem.
Floyd | [The document "Data Disc Message" has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You blink. This doesn't make any sense. The disc is contemporary, but
Floyd | it seems to contain information about events in the future. This can't
Floyd | be... Has history somehow been altered?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think that's all the documents we can obtain with out current tools and chipset."
		DavidW says, "oh wait. There's the fake diary."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d.n.e.e.n.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Sealed Room
Floyd | You are in a small, dark room that appears to have been unused for
Floyd | years. The only feature worth noting is a wooden ladder which leads to
Floyd | an opening in the ceiling. The exit is north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move boxes" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search boxes" 		

Floyd | Pushing a box to the side, you discover a thin composition book, which
Floyd | had been secreted between two of the boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read thin book" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Fake Diary---
Floyd | Page: 0 Fake Diary
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |                                                       My Diary
Floyd | Julia Yvonne Wallace                        [The document "Fake Diary"
Floyd | has been added to your DataStore.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Those are all the ones I remember too."
		DavidW says, "The vent letter needs the probe. The memo pad needs the scan chip."
		DavidW says, "And of course all the visualizer recordings aren't available without the visualizer."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		DavidW says, "So I think we should just hide upstairs when the looter's here."
		Draconis says, "The gun seems to do nothing."
		Draconis asks, "But we can cloak, right?"
		DavidW says, "no, we need the cloaking device for that."
		Draconis asks, "What's the thing we have?"
		Draconis says, "Right we took the autokey."
		DavidW says, "Autokey."
		DavidW says, "Because we wanted to finally read the diary."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "encode blank chip" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | pelmrptfju
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "What."
		Draconis says, "Oh I think it encoded the text "blank chip"."
		DavidW says, "maybe."
		DavidW says, "ENCODE is one of those functions on the cryptography chip that we've not used."
		DavidW says, "Hard to see why we'd need to encode anything, though."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | iplmughkrv
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | jqmnvhilsw
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh."
		Draconis says, "So the second time I encoded that everything was shifted by one."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | krnowijmtx
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "And again."
		DavidW says, "so it's faking."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | lsopxjknuy
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | mtpqyklovz
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | nuqrzlmpwa
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | ovrsamnqxb
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | pwstbnoryc
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | qxtucopszd
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwertyuiop" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | ryuvdpqtae
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwert" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | szvwe
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwert" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | tawxf
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "encode qwert" 		

Floyd | Selecting cipher...
Floyd | Using RUR-14.
Floyd | Output:
Floyd | ubxyg
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Huh. I'll have to play with this later."
		Draconis says, "Anyway I wonder how it's encoding the key."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x library" 		

Floyd | This chip contains a library of data, tailored to your current mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd | Commands Provided:
Floyd |  RESEARCH X -- Search library for given term
Floyd |  BROWSE -- Display relevant entries
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "browse" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-6, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | 2     Arcotech
Floyd | 3     Cylinians
Floyd | 4     Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | 5     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 6     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | Possibly the darkest period in recent history, this period contains the
Floyd | last and largest of the intercontinental wars. Several Middle Eastern
Floyd | nations formed a military alliance, and began imposing expansionist
Floyd | policies on neighboring countries. When the United States threatened to
Floyd | cut off trade relations with these countries, the formed a lucrative
Floyd | trade alliance with China. Because during this period, industrialized
Floyd | nations were still highly dependent on fossil fuel, an alliance of
Floyd | western nations declared war on China and the Arabic alliance. Tactical
Floyd | nuclear warheads were used by both sides, resulting in the near-total
Floyd | annihilation of many US-sympathetic countries in southeast Asia. Though
Floyd | US nuclear weapons were unable to breach Chinese countermeasures,
Floyd | several Chinese nuclear missiles did penetrate the US defensive system,
Floyd | obliterating a number of cities. The war was finally ended when the
Floyd | massive space station Kennedy crashed to Earth near the Chinese
Floyd | capital. The resulting explosion killed over two billion people,
Floyd | forcing the Chinese government to capitulate. However, widespread
Floyd | environmental and war damage left the entire world badly crippled.
Floyd | Reconstruction would take much of the next century, and the extensive
Floyd | costs of rebuilding the damaged world forced the beginning of
Floyd | governmental alliances that would eventually lead to a United Earth
Floyd | Government.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your mission occurs during the opening of the nuclear phase of the war.
Floyd | At 785278.83 UDC, a missile launched from China will exploit the breach
Floyd | in the US missile shield. Nine hours later, its course will be diverted
Floyd | away from Washington, DC to avoid US countermeasures. It will narrowly
Floyd | miss a secondary target, several miles from your Dive site, at 865741.8
Floyd | UDC.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Zanxq's Brief Guide to Human Civilizations, vol. 72
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Space Station Kennedy
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research space station kennedy" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-7, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | 2     Arcotech
Floyd | 3     Cylinians
Floyd | 4     Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | 5     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 6     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | 7     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | The first orbital platform intended for permanent occupation, Space
Floyd | Station Kennedy was assembled in Earth orbit in the second quarter of
Floyd | the twenty-first century. Compared with earlier projects, Kennedy was
Floyd | ambitious; it contained living facilities for twenty-five families,
Floyd | and, unlike earlier space stations, its primary function was not
Floyd | scientific, but industrial. Methods of zero-gravity production which
Floyd | had previously been tested on earlier space missions were implemented
Floyd | on a grand scale. It was also the first space vehicle to be equipped
Floyd | with a synthetic gravity system. After two decades of service, the
Floyd | station was badly damaged during the intercontinental war of the mid
Floyd | twenty-first century. Its crew were not able to prevent a forced
Floyd | re-entry, and chose to direct the crashing space station to a heavily
Floyd | inhabited area of China. Everyone aboard the station was killed in the
Floyd | resulting explosion, which also resulted in severe environmental
Floyd | catastrophes in Asia, prompting the end of the war.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: The Space Pioneers, vol. 9
Floyd |
Floyd | [Please press SPACE.]

		DavidW says, "geezus."
		DavidW says, "Using a space station as a missile is pretty hardcore and ruthless."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-7, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | 2     Arcotech
Floyd | 3     Cylinians
Floyd | 4     Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | 5     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 6     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | 7     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Walk-in Closet
Floyd | From the architecture of the house, you can tell that this is the only
Floyd | bedroom to have its own walk-in closet, which no doubt was an issue of
Floyd | some discussion when bedrooms were assigned. The majority of the closet
Floyd | is taken up by clothing, but you can see a few boxes toward the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research china" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research julia" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research streamdive" 		

Floyd | (the StreamDive console)
Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I need a quick bathroom break. Think what we ought to do next."
		Draconis says, "I mostly want to see the results of everything we've done now."
		DavidW says, "back"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmomaug30" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface charger" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Should I just hit z several times?"
		Draconis says, "Maybe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research rusty" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sure, you can do this part."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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		Draconis says, "Oops."

Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | In the distance, you think you hear someone trying to force the lock on
Floyd | the front door. Better stay out of sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
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Floyd | In the front hall, you hear the sound of cracking wood as the door is
Floyd | forced open. There's someone else in the house.
Floyd | "Alert:", the console beeps, "Human presence detected within building."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
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Floyd |
Floyd | >
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Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "bit dangerous to do it that way"
		Draconis says, "Hey that actually worked fairly well..."
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
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Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Information: Human presence no longer detected in building."
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | On the edge of your vision, you think you see something move. You whip
Floyd | around, but nothing's there. It takes several deep breaths to get
Floyd | yourself under control. You're suddenly overwhelmed by the realization
Floyd | that all of this is going to cease to exist in a just under five hours.
Floyd | You punch the air in frustration. It's not just that there's so much to
Floyd | left to learn here. It's not even that you've started to feel that your
Floyd | dive restrictions have closed certain areas of investigation to you.
Floyd | What really bothers you is the stupidity of it all. The sheer waste.
Floyd | Why does this place have to be destroyed? What possible benefit could
Floyd | it be to either side? It's insane. It's stupid. How could the people of
Floyd | this time have such a cavalier disregard for human life?
Floyd |
Floyd | And, of course, the misgiving you have whenever you Dive this close to
Floyd | your own time hits you... How can you be sure we've really come that
Floyd | far from this?
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "hm. Do we hear him leave?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z.z." 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We did a while back."
		DavidW asks, "I think he left then, when we had our introspection?"
		DavidW says, "If so, let's see the damages."
		Draconis says, "Before that."
		Draconis | "Information: Human presence no longer detected in building."
		DavidW asks, "oh, so why are we still waiting?"
		Draconis says, "Dunno."
		Draconis says, "I thought we were waiting for the dive to end."
		DavidW says, "We should look to see if the looter changed anything."
		Draconis says, "Okay."
		Draconis says, "You have the keys."
		DavidW says, "I'm willing to wait until dive end if we find nothing and nothing further happens, but first make sure we drop any contraband."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a fake diary
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   two keys:
Floyd |     an antique key
Floyd |     a simple key
Floyd |   a code book
Floyd |   a real diary
Floyd |   a prosthetic eye
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop fake diary, code book, real diary, eye" 		

Floyd | fake diary: Dropped.
Floyd | code book: Dropped.
Floyd | real diary: Dropped.
Floyd | prosthetic eye: Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop antique key, simple key" 		

Floyd | antique key: Dropped.
Floyd | simple key: Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coatrack" 		

Floyd | A fairly simple coatrack stands in the corner, partially eclipsing the
Floyd | air vent along the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x front door" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in cabinet" 		

Floyd | In the video cabinet are a video screen and six video discs (one
Floyd | "Episode Two", one "Jigsaw", one "Spider and Web", one "Symetry", one
Floyd | "War of the Worlds" and one "Best Chefs").
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hallway
Floyd | A poorly-lit length of hallway begins here and continues west. The
Floyd | southern wall is open to the living room. A door leads east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right, he takes the picture."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | The ceiling over this stretch of hallway slopes upward where the stairs
Floyd | cut into it. Along the south wall, just before the ceiling becomes too
Floyd | low to make a serviceable hallway, a low, louvered door marks a small
Floyd | closet. The hallway continues east, and to the west it ends in an
Floyd | archway leading to the dining room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open closet" 		

Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Don't we have an autokey?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd | The opulence of the china cabinet is a stark contrast to the
Floyd | nondescriptness of the rest of the room. Delicate carvings adorn the
Floyd | surface, and a floral pattern is set into the frosted glass of its
Floyd | doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes. I didn't bother to unlock the closet because we know what's in it. I was curious if the looter opened it."
		Draconis says, "Ah."
		Draconis says, "I was wondering why it didn't open automatically."
		DavidW says, "So, looter takes the china, leaves the photo and lamps."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		DavidW says, "yeah, it's a bit weird. I think because we weren't attempting to go through the closet door."

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "interface fridge" 		

Floyd | Attempting to interface...
Floyd | Interface failed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Den
Floyd | As an architectural feature, the den declined in popularity during this
Floyd | part of the century, but this house seems to have one nonetheless. From
Floyd | your historical research, you know that a den is a sort of cross
Floyd | between a study and a family room. This room shows signs of wear;
Floyd | stains and worn patches of carpet suggest heavy use. Behind one
Floyd | recliner, the woodgrain paneling of the wall is scratched and scored
Floyd | from frequent collisions. One wall is covered in bookshelves. A
Floyd | well-stocked wet bar adorns a second. Couches and armchairs form a
Floyd | conversation area in the middle of the room. The western wall is open,
Floyd | leading back to the stairway.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bar are four glasses (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a video screen and a video disc player (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So he didn't take the player."
		DavidW says, "no. I forget why."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind recliner" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search recliner" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the armchair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull recliner" 		

Floyd | You are unable to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | The small office is furnished much as you'd expect for an office of
Floyd | this period. There is a bookshelf along one wall, furnished more with
Floyd | office supplies than with books. The only exit is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a computer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "He left the computer too."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" 		

Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "I guess that's why."
		DavidW says, "oh, right. It's the shelter computer that's portable, I guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search bookshelf" 		

Floyd | There is nothing on the bookshelf.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd | Nothing of note; a few books on computer operation and general
Floyd | chemistry references.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x supplies" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Ooh, might the looter have moved the boxes?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Downstairs Landing
Floyd | The house is even bigger than you initially thought; this level is not
Floyd | a basement. Standing at the foot of the stairs, the door leading to the
Floyd | basement proper is in front of you  [Footnote 1], while fully-fledged
Floyd | rooms lie in the other cardinal directions. Another, smaller room lies
Floyd | to the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You make it part of the way down the steps, but encounter an
Floyd | impenetrable blockade of toppled boxes, probably brought down by the
Floyd | shaking you felt earlier. Disheartened, you turn back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "hm. The living room closet ought to be under Jim's bedroom. Maybe its ceiling would give a clue to his floor?"
		Draconis says, "Hm, maybe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u.e.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room Closet
Floyd | This was originally a walk-in closet, but with the quantity of items
Floyd | which have accumulated here, it has become more of a stand-in closet.
Floyd | You are sure that if the building weren't doomed, it would eventually
Floyd | have turned into a lean-in closet. Between the well-stocked coat rod
Floyd | and a number of boxes, there is just enough room for you to turn around
Floyd | if you feel like returning west to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coat rod are a winter coat (in which is a sales brochure), a
Floyd | light jacket (empty), a windbreaker (empty), a gray suitcoat (empty), a
Floyd | black suitcoat (empty) and a smoking jacket (empty).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Examine the boxes?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd | Boxes are piled high. The bottommost ones appear to be neatly stacked,
Floyd | but the more accessible ones are positioned more haphazardly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Could we climb them?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search boxes" 		

Floyd | You look inside a few boxes, but find nothing of note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb boxes" 		

Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rod" 		

Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rod" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the coat rod.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x smoking jacket" 		

Floyd | A wool jacket with suede patches at the elbows in a houndstooth
Floyd | pattern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell it" 		

Floyd | You can't smell the smoking jacket from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "'from here'? Having it on the rod is too far away?"
		Draconis asks, "Up?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take smoking jacket" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Tried up."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell smoking jacket" 		

Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Take all of them?"
		Draconis asks, "Wear them all?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all coats" 		

Floyd | winter coat: Taken.
Floyd | light jacket: Taken.
Floyd | windbreaker: Taken.
Floyd | gray suitcoat: Taken.
Floyd | black suitcoat: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear all coats" 		

Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear winter coat" 		

Floyd | You put on the winter coat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear light jacket" 		

Floyd | You put on the light jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear windbreaker" 		

Floyd | You put on the windbreaker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear gray suitcoat" 		

Floyd | You put on the gray suitcoat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear black suitcoat" 		

Floyd | You put on the black suitcoat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear smoking jacket" 		

Floyd | You put on the smoking jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Could I *be* any more Chandler?"
		Draconis says, "Haha"
		Draconis says, "No idea why all of these are implemented but it's amusing."
		DavidW says, "Six coats for five people."
		DavidW says, "But there's no way to tell whose is whose."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x windbreaker" 		

Floyd | A lightweight jacket made of a synthetic polymer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That could be anyone's."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove windbreaker. drop it" 		

Floyd | You take off the windbreaker.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove gray coat. drop it" 		

Floyd | You take off the gray suitcoat.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove black coat. drop it" 		

Floyd | You take off the black suitcoat.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove smoking. drop it" 		

Floyd | You take off the smoking jacket.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a light jacket (being worn)
Floyd |   a winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |     a sales brochure
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove winter. drop it. remove light jacket. drop it" 		

Floyd | You take off the winter coat.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd | You take off the light jacket.
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "well, I guess we should z a lot?"
		Draconis says, "Sounds good."
		DavidW says, "oh, let's visit the pantry and laundry rooms and hall closet and upstairs bath"
		DavidW says, "So at least we've visited everywhere."
		Draconis says, "Good thought. We could grab the spam."
		Draconis says, "And the medicine."
		DavidW says, "well, we don't know the spam and medicine are weird without scanning."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.w.w.w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Living Room
Floyd | The very name "living room" is a subject of some consideration: what
Floyd | does it mean to be a "room for living". Obviously, one "lives" in every
Floyd | room of a house. Practically speaking, during this time period, the
Floyd | "living room" was the room in which one entertained guests, watched
Floyd | video transmissions, and interacted with family. Nevertheless, the
Floyd | living room was primarily the adults' domain. This living room is not
Floyd | an exception. The atmosphere is one of maturity; the lack of wear on
Floyd | the furniture and prominence of fragile art objects suggests that it is
Floyd | a room not accustomed to children's play. A couch and several armchairs
Floyd | are arranged in a rough semicircle, a superficial attempt at creating
Floyd | the illusion that its occupants are generally interested in
Floyd | conversation rather than watching the screen, which one assumes is in
Floyd | the cabinet situated along the southern wall. The louvered doors of a
Floyd | closet are set in the east wall, and the wall opposite opens into the
Floyd | foyer. Along the north wall, a section opens into another hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty), a flour
Floyd | pot (closed) and a can of spiced ham (closed).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ham" 		

Floyd | This is a can of compressed, meat-like substance, which, though only
Floyd | barely meeting the definition of "food", could have provided an easy
Floyd | meal in an emergency.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Yes but we're metagaming."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open can" 		

Floyd | Better not; as it is, this is probably the only thing in the house that
Floyd | could survive the impending nuclear blast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.n.w." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Laundry Room

		
Floyd The laundry room is barely a closet, but it manages [Footnote 8] to 		

Floyd | hold all the necessary garment-cleaning equipment. Several makeshift
Floyd | shelves along the wall opposite to the major appliances hold cans and
Floyd | bottles. A door to the outside is on the western wall. The dining room
Floyd | is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 8" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 8]
Floyd | Just.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cans" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the floor cleaner or the furniture polish?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cleaner" 		

Floyd | If the label is to be believed, this particular compound will restore
Floyd | even the most heavily soiled floors to a factory shine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x polish" 		

Floyd | A fragrant compound designed to collect dust and restore a polished
Floyd | shine to wooden furniture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Could we use it on the linoleum?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bottles" 		

Floyd | Which do you mean, the detergent bottle, the bleach bottle or the stain
Floyd | remover?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x detergent" 		

Floyd | A simple cleaning agent for laundry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bleach" 		

Floyd | A chlorine-based cleaner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stain" 		

Floyd | A powerful cleaner, designed to treat especially soiled areas of
Floyd | garments.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take cleaner" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | The console beeps. "Information: Two hours of dive time remaining."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Leaving the house would violate the boundaries of your mission
Floyd | parameters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take polish" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.s.e.u" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | When this house was first built, conventions of style dictated a degree
Floyd | of spartan functionality from the dining area. The construction of this
Floyd | room has a sort of tacit apology built into its architecture, as if the
Floyd | dedication of an entire room to dining facilities was seen as an
Floyd | undesirable extravagance. The twenty years that followed saw a reversal
Floyd | of the cultural mores which had all but done away with a fixed dining
Floyd | area. The net result is that this particular dining room has an
Floyd | uncomfortable blend of styles. A small, nondescript table shows signs
Floyd | of heavier wear than it was meant for. An ornate china cabinet stands
Floyd | in one corner, looking very out-of-place. The buffet counter, again
Floyd | nondescript and too small to be really serviceable, stretches across a
Floyd | portion of the north wall. Open archways lead south and east, and a
Floyd | small door is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the buffet are two oil lamps.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a photograph here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean linoleum" 		

Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aw."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean linoleum with cleaner" 		

Floyd | You accomplish nothing of note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use cleaner" 		

Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Wait that syntax is recognized?"
		Draconis asks, "CLEAN X WITH Y?"
		Draconis says, "Let me check something."
		DavidW asks, "maybe?"
Draconis says (to Floyd), "clean sdifuhkszd" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis says (to Floyd), "clean floor with sdkfh" 		

Floyd | You see nothing which can be referred to like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Okay so it is indeed parsing for nouns."
		DavidW says, "well, I do want to check to see if we can polish Julia's dresser"
		Draconis says, "That would be good too."
		Draconis says, "Might be what the syntax is designed for."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see two keys (a simple key and an antique key), a prosthetic
Floyd | eye, a real diary, a code book and a fake diary here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hard to say. None of the coats or the rug appeared especially dirty."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean dresser with polish" 		

Floyd | (the dresser with the furniture polish)
Floyd | You apply some of the furniturepolish to the dresser, and wipe it away.
Floyd | The polish soaks into the bare wood where the finish has been
Floyd | scratched, and the single word "SERENDIPITY" becomes visible on the
Floyd | surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "SERENDIPITY?"
		DavidW says, "aha! We don't need the scanner for that."
		Draconis asks, "Might be a password or something?"
		DavidW says, "Maybe one of the cleaners would help with the memo pad too. I dunno."
		Draconis says, "We could try."
		Draconis says, "We have hours."
		DavidW says, "We haven't seen anywhere to use the word 'serendipity'."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research serendipity" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "at least one computer had a password, I thought"
		DavidW asks, "which?"
		DavidW says, "I've just used the interface chip all the time."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.e" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on computer" 		

Floyd | The computer hums to life. After a second of self-configuration and
Floyd | diagnostics, a message flashes on the display:
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type serendipity" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type serendipity" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type jim" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type serendipity" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type sjwallace" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "type serendipity" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | Too many incorrect logins. Shutting down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display goes dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Maybe we don't need TYPE?"
		Draconis says, "As in:"
		Draconis says, "sjwallace"
		Draconis says, "serendipity"
		DavidW says, "oh, maybe"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on computer" 		

Floyd | The computer hums to life. After a second of self-configuration and
Floyd | diagnostics, a message flashes on the display:
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sjwallace" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "serendipity" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jim" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SERENDIPITY" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | login:

		Draconis says, "So it seems that is the syntax if not the correct input."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jimwallace" 		

Floyd | password:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SERENDIPITY" 		

Floyd | Login incorrect
Floyd |
Floyd | Too many incorrect logins. Shutting down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The display goes dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "documents" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-24, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Real Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | 10     LZ-50 Memory Buffer
Floyd | 11     Photograph of a Young Man
Floyd | 12     Code fragment
Floyd | 13     Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)
Floyd | 14     Graduation Photograph
Floyd | 15     Account Sheet
Floyd | 16     Email Database (office)
Floyd | 17     Letter to Julia
Floyd | 18     Kaldeki Article
Floyd | 19     Family Photo
Floyd | 20     Report Card
Floyd | 21     Grocery Receipt
Floyd | 22     Home Shelter Sales Literature
Floyd | 23     Data Disc Message
Floyd | 24     Fake Diary
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "13" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 1 Mailbox for swallace
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     From:          Subject:
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha Re: distributed neural simulation...2
Floyd |      YOR_FRIEND906  HOTTEST OFFER EVER..................3
Floyd |      hotoffer@spam. Lower your debt!....................4
Floyd |      Dr. Helmut Sha PIT AI lab..........................5
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................6
Floyd |      Amy            (no subject)........................7
Floyd |      Michelle313    I'm boooooooored!...................8
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................9
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Tonight.........................10
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Julia...............................11
Floyd |      Amy            Hi..................................12
Floyd |      Michael Pendra 31337...............................13
Floyd |      Amy            Hi, again...........................14
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Julia...........................15
Floyd |      Amy            Re: Hi, again.......................16
Floyd |      Steve Elocon   Re: PIT AI lab......................17
Floyd |      hotxxx@bulkmai YOUNG HARDCORE SLUTS................18
Floyd |      Mary Pantalon  PIT early admission.................19
Floyd |      Amy            Um... Stuff.........................20
Floyd |      Amy            My last mail........................21
Floyd |      Dante          Situation...........................22
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: Situation.......................23
Floyd |      Michael Pendra Re: PIT.............................24
Floyd |      Amy            Sorry...............................25

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 2 Dr. Helmut Sha Re: distributed neural simulation
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | Dear Jim,
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks for your comments on my paper. I'd certainly be willing to look
Floyd | at some of your ideas. Your original message didn't say much about your
Floyd | training. Have you considered studying at Pacific Tech?
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks,
Floyd | Dr. Helmut Shalanzar, PhD
Floyd | Department of Computer Science
Floyd | Pacific Institute of Technology

		DavidW says, "hm. Doesn't show his email address."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | Go to what page? >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "22" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ---Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)---
Floyd | Page: 22 Dante          Situation
Floyd |
Floyd | P = previous page    N = next page
Floyd | Q = resume story    G = Go to page
Floyd |
Floyd | CC: Michael Pendragon
Floyd |
Floyd | Guys, we've got a problem. Like, a BIG problem.
Floyd |
Floyd | I was watching the feed from Coach Lynch's eye today after school,
Floyd | right? So she's in her office after practice and Libby Sikes comes in,
Floyd | ok? And they're talking for a while, but I can't hear what they're
Floyd | saying, of course. After a while, Lynchzilla shuts the door, and a
Floyd | couple of minutes later, she's feeling Libby up.
Floyd |
Floyd | I ran the video by Marty, since he's deaf and reads lips. From Libby's
Floyd | side of it, it looks like she's gonna get cut from the team, on account
Floyd | of she sucks ass at field hockey. And, we're not too sure on this, but
Floyd | it looks like Lynch is gonna let her stay on the team if she fucks her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lynch should go to jail for fucking a student, but no one but us knows
Floyd | about it, and all the proof we got is this recording, so if we give it
Floyd | to the cops, we'll be in the cell right next to her. We should never
Floyd | have done this.
Floyd |
Floyd | So what should we do?
Floyd |
Floyd | Dante
Floyd | liberty://HSK!LMO?342455678

		Draconis says, "I do wonder what they eventually did about that."
		DavidW says, "No idea"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | DATASTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-24, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     StreamDiver Manual
Floyd | 2     Mission Description
Floyd | 3     Suicide Note
Floyd | 4     Current Events Homework
Floyd | 5     Letter (1)
Floyd | 6     Letter (2)
Floyd | 7     Code Book (old)
Floyd | 8     Code Book (new)
Floyd | 9     Real Diary (Decoded)
Floyd | 10     LZ-50 Memory Buffer
Floyd | 11     Photograph of a Young Man
Floyd | 12     Code fragment
Floyd | 13     Email Database (Boy's Bedroom)
Floyd | 14     Graduation Photograph
Floyd | 15     Account Sheet
Floyd | 16     Email Database (office)
Floyd | 17     Letter to Julia
Floyd | 18     Kaldeki Article
Floyd | 19     Family Photo
Floyd | 20     Report Card
Floyd | 21     Grocery Receipt
Floyd | 22     Home Shelter Sales Literature
Floyd | 23     Data Disc Message
Floyd | 24     Fake Diary
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research liberty" 		

Floyd | LibertyNet
Floyd | Originally an outgrowth of a research project in distributed document
Floyd | storage, the "LibertyNet Protocol" became widely used among less
Floyd | legitimate members of the digital subculture in the mid 21st century.
Floyd | The system propagated documents in a semi-anonymous manner so that
Floyd | users could choose to release a document which could not be traced back
Floyd | to an owner, and was similar to the earlier "freenet" project. Though
Floyd | originally intended a method for free expression in countries lacking
Floyd | legal protection of free speech, it quickly degenerated into a
Floyd | marketplace for the exchange of pornography, bootleg music, and stolen
Floyd | computer software. Numerous attempts by various governments to shut
Floyd | down LibertyNet were mostly unsuccessful and increased its underground
Floyd | appeal. LibertyNet was eventually made obsolete by the Global Dataweb.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Internet, Freenet, Dataweb
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research internet" 		

Floyd | Internet
Floyd | Collective term for the services which made up the first widely used
Floyd | global computer network. The internet allowed messages, documents, and
Floyd | data to be quickly transferred between any two computers by forming a
Floyd | route between intermediate systems. The internet grew at a rapid rate
Floyd | in size and scale through the last years of the twentieth century and
Floyd | first years of the twenty-first. Its growth suffered major setbacks due
Floyd | to the wars and economic recessions of the twenty-first century, but it
Floyd | slowly subsumed all other means of communication and media. The
Floyd | internet eventually evolved into the Global Dataweb near the close of
Floyd | the 21st century.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Dataweb
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research freenet" 		

Floyd | Freenet
Floyd | An early system for the anonymous distribution of documents via the
Floyd | internet. Its creators supported its use to circumvent intellectual
Floyd | property laws which they considered outdated. As it grew, difficulties
Floyd | with the system quickly became apparent, and it eventually fell into
Floyd | disuse in favor of a related system, "LibertyNet".
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: The Digital Corsairs: Hacking, Phreaking, and the Fall of
Floyd | Intellectual Property 1960-2010
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Internet, LibertyNet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research dataweb" 		

Floyd | Dataweb (Global Dataweb; Web)
Floyd | Global data networks are reported as early as the last quarter of the
Floyd | twentieth century. By the end of the 21st century, the internet had
Floyd | evolved into the more familiar form of the Global Dataweb. The name
Floyd | "Dataweb" refers to the Dataweb Protocol, its major services (such as
Floyd | electronic mail, video communication, and document archive), and
Floyd | individual documents attached to it. When the Dataweb Protocol was
Floyd | introduced, nearly all electronic devices made use of it, from simple
Floyd | audio-visual communication and text messaging, to remote control and
Floyd | navigation systems. Though the system itself has changed little since
Floyd | its inception, the name has fallen into disuse.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Source: Information Overload: The rise of the global data networks (2nd
Floyd | ed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | SEE ALSO: Internet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research lynch" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I assume 'browse' merely lists topics we've found so far."
		Draconis says, "Seems so."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "browse" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Library
Floyd | BROWSE
Floyd | Press the number of your selection, 1-11, 0 to redisplay or Q to quit.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1     Amalgamated Industries
Floyd | 2     Arcotech
Floyd | 3     Cylinians
Floyd | 4     Dataweb
Floyd | 5     Freenet
Floyd | 6     Historical Period: The Seventy Days
Floyd | 7     Historical Period: ca 865600-866300 UDC
Floyd | 8     Internet
Floyd | 9     LibertyNet
Floyd | 10     Space Station Kennedy
Floyd | 11     Stephen James Wallace
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Boy's Bedroom
Floyd | Of all the rooms you've seen so far, this bedroom shows the least signs
Floyd | of having been tidied before the house was abandoned. Naturally, of
Floyd | course, this heightens your curiosity; untidy rooms generally tell you
Floyd | more than clean ones. From the space-shuttle wallpaper, you suspect
Floyd | that this room belonged to a young child, though it might simply imply
Floyd | that the room is long-overdue for renovation. There is a bookcase along
Floyd | one wall, containing model space ships, toy robots, and a very few
Floyd | books. A desk beside the door is loaded down with computer equipment.
Floyd | The most interesting feature of the room is the floor; while most of
Floyd | the other rooms have had wall-to-wall carpeting, this room has what
Floyd | appears to be industrial grade linoleum tile. The hallway lies west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, I wanted to visit the closet and bathroom yet."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Nook
Floyd | You are in a small room which you suspect has no fixed purpose. There
Floyd | is a table in the center of the room, with a faux-wooden chair at it,
Floyd | and a long bench-seat under the window. The door along the north wall
Floyd | has been removed, presumably in an attempt to turn the room into some
Floyd | sort of work alcove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "and nook"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We could polish it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bench" 		

Floyd | You open the bench seat, revealing a sewing machine, some fabric, a
Floyd | needle, some thread, a scissors and a magnetic handle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "polish table" 		

Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "polish table with polish" 		

Floyd | You accomplish nothing of note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w. n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd | That door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to unlock the door with the autokey.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall Closet
Floyd | Although the primary function of this room seems to be as a linen
Floyd | closet, its size suggests that it was intended for even heavier
Floyd | storage. Three of the walls bear shelves, neatly stocked with towels
Floyd | and bed linens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search linens" 		

Floyd | You poke around at the sheets, and find, hidden in the folds of a large
Floyd | bedsheet toward the back, a pack of cigarettes, either squirreled away
Floyd | for an emergency, or hidden from a disapproving family member.
Floyd | The console beeps. "Information: One hour of dive time remaining."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop cigarettes" 		

Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w.n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | In most respects, this is a thoroughly ordinary bathroom. It is far
Floyd | less clean than the public areas of the house, but not unsettlingly so.
Floyd | It is simple in decor, featuring a tub, toilet, sink, and no windows.
Floyd | The mirror over the sink protrudes slightly, suggesting that it
Floyd | conceals a medicine cabinet. The exit is south.
Floyd | If your history is right, it should be about now that the Chinese
Floyd | missile diverts its course away from the US capital to avoid an
Floyd | anti-missile missile. It redirects toward a minor target, a military
Floyd | base near this town.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "An anti-missile missile."
		Draconis says, "Nice phrasing..."
		DavidW says, "mm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | You open the medicine cabinet, revealing a pill bottle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bottle" 		

Floyd | A bottle of prescription medication.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd | A bottle of prescription medication.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | You never were any good with those child-safety devices.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a furniture polish
Floyd |   a floor cleaner
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop polish, cleaner" 		

Floyd | furniture polish: Dropped.
Floyd | floor cleaner: Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Anything else to do?"
		Draconis says, "Don't think so."
		Draconis says, "We could take the medicine and spam for analysis."
		DavidW says, "If we're doing that, I'd grab the recharger"
		Draconis asks, "I thought we couldn't take the charger?"
		Draconis says, "But sure."
		DavidW says, "we can take it. And the charger is legitimately odd, even though it's not anachronistic without scanning."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bottle" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, west end
Floyd | The upstairs hallway begins here, or ends here, depending on your point
Floyd | of view. You can see where the stairway meets the hall to the east, and
Floyd | doors are located along the north, south, and west walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young woman graces one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e.e.n" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Girl's Bedroom
Floyd | Coming, as you do, from an enlightened time period where man has, by
Floyd | and large, learned to overcome prejudicial assumptions about people on
Floyd | the basis of gender or background [Footnote 5], you know better than to
Floyd | jump to conclusions about the occupant based on the cultural
Floyd | stereotypes of their living space.
Floyd | Nevertheless, you can always tell a girl's room. It isn't some
Floyd | particular thing [Footnote 6]; rather, an air of femininity issues more
Floyd | from the juxtaposition of objects than the contents themselves. The
Floyd | dollhouse; the partially completed watercolor on an easel in the
Floyd | corner; the ornate, hand-carved chest at the foot of the bed; the paper
Floyd | ribbons affixed to the vent cover on the floor, all suggest, but do not
Floyd | insist that the occupant of this room is female. And yet, there is a
Floyd | certain something about this space that rarely arises in a man's
Floyd | quarters.
Floyd | The walls are a soft, uniform pastel. The desk stands opposite the bed,
Floyd | well stocked, but uncluttered. There is a closet door on the east wall.
Floyd | The exit to the hall is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the nightstand is a charger.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see two keys (a simple key and an antique key), a prosthetic
Floyd | eye, a real diary, a code book and a fake diary here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take charger" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s.w.d.w.w." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway, east end
Floyd | You are at the east end of the main hallway on this floor. The hallway
Floyd | ends at a door on the east wall, and another door is north. A doorway
Floyd | to the south has no door, though it looks as if it were designed for
Floyd | one.
Floyd |
Floyd | A framed photograph of a young man is affixed to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs Landing
Floyd | The stairs from the ground floor land in the middle of a long hallway
Floyd | which extends east and west from your current position. There is a door
Floyd | in the north wall, slightly narrower than usual. From here, you can see
Floyd | three doors at each of the two ends of the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | You are in the main entryway of the house. Aside from its functional
Floyd | purpose as the central hub of the building, it also serves as a
Floyd | showcase of the owner's prowess as a decorator. This room is tasteful
Floyd | and ornate. A coatrack stands abandoned in a corner, beside a highly
Floyd | polished small wooden table. The front door is due south, and the
Floyd | hallway opens west onto the kitchen, and east to the living room. A
Floyd | large staircase to the north leads up to the second floor, and down.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the wooden table is a letter to Julia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | In the days before all food could be prepared by an automated
Floyd | processing unit, the kitchen was often considered the center of family
Floyd | life. This kitchen is decorated in a country style that was archaic
Floyd | even when it was built. Woodgrain paneling and prominently displayed
Floyd | kitchenwares give the room a rustic look. The stove, refrigerator and
Floyd | other appliances have a more modern look, but clashing with the
Floyd | predominant style is kept to a minimum. Heavier items and food supplies
Floyd | are kept in the pantry to the west, while archways lead north and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator door are a report card and a receipt.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is a small room, designed to hold food staples and cooking
Floyd | equipment not housed in the kitchen. You doubt you'll find anything
Floyd | worthwhile in here, but you've been a StreamDiver long enough to know
Floyd | better than to trust appearances. You can return east to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shelves line the walls, sparsely stocked.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shelves are some pots and pans, a lazy susan (empty), a flour
Floyd | pot (closed) and a can of spiced ham (closed).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ham" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a can of spiced ham (which is closed)
Floyd |   a charger
Floyd |   a pill bottle (which is closed)
Floyd |   an autokey
Floyd |   your StreamDive console
Floyd |     five chips:
Floyd |       a library chip
Floyd |       an interface chip
Floyd |       a DataStore chip
Floyd |       a cryptography chip
Floyd |       a blank chip
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmonaug30b" 		

Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oops, misspelt that. Oh well."
		DavidW asks, "I guess z our way to the end?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research ham" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd | The console beeps. "Information: Thirty minutes of dive time
Floyd | remaining."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "research spam" 		

Floyd | No relevant entry found.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Works for me."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | About now, the propulsion system on the missile begins to fail. It
Floyd | holds its course, but is now certain to fall several killometers short.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The console beeps. "Warning: Fifteen minutes of dive time remaining."
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's hope it gets us out before the missile hits..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z.z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The console beeps. "Warning: Dive will end shortly. Please complete
Floyd | investigations now."
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Two minutes left."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Isn't one turn one minute in this game?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "maybe not"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Well, let's see."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | The StreamDive console emits an audible warning: "Alert: Dive time
Floyd | expired. Discharging temporal capacitors."
Floyd |
Floyd | All at once, the universe goes away. Time itself cries out in distress,
Floyd | and every cell in your body echoes its cry. The laws of physics cannot
Floyd | be broken, but they can be bent, if only for a time. As the energy
Floyd | stored in your temporal capacitors discharges, time reasserts itself.
Floyd | If you were the sort to anthopomorphize physical law, you'd say that it
Floyd | was extracting some revenge against you for daring to transcend the
Floyd | barriers of time. Of course, all that you're really experiencing is a
Floyd | form of severe disorientation resulting from the unusual perceptual
Floyd | stimuli occurring outside normal time-space. It all goes away in a
Floyd | nothingth of a second, and you stumble backward to the floor of the
Floyd | StreamDive Core. White-clad technicians swarm into the chamber a second
Floyd | later, helping you into the postDive examination, which confirms that
Floyd | you have weathered the Dive intact, and cleanses ancient toxins from
Floyd | your system. Your possessions are taken for examination, and you are
Floyd | led to the debriefing room.
Floyd |
Floyd | StreamDive Debriefing room
Floyd | You are in a comfortably small room, used to debrief StreamDivers
Floyd | following their missions. The room is intentionally designed to avoid
Floyd | the impression that this is some kind of interrogation chamber, even if
Floyd | that is indeed its function. The room contains very little in the way
Floyd | of decoration or, well, anything at all, aside from the table and
Floyd | chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | You see nothing special about the table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chairs" 		

Floyd | wooden chair: You see nothing special about the wooden chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Joxley Douzen walks heavily into the room. Though there are a few
Floyd | agents you'd prefer to serve as your evaluator, you could have done
Floyd | far, far worse. She scans over her notes, not seeming to see you until
Floyd | after she has taken her seat. "Welcome back," she says. You are
Floyd | naturally inclined to take the lack of feeling in her voice as a bad
Floyd | sign, but you resist the urge. It's all she's capable of; her voice box
Floyd | is artificial, and she's never managed to program it properly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We've reviewed your findings. As you know, the purpose of this phase
Floyd | of your evaluation is to give you the opportunity to present anything
Floyd | you think may have escaped our attention, and to address any concerns
Floyd | which the evaluation team has about your Dive. If you'll take your
Floyd | seat, we can begin." [Footnote 9]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" 		

Floyd | You get onto the wooden chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 9" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 9]
Floyd | For the duration of this interview, you may respond to Douzen by typing
Floyd | a single word at the command prompt, signifying the subject you wish to
Floyd | discuss. For example:
Floyd | >KITCHEN
Floyd | Would be interpreted as a desire to talk about the kitchen. For
Floyd | questions requiring a numerical answer, simply type the number at the
Floyd | prompt [Footnote 10].
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 10" 		

Floyd | [Footnote 10]
Floyd | The special command "DONE" indicates that you have nothing to say on
Floyd | the subject, and the command "REPEAT" will repeat the current question.
Floyd | The standard commands will remain available if you wish to perform
Floyd | other actions while you consider your answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x joxley" 		

Floyd | Joxley Douzen is a typical example of what your father would have
Floyd | called a "hard-looking broad". Muscular, stocky, with chiseled features
Floyd | that would have been distinguished on a man. She probably knows exactly
Floyd | how threatening people find her. You know that she's a touch bitter
Floyd | about her position as a Dive evaluation agent -- after she was injured
Floyd | in a shuttle accident, she received enough bio-mechanical implants to
Floyd | make her a walking, talking anachronism, and therefore unfit for
Floyd | StreamDiving. Nevertheless, your experience of her has always been as a
Floyd | fair evaluator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, she's essentially a cyborg. Thought she was a robot."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "First things first. Based on your scans and our records, you surveyed
Floyd | about ninety-six percent of the area within your mission boundaries.
Floyd | Quite impressive. Now, are there any rooms in particular that you feel
Floyd | merit special attention?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Bedroom?"
		DavidW says, "oops, we missed the spare bedroom."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "boy's bedroom" 		

Floyd | "Yes. Your console recorded some unusual readings from that area. We'll
Floyd | give it another look."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Anywhere else?"
		Draconis says, "I don't remember anything else weird."
		Draconis asks, "The bunker?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bomb shelter" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shelter" 		

Floyd | "Ah yes, the survival shelter. That's a very impressive find. We looked
Floyd | over the notes, and we don't have any other incidents of a Diver
Floyd | exploring a survival shelter of that era. Good work."
Floyd |
Floyd | You go on to explain that you found the bodies of two recently deceased
Floyd | young women in the basement.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley looks through her notes. "Yes, I have that here. That
Floyd | contradicts what we had in our historical records -- you know, of
Floyd | course, that heads are going to roll in the approval committee for that
Floyd | little oversight. It's a good thing your Dive didn't take you back any
Floyd | earlier. If either of them had been alive, we'd have had a major
Floyd | violation of the first directive on our hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's just a shame that you weren't able to use the Stream Visualizer
Floyd | inside the shelter. If the approval committee had known what you would
Floyd | find, they would have made sure to send you back with the right
Floyd | equipment."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Except we can't reach the shelter with the visualizer."
		DavidW asks, "Any other locations of note?"
		DavidW asks, "Maybe girl's bedroom, since so much was hiding in there?"
		Draconis asks, "Maybe?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "girl's bedroom" 		

Floyd | "Hm... I'll advise the assessment team to take another look, but I
Floyd | think we've already considered that room thoroughly."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I guess we're done with 'rooms'?"
		Draconis says, "Can't think of any others."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "done" 		

Floyd | "Very well," Joxley says. She begins examining her notes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x notes" 		

Floyd | Joxley Douzen is a typical example of what your father would have
Floyd | called a "hard-looking broad". Muscular, stocky, with chiseled features
Floyd | that would have been distinguished on a man. She probably knows exactly
Floyd | how threatening people find her. You know that she's a touch bitter
Floyd | about her position as a Dive evaluation agent -- after she was injured
Floyd | in a shuttle accident, she received enough bio-mechanical implants to
Floyd | make her a walking, talking anachronism, and therefore unfit for
Floyd | StreamDiving. Nevertheless, your experience of her has always been as a
Floyd | fair evaluator.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | "Okay. Now, let's consider the contents of your DataStore. It seems
Floyd | that you recorded twenty-five documents. It's a shame you didn't elect
Floyd | to take the Stream Visualizer. Of course, you were under tight
Floyd | restrictions. As for other documents, you appear to have done quite
Floyd | well.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Your DataStore contained an article from a scientific magazine. What
Floyd | about this article attracted your interest?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kaldecki" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "time travel" 		

Floyd | The article, you explain, contains the earliest reference to Emmanuel
Floyd | Kaldeki's work on which would eventually lead to StreamDive technology.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A good find," Joxley says. "As you know, we have very little
Floyd | information about Kaldeki's research before the war. This find could
Floyd | lead to a revision of what we know about the history of time travel.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You also downloaded something too big to fit in the DataStore. We
Floyd | found it stored on a spare chip. What is it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "DATA?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "data" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "julia" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "COMPUTER"
		Draconis says, "SNAPSHOT"
		Draconis says, "DUMP"
		Draconis says, "Not sure of other synonyms..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "image" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "DOWNLOAD"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "computer" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow, apparently not understanding you. "If you
Floyd | don't have anything meaningful to say on the current subject, just say
Floyd | the word and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "FILE"
		Draconis says, "BINARY"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "snapshot" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow, apparently not understanding you. "If you
Floyd | don't have anything meaningful to say on the current subject, just say
Floyd | the word and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dump" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "download" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose we're supposed to have some idea what the file is."
		Draconis says, "Sigh..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eye" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow, apparently not understanding you. "If you
Floyd | don't have anything meaningful to say on the current subject, just say
Floyd | the word and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "done" 		

Floyd | "I suppose we'll have to work it out for ourselves then.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unfortunately, the memory recording you downloaded from the optical
Floyd | prosthesis was very short. What, based on your research, happened to
Floyd | the owner after the end of the recording?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "suicide" 		

Floyd | You say that you believe she died almost immediately after removing the
Floyd | prosthesis.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley writes this down. "Very tragic," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now, you found a diary in the downstairs bathroom. It appears to have
Floyd | been encoded using a very secure cipher. Given the nature of the writer
Floyd | and its content, the only explanation we can think of is that the
Floyd | writer was mentally unstable. How would you explain the fact that such
Floyd | effort was taken to encode the diary?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "FAKE"
		Draconis says, "COMPOSITION"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "mother" 		

Floyd | You explain that the author, Julia Wallace, had reason to believe that
Floyd | her parents were reading her diary without permission, and had encoded
Floyd | it to prevent the highly personal content from becoming public
Floyd | knowledge.
Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow. "It seems like a great deal of effort, but
Floyd | yes, that does explain what we've seen, and seems consistent with the
Floyd | details we've managed to piece together about the girl.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We've had some difficulty making sense of the code fragment you
Floyd | downloaded. Any idea what it is?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Aha."
		DavidW says, "The code fragment was in Jim's computer."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "coach" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "libertynet" 		

Floyd | Joxley lays a hand to her ear. "I'm sorry; I'm having some trouble with
Floyd | my audio processor. Maybe you could try a different word?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "brain" 		

Floyd | You say that you believe the author to be Stephen James Wallace, who
Floyd | was conducting experiments in artificial sentience.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Really? We knew Wallace had done important work in neural circuitry,
Floyd | but there's nothing on this scale in his later career. Unbelievable.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We're curious about the diary you found in the girl's closet. All our
Floyd | evidence suggests that the daughter was approximately eighteen years of
Floyd | age, but the textual analysis suggests that this diary shows a writing
Floyd | level more consistent with a much younger person. We suspect that this
Floyd | diary is either much older than the other documents you've collected,
Floyd | or that the writer was... to be indelicate, stupid. Perhaps you could
Floyd | offer an explanation?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Hahaha"
		Draconis says, "Well we know she was 18."
		Draconis says, "Or thereabouts. 17 at the start."
		Draconis asks, "So EIGHTEEN or FAKE or CODE?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fake" 		

Floyd | You explain your theory that the diary is a fake; a red herring
Floyd | designed to throw off a snooping parent.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Fascinating," Joxley says. "That does explain a great deal.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think that covers all the documents we need more information about.
Floyd | Let me check my notes, and we'll move on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Joxley makes a few notes, then looks up. "All right then. Now we get to
Floyd | some more specific questions.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose we should start with the most obvious. Your Dive was
Floyd | restricted to a family residence. How many people occupied this
Floyd | residence prior to its evacuation?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd | Joxley raises an eyebrow. "Five? You're sure? Our research suggested
Floyd | only four residents. Who was this fifth person?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "donna" 		

Floyd | You explain that a young woman named Donna, a friend of the older
Floyd | child, had been living with the family near the time that the house was
Floyd | abandoned.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley makes a note of this. "Good work. This is exactly the sort of
Floyd | thing that isn't covered by our records of the period.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now," Joxley says, "It appears that you violated your mission
Floyd | parameters by bringing something back from your Dive. Since everything
Floyd | in the area appears to have been destroyed immediately after you left,
Floyd | the committee has decided to recommend against disciplinary action, but
Floyd | there will be an entry made in your file, unless you can give us some
Floyd | exceptional circumstance which warranted your action. Is there any
Floyd | object which you felt had some extraordinary reason for being retrieved
Floyd | for examination?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "charger" 		

Floyd | You tell Joxley that you suspect that the charger has somehow been
Floyd | altered so as to be anachronistic in its native time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley pushes back from the desk. "That's a very serious claim. But
Floyd | from the logs in your console, it certainly merits more examination. If
Floyd | there has been tampering with the timeline, it's essential we locate
Floyd | the source.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What was the name of the female child?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "julia" 		

Floyd | "Marital relations between the Wallaces... Were they good or bad?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bad" 		

Floyd | You explain that your impression was that they were not good.
Floyd |
Floyd | Joxley asks, "What justification do you have for that assessment?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You quickly realize that you have no proof to support your theory, at
Floyd | least, none that would satisfy the assessment team.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What was the name of the male head of household?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "james" 		

Floyd | "What was the name of the male child?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jim" 		

Floyd | "What was the name of the female head of household?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "katia" 		

Floyd | "You say that the girl had an optical prosthesis. Which eye was
Floyd | artificial?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right" 		

Floyd | "Okay," Joxley says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You've claimed that there's evidence the timeline has been altered.
Floyd | Did you encounter anything else that might serve as evidence?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Spam, medicine"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ham" 		

Floyd | "Unfortunately," she says, "It doesn't look like there's enough
Floyd | evidence in your logs to verify that.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We have no postwar records of the daughter, and your findings suggest
Floyd | that she was not with the family when they evacuated. What became of
Floyd | her?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's never called 'spam' in the game."
		Draconis says, "Aw, no metagaming with the evidence."
		Draconis says, "SUICIDE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "suicide" 		

Floyd | You say that she committed suicide by ingesting a euphenasisa pill.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Thank you for your cooperation, agent," she says. After taking a few
Floyd | more notes, Joxley Douzen rises to her feet. "If you'll wait here, the
Floyd | review team will have your final evaluation shortly."
Floyd |
Floyd | Without paying you another glance, she strides out of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, the charger was the only anachronistic thing we found, really. And we shoulda looked at the porn, as evidence re martial relations."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd | Joxley Douzen walks confidently into the room, followed by the rest of
Floyd | the evaluation team. They stand at the head of the room, staring
Floyd | heavily at you. Finally, Joxley speaks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "StreamDiver Alpha Tango-678, it is the finding of this evaluation team
Floyd | that you have completed the objectives for this mission with an
Floyd | approval rating of 90 percent. Absolutely exceptional. We're going to
Floyd | recommend you for a promotion."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     ***  Mission Complete  ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Your final mission evaluation is 90%.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Yay!"
		DavidW says, "hmm."
		Draconis says, "I don't think the porn's enough, we need the visualizer to really see that."
		DavidW says, "Well, let's stop here."
		DavidW says, "The porn would've been *some* indicator, but yeah, the visualizer is a lot better evidence."
		Draconis says, "We need to find a few more keys."
		DavidW says, "If we could just get into the master bedroom and grab the ancient key from there."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		Draconis asks, "How many doors block that one?"
		Draconis says, "We need at least one."
		DavidW says, "I do wonder what she'd say if we had strong evidence for anachronisms."
		DavidW says, "The master bedroom door is locked."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		DavidW asks, "I wonder... what happens if we try to take both the autokey and the visualizer?"
		Draconis says, "I don't think it lets us."
		DavidW asks, "No way to hide one?"
		Draconis says, "Don't think so."
		DavidW says, "hmm. The 90% just feels false. There's too much as yet unknown."
		Draconis says, "Yeah."
		DavidW says, "anyway, I assume we're done for today? Thanks to everyone, esp. Draconis."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd |

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW says, "I just want to know if we return with enough info about weird time stuff if we're authorized to take a second, overlapping dive."
		Draconis says, "Ooh, that would be really cool."
		DavidW says, "We'd have to be cloaked the entire time so we don't see us, though."
		DavidW says, "or the objects might be traceable to another time period."
		DavidW says, "well, I'm heading back to the lounge. Thanks for the game, everyone."
		
***** EPILOGUE: ONE WEEK LATER ***** 		
		Jacqueline says, "Hello, sailors."
		Jacqueline says, "er, sorry. Singular. Hello, sailor."
		DavidW says, "ahoy, Captain"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		olethros says, "who be a sailor that not the sea sow with sorrow"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, I didn't get a chance to read last week's because I've been away for work. Did you all finally get to read the diaries?"
		DavidW whispers, "someone put the Captain's hat on her"
		DavidW says, "Yes, we read the diary."
Roger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW says, "If I recall, we even got a decent score at the end, even though there were still open questions."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, cool. Then we're done with it?"
		DavidW says, "I suspect that unless someone has a real brainstorm, we might be done with Moments."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, seems like I should go reset Perry then."
You click your ruby slippers together three times and disappear, safe in the knowledge that there's no place like home... 		
Seeya later. 		
% Connection to ifmud-perry closed by foreign host. 			



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Introduction to Beyond Division by Joseph Geipel
As played on ifMUD on September 13, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Introduction to Beyond Division written by Joseph Geipel. It took first place in the 2015 IntroComp. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask ic15beyonddivision" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |                            May 27th, 2011
Floyd |
Floyd | So, I'm glad you picked me as your study buddy for the final. I'd
Floyd | just like to warn you first that my methods of studying Latin are not
Floyd | what you would call normal. But I at least would call them effective,
Floyd | and that's what counts in the end. Now, to get started, let's imagine
Floyd | you are a wolf living in Siberia...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | And that would be enough solid travel for tonight. You still have the
Floyd | energy to get a drink and a bite to eat around here, though, so it
Floyd | isn't yet time for sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting you
Floyd | smell a stream not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Snowish precipitation is slowly falling from the night sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | Type ABOUT for further information about this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                            Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                        ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd |    Regular Parser IF Instructions
Floyd |    Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd |    Difficulty
Floyd |    Credits

		
DavidW presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                  Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd | Welcome to Beyond Division.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you are unfamiliar with how to play parser-based Interactive
Floyd | Fiction, read 'Regular Parser IF Instructions' in the menu. If you are
Floyd | unfamiliar with playing Beyond Division in particular, read
Floyd | 'Instructions Specifically for this Game.'
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                            Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                        ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd |    Regular Parser IF Instructions
Floyd |    Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd |    Difficulty
Floyd |    Credits

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                            Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                        ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd |  > Regular Parser IF Instructions
Floyd |    Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd |    Difficulty
Floyd |    Credits

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                            Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                        ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd |    Regular Parser IF Instructions
Floyd |  > Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd |    Difficulty
Floyd |    Credits

		
DavidW presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]              Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd | Conversation in this game works by keywords. When you see some text in
Floyd | the story that isn't a room name bolded, like apples or
Floyd | house, that likely means that it is a conversation topic. To
Floyd | talk about said topic, simply type in the topic with no verb. All
Floyd | currently available topics will also be shown below the command line
Floyd | if you are in conversation. You may also want to answer yes or no
Floyd | questions asked by other characters by simply typing YES or NO. TALK
Floyd | TO (PERSON) can be used to setup a conversation if one is not already
Floyd | going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | You will switch between different characters in this game: to see what
Floyd | character you are currently playing as, check the top right of the
Floyd | screen. Examining yourself (X ME) can give further information about
Floyd | who you are currently playing as. Also, not all characters are
Floyd | primarily reliant on sight for information, but even if they aren't
Floyd | LOOK and LOOK AT will retain their usual roles for the sake of
Floyd | gameplay.
Floyd |
Floyd | There will also be several footnotes in this game, observed by numbers

		
Floyd in brackets like [1] in the middle of the prose, which can be referred 		

Floyd | to via FOOTNOTE #, where # is the number of the footnote. Commands in
Floyd | this game that are not part of standard IF games for the most part
Floyd | should be able to be inferred by context or by attributes of the
Floyd | current player character.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            Instructions
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                            Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                        ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Introduction to Beyond Division
Floyd |    Regular Parser IF Instructions
Floyd |  > Instructions Specifically for this Game
Floyd |    Difficulty
Floyd |    Credits

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting you
Floyd | smell a stream not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose we won't be chatting much as a wolf."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting you
Floyd | smell a stream not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tracks" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRACKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You smell nothing special about the pawprints.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You make your way towards the stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | West Streamside
Floyd | You are on the west side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. On the other side of
Floyd | the stream there is an unfamiliar structure. The fallen pine should be
Floyd | back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reindeer carcass lies near the stream, far too old to consume.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sniff around confirms that the river creature responsible for your
Floyd | scars has not been here anytime recently and most certainly isn't here
Floyd | now.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the hooting of an owl break the silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. So if the topics are list *below* the command line, I guess we won't see them... unless we use that special command vimes put in that I can't recall what it is maybe."
		Roger says, "I'm feeling the Latin soak right in"
		Jacqueline says, "I was just going to comment on that, too."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hoot" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x deer" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't smell any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x reindeer" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X REINDEER
Floyd |
Floyd | The reindeer carcass is the work of a lynx long since gone.
Floyd | Unfortunately it would not be a good idea to eat this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x reindeer" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X REINDEER
Floyd |
Floyd | The reindeer carcass is the work of a lynx long since gone.
Floyd | Unfortunately it would not be a good idea to eat this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pine" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PINE
Floyd |
Floyd | Tall trees with tops full of the remnants of unobtainable varmints are
Floyd | scattered all around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying nothing in your mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bit of sleet gets in your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x structure" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STRUCTURE
Floyd |
Floyd | You've never sensed anything like this before: it's a structure you
Floyd | could go inside that blocks precipitation. A human has been inside and
Floyd | around it in the past, but it is safe at this moment. There's nothing
Floyd | inside, though, so there's no real point in entering.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "memento vivere" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MEMENTO VIVERE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Let's enter it anyway?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stream" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STREAM
Floyd |
Floyd | The stream is fresh and safe to drink. It also should be crossable
Floyd | without trouble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, I wanna enter it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You cross the stream, getting slightly wet in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The forest on this side of the river
Floyd | and whatever lives in it are now readily accessible eastward.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an unfamiliar structure slightly bigger than you on this side
Floyd | of the stream. A human was around it for long periods of time in the
Floyd | past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel a slight pain from one of your slash scars.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "eep"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x scars" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCARS
Floyd |
Floyd | The slash scars from that river creature tilt your posture towards the
Floyd | right. Not enough to be a real issue, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking back at them, you notice that they are exactly the same.
Floyd | Injuries don't normally work that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Your speed and stamina make up for your relatively weak bite. You
Floyd | should be able to get by, even without company and with those slash
Floyd | scars on your left side, assuming that river creature doesn't lay
Floyd | another tentacle on you [1].
Floyd |
Floyd | To read footnotes, use FOOTNOTE followed by the number of said
Floyd | footnote.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 1" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 1
Floyd |
Floyd | By the way, if you want to know what the character you're playing
Floyd | as looks like, you should check out Mrs. Linoz's biology room. She has
Floyd | a lot of pictures of wolves on the front wall, and one of them—black
Floyd | on top, white on bottom, sitting like a sphinx with most of its body
Floyd | to the right of the photo—looks like the wolf you currently are.
Floyd | Except you have light blue eyes and, at least right now, those slash
Floyd | scars on your right side. Although the right side of the wolf in the
Floyd | picture isn't visible so, in theory...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter structure" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER STRUCTURE
Floyd |
Floyd | You enter the structure, but after rummaging around you don't find
Floyd | anything interesting and you walk out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "well, I guess we could keep going east until we find a bakery or Mrs Linoz's biology room or a tentacle monster or Santa?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		DavidW says, "I have no idea where this is going."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Clearing                                            A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | After a short walk you find yourself at a clearing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd | You have arrived in a part of the forest suspiciously lacking in
Floyd | trees. There's more snow on the ground and in the air here, and the
Floyd | sky is more visible. Should none of this be of relevance, the trees on
Floyd | the edge of the clearing to the north form a cluster of evergreens,
Floyd | and the ground grows uneven towards the south. The stream should be
Floyd | back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | You catch a scent of hare in the air. It's coming from the evergreens
Floyd | to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Go sniff?"
		DavidW asks, "snow, evergreens, reindeer.. could be Santa?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sniff" 		

Floyd ]  Clearing                                            A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SNIFF
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd | You have arrived in a part of the forest suspiciously lacking in
Floyd | trees. There's more snow on the ground and in the air here, and the
Floyd | sky is more visible. Should none of this be of relevance, the trees on
Floyd | the edge of the clearing to the north form a cluster of evergreens,
Floyd | and the ground grows uneven towards the south. The stream should be
Floyd | back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "smell = look, when a wolf."
		Jacqueline says, "Prolly"
		Jacqueline says, "Er, yes"
		DavidW asks, "North to the hare scent?"
		Roger says, "Can we pee on something please"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)            A
Floyd | Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You sneak into the evergreen cluster.
Floyd |
Floyd | Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)
Floyd | This is a place in the taiga where the trees keep most of their leaves
Floyd | even now in winter. You lie in the shadows at the moment, focused on
Floyd | your quarry.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hare is hopping a bit in the center of the cluster. Hopefully this
Floyd | will be an easy catch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Please keep coming to ClubFloyd. We'd really lose something critical without your contributions and suggestions."
		Jacqueline says, ">CATCH HARE(?)"
		DavidW says, "I'm thinking wait."
		Jacqueline says, "For the right moment? OKay."
		Roger says, "It's appropriate in character this time! Unlike most of my urination suggestions"
		DavidW says, "well, I dunno how this game rolls yet."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "hee"
DavidW clears the save counter. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)            A
Floyd | Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait" 		

Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)            A
Floyd | Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As you wait, you find yourself craving some refreshing water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. Maybe we should just catch it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "catch hare" 		

Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)            A
Floyd | Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CATCH HARE
Floyd |
Floyd | Before going for that hare, it's best to really consider about what
Floyd | you're doing. You think that it's best to...
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) chase the hare towards the stream.
Floyd | 2) chase the hare towards the uneven ground south of the clearing.
Floyd | 3) go for a very quick spring to end it all quickly.
Floyd | 4) explore around a bit more before going for the hare.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Type the number of your choice) >>

		Jacqueline says, "Huh. Cool."
		Jacqueline asks, "What do people want?"
		DavidW says, "I'm thinking 3."
		Jacqueline says, "I kind of like 3, because I think we'll get outrun or outsmarted the other ways."
		Roger says, "sure"
		DavidW says, "Even though I suspect 3 won't work, I want to try 3."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd | (Type the number of your choice) >>
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | You spring straight for the hare...

		Jacqueline exclaims, "I don't think any of them will work, but let's see!"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster                                   A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | You spring straight for the hare...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ...but just as you reach the hare's location with a sprint and a jump,
Floyd | you wind up grasping only snow with your jaws: the hare was quicker
Floyd | than you thought. By the time you finally get yourself back together
Floyd | and shake off the snow your quarry has already made its getaway.
Floyd | There's not really a hope of catching up at this point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "we have puma envy"
		Jacqueline asks, "Save scum?"
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "what does that mean?"
		Jacqueline says, "Where you save, try a thing, fail, restore, try a thing, fail, restore, try a thing, fail, restoretry a thing, fail, restore..."
		Jacqueline says, "It's a phrase from playing roguelikes, which are supposed to be permadeath."
		DavidW says, "oh. Well, I'd like to restore and try another tactic, yes."
		DavidW says, "Or we could restore and explore more."
		Roger says, "do we have the undo"
		Jacqueline says, "I would try 1 next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)            A
Floyd | Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | Evergreen Cluster (hiding from the hare)
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | (Type the number of your choice) >>

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | (Type the number of your choice) >>
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | You sneak east and with quick movement spook the hare towards running
Floyd | southwest. You give chase and arrive back near the stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The clearing is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an unfamiliar structure slightly bigger than you on this side
Floyd | of the stream. A human was around it for long periods of time in the
Floyd | past.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hare is trying to escape you by crossing the stream. You aren't
Floyd | close enough for the kill yet, but the stream should slow it down more
Floyd | than you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "west?"
		Jacqueline says, "okay"
		Jacqueline crosses fingers.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You cross the stream, getting slightly more wet in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | West Streamside
Floyd | You are on the west side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. On the other side of
Floyd | the stream there is an unfamiliar structure. The fallen pine should be
Floyd | back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reindeer carcass lies near the stream, far too old to consume.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear some movement up in the treetops.
Floyd |
Floyd | While you were crossing the stream, it appears that the hare managed
Floyd | to make a getaway to the southwest far faster than you could ever hope
Floyd | to catch up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "meh"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anyway, what's up in the tree?"
		DavidW says, "owl, I think"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tree" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | Tall trees with tops full of the remnants of unobtainable varmints are
Floyd | scattered all around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, is this just exploration and no actual plot or Latin?"
		DavidW asks, "now what? sw, following the hare? Back across the river and explore more there?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drink water" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRINK WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | You bend your head down towards the stream, noticing your reflection,
Floyd | and then proceed to lap the water. You find yourself taking a bit
Floyd | longer than usual, and not for lack of speed but for a desire for more
Floyd | and more.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Either"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | You have already satiated your thirst. The stream is merely an
Floyd | obstacle now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pee on reindeer" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PEE ON REINDEER
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't need to use up time marking every last locale when you
Floyd | aren't going to be here long.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger asks, "Is that a symptom of rabies?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Yay that it was anticipated!"
		Roger says, "Thank you Jacq"
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger), "What, the thirst?"
		Roger says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline | Symptoms include fever, headache, excess salivation, muscle spasms, paralysis, and mental confusion
		Jacqueline | Also common: brain death, coma, difficulty swallowing, dilated pupil, drooling, excess salivation, headache, mental confusion, muscle pain, pins and needles, restlessness, seizures, sensitivity to light, stiff neck, or vomiting
		Jacqueline says, "One would think all of that salivating would lead to thirst, but it's not actually listed as such."
		Roger says, "Okay just a random thought"
		DavidW says, "I'm inclined to recross the stream and explore the east side more than I want to explore the west side."
		Roger says, "mmhmm"
		Jacqueline says, "'kay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You cross the stream, getting slightly more wet in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The clearing is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an unfamiliar structure slightly bigger than you on this side
Floyd | of the stream. A human was around it for long periods of time in the
Floyd | past.
Floyd |
Floyd | A particularly speedy falling pellet of snow attracts your attention
Floyd | briefly before you realize it isn't prey.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x snow" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SNOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The amount of snow is such that the entire forest floor is covered,
Floyd | yet it isn't hard to walk through. Nothing could hide in this snow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You head south, but find nothing but more stream nearby and soon make
Floyd | your way back to the bizarre structure.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The clearing is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an unfamiliar structure slightly bigger than you on this side
Floyd | of the stream. A human was around it for long periods of time in the
Floyd | past.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel a slight pain from one of your slash scars.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Clearing                                            A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | After a short walk you find yourself at the clearing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd | You have arrived in a part of the forest suspiciously lacking in
Floyd | trees. There's more snow on the ground and in the air here, and the
Floyd | sky is more visible. Should none of this be of relevance, the trees on
Floyd | the edge of the clearing to the north form a cluster of evergreens,
Floyd | and the ground grows uneven towards the south. The stream should be
Floyd | back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | It occurs to you that the forest has suddenly become quiet, except a
Floyd | rumbling of sorts to the southeast heading towards the clearing. Once
Floyd | it arrives all at once, it becomes quite clear indeed what it is. You
Floyd | are now in the midst of a blizzard, complete with shaking trees, lost
Floyd | visibility, and the extra sleet in your scars.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Been there."
		Jacqueline says, ">HUNKER DOWN"
		DavidW asks, "so much for exploring. Back to the only shelter we've seen, the structure?"
		Jacqueline says, "If we don't get lost. Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You make your way back towards the stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The clearing is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The structure has collapsed in the face of the blizzard.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sheet of snow falls off from a nearby tree.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, for..."
		Jacqueline says, "oops"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, be thankful we weren't in there."
		DavidW says, "You'd think humans would build to code."
		Jacqueline asks, "Can we get inside the fallen pine?"
		DavidW says, "That was our initial location? I didn't examine the pine there, but sure, we can look."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You cross the stream, getting slightly more wet in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | West Streamside
Floyd | You are on the west side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. On the other side of
Floyd | the stream there is an unfamiliar structure. The fallen pine should be
Floyd | back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reindeer carcass lies near the stream, far too old to consume.
Floyd |
Floyd | A lot of sleet gets in your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You find your way back to the pine.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting the
Floyd | stream is not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel quite some pain from one of your slash scars.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pine" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PINE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the fallen pine)
Floyd | The tree has lost almost all of its distinguishing characteristics:
Floyd | the leaves are either gone or wilted, and the flying squirrels haven't
Floyd | been on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh, and let's not forget to mention that no other wolves have
Floyd | suggested that this place is important to their territory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter fallen pine" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER FALLEN PINE
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb up the fallen pine.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine (on the fallen pine)
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting the
Floyd | stream is not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel quite some snow buffeting your side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We go on top of it, not in it."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, it implies we might want to mark this."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pee on fallen pine" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PEE ON FALLEN PINE
Floyd |
Floyd | You are not going to be here long, but there isn't really anything
Floyd | wrong with marking your territory. So you lift your leg near the
Floyd | fallen pine and establish your domain.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sniff my domain, ye mortals, and despair."
		DavidW says, "Achievement Unlocked: Log Claimant."
		[LINK]
		Jacqueline says, "(Sorry, DW, I know you have bandwidth issues.)"
		Jacqueline says, "(It's not worth your bandwidth - it's just the Log commercial from Ren & Stimply)"
		DavidW says, "anyway, we'd better find shelter."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "ok, I won't click."
		Roger says, "Maybe we need to tauntaun up in that deer"
		Jacqueline says, "Hey, yeah"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "I don't know that word."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You make your way back towards the stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | West Streamside
Floyd | You are on the west side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. On the other side of
Floyd | the stream there is an unfamiliar structure. The fallen pine should be
Floyd | back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reindeer carcass lies near the stream, far too old to consume.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter reindeer" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER REINDEER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's too old for that to be effective.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your legs quiver. If you don't get out of this blizzard you may be in
Floyd | trouble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "The hare went sw from here, yes?"
		Roger asks, "How hard did we try to get into the structure?"
		DavidW says, "We didn't try to enter the fallen version."
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. Perhaps instead of 'memento vivere' I should have said 'memento mori.'"
		Roger says, "memento urinati"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "I've finally learned some Latin!"
		Jacqueline says, "Wait."
		Roger says, "I came, I saw, I peed on some things"
		Jacqueline says, "Turns out 'urinati' is actually Italian."
		Jacqueline says, "I thought it was just a secretive club of strange people who conspire to pee on things."
		Roger says, "Oh I was just pulling that out of my butt"
		Jacqueline says, "maga says we can get out of the storm."
		Roger says, "Anyhoo, let's get on with getting on"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "That's not how the urinary tract works, man."
		Jacqueline draws Roger a diagram.
		DavidW says, "Of course there must shelter, but we haven't found any."
		Roger says, "Cloaca is Latin! I think."
		DavidW says, "Which way? I think sw."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, he gave a spoiler, and you're right, we haven't fully explored."
		DavidW says, "We probably lost our chance to explore casually when we tried to eat the hare."
		Jacqueline says, "Because we didn't take the last option? Possibly, yeah. We could restart."
		DavidW says, "no, I want to see if we can find shelter like this. We can restart when we're dead."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Fallen Pine                                A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | You find your way back to the pine.
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Fallen Pine
Floyd | The key landmark of this area is a pine whose span is decidedly more
Floyd | horizontal than those that surround it. No creatures have been around
Floyd | here: the only tracks are your own pawprints. You could go in any
Floyd | direction from here, but in terms of what is actually interesting the
Floyd | stream is not far to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline nods.
		DavidW says, "oh drat"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  West Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You make your way back towards the stream.
Floyd |
Floyd | West Streamside
Floyd | You are on the west side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. On the other side of
Floyd | the stream there is an unfamiliar structure. The fallen pine should be
Floyd | back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A reindeer carcass lies near the stream, far too old to consume.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Streamside                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You cross the stream, getting slightly more wet in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | East Streamside
Floyd | You are on the east side of a somewhat shallow stream that continues
Floyd | as far as you can sense to the north and south. A reindeer carcass is
Floyd | on the other side of the stream. The clearing is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The structure has collapsed in the face of the blizzard.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear some fast movement up in the treetops.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cool waft of air reminds you that time is running out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Clearing                                            A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | After a short walk you find yourself at the clearing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd | You have arrived in a part of the forest suspiciously lacking in
Floyd | trees. There's more snow on the ground and in the air here, and the
Floyd | full extent of the blizzard is clear. Should none of this be of
Floyd | relevance, the trees on the edge of the clearing to the north form a
Floyd | cluster of evergreens, and the ground grows uneven towards the south.
Floyd | The stream should be back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sheet of snow falls off from a nearby tree.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Cave Entrance                                       A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You head into the uneven ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cave Entrance
Floyd | The protruding rocks and sporadic holes turn into a complete descent
Floyd | the further south they go, providing entrance into a maw underneath
Floyd | the southern forest floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Here we go."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Cavern                                              A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You enter the cave, taking shelter from the blizzard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cavern
Floyd | Many passageways are around this cavern, the biggest one being the one
Floyd | to the west, which leads into a strange room with a bizarre glow.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are distracted by a glow to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glow" 		

Floyd ]  Cavern                                              A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Very peculiar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I sense a possible end to an intro coming."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Circle                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Near the Circle
Floyd | This cavern's shape is peculiar: the floor and the south, west, and
Floyd | north walls are all flat, while the way out back to the east retains
Floyd | the regular cave structure.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pure power is emanating all around the cavern from a glowing circle on
Floyd | the west cave wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x circle" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Circle                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CIRCLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The closer you are to the glowing circle, the more wise you feel.
Floyd | There are markings on the circle, which you understand are there to
Floyd | retain information for the future.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read circle" 		

Floyd ]  Near the Circle                                     A Flaukulla Wolf
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CIRCLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The closer you are to the glowing circle, the more wise you feel.
Floyd | There are markings on the circle, which you understand are there to
Floyd | retain information for the future.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch circle" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH CIRCLE
Floyd |
Floyd | As you put your paw on the circle, darkened lightning fires from the
Floyd | circle into you!

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | circle into you!
Floyd | New thoughts flash before you. Dots upon dots connected by lines,
Floyd | split into two territories. Humans, in a great city (where, when
Floyd | did you learn what that a city is?), and then the entire world at
Floyd | once, with lines connecting at a landmass that looks like a leg in the
Floyd | sea...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Jacqueline says, "LATIN"
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Blank Hallway                                       Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | You remember the summer day that The Tide came very well: first the
Floyd | flood reports, then the reports of walking black cephalopod creatures
Floyd | laying waste to all in their path, then the redundant confirmation
Floyd | that said creatures weren't really cephalopods. And now, five months
Floyd | later, the naval powers of the world are down for the count, the
Floyd | coasts of the Americas and Europe are miles inland from where they
Floyd | used to be, and the showdown of the underdog militias versus the alien
Floyd | invaders is simply not going the way it does in the movies.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's really only one hope that remains: communication. From their
Floyd | strategic groupings to the biological weapons they use with their
Floyd | tentacles, it's clear that the creatures are intelligent. But, despite
Floyd | all the work you've been involved with, there hasn't been the
Floyd | slightest improvement in bridging the gap.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, however, a dispatch has informed you that you were selected to
Floyd | join a secret government project that has been said to be the best
Floyd | hope yet. The details weren't given out, but, now that you are in the
Floyd | facility, you will soon be familiarized with the new plan.
Floyd |
Floyd | You've wanted to communicate across species as long as you can
Floyd | remember, and now you may just get your chance.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beyond Division
Floyd | An Interactive 9th Grade Daydream by Joseph Geipel
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150731 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Blank Hallway
Floyd | A featureless west-east hallway located somewhere underneath Nebraska,
Floyd | ending to the west in a doorway marked 11-14-09.
Floyd |
Floyd | The man opens up the west doorway, revealing a viewing room of some
Floyd | sort beyond, and beckons you inside. "I trust that you understand that
Floyd | what you are about to see is highly classified."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Was this the winner?"
		Jacqueline says, "It was."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Blank Hallway                                       Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Huncel Clark, young, apparently bright geneticist. Bright enough
Floyd | that you were invited to be involved with this project.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Blank Hallway                                       Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Huncel Clark, young, apparently bright geneticist. Bright enough
Floyd | that you were invited to be involved with this project.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW) BugsBunny asks, "Huncel? .... Huncel?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, wait."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Blank Hallway                                       Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying nothing at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "go west, young Huncel."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Topics: wolf
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The man closes the door behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Viewing Room
Floyd | You survey the room around you. There are several desks with new (for
Floyd | once) computers on top, set up so that those using the computers would
Floyd | be able to make glances at the viewing window on the west end of the
Floyd | room, where noted ethologist Miranda Heather currently stands.
Floyd |
Floyd | You glance into the cell beyond the viewing window. You spy a
Floyd | wolf, curled up, facing the back wall of its prison.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | The man with you is one of those people who you are supposed to never
Floyd | talk to anyone about. You don't even know his name even with your
Floyd | newfound security clearance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wolf" 		

Floyd | Topics: none
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WOLF
Floyd |
Floyd | "What is this wolf here for?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Miranda Heather is the first to respond: "You wouldn't believe me if I
Floyd | told you. Try knocking on the window."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on window" 		

Floyd | Topics: yes or no
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You give a few solid knocks on the barrier that separates you and the
Floyd | wolf, but, aside from the predictable slight ear movement, it doesn't
Floyd | react.
Floyd |
Floyd | However, you do experience sudden feelings of apathy for no apparent
Floyd | reason at all. It's as if some incorporeal person is nagging you to
Floyd | pay attention to a topic you don't care about in the slightest.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you feel that?" Miranda asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Topics: telepathy
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | "The apathy?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "That would be the wolf's feeling. He has the astonishing ability to
Floyd | broadcast his thoughts and feelings to other beings. Unless we want to
Floyd | sound more refined than science fiction and parapsychology, I do dare
Floyd | say that telepathy is the term to use."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "telepathy" 		

Floyd | Topics: commune and new to us
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TELEPATHY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Telepathy? What sort of mechanism could cause such a concept? Why
Floyd | hasn't anything like this been observed before?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Such questions are amongst those we're seeking answers for: he's
Floyd | still very new to us, a week or so. He has been dubbed 'The
Floyd | Ambassador' since we hope his abilities could lead us to a way to
Floyd | commune with The Tide. He doesn't like The Tide, much like us,
Floyd | but he's our option."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "new to us" 		

Floyd | Topics: mind and commune
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NEW TO US
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where and how was he found?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "He was found in Siberia during the search for a missing hiker named
Floyd | Clarence Pankov. Mr. Pankov was found wounded and out of his
Floyd | mind, as told on the news. What wasn't reported was that this
Floyd | wolf was only a kilometer away."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "He's our Ambassador? Oh, cool. So let's put him in a research cage and break his spirit!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "mind" 		

Floyd | Topics: overload and commune
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MIND
Floyd |
Floyd | "And I assume The Ambassador is the culprit in Clarence's insanity?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Almost certainly. He's known to telepathically overload
Floyd | others, leaving them quite a mess for some time. This appears to be
Floyd | very taxing on the body, for he is tired or even swoons shortly
Floyd | afterwards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I hope the cover art for this game is Three Wolf Moon"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "overload" 		

Floyd | Topics: commune
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OVERLOAD
Floyd |
Floyd | "Is there still-"
Floyd |
Floyd | "-a risk of being overloaded? We hope not." She smiles. "He's been
Floyd | conditioned to understand that overloading humans means no treats."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "commune" 		

Floyd | Topics: none
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COMMUNE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you know if his telepathy works with Tide creatures?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "It doesn't at the moment. His telepathy works especially well with
Floyd | humans and probably other wolves in his rare subspecies Canis
Floyd | lupus flaukulla [2], judging by his weakened telepathy with dogs.
Floyd | If there's a way for him to communicate with humans, I think we have a
Floyd | shot at extending it all the way to The Tide."
Floyd |
Floyd | The man interrupts. "Now that the extent of The Ambassador's abilities
Floyd | have been established, I think it is time that Dr. Clark try a
Floyd | conversation with The Ambassador. He should open up the channel after
Floyd | another knock [3]."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Have the ambassador blow up the wolf's head, then search the remains for the secrets to psychic pwoers."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | After my mom watched the movie Up in the Air she got the
Floyd | soundtrack and started playing it a lot on the way to school and in
Floyd | other trips. One of the songs she played the most is called "Help
Floyd | Yourself." I was thinking about the first meeting of The
Floyd | Ambassador and Huncel at about the same time, and rather quickly I
Floyd | noticed the thematic similarities between the song's lyrics and their
Floyd | meeting. Whenever I heard the song I would bend the lyrics in my head
Floyd | to better correspond to the scene.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So that's writer's commentary?"
		DavidW asks (of escapecage), "Isn't the *wolf* the Ambassador?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "It is, yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 3" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 3
Floyd |
Floyd | After my mom watched the movie Up in the Air she got the
Floyd | soundtrack and started playing it a lot on the way to school and in
Floyd | other trips. One of the songs she played the most is called "Help
Floyd | Yourself." I was thinking about the first meeting of The
Floyd | Ambassador and Huncel at about the same time, and rather quickly I
Floyd | noticed the thematic similarities between the song's lyrics and their
Floyd | meeting. Whenever I heard the song I would bend the lyrics in my head
Floyd | to better correspond to the scene.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 2" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 2
Floyd |
Floyd | And there's some Latin via scientific naming! Canis, canis,
Floyd | masculine, meaning dog, and lupus, lupi, masculine, meaning wolf.
Floyd | Flaukulla (flaw-cola) is a word I made up—supposedly the surname of a
Floyd | fictional 19th-century naturalist, but that's not too relevant. What's
Floyd | also not too relevant but is pretty interesting is that when I was
Floyd | first thinking of all this back last year in 8th grade I had never
Floyd | written or typed the word Flaukulla down anywhere, so I just sort of
Floyd | imagined what it looked like typed out, and it turned out to look
Floyd | nothing like I imagined even though I knew the spelling. Interesting
Floyd | psychological effect, eh?
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyways, the serious Latin and Roman culture has yet to come.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wolf" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WOLF
Floyd |
Floyd | Black on top, white on bottom, with three slash scars on his side. He
Floyd | seems very bored and disinterested with his surroundings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x miranda" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRANDA
Floyd |
Floyd | It is certainly unusual for a 'pop' scientist to be involved with
Floyd | something like this, but between her wisdom of age and her expertise
Floyd | there's no denying that she's qualified.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "panel" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PANEL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Viewing Room
Floyd | A room with several desks with computers on top, set up so that those
Floyd | using the computers would be able to make glances at the viewing
Floyd | window on the west end of the room, where Miranda Heather currently
Floyd | stands along with the man.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ambassador continues to stare at nothing with his back to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x computers" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COMPUTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Completely blank: not even screensavers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on window" 		

Floyd | Topics: greeting, curiosity, and amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You knock on the glass once more. This time, you feel more than just
Floyd | an emotion: you feel a sudden new ability to put your thoughts into a
Floyd | different channel, one that leads away from your mind. Clearly The
Floyd | Ambassador is allowing you to send information to him. What to send,
Floyd | though? Thoughts of curiosity, amazement, or maybe you
Floyd | could work out some sort of interspecies greeting?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Huh. Back last year in eighth grade ... is this the writer, or is this meta?"
		Roger says, "I might guess the writer"
		DavidW says, "I assumed the writer"
		Jacqueline asks, "So this was written by a freshman in high school?"
		DavidW asks, "perhaps?"
		Jacqueline says, "It's well-written regardless, but that makes it even more impressive. (I hate that, no matter how I tried to phrase this, it sounded condescending, which it's not meant to be at all.)"
		DavidW says, "I think I want to try curiosity first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "curiosity" 		

Floyd | Topics: feed, hunger, etiquette, and
Floyd | amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CURIOSITY
Floyd |
Floyd | What better emotion to open up with than the foundation of scientific
Floyd | inquiry?
Floyd |
Floyd | You broadcast questions about how and why, questions both about his
Floyd | abilities and more classical lupine life. He ignores the former and
Floyd | responds to the latter with a request for some tasty reindeer. Or
Floyd | perhaps he just wants reindeer. Either way, he still is curled up and
Floyd | not facing you. They may have convinced him to not overload anyone,
Floyd | but it seems human communication etiquette has yet to be worked in.
Floyd |
Floyd | You think (to yourself, you hope and suspect) of some ways to go
Floyd | further. You could invoke his desire for reindeer, either by asking
Floyd | the man to feed him or asking The Ambassador about
Floyd | hunger. Suggesting he obey proper etiquette might make
Floyd | everything easier if he complies, or, lastly, you could try to see if
Floyd | your amazement at him can lead somewhere interesting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline shrugs.
		Jacqueline says, "I like any of thoes."
		Jacqueline says, "er, those"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "feed" 		

Floyd | Topics: health, hunger, etiquette, and
Floyd | amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FEED
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn to the man. "He's asking for some reindeer. Can you comply?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unfortunately I cannot. Although the vet did say that The Ambassador
Floyd | appears to require more sustenance than is normal for a wolf of his
Floyd | size and age, we have already taken that into account. He seems to
Floyd | have other health issues too, so we don't want to take any
Floyd | chances."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "health" 		

Floyd | Topics: hunger, etiquette, and amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HEALTH
Floyd |
Floyd | "He has health issues of what sort?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The man takes a paper and clipboard from one of the desks and hands it
Floyd | to you. "Here, read the vet's notes when you have time."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x notes" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NOTES
Floyd |
Floyd | A quick skim suggests The Ambassador requires more food, drink, and
Floyd | sleep than is considered healthy, has periods of intense fatigue right
Floyd | next to periods of hyperactivity, and is injured across his right side
Floyd | (presumably the slash scars you see before you). His telepathic powers
Floyd | are then listed in the same space as everything else as if they were a
Floyd | health problem too, which they may very well be depending on your
Floyd | definitions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "etiquette" 		

Floyd | Topics: dominance, humanity, and amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ETIQUETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Let's see if he complies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You insist to The Ambassador that he face you because then you might
Floyd | have a better chance at understanding him. To establish the idea
Floyd | further in both of your heads, you cite some of your own socializing
Floyd | problems from your childhood. In the midst of all, though, The
Floyd | Ambassador abruptly fills your mind with thoughts along the human
Floyd | lines of "You don't control me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Possible ways to respond to this new conversational twist would be to
Floyd | talk about the problems of dominance in conversation and
Floyd | elsewhere, or maybe you could tell him all about some of the greatness
Floyd | of humanity.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Humanity: builders of structures that fall down in a blizzard."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I'm not liking this twist."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "topics" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOPICS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dominance" 		

Floyd | Topics: Tide, humanity, and amazement
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DOMINANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to visualize that sort of communication-feedback loop you'd
Floyd | find in a textbook in your mind and explain how proper communication
Floyd | works and why proper communication is important. You then apologize
Floyd | for trying to force etiquette into him so early. The Ambassador
Floyd | abruptly decides to speak about how much he hates a quite familiar
Floyd | kind of creature that he encountered that is responsible for his
Floyd | distinctive scars.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ah, so you both have troubles with The Tide. That's another
Floyd | possible topic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tide" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | The moment your mind makes the slightest reference to The Tide, The
Floyd | Ambassador turns around to face you, and for the first time you notice
Floyd | his snout and his light blue eyes...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Topics: displeasure
Floyd ]  Cell (trapped)                                        The
Floyd | Ambassador
Floyd | his snout and his light blue eyes...Cell (trapped)
Floyd | A room with nothing of interest for you at the moment (sometimes
Floyd | there's delicious food and water). There is another inaccessible room
Floyd | to the east, which has a few humans in it, one of whom you don't know
Floyd | yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | You get up on your legs. Feelings of displeasure towards The
Floyd | Tide are about, both from you and the new human.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "huh. We're the wolf again."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "displeasure" 		

Floyd | Topics: decrease and increase
Floyd ]  Cell (trapped)                                        The
Floyd | Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DISPLEASURE
Floyd |
Floyd | You voice your displeasure towards The Tide to the new human.
Floyd | Strangely, he seems bizarrely disturbed by your desire, even though he
Floyd | is an enemy of The Tide too. You could increase the intensity
Floyd | (always pleasurable) or decrease the intensity (more likely to
Floyd | get a treat).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I suppose increase might cause Huncel to overload. Probably should avoid that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "decrease" 		

Floyd | Topics: increase
Floyd ]  Cell (trapped)                                        The
Floyd | Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DECREASE
Floyd |
Floyd | The Tide's obliteration is far more important than treats.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Might be fun just to see. There's always undo."
		DavidW says, "or not"
		DavidW says, "Increase is our only option. Decrease was a no-op."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "increase" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INCREASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You ignore the human's lack of comfort with your feeling and just
Floyd | continue the onslaught. He starts to panic, and the other humans rush
Floyd | to him. But he isn't The Tide's ally: why would he be panicked?
Floyd |
Floyd | The other humans give a look towards you, the look they give when they
Floyd | don't give you anything. You've had your delicious fill of anger for
Floyd | now, so now it's probably time to avoid losing delicious food. Since
Floyd | closing the channel on a newbie also makes you lose food, the best
Floyd | idea is probably to strike up some other topic...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Topics: yes or no
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | idea is probably to strike up some other topic...## Viewing Room
Floyd | Your focus is only on the man, Miranda, and The Ambassador.
Floyd |
Floyd | "He 'doesn't like' The Tide? You mean, he'd kill us all just to do the
Floyd | slightest bit of damage to it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The man tries to calm you down. "Relax, Huncel, relax. The Tide is the
Floyd | greatest threat to civil society that has ever appeared in all of
Floyd | history. Shouldn't we share his anger?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Tricky. We don't know the Tide's motives at all yet."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remember tide" 		

Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REMEMBER TIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "But I suppose sharing anger now might lead to at least human-wolf cooperation? A first step?"
		Jacqueline says, "This is a surprisingly long IntroComp entry."
		DavidW says, "Our choices are yes or no."
		DavidW says, "I think we should say yes."
		DavidW says, "Especially since a no might also get us in trouble with unnamed man here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Topics: job
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ambassador continues the conversation. He is now wondering what
Floyd | your job is. It appears he has been taught a bit about human
Floyd | society, then.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "job" 		

Floyd | Topics: relatives
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JOB
Floyd |
Floyd | It feels like you are getting more used to telepathic conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ambassador, I'm someone who studies inheritance. Why you share
Floyd | traits with your parents, and why your progeny would share traits with
Floyd | you. That's my job."
Floyd |
Floyd | He doesn't seem to know how to respond properly, which you infer from
Floyd | his thoughts rather than out of telepathic silence. Progress! Maybe
Floyd | more talk about his relatives is warranted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "relatives" 		

Floyd | Topics: hatred and reach
Floyd ]  Viewing Room                                        Dr. Huncel Clark
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RELATIVES
Floyd |
Floyd | "What do you remember about your parents?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "They cared for me a long time ago. My mother died shortly before
Floyd | I left the pack." The voice in your mind sounds a bit like a
Floyd | teenage voice to you, maybe because that's the sort of voice you'd
Floyd | imagine saying something along those lines. You also infer that his
Floyd | mother's death was natural and unrelated to The Tide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, now feels like a good time to talk about the mighty reach
Floyd | of humanity. Then again, the reach of humanity is being torn down by
Floyd | The Tide, so maybe you should focus the conversation towards his
Floyd | hatred of The Tide again, assuming you are less squeamish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm thinking the wolf has more reason to hate the Tide than like humans in particular."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hatred" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > HATRED
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ambassador, although I'm not sure you should hate The Tide at the
Floyd | level you do, it is a grave threat to both our livelihoods. We are
Floyd | having troubles fighting The Tide directly: perhaps with your help we
Floyd | can understand The Tide and convince it to leave us alone. You are our
Floyd | hope, and we will make sure that your livelihood is far beyond what
Floyd | you would previously dream of."
Floyd |
Floyd | You sense some happiness and contentment from The Ambassador, but then
Floyd | he starts to send some fatigue. Soon, you feel the telepathic channel
Floyd | closing, and your mind snaps back fully into conventional reality,
Floyd | where you notice The Ambassador starting to lie down once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Seems The Ambassador is taking a nap. Is that scheduled?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The man looks down at his watch quickly and then says, "About right.
Floyd | Remember that everything that happened in this room is classified. Not
Floyd | that anyone would believe you, anyway..."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | The wilderness vanishes again as you awaken.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sleeping Cell (on the sleeping cushion)
Floyd | This is the cell where you sleep. Really, you'll sleep wherever the
Floyd | cushion is, but the humans insist that you should do tasks in the
Floyd | rooms designated for them.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bell cord is hanging from the door out to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also smell a chew toy here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Nice attention to detail."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toy" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | The chew toy smells a bit like reindeer hide but is shaped like a
Floyd | bone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cord" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CORD
Floyd |
Floyd | Pulling the bell cord will ring the bell on the other side of the door
Floyd | which will summon Huncel who will open the door which will allow you
Floyd | to walk into the main room where Huncel will run some 'experiments' on
Floyd | you which will result in you getting treats.
Floyd |
Floyd | Huncel throws out a bunch of human names like 'Pavlov' and 'Goldberg'
Floyd | in his absent-minded telepathic mumblings describing the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cushion" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUSHION
Floyd |
Floyd | You smell nothing special about the sleeping cushion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yawn" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YAWN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's neither a recognized verb nor a current topic of conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "chew toy" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHEW TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the chew toy)
Floyd | It's just not the same without the Tide scent that Huncel put on the
Floyd | prior chew toys before you destroyed them. You chew a bit anyways,
Floyd | though the center of your attention is the bell cord.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Pull the cord?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You get off the sleeping cushion.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sleeping Cell
Floyd | This is the cell where you sleep. Really, you'll sleep wherever the
Floyd | cushion is, but the humans insist that you should do tasks in the
Floyd | rooms designated for them.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your sleeping cushion occupies the center of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bell cord is hanging from the door out to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop toy" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | You open your mouth a little and the chew toy falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the facility door)
Floyd | Only Huncel is able to open this door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull cord" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL CORD
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull the cord as far as it goes and hear the bell ringing. Next up
Floyd | is Huncel's arrival.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x huncel" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HUNCEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't smell any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Sleeping Cell
Floyd | This is the cell where you sleep. Really, you'll sleep wherever the
Floyd | cushion is, but the humans insist that you should do tasks in the
Floyd | rooms designated for them.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your sleeping cushion occupies the center of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bell cord is hanging from the door out to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also smell a chew toy here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the facility door)
Floyd | Only Huncel is able to open this door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear Huncel's footsteps from the other side of the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The door opens. Huncel [4], clearly tired and a bit clumsy, walks
Floyd | through it and activates the light. You open the telepathic channel
Floyd | shortly after he pets you around the ears.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good dusk, Ambassador! Everything is ready in the main room. I'm
Floyd | sure you are ready to walk in!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "footnote 4" 		

Floyd ]  Sleeping Cell                                         The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 4
Floyd |
Floyd | Back in November 2009 in Social Studies everyone in my class did a
Floyd | report on an important figure in early 19th century American history.
Floyd | We all found a quote and made a trinket concerning our chosen person.
Floyd | I ended up doing a report on William Clark, with his legendary
Floyd | misspelled journal entry "Ocian in view! O! The Joy!" and a simple
Floyd | cardboard telescope. I was focused enough on the report that I
Floyd | suddenly started calling that as-of-yet-unnamed scientist in that
Floyd | as-of-yet-unnamed story I was making "Dr. Clark."
Floyd |
Floyd | Then, in late April 2010, I had a bizarre dream that gave me Dr.
Floyd | Clark's first name: the unusual name of Huncel (Hon-cell, with hon as
Floyd | in honey). I believe I came up with the name of Beyond
Floyd | Division at about the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Topics: straight and treats
Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Room
Floyd | The first thing you notice is a lack of any temporary features in the
Floyd | room this time: all that is here is the usual canine accoutrements and
Floyd | human furniture. The sleeping cell is east and the rest of this place
Floyd | is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Huncel takes a seat on the recliner and gestures you to get on the rug
Floyd | below it if you want.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, in lieu of what we normally do, how about we talk a bit? I
Floyd | believe at this point you are more willing than previously to just
Floyd | talk about you and your feelings."
Floyd |
Floyd | Query as to whether this will still lead to treats, or jump
Floyd | straight in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on rug" 		

Floyd | Topics: straight and treats
Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT ON RUG
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the rug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "treats" 		

Floyd | Topics: food, mate, and opportunities
Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TREATS
Floyd |
Floyd | "Will you still give treats?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, this counts as an experiment. And the first part of the test
Floyd | was whether you'd question the possibility of treats due to the
Floyd | significant change. Good job, you've earned an extra eventual
Floyd | treat!" Huncel sends you a weird vision, and then, detecting your
Floyd | lack of understanding, assures you that it is supposed to represent a
Floyd | human smiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, Ambassador, are you content at this moment?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Lament the lack of opportunities to tear The Tide up, or lament
Floyd | the lack of a mate? It feels like Huncel is hinting something
Floyd | more around the food end of things, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, I guess there was some time that passed?"
		DavidW says, "yes. We seem to have moved forward in time somewhat."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "A considerable bit, it feels like."
		DavidW says, "At least a month."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's go ith opportunities - I want to learn more about The Tide."
		DavidW says, "ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "opportunities" 		

Floyd | Topics: interloping, injured, and damage
Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPPORTUNITIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You send all the messages you can that imply that you'd want to spend
Floyd | the rest of your life at war with The Tide, but Huncel sends
Floyd | exasperation and his emotional memories of the glass incident: how he
Floyd | was worried he couldn't control and that you would endanger everyone
Floyd | in the facility including yourself, plus the paternal feelings he's
Floyd | trying and failing to hide. Seems Huncel will never give that up.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That does bring us elsewhere though. We humans often ask why. Why
Floyd | is the sky blue, why do you have your abilities, why do we do what we
Floyd | do? So I ask you: why do you hate The Tide the way do you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, Huncel hates The Tide because of its damage to humanity,
Floyd | and The Tide injured you. What reason do you need though? The
Floyd | Tide is an interloping force.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Injured"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "injured" 		

Floyd | Topics: yes or no
Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INJURED
Floyd |
Floyd | You repeat your encounter with The Tide.
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's still something more, Ambassador. Maybe you don't know it
Floyd | yourself, but something unprecedented must have happened to you. In
Floyd | the entire history of humanity there is not one case of a wolf or
Floyd | anything at all with telepathy like yours, and other animals pretty
Floyd | much never get that angry at the species of something that attacked
Floyd | them."
Floyd |
Floyd | The back of your mind screams at a possible reason for it all, but you
Floyd | just can't bring it up into something concrete.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I know you're against The Tide and all, but aren't you
Floyd | happy that you don't have to hunt anymore? This would be a paradise
Floyd | for you if your motivations were that of a typical wolf."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "no?"
		DavidW asks, "A box is 'paradise'? Is Huncel kidding?"
		Jacqueline says, "Right"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd ]  Main Room                                             The Ambassador
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NO
Floyd |
Floyd | "It just doesn't make me that happy."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, it should. You do like treats at least. Speaking of which,
Floyd | I'll go get them now. Just stay here for a bit and maybe play with one
Floyd | of your chew toys."
Floyd |
Floyd | And Huncel leaves north and closes the door behind him. You cut the
Floyd | channel and have your mind entirely to yourself once again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Huncel is The Tide's enemy. You are The Tide's enemy. But Huncel still
Floyd | doesn't understand your actions. Next glass incident, you'll actually
Floyd | break through the glass and bite the creature beyond it. You know it
Floyd | already.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** End of Intro ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jacqueline says, "I was not expecting the end now. I expected it before this scene shift, then completely forgot this might end abruptly."
		Roger says, "Hmmm so yeah that turned out on the worthwhile end of things"
		DavidW asks, "seems like the Ambassador might have a touch of precognition there? Or was that just wishful thinking?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Experiencing the intro, you mean? Or the actions we took?"
		Roger says, "overall"
		DavidW says, "I can see why this entry won. Very unusual and captivating."
		Roger says, "Some errors but not the usual ones"
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger), "Which?"
		Roger says, "hmmm just in the way it was structured and paced, in my opinion"
		Roger says, "It was unnecessarily coy about what it was about, I think"
		Jacqueline asks, "The bit at the beginning? The Latin?"
		Roger says, "The latin and the whole intro bit, and then all the character switching"
		Roger says, "But as an early draft it stands well"
		Jacqueline says, "It's good, yea."
		Jacqueline says, "er, yeah."
		DavidW says, "I don't object to the character switching, but I agree the emphasis on Latin at the very beginning is rather misleading."
		Jacqueline says, "What David said."



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
18 Rooms to Home (Room 15) by Carolyn VanEseltine
As played on ifMUD on September 16, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15) written by Carolyn VanEseltine. 18 Rooms to Home is an experimental work of serialized interactive fiction. This transcript contains the fourth installment. ClubFloyd has also played all previous installments, the first of which can be found here. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Jacqueline asks, "So. What're we thinking? 18 Rooms: 15?"
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure what people want to play today, but I have not played the latest 18 Rooms, nor any of the recent IntroComp games."
		Jacqueline says, "I would be good with either of those."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, we also have a Roger."
		DavidW says, "Who's here today? I haven't looked."
		Jacqueline asks, "What say you, Roger?"
		Roger says, "hrm, I dunno"
		Roger says, "18R was good enough in the last installment, I seem to recall"
genericgeekgirl arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Jacqueline says, "I'd like to play that one too."
		DavidW says, "Let's go for it then, please."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask 18rooms15" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150827 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 15. This is a long way into Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | By the time the school group winds into the gift shop, Yesenia feels
Floyd | like she's hidden around every corner in the entire zoo, and a fog of
Floyd | irritation completely obscures her worry. It's easy to be irritated
Floyd | with Rachel under any circumstances, but Rachel's really outdone
Floyd | herself with this wild goose chase.
Floyd |
Floyd | In short order, the school group emerges from the gift shop and heads
Floyd | toward the parking lot. Yesenia trails at a safe distance, rolling her
Floyd | suitcase along.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | This secluded part of the parking lot is reserved for buses and other
Floyd | oversized vehicles, such as the Washington Elementary school bus
Floyd | parked near a red-flowered bush. A thin curtain of trees separates the
Floyd | black asphalt from the train tracks and Highway 101 beyond that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks herself and her suitcase behind a convenient minivan,
Floyd | where she ought to be fairly well hidden from the school group.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders mill around the parking lot, herded rather
Floyd | ineffectively by a bespectacled teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So this should be getting onto the bus, I guess."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I've forgotten some of the backstory, particularly everyone's names."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, it's been awhile."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x girl" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit is shorter than most of the other second graders, but no less
Floyd | rambunctious, as reported by the grass stains on her pants (and who
Floyd | but Rachel would dress a second grader in seashell pink pants?) Her
Floyd | huge black eyes match Rachel's, and the shape of her mouth is
Floyd | Gerald's, but that never mattered to Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit remains oblivious to her mother's presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids scatter forward across the parking lot, laughing and shoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I forget - are there special commands?"
		DavidW says, "Focus, I think."
		DavidW says, "We focused sunlight on a mailbox to warm up, warp the metal to open it, iirc."
		Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances to the side and confirms that she still has her
Floyd | suitcase.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "This way to the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Is Brigit our daughter?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x rachel" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RACHEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x teacher" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TEACHER
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's bright red cat eye glasses might correct her vision, or
Floyd | they might just be for fashion's sake. If the first, Yesenia can
Floyd | sympathize, though her own vision is perfect these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says in a harried tone, "The sooner everyone gets on the
Floyd | bus, the sooner we get home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Rachel is Brigit's mum, and Brigit remains oblivious to her mother's presence, and Brigit is here, but her mother is not?"
		DavidW says, "I think *we* are Brigit's mum."
		DavidW says, "But someone named Rachel is her guardian, step-mom, grandmother, who-knows."
		Jacqueline asks, "I thought that for a second, too, except that her 'huge black eyes match Rachel's'. Hm, maybe Rachel is a sibling?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "who is rachel" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHO IS RACHEL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, yeah. I'm down with her being Yesenia's kid."
		DavidW says, "Rachel could be our mother."
		DavidW says, "Or maybe our sister"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
anjchang arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glasses" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLASSES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia inspects the bright red cat eye glasses, but there's nothing
Floyd | unusual about them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher finally corrals her students into some semblance of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x students" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STUDENTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids are far more interested in playing hide-and-seek between the
Floyd | cars than in getting onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | Led by their teacher, the kids approach the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-flowered bush on the edge of the parking lot rustles sharply.
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes it as a firebush, and she has just enough time to
Floyd | think Do those even grow around here? before a woman dressed
Floyd | in white and lilac spandex steps out of the red-flowered bush.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes the new arrival at once, though Eichhornia Cress -
Floyd | aka The Hyacinth - rarely leaves Florida. As she braces for trouble,
Floyd | Yesenia takes back everything she's been thinking about Rachel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hi, ac."
anjchang says, "hi everyone!" 		Roger says, "Trying to marshal the bits of narrative exposition like this is always a technical pain in the ass. Not too bad, here."
		Jacqueline says, "We're playing 18 Rooms to Home: Room 15. You can type @recap #toyshop 500 and probably see everything so far."
		DavidW says, "Can I just say I'm glad my parents didn't name me Eichhornia."
		anjchang says, "thanks! that's handy! :) my son just started kindergarten and he rode the bus for the first time Thursday"
		anjchang asks, "nickname would be Eichy, maybe?"
		Jacqueline says, "So, right. We're about to get into a fight and save Brigit."
		DavidW asks (of anjchang), "oh wow. First day of school?"
		Roger says, "She was just taking a pee back there"
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing the firebush will be helpful for either us or the Hyacinth."
		Jacqueline says, "That's Roger. Always assuming the best about people."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bush" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUSH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances at the red-flowered bush, but there's no help to be
Floyd | had from that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth positions herself between the school group and the bus.
Floyd | There's nothing particularly scary about her white and lilac costume,
Floyd | but her body language is clear enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher halts, extending an arm to keep her students back. "Excuse
Floyd | me," she says. "You're in our way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. We're supposed to do something. But what..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "intervene" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INTERVENE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we want to try talking to Hyacinth?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoning the cover of the minivan, Yesenia says to the Hyacinth,
Floyd | "I'm warning you. Leave these children alone."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's gaze flickers toward the zoo gates, and Yesenia looks
Floyd | back to see the other school group approaching.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth pulls a translucent ball from somewhere in her cloak and
Floyd | brandishes it. It doesn't look threatening, but her stance says it's a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit exclaims, "Mommy! What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher claps her hands sharply for her students' attention.
Floyd | "Everyone on the bus, NOW!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take ball" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BALL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia reaches for The Hyacinth's translucent ball, but The Hyacinth
Floyd | pulls it quickly out of reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher raises a hand, signalling the other school group to stay
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the students pulls out a smartphone and starts filming the
Floyd | action.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth whips around and hurls the ball at Yesenia. It strikes
Floyd | the ground at her feet and explodes into yellow smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia throws up a protective aura automatically. Sunlight blazes
Floyd | around her, and the yellow particles veer away harmlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit claps her hands for joy. "Get her, Mommy!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | A second grader protests, "We can't get on the bus! The door is
Floyd | closed!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Yes, we're definitely Brigit's mother."
		Jacqueline says, "Yup"
		DavidW asks, "We can make 'protective auras'?"
		Jacqueline says, "Totes."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we focus on Hyacinth?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or open the bus door?"
		DavidW says, "I really don't know."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia seizes the sunlight and translates the energy into force. She
Floyd | clamps that force around The Hyacinth, paralyzing the other woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teachers with the other school group retreat to the zoo gates.
Floyd | Yesenia breathes out; she won't be juggling a second set of civilians.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher pushes through her students to hammer on the bus door.
Floyd | "Open up!" she shouts through the safety glass, jolting the driver
Floyd | into wakefulness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we're strong. We could just hit her."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't keep the Hyacinth pinned in sunlight and attack her at
Floyd | the same time. If the Hyacinth were more amenable to being pinned, it
Floyd | would be one thing - but she's actively fighting Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the zoo gates, one of the other teachers raises a cell phone
Floyd | and starts filming the action. Yesenia grits her teeth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The yellow smoke dissipates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver pulls the bus door handle, and the bus door swings
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit hesitates at the bus door. "Are you going to be okay?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "I'm going to be fine. Do what your teacher
Floyd | says, now. I love you always."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher orders, "Everybody in! Find a seat quickly and sit down."
Floyd | It's clear from her tone that she means business.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders form a ragged line at the bus door and then start
Floyd | piling in.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape emits an electric snap, and Yesenia's focus drains
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "I've seen your face, Sun Queen. And I've seen the
Floyd | face of your daughter, Brigit Bhalla. I will make you more sorry than
Floyd | you can imagine."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "totally Bhalla move"
		DavidW says, "I hate fighting."
		anjchang asks, "ask why?"
		DavidW says, "I suppose in other runs, we can focus on the smartphones, burn them out, perhaps. But I don't know what to do about Hyacinth."
		Jacqueline says, "If this were a real Bhallawood game, we'd be fighting *and* singing."
		DavidW asks, "Also, perhaps we can get the bus door open earlier. Driver was asleep?"
		DavidW says, "And if it were a Balsawood game, we'd be fighting and floating."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe."
		Jacqueline says, "In prior playthroughs, though, people know about us... oh wait, not from the smartphone videos but through the paper? Or am I misremembering."
		DavidW says, "I don't remember exactly what happens with the news in subsequent scenes."
		DavidW says, "There was report of the fight."
		Roger says, "Thank the good lord for parental permission forms"
		anjchang says, "burning sounds like a good idea"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I'm just not sure we care about burning out the smartphones."
		DavidW says, "I'm not worried about the phones for now."
		anjchang asks, "how about driving away?"
		DavidW says, "We're not on the bus, nor in the driver's seat."
		anjchang says, "any way to run her over"
		Roger says, "Mock her red bush"
		DavidW says, "Maybe focus on her cape? I don't understand how she drained our focus. Or maybe just hit her."
genericgeekgirl disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pivots toward The Hyacinth and reaches out to throw the other
Floyd | woman.  The Hyacinth dodges out of the way with reasonable grace.
Floyd |
Floyd | The air brightens around Yesenia - not a full protective aura, which
Floyd | would quickly exhaust her, but enough to give her confidence.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a small crowd growing by the zoo gates, probably drawn by
Floyd | Yesenia's pyrotechnics.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth starts to say something else, but her words are cut off
Floyd | by the sudden blast of the bus horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit tries to run toward Yesenia, but The Hyacinth intercepts, and
Floyd | the girl has to retreat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "get to the choppa I mean bus"
		Jacqueline says, "Brigit, get on the damn bus."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to Brigit" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BRIGIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia calls to Brigit, "Listen to your teacher!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver hits the horn again and waves his cell phone at The
Floyd | Hyacinth, who responds with language most parents wouldn't want their
Floyd | second-graders to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Maybe we can just grab Bridge"
		Jacqueline says, "I was thinking that."
		DavidW says, "I think the Hyacinth is between us, though."
		DavidW says, "But I don't know what to do."
		anjchang asks, "burn the fire bush?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask hyacinth about brigit" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HYACINTH ABOUT BRIGIT
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with someone, use the command TALK TO.)
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus starts with a rumble as the students continue to board.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth moves forward, but the students are too close to the bus,
Floyd | and she can't cut between them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher moves to block The Hyacinth. "Please don't come near the
Floyd | children," she raps out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get brigit" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET BRIGIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps in front of Brigit, shielding her from The Hyacinth with
Floyd | her own body.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver leans out the door to shout at Brigit, "Come on, you
Floyd | got to get on the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth scowls, "The Sun Queen in California?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "They have sunlight here too."
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit starts moving reluctantly toward the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses the sunlight around The Hyacinth again, trapping her
Floyd | like a bug in amber.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit clambers hastily onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses more sunlight on The Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders finish piling into the bus. Brigit climbs in last,
Floyd | followed by the teacher, and the closing bus door cuts off Yesenia's
Floyd | view.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape emits another electrical snap, and Yesenia loses
Floyd | control of the sunlight around The Hyacinth again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses sunlight around The Hyacinth again.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus shifts into gear and pulls out of its spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sirens sound in the distance, rapidly growing closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I'm thinking we need to bail before the cops get here, maybe?"
		DavidW says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "Ideally knock her out, I suppose."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "release hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RELEASE HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hard to run away with a suitcase."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hit her" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't keep the Hyacinth pinned in sunlight and attack her at
Floyd | the same time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus pulls out of the parking lot, and Yesenia laughs with
Floyd | relief.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape crackles and snaps, and the sunlight drains away.
Floyd | But The Hyacinth isn't interested in fighting - she flees across the
Floyd | parking lot, heading for a snow white Camaro. She's gone seconds
Floyd | later.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doesn't pursue. She's not supposed to be doing this any more -
Floyd | and she doesn't want to be around when those sirens arrive.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, there we go."
		Roger says, "fly, you fool"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW asks, "go any direction?"
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doubles back to grab her suitcase and then takes off.
Floyd |
Floyd | Palm trees shadow Yesenia as she heads south toward Ninos Drive.
Floyd | There's a bus stop at the zoo entrance, but the sirens are closer
Floyd | every second, so she keeps moving south until she reaches Cabrillo
Floyd | Boulevard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The 14 Montecito arrives across the street - but she can't cross the
Floyd | street until the traffic clears, and by then, the bus is pulling away.
Floyd | She comforts herself with the thought that it wasn't the right bus
Floyd | anyway, and she trots across the crosswalk to join the tourists.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | Tourists move down the steps toward Cabrillo Pavilion in long waves,
Floyd | unconsciously mimicking the ocean beyond. Yesenia loiters awkwardly at
Floyd | the sidewalk's edge and pretends to be fascinated by the fat little
Floyd | palm trees, the blue sign reading ZOO with its arrow, or anything else
Floyd | that will keep her face away from pedestrians.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns at the distant roar of a bus. The familiar white body
Floyd | with its upper yellow stripe comes around the bend, and she reads 20
Floyd | Carpinteria with relief. The crowd at the bus stop shuffles around,
Floyd | and Yesenia queues up to board, hauling the flowered suitcase behind
Floyd | her as she climbs the steps.
Floyd |
Floyd | 20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | It's like any other MTD bus: bluish-gray plastic seats crowded with
Floyd | passengers, huge windows, and an array of silver poles and black
Floyd | straps for standing passengers. No one's standing right now, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver taps the fare box and gives Yesenia a meaningful look.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia braces her suitcase against her leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pay" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PAY
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia digs hurriedly through her pockets and comes up with two
Floyd | crumpled singles.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia flattens the two singles against the fare box and then feeds
Floyd | them into the machine. The fare box chimes its approval.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver says, "No change," and points at the sign that says the
Floyd | same thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "That's fine," and she hefts her suitcase and moves
Floyd | further in so the next person can pay. There are still a few seats
Floyd | free: one at the front behind the driver (occupied by a newspaper),
Floyd | one in the middle across from the rear door, and one at the very back.

		anjchang asks, "pay fare?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, avoid the coming scene by sitting at the back"
		Jacqueline asks, "?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or get the newspaper?"
		DavidW says, "I forget how we did this last time. I would tend towards very back."
		anjchang asks, "sit by the door so you can escape?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take paper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the folded newspaper.
Floyd |
Floyd | The last two passengers pay and board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang asks, "or maybe where you sit says something about cowardice/bravery?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sit at the back" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT AT THE BACK
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia takes the back seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls away from the curb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hide behind newspaper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIDE BEHIND NEWSPAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x paper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a folded copy of the Santa Barbara News-Press. Yesenia could see
Floyd | the articles if she unfolds it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it chugs along.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unfold paper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNFOLD PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the newspaper fully and holds it in front of her face.
Floyd | Since she's sitting in the back, she only has to angle her body and
Floyd | raise the newspaper to hide her face entirely. That worked out well.
Floyd |
Floyd | A portly man in his mid-forties opens up his iPad and starts listening
Floyd | to the news. Yesenia can tell that he's listening to the news because
Floyd | he's not using headphones, in clear violation of the bus policy sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right. This is how it goes down."
		Jacqueline says, "THIS is why people need to not violate the bus policy sign."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read paper" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia skims the newspaper, but she doesn't really want to read about
Floyd | the Relay for Life fundraising success. It's too depressing.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "There was a disturbance today at the Santa Barbara
Floyd | Zoo, when a masked woman confronted a group of schoolchildren. KEYT
Floyd | reporter Vanessa Ellis is on the scene. Vanessa, over to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heart drops like a brick. If there's footage....
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles through a pothole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "zap ipad"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on ipad" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON IPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | If only she could! But the man's holding his iPad out of the sunlight,
Floyd | to avoid glare on the screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Brandon! I'm at the Santa Barbara Zoo,
Floyd | where a group of schoolchildren were about to board their bus when a
Floyd | masked woman attempted to take them hostage."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus slows down before entering a traffic circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Nicely done, Carolyn."
		DavidW says, "At least we know now it wasn't us attempting the hostage taking."
		Jacqueline says, "I thought that was cleared up before..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Witnesses describe the woman as five-five, dressed in
Floyd | white and lavender, with a crown of flowers in her hair. The pending
Floyd | catastrophe was averted when a hero in street clothes intervened,
Floyd | giving students and teachers a chance to escape."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus swings majestically out onto Coast Village Road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "One of the teachers, Katie Edwards, captured part of
Floyd | their encounter. We'll show you that footage now."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus pulls to a stop in accordance with traffic regulations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad marvels, "Will you look at that!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus rumbles back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It's quite an impressive sight." After a pause, it
Floyd | continues, "Judging by the sunglow, this was Soleil the Sun Queen. But
Floyd | she's never been seen on the west coast, and her unmasked appearance
Floyd | has never been captured on film. The Sun Queen is one of the Rain
Floyd | King's protégés, but his press secretary has not yet released a
Floyd | statement."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus picks up speed as it merges onto the freeway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, yeah. Burn ALL the smartphones."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Anthony Torres was here with his daughter, and they
Floyd | saw the entire exchange. Anthony, were you able to identify the
Floyd | villain?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Despite the air conditioning, several of the windows are cracked open,
Floyd | and there's enough wind to whip Yesenia's hair across her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "It was The Hyacinth. I'm sure of it. I study these
Floyd | things. She normally stomps around Miami, but she's come to California
Floyd | for some reason."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus exits the freeway and turns left over the bridge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "What about the woman who stopped the attack?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus stops to pick up a few more passengers and then rumbles back
Floyd | into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad answers, "She was the Sun Queen. I'm sure of it. I bet she
Floyd | followed The Hyacinth here from Florida. There must be something big
Floyd | going down."
Floyd |
Floyd | The manicured lawns of Toro Canyon pass the bus windows and vanish
Floyd | again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says in a little kid's voice, "It was pretty scary."
Floyd |
Floyd | A recorded voice announces, "Real and Sandpiper," and the bus stops to
Floyd | let the heavyset woman off before lurching back into motion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I guess the other thing is we could try to leave the bus early next tim?"
		Jacqueline says, "er, time."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Thank you, Anthony. Brandon, back to you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yucca and palms and carefully clipped shrubbery yield to the
Floyd | fantastically painted bridge railing outside Kim's Market.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Let's look at the current state of the Santa Barbara
Floyd | County oil spill."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus has reached Carpinteria proper, and the bus begins to empty as
Floyd | more people get off at each stop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This bus has the best passing scenery."
		Jacqueline says, "Which is our stop? Hoping this will be automatic."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "Kevin Reese Dolman, aka Surgical Strike, has publicly
Floyd | repented his act of terrorism and joined the cleanup efforts alongside
Floyd | Angelina Manatee. More than 44% of the coastline is now clear, thanks
Floyd | primarily to the efforts of regular volunteers."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia sees her stop coming up, and she presses the yellow strip. The
Floyd | bus chimes and announces, "Stop requested."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Bingo"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The iPad says, "When asked about the experience of working with her
Floyd | former nemesis, Manatee said...." but the bus rolls to a stop, and
Floyd | Yesenia misses the sound bite as she heads for the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia hefts her suitcase down from the bus. It's about three minutes
Floyd | from the bus stop to her apartment, and she takes the distance
Floyd | briskly, stopping only once to shove windblown hair out of her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | About halfway there, she realizes that she doesn't have her purse.
Floyd | ¡Carajo! She tries to think back to when she last had it, and
Floyd | she realizes it must have been in the restaurant office. She'll have
Floyd | to ask Camilla for a ride once she gets home.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's an easy cut across the grass, but Yesenia takes the sidewalk
Floyd | instead, with the suitcase rolling along behind her. She rounds the
Floyd | corner of the building and starts up the front walk.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Jacqueline asks, "So eventually we'll have a room in the restaurant where we'll need to remember to grab our purse?"
		DavidW asks, "maybe?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Do we want to keep going, or restart and try things?"
		Jacqueline says, "Like burning out the smartphones."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm assuming we can't, honestly."
		Jacqueline says, "But we could save here and then go back to see."
		DavidW says, "I think we should keep going if only to remind ourselves what happened."
		DavidW asks, "Also 'white Camaro'?"
		DavidW asks, "Was that car that the Hyacinth drove off in also in the scene coming up?"
		Jacqueline says, "Can't recall"
		anjchang says, "it was a white camaro that hyacinth drove away in"
		DavidW says (to anjchang), "I just said that."
		anjchang says, "ah, i'm lagging a bit"
		DavidW says, "I want to know if a white Camaro is at our destination too."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | A wide concrete walkway leads around the three-story building and up
Floyd | to the front door, flanked by ground lights on both sides, which shine
Floyd | in response to the setting sun. On the right, regimentally spaced palm
Floyd | trees provide an illusion of privacy for the west-facing windows. On
Floyd | the left, there's a parking lot for the apartment, but since the
Floyd | divider is all of six inches wide, the parked cars in the first row
Floyd | rest their noses against the walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks her suitcase beside the building's front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a bank of resident mailboxes set into the outer wall, just to
Floyd | the right of the front door. The doorbells are on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Which is one reason I want to continue."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cars" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia briefly scans the cars with an uninterested eye. She notes
Floyd | Camilla's battered white coupe parked two rows back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x camaro" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMARO
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "A white car, but not the same one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The mailbox is locked.  Yesenia will have to unlock it first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Shielded from sight by the building and a palm tree, Yesenia stretches
Floyd | her awareness to the setting sun. The orange light warms her, just as
Floyd | it warms the mailbox.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun has power over the mailbox; its heat can make the metal
Floyd | expand. Its absence can make the metal shrink. And she has
Floyd | power over....
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses. The tumblers click into the unlocked position, and
Floyd | she pulls it open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from mailbox" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL FROM MAILBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pulls the mail out of her mailbox. Among the advertisements
Floyd | and junk mail (promptly discarded into a convenient recycling bin),
Floyd | she discovers three white envelopes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x first envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FIRST ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | three days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the first envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the first letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the first letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | We need to talk. Call me - 
Floyd |
Floyd | and a number that Yesenia doesn't recognize. There's a 305 area code,
Floyd | though, and that's the Miami area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "ooh we've got mail!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x second envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SECOND ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | two days ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the second envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read second letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ SECOND LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second letter)
Floyd | Yesenia unfolds the second letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm trying to help you. You don't have to hide from me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x third envelope" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X THIRD ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | According to the postmark, this envelope was mailed from Santa Barbara
Floyd | one day ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rips open the third envelope, revealing a letter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read third letter" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ THIRD LETTER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the third letter)
Floyd | As Yesenia unfolds the letter, a playing card falls to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the sight of it, Yesenia's stomach clenches, and goose bumps
Floyd | prickle across her shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's typed in simple serif letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | Call me, or I'm coming to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take card. x it" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CARD. X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia picks up the playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a standard playing card: paper coated with plastic, with a blue
Floyd | design on the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns it over. As she expected, it's the Jack of Spades -
Floyd | which means the Jack of Shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris, she thinks, and glances around apprehensively. Is
Floyd | Chris already here? She always drives, because she hates the bus
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Search the cars again?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search cars" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CARS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see inside, since the parked cars is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cars" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia scans the parking lot again, taking her time. She doesn't know
Floyd | what Chris is driving these days, but she knows it'll be a cut above
Floyd | the norm.
Floyd |
Floyd | And it is - a sleek, matte black car with a T-shaped logo on its nose,
Floyd | sitting three cars down and barely a centimeter off the walkway. The
Floyd | large black crystals hanging off the rearview mirror seal her
Floyd | suspicions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on crystals" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON CRYSTALS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers the black crystals. The sun is touching them, and
Floyd | she's in the sunlight, but... what could she do with them, except
Floyd | damage the car? There are easier ways to damage the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This is getting to be one complicated story with Jack and Camilla and Hyacinth and Rachel and Gerald and Brigit and Rain King."
		DavidW says, "We've never known what to do with the black crystals."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bin" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The convenient recycling bin is full of advertisements and junk mail.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the blue recycling bin are some advertisements.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang asks, "can you take the crystals?"
		DavidW says, "I don't think so. We'd need to open the car first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open black car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BLACK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I think we just screw with the car to make Jack come out."
		anjchang asks, "what type of advertisements are in the bin?"
		DavidW says, "I remember we kicked one of these cars."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ads" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ADS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances at the top advertisement in the recycling bin, but she
Floyd | doesn't need half-off the second kid's sundae after purchasing one at
Floyd | full price.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think we set the car alarm off on the black car."
		anjchang says, "yeah, lets make some noise!"
		DavidW asks, "Who's doing the honours?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kick black car" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KICK BLACK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia takes a deep, centering breath and then slams her foot into
Floyd | the black car's front bumper. She's reserving her strength; after all,
Floyd | there's no need to punt it across the parking lot, and there would be
Floyd | awkward questions if she did.
Floyd |
Floyd | The car launches an strenuous protest, flashing its lights wildly,
Floyd | shrilling an alarm, and honking its horn - not polite little beeps,
Floyd | but bewildered, angry blares. If Chris is anywhere around, that should
Floyd | get her attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh wait. Chris, not Jack? I'm having trouble remembering who's who."
		DavidW says, "Chris = Jack."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right. Jack of Shadows is the moniker."
		DavidW says, "Chris might be genderqueer for all I know."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, wait, no. The game says 'her attention'."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a sudden clatter from the apartment building, and then Chris
Floyd | explodes from within.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris is tall and well-coiffed, as always, but her brown eyes are wide
Floyd | with rage, and if she has a perfect manicure today, it's concealed by
Floyd | her clenched fists. "What the hell are you doing? What the
Floyd | hell are you doing to my car?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Getting your attention," Yesenia says. "It seems to have worked."
Floyd |
Floyd | (To speak with Chris, TALK TO CHRIS.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "You don't belong here. I came to bring you back."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "You're not welcome, Chris. It's time for you to go."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris shakes her head. "Jack. Call me who I am, and remember who you
Floyd | are."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "Sending creepy letters is not the way to open a
Floyd | conversation. Especially when I've been gone for a week."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says in a reasonable tone, "Well, I didn't know you were gone."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "You need to leave. Now."
Floyd |
Floyd | Instead of answering, Chris glances west to the setting sun. It's so
Floyd | familiar a gesture that it makes Yesenia's heart ache, and for a
Floyd | second she even forgets what it means. But Chris is the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows....
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "I gave enough of my life away. I'm done."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "You can't ever be done. That's what it means, to be what
Floyd | we are."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "The eastern seaboard got by for some two hundred years
Floyd | without me. It can do it again."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "Those were more innocent times. You can't turn your back
Floyd | on responsibility."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "If you did something to Camilla, you will regret it. I
Floyd | mean that more than I have ever meant anything."
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "So that's her name." She smiles faintly. "Pretty."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The setting sun slips beneath the trees, and both women are immersed
Floyd | in the shadows stretching across the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris says, "I'm sorry it had to be this way," and she thrusts a hand
Floyd | toward Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia dodges down the walkway, but she's too slow. The air itself
Floyd | catches her in a vice grip, and she's dragged across the concrete to
Floyd | fall at Chris's feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewind Apartments - Front Walk
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia opens her mouth to snarl defiance, but Chris tightens her
Floyd | invisible grip, and Yesenia's words abate into coughing and the
Floyd | struggle to breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris turns to stare at the damage to her front bumper. "That really
Floyd | wasn't necessary," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to chris" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CHRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia opens her mouth to snarl defiance, but Chris tightens her
Floyd | invisible grip, and Yesenia's words abate into coughing and the
Floyd | struggle to breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sleek black car flashes its lights, honks its horn, and shrills
Floyd | for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sound of conversation drifts up the walk, and Chris spins to look.
Floyd | No one's in view yet, but someone's clearly coming.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We can't stay out here," she mutters, and the grip of air pulls
Floyd | Yesenia upright like a doll. "In we go."
Floyd |
Floyd | As an afterthought, Chris grabs Yesenia's suitcase on her way into the
Floyd | building.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | Tradewinds has always been Yesenia's refuge from the tourist-laden
Floyd | town. Yesenia likes how her neighbors don't trade rumors, or complain
Floyd | about odd noises, or speculate about Camilla's actual profession. But
Floyd | right now, a little more nosiness would be nice, because there's no
Floyd | one in the lobby and no one in the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia seethes as Chris hauls her into the elevator, and she
Floyd | continues to seethe as Chris hauls her out again on the third floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | During the day, the hallway's cool shadows provide relief from the
Floyd | California sun. But at night, it's simply dark, because the scattered
Floyd | wall sconces aren't close enough or bright enough to provide decent
Floyd | illumination. It couldn't be a better environment for the Jack of
Floyd | Shadows if someone had planned it that way. Even by day, Chris's power
Floyd | would wax in a place like this, and Yesenia tastes despair at the
Floyd | thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door of Yesenia's apartment stands wide open. There's a folded
Floyd | note taped to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can also see Chris here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I seem to remember that if we focused on Chris when out in the sunlight, we could convince her to leave. But not inside here away from the sun."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tradewinds Apartments - Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia rolls her eyes toward the folded note. It looks rather odd
Floyd | from this angle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Chris drags Yesenia across the threshold of her own apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** As homecomings go, it couldn't get much worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | (This ending became available in Room 17. A better ending
Floyd | exists.) ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I just figured we'd play this out the passive way first to refresh our memories."
		Jacqueline says, "But there are quite a few things to try on replay."
		DavidW says, "yes."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, restart, not restore, I think. Right?"
		DavidW says, "I don't think we directly examined Hyacinth, but the ipad reported mask and crown of flowers."
		DavidW says, "restart, yes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150827 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 15. This is a long way into Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | By the time the school group winds into the gift shop, Yesenia feels
Floyd | like she's hidden around every corner in the entire zoo, and a fog of
Floyd | irritation completely obscures her worry. It's easy to be irritated
Floyd | with Rachel under any circumstances, but Rachel's really outdone
Floyd | herself with this wild goose chase.
Floyd |
Floyd | In short order, the school group emerges from the gift shop and heads
Floyd | toward the parking lot. Yesenia trails at a safe distance, rolling her
Floyd | suitcase along.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | This secluded part of the parking lot is reserved for buses and other
Floyd | oversized vehicles, such as the Washington Elementary school bus
Floyd | parked near a red-flowered bush. A thin curtain of trees separates the
Floyd | black asphalt from the train tracks and Highway 101 beyond that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks herself and her suitcase behind a convenient minivan,
Floyd | where she ought to be fairly well hidden from the school group.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders mill around the parking lot, herded rather
Floyd | ineffectively by a bespectacled teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Want to drive this time?"
		DavidW says, "No, I want to watch someone else try first."
		Jacqueline says, "You are, afterall, carrying the ClubFloyd car keys."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Fine. Give me the keys."
DavidW gives ClubFloyd car keys to Jacqueline. 		Jacqueline says, "Thank you. (Heehee)."
		Jacqueline says, "Pretend that period was placed correctly, please."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x girl" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit is shorter than most of the other second graders, but no less
Floyd | rambunctious, as reported by the grass stains on her pants (and who
Floyd | but Rachel would dress a second grader in seashell pink pants?) Her
Floyd | huge black eyes match Rachel's, and the shape of her mouth is
Floyd | Gerald's, but that never mattered to Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit remains oblivious to her mother's presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids scatter forward across the parking lot, laughing and shoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What happens if we step out early, I wonder?"
		DavidW says, "If I drove, I think I'd want to stay hidden as long as possible for a run."
		Jacqueline asks, "To see what Hyacinth does?"
		DavidW says, "yes, for that"
		DavidW says, "I want to understand Hyacinth better."
		Jacqueline shrugs. "Okay, let's try that on this run-through."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "This way to the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says in a harried tone, "The sooner everyone gets on the
Floyd | bus, the sooner we get home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher finally corrals her students into some semblance of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Led by their teacher, the kids approach the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-flowered bush on the edge of the parking lot rustles sharply.
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes it as a firebush, and she has just enough time to
Floyd | think Do those even grow around here? before a woman dressed
Floyd | in white and lilac spandex steps out of the red-flowered bush.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes the new arrival at once, though Eichhornia Cress -
Floyd | aka The Hyacinth - rarely leaves Florida. As she braces for trouble,
Floyd | Yesenia takes back everything she's been thinking about Rachel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth positions herself between the school group and the bus.
Floyd | There's nothing particularly scary about her white and lilac costume,
Floyd | but her body language is clear enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher halts, extending an arm to keep her students back. "Excuse
Floyd | me," she says. "You're in our way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's gaze flickers toward the zoo gates, and Yesenia looks
Floyd | back to see the other school group approaching.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth pulls a translucent ball from somewhere in her cloak and
Floyd | brandishes it. It doesn't look threatening, but her stance says it's a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says to the second graders, "I need you to go back to the
Floyd | zoo gates. All of you. Right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Doesn't mean we have to z when we could x, y'know."
		Jacqueline asks, "Got things you wanna x?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia gives The Hyacinth a once over. The other woman is dressed in
Floyd | white and lilac spandex, cut to expose her toned arms and well-shaped
Floyd | calves, and there's a crown of water hyacinths woven into her long,
Floyd | blond hair. She also, of course, has a mask. And a cape. With a
Floyd | glittery flower pattern.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is hardly the first time they've been in the same place, but
Floyd | Yesenia was always masked before.  She doesn't expect Eichhornia to
Floyd | recognize her. Especially since Yesenia's still hidden behind the
Floyd | minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher raises a hand, signalling the other school group to stay
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the students pulls out a smartphone and starts filming the
Floyd | action.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "I'm here for Brigit Bhalla."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heartbeat doubles its pace - but Brigit doesn't answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "There was no authorization for anyone to be picked
Floyd | up from the zoo. You'll have to go through the main office. Now,
Floyd | please move."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on smartphone" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON SMARTPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't do that. It would be stealing, or possibly destruction
Floyd | of property. And then Gerald would have even more ammunition.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teachers with the other school group retreat to the zoo gates.
Floyd | Yesenia breathes out; she won't be juggling a second set of civilians.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "But you see, her mother sent me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "Please inform 'her mother' that she needs to follow
Floyd | the proper channels next time. Brigit will be available after we
Floyd | return to the main office."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jacqueline says, "LAME"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x teacher" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TEACHER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the young teacher)
Floyd | The teacher's bright red cat eye glasses might correct her vision, or
Floyd | they might just be for fashion's sake. If the first, Yesenia can
Floyd | sympathize, though her own vision is perfect these days.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the zoo gates, one of the other teachers raises a cell phone
Floyd | and starts filming the action. Yesenia grits her teeth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth cocks her head to one side, sending long blond hair
Floyd | cascading over one shoulder, and sighs a little. "Do I have to spell
Floyd | this out? I'm here for Brigit Bhalla, and the consequences will be
Floyd | quite severe if you don't hand her over."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Maybe Gerald is the Rain King."
		Jacqueline asks, "I wonder if we can focus on her from here?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Still hidden by the minivan, Yesenia seizes the sunlight and
Floyd | translates the energy into force. She clamps that force around The
Floyd | Hyacinth, paralyzing the other woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a small crowd growing by the zoo gates, probably drawn by
Floyd | Yesenia's pyrotechnics.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher shouts, "Now! Move!", and her second graders
Floyd | scatter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Still hidden by the minivan, Yesenia focuses more sunlight on The
Floyd | Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the kids head back across the parking lot toward the zoo
Floyd | gates, but some of them run for the bus and start banging on the door.
Floyd | The driver jolts visibly into wakefulness.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape lets out an electrical snapping sound, and
Floyd | Yesenia's power drains away around her like water draining from a
Floyd | bathtub.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "Cowering in the shadows, Soleil? You should be
Floyd | careful. Someone will mistake the Sun Queen for her sidekick."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Chris was our partner?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, what?"
		DavidW says, "'shadows'"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I suspected that, and that perhaps Camilla (a mortal) is now our partner, but."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, maybe."
		Jacqueline asks, "Want me to keep on this track?"
		DavidW says, "I mean partner in the vigilante business, not romantic."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. See, I thought romantic."
		Jacqueline says, "I think Hyacinth is actually saying more that we wouldn't want to be thought of as partnering with Chris."
		Jacqueline says, "It's a jab."
		DavidW says, "This is why I didn't want to drive. I knew we, as a group, can't keep focused on a single track."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, cool, I'll keep going. Just checking."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Still hidden by the minivan, Yesenia focuses the sunlight around The
Floyd | Hyacinth again, trapping her like a bug in amber.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver pulls the bus door handle, and the bus door swings
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kids start scrambling onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Still hidden by the minivan, Yesenia focuses more sunlight on The
Floyd | Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth starts to say something else, but her words are cut off
Floyd | by the sudden blast of the bus horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | A boy aboard the bus shouts, "Brigit, come on!" before
Floyd | getting smacked by his seatmate.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape emits another electrical snap, and Yesenia loses
Floyd | control of the sunlight around The Hyacinth again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Scanning the parking lot, The Hyacinth turns a quick circle and spots
Floyd | Yesenia behind the minivan. "There you are!"
Floyd |
Floyd | So much for staying hidden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, poo."
		Jacqueline says, "Can't burn smartphones, can't stay hidden."
		DavidW says, "can't burn, can't stay, what do you do, ..."
		Jacqueline asks, "I know, right?"
		DavidW says, "yeah, but I was singing it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says to the Hyacinth, "Leave her alone."
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver hits the horn again and waves his cell phone at The
Floyd | Hyacinth, who responds with language most parents wouldn't want their
Floyd | second-graders to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit exclaims, "Mommy! What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know which song I'm parodying since my music knowhow is so poor."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to Brigit" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BRIGIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia calls to Brigit, "Listen to your teacher!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus starts with a rumble as the students continue to board.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth whips around and hurls the ball at Yesenia. It strikes
Floyd | the ground at her feet and explodes into yellow smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia throws up a protective aura automatically. Sunlight blazes
Floyd | around her, and the yellow particles veer away harmlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit claps her hands for joy. "Get her, Mommy!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "burn smartphone" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BURN SMARTPHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | The student with the phone is too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver leans out the door to shout at Brigit, "Come on, you
Floyd | got to get on the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "So Brigit Bhalla is your daughter. Isn't
Floyd | that interesting!"
Floyd |
Floyd | A smile crawls across the Hyacinth's face.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit starts moving reluctantly toward the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "huh. Hyacinth didn't know that."
		Jacqueline asks, "I wonder how she knew to target her, then?"
		DavidW asks, "She was here for Brigit but didn't know she's our daughter so, yeah, why Brigit?"
		Jacqueline says, "We weren't allowed to stay hidden, but staying hidden for as long as we did provided useful info (or, rather, an interesting question)."
		Roger says, "Maybe she's just working her way through young blonde girls"
		DavidW says, "I have the suspicion that someone else told Hyacinth to grab Brigit without telling Hyacinth everything."
		Jacqueline nods.
		Jacqueline asks, "So, what now?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "But Hyacinth knew Brigit's name."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "well, if we can't know more about H in this run, maybe learn more about what's around us."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Roger is just being Roger."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says to the Hyacinth, "Tell me who sent you."
Floyd |
Floyd | The yellow smoke dissipates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Brigit, "Brigit, you need to come with me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit shouts, "No! You leave me alone!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We've never examined the crown, cape, minivan, bus, driver, ..."
		DavidW says, "Possibly on another run, we can stay hidden and focus on the ball so it blows up in her own face."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Ooh, true. I think we may be on a track for her to capture Brigit."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x crown" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CROWN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cape" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers the lilac cape, but there's nothing special about
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Brigit, "It's time for us to go. If you just come
Floyd | along, all this unpleasantness can be over."
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit shrieks, "You're a great big liar!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x minivan" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MINIVAN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a maroon minivan with a faux wood stripe along each side. The
Floyd | license plate reads YAYDOGZ, and the bumper sticker reads, "I (heart)
Floyd | My Groenendaels". It sounds like a medical condition, but apparently
Floyd | it's a dog breed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth advances on Brigit as she backs away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sirens sound in the distance, rapidly growing closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x driver" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | Due to the angle from one side and the tinted windows from another,
Floyd | Yesenia can barely make out the bus driver, but if he can get the kids
Floyd | to safety, then he's every bit as much a hero as she ever was.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth lunges at Brigit and grabs at her wrist. The girl dodges
Floyd | and runs with an ear-piercing shriek.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x children" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHILDREN
Floyd |
Floyd | (the second grader)
Floyd | The kids cluster near their teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth snarls, "Brigit, you horrible little - " The language she
Floyd | uses should never be addressed to anyone, let alone a second
Floyd | grader. "You get over here right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit clambers hastily onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Darn"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia isn't worried about her appearance just now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders finish piling into the bus. Brigit climbs in last,
Floyd | followed by the teacher, and the closing bus door cuts off Yesenia's
Floyd | view.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth scowls, "The Sun Queen in California?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says, "They have sunlight here too."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "s/me/Yesenia"
		Jacqueline says, "So, she gets away regardless."
		DavidW asks, "I think it has to be a stalemate here, no?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I was thinking that there might be another ending here."
		DavidW says, "I'm sure there is."
		DavidW says, "And I think the exploding ball idea of mine is the most likely avenue to it."
		Jacqueline asks, "Want to restart?"
		DavidW says, "well, maybe. We can still try talking and examining."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says to the Hyacinth, "Go back to Florida."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus shifts into gear and pulls out of its spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "And you're not even properly dressed. So
Floyd | that's what you look like without the mask."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says to the Hyacinth, "You're in over your head."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus pulls out of the parking lot, and Yesenia laughs with
Floyd | relief.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares at Yesenia, her mouth twisted with hatred beneath
Floyd | the mask.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia says to the Hyacinth, "Get away from her."
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth turns and runs across the parking lot, heading for a snow
Floyd | white Camaro. She's gone seconds later.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doesn't pursue. She's not supposed to be doing this any more -
Floyd | and she doesn't want to be around when those sirens arrive.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm."
		DavidW says, "That 'Get away from her' didn't seem quite right when the bus and Brigit are gone."
		DavidW says, "ok, I think restarting from here would be useful."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm fine with that."
		Jacqueline asks, "Try out your ball focus theory?"
		DavidW says, "yes, please"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150827 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 15. This is a long way into Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | By the time the school group winds into the gift shop, Yesenia feels
Floyd | like she's hidden around every corner in the entire zoo, and a fog of
Floyd | irritation completely obscures her worry. It's easy to be irritated
Floyd | with Rachel under any circumstances, but Rachel's really outdone
Floyd | herself with this wild goose chase.
Floyd |
Floyd | In short order, the school group emerges from the gift shop and heads
Floyd | toward the parking lot. Yesenia trails at a safe distance, rolling her
Floyd | suitcase along.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | This secluded part of the parking lot is reserved for buses and other
Floyd | oversized vehicles, such as the Washington Elementary school bus
Floyd | parked near a red-flowered bush. A thin curtain of trees separates the
Floyd | black asphalt from the train tracks and Highway 101 beyond that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks herself and her suitcase behind a convenient minivan,
Floyd | where she ought to be fairly well hidden from the school group.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders mill around the parking lot, herded rather
Floyd | ineffectively by a bespectacled teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's possible there's a best-time to explode the ball, but for this run, I just want to explode it as soon as she's brandished it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x girl" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit is shorter than most of the other second graders, but no less
Floyd | rambunctious, as reported by the grass stains on her pants (and who
Floyd | but Rachel would dress a second grader in seashell pink pants?) Her
Floyd | huge black eyes match Rachel's, and the shape of her mouth is
Floyd | Gerald's, but that never mattered to Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit remains oblivious to her mother's presence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids scatter forward across the parking lot, laughing and shoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We don't actually get a big window."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x camaro" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMARO
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "She tosses it at us pretty quickly."
		anjchang asks, "anything in our suitcase?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You are mistaken."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
		DavidW says, "She brandishes it even without us there."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, well, true. If we don't reveal ourselves she doesn't toss it right away."
		DavidW says (to anjchang), "We haven't been able to do much with the suitcase in previous runs, but I suppose it's possible."
		DavidW asks, "But I do hope we won't get sidetracked and let me try out my idea, yes?"
		anjchang says, "yes, please, go right on!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give car keys to davidw" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE CAR KEYS TO DAVIDW
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oops"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gates" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GATES
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline gives ClubFloyd car keys to DavidW. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bus" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUS
Floyd |
Floyd | (the school bus)
Floyd | It's a standard yellow school bus with WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY printed
Floyd | along the side. The only person inside is the bus driver, and it looks
Floyd | lke he's asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "This way to the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on driver" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON DRIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver is inside the school bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says in a harried tone, "The sooner everyone gets on the
Floyd | bus, the sooner we get home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bush" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUSH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia glances at the red-flowered bush, dismisses it, and then looks
Floyd | back. She recognizes the tubular flowers and scraggly branches, but
Floyd | not from anywhere around here. That's a firebush - and it belongs in
Floyd | Florida.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher finally corrals her students into some semblance of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in minivan" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN MINIVAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia can't see inside, since the minivan is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Led by their teacher, the kids approach the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The firebush on the edge of the parking lot rustles sharply, and a
Floyd | woman dressed in white and lilac spandex steps out of the firebush.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes the new arrival at once, though Eichhornia Cress -
Floyd | aka The Hyacinth - rarely leaves Florida. As she braces for trouble,
Floyd | Yesenia takes back everything she's been thinking about Rachel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia gives The Hyacinth a once over. The other woman is dressed in
Floyd | white and lilac spandex, cut to expose her toned arms and well-shaped
Floyd | calves, and there's a crown of water hyacinths woven into her long,
Floyd | blond hair. She also, of course, has a mask. And a cape. With a
Floyd | glittery flower pattern.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is hardly the first time they've been in the same place, but
Floyd | Yesenia was always masked before.  She doesn't expect Eichhornia to
Floyd | recognize her. Especially since Yesenia's still hidden behind the
Floyd | minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth positions herself between the school group and the bus.
Floyd | There's nothing particularly scary about her white and lilac costume,
Floyd | but her body language is clear enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher halts, extending an arm to keep her students back. "Excuse
Floyd | me," she says. "You're in our way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open suitcase" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN SUITCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Considering the contents of her suitcase, Yesenia really isn't
Floyd | inclined to unpack in the parking lot. Besides, nothing in there would
Floyd | help her now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's gaze flickers toward the zoo gates, and Yesenia looks
Floyd | back to see the other school group approaching.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth pulls a translucent ball from somewhere in her cloak and
Floyd | brandishes it. It doesn't look threatening, but her stance says it's a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says to the second graders, "I need you to go back to the
Floyd | zoo gates. All of you. Right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on ball" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON BALL
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia throws one hand skyward and one hand at The Hyacinth, and a
Floyd | beam of sunlight lances from her hand to strike the translucent ball.
Floyd | It's wasteful and flashy and easy to identify.
Floyd |
Floyd | Fortunately, it's also effective. The translucent ball explodes into
Floyd | yellow smoke. The Hyacinth reels backward, protecting her nose and
Floyd | mouth with her free hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher raises a hand, signalling the other school group to stay
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the students pulls out a smartphone and starts filming the
Floyd | action.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit exclaims, "Mommy! What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the kids head back across the parking lot toward the zoo
Floyd | gates, but some of them run for the bus and start banging on the door.
Floyd | The driver jolts visibly into wakefulness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "awesome first strike!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pivots toward The Hyacinth and then drops to execute a leg
Floyd | sweep.  The Hyacinth dodges out of the way with reasonable grace.
Floyd |
Floyd | The air brightens around Yesenia - not a full protective aura, which
Floyd | would quickly exhaust her, but enough to give her confidence.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teachers with the other school group retreat to the zoo gates.
Floyd | Yesenia breathes out; she won't be juggling a second set of civilians.
Floyd |
Floyd | The yellow smoke dissipates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver pulls the bus door handle, and the bus door swings
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit claps her hands for joy. "Get her, Mommy!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kids start scrambling onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into The Hyacinth and attempts a one-two punch to her
Floyd | midsection.  The Hyacinth parries. She's a bit less graceful now.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the zoo gates, one of the other teachers raises a cell phone
Floyd | and starts filming the action. Yesenia grits her teeth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth starts to say something else, but her words are cut off
Floyd | by the sudden blast of the bus horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit tries to run toward Yesenia, but The Hyacinth intercepts, and
Floyd | the girl has to retreat.
Floyd |
Floyd | A boy aboard the bus shouts, "Brigit, come on!" before
Floyd | getting smacked by his seatmate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia lunges for The Hyacinth and reaches out to throw the other
Floyd | woman.  The Hyacinth pants with effort as she counterattacks, driving
Floyd | Yesenia back.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a small crowd growing by the zoo gates, probably drawn by
Floyd | Yesenia's pyrotechnics.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver hits the horn again and waves his cell phone at The
Floyd | Hyacinth, who responds with language most parents wouldn't want their
Floyd | second-graders to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit starts moving reluctantly toward the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia pivots toward The Hyacinth and throws an elbow toward her
Floyd | face.  The Hyacinth parries awkwardly.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus starts with a rumble as the students continue to board.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit clambers hastily onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into The Hyacinth and then drops to execute a leg sweep.
Floyd | The Hyacinth slaps a hand against her own wrist, and a milky white
Floyd | shield flashes into view, blocking Yesenia's attack. It vanishes as
Floyd | quickly as it came.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders finish piling into the bus. Brigit climbs in last,
Floyd | followed by the teacher, and the closing bus door cuts off Yesenia's
Floyd | view.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oo, white shield"
		DavidW says, "I guess my idea, while adequate, isn't enough on its own to be a knockout."
		anjchang asks, "maybe focus + ball explosion?"
		DavidW says, "Perhaps there is a best time to focus on the ball."
		DavidW says (to anjchang), "I don't know what you mean."
		DavidW says, "Focusing on the ball made it explode."
		DavidW says, "Also, I tried to open the suitcase, and the game wouldn't let me. So no makeshift masks from that quarter."
		anjchang asks, "maybe whenever hyacinth has an attack, you focus on the thing she's attacking with?"
		DavidW says, "We've never actually seen her initiate an attack. She's threatened, but not gone first."
		anjchang asks, "hmm.. how about after the ball explodes, focusing on hyacinth?"
		DavidW says, "We might try a true-passive run, doing nothing."
		anjchang asks, "or combine it with our attacks?"
		DavidW says (to anjchang), "Well, we can't hit and focus at the same time."
		Jacqueline asks, "I honestly think we've gotten what we can from scene 1 (at the zoo), and we've seen scene 2 (the bus) a couple of times if we count our previous playthrough. The trick is, how do we get to the new ending that likely becomes available only through this game?"
		DavidW says, "I'm unclear if ball explode followed by body focus is any better than ball explode followed by hitting."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Imagine if we could hit Chris with the ball of yellow gas."
		anjchang says, "a part of me wants to just drive over hyacinth in the bus"
		Jacqueline says, "That'd be cool, but doubt it's knickable."
		anjchang asks, "but Jacqueline is probably right, we've probably gotten all that we can from this scene because Hyacinth has to come back later, right?"
		anjchang asks, "could we hit her with the suitcase?"
		DavidW says, "no, we haven't revealed a difference yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Possibly the suitcase could be used as a weapon. Not sure that it will change much."
		DavidW says, "My best guess is still focusing on the ball, but by itself, isn't enough."
		Roger says, "I want to see if we can just let the abduction go off successfully"
		DavidW says, "I'd want to try a pure-passive-do-nothing run."
		Roger says, "Yeah, that"
		Jacqueline says, "I thought we kind of did that."
		DavidW says, "No, we have not."
		DavidW says, "We very much have not."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I guess not. We still faught a little."
		Jacqueline says, "Fought, even."
		Jacqueline asks, "Sounds fine. DW, are you going to do the honors?"
		DavidW says, "I need a bathroom break."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		anjchang asks, "did you guys already play 18 rooms to home, 17 rooms, and 16 rooms to home...?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		Jacqueline says, "Back closer to when they were each released."
		Jacqueline says, "Unfortunately, I'm not that far on transcripts."
		Jacqueline says, "And won't be until after I move."
		anjchang asks, "was there anything that could be useful in the previous games about fighting?"
		Jacqueline says, "Mostly just focus."
		anjchang says, "no worries about transcripts, playing with you guys is much more memorable than reading the transcripts"
		Jacqueline says, "Focus and talking."
		DavidW says, "back"
		Jacqueline says, "Welcome back."
		DavidW asks, "shall we do the passive run?"
		Jacqueline says, "Syre"
		Jacqueline says, "er sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150827 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 15. This is a long way into Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | By the time the school group winds into the gift shop, Yesenia feels
Floyd | like she's hidden around every corner in the entire zoo, and a fog of
Floyd | irritation completely obscures her worry. It's easy to be irritated
Floyd | with Rachel under any circumstances, but Rachel's really outdone
Floyd | herself with this wild goose chase.
Floyd |
Floyd | In short order, the school group emerges from the gift shop and heads
Floyd | toward the parking lot. Yesenia trails at a safe distance, rolling her
Floyd | suitcase along.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | This secluded part of the parking lot is reserved for buses and other
Floyd | oversized vehicles, such as the Washington Elementary school bus
Floyd | parked near a red-flowered bush. A thin curtain of trees separates the
Floyd | black asphalt from the train tracks and Highway 101 beyond that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks herself and her suitcase behind a convenient minivan,
Floyd | where she ought to be fairly well hidden from the school group.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders mill around the parking lot, herded rather
Floyd | ineffectively by a bespectacled teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids scatter forward across the parking lot, laughing and shoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "This way to the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says in a harried tone, "The sooner everyone gets on the
Floyd | bus, the sooner we get home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher finally corrals her students into some semblance of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Led by their teacher, the kids approach the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-flowered bush on the edge of the parking lot rustles sharply.
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes it as a firebush, and she has just enough time to
Floyd | think Do those even grow around here? before a woman dressed
Floyd | in white and lilac spandex steps out of the red-flowered bush.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes the new arrival at once, though Eichhornia Cress -
Floyd | aka The Hyacinth - rarely leaves Florida. As she braces for trouble,
Floyd | Yesenia takes back everything she's been thinking about Rachel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth positions herself between the school group and the bus.
Floyd | There's nothing particularly scary about her white and lilac costume,
Floyd | but her body language is clear enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher halts, extending an arm to keep her students back. "Excuse
Floyd | me," she says. "You're in our way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's gaze flickers toward the zoo gates, and Yesenia looks
Floyd | back to see the other school group approaching.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth pulls a translucent ball from somewhere in her cloak and
Floyd | brandishes it. It doesn't look threatening, but her stance says it's a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says to the second graders, "I need you to go back to the
Floyd | zoo gates. All of you. Right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher raises a hand, signalling the other school group to stay
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the students pulls out a smartphone and starts filming the
Floyd | action.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "I'm here for Brigit Bhalla."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heartbeat doubles its pace - but the most important little
Floyd | girl in the whole world doesn't answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "There was no authorization for anyone to be picked
Floyd | up from the zoo. You'll have to go through the main office. Now,
Floyd | please move."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teachers with the other school group retreat to the zoo gates.
Floyd | Yesenia breathes out; she won't be juggling a second set of civilians.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "But you see, her mother sent me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "Please inform 'her mother' that she needs to follow
Floyd | the proper channels next time. Brigit will be available after we
Floyd | return to the main office."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the zoo gates, one of the other teachers raises a cell phone
Floyd | and starts filming the action. Yesenia grits her teeth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth cocks her head to one side, sending long blond hair
Floyd | cascading over one shoulder, and sighs a little. "Do I have to spell
Floyd | this out? I'm here for Brigit Bhalla, and the consequences will be
Floyd | quite severe if you don't hand her over."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a small crowd growing by the zoo gates, perhaps people warned
Floyd | back by the other teachers.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth asks, "Well?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher glances over her shoulder, but she doesn't spot Yesenia
Floyd | behind the minivan, and no one else is close enough to help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth hurls the ball. It strikes the ground at the teacher's
Floyd | feet and explodes into yellow smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher collapses onto the pavement, along with several of the
Floyd | closest kids. Pandemonium ensues.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x teacher" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TEACHER
Floyd |
Floyd | (the young teacher)
Floyd | She's flat on the pavement, but her eyes are still open, focused, and
Floyd | tracking. It looks like the yellow smoke was a paralytic.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world dodges around the
Floyd | minivan - and almost runs straight into Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world's eyes go wide with
Floyd | astonishment. "MOMMY!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth whips around to look straight at Yesenia. So much for
Floyd | staying hidden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So, hiding forever really is impossible."
		DavidW says, "Unless there's a makeshift mask somewhere."
		DavidW says, "And at least now we know what the yellow smoke does."
		DavidW says, "I wonder if it's at all possible to remove or damage H's mask. Maybe it's just skin-touch that does it, though."
		Jacqueline shrugs.
		DavidW asks, "Do we continue just z'ing?"
		Jacqueline says, "I thought that was the plan."
		DavidW asks, "or.... is it possible that Brigit can come with us into the next scenes?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The yellow smoke dissipates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth demands of Yesenia, "Who are you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world exclaims, "Mommy!
Floyd | What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the kids head back across the parking lot toward the zoo
Floyd | gates, but some of them run for the bus and start banging on the door.
Floyd | The driver jolts visibly into wakefulness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver pulls the bus door handle, and the bus door swings
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Yesenia, "Clearly, you don't know who you're
Floyd | dealing with."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world claps her hands for
Floyd | joy. "Get her, Mommy!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kids start scrambling onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth starts to say something else, but her words are cut off
Floyd | by the sudden blast of the bus horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mommy!" the most important little girl in the whole world shouts.
Floyd | "Get her!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth sneers, "I hardly think your mom is going to 'get me'.
Floyd | She looks like she could barely get the groceries."
Floyd |
Floyd | A boy aboard the bus shouts, "Brigit, come on!" before
Floyd | getting smacked by his seatmate.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "Mommy,
Floyd | help!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver hits the horn again and waves his cell phone at The
Floyd | Hyacinth, who responds with language most parents wouldn't want their
Floyd | second-graders to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "Mommy, we
Floyd | need help!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus starts with a rumble as the students continue to board.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world, "Brigit, you need to come with me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "No! You
Floyd | leave me alone!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world cries, "Mommy,
Floyd | aren't you going to do anything?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heehee"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver leans out the door to shout at the most important
Floyd | little girl in the whole world, "Come on, you got to get on the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world, "It's time for us to go. If you just come along, all this
Floyd | unpleasantness can be over."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shrieks, "You're a
Floyd | great big liar!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world stares at Yesenia
Floyd | with a look of complete betrayal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth advances on the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world as she backs away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts at Yesenia,
Floyd | "Mama's right! You don't help people at all!" and bursts into
Floyd | tears.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heart drops like a rock. "No - " she manages, but the most
Floyd | important little girl in the whole world isn't listening.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "'Mama'? We're 'mommy' and is Rachel 'mama'?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth lunges at the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world and grabs at her wrist. The girl dodges and runs with an
Floyd | ear-piercing shriek.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit runs onto the school bus without looking back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remaining second graders scramble aboard the bus, and the driver
Floyd | pulls the handle to close the bus door.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Yesenia, "I am The Hyacinth" - the capital
Floyd | letters are especially clear when she says it - "and if you don't get
Floyd | out of here, I'll choke you like a waterway."
Floyd |
Floyd | Sirens sound in the distance, rapidly growing closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Stay or go?"
		Jacqueline asks, "I'll choke you like a waterway?"
		Jacqueline says, "I thought we said this one was passive."
		DavidW says, "Must be a Florida thing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus shifts into gear and pulls out of its spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth shouts at the bus, "Brigit, you get out here right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus swings around, orienting on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares at Yesenia, her mouth twisted with hatred beneath
Floyd | the mask.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus picks up speed, bearing down on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares in open-mouthed astonishment before diving out of
Floyd | the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		anjchang says, "i wish they ran her over!"
		DavidW says, "If we froze her, she probably would get run over."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus screeches to a halt (oh, those brakes need tuning!),
Floyd | forming a barrier between the Hyacinth and the victims of her yellow
Floyd | smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I really didn't expect the bus driver to do that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver throws open the door and lunges out. From this angle,
Floyd | Yesenia can't see him very well, but she can tell what he's doing -
Floyd | getting the fallen kids into the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver grunts with effort as he heaves the teacher into the
Floyd | bus. Once she's safely aboard, he steps back up and yanks the door
Floyd | closed again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus pulls out of the parking lot, and Yesenia laughs with
Floyd | relief.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth snarls, "You got in my way at the worst possible time. I
Floyd | will see you destroyed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth scowls at the distant road before looking back to
Floyd | Yesenia. "I'll find you later, soccer mom," she promises.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "ouch. That 'soccer mom' ... hurt."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth turns and runs across the parking lot, heading for a snow
Floyd | white Camaro. She's gone seconds later.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doesn't pursue. She's not supposed to be doing this any more -
Floyd | and she doesn't want to be around when those sirens arrive.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Wanna stay for the police?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers her options.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers her options.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The police will be here any second. Yesenia can't stay any longer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia considers her options.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia doubles back to grab her suitcase and then takes off.
Floyd |
Floyd | Palm trees shadow Yesenia as she heads south toward Ninos Drive.
Floyd | There's a bus stop at the zoo entrance, but the sirens are closer
Floyd | every second, so she keeps moving south until she reaches Cabrillo
Floyd | Boulevard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The 14 Montecito arrives across the street - but she can't cross the
Floyd | street until the traffic clears, and by then, the bus is pulling away.
Floyd | She comforts herself with the thought that it wasn't the right bus
Floyd | anyway, and she trots across the crosswalk to join the tourists.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "That was interesting."
		Jacqueline says, "Just enough of a sense of danger without actually having to write the scenes where we're confronted by the popo"
		DavidW says, "I bet we could get the bus to run H over if we focused on her at just the right time."
		DavidW says, "also, I note that if we never use our powers, H has no clue who we are."
		Jacqueline asks, "Yes, that's cool. Lower profile. We're not supposed to be doing this anymore, remember?"
		Jacqueline says, "Not sure that will change our ending, though."
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure how it carries over either, but an injured or killed Hyacinth is significant."
		DavidW asks, "Should we try the 'run her over' playthrough?"
		Jacqueline says, "I don't think it's possible, but sure."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | Tourists move down the steps toward Cabrillo Pavilion in long waves,
Floyd | unconsciously mimicking the ocean beyond. Yesenia loiters awkwardly at
Floyd | the sidewalk's edge and pretends to be fascinated by the fat little
Floyd | palm trees, the blue sign reading ZOO with its arrow, or anything else
Floyd | that will keep her face away from pedestrians.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia turns at the distant roar of a bus. The familiar white body
Floyd | with its upper yellow stripe comes around the bend, and she reads 20
Floyd | Carpinteria with relief. The crowd at the bus stop shuffles around,
Floyd | and Yesenia queues up to board, hauling the flowered suitcase behind
Floyd | her as she climbs the steps.
Floyd |
Floyd | 20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | It's like any other MTD bus: bluish-gray plastic seats crowded with
Floyd | passengers, huge windows, and an array of silver poles and black
Floyd | straps for standing passengers. No one's standing right now, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | The driver taps the fare box and gives Yesenia a meaningful look.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia braces her suitcase against her leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  20 to Carpinteria
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTART
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to restart?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home (Room 15)
Floyd | A serialized work of interactive fiction. by Carolyn VanEseltine
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150827 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | 18 Rooms to Home is a serialized game that begins at the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | As each update is released, the story will move further back in time -
Floyd | so the first release includes room 18, the second will include room 17
Floyd | and 18, the third includes 16, 17, and 18, and so on. All released
Floyd | rooms are available at [LINK]
Floyd |
Floyd | This release is Room 15. This is a long way into Yesenia's journey,
Floyd | but it's just a short way into yours.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | By the time the school group winds into the gift shop, Yesenia feels
Floyd | like she's hidden around every corner in the entire zoo, and a fog of
Floyd | irritation completely obscures her worry. It's easy to be irritated
Floyd | with Rachel under any circumstances, but Rachel's really outdone
Floyd | herself with this wild goose chase.
Floyd |
Floyd | In short order, the school group emerges from the gift shop and heads
Floyd | toward the parking lot. Yesenia trails at a safe distance, rolling her
Floyd | suitcase along.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | This secluded part of the parking lot is reserved for buses and other
Floyd | oversized vehicles, such as the Washington Elementary school bus
Floyd | parked near a red-flowered bush. A thin curtain of trees separates the
Floyd | black asphalt from the train tracks and Highway 101 beyond that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia parks herself and her suitcase behind a convenient minivan,
Floyd | where she ought to be fairly well hidden from the school group.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The second graders mill around the parking lot, herded rather
Floyd | ineffectively by a bespectacled teacher.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kids scatter forward across the parking lot, laughing and shoving.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "This way to the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says in a harried tone, "The sooner everyone gets on the
Floyd | bus, the sooner we get home."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher finally corrals her students into some semblance of order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Led by their teacher, the kids approach the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-flowered bush on the edge of the parking lot rustles sharply.
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes it as a firebush, and she has just enough time to
Floyd | think Do those even grow around here? before a woman dressed
Floyd | in white and lilac spandex steps out of the red-flowered bush.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia recognizes the new arrival at once, though Eichhornia Cress -
Floyd | aka The Hyacinth - rarely leaves Florida. As she braces for trouble,
Floyd | Yesenia takes back everything she's been thinking about Rachel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth positions herself between the school group and the bus.
Floyd | There's nothing particularly scary about her white and lilac costume,
Floyd | but her body language is clear enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher halts, extending an arm to keep her students back. "Excuse
Floyd | me," she says. "You're in our way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher's gaze flickers toward the zoo gates, and Yesenia looks
Floyd | back to see the other school group approaching.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth pulls a translucent ball from somewhere in her cloak and
Floyd | brandishes it. It doesn't look threatening, but her stance says it's a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says to the second graders, "I need you to go back to the
Floyd | zoo gates. All of you. Right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher raises a hand, signalling the other school group to stay
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the students pulls out a smartphone and starts filming the
Floyd | action.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "I'm here for Brigit Bhalla."
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heartbeat doubles its pace - but the most important little
Floyd | girl in the whole world doesn't answer.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "There was no authorization for anyone to be picked
Floyd | up from the zoo. You'll have to go through the main office. Now,
Floyd | please move."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teachers with the other school group retreat to the zoo gates.
Floyd | Yesenia breathes out; she won't be juggling a second set of civilians.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "But you see, her mother sent me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher says, "Please inform 'her mother' that she needs to follow
Floyd | the proper channels next time. Brigit will be available after we
Floyd | return to the main office."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the zoo gates, one of the other teachers raises a cell phone
Floyd | and starts filming the action. Yesenia grits her teeth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth cocks her head to one side, sending long blond hair
Floyd | cascading over one shoulder, and sighs a little. "Do I have to spell
Floyd | this out? I'm here for Brigit Bhalla, and the consequences will be
Floyd | quite severe if you don't hand her over."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a small crowd growing by the zoo gates, perhaps people warned
Floyd | back by the other teachers.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth asks, "Well?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher glances over her shoulder, but she doesn't spot Yesenia
Floyd | behind the minivan, and no one else is close enough to help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth hurls the ball. It strikes the ground at the teacher's
Floyd | feet and explodes into yellow smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teacher collapses onto the pavement, along with several of the
Floyd | closest kids. Pandemonium ensues.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia watches from behind the minivan.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world dodges around the
Floyd | minivan - and almost runs straight into Yesenia.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world's eyes go wide with
Floyd | astonishment. "MOMMY!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth whips around to look straight at Yesenia. So much for
Floyd | staying hidden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The yellow smoke dissipates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth demands of Yesenia, "Who are you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world exclaims, "Mommy!
Floyd | What are you doing here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of the kids head back across the parking lot toward the zoo
Floyd | gates, but some of them run for the bus and start banging on the door.
Floyd | The driver jolts visibly into wakefulness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver pulls the bus door handle, and the bus door swings
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Yesenia, "Clearly, you don't know who you're
Floyd | dealing with."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world claps her hands for
Floyd | joy. "Get her, Mommy!" she shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kids start scrambling onto the bus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth starts to say something else, but her words are cut off
Floyd | by the sudden blast of the bus horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mommy!" the most important little girl in the whole world shouts.
Floyd | "Get her!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth sneers, "I hardly think your mom is going to 'get me'.
Floyd | She looks like she could barely get the groceries."
Floyd |
Floyd | A boy aboard the bus shouts, "Brigit, come on!" before
Floyd | getting smacked by his seatmate.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "Mommy,
Floyd | help!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver hits the horn again and waves his cell phone at The
Floyd | Hyacinth, who responds with language most parents wouldn't want their
Floyd | second-graders to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "Mommy, we
Floyd | need help!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus starts with a rumble as the students continue to board.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world, "Brigit, you need to come with me."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts, "No! You
Floyd | leave me alone!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world cries, "Mommy,
Floyd | aren't you going to do anything?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The bus driver leans out the door to shout at the most important
Floyd | little girl in the whole world, "Come on, you got to get on the bus!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world, "It's time for us to go. If you just come along, all this
Floyd | unpleasantness can be over."
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shrieks, "You're a
Floyd | great big liar!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world stares at Yesenia
Floyd | with a look of complete betrayal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth advances on the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world as she backs away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important little girl in the whole world shouts at Yesenia,
Floyd | "Mama's right! You don't help people at all!" and bursts into
Floyd | tears.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia's heart drops like a rock. "No - " she manages, but the most
Floyd | important little girl in the whole world isn't listening.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth lunges at the most important little girl in the whole
Floyd | world and grabs at her wrist. The girl dodges and runs with an
Floyd | ear-piercing shriek.
Floyd |
Floyd | Brigit runs onto the school bus without looking back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The remaining second graders scramble aboard the bus, and the driver
Floyd | pulls the handle to close the bus door.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says to Yesenia, "I am The Hyacinth" - the capital
Floyd | letters are especially clear when she says it - "and if you don't get
Floyd | out of here, I'll choke you like a waterway."
Floyd |
Floyd | Sirens sound in the distance, rapidly growing closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus shifts into gear and pulls out of its spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth shouts at the bus, "Brigit, you get out here right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus swings around, orienting on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares at Yesenia, her mouth twisted with hatred beneath
Floyd | the mask.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia waits for the right moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus picks up speed, bearing down on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares in open-mouthed astonishment before diving out of
Floyd | the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		Jacqueline says, "undo"

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Freeze her"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia seizes the sunlight and translates the energy into force. She
Floyd | clamps that force around The Hyacinth, paralyzing the other woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus picks up speed, bearing down on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares in open-mouthed astonishment before diving out of
Floyd | the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "again"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, waiat."
		Jacqueline says, "er, wait"
		Jacqueline asks, "How did she... ?"
		Jacqueline says, "bah"
		DavidW says, "Paralyzed and dives."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "focus on hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOCUS ON HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia focuses more sunlight on The Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus screeches to a halt (oh, those brakes need tuning!),
Floyd | forming a barrier between the Hyacinth and the victims of her yellow
Floyd | smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth's cape emits an electric snap, and Yesenia's focus drains
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth says, "I've seen your face, Sun Queen. And I've seen the
Floyd | face of your daughter, Brigit Bhalla. I will make you more sorry than
Floyd | you can imagine."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "bah humbug"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia steps into The Hyacinth and reaches out to throw the other
Floyd | woman.  The Hyacinth parries with reasonable grace.
Floyd |
Floyd | The air brightens around Yesenia, but she fights back the reflex. She
Floyd | doesn't need a full protective aura to fight The Hyacinth,
Floyd | and if no one noticed that flash, she can still hope to hide her
Floyd | identity.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus picks up speed, bearing down on the Hyacinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hyacinth stares in open-mouthed astonishment before diving out of
Floyd | the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "but thou must"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit hyacinth" 		

Floyd ]  Santa Barbara Zoo, Parking Lot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT HYACINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | Yesenia lunges for The Hyacinth and attempts a one-two punch to her
Floyd | midsection.  The Hyacinth turns the blow aside. She's a bit less
Floyd | graceful now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The sirens are getting louder.
Floyd |
Floyd | The school bus screeches to a halt (oh, those brakes need tuning!),
Floyd | forming a barrier between the Hyacinth and the victims of her yellow
Floyd | smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "well, we can't get her run over this way."
		DavidW asks, "Maybe we're supposed to use fisticuffs after Brigit rounds the minivan?"
		DavidW says, "At any case, it seems important to not use our powers in this battle, at least, not in any obvious manner."
		Jacqueline says, "To avoid detection."
		DavidW says, "well, to avoid identification"
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, yes."
		DavidW says, "H and B fill spot us eventually no matter what we do or don't do."
		DavidW says, "er Will spot us"
		Roger asks, "How hard have we tried to mask ourselves?"
		Roger asks, "Maybe focus on ourselves, wash out the image?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "Not very. I tried to open the suitcase and the game said nothing in there useful.."
		DavidW says, "hm. Dunno if we can focus on ourselves."
		DavidW says, "We could also try focusing on Brigit, for that matter."
		DavidW says, "But I don't think it works that way. Focusing on a person seems to be a grappling hold and nothing more."
		DavidW says, "I also don't know if we can grab/focus H's mask."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm really having trouble thinking of what we can do to change the ending."
		DavidW says, "Maybe we missed something? Maybe it's all just a matter of timing."
		Roger says, "Maybe the critical decision comes later"
		anjchang asks, "maybe we have to give the suitcase to someone later?"
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing we're done for today? We seem to have exhausted ourselves."
		anjchang says, "okay! see you next week! :) thanks for driving"
		anjchang says, "bye bye everyone"
anjchang goes home. 		DavidW says, "bye anjchang"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Thank you, David!"



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Introduction to Deprivation by Michael Coorlim
Introduction to Meld by David Whyld
As played on ifMUD on September 20, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of the introductions to Deprivation written by Michael Coorlim, and Meld written by David Whyld. These two introductions were both entries in the 2015 IntroComp. The introduction to Deprivation received an Honorable Mention, while the introductiont to Meld came in third. You can learn more about the games, including how to download them, by visiting the IFDB pages: Introduction to Deprivation, and Introduction to Meld.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

To skip directly to a particular game, click on its title:

Introduction to Deprivation by Michael Coorlim
Introduction to Meld by David Whyld
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		DavidW asks, "okay, another IntroComp perhaps?"
		Roger says, "I think there's another one loaded in maybe"
		DavidW says, "So I see ic15deprivation, ic15meld, and ic15voltagecafe uploaded."
		DavidW says, "I know nothing about these, so I'll start the first of those"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask ic15deprivation" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/0
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd | Deprivation A Story of Obsession and Transferance by Michael Coorlim
Floyd | IntroComp
Floyd | distribution
Floyd |
Floyd | It's three A.M. on Monday the 12th, and you're still awake.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It... it wasn't a good weekend, in a way that doesn't really seem real
Floyd | yet.
Floyd | Like it's some nightmare you could wake up from if you could just get
Floyd | to sleep.
Floyd | But how can you sleep?  There's got to be some way to fix things.
Floyd | There has to
Floyd | be.  It can't end like this.  You just have to, you know, figure out
Floyd | what it
Floyd | is, do that, and everything will be okay again.  Like it used to be.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Then again you have to be at work in four hours, and you didn't really
Floyd | get any
Floyd | sleep last night, either.  Maybe you should just try to get your mind
Floyd | off
Floyd | things?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | [More]

		Roger says, "Typo in the title is never a good sign"
		DavidW says, "I wonder why Floyd is formatting so oddly."
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | [More]

		
Floyd says, "been little more than a place to store your things, so" 		

Floyd | you don't have much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop, your coffee mug, and your
Floyd | cell phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ah, we start in Your Apartment..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/1
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are empty-handed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "xme" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/2
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > XME
Floyd |
Floyd | (x me)
Floyd | You're simply exhausted.  You need sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/3
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're simply exhausted.  You need sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "So get on the bed? Sleep?"
		Roger says, "Sounds good to me"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get in bed" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment (on your bed)                                      0/4
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IN BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You get on your bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Yay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment (on your bed)                                      0/5
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | You toss and turn aimlessly.  It's just no use, your mind is too
Floyd | jumbled.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment (on your bed)                                      0/6
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You think, therefore you are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/7
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, you get off your bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Some coffee would probably calm us down"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mug" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/8
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | The mug's white ceramic is stained with coffee residue.  It's been in
Floyd | bad need
Floyd | of a wash for a few days now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                    0/9
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/10
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the kitchen sink you see some dishes.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine and a toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wash mug" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/11
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > WASH MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn on the sink's faucet, turning the mug over in your hands as
Floyd | the water
Floyd | runs over it, scrubbing the insides with a sponge until the white
Floyd | ceramic is
Floyd | spotless.  It makes you feel slightly better to have accomplished
Floyd | something.
Floyd | Briefly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wash dishes" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/12
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > WASH DISHES
Floyd |
Floyd | You clean your dirty dishes.  It doesn't take very long, which was
Floyd | more or less
Floyd | the point of only having one of each dish.  That, and making sure that
Floyd | you
Floyd | clean them regularly, though on that count it hasn't been quite as
Floyd | successful.
Floyd | When you're done, you put them neatly away in the cabinet under the
Floyd | counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trash" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/13
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | Your trash bin is at that point where every time you throw something
Floyd | away,
Floyd | you're playing that delicate game where if you can balance it on top
Floyd | of the
Floyd | pile, you don't have to take it out yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take out trash" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/13
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE OUT TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no out trash here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take trash out" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/13
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TRASH OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no trash out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "compress trash" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/14
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > COMPRESS TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | (press trash)
Floyd | Pushing the overflowing trash bin has no effect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I think it understands the 'bin'"
		DavidW says, "This game seems to have an autocorrect thing in it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/15
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Your fridge is an unappealing shade of lime green, and sounds like its
Floyd | powered
Floyd | by a lawn-mower engine.  The door is closed, the way it should be.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "If you don't like lime green fridges, WHY did you buy it?"
		Draconis says, "It was cheap, presumably."
		DavidW says, "They offer choices at the fridge store. Honestly, they do."
		Roger says, "Maybe it's a pre-furnished apartment"
		Amber says, "I like the idea of lime green - can find it in near darkness."
		DavidW says (to Roger), "oh right."
		DavidW says, "I like green in a room in general, but perhaps other shades."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/16
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Opening the fridge reveals a mostly empty mustard bottle, an empty egg
Floyd | carton,
Floyd | a wilted head of lettuce, an expired carton of milk, and a piece of
Floyd | cake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cake" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/17
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a piece of chocolate buttercream birthday cake wrapped in clear
Floyd | plastic.
Floyd | Just looking at it hits you with a pang of guilt and regret, which you
Floyd | quickly
Floyd | stuff down into a deep dark recess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Yup, we suck"
		DavidW says, "Cake isn't supposed to make one unhappy."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat cake" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/18
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT CAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You hold the cake for a moment before deciding that no, you don't
Floyd | deserve to
Floyd | taste its chocolatey goodness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "the heck we don't."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x egg carton" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/19
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X EGG CARTON
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put egg carton in trash bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/20
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT EGG CARTON IN TRASH BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the empty egg carton)
Floyd | You put the empty egg carton in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x milk" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/21
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MILK
Floyd |
Floyd | The carton contains a thick sludge that may have once been milk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "empty milk" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/21
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > EMPTY MILK
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take milk" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/22
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE MILK
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pour milk into sink" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/23
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > POUR MILK INTO SINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't pour the expired carton of milk anywhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put milk in trash bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/24
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MILK IN TRASH BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the expired carton of milk in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lettuce" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/25
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LETTUCE
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the wilted head of lettuce.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat lettuce" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/26
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT LETTUCE
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't even care for lettuce when it's fresh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm sure the lettuce didn't come with the apartment, player character."
		Roger says, "Maybe we killed the real owner and stuffed his body somewhere"
		DavidW says, "If you don't like lettuce, you don't have to buy it."
		DavidW says (to Roger), "yeah, maybe"
		DavidW says, "We should definitely look under the bed"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put lettuce in trash bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/27
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT LETTUCE IN TRASH BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the wilted head of lettuce)
Floyd | You put the wilted head of lettuce in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mustard" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/28
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MUSTARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the mostly empty mustard bottle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put mustard in trash bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/29
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MUSTARD IN TRASH BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the mostly empty mustard bottle)
Floyd | You put the mostly empty mustard bottle in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/30
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing interesting in the fridge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat cake" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/31
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT CAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You hold the cake for a moment before deciding that no, you don't
Floyd | deserve to
Floyd | taste its chocolatey goodness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put cake in fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/32
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT CAKE IN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the piece of cake in the fridge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/33
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "make coffee" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/33
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > MAKE COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the coffee machine or your coffee mug?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coffee machine" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/34
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COFFEE MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Keurig Vue V700 is about a foot tall, and almost as big around.
Floyd | You like
Floyd | it a lot better than your old coffee machine; it's capable of brewing
Floyd | a much
Floyd | stronger cup, has a wider temperature range, and best of all, the Vue
Floyd | cups are
Floyd | recyclable.  Best birthday present ever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put mug in machine" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/35
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MUG IN MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't put anything in the coffee machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toaster" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/36
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOASTER
Floyd |
Floyd | This is a simple two-slot toaster with a classic chrome design.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in toaster" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/37
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN TOASTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing interesting in the toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on coffee machine" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/38
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN ON COFFEE MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | The coffee machine can't be switched on and off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "What next? Check out the bathroom?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/39
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a cabinet under the counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/40
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | Opening the cabinet reveals some dishes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close cabinet" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/41
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis heads back home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/42
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the bathroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | Your bathroom is the smallest you've ever seen, as if its inclusion
Floyd | was an
Floyd | afterthought on the architect's part.  The toilet is wedged in next to
Floyd | the
Floyd | shower stall in a space so small that you need to keep your legs
Floyd | firmly
Floyd | together when you sit on it.  Oh, and get this: No sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shower rod you see your towel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shower" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/42
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the shower drain, the shower rod, the shower stall,
Floyd | or the
Floyd | shower curtain?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stall" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/43
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > STALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The shower stall is built into the tiled bathroom corner.  A clear
Floyd | glass pane
Floyd | forms the third wall, and the fourth, facing the door, is a shower
Floyd | curtain.
Floyd | There's a drain in the middle of the stall's floor, below the shower
Floyd | head.
Floyd | Controlling the water is a simple lever that you can turn towards the
Floyd | temperature you desire, should you decide to take a shower.  Sitting
Floyd | on the
Floyd | floor of the shower, in the back corner, are your shampoo, body wash,
Floyd | and
Floyd | loofah.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I suggest taking a shower?"
		DavidW says, "Might make us feel better."
		Roger says, "With the toaster"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell shampoo" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/44
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > SMELL  SHAMPOO
Floyd |
Floyd | The bottle of shampoo is not important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Roger), "yeah, I noticed the lack of bread and pop tarts."
		Roger says, "Flail around a bit longer but I'm thinking we should abandon this unless something happens"
		DavidW says, "And why isn't the smell of the shampoo important? I wanna know if my hair will smell like autumn or blueberries or coconut or tar or what."
		DavidW says (to Roger), "I think we need to declutter our apartment as a metaphor for decluttering our mind. I might be reaching, but it's the only thing I can think of."
		Roger says, "That may be so"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter stall" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/45
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER STALL
Floyd |
Floyd | You get in the shower stall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/46
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying your coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/47
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, you get out of the shower stall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/48
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine and a toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see a wilted head of lettuce, a
Floyd | mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, an expired carton of milk, and an empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put mug on counter" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/49
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MUG ON COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your coffee mug on the kitchen counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/50
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | Your bathroom is the smallest you've ever seen, as if its inclusion
Floyd | was an
Floyd | afterthought on the architect's part.  The toilet is wedged in next to
Floyd | the
Floyd | shower stall in a space so small that you need to keep your legs
Floyd | firmly
Floyd | together when you sit on it.  Oh, and get this: No sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shower rod you see your towel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter shower" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/51
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SHOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get in the shower stall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close shower" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/51
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE SHOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the shower drain, the shower rod, the shower stall,
Floyd | or the
Floyd | shower curtain?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stall" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/52
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > STALL
Floyd |
Floyd | The shower stall is not something that can be closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drain" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/53
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DRAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a metal grate set into the shower's floor, about four or five
Floyd | inches in
Floyd | diameter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take shower" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (in the shower stall)                                   0/54
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE SHOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You strip down, get into the shower, and turn the water on.  It takes
Floyd | a few
Floyd | moments for the water to heat up and once it has you let the lukewarm
Floyd | stream
Floyd | run over your body, washing away the troubles and sweat of your
Floyd | insomnia.  For
Floyd | a few minutes you just stand there, head resting against the wall,
Floyd | washing the
Floyd | water pool around your feet before going down the drain.  When you're
Floyd | able to
Floyd | summon forth the motivation to continue, you use the shampoo to lather
Floyd | up your
Floyd | hair, then soap up your loofah and suds up the rest of your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | Somehow the rough texture of the loofah makes you feel cleaner, so you
Floyd | scrub
Floyd | hard until your flesh is red and raw.  Then you rinse out your hair,
Floyd | wash the
Floyd | soap off your body, and turn off the water.  You towel off and get
Floyd | dressed
Floyd | again, feeling somewhat better.  Cleaner, at any rate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/55
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, you get out of the shower stall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think that must've helped"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toilet" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/56
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | Your toilet is nudged into a very narrow alcove next to the shower
Floyd | stall.  It
Floyd | was last cleaned not too long ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use toilet" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't recognize the command USE, because it's a bit too vague;
Floyd | please be more
Floyd | specific about what you want to do.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on toilet" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (on the toilet)                                         0/57
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > SIT ON TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | You get on the toilet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pee" 		

Floyd | Bathroom (on the toilet)                                         0/58
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > PEE
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't have to go.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                         0/59
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay, you get off the toilet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/60
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine, your coffee mug, and
Floyd | a
Floyd | toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see a wilted head of lettuce, a
Floyd | mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, an expired carton of milk, and an empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/61
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | been little more than a place to store your things, so you don't have
Floyd | much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop and your cell phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/62
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest under your bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "No dead body there."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/63
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel fortunate that you have a window that looks out over some
Floyd | greenery
Floyd | rather than the same urban tableau your last place had.  That greenery
Floyd | happens
Floyd | to be a municipal graveyard, but still.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on tv" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/64
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN ON TV
Floyd |
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "watch tv" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/65
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > WATCH TV
Floyd |
Floyd | An informercial is playing.  Apparently some people are having extreme
Floyd | difficulties with common household tasks.  If only there were a better
Floyd | way!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Robot butler!"
		DavidW says, "Monkey robot bulter!"
		DavidW says, "Monkey pirate zombie robot butler!"
		Roger says, "Sloth! The sin, not the mammal."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "change channel" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/66
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CHANGE CHANNEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You idly flip channels for awhile until you get to something that
Floyd | looks
Floyd | interesting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "watch tv" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/67
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > WATCH TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You've seen this movie before, but it's a good one, and you're tuning
Floyd | in at one
Floyd | of the more interesting parts.  You follow the protagonists efforts to
Floyd | resolve
Floyd | his dramatic need with growing anticipation, forgetting some of your
Floyd | own
Floyd | problems in the process.  It's like, it puts things into perspective
Floyd | for you,
Floyd | you know?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/68
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | You've seen this movie before, but it's a good one, and you're tuning
Floyd | in at one
Floyd | of the more interesting parts.  You follow the protagonists efforts to
Floyd | resolve
Floyd | his dramatic need with growing anticipation, forgetting some of your
Floyd | own
Floyd | problems in the process.  It's like, it puts things into perspective
Floyd | for you,
Floyd | you know?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off tv" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/69
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN OFF TV
Floyd |
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookcase" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/70
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOOKCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | For a piece of furniture you found on the curb last trash-day, it's in
Floyd | surprisingly good condition.  In the bookcase you see Descent
Floyd | Macabre, Ten
Floyd | Thousand Devils, Grief, Follow Your Heart,
Floyd | Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled Temptations, and The Wind
Floyd | Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't like this choice of books."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read follow your heart" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/71
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ FOLLOW YOUR HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | Adrian straightened, his desire to leave evaporating despite the
Floyd | awkward
Floyd | situation.  The glazenwright was beautiful, with a delicate oval
Floyd | face, high
Floyd | cheekbones and a small, straight nose.  He knew he was staring,
Floyd | but didn't want
Floyd | to stop.  There was something compelling about this woman aside
Floyd | from her lovely
Floyd | face, which was all he could see.  Her heavy, serviceable black
Floyd | cloak and
Floyd | headdress concealed the rest.
Floyd |        Her expression captured him.  Not the simpering moue of
Floyd | court women, nor
Floyd | the lustful gleam of barmaids or the respectful, downcast eyes of
Floyd | servants.
Floyd | She radiated a quiet confidence he found enticing.
Floyd |        Their gazes met and locked.  Hers conveyed curiosity and
Floyd | mayhap a
Floyd | challenge.  He couldn't tell if she recognized him or what she'd
Floyd | gleaned of his
Floyd | relationship with Lady Anne.  Surely she'd be appalled if she
Floyd | knew.  After a
Floyd | long moment, she looked away.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't remember the last time someone looked at you like that.  No
Floyd | wait, you
Floyd | can.  And that makes it worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Mayhap if you had a front door, you'd get out more."
		DavidW says, "Unless that door is here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/72
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | It's kinda late at night to go wandering the streets aimlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graveyard" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/73
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GRAVEYARD
Floyd |
Floyd | By day, St.  Phillip's Cemetery is a landscape of beautiful green
Floyd | lawns and
Floyd | well-spaced headstones criss-crossed by neat gravel paths.  At night,
Floyd | it looks
Floyd | far more dark and foreboding, lit only by sporadically spaced lights
Floyd | that
Floyd | illuminate only the paths immediately around them, leaving the
Floyd | gravestones as
Floyd | dark shapes lurking in darkness.  They seem to do a better job
Floyd | illuminating
Floyd | your apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x laptop" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/74
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LAPTOP
Floyd |
Floyd | Your laptop was a birthday present.  More-so than your phone, it
Floyd | serves as your
Floyd | connection to the world outside your apartment.  Mostly, you use it to
Floyd | check
Floyd | your email and browse the web.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on laptop" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/75
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN ON LAPTOP
Floyd |
Floyd | Your laptop can't be switched on and off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read email" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/76
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ EMAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Unable to stop yourself, you spend half an hour pouring over dozens of
Floyd | increasingly passionate and disjointed emails, tracking the emotional
Floyd | journey
Floyd | from loving and hopeful to bitter and resented.  They tell a story
Floyd | within-a-
Floyd | story, and you do your best to analyze each line, each phrase, each
Floyd | word for
Floyd | deeper meaning, for clues as to their sender's true mental state.  You
Floyd | hope to
Floyd | find something that you missed, something to give you insight into the
Floyd | writers'
Floyd | current mental space, but in the end all you find is heart-wrenching
Floyd | despair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "This guy's got problems"
		DavidW says, "Or gal."
		Roger says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I haven't had a sense of gender from the protagonist yet."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "masturbate" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/76
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > MASTURBATE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "There's the choice of novels, I guess"
		DavidW asks, "Are they real books?"
		Roger says, "I really hope not"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "browse web" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/77
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > BROWSE WEB
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring up your browser and start visiting your favorite web-sites
Floyd | and
Floyd | forums.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a few clicks you find yourself reading an internet post:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The most important thing you need to understand is that it's over.
Floyd | You need to
Floyd | remind yourself over and over again in the aftermath.  This is the
Floyd | most
Floyd | difficult lesson to learn, yet is the foundation for your entire
Floyd | recovery.  You
Floyd | cannot move on until you accept this basic fact.  The best thing
Floyd | you can do is
Floyd | to try and live yourself normally, except for the parts that
Floyd | aren't part of it
Floyd | any more...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You know?  This makes you feel a little better.  Or, at least, a
Floyd | little more
Floyd | hopeful.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Maybe we're a visiting ghos"
		DavidW says, "oh. You mean we died, we"
		DavidW says, "We're a ghost, and we gotta get to that cemetary."
		DavidW says, "That's possible, I suppose."
		DavidW says, "Although how a ghost can take a shower is beyond me."
		DavidW says, "I'm annoyed there's a coffee mug and a coffee maker and no obvious way to make coffee."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/78
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine, your coffee mug, and
Floyd | a
Floyd | toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see a wilted head of lettuce, a
Floyd | mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, an expired carton of milk, and an empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "brew coffee" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/78
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREW COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fill mug" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/79
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > FILL MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | (kill mug)
Floyd | It's best to avoid pointless violence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take out the trash" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/79
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE OUT THE TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no out the trash here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take trash" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                          0/80
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | 'Don't spill the trash' may be a solitary game now, but you're not
Floyd | ready to
Floyd | admit defeat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "er, what?"
		DavidW asks, "The trash has to spill over before we can take it? Is that the issue?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/81
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | been little more than a place to store your things, so you don't have
Floyd | much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bookcase you see Descent Macabre, Ten Thousand
Floyd | Devils, Grief, Follow
Floyd | Your Heart, Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled
Floyd | Temptations, and The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop and your cell phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x phone" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/82
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's so weird how in only a few years the expectation became one of
Floyd | everybody
Floyd | having a smart-phone.  Well, you don't.  Just an old clam-shell
Floyd | without a
Floyd | touchscreen or internet access.  Then again, the battered casing is
Floyd | testament
Floyd | to how often you can drop the damn thing without it breaking.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Still, you can use it to send and read texts or call people, and what
Floyd | more do
Floyd | you really need?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call mom" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/82
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CALL MOM
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no mom here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "phone home" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/82
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > PHONE HOME
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no home here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on phone" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/83
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN ON PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cell phone can't be switched on and off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call people" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/83
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CALL PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no people here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call friend" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/83
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CALL FRIEND
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no friend here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open phone" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/84
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cell phone is not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read texts" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/85
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ TEXTS
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | STOP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | One word.  Four letters.  All caps.  It says so much with so little.
Floyd | A little
Floyd | red-hot blade slipping right into your heart.  You can't read any
Floyd | more.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "never date an allcapser"
		Roger says, "Or someone who sends old-timey telegraphs"
		Roger says, "err telegrams"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we could try reading more of these awful books. Or putting the books into the trash."
		DavidW says, "This game is trying to make the PC suicidal, and I don't like that."
		Roger says, "At least there might be an interesting puzzle in that"
		DavidW says, "If we could just have coffee and cake and talk to a friend, we might be okay."
		Amber says, "ClubFloyd makes IF like this more exciting."
		Roger says, "As an Introcomp, it might not really have any ending"
		DavidW says, "I wish this apartment had something for expressing creativity. The PC could draw, write, make music."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/85
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/85
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > PRAY
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exercise" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/85
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXERCISE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "do yoga" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/86
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > DO YOGA
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not talking to anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meditate" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/87
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > MEDITATE
Floyd |
Floyd | (cogitate)
Floyd | You think, therefore you are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh. Close enough."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/88
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | For a piece of furniture you found on the curb last trash-day, it's in
Floyd | surprisingly good condition.  In the bookcase you see Descent
Floyd | Macabre, Ten
Floyd | Thousand Devils, Grief, Follow Your Heart,
Floyd | Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled Temptations, and The Wind
Floyd | Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read bug" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/89
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ BUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Wade's hand felt hot in Jane's as he guided her down the dirt path
Floyd | behind the
Floyd | bar that led into the woods.  The moonless night gave no
Floyd | indication of where
Floyd | they were headed.  She was alternating between fear and
Floyd | excitement.  She felt
Floyd | the hard packed dirt beneath her shoes.  If Wade Tucker was a
Floyd | serial killer,
Floyd | she was sure she would have heard about it by now.
Floyd |        Unless, of course, she hadn't because he had silenced all
Floyd | his victims.
Floyd |        "Where are we going?"
Floyd |        "Like I told you, to cool off."
Floyd |        With that, they turned a corner, emerging from the woods.
Floyd | A far off
Floyd | yard light could be seen shining on the other end of the lake
Floyd | before them.
Floyd |        "You ever been skinny dippin'?" The drop in his voice when
Floyd | he said the
Floyd | words sent a tremor down Jane's spine.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stop reading.  You'd thought Shannon had taken all of her books
Floyd | with her.
Floyd | Looks like she missed this one.  Maybe... maybe she'll have to come
Floyd | back and
Floyd | get it, once she notices its absence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "call shannon" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/90
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > CALL SHANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking your cell phone)
Floyd | You call your ex and leave a voicemail, immediately regretting it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read devils" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/91
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ DEVILS
Floyd |
Floyd | The sun was a blade of red on the western horizon and the sky was
Floyd | magic purple
Floyd | when he heard the distant slap of gunshots to the north-northeast,
Floyd | about a mile
Floyd | out.  A cartwheel of stars peppered overhead, casting diamonds
Floyd | from south to
Floyd | north, almost drawing a line to his destination.
Floyd |        Sawyer threw down the fishbones he was sucking and wriggled
Floyd | into the top
Floyd | of his neosuit, strapping on his vest as he walked, carrying his
Floyd | pistol in his
Floyd | mouth.  When he was fully kitted he ran full-tilt through the
Floyd | marsh, the
Floyd | revolver in one fist, sawgrass beating against his armored chest
Floyd | and legs.
Floyd |
Floyd | A full hour slips away while you get lost in the engrossing book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I can't see apartment-guy running through a marsh with a pistol in his mouth."
escapecage goes home. 		DavidW says, "(Or going north-northeast, for that matter.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read grief" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/92
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ GRIEF
Floyd |
Floyd | The riot swept through the city, organic, driven by the carnal
Floyd | urge to possess,
Floyd | to control, to destroy.  This was its third day of existence, its
Floyd | third day of
Floyd | life, scouring streets with the hunger of an ant colony.  Those
Floyd | who it swept
Floyd | over either fell to its fury or succumbed to the rising anxiety,
Floyd | the mounting
Floyd | dread, the directionless frustration that fueled it, becoming part
Floyd | of its
Floyd | strength, replacing the parts of it that had worn out or had been
Floyd | overcome by
Floyd | futility.
Floyd |        Officer Lange braced herself against the mob, standing
Floyd | side-by-side,
Floyd | shield by shield with her fellow officers.  Their high-impact
Floyd | polymer barriers
Floyd | held firm against the crush, the roiling beast buffing up against
Floyd | the wall
Floyd | created to channel it, to guide it.  The police lacked the
Floyd | manpower to stop it,
Floyd | to even begin to contain it, so they did they best they could to
Floyd | send it where
Floyd | it could do the least amount of damage.
Floyd |        Again and again the shield-wall shuddered, threatening to
Floyd | give.  Lange
Floyd | found herself gritting and leaning into each impact even as her
Floyd | boots' traction
Floyd | started to give against the asphalt.  For a terrifying moment she
Floyd | felt herself
Floyd | slipping.  A firm hand from behind shored her up, gripping her by
Floyd | the elbows.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a book about monumental loss on a planetary scale.  Why did you
Floyd | subject
Floyd | yourself to that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/93
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | For a piece of furniture you found on the curb last trash-day, it's in
Floyd | surprisingly good condition.  In the bookcase you see Descent
Floyd | Macabre, Ten
Floyd | Thousand Devils, Grief, Follow Your Heart,
Floyd | Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled Temptations, and The Wind
Floyd | Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read forever" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/94
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ FOREVER
Floyd |
Floyd | Asha slipped off her thin shirt and took some time to admire the
Floyd | sky, which was
Floyd | growing clearer by the minute.  Even though the constellations
Floyd | were foreign to
Floyd | her, they still comforted her somehow.  And once she had removed
Floyd | the last of
Floyd | her clothes and placed her wristcomm safely under them, she
Floyd | noticed how
Floyd | comforting the warm breeze was.  She had never been to a world
Floyd | where the air
Floyd | itself caressed her in a loving embrace, even in the middle of the
Floyd | night.
Floyd |        She dipped her toe into the water and found it to be
Floyd | remarkably warm.
Floyd | With each step, her body went deeper into the womb-like
Floyd | environment of the warm
Floyd | pond, and soon the water was up to her shoulders.  She wiped some
Floyd | dirt off of
Floyd | her wrist and hugged herself.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hug.  When was the last time you got a hug?  How long has it been
Floyd | since
Floyd | you've had any casual yet intimate human contact?  A kiss?  A slight
Floyd | touch of
Floyd | the hand?  God, it hurts.  Why do the most innocuous things hurt you
Floyd | so?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hug me" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/94
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > HUG ME
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "well, there you go. You gotta be able to give hugs to get hugs."
		DavidW says, "Someone else play around with this. I need a coffee, even if mopey can't have one."
		Roger says, "FINE"
Roger says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/95
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | been little more than a place to store your things, so you don't have
Floyd | much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bookcase you see Descent Macabre, Ten Thousand
Floyd | Devils, Grief, Follow
Floyd | Your Heart, Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled
Floyd | Temptations, and The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/96
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Your front door is bevelled wood painted white, fairly plain, lacking
Floyd | in a
Floyd | peephole.  It leads out out to the third floor landing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/97
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/98
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | It's kinda late at night to go wandering the streets aimlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                   0/99
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | been little more than a place to store your things, so you don't have
Floyd | much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bookcase you see Descent Macabre, Ten Thousand
Floyd | Devils, Grief, Follow
Floyd | Your Heart, Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled
Floyd | Temptations, and The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/100
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Your front door is bevelled wood painted white, fairly plain, lacking
Floyd | in a
Floyd | peephole.  It leads out out to the third floor landing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/101
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine, your coffee mug, and
Floyd | a
Floyd | toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see a wilted head of lettuce, a
Floyd | mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, an expired carton of milk, and an empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "empty bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/101
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > EMPTY BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/102
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | 'Don't spill the trash' may be a solitary game now, but you're not
Floyd | ready to
Floyd | admit defeat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we need to put more stuff into the bin."
Roger says (to floyd), "x oven" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/103
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OVEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the oven.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/104
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Apartment
Floyd |
Floyd | Your studio apartment is lit by the soft ever-present glow of the city
Floyd | lights
Floyd | coming in through the window, flat-screen television set below the
Floyd | sill to
Floyd | avoid screen glare.  For most of the year you've lived here, your
Floyd | apartment has
Floyd | been little more than a place to store your things, so you don't have
Floyd | much in
Floyd | the way of furnishings... just the bed, a bookcase you found on the
Floyd | curb, and
Floyd | the scuffed coffee table next to it.  North, past the door leading out
Floyd | to the
Floyd | building's hall, is the apartment's kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bookcase you see Descent Macabre, Ten Thousand
Floyd | Devils, Grief, Follow
Floyd | Your Heart, Heavy Cross, The Island on the Edge
Floyd | of Forever, Tangled
Floyd | Temptations, and The Wind Could Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the coffee table you see your laptop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/105
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | You take Heavy Cross, Tangled Temptations, The
Floyd | Wind Could Blow a Bug, The
Floyd | Island on the Edge of Forever, Ten Thousand Devils,
Floyd | Descent Macabre, Grief,
Floyd | Follow Your Heart, and your laptop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take book" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/106
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The bookcase is too heavy to move.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take heavy" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/107
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE HEAVY
Floyd |
Floyd | You're already holding Heavy Cross.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | Your Apartment                                                  0/108
Floyd | Exits: north   out
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying Descent Macabre, Ten Thousand
Floyd | Devils, Grief, Follow Your
Floyd | Heart, your laptop, Heavy Cross, your cell phone,
Floyd | The Island on the Edge of
Floyd | Forever, Tangled Temptations, and The Wind Could
Floyd | Blow a Bug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/109
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine, your coffee mug, and
Floyd | a
Floyd | toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see a wilted head of lettuce, a
Floyd | mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, an expired carton of milk, and an empty egg carton.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "put all in bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/110
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT ALL IN BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't put anything in itself.
Floyd | The empty egg carton is already in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd | The expired carton of milk is already in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd | The wilted head of lettuce is already in the overflowing trash bin.
Floyd | The mostly empty mustard bottle is already in the overflowing trash
Floyd | bin.
Floyd | toaster: (first trying to take the toaster)
Floyd | Leave the toaster where it is.  Nine out of ten Feng Shui experts
Floyd | agree that
Floyd | the best place for a toaster is on the kitchen counter.  The tenth has
Floyd | been
Floyd | going through a rough patch.
Floyd | coffee machine: (first trying to take the coffee machine)
Floyd | While the Keurig Vue V700 coffee machine is very portable at a mere 13
Floyd | pounds,
Floyd | it does require to be plugged in to function.  The counter is the best
Floyd | place
Floyd | for it.
Floyd | (first taking your coffee mug)
Floyd | You put your cell phone, Heavy Cross, Tangled
Floyd | Temptations, The Wind Could Blow
Floyd | a Bug, The Island on the Edge of Forever, Ten
Floyd | Thousand Devils, Descent Macabre,
Floyd | Grief, Follow Your Heart, your laptop, and your
Floyd | coffee mug in the overflowing
Floyd | trash bin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Sweet"
Roger says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                        0/111
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | Your bathroom is the smallest you've ever seen, as if its inclusion
Floyd | was an
Floyd | afterthought on the architect's part.  The toilet is wedged in next to
Floyd | the
Floyd | shower stall in a space so small that you need to keep your legs
Floyd | firmly
Floyd | together when you sit on it.  Oh, and get this: No sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the shower rod you see your towel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                        0/112
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | Forget your towel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says, "..floyd" 		
Roger says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/113
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Your apartment's kitchen is fairly cramped.  Your fridge is against
Floyd | the north
Floyd | wall next to the bathroom door, across from the counter containing the
Floyd | sink
Floyd | next to the oven.  There's little under the counter, except for a
Floyd | single
Floyd | cramped cabinet.  You'd probably cook more often if you had more
Floyd | counterspace,
Floyd | but you just get so frustrated when you try... there's barely enough
Floyd | room for
Floyd | the toaster and coffee machine.  It's just easier to order out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an overflowing trash bin here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen counter you see a coffee machine and a toaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the overflowing trash bin you see Ten Thousand Devils,
Floyd | Descent Macabre, The
Floyd | Island on the Edge of Forever, The Wind Could Blow a
Floyd | Bug, your laptop, Grief,
Floyd | Follow Your Heart, your coffee mug, an expired carton of
Floyd | milk, a wilted head of
Floyd | lettuce, an empty egg carton, Tangled Temptations, Heavy
Floyd | Cross, a mostly empty
Floyd | mustard bottle, and your cell phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "can we take the bin now?"
Roger says (to floyd), "take bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/114
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | 'Don't spill the trash' may be a solitary game now, but you're not
Floyd | ready to
Floyd | admit defeat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "close bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/115
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The overflowing trash bin is not something that can be closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "push bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/116
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Pushing the overflowing trash bin has no effect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "enter bin" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/117
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The overflowing trash bin is not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's cake in the fridge and dishes in the counter."
Roger says (to floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/118
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Opening the fridge reveals a piece of cake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take the cake" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/119
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE THE CAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "dishes" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/119
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > DISHES
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take dishes" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/119
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE DISHES
Floyd |
Floyd | You see no dishes here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/120
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SINK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a simple basin kitchen sink, shiny and chrome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x counter" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/121
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Your kitchen counters are a mess, stained with coffee, drabs of spilt
Floyd | milk, and
Floyd | various other food stains.  It's been days since you

		Roger says, "uh oh"
Roger pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/122
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sorry, the dishes are in the cabinet."
Roger says (to floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/123
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET

		
Roger pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/124
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take dishes" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/125
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE DISHES

		DavidW says, "uh-oh"
Roger says (to floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/126
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > I

		Roger says, "Sorry I think I broke it"
		Roger says, "OH WELL"
		DavidW says, "I've never seen a game break like this before."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean counter" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/127
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN COUNTER

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x counter" 		

Floyd | Kitchen                                                         0/128
Floyd | Exits: north   south
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COUNTER

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Bathroom                                                        0/129
Floyd | Exits: out
Floyd |
Floyd | > N

		DavidW says, "gee. I dunno what to do about this except quit and admit defeat."
		DavidW says, "Maybe sleepmask is doing bad things. We could restart without it."
		Roger says, "I don't care too much in any direction"
		DavidW says, "yeah."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | > N
Floyd | > QUIT

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheaptads quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW asks, "Do we? Want to play another? Or are we done?"
		Amber says, "I would enjoy more."
		Roger says, "I could probably stand another"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "list i" 		
Floyd says (to DavidW), "i-0 ic02atwitsendagain ic02deadman ic02genie ic02heyjingo ic02madrigal ic02maintenanceman ic02praxis ic02virus ic02waterhouse ic03agency ic03harlequin ic03harringtonhouse ic03realitysend ic03statue ic04audenseden ic04betsabet ic04gauss ic04jabberwocky ic04onthecross ic04passenger ic04runes ic05deadsville ic05foxdragonbread ic05griswold ic05hobbit ic05negotis ic05somewhen ic05weishauptscholars ic06artofdeception ic06childsplay ic06mechs ic06nothingbutmazes ic06sabotage ic06southerngothic ic06unyieldingfury ic07folkarstation ic07jackinthebox ic07jacobstravels ic07shredspatches ic07threeprinces ic07tin ic07trainstopping ic08bedtimestory ic08bloodyguns ic08fiendishzoo ic08ninetenths ic08phoenixslanding ic08stormcellar ic09gossip ic09obituary ic09selves ic10closedcircles ic10cryptozookeeper ic10fangvsclaw ic10flooby ic10mementomoratori ic10plan6 ic10touristtrap ic10waker ic13chickensexer ic13first ic13whathappened ic14cuckold ic14cuckolds ic14hornets ic14scrollthief ic14soulthief ic14terrible ic15beyonddivision ic15deprivation ic15meld ic15voltagecafe ifdb2beta ifdb2beta1 ifdb2beta2 ifwhispers5 immportal inamanorofspeaking inanimator indigo inerebus infidel informat inherit inhumane inmemory insight insomnia intangible intro14devil intro14scroll invisargo invisibleparties itseasterpeeps" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask ic15meld" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ah, this must be Tiamont Plaza. And over there is Rowena's Coffee
Floyd | House. Hopefully you're not late.
Floyd |
Floyd | This morning you received a note (pushed under your door like your
Floyd | life has suddenly become a spy movie) asking you to come here
Floyd | regarding your sister. Who has been dead for four years as of today.
Floyd |
Floyd | Press any key...

		DavidW says, "Maybe we'll get coffee this time!"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        1
Floyd |
Floyd | Meld
Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by David Whyld
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150730 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north (though blocked by a large gate) is Morring Row, south is
Floyd | Belmont Avenue, southeast is a winding path between tall buildings,
Floyd | west lies Rowena's Coffee House and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "We can dream a little dream"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x statue" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        2
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STATUE
Floyd |
Floyd | A once impressive statue, though now rather worn, of the famed
Floyd | historian Willem Wildemore, one hand raised as he delivers his classic
Floyd | Believe My Words speech. The locals have defaced it with
Floyd | graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        3
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | Badly written and illegible in parts. You're probably better off not
Floyd | wasting too much time on this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        4
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Your name is Arianah Charles, you're 25 years old and you can meld.
Floyd | You used to work in finance but since you discovered what you are,
Floyd | employment is no longer necessary. You're single and likely to remain
Floyd | so for the foreseeable future; when you can do the things you can do,
Floyd | it's not a good idea to get too close to people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We can 'meld'. That sounds odd."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        5
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |   an ID card
Floyd |   some lipstick
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        6
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | This was pushed under your door this morning. It simply tells you to
Floyd | go to Rowena's Coffee House on Tiamont Plaza, find an empty booth and
Floyd | wait there. Someone will contact you then.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, normally you'd have assumed this was some kind of practical joke
Floyd | by the neighbourhood kids and just thrown it in the trash, but it also
Floyd | mentioned your sister. Who has been dead for four years. And today, of
Floyd | all days, is her birthday.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x id card" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        7
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ID CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | A piece of laminated card which fits neatly into your palm and lists
Floyd | your name, age, sex, address and the fact that you are 'clean' (i.e.
Floyd | not a wanted felon).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "At least we're not named Imelda"
		DavidW says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I say we go into said coffee house and sit in a booth and enjoy the smell of brewed coffee."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                8
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I am in favour"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                9
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           10
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           11
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | It mainly involves the city council and the people in charge. It
Floyd | features a goat, a nun's outfit and... well, you might be better off
Floyd | not reading the rest of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear footsteps from outside the booth and a man hurries in after
Floyd | you, looks around nervously, and says, "I don't think I was followed
Floyd | but it doesn't pay to be careless. The stakes are high, after all."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are you the man who sent me the note?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Me? Heavens no! That was my associate. I'm just a, um, intermediary
Floyd | you might say. Miss Charles, I'm led to believe you are a most unusual
Floyd | individual possessing an ability some believe to be impossible. My
Floyd | associate wishes me to observe a demonstration of this ability so he
Floyd | can note your... um... worth."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't do demonstrations, Mr...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Frobisher. Hans Frobisher. And I believe in this instance, Miss
Floyd | Charles, you might be willing to make such a demonstration. It
Floyd | involves your sister."
Floyd |
Floyd | Your breath catches in your throat. "My sister is dead."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are you quite certain of that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Which is a strange question because yes, you're very certain. You were
Floyd | there when she died. It's not the sort of thing you'd be mistaken
Floyd | about. "What do you know about my sister?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "First the demonstration, if you will. My associate was very firm on
Floyd | that. Here." He hands you a ring. "See what you can make of this."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           12
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RING
Floyd |
Floyd | A plain brass ring, worn by the passage of many years.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           13
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING
Floyd |
Floyd | Your head aches but nothing else seems to happen. You get the distinct
Floyd | feeling you're doing it wrong. Something is missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "Maybe we need more coffee."
		DavidW asks, "I suppose we meld two things together?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           14
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | Shockingly red and not your thing at all. You must have bought it
Floyd | without thinking.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring to note" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           14
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING TO NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to meld the ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I'm reminded of Shadowrun in a not-unpleasant way"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           14
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ABOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not sure what to do."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ear" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           14
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "rub ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           15
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RUB RING
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           16
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing. Frobisher sits in the
Floyd | far corner of the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask frobisher about ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           17
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FROBISHER ABOUT RING
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to frobisher" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           18
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO FROBISHER
Floyd |
Floyd | "What can you make with the ring?" Frobisher asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "make earring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           18
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MAKE EARRING
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x booth" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           19
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The cramped booth you're currently seated in. The sooner you're out of
Floyd | here, the better.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "MAybe it's meld x with y"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring with note" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           20
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the ring and the note and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A good try," says Frobisher, "but that's not what I had in mind."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess that's the right syntax, at least."
		DavidW asks, "I suppose if there was a key, we could make a keyring. But what's here to make?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           21
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | It mainly involves the city council and the people in charge. It
Floyd | features a goat, a nun's outfit and... well, you might be better off
Floyd | not reading the rest of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I dunno; just keep flailing away. There's not a lot of things"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x goat" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           21
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GOAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring with graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           22
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING WITH GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | Unfortunately, your meld ability is limited in that you are unable to
Floyd | meld something that you are not physically holding. Also, the items in
Floyd | question can only be of a certain size - no melding buildings or
Floyd | aircraft for you!
Floyd |
Floyd | You have heard rumours of other people, whose gift is far more
Floyd | advanced than your own, who can meld items simply by looking at them,
Floyd | but perhaps they are simply rumours and nothing more.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           23
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a ring
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |   an ID card
Floyd |   some lipstick
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld lipstick and ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           23
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD LIPSTICK AND RING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "It's still 'with', honest"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld lipstick with ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           24
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD LIPSTICK WITH RING
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the lipstick and the ring and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A good try," says Frobisher, "but that's not what I had in mind."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           25
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | Shockingly red and not your thing at all. You must have bought it
Floyd | without thinking.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Hunh. Weird. Maybe we should buy a coffee? A coffee ring is a thing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "buy coffee" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           25
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BUY COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "order coffee" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           25
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ORDER COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           26
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                27
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "buy coffee" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                28
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BUY COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | You order a drink and, indeed, it's every bit as bad as you expected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                29
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a ring
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |   an ID card
Floyd |   some lipstick
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "meld ring with waitress" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                30
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD  RING WITH WAITRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | Unfortunately, your meld ability is limited in that you are unable to
Floyd | meld something that you are not physically holding. Also, the items in
Floyd | question can only be of a certain size - no melding buildings or
Floyd | aircraft for you!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x waitress" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                31
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WAITRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | Pretty, but looks rushed off her feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "wear lipstick, kiss the note, then meld ring with the smoochie mark?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           32
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing. Frobisher sits in the
Floyd | far corner of the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           33
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | No, it makes you look like you make a living dancing on tables. You
Floyd | honestly don't know why you bought it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           34
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BREAK LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence won't solve this one, I'm afraid.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Draw with it?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           35
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the lipstick and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the lipstick and reforming them into a
Floyd | bracelet and a chisel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I would have never ever guessed that; good work"
		Amber exclaims, "Two for one!"
		DavidW says, "That's so weird"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           36
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal bracelet which feels very cold to the touch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           37
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | A rusted and somewhat battered chisel which you got when you demelded
Floyd | the lipstick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "I know some women who need a chisel instead of lipstick."
		Roger says, "heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           38
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD RING
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the ring and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the ring hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           39
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the ring and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A good try," says Frobisher, "but that's not what I had in mind."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld ring with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           40
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD RING WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the ring and the chisel and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | "A good try," says Frobisher, "but that's not what I had in mind."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld note" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           41
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the note and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the note hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld id" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           42
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD ID
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the ID card and bring your meld ability to bear,
Floyd | but nothing happens. It seems the ID card hasn't been melded from
Floyd | anything and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld id with ring" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           43
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ID WITH RING
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the ID card and note. You
Floyd | watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Very good," says Frobisher, his eyes aglow. "You made a key, and not
Floyd | just a normal key either. Tell me, can you guess what lock it might
Floyd | open?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "The gate outside the cafe would be my first guess."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why don't you try it and see?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. This a very weird ability. I can't predict how it'll work at all."
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
DavidW arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                44
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        45
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north (though blocked by a large gate) is Morring Row, south is
Floyd | Belmont Avenue, southeast is a winding path between tall buildings,
Floyd | west lies Rowena's Coffee House and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock gate with key" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        46
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK GATE WITH KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        47
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to do something about the locked gate first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open gate" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        48
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | You slip the key into the lock and turn it. There is a click!
Floyd | sound from the gate and the key literally sinks into the gate. You try
Floyd | to grab hold of it before it can be absorbed - it's your ID card,
Floyd | after all! - but it's gone.
Floyd |
Floyd | A moment later, the gate swings open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "uh-oh. Losing the ID card sounds bad."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                49
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           50
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing. Frobisher sits in the
Floyd | far corner of the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to frobisher" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           51
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO FROBISHER
Floyd |
Floyd | "The gate swallowed the key!" you say (which sounds worryingly weird
Floyd | to you, like the gate came to life and literally ate the key). "My ID
Floyd | card was part of that. How do I get it back?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm merely here as a go-between for my associate," says Frobisher,
Floyd | "so I'm afraid I don't know. However, my associate mentioned that once
Floyd | the gate was open, you would be able to find an item on the other side
Floyd | that would give you your ID card back."
Floyd |
Floyd | Your head is spinning. "That doesn't make any damn sense..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nevertheless, that is what my associate said. If you find this item -
Floyd | whatever it may be, he didn't tell me - bring it to me and we will see
Floyd | what can be done about it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Or maybe I should just go home and leave you and your crazy associate
Floyd | out of my life..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Frobisher frowns. "Without your ID card? I wouldn't advise that, Miss.
Floyd | Charles. The council tend to frown on citizens who have 'lost' their
Floyd | ID cards."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "What's my motivation? Oh, thank you."
		DavidW says, "yeah, we've just been drafted."
		DavidW says, "I guess we find the whatever-it-is."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                52
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        53
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          54
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone walking past mutters, "Who left that damn gate open? It's
Floyd | locked for a reason, you know," and gives you a pointed look before
Floyd | disappearing into the park.
Floyd |
Floyd | For more information on your melding ability, type 'Meld
Floyd | Info'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld info" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          54
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD INFO
Floyd |
Floyd | No one really knows how melding works. Is it a genetic defect? The
Floyd | result of shady experiments? Latent psychic powers? Even you don't
Floyd | know and you've lived with it all your life.
Floyd |
Floyd | It doesn't run in the family because your mother didn't have it and
Floyd | neither did your sister. You never met your father but he was a
Floyd | low-life thief who died after being shot whilst robbing a jewellery
Floyd | store. If he could meld, he'd have sold his ability to the highest
Floyd | bidder and to hell with the risks involved or the morality of doing
Floyd | such a thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Melding has limits, though it tends to differ from person to person.
Floyd | Some (like you) can only meld items they have physical hold of; some
Floyd | (like you) can only meld one item with another; some (like you) can
Floyd | only meld an item they've seen before (so no melding nuclear weapons
Floyd | or futuristic laser guns!)
Floyd |
Floyd | Melding is random - something that has frustrated melders for years
Floyd | now. While it would be the ultimate source of income if it could be
Floyd | directed, melding unfortunately doesn't work that way. So while you
Floyd | might want to meld together a cheese grater and an iron and have it
Floyd | produce a cheque for a million credits, you can't. What you end up
Floyd | with when you meld two items together is unknown until the melding
Floyd | process is over and done with.
Floyd |
Floyd | Most melders can only meld. Some (like you) can also unmeld - or
Floyd | demeld - items; i.e. meld two items together then unmeld them into
Floyd | their base items. All melders are limited, however, in that they can
Floyd | only demeld items they themselves have melded together.
Floyd |
Floyd | Except you. You can demeld anything that's previously been melded, no
Floyd | matter who did the melding.
Floyd |
Floyd | Technically, melding isn't illegal but it's definitely not something
Floyd | you want to go around advertising you can do. While no one can simply
Floyd | meld a nuclear weapon out of two random items, the general public
Floyd | believe all the terrible stories they've heard about melders over the
Floyd | years: melding two people together (and no, you can't meld living
Floyd | matter) to form a third person; melding harmless items into bombs;
Floyd | melding killing random people close to the melder; and so on...
Floyd |
Floyd | You're sure the stories of melders being abducted by the guards and
Floyd | held in secret government labs are just pure rumour, but it doesn't
Floyd | pay to take risks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Frobisher is annoying: I hope we get to turn his ass into something horrible like in I Have No Mouth but I Must Scream--good story, great game."
		Roger says, "This has some elements of a good game, but some serious problems too"
		escapecage says, "I like the unusual meld command, and if it is used well, this will probably be a good game."
		DavidW says, "I say check out the alley first."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tavern" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          55
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TAVERN
Floyd |
Floyd | A little too grandiose for your liking, but there's no
Floyd | denying it's an impressive site.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x park" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          56
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see much of it from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x alley" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          57
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | A grimy alley running along the side of the Emperor Tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                58
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | City alleys are supposed to be cleaned every day, but apparently the
Floyd | crew responsible for this alley didn't get the memo. It's knee-deep in
Floyd | trash and smells like an open sewer. Just being here makes you feel
Floyd | queasy.
Floyd |
Floyd | A breath of fresh air flows from the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trash" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                59
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | Some of it looks - and smells! - like it's been here for months, if
Floyd | not years. The smell is enough to make your eyes water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search trash" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                60
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take trash" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                61
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | You wouldn't touch it with a barge pole. Literally.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. Perhaps something gets dumped here later."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          62
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          63
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          64
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       65
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you step inside the tavern, and before you've had time to properly
Floyd | look around, a man almost walks into.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Terribly sorry," he says, not sounding it one bit, then walks away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hmm... curious. You wonder why he pushed a slip of paper into your
Floyd | hand...?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x slip" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       66
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads, simply, 'Another test. Let's see what you can
Floyd | unmake of this'.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          67
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmake slip" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          67
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMAKE SLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "It was funny in Randal's Monday when he got away with horrible unspecified crimes because his friend's girlfriend dumped his past self's corpse in a dumpster. I love that game."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld slip" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          68
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD SLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the slip of paper and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the slip of paper and reforming them
Floyd | into a mirror and a passcard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Is this what Frobisher wanted from you? Maybe you should go back and
Floyd | speak to him about either the mirror or the passcard and see what he
Floyd | has to say.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x passcard" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          69
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PASSCARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't tend to see many of these around nowadays (ID cards have
Floyd | replaced them), but you know they were once used to access military
Floyd | installations and the like.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          70
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Your own face peers back at you. You look tired.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "This reminds me of my magic stapler, only I had not considered undoing it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        71
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                72
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           73
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gone. Frobisher is gone! Damn the man and whatever game he's playing
Floyd | with you. First he encourages you to meld your ID card with the ring
Floyd | he gave you, and now he disappears on you.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is bad. This is very bad. You need to get to the bottom of what
Floyd | is going on here and, just as important, you need to get your ID card
Floyd | back before you're stopped by the guard. You, of all people, can
Floyd | ill-afford to have the council taking an interest in your background.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wonder if Frobisher left anything for you here in the booth...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "look at passcard in mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           73
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK AT PASSCARD IN MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           74
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | It mainly involves the city council and the people in charge. It
Floyd | features a goat, a nun's outfit and... well, you might be better off
Floyd | not reading the rest of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hmmm... what's that at the bottom? You peer closer and see this
Floyd | written down: "apologies for leaving suddenly. called away on
Floyd | business. left something for you in the shop on mawbury lane."
Floyd | It's signed 'F'.
Floyd |
Floyd | Interesting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "potty break"
		escapecage says, "That goat is wearing the nnun's outfit."
		DavidW says, "ok, I'm back"
		DavidW says, "I don't know where Mawbury Lane is, but I suppose we should look for it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           74
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                75
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        76
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        77
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | That's back to your apartment and you can't leave without recovering
Floyd | your ID card. It might be weeks till you're stopped and asked for it
Floyd | but you can't risk that happening.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         78
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x house" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         79
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the many ruins which populate the city. No sooner is one fixed
Floyd | (or knocked down) than another needs working on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         80
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | As you make your way towards Mawbury Lane, a hulking man emerges
Floyd | suddenly from the shadows and blocks the path. Down one side of his
Floyd | face is a jagged scar and his eyes are mad and staring.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Going somewhere, sweetheart?" he grunts. "Oh, I don't think so, 'cos
Floyd | this way-" He nods to the southeast. "I own it. Jacob's the name. So
Floyd | if you want to go that way, you gotta pay the toll."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I never knew there was a toll on this road."
Floyd |
Floyd | "There ain't. Not officially. But unofficially? Oh yeah. Now, don't go
Floyd | worrying about paying me in credits 'cos I know they can be traced
Floyd | easily enough, but jewellery? Yeah, jewellery is fine. Easy to fence,
Floyd | you know."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And if I don't pay you anything at all?"
Floyd |
Floyd | His eyes narrow. "Then you better just go back the way you came 'cos
Floyd | you sure ain't passing through here."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give bracelet to man" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         80
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE BRACELET TO MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         80
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         81
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane. Blocking the way to Mawbury Lane
Floyd | is a hulking thug by the name of Jacob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give bracelet to jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         82
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE BRACELET TO JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | He sneers at the bracelet. "That cheap piece of trash isn't buying you
Floyd | anything, sweetheart."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         83
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a passcard
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give mirror to jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         84
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE MIRROR TO JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | Jacob doesn't seem interested.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         85
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "meld jacob with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         86
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD JACOB WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Unfortunately, your meld ability is limited in that you are unable to
Floyd | meld something that you are not physically holding. Also, the items in
Floyd | question can only be of a certain size - no melding buildings or
Floyd | aircraft for you!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         87
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the chisel and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         88
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a passcard
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "chisel jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         88
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHISEL JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "show passcard to jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         89
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW PASSCARD TO JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | Jacob is unimpressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose we can check out the library, the abandoned house, and the park, and the tavern. Look for any inventory we can grab. Then experiment with melding."
		Roger says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      90
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned House
Floyd | You're in the ruins of an abandoned house which looks to have been
Floyd | uninhabited for longer than you've been alive. The walls are damp, the
Floyd | ceiling has collapsed (in fact, most of it is on the floor) and the
Floyd | floor creaks beneath you. One especially large gap to the north leads
Floyd | out to the winding path. Clinging to one wall, though out of reach, is
Floyd | the remnants of a staircase.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "A ladder or chair, I guess is needed here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x staircase" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      91
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STAIRCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Part of a staircase, clinging to the wall. It's quite a way out of
Floyd | reach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x walls" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      92
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WALLS
Floyd |
Floyd | Crumbly and damp. It's a wonder the place hasn't already collapsed. In
Floyd | one wall is a jagged crack.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      93
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | A crack a few inches wide. You could reach inside if you wanted,
Floyd | though the thought of rats in the walls makes you somewhat reluctant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach in crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      93
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REACH IN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach inside crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      93
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REACH INSIDE CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      94
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "The mirror?"
		DavidW says, "What about the mirror"
escapecage says (to Floyd), "hit crack with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      94
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT CRACK WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use chisel on crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      94
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE CHISEL ON CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "chisel crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      94
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHISEL CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "widen crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      94
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WIDEN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Just thinking if we could get the mirror in there and look around"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      95
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put mirror in crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      96
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MIRROR IN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      97
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | All things considered, the floor isn't very interesting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      98
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CEILING
Floyd |
Floyd | For ceiling read floor, as most of it has collapsed and is currently
Floyd | underfoot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      99
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned House
Floyd | You're in the ruins of an abandoned house which looks to have been
Floyd | uninhabited for longer than you've been alive. The walls are damp, the
Floyd | ceiling has collapsed (in fact, most of it is on the floor) and the
Floyd | floor creaks beneath you. One especially large gap to the north leads
Floyd | out to the winding path. Clinging to one wall, though out of reach, is
Floyd | the remnants of a staircase.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach in" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      99
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REACH IN
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      99
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REACH CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in crack" 		

Floyd ]  Abandoned House                                      100
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't think we can do much here at the moment."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         101
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane. Blocking the way to Mawbury Lane
Floyd | is a hulking thug by the name of Jacob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        102
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "It's a crack house."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         103
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | City Library
Floyd | The smell of old books greets you: while hardly a pungent aroma, it's
Floyd | certainly cloying. This is City Library: a sprawling array of
Floyd | bookshelves as far as the eye can see, watched over by a scowling
Floyd | librarian who seems to regard visitors to the library with the same
Floyd | kind of contempt normally reserved for serial killers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x librarian" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         104
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LIBRARIAN
Floyd |
Floyd | An elderly fellow with papery skin who seems to treat the library as
Floyd | his own personal domain. Something about his demeanour indicates he
Floyd | takes slights very personally and knows how to bear a grudge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         105
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Without knowing exactly which book you're looking for - if indeed you
Floyd | have a specific title in mind - you'll never find it here. The filing
Floyd | system is positively archaic!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookshelves" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         106
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOKSHELVES
Floyd |
Floyd | Without knowing exactly which book you're looking for - if indeed you
Floyd | have a specific title in mind - you'll never find it here. The filing
Floyd | system is positively archaic!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "And we have no specific title in mind. This seems like a bust too."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        107
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          108
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        109
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Freemoor Park
Floyd | It is surprisingly dark in Freemoor Park, though the trees, of which
Floyd | admittedly there are many, aren't tall enough to block out the sun. At
Floyd | the centre of the park is a pond of turgid, black water, from which
Floyd | rises an odour foul enough to make your eyes water.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the southwest lies Morring Row.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trees" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        110
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TREES
Floyd |
Floyd | Spindly trees with claw-like branches, dotted about the park in a
Floyd | haphazard fashion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pond" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        111
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POND
Floyd |
Floyd | This isn't water in the pond, surely? It looks like some kind of
Floyd | radioactive waste.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search pond" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        112
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH POND
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb tree" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        113
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | You could, if you wanted to, but you aren't sure you see the point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take branch" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        113
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BRANCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell pond" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        114
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL POND
Floyd |
Floyd | The stench is bad enough without you going out of your way to smell
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I see nothing to do here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          115
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a disturbance just outside the Emperor Tavern. You and
Floyd | several other passers by stop to watch as an old man, clearly drunk,
Floyd | is expelled from the premises by bouncers. He staggers, almost falls,
Floyd | then spins on his heel (which almost causes him to fall over again)
Floyd | and shakes his fist at the bouncers.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Lousy stinking tavern anyway!" he yells. "Wouldn't drink there if you
Floyd | paid me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Go home, Talbot, you've had enough for day," one of the bouncer says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't tell me what to do!" the man Talbot shouts. "You stole it from
Floyd | me, didn't you? You and your lousy boss! You... you..."
Floyd |
Floyd | He yells a few more choice phrases, some of them very colourful, then
Floyd | runs out of steam and staggers away in the direction of Freemoor Park.
Floyd | You give him a wide berth - the odour of sour beer emanating from him
Floyd | is quite pungent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "follow him?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        116
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Freemoor Park
Floyd | It is surprisingly dark in Freemoor Park, though the trees, of which
Floyd | admittedly there are many, aren't tall enough to block out the sun. At
Floyd | the centre of the park is a pond of turgid, black water, from which
Floyd | rises an odour foul enough to make your eyes water. Slouched down by
Floyd | the park is Talbot, looking drunker by the second.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the southwest lies Morring Row.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x talbot" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        117
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TALBOT
Floyd |
Floyd | He's so drunk he can barely stand upright, and the smell he's giving
Floyd | off is enough to mask the odour coming from the pond.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to talbot" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        118
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TALBOT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gerrawayfromme!" he snarls, drunkenly waving you away. "They stole
Floyd | it... the swine... they stole it from me..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Stole what?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | But Talbot is lost in drunken rantings and doesn't hear you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        119
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a passcard
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "give bracelet to talbot" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        120
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE BRACELET TO TALBOT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't try an' trick me with that cheap trash!" Talbot says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Hey maybe this is how Jesus pulled that money out of a fish"
		Roger says, "Maybe we'll learn more inside the bar"
		DavidW says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          121
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       122
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hey there, guys. I just realized that I hadn't made a bb post. We agreed last week to go into early hiatus, but I didn't post about it. It is, of course, fine if you all want to keep logging games while I'm moving. :)"
		DavidW says, "yeah, I thought we were on hiatus too, but there was enough interest that we went ahead anyways."
		Taleslinger says, "DavodW does not play by the rules"
		Jacqueline says, "Fair enough."
		Roger says, "So far we've been depressed and confused"
		Amber says, "I have not yet discovered how to read the posted messages."
		escapecage says, "Time for some fun: Smoke crack and D.M.T, then gamble and fight people who may or may not exist."
		DavidW asks (of Amber), "You mean on bulletin board?"
		Jacqueline says, "Still, I'll post it to the main website and social media accounts. If you all get together now and then without me, please just log it. I'll catch up when I have fewer responsibilities, which will be in about 1.5-2 months, and we'll settle on a schedule after the comp. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your session."
		Amber asks, "Are bulletin boards and channels the same thing?"
		DavidW says (to Amber), "No. Each channel has its own bulletin board, but they are different items."
		DavidW says, "'help bb' might help."
		Amber says, "In any event, I have been here a few years now and have no real clue."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "thanks"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             123
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { North }
Floyd | Against the back wall of the tavern are a group of strange individuals
Floyd | engaged in some kind of staring contest at each other over a table. No
Floyd | one moves, no one says a word. All is deathly silent.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave to the south when you wish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "take all drugs" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             123
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL DRUGS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             124
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The table itself is ordinary, but there's a jewel of some kind in the
Floyd | centre of it which draws your attention. Is this what the staring
Floyd | contest is about?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x jewel" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             125
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JEWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't know what kind of jewel this is, but it's certainly very
Floyd | pretty and likely worth a small fortune.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x individuals" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             126
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X INDIVIDUALS
Floyd |
Floyd | From the way they're dressed, you're guessing they're members of one
Floyd | of the strange cults you've heard talk about. According to news
Floyd | reports, they're supposed to be very dangerous and passersby are
Floyd | advised not to approach them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "take jewel" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             126
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE JEWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The moment you reach out to take the jewel, it flickers, as if it
Floyd | wasn't there at all. The men at the table cease their staring contest
Floyd | and look at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sacrilege!" shouts one.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Blasphemy!" shouts another.
Floyd |
Floyd | A third reaches into his robes for what you guess is a knife, so you
Floyd | decide it's time to go and-
Floyd |
Floyd | But you stop. One of the men has fixed his eyes onto yours and you
Floyd | find you can't move anywhere. He nods for you to sit down and you do.
Floyd | He indicates for you to place the jewel back on the table and you do.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks deep into your eyes, peeling back every secret, every memory.
Floyd | He discovers your meld ability and realises how useful it can be.
Floyd |
Floyd | You spend a long, long time at the table staring into the eyes of the
Floyd | strange man...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "meld jewel with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             126
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD JEWEL WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "um"
		Roger says, "Ha"
		escapecage says, "I was curious what would happen if we melded the jewel with the chisel, like a jeweler with a cutting instrument, but I guess that is impossible"
		DavidW says, "well, we didn't get the jewel."
		DavidW says, "It's not clear the jewel is actually there."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             126
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { North }
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Unlikely, but imagine slipping the mirror in there, so they're each having a staring contest with themselves"
		DavidW says, "I suspect we're not ready to deal with this lot."
		Roger says, "Sounds correct"
		DavidW says, "The mirror idea is interesting, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       127
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gambling" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       127
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GAMBLING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              128
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { West }
Floyd | This area of the tavern seems a little more refined than the main area
Floyd | to the east. Here, the customers - or clientele - sit around sipping
Floyd | wine, talking in hushed voices and discussing the works of art
Floyd | adorning the walls. It's a welcome change after the noise just a short
Floyd | walk to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Every eye in the place, and there are quite a few, look at you and a
Floyd | deathly silence falls. You could literally hear a pin drop here.
Floyd |
Floyd | But when it becomes apparent that you aren't going to say or do
Floyd | anything dramatic, the clientele seem to lose interest in you and
Floyd | resume their quiet whisperings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage asks, "He realizes my skills are useful, so he kills me?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x art" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              129
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ART
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not really a fan of modern art so most of this leaves you cold.
Floyd | However, there's one painting of a king staring into the sun which
Floyd | quite catches your eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x king" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              130
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KING
Floyd |
Floyd | As you stare at the painting, you find your attention being drawn to
Floyd | the sun, in the same way as the king's attention is drawn to it. It
Floyd | takes an effort to look away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sun" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              131
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | As you stare at the painting, you find your attention being drawn to
Floyd | the sun, in the same way as the king's attention is drawn to it. It
Floyd | takes an effort to look away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push sun" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              132
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | It is fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmm. Is this painting a clue of some sort with the staring contest."
		DavidW asks, "Like, would they stare at anything bright?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x people" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              133
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Much more refined than the drunks in the rest of the tavern, these
Floyd | look the sort to actually appreciate the works of art on the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take painting" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              134
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PAINTING
Floyd |
Floyd | You doubt the people gathered here are simply going to let you walk
Floyd | away with this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cough" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              134
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUGH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       135
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x people" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       136
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | A rowdy bunch for the most part, deep in their cups and likely to
Floyd | remain that way for the foreseeable future.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { Northwest }                         137
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { Northwest }
Floyd | Ahead of you, to the northwest is an archway which looks like it might
Floyd | have been removed from an ancient monastery or cathedral, beyond which
Floyd | you see... nothing. It must be a simple trick of the light but the
Floyd | area beyond the archway doesn't show up at all. You notice that you're
Floyd | the only one here - apparently all the other customers of the tavern
Floyd | prefer to give this area a wide berth. Returning to the rest of the
Floyd | tavern is possible by going southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmm. This looks ominous."
		DavidW asks, "An archway to anywhere? To nowhere?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmeld" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { Northwest }                         137
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { Northwest }                         138
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | As you approach the archway, you experience a strange buzzing
Floyd | sensation in your mind and when it passes you find you're facing
Floyd | away from the archway.
Floyd |
Floyd | How strange.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       139
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       140
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a passcard
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              141
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { West }
Floyd | This area of the tavern seems a little more refined than the main area
Floyd | to the east. Here, the customers - or clientele - sit around sipping
Floyd | wine, talking in hushed voices and discussing the works of art
Floyd | adorning the walls. It's a welcome change after the noise just a short
Floyd | walk to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to people" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              142
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | As you try to strike up a conversation with a well-dressed gentleman,
Floyd | his equally well-dressed wife quickly steps in and says to you, "Don't
Floyd | even think about speaking to my husband. He's horribly
Floyd | drunk."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Pish, darling," says the husband, "I've barely drinked a touch!"
Floyd |
Floyd | She arches an eyebrow at him. "Indeed. Take two of these." She shoves
Floyd | some tablets into his hand, one of which disappears into his mouth and
Floyd | the rest he drops. "They'll soon sober you up."
Floyd |
Floyd | The husband snorts, then coughs violently! "Egads! Someone called an
Floyd | ambulance! I believe she's only bally well tried to poison me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The wife rolls her eyes. "They're anti-alcohol tablets, you fool." She
Floyd | takes him by the hand and leads him away. "If you're going to make a
Floyd | fool of yourself, at least do it where everyone can't see you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Silence descends following their departure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pills" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              142
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PILLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pill" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              142
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PILL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              143
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { West }
Floyd | This area of the tavern seems a little more refined than the main area
Floyd | to the east. Here, the customers - or clientele - sit around sipping
Floyd | wine, talking in hushed voices and discussing the works of art
Floyd | adorning the walls. It's a welcome change after the noise just a short
Floyd | walk to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a tablet here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take tablet" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              144
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TABLET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		* NewsBoy hollers, "Extra! Extra! Jacqueline has posted message 294, about 'Longer Hiatus This Year', to the bulletin board! That would go better with duck fat."
		DavidW says, "I suggest giving the tablet to Talbert."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       145
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          146
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        147
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Freemoor Park
Floyd | It is surprisingly dark in Freemoor Park, though the trees, of which
Floyd | admittedly there are many, aren't tall enough to block out the sun. At
Floyd | the centre of the park is a pond of turgid, black water, from which
Floyd | rises an odour foul enough to make your eyes water. Slouched down by
Floyd | the park is Talbot, looking drunker by the second.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the southwest lies Morring Row.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give tablet to talbot" 		

Floyd ]  Freemoor Park                                        148
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE TABLET TO TALBOT
Floyd |
Floyd | "This some kinda drug?" he asks blearily, but before you can answer he
Floyd | takes it from you and swallows it in one go.
Floyd |
Floyd | And howls!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yah, that packs a punch and then some!" He thumps himself on
Floyd | the chest. "You trying to kill me?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Just sober you up," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, it certainly did that." He groans. "I need a drink after that."
Floyd | At your expression, he quickly adds, "Just a soft drink. I think
Floyd | there's a coffee house close by. I'll try that."
Floyd |
Floyd | He puts his hand out and you shake it. "Name's Oscar Talbot. You?
Floyd |
Floyd | You tell him.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nice to meet you, lady. Come see me in the coffee house if you want
Floyd | to talk."
Floyd |
Floyd | He wanders away from the park.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "good show"
		escapecage says, "You need bird fat? I have an annoying little source."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          149
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        150
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                151
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest. You see Oscar Talbot sat close by.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cosy Booth                                           152
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | Cosy Booth
Floyd | A cramped and not altogether pleasant booth, though you guess in this
Floyd | kind of establishment you're not paying for quality so much as cheap
Floyd | coffee. The booth has been defaced more times than you care to count,
Floyd | though some of the graffiti is quite amusing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave the booth to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                153
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest. You see Oscar Talbot sat close by.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                154
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "Sure packed one hell of a punch that tablet you gave me.
Floyd | My head is still throbbing."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No need to thank me. You needed it more than I did."
Floyd |
Floyd | He laughs, then groans. "Agh. Laughing's not a good idea when your
Floyd | head's throbbing like mine is." He massages his forehead. "Unusual for
Floyd | someone to help out a complete stranger like that, Miss. You ever need
Floyd | a favour doing, just holler. I'll hear you."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You mentioned that something had been stolen from you in the Emperor
Floyd | Tavern."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I did?" Talbot rubs his head again and his good cheer fades. "Yes, I
Floyd | did. A photo of my daughter."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                155
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "She died. Her name was Annabel. She was young when it
Floyd | happened, and it broke my wife's heart. She left me and I haven't seen
Floyd | her since, though I've had my brain in the bottom of a bottle for a
Floyd | long time now so I don't blame her for leaving."
Floyd |
Floyd | He goes quiet for a minute, staring into space, before finally saying,
Floyd | "I gambled with some very dangerous people there. They took my money
Floyd | off me, but that wasn't what they wanted. They wanted something
Floyd | precious to me. The photo." Talbot sighs. "I kept it with me as a
Floyd | reminder. After I'd lost all my money, they offered to double
Floyd | everything if I put the photo up as collateral. And I lost. I lost the
Floyd | last photo of my daughter."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why would they want the photo?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Because of who they are. What they are. Mind thieves. Human
Floyd | suffering is like a drug to them. Oh, what a fool I was. Gambling away
Floyd | something like that. But I'll get it back from them one day."
Floyd |
Floyd | "More gambling?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, I've learnt my lesson there. Anyway, they cheated. The game was
Floyd | rigged. They switched the cards around when I wasn't looking and left
Floyd | me with a useless hand. No, lady, when I get the photo back from them,
Floyd | it won't be via gambling. And they won't be walking away from it to
Floyd | suck up someone else's misery, I can tell you."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Someone who steals brains and loves human misery, like M. Night Shyamalan, David Cage, DarkSydePhil or Henry Kissinger."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                156
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "Sorry, I've told you too much. I'm just an old drunk and
Floyd | fool, talking my mouth off. Forget I said anything."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe I can help," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Against them? No, don't even think about it. They're dangerous. They
Floyd | could have killed me, but I guess it amuses them to leave me alive
Floyd | knowing how miserable I am now they've taken from me the one thing I
Floyd | miss the most. Stay away from them."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                157
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "Just stay away from them, Miss. Please. I don't want
Floyd | your death on my conscience on top of everything else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm not sure what to try next."
		Roger says, "Yeah I dunno"
		DavidW asks, "We found no new objects, so maybe just exhaustively meld?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld passcard with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                158
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PASSCARD WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld passcard with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                159
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PASSCARD WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and the chisel and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld passcard with note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                160
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PASSCARD WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and the note and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld passcard" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                161
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PASSCARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the shockter and reforming them into a
Floyd | doll and some putty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "I like this guy a lot more than that annoying Frobisher. I bet Frobisher is one of the mind thieves."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                162
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | An old-fashioned kind of doll, the sort of thing that was popular when
Floyd | your mother was a child.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                163
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | Soft to the touch, but something prevents it being pulled apart.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Isn't a doll considerably larger than any passcard?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                164
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the doll and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the doll hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                165
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the putty and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                166
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the mirror hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "I was hoping to create something that would make everything look really weird."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                167
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                168
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the chisel and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                169
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the mirror and note. You watch
Floyd | as they become melded together... their molecules becoming one...
Floyd | transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a magnifying glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "Noteworthy."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                170
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | Useful for reading remarkably small text, but it doesn't serve any
Floyd | other purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "This doesn't seem like it could be a good part of any good game"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                171
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the bracelet and bring your meld ability to bear,
Floyd | but nothing happens. It seems the bracelet hasn't been melded from
Floyd | anything and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The totally unpredicability of melding/unmelding makes this a frustrating exercise."
		escapecage says, "I theink there was a magnifying glass in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father: That was my favorite Sierra game, though the sequels were horrendous."
		Amber says, "Limiting the permutations of items would be helpful in the game design."
		DavidW says, "There was a magnifying glass in The King ofShreds and Patches."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld bracelet with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                172
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD BRACELET WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the bracelet and the chisel.
Floyd | You watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding some lipstick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "I like the meld/unmeld concept, though. It reminds me of my magic stapler in my desk drawer."
		DavidW says, "oh right"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                173
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the lipstick and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the lipstick and reforming them into a
Floyd | bracelet and a chisel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                174
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the chisel and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the chisel hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld bracelet with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                175
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD BRACELET WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the bracelet and the doll and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Wear lipstick, go to illegal bar, cloud everyone's mind and see what you can do to get the jewel."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld bracelet with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                176
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD BRACELET WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the bracelet and the putty and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We can't wear the lipstick."
		DavidW says, "And 'cloud everyone's mind' isn't our superpower."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld chisel with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                177
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD CHISEL WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the chisel and the doll and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld chisel with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                178
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD CHISEL WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the chisel and the putty and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                179
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the putty and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the putty hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld glass" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                180
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and your meld ability takes
Floyd | hold, tearing apart the molecules of the magnifying glass and
Floyd | reforming them into a mirror and a note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                181
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the note and bring your meld ability to bear, but
Floyd | nothing happens. It seems the note hasn't been melded from anything
Floyd | and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I think there needs to be a grammar for this"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                182
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the doll and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                183
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the putty and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld doll with note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                184
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD DOLL WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the doll and the note and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld putty with note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                185
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PUTTY WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the putty and the note and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld note with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                186
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD NOTE WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the note and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld note with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                187
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD NOTE WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the chisel and the note. You
Floyd | watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a rock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW) CharlieBrown says, "I have a rock"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rock" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                188
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | A lump of rock big enough to fit comfortably into your hand. It feels
Floyd | unnaturally heavy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Hit Jacob with it?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                189
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the rock and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        190
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         191
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane. Blocking the way to Mawbury Lane
Floyd | is a hulking thug by the name of Jacob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit jacob with rock" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         192
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT JACOB WITH ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Jacob knocks the rock out of your hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nice try, sweetheart," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rock" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         193
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         194
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Your head aches but nothing else seems to happen. You get the distinct
Floyd | feeling you're doing it wrong. Something is missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Of course. You're forgetting the simplest, most basic rule of melding:
Floyd | it needs to work with another item. You cannot meld something
Floyd | on its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        195
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        196
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | Badly written and illegible in parts. You're probably better off not
Floyd | wasting too much time on this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock and mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        196
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK AND MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock with mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        197
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK WITH MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the rock and the mirror and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        198
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the rock and the putty and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld rock with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        199
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD ROCK WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the rock and the doll and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld doll with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        200
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD DOLL WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the doll and the putty. You
Floyd | watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a passcard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld passcard with rock" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        201
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PASSCARD WITH ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and the rock and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld bracelet with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        201
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD BRACELET WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld passcard with mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        202
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PASSCARD WITH MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the mirror and the passcard.
Floyd | You watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you once more holding the slip of paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld slip with rock" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        203
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD SLIP WITH ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the slip of paper and the rock and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld slip" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        204
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD SLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the slip of paper and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the slip of paper and reforming them
Floyd | into a mirror and a passcard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld passcard" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        205
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PASSCARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the passcard and your meld ability takes hold,
Floyd | tearing apart the molecules of the shockter and reforming them into a
Floyd | doll and some putty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with note" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        205
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        206
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a rock
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror and bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        206
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR AND BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        207
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the mirror and the bracelet and bring your meld
Floyd | ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with
Floyd | each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "It's good that our meld powers are not exhausting."
		DavidW says, "That's what you think."
		Amber says, "My magic stapler does run out of staples."
		DavidW says, "I'm keeping a chart of what I've tried, though."
		DavidW says, "I'm gonna attempt to talk to the librarian. Maybe he has a story to tell."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         208
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | City Library
Floyd | The smell of old books greets you: while hardly a pungent aroma, it's
Floyd | certainly cloying. This is City Library: a sprawling array of
Floyd | bookshelves as far as the eye can see, watched over by a scowling
Floyd | librarian who seems to regard visitors to the library with the same
Floyd | kind of contempt normally reserved for serial killers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to librarian" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         209
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO LIBRARIAN
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at you, sighs deeper, as if the very idea of talking to you
Floyd | is a gargantuan effort, and says "Can I help you with anything?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was just-"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Feel free to browse the bookshelves if you like. We have an excellent
Floyd | collection of Dromond's novels and a rare first by Edias. All very
Floyd | interesting works."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I was-"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Or local history? Does that interest you? If so, have a look at some
Floyd | of the bookshelves. I'm sure something will take your fancy."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was-"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, my apologies. Under new library rules, I am only allowed to spend
Floyd | a certain amount of time with each customer, and your time is at an
Floyd | end. Now, if you don't mind, I have other work to attend to."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But-"
Floyd |
Floyd | But you're wasting your breath. The librarian clearly has no interest
Floyd | in talking to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dromond" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         209
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DROMOND
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x edias" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         209
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EDIAS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search books" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         210
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read books" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         211
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Without knowing exactly which book you're looking for - if indeed you
Floyd | have a specific title in mind - you'll never find it here. The filing
Floyd | system is positively archaic!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask librarian about art" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         212
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK LIBRARIAN ABOUT ART
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         213
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a rock
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld rock" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         214
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the rock and your meld ability takes hold, tearing
Floyd | apart the molecules of the rock and reforming them into a chisel and a
Floyd | note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld note with mirror" 		

Floyd ]  City Library                                         215
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD NOTE WITH MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the mirror and note. You watch
Floyd | as they become melded together... their molecules becoming one...
Floyd | transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a magnifying glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        216
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          217
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                218
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | City alleys are supposed to be cleaned every day, but apparently the
Floyd | crew responsible for this alley didn't get the memo. It's knee-deep in
Floyd | trash and smells like an open sewer. Just being here makes you feel
Floyd | queasy.
Floyd |
Floyd | A breath of fresh air flows from the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          219
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       220
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              221
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { West }
Floyd | This area of the tavern seems a little more refined than the main area
Floyd | to the east. Here, the customers - or clientele - sit around sipping
Floyd | wine, talking in hushed voices and discussing the works of art
Floyd | adorning the walls. It's a welcome change after the noise just a short
Floyd | walk to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "examine sun through glass" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              221
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXAMINE SUN THROUGH GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the painting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look at painting through magnifying glass" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              221
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK AT PAINTING THROUGH MAGNIFYING GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              222
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | Useful for reading remarkably small text, but it doesn't serve any
Floyd | other purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage asks, "Have you tried the mirror?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x painting" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              223
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAINTING
Floyd |
Floyd | As you stare at the painting, you find your attention being drawn to
Floyd | the sun, in the same way as the king's attention is drawn to it. It
Floyd | takes an effort to look away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cover sun" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              224
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COVER SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can close.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to people" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              225
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You chat to some of the other clientele, but no one has much useful to
Floyd | tell you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       226
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to people" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       227
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You aren't likely to get much sense out of this lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          228
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                229
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | City alleys are supposed to be cleaned every day, but apparently the
Floyd | crew responsible for this alley didn't get the memo. It's knee-deep in
Floyd | trash and smells like an open sewer. Just being here makes you feel
Floyd | queasy.
Floyd |
Floyd | A breath of fresh air flows from the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          230
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        231
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                232
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest. You see Oscar Talbot sat close by.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to waitress" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                233
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO WAITRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | "Be with you in a minute," she says, and rushes off to serve someone
Floyd | else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                234
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "Just stay away from them, Miss. Please. I don't want
Floyd | your death on my conscience on top of everything else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                235
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a magnifying glass
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "remove sun with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                235
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REMOVE SUN WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld painting" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                235
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PAINTING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right. Wrong location."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        236
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          237
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "reflect sun on man with mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       238
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       238
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REFLECT SUN ON MAN WITH MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              239
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { West }
Floyd | This area of the tavern seems a little more refined than the main area
Floyd | to the east. Here, the customers - or clientele - sit around sipping
Floyd | wine, talking in hushed voices and discussing the works of art
Floyd | adorning the walls. It's a welcome change after the noise just a short
Floyd | walk to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The painting is here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld painting" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              240
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PAINTING
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the painting and bring your meld ability to bear,
Floyd | but nothing happens. It seems the painting hasn't been melded from
Floyd | anything and therefore it can't be unmelded into something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "remove sun with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              240
Floyd | >
Floyd | > REMOVE SUN WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to remove the painting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld painting with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              241
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD PAINTING WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | Unfortunately, your meld ability is limited in that you are unable to
Floyd | meld something that you are not physically holding. Also, the items in
Floyd | question can only be of a certain size - no melding buildings or
Floyd | aircraft for you!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "put bracelet on sun" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { West }                              242
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT BRACELET ON SUN
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the painting would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       243
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             244
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { North }
Floyd | Against the back wall of the tavern are a group of strange individuals
Floyd | engaged in some kind of staring contest at each other over a table. No
Floyd | one moves, no one says a word. All is deathly silent.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave to the south when you wish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to individuals" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             245
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO INDIVIDUALS
Floyd |
Floyd | No matter what you say to them, they don't answer. It's almost like
Floyd | they're so focused on their staring, they literally don't know you're
Floyd | here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             246
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a magnifying glass
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stare at jewel" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             246
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STARE AT JEWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld glass" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             247
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and your meld ability takes
Floyd | hold, tearing apart the molecules of the magnifying glass and
Floyd | reforming them into a mirror and a note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put mirror on table" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             248
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MIRROR ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the mirror on the table.
Floyd |
Floyd | As soon as this happens, it blocks the view of the jewel from one of
Floyd | the men, and something very strange happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | The jewel flickers, as if it's not really there at all! Then it fades
Floyd | away altogether.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How dare you!" one of the men cries, springing to his feet. "You have
Floyd | disrupted a most important experiment!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, pish, Pavlaroka," another of the men says. "If someone placing a
Floyd | mirror on the table can disrupt your mind jewel, you're nothing but a
Floyd | charlatan anyway. You ought to be ashamed."
Floyd |
Floyd | Pavlaroka goes pale. "But- but-" He glares daggers at you. "You'll be
Floyd | sorry for this, madam. Believe me, you'll be very, very
Floyd | sorry."
Floyd |
Floyd | He storms away, pausing only to flash an angry glance back over his
Floyd | shoulder at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | One by one, the other men get up and leave, all save the one who
Floyd | dismissed Pavlaroka as a charlatan. He regards you coldly, but with
Floyd | some amusement in his eyes. "Well... that was an interesting turn of
Floyd | events. My name is Tobol. Tell me, did you deliberately do that to
Floyd | antagonise Pavlaroka or was it pure happenstance? No, don't answer the
Floyd | question. I'll just amuse myself with the knowledge that Pavlaroka has
Floyd | more enemies than I previously imagined."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, that was interesting."
		DavidW says, "That was Roger's idea from earlier."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             249
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber says, "Mind jewelry, such sparkles."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to tobol" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             250
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TOBOL
Floyd |
Floyd | You explain about Oscar Talbot and the photo of his daughter that he
Floyd | lost gambling.
Floyd |
Floyd | Tobol shrugs. "He gambled. He lost. What more can I say?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You could give him the photo back."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I could, but I won't. He gambled fair and square and he lost fair and
Floyd | square. If he wishes to have the photo back, he can go to the guard
Floyd | and see how far that takes him. And why does it concern you anyway?
Floyd | Are you some kind of good samaritan to the drunken and worthless?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Would you take something else in exchange?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Tobol smiles. "Ah, now we're getting to the heart of the matter,
Floyd | aren't we? Very well. The photo by itself has no value to me. I would
Floyd | take money, but Talbot has none. However, there is a certain pearl I
Floyd | have seen, blue in colour, which rests in the display area of a
Floyd | jewellery shop on Mawbury Lane. It costs, I believe, 2 million
Floyd | credits. I will take that in exchange for the photo."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I hardly think Talbot has 2 million credits just lying around."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Then the photo is mine. Perhaps I will burn it, or cut it into small
Floyd | pieces and let the breeze carry it away."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage asks, "Tobol and Pavlaroka sound familiar: Was one of theem the name of the wife-beat in Crime and Punishemnt?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to tobol" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             251
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TOBOL
Floyd |
Floyd | "If you do not have the pearl, we have nothing to discuss. If you do,
Floyd | give it to me."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know the story."
		DavidW says, "I'm not even sure what country this is supposed to be set in."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       252
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          253
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        254
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         255
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane. Blocking the way to Mawbury Lane
Floyd | is a hulking thug by the name of Jacob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         256
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | "We've got nothing to discuss," says Jacob, "unless you're ready to
Floyd | hand over any jewels you happen to be carrying."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x buildings" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         257
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BUILDINGS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's really strange how they lean like that and seem to be on the
Floyd | verge of toppling over. Some architectural flaw? Were they designed
Floyd | like that?
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't feel especially safe on this path, like the buildings might
Floyd | suddenly decide to fall on you at any moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        258
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                259
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest. You see Oscar Talbot sat close by.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                260
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot says, "Just stay away from them, Miss. Please. I don't want
Floyd | your death on my conscience on top of everything else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask oscar about tobol" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                261
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK OSCAR ABOUT TOBOL
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask oscar about photo" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                262
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK OSCAR ABOUT PHOTO
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess 'talk to' and 'give to' are the only conversation options."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                263
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                264
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a mirror
Floyd |   a note
Floyd |   a chisel
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |   a bracelet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror and note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                264
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR AND NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with noe" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                264
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH NOE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld mirror with note" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                265
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD MIRROR WITH NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the mirror and note. You watch
Floyd | as they become melded together... their molecules becoming one...
Floyd | transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a magnifying glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld glass with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                266
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GLASS WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and the bracelet and bring
Floyd | your meld ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be
Floyd | melded with each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld glass with chisel" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                267
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GLASS WITH CHISEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and the chisel and bring your
Floyd | meld ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded
Floyd | with each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld glass with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                268
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GLASS WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and the doll and bring your
Floyd | meld ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded
Floyd | with each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld glass with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                269
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GLASS WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the magnifying glass and the putty and bring your
Floyd | meld ability to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded
Floyd | with each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld chisel with bracelet" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                270
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD CHISEL WITH BRACELET
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the bracelet and the chisel.
Floyd | You watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding some lipstick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld glass with lipstick" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                271
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GLASS WITH LIPSTICK
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the magnifying glass and the
Floyd | lipstick and the note. You watch as they become melded together...
Floyd | their molecules becoming one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "goodness"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gun" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                272
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | This is the kind of old-fashioned gun you remember seeing as a child
Floyd | in black and white films. It fires bullets, of which it currently
Floyd | none, instead of a laser beam like modern guns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Never tcomplain about a woman's appearance."
		DavidW says, "We have no bullets, of course."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "point gun" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                272
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POINT GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld gun with doll" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                273
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GUN WITH DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the gun and the doll and bring your meld ability to
Floyd | bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld gun with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                274
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD GUN WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the gun and the putty and bring your meld ability
Floyd | to bear, but nothing happens. The items cannot be melded with each
Floyd | other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Learning more about the world: This is set in the future, but some relics of the past, like black-and-white movies are still available."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "shoot gun" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                274
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber asks, "The gun can not be made to shoot itself?"
		DavidW says, "The syntax seems to be 'shoot [someone]', not 'shoot [weapon]'."
		Amber says, "I was making light of that in my own way."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "show gun to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                275
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW GUN TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Oscar Talbot is unimpressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give gun to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                276
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE GUN TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Oscar Talbot doesn't seem interested.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        277
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         278
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane. Blocking the way to Mawbury Lane
Floyd | is a hulking thug by the name of Jacob.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "show gun to jacob" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         279
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW GUN TO JACOB
Floyd |
Floyd | Jacob takes one look at the gun and hastily backs away. "Hey,
Floyd | sweetheart! Take it easy now! I wasn't gonna hurt you, honest, I was
Floyd | just- just-"
Floyd |
Floyd | Whatever he was just planning to do you never find out because he
Floyd | turns on his heel and runs off as fast as he can.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yay"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		escapecage says, "Hunt him down and demand money and jewels."

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         280
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Mawbury Lane
Floyd | The old part of the city, but quite charming in its own right. There's
Floyd | a fountain here to drink from, though you're not entirely sure the
Floyd | water is good for you. A street artist can be seen here, performing
Floyd | for passersby.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Padgett's Jewellers, south is Thorobad Road, east lies
Floyd | the exclusive Bagliatiers Club, southeast the Tower of Morning and
Floyd | northwest is a winding path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Where did Frobisher want us to go?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         281
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | An ancient stone fountain, likely built back in the days when people
Floyd | rode around on horses. It's full of water, but you're not sure how
Floyd | clean it is.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x artist" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         281
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ARTIST
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         282
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Mawbury Lane
Floyd | The old part of the city, but quite charming in its own right. There's
Floyd | a fountain here to drink from, though you're not entirely sure the
Floyd | water is good for you. A street artist can be seen here, performing
Floyd | for passersby.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Padgett's Jewellers, south is Thorobad Road, east lies
Floyd | the exclusive Bagliatiers Club, southeast the Tower of Morning and
Floyd | northwest is a winding path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x street artist" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         282
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STREET ARTIST
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x juggler" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         282
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JUGGLER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         282
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  283
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Padgett's Jewellers
Floyd | The interior of the shop is a ruin: tumbled over displays, flickering
Floyd | lights and the security system seems to be malfunctioning. There's a
Floyd | pedestal in the centre of the store which seems to have survived the
Floyd | worst of the damage.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a small manager's office to the north and to the south is
Floyd | Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | The disruption caused by the Angel's departure seems to have badly hit
Floyd | Padgett's Jewellers. Most of the displays have fallen over and the
Floyd | previous state-of-the-art security system appears to be
Floyd | malfunctioning. Of the manager, Mr Kimble, you can see no sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pedestal" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  284
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's hard to pay much attention to the pedestal with the blue pearl
Floyd | atop it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pearl" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  285
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PEARL
Floyd |
Floyd | Beautiful and then some. Even for someone not overly impressed with
Floyd | fancy jewels, this is very eye-catching. Unfortunately, the 2 million
Floyd | credit price tag puts it roughly 2 million credits out of your price
Floyd | range.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Amber exclaims, "The lovely blue pearl!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cfmeld" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  285
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pearl" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  286
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PEARL
Floyd |
Floyd | Hoping the alarms have been disabled, you pick up the large blue
Floyd | pearl.
Floyd |
Floyd | Which, the moment it leaves the pedestal, shimmers and shrinks to
Floyd | about half its former size. Clearly the pedestal is fitted with some
Floyd | kind of cloaking device designed to make the pearl look much grander
Floyd | than it previously was.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pedestal" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  287
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PEDESTAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unmeld pearl" 		

Floyd ]  Padgett's Jewellers                                  288
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNMELD PEARL
Floyd |
Floyd | You concentrate on the small blue pearl and bring your meld ability to
Floyd | bear, but nothing happens. It seems the small blue pearl hasn't been
Floyd | melded from anything and therefore it can't be unmelded into something
Floyd | else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Still plugging away, eh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         289
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mawbury Lane
Floyd | The old part of the city, but quite charming in its own right. There's
Floyd | a fountain here to drink from, though you're not entirely sure the
Floyd | water is good for you. A street artist can be seen here, performing
Floyd | for passersby.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Padgett's Jewellers, south is Thorobad Road, east lies
Floyd | the exclusive Bagliatiers Club, southeast the Tower of Morning and
Floyd | northwest is a winding path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         290
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        291
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Roger), "Your mirror idea worked, btw."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          292
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                293
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | City alleys are supposed to be cleaned every day, but apparently the
Floyd | crew responsible for this alley didn't get the memo. It's knee-deep in
Floyd | trash and smells like an open sewer. Just being here makes you feel
Floyd | queasy.
Floyd |
Floyd | A breath of fresh air flows from the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          294
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       295
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             296
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern { North }
Floyd | Against the back wall of the tavern is a table. This was previously
Floyd | occupied by a group of strange individuals having a staring contest,
Floyd | but they have now all departed save for one man called Tobol.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can leave to the south when you wish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give pearl to tobol" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             297
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE PEARL TO TOBOL
Floyd |
Floyd | Tobol's eyes narrow slightly. "Interesting. When I asked for the
Floyd | pearl, I did not believe you would be able to acquire it, however it
Floyd | seems you are more resourceful than I imagined."
Floyd |
Floyd | "We had a deal. Do you have the photo?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I do indeed." Tobol produces it from his pocket and casually tosses
Floyd | it to you. "Take it. A small thing. Trivial, of no account. But this,"
Floyd | he taps the pearl, "is worth a fortune. You are a strange person, to
Floyd | trade such obvious wealth for something of no value."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It means everything to Talbot."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tobol gives you a ghost of a smile. "Indeed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take photo" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             298
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PHOTO
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern { North }                             299
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHOTO
Floyd |
Floyd | An old photo of a young girl, smiling prettily at the camera.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Emperor Tavern                                       300
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Emperor Tavern
Floyd | Before today, you'd only heard of the Emperor Tavern but never visited
Floyd | it. It has a somewhat ominous reputation which might be all rumour and
Floyd | no substance, but seeing it from here you can well imagine its
Floyd | reputation is well-founded.
Floyd |
Floyd | What you see is a large room, massive in fact, in which literally
Floyd | hundreds of people sit around circular tables, drinking beer, smoking
Floyd | all manner of illegal substances, and gambling. Yes, gambling. Banned
Floyd | within the city limits it might be, but here you see it in abundance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can make your way deeper into the tavern to the north, west or
Floyd | northwest or you can return to Morring Row to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Morring Row                                          301
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Morring Row
Floyd | To the northwest stands the grandly-titled Emperor Tavern, a massive
Floyd | structure looming over the whole of Morring Row and putting everything
Floyd | else into the shade. In truth, there's very little here aside from the
Floyd | tavern, a park off to the northeast and Tiamont Plaza to the south. An
Floyd | alley can be seen off to the west, running alongside the tavern.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        302
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                303
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | One of many coffee houses that have sprung up across the city offering
Floyd | cheap, barely drinkable (in your opinion) coffee to people with more
Floyd | money than common sense. This one is of fairly typical design:
Floyd | numerous tables and booths, an harassed looking waitress (the only
Floyd | employee that you can see) and an atmosphere thick with the smell of
Floyd | burnt coffee beans. Only one booth is free at this moment, this being
Floyd | due southwest. You see Oscar Talbot sat close by.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east lies Tiamont Square.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give photo to oscar" 		

Floyd ]  Rowena's Coffee House                                304
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE PHOTO TO OSCAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot's hand shakes as he reaches out to take the photo. "How did
Floyd | you...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't ask. I'm just glad I could retrieve it for you."
Floyd |
Floyd | Talbot stares at the photo. His eyes fill with tears, but he quickly
Floyd | wipes them away. "Oh, I'm an old fool, gambling with this...
Floyd | But I'm done now. No more gambling for me. I'd die if I lost this
Floyd | again. Tell me, please, how can I repay you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You tell him there's no need, but he searches about his person for
Floyd | something, anything, to give you by way of payment. Finally he reaches
Floyd | into his pocket and pulls out a scarf. He holds it tightly then hands
Floyd | it to you. "Accept this. Please. It's not much but... years ago,
Floyd | before my daughter died, before my wife left me and I began drinking
Floyd | myself to death, I was a member of a very important club on Mawbury
Floyd | Lane. Bagliatiers. You may have heard of it. This scarf was something
Floyd | we all wore as a badge of our membership. It's not worth much these
Floyd | days - probably almost nothing in fact - but you might be able to sell
Floyd | it for something, and if not just..." He laughs softly. "Just use it
Floyd | to keep warm."
Floyd |
Floyd | He won't take no for an answer so you accept the scarf. Talbot thanks
Floyd | you again, then rises slowly to his feet, still clutching the photo of
Floyd | his daughter, and leaves the coffee house.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Like the time I bought To The Moon, but much less of a loss."
		DavidW says, "I guess we go to the club next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Tiamont Plaza                                        305
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tiamont Plaza
Floyd | This is Tiamont Plaza, the heart of the city's Upias District (named
Floyd | after some long-dead scholar, you think). Few people are about, and
Floyd | those you see hurry past quickly, as if unwilling to spend any more
Floyd | time here than they really have to. A large stone statue has been
Floyd | erected here and looks to have become a target for the locals and
Floyd | their graffiti.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Morring Row, south is Belmont Avenue, southeast is a
Floyd | winding path between tall buildings, west lies Rowena's Coffee House
Floyd | and northwest is City Library.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Winding Path                                         306
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Winding Path
Floyd | Little sunlight reaches this winding path due to the tall buildings on
Floyd | either side, buildings which seem to lean over, almost touching, above
Floyd | you. This is an old part of the city, with nothing here having been
Floyd | built in the last hundred years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Northwest you can see Tiamont Plaza, to the south is an abandoned
Floyd | house and southeast is Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         307
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | Mawbury Lane
Floyd | The old part of the city, but quite charming in its own right. There's
Floyd | a fountain here to drink from, though you're not entirely sure the
Floyd | water is good for you. A street artist can be seen here, performing
Floyd | for passersby.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Padgett's Jewellers, south is Thorobad Road, east lies
Floyd | the exclusive Bagliatiers Club, southeast the Tower of Morning and
Floyd | northwest is a winding path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         308
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a scarf
Floyd |   a gun
Floyd |   a putty
Floyd |   a doll
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear scarf" 		

Floyd ]  Mawbury Lane                                         309
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR SCARF
Floyd |
Floyd | You put on the scarf.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     310
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Bagliatiers Club
Floyd | This is the lobby area of a very exclusive club, the kind of place
Floyd | that only people with earnings in the seven figure category ever get
Floyd | to visit. The floor is all marble tiles and the walls fairly shimmer.
Floyd | Steel doors are set into the east wall and look impervious to anything
Floyd | less than a nuclear strike. A small slot to the side looks like the
Floyd | means of access, assuming you have anything that might fit into it.
Floyd | Due west lies Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear footsteps from behind you and turn to see a tall,
Floyd | heavily-built man stood in the doorway. He has the look of a bodyguard
Floyd | or soldier.
Floyd |
Floyd | He notices the scarf you're  wearing and offers a short nod. "Welcome
Floyd | to Bagliatiers, madam. I am Farrah, head of security, at your
Floyd | service."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
escapecage says (to Floyd), "meld scarf and doll" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     310
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD SCARF AND DOLL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		escapecage says, "Very obtuse reference to the kind of weird, disturbing dream you never describe to anyone."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     311
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | A pair of impressive steel doors set into the east wall, currently
Floyd | closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x slot" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     312
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SLOT
Floyd |
Floyd | A slot about the size of a playing card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to farrah" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     313
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO FARRAH
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome to Bagliatiers, madam," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     314
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Bagliatiers Club
Floyd | This is the lobby area of a very exclusive club, the kind of place
Floyd | that only people with earnings in the seven figure category ever get
Floyd | to visit. The floor is all marble tiles and the walls fairly shimmer.
Floyd | Steel doors are set into the east wall and look impervious to anything
Floyd | less than a nuclear strike. A small slot to the side looks like the
Floyd | means of access, assuming you have anything that might fit into it.
Floyd | Farrah, the head of security at the club, is stood by the doors. Due
Floyd | west lies Mawbury Lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose the passcard might fit in the slot."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "meld doll with putty" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     315
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MELD DOLL WITH PUTTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You bring your meld ability to focus on the doll and the putty. You
Floyd | watch as they become melded together... their molecules becoming
Floyd | one... transforming into something else...
Floyd |
Floyd | Leaving you holding a passcard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put passcard in slot" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     316
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT PASSCARD IN SLOT
Floyd |
Floyd | The passcard slides into the slot and, a moment later, the steel doors
Floyd | slide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take passcard" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     316
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PASSCARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Bagliatiers Club
Floyd | Old leather chairs surround a central area where you see a large table
Floyd | has been set up. Atop this table is a map of the city shown from an
Floyd | aerial viewpoint. Gathered around the table are a group of elderly
Floyd | men.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, so good of you come here, Miss Charles," says an elderly
Floyd | gentleman seated in an armchair at the table. "We've been waiting for
Floyd | you."
Floyd |
Floyd | You glance around uneasily. None of the people here can be younger
Floyd | than eighty, but there's nothing frail about them. They have the look
Floyd | of old money and old power.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Who are you are what do you want with me?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My name is Carl Mountbatten. I meld." He gestures to the others in
Floyd | the room. "We all meld, but none to quite the extent that you
Floyd | do. We want to recruit you, Miss Charles, for a little job. We also
Floyd | want to talk to you about Tanya." He smiles. "Yes, your sister. She
Floyd | isn't dead and, with your help, we can rescue her."
Floyd |
Floyd | Press a key...

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     317
Floyd | Press a key...
Floyd |
Floyd | The introduction to 'Meld' has finished. Feel free to check out how
Floyd | well you did with the 'stats' command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stats" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     317
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Total items melded: 7/12
Floyd | Total items unmelded: 5/11
Floyd |
Floyd | Melded:
Floyd | Melded G (Gun)
Floyd | Melded K (Key)
Floyd | Melded L (Lipstick)
Floyd | Melded M (Magnifying glass)
Floyd | Melded P (slip of Paper & Passcard)
Floyd | Melded R (Rock)
Floyd |
Floyd | Unmelded:
Floyd | Unmelded L (Lipstick)
Floyd | Unmelded M (Magnifying glass)
Floyd | Unmelded P (slip of Paper & Passcard)
Floyd | Unmelded R (Rock)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x carl" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     318
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARL
Floyd |
Floyd | An elderly fellow.
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks quite miffed at having such a brief description but then you
Floyd | only meet him at the very end of the introduction so he'll just have
Floyd | to live with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess that's the end of the game, but it hasn't exactly stopped either."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to carl" 		

Floyd ]  Bagliatiers Club                                     319
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CARL
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sorry, I don't have any proper dialogue," he says. "You'll have to
Floyd | wait for the full game for that."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Haha"
		Amber >
		DavidW says, "anyway, are we done? I think I'm done."
		Roger says, "Concur"
		escapecage says, "Interesting little game. I hope the implied sequel is made."
		DavidW says, "There were a few exits from Mewbury Lane that we never tried."
		DavidW says (to escapecage), "It's an IntroComp entry. This was only meant to be the first part of a larger game to be written."
		Roger asks, "Did Frobisher ever show up again?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "No."
		Roger says, "Ha"
		escapecage says, "A swuggestion: I just finished Randal's Monday today, and despite the mixed reviews, it was quite excellent, reminiscent of the old Lucasarts adventure games."
		escapecage says, "You cannot play it here, because it is a graphic adventure.."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		DavidW says, "Anyway, thanks to everyone for showing up and playing and offering suggestions and comments."
		Roger asks, "Can we leave the transcript in your able hands?"
		DavidW says, "We're officially on hiatus, but we can still play if we want to."
		DavidW says (to Roger), "Jacqueline will process the transcript eventually. You might have to wait a month, though."
		Roger says, "Yeah, I'm just wondering if someone here as any further work to do to make that happen"
		DavidW says, "I start Perry to make the recording."
		DavidW says, "And I should look up how to stop him."
		Amber says, "I feel like I've snuck in today, but enjoyed it as always."
		Taleslinger) 5 minutes later ... DavidW says, "Oh my god! He's unstoppable!"



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Brain Guzzlers from Beyond! by Steph Cherrywell
As played on ifMUD on November 22, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Brain Guzzlers from Beyond! written by Steph Cherrywell. It took first place in the 2015 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Okay. No images, I guess. Let's begin. I'll load 'er up."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask brainguzzlers" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Brain Guzzlers from Beyond!
Floyd | Presented in glorious bi-chromatic TEXT-O-RAMA by Steph Cherrywell
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 151017 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | HIP or DRIP?
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you a keen gal, or a dull dame? This ten-question Quiz-O-Matric
Floyd | info-matrix--designed with the latest science in mind--will tell you
Floyd | if you're on track for a fairy-tale ending, or if you need to make
Floyd | some changes to keep your Prince Charming from riding right on by!
Floyd |
Floyd | Question 1: Most importantly, what color is your hair?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Blonde.
Floyd | 2) Black.
Floyd | 3) Red.
Floyd | 4) Brown.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
zarf arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Emily says, "I've tried red and brown before but I haven't seen blonde or black"
		Jacqueline asks, "I always wanted to be a goth. How about black?"
		Emily says, "(if I fill out this quiz as me, it totally thinks I'm boring)"
		DavidW says, "I've seen blonde and brown, I think."
		Emily says, "sure"
		DavidW says, "black is good."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [Black.]
Floyd |
Floyd | You may not be at the top of the social pyramid, but this solid choice
Floyd | won't hold you back, either--keep your raven tresses washed and
Floyd | bobbed, and you'll still get plenty of attention!  Just watch your
Floyd | wardrobe, and stay away from dungarees and too-bright colors.  You
Floyd | don't want to look ethnic!
Floyd |
Floyd | Question 2: Worries may bring wrinkles, but from time to time, we all
Floyd | get a little fretful--it's our feminine nature! What worries you the
Floyd | most?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) My clothes.
Floyd | 2) My weight.
Floyd | 3) Nuclear war.
Floyd | 4) My makeup.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "(This first part definitely needs a driver. So I'll drive.)"
		DavidW says, "I chose weight when I played."
		Jacqueline says, "I chose nuclear war when I was answering as me."
		Emily says, "heh, likewise"
		verbalK asks, "What's the difference between make up and clothes really ?"
		Jacqueline says, "One is about money, the other less so. (Clothes = money, cosmetics = less so)"
		Emily asks, "depends on the cosmetics, maybe?"
		Emily says, "but sure, let's pick cosmetics"
		Jacqueline says, "(Among other things, such as how you want people to think of you.)"
		Emily says, "our gothy eyeliner"
		Jacqueline says, "Ooooh. Right."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | [My makeup.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Every girl worries about her makeup. Remember  those old sayings from
Floyd | 'when mother was a girl': "If you're in a rush, just a little blush"
Floyd | but "it's worth half an hour to cover that glower!" Also, "girls who
Floyd | eat off their lipstick soon find it makes hips thick." We hope those
Floyd | help!
Floyd |
Floyd | Question 3: We've all got that one can't-live-without-it item we tuck
Floyd | into our purses before leaving the house. What's yours?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) A book of poems. Ah, Dickinson!
Floyd | 2) A girl can't be too careful, so I always carry a switchblade.
Floyd | 3) My collapsible hula hoop!
Floyd | 4) Don't laugh, but...I still carry a teddy bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I chose teddy bear. I like hugs."
		Jacqueline chuckles.
		verbalK says, "I went for the book of poems."
		Emily says, "the first time I picked the poems"
		Jacqueline says, "Let me guess. Emily -- right"
		Jacqueline says, "Called it, just not soon enough."
		Jacqueline says, "I chose the switchblade."
		Jacqueline asks, "So let's choose 3?"
		Emily says, "sure"
		DavidW says, "I have no idea where the hula hoop would be useful in game."
		Emily says, "that sounds like a rich source of potential comedy"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | [My collapsible hula hoop!]
Floyd |
Floyd | You're a real party-girl, and your careful choice shows that you're a
Floyd | fun date AND you like to keep fit. Just watch where you swing those
Floyd | hips; a modest hooper is a popular hooper!
Floyd |
Floyd | Question 4: What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Vanilla.
Floyd | 2) Chocolate.
Floyd | 3) Strawberry.
Floyd | 4) Mint.
Floyd | 5) Lime.
Floyd | 6) Fudge ripple.
Floyd | 7) Raspberry.
Floyd | 8) Rocky road.
Floyd | 9) Black Forest double fudge.
Floyd | 10) Tutti-frutti.
Floyd | 11) Death-by-chocolate triple fudge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "I really wonder what the collapsible hula hoop might be for..."
		DavidW says, "I picked raspberry."
		verbalK says, "Raspberry too."
		verbalK says, "Didnt reach the part of the game where this might have an impact though ..."
		DavidW says (to verbalK), "I think all four must-keep items are useful *somewhere* in game."
		Jacqueline asks, "Ah, so these things come up later? I guess I should have anticipated that. I was thinking it was just a distracting way to start the game, but it's using the now pretty common in non-text computer games quiz-determines-your-destiny thing?"
		Jacqueline says, "I picked vanilla. But I was tempted by rocky road."
		Emily says, "I'm up for that"
		Emily says, "also, realizing I'm kind of hungry right now"
		verbalK exclaims, "Yeah ! Rocky road let's go !"
		Emily says, "but NEVER MIND THAT"
		DavidW says, "It's not a destiny thing this time. But it does give different options."
		Jacqueline asks, "If this matters later, though, maybe we should chose death-by-chocolate triple fudge?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		zarf says, "chocolate always matters later"
		DavidW says (to zarf), "So I've heard."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. Rocky road. Also, this reminds me that I have some espresso gelato in the freezer."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "8" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 8
Floyd |
Floyd | [Rocky road.]
Floyd |
Floyd | As you put your pencil to the page, Jimmy yanks the magazine away from
Floyd | you. "Aw, come on, Bonnie! Whyagotta keep your nose stuck in that
Floyd | magazine alla time? What are you doin', takin' a test? Gee whiz, you'd
Floyd | think we were in class instead of at the Parking Spot!" He leans back
Floyd | in the driver's seat and folds his muscular arms across his chest.
Floyd | "Aren't we gonna... you know...park?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Let's look this "Jimmy" customer over.
Floyd | 2) "Steady girlfriend, huh? You mean you weren't just up here
Floyd | with that German exchange student?"
Floyd | 3) "We haven't even been dating that long. What will people say?"
Floyd | 4) Your mind is made up--you're gonna kiss him!
Floyd | 5) Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I basically ran down these options and then decided not to ever kiss him and to cheer when he dies."
		Jacqueline says, "After that I have not played the game."
		DavidW says, "btw, as far as I know, the game cannot be made unwinnable."
		Jacqueline says, "I... I didn't choose 3, actually."
		Emily says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["We haven't even been dating that long. What will people
Floyd | say?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Aw, we've been on five dates already. If I don't get kissed soon, the
Floyd | fellas will start callin' me a yellow-belly!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Let's look this "Jimmy" customer over.
Floyd | 2) "Steady girlfriend, huh? You mean you weren't just up here
Floyd | with that German exchange student?"
Floyd | 3) Your mind is made up--you're gonna kiss him!
Floyd | 4) Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I was pretty annoyed with him too, yeah"
		DavidW says, "oh, I kissed him."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "David!"
		Emily says, "heehee"
		Jacqueline asks, "Why, because of the response to 1?"
		DavidW asks, "uh... maybe?"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, he's dreamy, but... oh who am I kidding? I've kissed a few very attractive yet questionable people."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe we should kiss him, just to see how this all goes down."
		Jacqueline says, "That... was the wrong choice of words."
		zarf asks, "an d what is the response to 1?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Let's look this "Jimmy" customer over.]
Floyd |
Floyd | He's a real dreamboat--tall, tan, his athlete's body wrapped in a
Floyd | tight varsity jacket that shows off his broad chest and well-muscled
Floyd | arms. He sees you looking and flashes his trademark gleaming grin, the
Floyd | one that makes girls melt into puddles.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Steady girlfriend, huh? You mean you weren't just up here
Floyd | with that German exchange student?"
Floyd | 2) Your mind is made up--you're gonna kiss him!
Floyd | 3) Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		zarf says, "I see"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		verbalK says, "THat's when I decided I wasnt going to kiss him."
		Jacqueline says, "Basically there was indeed a time where I was interested in that. I got over it, though."
		verbalK says, "But it happened anyway so .."
		Jacqueline says, "So... let me run through the others."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Steady girlfriend, huh? You mean you weren't just up here
Floyd | with that German exchange student?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gosh, no! I mean, I was. But that was before I met you, and anyway,
Floyd | she was awful, just awful. Her breath tasted like those weird
Floyd | cigarettes she smokes and she wouldn't shut up about, gosh, I don't
Floyd | know what-all it was about. And she had that gross hairy mole on her
Floyd | rear end!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I guess I can expect you to blab to the next girl about MY hairy
Floyd | mole..."
Floyd | 2) Your mind is made up--you're gonna kiss him!
Floyd | 3) Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I can expect you to blab to the next girl about MY hairy
Floyd | mole..."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ha, ha" Jimmy snorts. He looks concerned. "Wait, Bonnie. That was a
Floyd | joke, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Your mind is made up--you're gonna kiss him!
Floyd | 2) Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This is when I was firmly against kissing him. But I will, for you all, if you wish it."
		Emily says, "no kissing"
		Emily says, "I really dislike Jimmy"
		DavidW says, "I'll point out that Jimmy did *not* get his own character art."
		Jacqueline sits back to see if anyone will take on Ms. Short.
		DavidW says, "don't kiss him"
		Jacqueline says, "Having counted past ten and not heard from others..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [Your mind is made up--no way are you gonna kiss him!]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look," you say, "I'm sorry, but...I'm just not that sort of girl."
Floyd | Jimmy frowns.  "I'm starting to think you're not a girl at all--you're
Floyd | more like a cold fish!"
Floyd | "Well, better a cold fish than an overheated wolf!" you shoot back.
Floyd | "Well, I'D rather be a wolf than a stuck-up cow!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The conversation goes steadily downhill from there.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yak!"
Floyd | "Skunk!"
Floyd | "Crab!"
Floyd | "Hippo!"
Floyd | "Oooh, grow up you...you axolotl!"
Floyd | "Well, you're a gazelle! Only, y'know, like an insult, as in 'That
Floyd | Bonnie, she's dumb as a gazelle!'  I'm not calling you graceful--"
Floyd | "Wait, shh!  What was that?"  A sound outside the car has caught your
Floyd | attention.

		verbalK asks, "Hey how do you guys communicate with Floyd ?"
		zarf says, "hee"
		Jacqueline says, "And now we enter Press Any Key Land."
		Emily asks, "wait, what would be wrong with being an axolotl?"
		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "You type f command... but right now I'm driving so that we don't step on each other."
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "I totally don't know. They're adorable."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | attention.It's a low gurgling noise, like the gentle babbling of a
Floyd | brook. But that's impossible--The Parking Spot is at the top of a
Floyd | cliff! There's nothing up here but pine trees and gravel roads. The
Floyd | headlights throw the shadows of the trunks into sharp relief.
Floyd |
Floyd | A black shape appears right in front of you! You stifle a shriek. It's
Floyd | only a deer. The doe ignores you, wandering off into the trees.
Floyd |
Floyd | The gurgling noise gets louder, than starts to die away. "It's
Floyd | probably just Old Man McDillingfitty," Jimmy says. "That old busybody
Floyd | is always trying to get us kids in trouble!"
Floyd |
Floyd | With a sickening thud, half of a deer carcass smashes into the front
Floyd | of the car, splattering the windshield with intestines and
Floyd | greenish-yellow ichor. The hindquarters are completely gone, ripped
Floyd | cleanly off, or maybe melted by the glowing goo which is now burning
Floyd | its way through the engine.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My car!" Jimmy cries. "That's it.  Stay here, Bonnie.  I'm going to
Floyd | go give that dirty old man a piece of my mind!"

		Emily says, "unless the idea is-- hm."
		Emily researches
		verbalK asks, "Why is the space bar green ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Because the return key is yellow."
		verbalK says, "Obviously... Why did I even ask :)"
		Jacqueline says, "And the return key is yellow because the space bar is green."
		Emily says, "ah, right, okay: so it goes with "grow up": axolotls are neotenic, and retain juvenile appearance into adulthood"
		Emily says, "I HAVE LEARNED A THING thank you Steph"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "That's one to grow on."
		Jacqueline says, "I really did love this bit with the deer."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | go give that dirty old man a piece of my mind!"He gets out of the car
Floyd | and walks towards the trees. "Hello?  Mr. McDillingfitty? Is that
Floyd | you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The gurgling, slithering noise gets louder and louder. You can hear
Floyd | noises, heavy but somehow soft, like garbage bags full of gelatin
Floyd | dropping into a parking lot from an enormous height. A shadow rises
Floyd | above the trees, visible only as an absense of stars.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Golly," Jimmy says. "McDillingfitty is taller than I remembered.  He
Floyd | was in the war, wasn't he? Uh--maybe--maybe we should just go--"
Floyd |
Floyd | A ropy tentacle as thick around as a tree trunk shoots out of the
Floyd | woods and lifts Jimmy off of his feet. "Oh, heck!" he cries in alarm
Floyd | as he's hoisted into the air.  The headlights flicker and die. Abrupt
Floyd | and near-total darkness is split by screams of agony. "My brain!
Floyd | You're guzzling my brain! Y-you're not Old Man
Floyd | McDilling--"
Floyd |
Floyd | His voice cuts off, and you can hear horrible sucking sounds. Oh gosh!
Floyd | He's being devoured alive! Oh gosh! Oh gosh! That monster--that
Floyd | horrible thing out there, whatever it is--is eating him! And
Floyd | now it's going to eat you!
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh my gosh!
Floyd |
Floyd | Mercury Meteor
Floyd | You're crouched in the front seat of Jimmy's car. Well, technically
Floyd | now it's kind of your car, since he's dead and your were practically
Floyd | almost sort of his girlfriend. It comes fully loaded with all the
Floyd | latest options: a steering wheel, glove compartment, horn, parking
Floyd | brake, headlights and so on.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside is a sea of moonless black, but you know roughly where you
Floyd | are--you're at The Parking Spot, with the front of the car pointing up
Floyd | the steep incline towards the patch of scraggly pines growing on the
Floyd | mountaintop. A short dirt path behind you leads back down to the main
Floyd | road.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see a horrible monster here, but that doesn't mean there
Floyd | isn't one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "meanwhile I've been reading wikipedia, Jimmy is getting eaten"
		zarf says, "'just a little, not a lot'll / satisfy an axolotl'"
		Jacqueline asks, "Can I just poing something out?"
		zarf asks, "that rhyme sucked?"
		Emily asks, "point?"
		Jacqueline asks, "I don't think anyone is capable of actually saying 'You're guzzling my brain!' Like, once it's happening, you can't talk anymore, can you?"
		Emily says, "maybe if it's very slow, initially causing only limited damage"
		Emily says, "but that would be more sipping"
		Jacqueline realizes she will need to suspend her disbelief.
		DavidW says, "I don't want to give spoilers about brain guzzling."
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Brain Sippers From Beyond... doesn't have quite the same ring to it."
		Emily says, "also, I am reminded of that playground joke. "what is it doing? / starving!""
		Emily says (to Jacqueline), "not so much, no"
		verbalK asks, "What if the brain guzzler, while guzzling, injected a specific poison into your brain that makes you say "You are guzzling my brain" ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. I am now Samwise, and if I take one more step, it'll be the farthest from home I've ever been. The rest of the game I've not yet seen,"
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Yeah. I used to tell that joke. I was a terrible little child."
		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "Perhaps it has a voice emulator that it plays while it's guzzling you. ANYWAY, WHAT DO WE DO NOW? THIS SEEMS SERIOUS."
		verbalK asks, "Let's try to get out ? Can we drive ?"
		Jacqueline says, "The car's engine kind of melted, but let's try that, sure."
		Jacqueline asks, "Question: is there a timing issue still, or could we all enter commands?"
		DavidW says, "You should be fine here."
		Jacqueline says, "Cool"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're Bonnie Noodleman, a spunky eighteen-year-old with raven-black
Floyd | hair. You're wearing a stylish pleated gray skirt and navy-blue
Floyd | sweater.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The game is very forgiving."
		Jacqueline says, "What was Jimmy's last name? Maybe we should have married him just to get our name changed easily."
		Jacqueline says, "Then again, perhaps Bonnie Noodleman is a pastamancer."
		Emily says, "mmmm pasta"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Wow, this is a real keen ride! It's got all sorts of features, like a
Floyd | horn, and headlights, and a parking brake, and even a steering wheel,
Floyd | and the whole thing is painted a real swell red that you could get out
Floyd | and admire if it wasn't pitch dark, and if you could leave the car
Floyd | without dying messily.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "(Warning: I always suck at figuring out the commands for cars.)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "start car" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > START CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive car" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "the thing to note here is that it spells out the various car parts"
		Emily says, "and-- yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on ignition" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON IGNITION
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily says (to floyd), "x brake" 		

Floyd ]  Mercury Meteor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BRAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | It keeps the car from rolling away. It's on right now. You can PULL it
Floyd | to take it off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pull brake" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL BRAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You yank hard on the brake. The car shudders, then begins rolling
Floyd | backwards.  Oh, goody--it's working! You feel happy butterflies in
Floyd | your belly as the Meteor gently slides back onto the smooth asphalt of
Floyd | the main road.
Floyd |
Floyd | The slithering, gibbering noises are fading. Whatever that
Floyd | brain-guzzling monster is, every second that passes is taking you
Floyd | farther away from it. And not only are you escaping, but as your
Floyd | escape continues, it goes faster...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...and faster...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...and maybe you're escaping a little TOO much, because you've got to
Floyd | be going about seventy or eighty miles now backwards down a mountain
Floyd | road in a car that doesn't really work.

		verbalK exclaims, "Let's roll !"
		zarf says, "SET RATIOCINATING INJECTOR TO MANDIBLE"
		DavidW says, "goodness. It took me ages to pull the brake. I was methodically examining everything."
		Jacqueline asks, "Can we pull it again to stop?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pull break" 		

Floyd | road in a car that doesn't really work.You grab the wheel and do your
Floyd | best to at least steer, whipping around corners at high speed and
Floyd | barely staying on the road.  You're doing okay, though--and then you
Floyd | see it in the rearview mirror! Dead Teenager's Curve, the most
Floyd | dangerous patch of road in the state. Golly, don't tell me you
Floyd | survived a monster attack only to die in an ordinary traffic accident!
Floyd |
Floyd | You wrestle with the wheel, but it's not enough. The Meteor bursts
Floyd | through the guardrail and sails out into an ocean of cold air and
Floyd | stars! Oh gosh! It's going end over end now, sky and ground switching
Floyd | places in a dizzying whirl. "Jeepers, what a pickle!" you think as
Floyd | your forehead smashes into the steering column.

		DavidW says, "push space"
		verbalK says, "Well, we can still examine stuff later I guess, we are still IN the car."
		DavidW says (to verbalK), "uhuh"
		Jacqueline says, "YAY"
		DavidW says, "push space again"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Us saying 'Jeepers, what a pickle' just made this death worthwhile!"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | your forehead smashes into the steering column...........

		verbalK says (to DavidW), "(Just trying to talk to someone)"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | your forehead smashes into the steering column.....................

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | your forehead smashes into the steering
Floyd | column.....................Your eyelids flutter open. Holy moly, does
Floyd | your head ever hurt! You drag yourself out from under the wreckage of
Floyd | the Meteor, crawling on your belly into the light of a cool, gray
Floyd | morning. You feel awful, but at least you're alive.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Drive-In
Floyd | You're standing in the drive-in on the edge of town, where all the
Floyd | coolest teens come to ignore movies. To the north is Make-Out
Floyd | Mountain, and flanking it are a number of less controversial
Floyd | mountains. Mist hangs in the cool air, clinging to the stunted pines
Floyd | and making the screen slick with tiny droplets. A dirt road leads
Floyd | south, and you can see buildings nestled in the low bowl of the
Floyd | valley.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smoking wreck is parked here upside down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		verbalK asks, "Let's follow David's advice and check the wreck ?"
		DavidW says, "please do."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wreck" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WRECK
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the Mercury Meteor -- well, technically, now that it's
Floyd | hit the Earth's surface the correct term is "meteorite." Most of it's
Floyd | destroyed, but the glove compartment survived.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "YAY"
		zarf says, "ha (again)"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh that makes me so happy."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in glove compartment" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN GLOVE COMPARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see inside, since the glove compartment is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open glove compartment" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GLOVE COMPARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the glove compartment, revealing a Canyonville High yearbook.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take yearbook" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE YEARBOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x yearbook" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X YEARBOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the Table of Contents)
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Foreword: Advice for Today's Teen-Ager
Floyd | 2) Our Students: Pioneers at the Dawn of Tomorrow
Floyd | 3) Our Community: A Heritage of Superbness
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline rolls her eyes, decides to read the thing.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Foreword: Advice for Today's Teen-Ager]
Floyd |
Floyd | Words of Wisdom from your Beloved Principal, Oswald J. Dunkin.
Floyd |
Floyd | How times have changed! When I was a lad, a youth in Canyonville meant
Floyd | summers helping dear old Dad on his pine nut plantation or cranking my
Floyd | old Model T to take my sweetheart to the movies. The teens of today
Floyd | can expect to spend their salad days soaring through space, trading in
Floyd | the old shovel and hoe for a pair of rocket repair gloves and magnetic
Floyd | astro-boots. Yet we dusty old fogies have, perhaps, picked up a thing
Floyd | or two in our time on this Earth--so it would indeed behoove you to
Floyd | listen up, because what I've got to say might just help you out some
Floyd | day!
Floyd |
Floyd | Always remember the value of a friendly word. If you see someone,
Floyd | friend or stranger, TALK TO them! This simple courtesy is sure to help
Floyd | you get ahead in life.
Floyd |
Floyd | Also, try to keep in mind that whatever this old universe of ours
Floyd | throws at you, there's always a way out, and you can never really die.
Floyd | If you do happen upon some awkward patch of the universe that won't
Floyd | allow you to proceed, simply UNDO to move a short distance backwards
Floyd | in time! Truly, the modern age is filled with marvels!
Floyd |
Floyd | With warmest thanks to all my students, Oswald J. Dunkin, Principal.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the Table of Contents)
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Foreword: Advice for Today's Teen-Ager
Floyd | 2) Our Students: Pioneers at the Dawn of Tomorrow
Floyd | 3) Our Community: A Heritage of Superbness
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You might check your own inventory too, at some point. After we're done with the yearbook, of course."
		verbalK says, "Advice is always good."
		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "So seemless, these instructions."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [Our Students: Pioneers at the Dawn of Tomorrow]
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | [Noodleman, Bonnie]
Floyd |
Floyd | Winner, Miss Human Compass Junior Orienteer, 1956
Floyd | Winner, Pine Nut Days Girls' Grocery-Balancing Competition, 1958
Floyd |
Floyd | Played the Widow Fobb, mother of Canyonville founder Charles Fobb, in
Floyd | "Birth of a Town."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Go west. Take all."- from "Birth of a Town"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "'Miss Human Compass'"
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed. Sounds useful."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | [Johnson, Jimmy]
Floyd |
Floyd | Fighting Conifers, quarterback, 1959
Floyd | Fighting Conifers, mascot, 1958, 1957
Floyd | Voted Most Likely To Live To A Hundred
Floyd |
Floyd | "In the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the
Floyd | life in your years." - Abraham Lincoln
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hooray for the Fighting Conifers."
		Jacqueline says, "I want to dress up like their mascot."
		verbalK asks, "Like a Christmas tree ?"
		zarf asks, "like Jimmy?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "Like a conifer."
		DavidW says, "If there's one thing I'd change about the yearbook, I'd add an option to return to the index before the close the yearbook option."
		Jacqueline says, "Also yay being voted most likely to live a long time."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "True"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Brandt, Traudl]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Poets of Tomorrow, founder
Floyd | Junior Coffee Enthusiasts, participant
Floyd | NOTE: Miss Brandt has been expelled for gross unseemliness.
Floyd |
Floyd | Regrettably, Miss Brandt also selected an unprintable quote.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I too, am a member of the Junior Coffee Enthusiasts. I am sipping some right now."
		DavidW says, "I'd like to point out that most of these characters appeared in a previous game by the author."
		Jacqueline says, "Ah"
		verbalK asks (of DavidW), "What's that game's name ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [Finch, Renee]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville High Sci-Fi Enthusiasts Club, president, vice president,
Floyd | secretary, treasurer
Floyd | Bake Sale Honorable Mention, 1959
Floyd |
Floyd | "If you fell down yesterday, stand up today." - H. G. Wells
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Whitefield Academy of Witchcraft. It's a Quest game."
		Jacqueline says, "I will have to check it out."
		verbalK exclaims, "Thanks !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | [Minsky, Mary Jane]
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville Pine Nut Queen 1959, 1958, 1957, 1956
Floyd | Canyonville Junior Pine Nut Princess 1955, 1954, 1953, 1952, 1951,
Floyd | 1950, 1949, 1948, 1947, 1946, 1945, 1944, 1943
Floyd | Most Beautiful Baby, 1942
Floyd | Third Runner-Up, Miss Albuquerque Greater Metro Area and Surrounding
Floyd | Counties, 1958
Floyd | Decoration Committee
Floyd | Glee Club
Floyd | Cheer Squad
Floyd |
Floyd | "Any girl can look glamorous." - Hedy Lamarr
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Same characters, but they're all junior witches there."
		Jacqueline says, "wow"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 6
Floyd |
Floyd | [Yoshida, Jenny]
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon, Pine Nut Days Pie Competition, for "Etude in Sugar and
Floyd | Green"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Earth laughs in flowers." - Ralph Waldo Emerson.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of students)
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't throw a rock at Canyonville High without hitting one of
Floyd | tomorrow's talented young leaders!  (Principal's note: Please do not
Floyd | throw rocks!) Let's learn a little more about these vibrant
Floyd | up-and-coming minds!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Brandt, Traudl
Floyd | 2) Finch, Renee
Floyd | 3) Johnson, Jimmy
Floyd | 4) Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | 5) Noodleman, Bonnie
Floyd | 6) Yoshida, Jenny
Floyd | 7) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(Jimmy is not in that game. Just the girls.)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "7" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 7
Floyd |
Floyd | [(Close the yearbook)]
Floyd |
Floyd | The Drive-In
Floyd | You're standing in the drive-in on the edge of town, where all the
Floyd | coolest teens come to ignore movies. To the north is Make-Out
Floyd | Mountain, and flanking it are a number of less controversial
Floyd | mountains. Mist hangs in the cool air, clinging to the stunted pines
Floyd | and making the screen slick with tiny droplets. A dirt road leads
Floyd | south, and you can see buildings nestled in the low bowl of the
Floyd | valley.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smoking wreck is parked here upside down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read yearbook" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ YEARBOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the Table of Contents)
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Foreword: Advice for Today's Teen-Ager
Floyd | 2) Our Students: Pioneers at the Dawn of Tomorrow
Floyd | 3) Our Community: A Heritage of Superbness
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | [Our Community: A Heritage of Superbness]
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of community sidebars)
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville, New Mexico: City on the Go! Our fair blossom in the
Floyd | desert is known throughout the quad-county region for its many points
Floyd | of civic pride. See any of the following convenient sidebars for
Floyd | high-quality, school-approved information!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) TOWN HISTORY: Our Shining Past
Floyd | 2) PINE NUT DAYS: Our Pleasant Present
Floyd | 3) MINSYSTEMS LABS: Our Forward-Looking Future
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [TOWN HISTORY: Our Shining Past]
Floyd |
Floyd | Boston entrepreneur Charles Fobb came west in 1841 with a dream--a
Floyd | dream of a rich, fertile paradise nestled in the heart of the New
Floyd | Mexican desert. What he found was Canyonville.
Floyd |
Floyd | When Fobb arrived, the savage inhabitants of "Tuva", as they called
Floyd | it, lived a stagnant life of sloth and indolence, grown fat and lazy
Floyd | on the abundant pine nuts and other natural bounty. Saddened at this
Floyd | wasted potential, the kind-hearted Fobb used his golden tongue to
Floyd | convince them to leave the valley for a challenging, industrious life
Floyd | of adventure in the surrounding desert -- except for a few fast
Floyd | friends who were extended an invitation to stay on as Fobb's honored
Floyd | guests. Tuva was rechristened Fobbville, and our city's history began.
Floyd |
Floyd | The little town prospered, founding a rich agricultural tradition.
Floyd | Pine nuts were soon seen on tables from Fobb's native Boston to
Floyd | Buckingham Palace. Then in 1863--tragedy! Changes to the US legal code
Floyd | resulted in Fobb losing his beloved farmhands. An ill-advised attempt
Floyd | at switching to polished-pine buggywhip handles devastated Fobbville's
Floyd | food production potential for a decade. Fobb's son, Johnward Cable
Floyd | Fobb, soundly defeated Charles in the mayoral election, ushering in a
Floyd | new error of honest government which lasted until he was tragically
Floyd | hanged for murder and horse theft in 1877.
Floyd |
Floyd | The town, now renamed Canyonville, was by now a popular crossroads of
Floyd | commerce and ideas. In 1912, statehood came knocking, and our city
Floyd | answered the call, boldly throwing its hat in the ring for
Floyd | consideration as state capital. Sadly, the people of New Mexico
Floyd | foolishly took pity on the poorly-run shantytown of Santa Fe instead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Never one to rest on its considerable laurels, Canyonville rebounded,
Floyd | becoming a bustling tourist destination. The World's Largest Pine Nut,
Floyd | a magnificent behemoth the size of a size four ladies' evening
Floyd | slipper, stood in the town square from 1917 to 1933, when it was
Floyd | devoured by a squirrel.  The town took the loss in stride, playfully
Floyd | holding a "trial" for the hungry beast before sentencing him to be
Floyd | hanged by the neck until dead. The squirrel died of natural causes two
Floyd | years later, and the warrant for whoever was sneaking him food remains
Floyd | outstanding. By that time, a new world's largest pine nut had been
Floyd | located and placed in a secure case in the city hall atrium, where it
Floyd | remained until being cracked and rendered into nut butter for the war
Floyd | effort in 1942.
Floyd |
Floyd | Truly, a history of triumph! What's next for Canyonville?  Only you,
Floyd | her treasured youth, can finish this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of community sidebars)
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville, New Mexico: City on the Go! Our fair blossom in the
Floyd | desert is known throughout the quad-county region for its many points
Floyd | of civic pride. See any of the following convenient sidebars for
Floyd | high-quality, school-approved information!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) TOWN HISTORY: Our Shining Past
Floyd | 2) PINE NUT DAYS: Our Pleasant Present
Floyd | 3) MINSYSTEMS LABS: Our Forward-Looking Future
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I just love love love the author's writing style. She's so good."
		Jacqueline asks, "a new error of honest government - I can't decide if that's a typo or not. I'm guessing not?"
		Emily says, "ha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [PINE NUT DAYS: Our Pleasant Present]
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville: Area on the Go! From the beautiful southwestern
Floyd | architectures of the Old West End to Main Street's bustling shops and
Floyd | our lush town square, Canyonville today is known for its high quality
Floyd | of life. Teens enjoy "keen" nights out at the "nifty" drive-in or have
Floyd | a burger at Finch's.  Undoubtedly the high point of the year, however,
Floyd | is Pine Nut Days, our annual celebration of nature's glorious bounty.
Floyd | Goggle at the parade, thrill to fairground extravagance, or try one of
Floyd | the tasty treats on offer. And always keep in mind our motto-"Nothing
Floyd | Bad Could Possibly Happen During Pine Nut Days." So, as Jughead might
Floyd | say on Life With Archie--relaaaaaax!
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of community sidebars)
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville, New Mexico: City on the Go! Our fair blossom in the
Floyd | desert is known throughout the quad-county region for its many points
Floyd | of civic pride. See any of the following convenient sidebars for
Floyd | high-quality, school-approved information!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) TOWN HISTORY: Our Shining Past
Floyd | 2) PINE NUT DAYS: Our Pleasant Present
Floyd | 3) MINSYSTEMS LABS: Our Forward-Looking Future
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, the writing is pretty amazing. I'm not sure how she maintains the energy to churn this out. It's all so upbeat and fifties."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | [MINSYSTEMS LABS: Our Forward-Looking Future]
Floyd |
Floyd | Space travel. Robotics. Transportation. All of these words and more
Floyd | appear in the pamphlets for MinSystems Labs, our fair city's leading
Floyd | source of non-agricultural income.  Tours of the facility and the
Floyd | techno-wizardry within are available twice weekly. Will you be the
Floyd | first Canyonvillian in space?
Floyd |
Floyd | Don't forget to check out the fantastical Tomorrowdome, the exterior
Floyd | of which is visible through many windows in public areas!
Floyd |
Floyd | (You turn to the index of community sidebars)
Floyd |
Floyd | Canyonville, New Mexico: City on the Go! Our fair blossom in the
Floyd | desert is known throughout the quad-county region for its many points
Floyd | of civic pride. See any of the following convenient sidebars for
Floyd | high-quality, school-approved information!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) TOWN HISTORY: Our Shining Past
Floyd | 2) PINE NUT DAYS: Our Pleasant Present
Floyd | 3) MINSYSTEMS LABS: Our Forward-Looking Future
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Tomorrowdome, hm?"
		zarf says, "I suspect 'buried rage' is teh answer"
		Jacqueline says, "ha"
		zarf says, "just from the bit about 1863"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, that's all of the yearbook, non?"
		DavidW says, "I think so."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | [(Close the yearbook)]
Floyd |
Floyd | The Drive-In
Floyd | You're standing in the drive-in on the edge of town, where all the
Floyd | coolest teens come to ignore movies. To the north is Make-Out
Floyd | Mountain, and flanking it are a number of less controversial
Floyd | mountains. Mist hangs in the cool air, clinging to the stunted pines
Floyd | and making the screen slick with tiny droplets. A dirt road leads
Floyd | south, and you can see buildings nestled in the low bowl of the
Floyd | valley.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smoking wreck is parked here upside down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x hula hoop" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HULA HOOP
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a hula hoop. It folds up when you're not using it. It's only
Floyd | useful for hula-ing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hula" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HULA
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "use hula hoop" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE HULA HOOP
Floyd |
Floyd | You use the hula hoop. Fun! Then it falls down around your ankles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline glares.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "use hula" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE HULA
Floyd |
Floyd | You use the hula hoop. Fun! Then it falls down around your ankles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Totally shoulda said switchblade."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pamphlet" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAMPHLET
Floyd |
Floyd | A small pamphlet you picked up at the five and dime.  READ it to learn
Floyd | about the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | This pamphlet, a publication of the New Mexico Organization of
Floyd | Sportsmen and Anglers, is full of information about the local game,
Floyd | including the white-tailed deer, the red-tailed deer, and the giant
Floyd | horned toad.
Floyd |
Floyd | Unbeknownst to you, the following information is also written on it in
Floyd | invisible ink:
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks for playing Brain Guzzlers from Beyond!
Floyd |
Floyd | Playtesters:
Floyd | Sarah Adams
Floyd | Agouti-Rex
Floyd | Andrew Schultz
Floyd | Hanon Ondricek
Floyd |
Floyd | If you enjoy this game, you may want to try "Chlorophyll","Jacqueline,
Floyd | Jungle Queen!", and "Whitefield Academy of Witchcraft", all available
Floyd | through the Interactive Fiction Database ([LINK]).
Floyd |
Floyd | The following commands are used in this game:
Floyd | Directional commands (N, E, W, S, NW, NE, SE, SW, U, D, IN, OUT)
Floyd | Numerical responses (Choice-based sections only)
Floyd | INVENTORY/I
Floyd | EXAMINE/X/LOOK AT (noun)
Floyd | TAKE (object)
Floyd | DROP (object)
Floyd | TALK TO (person)
Floyd | SHOW (object) to (person)
Floyd | GIVE (object) to (person)
Floyd | USE (object)
Floyd | PUSH (object)
Floyd | PULL (object)
Floyd | TURN (object)
Floyd | SHOOT (object)
Floyd | READ (object)
Floyd | ENTER (vehicle)
Floyd | OPEN (container)
Floyd | CLOSE (container)
Floyd | PUT (object) IN (container)
Floyd | Trying other commands may have fun or interesting results but these
Floyd | are the only ones you need to complete the game. This game is not
Floyd | intended to have any possible unwinnable states, so "undo" should
Floyd | never be necessary, but the function is included in case of unforeseen
Floyd | bugs or conversational dead ends.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm very curious what use the hoop will be for."
		verbalK says, "Same here ..."
		Jacqueline has little hope for the hoop.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | The Drive-In
Floyd | You're standing in the drive-in on the edge of town, where all the
Floyd | coolest teens come to ignore movies. To the north is Make-Out
Floyd | Mountain, and flanking it are a number of less controversial
Floyd | mountains. Mist hangs in the cool air, clinging to the stunted pines
Floyd | and making the screen slick with tiny droplets. A dirt road leads
Floyd | south, and you can see buildings nestled in the low bowl of the
Floyd | valley.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smoking wreck is parked here upside down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, we came from the north, I take it?"
		verbalK says, "Seems like it"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline asks, "We honestly went with a boy to a place called Make-Out Mountain when we weren't sure we wanted to kiss? Are we mentally competent to be the protagonist?"
		DavidW says, "Let the NPCs question that for you."
		Emily says, "heh"
		verbalK asks, "Doesn't that happen to teenagers like... everyday ?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So... south?"
		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "Well, true."
		verbalK exclaims, "He was cute or something... so... You know, we just went !"
		Jacqueline says, "Fair enough."
		DavidW says, "I think south is the only exit from the Drive-In."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x drive-in" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRIVE-IN
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "huh - is that a new default or one of hers?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sketchbook lies abandoned in the road.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "her default, I think."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take book" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | (the sketchbook)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | A thick pad of drawing paper. Some up-and-coming young artist must
Floyd | have dropped this on their way out of the coffeehouse. You could READ
Floyd | it to take a look at the sketches.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I love this book."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, is this the sketches we can't see?"
		DavidW says, "no"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | How strange! Instead of being filled with sunsets and chubby naked
Floyd | ladies, like a normal artist's sketchbook, it's filled with nothing
Floyd | but drawings of Campbell's soup cans!   No wonder someone threw it
Floyd | away. Nobody's going to pay for soup can drawings, even if they are
Floyd | awful realistic looking!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Oops"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read it" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ IT
Floyd |
Floyd | How strange! Instead of being filled with sunsets and chubby naked
Floyd | ladies, like a normal artist's sketchbook, it's filled with nothing
Floyd | but drawings of Campbell's soup cans!   No wonder someone threw it
Floyd | away. Nobody's going to pay for soup can drawings, even if they are
Floyd | awful realistic looking!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So that is ... it. Okay."
		DavidW says, "For now."
		Jacqueline asks, "Which way, folks?"
		Jacqueline says, "I like the look of the junk yard."
		Jacqueline says, "Junk yards are useful."
		DavidW says, "They can be, yes. Junk is so useful for a Human Compass."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | Generations of garbage have been piled here in haphazard stacks,
Floyd | rusting and slowly sinking into the earth under the weight of tons of
Floyd | scrap. The only way out is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's "house", a rusting metal silo, stands empty, slowly
Floyd | falling apart under the weight of the ages.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is eyeing you suspiciously.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "goat, hello" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GOAT, HELLO
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat suddenly takes it upon himself to butt his head into you,
Floyd | causing you to drop the game pamphlet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I used to have a goat just like this one."
		DavidW says, "You had a goat? I never knew that."
		Jacqueline says, "I eventually got him to quit headbutting me."
		Jacqueline says, "A pygmy goat, yeah. He is sadly part of my bad pet karma."
		DavidW says, "oh noes."
		Jacqueline says, "I went out of town and I'm 99% sure that my chosen goat sitter ate him."
		DavidW says, "You have good pet karma now, I hope."
		Jacqueline says, "But anyway, he 'escaped' and I never saw him again."
		Emily says (to Jacqueline), "wow"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. It was ... argh. It was horrible."
		DavidW asks, "Your goat sitter *ate* your goat?!?"
		zarf says, "*somebody* got bad karma there but I don't think you."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I do have good pet karma now. I hope. Given that maga is about to move our cats 2600 miles to a place that doesn't like pets."
		Jacqueline says, "But anyway, we have a game to play."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pamphlet" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PAMPHLET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pet goat" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PET GOAT
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline frowns.
		DavidW says, "This goat doesn't get brain guzzled. I think I need to say that right now."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search garbage" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GARBAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat nibbles at some nonexistent grass.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat suddenly takes it upon himself to butt his head into you,
Floyd | causing you to drop the game pamphlet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pamphlet" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PAMPHLET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat looks at you as if you were a plump, juicy tin can.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x house" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a little taller than a one-story house, but too narrow to have
Floyd | much living space. There's an open hatch on the side where a door
Floyd | probably used to be. You never noticed it before, but there are
Floyd | numbers printed on the side: "X271 -- Minsystems Labs."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter house" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat bleats menacingly at you as you get close to the silo, and
Floyd | you hastily take several steps back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Number is not important."
		verbalK asks, "I don't think we're welcome here ... Do we have some food for Goaty the goat?"
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe. Goats have a weird definition of 'food'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a sketchbook
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "The sketchbook !"
		Jacqueline says, "Our sweater, for instance."
		verbalK asks, "It has soup. Campbell soup. Maybe goats love soup ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "feed sketchbook to goat" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FEED SKETCHBOOK TO GOAT
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat's mouth waters as he looks at the tastily realistic cans. Oh
Floyd | my gosh!  He sinks his teeth into the sketchbook and gobbles it up in
Floyd | seconds! At least it was worth something to somebody.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat looks much friendlier now. He's eyeing you as if you might
Floyd | know where there's more food.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks (of verbalK), "The sketchbook of realistically drawn tin cans?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter house" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You poke your head in and look around.  There's nothing inside except
Floyd | a smell so dreadful it nearly makes your permanent wave go limp.
Floyd | McDillingfitty is nowhere to be seen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "smell" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMELL
Floyd |
Floyd | It smells pretty normal here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "huh.... nothing ?"
		DavidW says, "You have a goat."
		DavidW says, "A friendly goat."
		verbalK asks, "So the goat is not protecting anything ?"
		Jacqueline says, "It was protecting the house of forbidden mysteries, but now it's not"
		verbalK asks (of DavidW), "Will the goat follow us now?"
		DavidW says, "It will follow us now!"
		verbalK exclaims, "Yes ! We have a brave companion !"
		Jacqueline says, "So it smells dreadful (and not normal, I suspect that's a bug)."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is McDillingfitty's brain-guzzled corpse somewhere, or is it just trash?"
		DavidW says, "It's possible that the author overlooked the SMELL command."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
Ghogg arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says, "I have no idea where McD is."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is it worth poking around in here?"
		DavidW says, "The goat is this room's prize."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | Generations of garbage have been piled here in haphazard stacks,
Floyd | rusting and slowly sinking into the earth under the weight of tons of
Floyd | scrap. The only way out is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's "house", a rusting metal silo, stands empty, slowly
Floyd | falling apart under the weight of the ages.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is eyeing you hopefully.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "It's a great prize !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat trots after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I know you really wanted a crowbar, but you don't need one."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You knock politely on the barn door. It opens just wide enough for a
Floyd | man with a goatee and a beret to stick his pointy nose though. "Like,
Floyd | beat it, chicky," he says. "We're, like, closedville until tonight,
Floyd | you dig?" He shuts the door in your face.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Let's try again ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Grr. Hipsters."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You rap sharply on the barn door, but nobody answers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh right. This game is divided into rough chapters/time-of-day."
		DavidW says, "This is basically morning, more or less."
		Jacqueline says, "So now we must engage in a puzzle of painting the windows dark to fake the beat poet into thinking it's time to open."
		Jacqueline says, "Or we just come back later."
		DavidW says, "Come back later is easier, yes."
		DavidW says, "I think you can go either ne or s from here."
		DavidW says, "(or n back to the drive-in)"
		Jacqueline asks, "ne?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat trots after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "let's go S? NE is where we got the goat right?"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Jacqueline says, "Timing, no."
		DavidW says, "The goat was west of the main road."
		verbalK says (to DavidW), "Ok thanks"
		Jacqueline asks, "Do we want to come down here?"
		Jacqueline asks, "I guess the game can't be made unwinnable, so we might as well explore?"
		DavidW says, "You can't lose the game."
		verbalK exclaims, "MiSystems is the future. We want the future !"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I dunno, I'm pretty taleneted sometimes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | Gosh, why? It's nearly a mile of damp, dark spookiness, and there's
Floyd | not much on the other side except cattle ranches, and eventually
Floyd | Albuquerque.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg goes home. 		verbalK says, "Or we don't."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | What, straight up the cliffs? Better teen-agers than you have tried!
Floyd | Well, not so much better as deader.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat trots after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | The pavement here is filled with cracks and potholes, but the shop
Floyd | windows are neatly polished and more than one shabby building has been
Floyd | given a fresh, bright coat of paint. Yoshida Floral is on the east
Floyd | side of the street, and the sidewalk in front of it is scattered with
Floyd | petals. A faint sickly yellow glow is emanating from inside the shop.
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs north and south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is sweeping up in front of her family's shop.
Floyd |
Floyd | The goat trots after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's so cute to see 'teen-ager' with a hyphen."
		Jacqueline asks, "Sickly yellow, huh?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to jenny" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 3 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Bonnie!" Jenny says brightly.  "Thanks for stopping by.  Are you
Floyd | on the way to the parade? Jeepers, Bons, you don't look too good. Is
Floyd | everything okay?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "My boyfriend was just devoured by some kind of...of brain guzzling
Floyd | monster!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think when you look at Jenny here the first time, we get our first character image. Yeah, there."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["My boyfriend was just devoured by some kind of...of brain
Floyd | guzzling monster!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ha, ha, real funny, Bons."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "No, really--this huge, hulking, slimy thing guzzled Jimmy's brain
Floyd | right in front of me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["No, really--this huge, hulking, slimy thing guzzled Jimmy's
Floyd | brain right in front of me!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well--um--if you say so." Jenny bites her lip. "Look, uh, if
Floyd | something bad happened to you, maybe you should tell the police about
Floyd | it. The station is just down the street, just turn left when you hit
Floyd | the parade."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Parade?"
Floyd | 2) "I should get going."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Parade?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Pine Nut Days parade, of course!" Jenny says. "Gosh, it's only
Floyd | about the biggest event of the year. Why, Mary Jane Minsky is Miss
Floyd | Canyonville Pine Nut Queen of 1959!  How could you forget a thing like
Floyd | that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Oh, that's swell! I'm glad MJ won the pageant."
Floyd | 2) "That airhead? Ugh, how embarrassing."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Should we think #2 but say #1?"
		Emily says, "ha ha yes"
		DavidW says, "Up to you."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Oh, that's swell! I'm glad MJ won the pageant."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, of course, isn't absolutely everybody? She makes such a pretty
Floyd | Queen, and she's so passionate about pine nuts and their many
Floyd | commercial uses!" Jenny sighs. "Gosh, I wish I could be there in the
Floyd | crowd, cheering for her!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You and Mary Jane must be best friends."
Floyd | 2) "So why AREN'T you at the parade?"
Floyd | 3) "I should get going."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "2"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["So why AREN'T you at the parade?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't you think I want to be?" Jenny says bitterly. "But it's my job
Floyd | to sweep up all these petals and trimmings, and Granny says I have to
Floyd | do my chores EVERY DAY, even if there's a parade. Plus she's worried
Floyd | someone will break in if I don't guard the place. Even though there's
Floyd | not even any merchandise!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You and Mary Jane must be best friends."
Floyd | 2) "If there's no merchandise, what's that glowing in the store?"
Floyd | 3) "I should get going."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Emily says, "I assume these people don't know about that pine nut blight"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["If there's no merchandise, what's that glowing in the
Floyd | store?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, that's just a little plant I'm growing from a seed I found in the
Floyd | woods. Well, it's still just a seed, so far, but, uh, any day now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You and Mary Jane must be best friends."
Floyd | 2) "Can I take a look at your seed?"
Floyd | 3) "I should get going."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Can I take a look at your seed?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Uh, Granny will pitch a fit if I let you in while we're supposed to
Floyd | be closed. Sorry!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You and Mary Jane must be best friends."
Floyd | 2) "So, still sweeping?"
Floyd | 3) "Hey, Jenny, how about I find someone else to do this for you? Then
Floyd | you could go see the parade."
Floyd | 4) "I should get going."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Hey, Jenny, how about I find someone else to do this for you?
Floyd | Then you could go see the parade."]
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny smiles. "That would be wonderful! Who do you have in mind?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll do it!"
Floyd | 2) "I bet this goat is hungry enough to eat these clippings. He's a
Floyd | real rough customer, too!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. 1 or 2?"
		verbalK says, "2"
		DavidW says, "If we had the teddy bear, it would be offered as a choice here, btw."
		verbalK says, "A goat can also be seen as a convenient lawn mower."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I bet this goat is hungry enough to eat these clippings. He's a
Floyd | real rough customer, too!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wow, uh, you know, that could work!" Jenny is beaming ear to ear. She
Floyd | grabs you in a sudden hug. "Which means I can go to the parade now!
Floyd | Thank you, Bons! Thank you so much!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny is practically skipping as she heads south toward the sounds of
Floyd | marching band music.
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | The pavement here is filled with cracks and potholes, but the shop
Floyd | windows are neatly polished and more than one shabby building has been
Floyd | given a fresh, bright coat of paint. Yoshida Floral is on the east
Floyd | side of the street, and the sidewalk in front of it is scattered with
Floyd | petals. A faint sickly yellow glow is emanating from inside the shop.
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs north and south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is here, happily chomping away at the trimmings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "The teddy bear? What for ?"
		DavidW says, "To guard the store."
		Jacqueline says, "Makes total sense."
		verbalK asks, "What?"
		DavidW says, "Not to Jenny."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter store" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER STORE
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x seed" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SEED
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | The pavement here is filled with cracks and potholes, but the shop
Floyd | windows are neatly polished and more than one shabby building has been
Floyd | given a fresh, bright coat of paint. Yoshida Floral is on the east
Floyd | side of the street, and the sidewalk in front of it is scattered with
Floyd | petals. A faint sickly yellow glow is emanating from inside the shop.
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs north and south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is here, happily chomping away at the trimmings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter shop" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER SHOP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Because a teddy bear has no brains so no one will guzzle them ?"
		DavidW says, "The store's to the east."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Yoshida Floral
Floyd | A quaint little flower shop, minus the flowers. Even with the shelves
Floyd | bare, it feels almost claustrophobic. The exit is west, and stairs
Floyd | lead up to the Yoshidas' apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | A seedling growth chart is tacked to the wall here.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glowing seed here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Thanks"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chart" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHART
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks like this is the chart Jenny's going to use to track the
Floyd | growth of her mysterious "plant", Mary Jane Junior, once it hatches,
Floyd | er, germinates. The chart itself hasn't been filled in yet, but Jenny
Floyd | has typed a number of predictions in the "notes" section. "Of course,
Floyd | it's impossible to know just how large my little 'Mary Jane' might
Floyd | get, but with the nutrient saturation the subject is receiving now, I
Floyd | wouldn't be surprised to see a tripling or even a quadrupling of size
Floyd | within days, once growth begins in earnest!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear"
		verbalK says, "Seems like a rock to me..."
		verbalK exclaims, "Let's take it !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "So Steph Cherrywell has been watching a lot of MST3K, it would seem." 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SO STEPH CHERRYWELL HAS BEEN WATCHING A LOT OF MST3K, IT WOULD SEEM.
Floyd |
Floyd | You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oops. heh"
		Emily says, "ha"
		DavidW says, "Hands up everyone who's seen Little Shop of Horrors."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x seed" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SEED
Floyd |
Floyd | It's about the size of a tennis ball, lumpy and irregular, and covered
Floyd | in spiny armor. It's also sweating a thick, glowing ooze. It's the
Floyd | strangest-looking seed you've ever seen. If it wasn't half-buried in a
Floyd | pot of earth, you'd swear it looked more like an egg or something!
Floyd | "Mary Jane Junior" is written on the pot with magic marker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "Honestly? I really don't want to take it."
		verbalK says, "DavidW What is that? Please teach me."
		Jacqueline says, "My general rule is that if it's wet, sticky, and not mine, I don't touch it."
		verbalK says (to Jacqueline), "Well we lost a goat."
		DavidW says (to verbalK), "There's two films. Both good."
		DavidW says, "I think it's also a stage play."
		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "There is also a musical. I think maybe that came first."
invisiwall arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		verbalK says (to Jacqueline), "We need a return on investment."
		* Jacqueline has added invisiwall to the channel.
		verbalK exclaims (at DavidW), "Thanks !"
		Jacqueline says, "Hi, invisiwall. We're about an hour and a half into our game, I'm afraid."
		verbalK exclaims, "But it is a good one !"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, um, do you people want to take this gooey thing?"
invisiwall says, ""I realize!"" 		DavidW says, "Maybe Bonnie doesn't want it either."
		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "To speak on the channel, preface your remarks with #clubfloyd"
		Jacqueline says, "Then, once you've done that, the channel you want is established, and you can thereafter preface your remarks with a semicolon."
		Jacqueline says, "So, #CLUBFLOYD HI the first time, and ;HELLO AGAIN thereafter."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take egg" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE EGG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x egg" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EGG
Floyd |
Floyd | It's about the size of a tennis ball, lumpy and irregular, and covered
Floyd | in spiny armor. It's also sweating a thick, glowing ooze. It's the
Floyd | strangest-looking seed you've ever seen. If it wasn't half-buried in a
Floyd | pot of earth, you'd swear it looked more like an egg or something!
Floyd | "Mary Jane Junior" is written on the pot with magic marker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a glowing seed
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We took it."
		Jacqueline says, "Along with its pot, thankfully."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Yoshida Floral
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't want to go poking around in Jenny's apartment when she's not
Floyd | around. That's a good way to get a reputation as a Sally Snoopypants!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "I may have to adopt that phrase."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | The pavement here is filled with cracks and potholes, but the shop
Floyd | windows are neatly polished and more than one shabby building has been
Floyd | given a fresh, bright coat of paint. Yoshida Floral is on the east
Floyd | side of the street, and the sidewalk in front of it is scattered with
Floyd | petals. Saguaro Road runs north and south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is here, happily chomping away at the trimmings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "I think we can go South ?"
		Jacqueline asks, "S? Will our goat come with us?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs south into Main Street here. The town police station
Floyd | is to the east. The Pine Nut Festival Parade fills Main Street, and
Floyd | the sidewalks are crammed with parade-watchers in both directions.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Canyonville High marching band passes by in an enthusiastic mess
Floyd | of oompah horns and bleating piccolos.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "No."
		Jacqueline says, "I suspected not."
		DavidW says, "The goat's done its job. Or doing its job."
		verbalK says, "It found food. It does not care about us anymore."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x parade" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARADE
Floyd |
Floyd | You stand on tip-toe and just watch for a while.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Canyonville High flag squad marches past, banners fluttering.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x parade-watchers" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PARADE-WATCHERS
Floyd |
Floyd | A tightly-packed, sardinelike wall of human flesh.
Floyd |
Floyd | A float shaped like a pink Cadillac slides by.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we visit the popo?"
		verbalK says, "Yeah let's go"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Police Station
Floyd | Your sleepy little town doesn't have much need for active policing, so
Floyd | the building is small and the police officers are large. It's really
Floyd | not much more than a little office that also functions as an overnight
Floyd | hotel for drunks and delinquents. Double doors open onto Saguaro Road
Floyd | to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Officer Buck Wilcox is relaxing with his feet up on the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "snrk"
		verbalK says, "(Not sure but I think here is one of the pictures we are missing)"
		Jacqueline says, "No, it's been telling us when we miss a picture."
		verbalK says, "Oh sorry ! Didn't notice."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wilcox" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO WILCOX
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 4 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Buck Wilcox nods at you. "Something I can help you with, Miss?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You've got to help me, Officer! My boyfriend Jimmy was just eaten
Floyd | by some sort of horrible BRAIN GUZZLER!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think when you talk to him, you'll know."
		Jacqueline says, "There we missed an image, yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		invisiwall says, "Ooh, that's an interesting functionality"

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["You've got to help me, Officer! My boyfriend Jimmy was just
Floyd | eaten by some sort of horrible BRAIN GUZZLER!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hold on. Let's hear that again, without the goofy teen-age
Floyd | jibber-jabber."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "No, that wasn't slang, he was literally torn limb from limb and
Floyd | guzzled down right in front of me by an awful gelatinous monstrosity!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["No, that wasn't slang, he was literally torn limb from limb and
Floyd | guzzled down right in front of me by an awful gelatinous
Floyd | monstrosity!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Suuure he was.  Let me guess--this 'monstrosity', was it bright pink
Floyd | with a loooong nose and, heh heh, big floppy ears?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm not drunk, Officer, and I haven't gone mad--there really is
Floyd | something out there! It's probably from space-or-or the bottom of the
Floyd | ocean or something like that and golly, you've got to warn everyone,
Floyd | or this town will be in deep soup!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm not drunk, Officer, and I haven't gone mad--there really is
Floyd | something out there! It's probably from space-or-or the bottom of the
Floyd | ocean or something like that and golly, you've got to warn everyone,
Floyd | or this town will be in deep soup!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look, little missy, I'd hate to have to throw a nice girl like you in
Floyd | the drunk tank. Go home and sleep it off, all right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm telling the truth! Oh, how can I convince you?"
Floyd | 2) "That gosh-darn parade is in the way! Can't you tell the crowd to
Floyd | disperse a little so I can get past?"
Floyd | 3) "Shouldn't you be out doing your job?"
Floyd | 4) "You want proof--take a look at this! An alien egg!"
Floyd | 5) "Forget I even brought this up."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm telling the truth! Oh, how can I convince you?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, missy," Buck says, laughing. "If you can show me an
Floyd | example of one of these mysterious brain guzzlers of yours, something
Floyd | really 'out of this world', THEN maybe I'll admit we have a problem.
Floyd | Until then, why don't you scoot off and sober up a little, hmm?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What evidence was it you wanted me to find, again?"
Floyd | 2) "That gosh-darn parade is in the way! Can't you tell the crowd to
Floyd | disperse a little so I can get past?"
Floyd | 3) "Shouldn't you be out doing your job?"
Floyd | 4) "You want proof--take a look at this! An alien egg!"
Floyd | 5) "Forget I even brought this up."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
zarf has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["You want proof--take a look at this! An alien egg!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hmm..." Buck frowns, taking the seed from you and peering at it.
Floyd | "There IS somethin' mighty odd-looking about--"
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone rings, and Buck picks it up. "Police. Hmm? You say your cows
Floyd | are dead? Something guzzled their brains? Yeah, I've heard of that
Floyd | sort of thing--probably just some teen-age delinquents, but I'll come
Floyd | and take a look. Mister? Mister, I sure can't hear you over all that
Floyd | slithering." He pulls the phone away from his ear. "Now, there's no
Floyd | need to scream at me. I'll be out as soon as I can."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sorry, missy. Sounds like your delinquent friends are causing trouble
Floyd | at the old Bristlender place. I'll have to deal with you later."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, would you please listen to me. I'm telling you that
Floyd | something dangerous is out there--I have the gosh darn evidence right
Floyd | here in front of you.  If you go up there, you could be killed!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		zarf says, "too many things to pay attention to, cannot watch floydscroll to"
		zarf says, "too"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Jeepers, would you please listen to me. I'm telling you that
Floyd | something dangerous is out there--I have the gosh darn evidence right
Floyd | here in front of you.  If you go up there, you could be killed!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Buck shakes you roughly. "Calm down! I don't have time to deal with a
Floyd | hysterical girl right now. I'm going to have to lock you up until I
Floyd | get back so you don't panic and hurt yourself." He drags you to the
Floyd | drunk tank and shoves you inside. "There. I'm going to collar some
Floyd | teen-aged troublemakers, and when I get back, I'll expect a full
Floyd | apology for wasting valuable police time."
Floyd |
Floyd | He walks out, leaving you trapped.  Somehow, though, between
Floyd | adrenaline and the angry goat and the untreated concussion you've been
Floyd | carrying around since the car accident, you're too exhausted to care
Floyd | just at the moment. Collapsing onto the cot, you fall into uneasy
Floyd | sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wake to the sound of a key rattling in the door. It's Deputy
Floyd | Wilcox, Buck's nephew. "Miss?  I just can't be worryin' about you
Floyd | right now, with all what's goin' on and me all by my lonesome with Unk
Floyd | off doin' goodness knows what. You're free to go, I guess."
Floyd |
Floyd | He helps you out of the cell before leaving. You're sore, stiff, and
Floyd | hungry, but free. Through the window, you can see the noonday sun
Floyd | beating down. You must have been passed out for hours! Who knows what
Floyd | sort of living heck the town has become in the meantime?
Floyd |
Floyd | Police Station
Floyd | Your sleepy little town doesn't have much need for active policing, so
Floyd | the building is small and the police officers are large. It's really
Floyd | not much more than a little office that also functions as an overnight
Floyd | hotel for drunks and delinquents. Double doors open onto Saguaro Road
Floyd | to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks (of DavidW), "Are we changing chapter now ?"
		DavidW says, "Yes. This is now the afternoon."
invisiwall says, "I don't suppose the concussion is actually in your inventory, alas" 		invisiwall says, "Bah, I shall slip up"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x concussion" 		

Floyd ]  Police Station
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONCUSSION
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "No."
		verbalK asks, "Let's go check if the goat is done eating? Maybe it will follow us again ? Also, if the parade is over, we can visit the rest of town now ?"
		Jacqueline says, "I suspect the goat is gone to us forever, but sure."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs south into Main Street here. The town police station
Floyd | is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | The pavement here is filled with cracks and potholes, but the shop
Floyd | windows are neatly polished and more than one shabby building has been
Floyd | given a fresh, bright coat of paint. Yoshida Floral is on the east
Floyd | side of the street, and the sidewalk in front of it is scattered with
Floyd | petals. Saguaro Road runs north and south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A goat is here, happily chomping away at the trimmings.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "goat, hello" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GOAT, HELLO
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take goat" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 200 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GOAT
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no need to go into the ugly details, but you quickly learn
Floyd | that the goat prefers not to be picked up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 100 Block
Floyd | Saguaro Road runs south into Main Street here. The town police station
Floyd | is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "But hey, the parade is over."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Saguaro and Main
Floyd | The cracks and potholes of north-south Saguaro meet the fresh black
Floyd | asphalt of east-west Main Street, which is littered with leftover
Floyd | parade stuff. The only business that looks open is the corner diner to
Floyd | the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Lunchtime?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | The Finch family operates this shabby but comfortable burger joint,
Floyd | where the food is cheap, the smiles are free, and the decor can be
Floyd | summed up as "orange paint". A family photo and a daily specials
Floyd | chalkboard are hanging up behind the counter. You can go northeast to
Floyd | get back to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is wiping down tables.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You can get lunch, yes."
		DavidW says, "I recommend the burger."
		Jacqueline says, "Crap, now I'm hungry."
		verbalK exclaims, "Me too !!!"
		Jacqueline says, "But I already had breakfast and it's hours to lunch."
		invisiwall says, "I have no idea why we are trying to get the goat, but I wonder if goats like burgers"
		Jacqueline says, "I will wait it out."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x specials" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPECIALS
Floyd |
Floyd | "Today's special: "King's Breast" Owl Sandwich (actually chicken).
Floyd | Comes with poooooisonous lead toy."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hee"
		DavidW says, "oo, I never saw that one!"
		verbalK asks, "Toy? There's a toy?"
		verbalK exclaims, "Let's get that !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "order special" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ORDER SPECIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall exclaims, "Poison! That sounds useful!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x phoot" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHOTO
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee with her parents. It was taken a few years ago after they moved
Floyd | into town and bought the place. Her mom and dad had a wedding in the
Floyd | diner on opening day, since mixed-race couples couldn't get married
Floyd | where they lived before, and you remember her dad flipping burgers in
Floyd | the back and her mom waiting tables in her dress. It looks a little
Floyd | surreal in the photo, if you don't know the story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "you need to talk to Renee to order food."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 6 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey.  Can I get you something?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Renee! You like all that space stuff, right? Little green men and
Floyd | slime monsters and...and alien brain guzzlers and things?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Renee! You like all that space stuff, right? Little green men
Floyd | and slime monsters and...and alien brain guzzlers and things?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee puts her hands on her hips. "So I like science fiction. What's
Floyd | wrong with having a little imagination, huh?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "Where did you get that unusual-looking gun?"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I want to order something, please."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll have the special!"
Floyd | 2) "I'll have a burger!"
Floyd | 3) "One free smile, please!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'll have the special!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, sorry about that. The parade crowd cleaned us out pretty good.
Floyd | I've got some burger supplies, but that's about it."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "Where did you get that unusual-looking gun?"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I want to order something, please."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, what?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll have a burger!"
Floyd | 2) "One free smile, please!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Aww"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'll have a burger!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure thing. I'll stick it on your tab." Renee grills up a Finch's
Floyd | Famous Depth Charge Deluxe, a steaming monument to hot peppers and
Floyd | grease, wraps it in paper, and slides it over to you. "Here ya go! Our
Floyd | motto is, whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger! Or at least,
Floyd | you know, bigger."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "Where did you get that unusual-looking gun?"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "So no toys? No poison?"
		Jacqueline says, "Seems like no."
		verbalK says, "Let's get a gun then ! 2"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where did you get that unusual-looking gun?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee grins and pulls out the weapon. "Pretty cool, huh? I found it on
Floyd | that mountain where the white kids go to make out. I went there last
Floyd | night to watch for unindentified flying... birds.  I
Floyd | didn't...see...anything, but I found this...toy...near the...near
Floyd | nowhere."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Does it work?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, if you examine Renee, you'll see she's carrying a ray gun."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Does it work?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "How would I know?" Renee says defensively. "I mean, it's just a toy.
Floyd | Of course it doesn't 'work'! Why do you care, anyway?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Renee, if you saw something, you can tell me. I've seen it too! It
Floyd | was some sort of huge, horrible THING and it ate my
Floyd | boyfriend's brains right out of his gosh darn head!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "sounds suspicious..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Renee, if you saw something, you can tell me. I've seen it too!
Floyd | It was some sort of huge, horrible THING and it ate my
Floyd | boyfriend's brains right out of his gosh darn head!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee narrows her eyes.  "You'll excuse me if I'm a little skeptical."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Okay, so we went on five dates. But he was PRACTICALLY my
Floyd | boyfriend.  Sort of."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Slick maneuvering, Renee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Okay, so we went on five dates. But he was PRACTICALLY my
Floyd | boyfriend.  Sort of."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, I mean, you'll excuse me if I don't fall for the latest game of
Floyd | ooh, let's have some fun with the crazy girl. No matter what
Floyd | you say about it, I'm going to keep ignoring you, so you can just go
Floyd | back and tell your friends I'm done giving them things to laugh at
Floyd | over their cucumber sandwiches. Got it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "I like sci-fi just as much as you do, you know!"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I like sci-fi just as much as you do, you know!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee looks you up and down. "Yeah, the odds of that are about a
Floyd | billion to one."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I think the model spaceships are really neat!"
Floyd | 2) "I don't read all the comics, but I look at the covers. That's as
Floyd | good as reading them, right?"
Floyd | 3) "Why, I'd have a Martian for a pet, if I could!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I think the model spaceships are really neat!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Science fiction's about ideas, not special effects--no matter how
Floyd | cutting edge they are!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I do so like science fiction!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh really?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I think the model spaceships are really neat!"
Floyd | 2) "I don't read all the comics, but I look at the covers. That's as
Floyd | good as reading them, right?"
Floyd | 3) "Why, I'd have a Martian for a pet, if I could!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I don't read all the comics, but I look at the covers. That's as
Floyd | good as reading them, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Those covers never have anything to do with the stories! You'd know
Floyd | that if you read any of them!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I do so like science fiction!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh really?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I think the model spaceships are really neat!"
Floyd | 2) "I don't read all the comics, but I look at the covers. That's as
Floyd | good as reading them, right?"
Floyd | 3) "Why, I'd have a Martian for a pet, if I could!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Why, I'd have a Martian for a pet, if I could!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ha!  The Tharks would kick your skinny behind and the tripods would
Floyd | just death-ray you to death. Everybody knows there's no such thing as
Floyd | a nice Martian."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"
Floyd | 2) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Bonnie Noodleman should be ashamed of herself..."
		Jacqueline says, "I want to show her our seed."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "We don't have it anymore!"
		DavidW asks, "You gave seed to Officer Wilcox, remember?"
		Jacqueline asks, "The cop took it?"
		verbalK asks, "Great idea ! What?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		invisiwall says, "Gave it to the lazy policeman"
		Jacqueline goes to Sadville.
		invisiwall asks, "Which cardinal direction is Sadville in, eh?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["It's kind of empty in here. Where is everybody?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Most of 'em headed over to the fairgrounds once the parade ended."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Why aren't you at the fairgrounds with everyone else? Am I going
Floyd | to have to find another goat?"
Floyd | 2) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 3) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 4) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "So we stole if from nothing... First we got a goat, then thanks to the goat we got the seed, and now we have nothing.... I feel that the policeman owes us something...."
		DavidW says, "Tomorrowville should cheer you up."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Why aren't you at the fairgrounds with everyone else? Am I going
Floyd | to have to find another goat?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee rolls her eyes.  "Dad's so overprotective. He doesn't like me
Floyd | hanging out on that side of town."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "But MY dad says THIS is the dangerous side of town."
Floyd | 2) "Has your dad been reading your comic books again?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to verbalK), "Game's not over yet."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["But MY dad says THIS is the dangerous side of town."]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee chuckles.  "Yeah... funny how that works, huh?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 2) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 3) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Guess that's it for now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See ya 'round."
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | The Finch family operates this shabby but comfortable burger joint,
Floyd | where the food is cheap, the smiles are free, and the decor can be
Floyd | summed up as "orange paint". A family photo and a daily specials
Floyd | chalkboard are hanging up behind the counter. You can go northeast to
Floyd | get back to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is wiping down tables.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis heads back home. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "eat burger" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT BURGER
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Did we eat it when she made it?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take burger" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BURGER
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "a Depth Charge Deluxe."
		invisiwall asks, "Inventory check?"
		Jacqueline says, "OH"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "eat depth charge deluxe" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT DEPTH CHARGE DELUXE
Floyd |
Floyd | It would probably have been both easier and healthier to eat an actual
Floyd | depth charge, but it's down and it's most likely staying there!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know why 'burger' isn't a synonym for it."
		Jacqueline says, "Silly me for thinking 'burger' would be --yeah"
		invisiwall says, "Yes, that is unexpected"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x depth charge deluxe" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEPTH CHARGE DELUXE
Floyd |
Floyd | Wow, it's really big and heavy! It's more like a bowling ball wearing
Floyd | bread earmuffs than a hamburger. It smells delicious, though!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking we hold on to it, not eat it."
		DavidW says, "Whatevs."
		Jacqueline says, "Can we lure the goat here? Sort of kidding. Sort of not kidding."
		verbalK says, "Or we can lure something else...."
		DavidW says, "I don't know. I never tried to lure the goat again."
		verbalK asks, "Maybe the hipster ?"
		verbalK asks, "How do you lure a hipster ?"
		DavidW says, "You'll find out."
		invisiwall says, "Very philosophical question"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, but regardless, sounds like we keep the non-burger."
		Jacqueline asks, "What now? Do I go to the kitchen and make a snack while someone else drives?"
		verbalK asks, "Do we have a very old film camera, round glasses and a beard ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Because I am having trouble shaking the hungries."
		DavidW says, "I could use a bathroom break regardless."
		verbalK says, "Can anyone drive ? I've never done that ..."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, hipsters and beat poets aren't really the same thing, are they? Hipsters don't eat. It's how they fit into their skinny jeans."
		DavidW says, "yes, anyone can drive."
		verbalK says (to Jacqueline), "That was nice :)"
		Jacqueline says, "Someone else drive a sec, yeah. Preface your command with f"
		verbalK exclaims, "If you guys help me drive, you can have a snack and use the bathroom !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | The Finch family operates this shabby but comfortable burger joint,
Floyd | where the food is cheap, the smiles are free, and the decor can be
Floyd | summed up as "orange paint". A family photo and a daily specials
Floyd | chalkboard are hanging up behind the counter. You can go northeast to
Floyd | get back to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is wiping down tables.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "Ok, we're in business !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x tables" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLES
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You can also use > instead of f if you like."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The f is short for Floyd."
		DavidW says, "the exit is ne."
		verbalK says, "Guessed that one thanks"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), " i" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | >  I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I DID NOT KNOW YOU COULD USE >"
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "no?"
		Jacqueline says, "How long have I been using Floyd? Wild."
		verbalK says (to DavidW's), "interventions are very well timed. Sometimes, it makes me feel that DavidW is a bot..."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Saguaro and Main
Floyd | The cracks and potholes of north-south Saguaro meet the fresh black
Floyd | asphalt of east-west Main Street, which is littered with leftover
Floyd | parade stuff. The only business that looks open is the corner diner to
Floyd | the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I mean, makes sense."
		invisiwall says, "Floyd was sick of being used without any consideration for their feelings and wants a more genuine friendship"
		DavidW says, "I found out by accident a couple years ago, I think."
		verbalK asks, "We didn't go E-W yet right ?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | There's not much west of here except for a few of the town's poorer
Floyd | residential neighborhoods and, gosh, they're not really very pleasant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | There's not much west of here except for a few of the town's poorer
Floyd | residential neighborhoods and, gosh, they're not really very pleasant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "anyway, heading to the bathroom. I'll be back soon. Check out the drug store."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | There's not much west of here except for a few of the town's poorer
Floyd | residential neighborhoods and, gosh, they're not really very pleasant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Main Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Street
Floyd | A broad, pleasant thoroughfare running east and west through town. The
Floyd | street's quaint charm is only slightly lessened by the scattered
Floyd | parade garbage and oodles of horse apples. Nobody's around right now,
Floyd | but the door of the five and dime to the south is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "five and dime, sorry"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Five and Dime
Floyd | This small mom-and-pop store has almost everything, except Mom and
Floyd | Pop, who seem to be out at the moment. There are all sorts of other
Floyd | handy-dandy sundries, though, including a rack full of comic books.
Floyd | There's also a pair of eye-catching promotional displays, one green,
Floyd | one blue.
Floyd |
Floyd | A friendly note is lying on the counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "I have the feeling that the comic books are linked to Renee somehow.."
		invisiwall says, "My instinct was "Comic books!" but perhaps the note should be read"
		invisiwall says, "in case it says something like "PS the comic books are booby-trapped""
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a handwritten note.  "We're At The Fair! If you want to buy
Floyd | something--just leave money on the counter. We Trust You! Signed, Mom
Floyd | and Pop. P.S. Thieves will be pumped full of rock salt."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "AHA"
		verbalK exclaims, "Fair enough!"
		verbalK exclaims, "Let's take a look at the comic books !"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I'm guessing we get a comic book and visit renee"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x comic books" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COMIC BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Your parents say these are trash, but you've always wanted to READ
Floyd | some.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "read comic books" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ COMIC BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | There sure are a lot of comics here! You spend a few minutes leafing
Floyd | through them.  Most of them are pretty ridiculous scenarios with none
Floyd | of the realism of a good Hollywood movie. Jungle Tales has a
Floyd | story about a reporter who crashes in the jungle and finds a magic
Floyd | idol. Weird Sci-Fi is all about some space explorers being
Floyd | menaced by a monster, but the surprise twist is they were alien plants
Floyd | the whole time and the monster is a big cow. Gosh, they're not kidding
Floyd | when they say this stuff is trash! Still, you find one that's not
Floyd | bad--a little volume called Poppy, Girl of the Galaxy, about
Floyd | a girl starship captain and her loyal robot dog RF-RF. You read on,
Floyd | and are pulled into a rollicking tale of action and suspense as Poppy
Floyd | and RF-RF face off against "The Stellar Smugglers". Before you know
Floyd | it, you've reached the final page...
Floyd |
Floyd | POPPY: Jeepers, RF! That sure was a close call!
Floyd | RF-RF: You said it, Poppy! You know, I thought for sure that space
Floyd | worm was a bad egg.  But in the end, he saved us from the smugglers.
Floyd | Sorta funny!
Floyd | POPPY: It makes you think, doesn't it, chum? How much life have we
Floyd | rejected--how many wars have been started--by those two little words
Floyd | "I assume"? A true Girl of the Galaxy doesn't reject someone just
Floyd | because they're slimy or a little different.  Scrape away that slime
Floyd | and you might find a friend coccooned underneath!
Floyd |
Floyd | Gosh, what a story! You even got a little misty-eyed at that moving
Floyd | ending.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Hark at that verb hint"
		invisiwall exclaims, "Oh my goodness, are those references to her other games?!"
		verbalK asks, "Should we take it back to Renee or reading is now enough to convince her that we are now part of the "crazy people"?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take comic books" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE COMIC BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not carrying any money! Better just read them here and then put
Floyd | them back on the rack.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Five and Dime
Floyd | This small mom-and-pop store has almost everything, except Mom and
Floyd | Pop, who seem to be out at the moment. There are all sorts of other
Floyd | handy-dandy sundries, though, including a rack full of comic books.
Floyd | There's also a pair of eye-catching promotional displays, one green,
Floyd | one blue.
Floyd |
Floyd | A friendly note is lying on the counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm back"
		verbalK asks, "What else should we take a look at?"
		invisiwall asks, "What are the displays for?"
		DavidW says, "Look and see."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x displays" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAYS
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x green display" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GREEN DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | A color photo depicts a beach scene. Several good-looking boys are
Floyd | sneering at a distraught-looking girl. The copy under the picture
Floyd | reads: "'PHOOEY!  SHE'S TOO FAT FOR ME!'
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sick of hearing that from all the fellows? Tired of having
Floyd | them pass you by because you're too plump? Want the slender shape that
Floyd | turns heads?  SLIM-U is your solution! SLIM-U uses a zero-calorie
Floyd | stomach sponge to fill you up without need of food and is guaranteed
Floyd | to take off pounds, inches, where you don't want them. No-body loves a
Floyd | blimp--pick up a free sample canister and try SLIM-U today!"
Floyd |
Floyd | On the green display is a green canister.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think reading it is probably enough."
		DavidW asks, "Did you note how the preface to the comic books was a self-dig at her previous games?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		invisiwall says, "I wonder if that's a deliberate pun on green slime monsters in Japanese games"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "open green canister" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GREEN CANISTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the green canister, revealing a whole bunch of green pills.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "And yeah, DavidW, that was delightful"
		DavidW says, "The green canister is a sample, so you can take it for free."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take green canister" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GREEN CANISTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's a blue display too."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x blue display" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BLUE DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | A color photo depicts a beach scene. Several good-looking boys are
Floyd | sneering at a distraught-looking girl. The copy under the picture
Floyd | reads: "'NO SKINNY SCARE-CROW FOR ME!'
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you tired of hearing that from all the boys?  Sick of being
Floyd | ignored because you're too skinny? Want the lush curves that turn
Floyd | heads? WATE-ON is your solution! WATE-ON is scientifically formulated
Floyd | using a high-energy sucrose extract that's guaranteed to quickly add
Floyd | pounds, inches, where you need them. No-body loves a scrawny
Floyd | stick--pick up a free sample box and try WATE-ON today!"
Floyd |
Floyd | On the blue display is a blue box.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "open blue box" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BLUE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the blue box, revealing a whole bunch of blue pills.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "I don't really understand what these pills might be for..."
		verbalK asks, "Will we instantly shrink or get fatter ?"
		DavidW says, "One puts on weight; the other removes weight."
		invisiwall says, "I can think of many things of varying degrees of plausibility"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take blue box" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BLUE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Five and Dime
Floyd | This small mom-and-pop store has almost everything, except Mom and
Floyd | Pop, who seem to be out at the moment. There are all sorts of other
Floyd | handy-dandy sundries, though, including a rack full of comic books.
Floyd | There's also a pair of eye-catching promotional displays, one green,
Floyd | one blue.
Floyd |
Floyd | A friendly note is lying on the counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x sundries" 		

Floyd ]  Five and Dime
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SUNDRIES
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Should we go back to Renne? I guess that is how we get th egun"
		verbalK says, "the gun *"
		DavidW says, "Sundries, they ain't what they used to be."
		invisiwall exclaims, "Let's!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Street
Floyd | A broad, pleasant thoroughfare running east and west through town. The
Floyd | street's quaint charm is only slightly lessened by the scattered
Floyd | parade garbage and oodles of horse apples. Nobody's around right now,
Floyd | but the door of the five and dime to the south is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Saguaro and Main
Floyd | The cracks and potholes of north-south Saguaro meet the fresh black
Floyd | asphalt of east-west Main Street, which is littered with leftover
Floyd | parade stuff. The only business that looks open is the corner diner to
Floyd | the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | The Finch family operates this shabby but comfortable burger joint,
Floyd | where the food is cheap, the smiles are free, and the decor can be
Floyd | summed up as "orange paint". A family photo and a daily specials
Floyd | chalkboard are hanging up behind the counter. You can go northeast to
Floyd | get back to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is wiping down tables.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Now that you've read an actual comic book?"
		invisiwall says, "I mean, since it's in the past, we could justifiably say sundries aren't what they're going to be"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "hello, renee" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HELLO, RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd | You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Talk to Renee."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "Talk to Renee" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 6 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, back again?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I do so like science fiction!"
Floyd | 2) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 3) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I do so like science fiction!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh really?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I think the model spaceships are really neat!"
Floyd | 2) "I don't read all the comics, but I look at the covers. That's as
Floyd | good as reading them, right?"
Floyd | 3) "Why, I'd have a Martian for a pet, if I could!"
Floyd | 4) "But Renee! A true Girl of the Galaxy doesn't reject someone just
Floyd | because they're slimy or a little different. Scrape away that slime
Floyd | and you might find a friend coccooned underneath!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "4!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["But Renee! A true Girl of the Galaxy doesn't reject someone just
Floyd | because they're slimy or a little different. Scrape away that slime
Floyd | and you might find a friend coccooned underneath!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee squeals. "You read Poppy, Girl of the Galaxy too?  I
Floyd | never knew!"  She drops her voice. "Look, I'm sorry I doubted you. I
Floyd | did see something. It was like a...a flying saucer! We can't
Floyd | tell the others, they'll never believe it, but I went up the
Floyd | mountains, near where I saw it flying over, and I found this! Isn't
Floyd | this amazing?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee pulls the ray gun out of her apron pocket and hands it to you.
Floyd | "Here, go ahead and borrow it for a while, if you want."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I want to order something, please."
Floyd | 2) "Guess that's it for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "woo"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Guess that's it for now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See ya 'round."
Floyd |
Floyd | Finch's Diner
Floyd | The Finch family operates this shabby but comfortable burger joint,
Floyd | where the food is cheap, the smiles are free, and the decor can be
Floyd | summed up as "orange paint". A family photo and a daily specials
Floyd | chalkboard are hanging up behind the counter. You can go northeast to
Floyd | get back to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is wiping down tables.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "and yay, ray gun acquired. Good job."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Finch's Diner
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a cosmic ray gun
Floyd |   a blue box (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of blue pills
Floyd |   a green canister (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of green pills
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "I guess we didn't visit the eastern part of town, should we go there ?"
		DavidW says, "we should!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Saguaro and Main
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Saguaro and Main
Floyd | The cracks and potholes of north-south Saguaro meet the fresh black
Floyd | asphalt of east-west Main Street, which is littered with leftover
Floyd | parade stuff. The only business that looks open is the corner diner to
Floyd | the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Is this game as linear a series of fetch puzzles as it seems? I'm not complaining, of course. The writing is engaging and worth the ride."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Main Street
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Street
Floyd | A broad, pleasant thoroughfare running east and west through town. The
Floyd | street's quaint charm is only slightly lessened by the scattered
Floyd | parade garbage and oodles of horse apples. Nobody's around right now,
Floyd | but the door of the five and dime to the south is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Main and Oppenheimer
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main and Oppenheimer
Floyd | Main Street comes from the west, ending here at its intersection with
Floyd | the north-south Oppenheimer Road. To the east is the town square,
Floyd | currently decorated for Pine Nut Days with a number of tents and
Floyd | attractions. It looks like most of the town has gathered there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Main and Oppenheimer. Nice."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "uhh... I guess it is a lot of fetch puzzles, yes. Hadn't thought of that."
		Emily says, "there are some bits where you can pick the order of puzzle solutions"
		Emily says, "but essentially yes"
		verbalK asks, "Should we try Main/Oppenheimer first ? or the tents ?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, they're just not telegraphed as such, but they're fetch quests."
		invisiwall exclaims, "Good writing can be quite effective in disguising that I suppose!"
		invisiwall says, "Tents sound festive"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Fairgrounds Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Fairgrounds Entrance
Floyd | You're standing at the entrance to Canyonville Pine Nut Days. The
Floyd | scent of fresh-baked pies wafts from a covered area to the northeast,
Floyd | the sleek Tomorrow Pavilion is to the southeast, and straight east
Floyd | takes you to the center of the town square. You can exit the fair onto
Floyd | Main Street to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | A young woman walks by, looking distinctly green around the gills and
Floyd | holding her stomach as if she's regretting the last several helpings
Floyd | of cotton candy. Suddenly, she claps a hand over her mouth and flees
Floyd | towards the nearest ladies' room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Pies, Tomorrow's pavilion or town square ?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Where are the fried oreos?"
		invisiwall says, "Maybe there's a fried oreo pie"
		DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "uhhh.. Texas?"
		invisiwall asks, "Have Oreos been invented yet, actually?"
		verbalK says, "Maybe we could even go to the ladies' room, but it'd a weird feeling for me to be driving."
		Jacqueline asks (of vK), "Do you still want to drive? Or do you want me to take it back?"
		Jacqueline says, "Timing"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm guessing we can't actually go into the ladies' room, but maybe I'm wrong."
		verbalK says, "I can still drive for sometime if you are still having a snack"
		Jacqueline says, "I ate the snack."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | This tent is filled with the absolutely scrumptious scent of freshly
Floyd | baked pies. Several long tables are laden with dozens of entries
Floyd | competing for the blue-ribbon prize.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky, the Pine Nut Queen, is here, surrounded by her Pine
Floyd | Nut Ladies-In-Waiting.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a gruesome glowing pie, a row of delicious pies and a
Floyd | pink purse (closed) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane cuts a slice from the pie in front of her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Is this the appropriate spot to make a hashtag jacquelinetakethewheel joke"
		Jacqueline says, "I am now snack-free. Or it is perhaps more accurate to say that I contain a snack."
		verbalK says, "We were talking about snacks, seen pie, so I went there"
		DavidW says, "I wish I had pie."
		verbalK says (to Jacqueline,), "please start driving whenever you feel like it"
		invisiwall says, "Eminently sensible."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 5 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, hello, Bonnie. My, don't you look--disheveled today."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I don't guess you care that your kingdom is being attacked by
Floyd | killer brain guzzlers, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I don't guess you care that your kingdom is being attacked by
Floyd | killer brain guzzlers, Your Majesty."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Not really, Your Peasantiness." Mary Jane giggles. "Sorry.  I just
Floyd | have to stay in character, you know!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gosh, you sure do love pie."
Floyd | 2) "Have you seen Jenny? I thought she would be with you."
Floyd | 3) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "1 or 2, folks?"
		verbalK says, "2"
		invisiwall asks, "Um.... 2?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Have you seen Jenny? I thought she would be with you."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "She was here earlier. She's...not feeling well." Mary Jane lowers her
Floyd | voice. "She wants to be alone.  Someone stole the plant she was
Floyd | raising right out of her shop earlier, can you believe it?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gosh, you sure do love pie."
Floyd | 2) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Awkward."
		Jacqueline says, "Totes awkward."
		Jacqueline says, "I really want to say 1."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gosh, you sure do love pie."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm the judge, silly! It's one of my duties as the Pine Nut Queen. I
Floyd | get to sample every pie here and decide whose is yummiest!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Have you noticed that, uh, unusual pie at the end of the table?"
Floyd | 2) "Why don't you stop now and declare Jenny's pie the winner? You two
Floyd | are best friends, right?"
Floyd | 3) "Aren't you worried about what stuffing yourself with pie will do
Floyd | to your figure?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Aren't you worried about what stuffing yourself with pie will do
Floyd | to your figure?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Not in the least!" Mary Jane says brightly. "I had a complete
Floyd | physical before my coronation to insure I was fit for my royal duties.
Floyd | Here, have a look!" Mary Jane leads you over to her purse and spins
Floyd | the combination lock until it opens. Rifling inside, she pulls out a
Floyd | sheet of paper.  "See?  It says here I have the metabolism of a
Floyd | hummingbird. I won't gain an ounce!" She stuffs the paper back into
Floyd | her purse, drops the purse back on the table without bothering to
Floyd | close and lock it, and returns to her entourage.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Have you noticed that, uh, unusual pie at the end of the table?"
Floyd | 2) "Why don't you stop now and declare Jenny's pie the winner? You two
Floyd | are best friends, right?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "It is a pretty unusual pie"
		Jacqueline asks, "Did we look at it?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Have fun at the fair!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | This tent is filled with the absolutely scrumptious scent of freshly
Floyd | baked pies. Several long tables are laden with dozens of entries
Floyd | competing for the blue-ribbon prize.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky, the Pine Nut Queen, is here, surrounded by her Pine
Floyd | Nut Ladies-In-Waiting.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a gruesome glowing pie, a row of delicious pies and a
Floyd | pink purse (in which is a physical results chart) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane puts a forkful of pie in her mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pies" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIES
Floyd |
Floyd | They all look extremely delicious!
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane frowns and makes a face. She quickly sets the piece of pie
Floyd | down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "I feel that we can rob her, but I dont know why we would do that ...."
		invisiwall says, "It was singled out in the room description"
		DavidW says, "> x gruesome pie"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x glowing pie" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLOWING PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Someone left this pie at the end of the pie-tasting table. It's at
Floyd | least five times bigger than the other pies, it's glowing like a
Floyd | lighthouse, and you can see things moving around under the crust. The
Floyd | smell of decay hovers around it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane murmurs something to one of her Pine Nut Ladies-In-Waiting,
Floyd | who writes it down on a clipboard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "Dang"
		Jacqueline says, "I am kind of wishing I hadn't just had that snack."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to Mary Jane" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 5 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, hello again, Bonnie."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Have you noticed that, uh, unusual pie at the end of the table?"
Floyd | 2) "Why don't you stop now and declare Jenny's pie the winner? You two
Floyd | are best friends, right?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Have you noticed that, uh, unusual pie at the end of the
Floyd | table?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, that.  It was just sitting on the table when I got here. It looks
Floyd | a little, ummm..." Mary Jane drops her voice.  "I'm putting that one
Floyd | off 'til last."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I don't think you should taste that strange pie at all. It might
Floyd | be, er, poisoned?"
Floyd | 2) "Why don't you stop now and declare Jenny's pie the winner? You two
Floyd | are best friends, right?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Credit where credit's due, she's determined to fulfill her duty to the fullest"
		Jacqueline asks, "1 or 2?"
		verbalK says, "True that."
		verbalK says, "2"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Why don't you stop now and declare Jenny's pie the winner? You
Floyd | two are best friends, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, Bonstance Noodleman, I'm surprised at you!" Mary Jane says.
Floyd | "That would be cheating!  Plus I couldn't figure out which one was
Floyd | hers."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I don't think you should taste that strange pie at all. It might
Floyd | be, er, poisoned?"
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I don't think you should taste that strange pie at all. It might
Floyd | be, er, poisoned?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I know it's not the nicest-looking pie, but I only have to take
Floyd | one teeny little bite.  It's my duty."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "BONSTANCE NOODLEMAN"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. That's pretty awesome."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, don't be silly. It can't be THAT bad!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue
Floyd | ribbon?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "No way! I told you, that wouldn't be fair!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Should we say 3 or should we say 4 then poke around in her purse (somehow, with all these people here)"
		invisiwall says, "Let's try three first, I suppose"
		DavidW says, "She left the purse unlocked."
		DavidW says, "After the first check."
		verbalK says, "Let's poke in the purse"
		verbalK says, "The ask her about her medical paper again"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I noticed that."
		verbalK says, "Then*"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Have fun at the fair!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | This tent is filled with the absolutely scrumptious scent of freshly
Floyd | baked pies. Several long tables are laden with dozens of entries
Floyd | competing for the blue-ribbon prize.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky, the Pine Nut Queen, is here, surrounded by her Pine
Floyd | Nut Ladies-In-Waiting.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a gruesome glowing pie, a row of delicious pies and a
Floyd | pink purse (in which is a physical results chart) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane and her retinue move down to the next pie.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x purse" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PURSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It matches her dress.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the pink purse is a physical results chart.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane cuts a slice from the pie in front of her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take chart" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CHART
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane puts a forkful of pie in her mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "Without physical results, no pie !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to jane" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JANE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 5 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, hello again, Bonnie."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane shrugs and walks over to her purse to check the results
Floyd | again.  She digs around inside.  "Huh," she says. "I can't seem to
Floyd | find it in there. But I remember what it said, and it said I'd be
Floyd | fine."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Seriously, I think that weird pie might kill you."
Floyd | 2) "Are you sure you don't want to just give Jenny the blue ribbon?"
Floyd | 3) "I still don't believe all these calories won't do anything. Are
Floyd | you SURE you read those physical results right?"
Floyd | 4) "Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "bah"
		verbalK asks, "If we retry 1... ?"
		invisiwall asks, "What _does_ the chart say?"
		verbalK says, "That she is as healthy as a humming bird."
		DavidW says, "There's actually two different solutions to this puzzle."
		verbalK says, "And she can eat loads of pie."
		invisiwall exclaims, "Oh my goodness, then we should give her extra food!"
		verbalK says, "It seems that we dont want her to eat the weird looking pie."
		verbalK exclaims, "Great idea !!!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chart" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHART
Floyd |
Floyd | That command isn't available in choice mode.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Er... I must take my leave, Your Majesty."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Have fun at the fair!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | This tent is filled with the absolutely scrumptious scent of freshly
Floyd | baked pies. Several long tables are laden with dozens of entries
Floyd | competing for the blue-ribbon prize.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky, the Pine Nut Queen, is here, surrounded by her Pine
Floyd | Nut Ladies-In-Waiting.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a gruesome glowing pie, a row of delicious pies and a
Floyd | pink purse (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane rolls her eyes in pleasure and finishes off the piece of pie
Floyd | in a few healthy bites.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chart" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHART
Floyd |
Floyd | These are notes from a recent physical for "Minsky, Mary Jane
Floyd | Minerva". Among other things, the doctors remark that her metabolism
Floyd | seems excellent. "Miss Minsky is near-perfectly fit.  It is this
Floyd | doctor's opinion that the various culinary duties of the Pine Nut
Floyd | Queen--including the judging of the pie competition--should pose
Floyd | little damage to her royal figure."
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane murmurs something to one of her Pine Nut Ladies-In-Waiting,
Floyd | who writes it down on a clipboard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pies" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIES
Floyd |
Floyd | They all look extremely delicious!
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane and her retinue move down to the next pie.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Should we give her the Deluxe hamburger we've been carrying around ?"
		invisiwall says, "Oh, okay, not quite a hummingbird."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give burger to Mary Jane" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE BURGER TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Damn. Right."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a physical results chart
Floyd |   a cosmic ray gun
Floyd |   a blue box (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of blue pills
Floyd |   a green canister (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of green pills
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane cuts a slice from the pie in front of her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's a depth charge"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give depth charge to mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE DEPTH CHARGE TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, thank you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane puts a forkful of pie in her mouth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "It's a posthamburgic food item"
		Jacqueline says, "Can we alter her medical results? Seems like a stretch."
		DavidW says, "(not saying)"
		verbalK asks, "Maybe if we show her the chart again but upside down ?"
		verbalK asks, "Does that cound as altering her medical results?"
		verbalK says, "count*"
		DavidW says, "[]-=-=-=-=-=-=-"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure how we'd phrase that, vk, but DW's zipped mouth ascii emoji leads me to believe we're on the right track."
		verbalK says (to DavidW), "Public whisper: (What does that mean?)"
		verbalK exclaims, "oooooooh ! I see !"
		DavidW says, "My mouth is zipped."
		invisiwall asks, "Looking at the inventory stuff... shoot the pie? Bribe with pills? Embarrass with yearbook? Distract with... thrown hula hoop?"
		verbalK exclaims, "Pills !"
		verbalK exclaims, "Let's make her fat !!!"
		Jacqueline says, "OH RIGHT"
		verbalK exclaims, "Like so fat her results will be meaningless !"
		Jacqueline says, "Fill her stomach with a sponge"
		Jacqueline says (to vk), "I don't think it makes her fat, it makes her full."
		Jacqueline says, "But yes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put pill in pie" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT PILL IN PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the whole bunch of blue pills or the whole bunch of
Floyd | green pills?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "The blue pills, in a the next pie she's going to taste."
		Jacqueline says, "Is it the blue pills? I forget what the others do."
		invisiwall asks, "There's a sucrose pill too though, isn't there?"
		verbalK says (to Jacq), "I am not sure I understood everything about those pills..."
		DavidW says, "Try one. If it's wrong, try the other."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x blue pills" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BLUE PILLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the whole bunch of blue pills.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane looks throughtful. Slowly, she takes another bite of pie and
Floyd | chews it carefully.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Not sure if that would have the same effect (extra food = now you're full?)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put blue pill in pie" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT BLUE PILL IN PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the gruesome glowing pie or the row of delicious
Floyd | pies?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "delicious pies" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DELICIOUS PIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You shake a blue pill into your hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | You discreetly tuck the blue pill beneath the crust of the next pie
Floyd | down from Mary Jane. Soon enough, she's picking it up, cutting a
Floyd | slice, and stuffing it cheerfully into her face. Nothing much happens,
Floyd | though. If you're trying to fatten her up, the pie is probably already
Floyd | doing a good enough job on its own.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane murmurs something to one of her Pine Nut Ladies-In-Waiting,
Floyd | who writes it down on a clipboard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "She wont eat pies anymore. But why are we trying to stop her from eating pies ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I thought it was green."
		Jacqueline asks (of vk), "Because she's going to eat an alien pie and spit out alien babies?"
		invisiwall says, "Because the gruesome pie might kill her"
		DavidW says (to verbalK), "You haven't found out yet."
		Jacqueline asks, "That will guzzle our brains?"
		Jacqueline says, "That is my prediction."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put green pill in delicious pie" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT GREEN PILL IN DELICIOUS PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | You shake a green pill into your hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | You discreetly tuck the green pill beneath the crust of the next pie
Floyd | down from Mary Jane. Soon enough, she's picking it up, cutting a
Floyd | slice, and stuffing it cheerfully into her face. A moment later, you
Floyd | hear the muffled whumpf of a giant SLIM-U sponge blowing up
Floyd | in her stomach like a life raft trapped in a coffee can. Mary Jane
Floyd | grimaces and puts a hand to her abdomen. "Oof..." she moans, "I
Floyd | think...maybe...that's enough pie for today."
Floyd |
Floyd | Surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, Mary Jane rushes off, looking
Floyd | pale.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall exclaims, "I feel that preventing the guzzlement of human brains is a pretty good reason!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take glowing pie" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GLOWING PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | You heft the gruesome glowing pie. Not only have you saved Mary Jane
Floyd | from biting into a major yuckaroo, you've now got a piece of evidence
Floyd | about the creatures!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall exclaims, "Although.... someone baked that pie. Someone human, presumably. We have a traitor?!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Back to the popo?"
		verbalK asks, "Evidence? Does that mean we should go back to the police station ?"
		verbalK asks, "Let's try that ?"
Emily goes home. 		
Emily has disconnected. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | This tent is filled with the absolutely scrumptious scent of freshly
Floyd | baked pies. Several long tables are laden with dozens of entries
Floyd | competing for the blue-ribbon prize.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a row of delicious pies and a pink purse (empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Blue Ribbon Pie Tasting
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The way the tables are set up prevents you from leaving in any
Floyd | direction but southwest or south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Well, that's handy"
		Jacqueline asks, "e?"
		DavidW says, "This is Officer Wilcox's son."
		verbalK asks, "Does he still think we are a "hysteric" girl ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh! I was so busy looking at directions...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to deputy" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DEPUTY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 8 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, hi there", the young deputy says. "Hope we can put all that
Floyd | business this morning behind us. As long as you're here for good clean
Floyd | fun, you're welcome at Pine Nut Days.  Miss...Noodleman, wasn't it?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Deputy Wilcox!  The town is in terrible danger
Floyd | from...from...bears?  Big, nasty, plausible bears!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Yeah let's try bears this time ..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Deputy Wilcox!  The town is in terrible danger
Floyd | from...from...bears?  Big, nasty, plausible bears!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "First it's monsters, now it's bears?" The deputy shakes his head.
Floyd | "Look, I can't get my uncle on the radio, and now mysterious gigantic,
Floyd | jiggling folks in trenchcoats have been spotted in the area! They
Floyd | could be spies for Khrushchev, or for rival towns with competing pine
Floyd | nut-based festivals. So you've just gotta excuse me, but I've got
Floyd | bigger fish to fry."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Please! Your uncle wouldn't listen to me, but I know you're the
Floyd | better man. I know you won't ignore your duty!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "snrk"
		DavidW says, "probably should've looked at him first."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Please! Your uncle wouldn't listen to me, but I know you're the
Floyd | better man. I know you won't ignore your duty!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, it's true Unk could be a little lazy on days ending with 'y'. I
Floyd | tell you what--I'll investigate this, and I'll do it nice and
Floyd | thorough."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Oh, thank goodness! All your uncle did was sit around and wait for
Floyd | me to bring him a piece of evidence."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, nephew, not son. Sorry."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Oh, thank goodness! All your uncle did was sit around and wait
Floyd | for me to bring him a piece of evidence."]
Floyd |
Floyd | The deputy shakes his head. "I love the man, but he doesn't exactly
Floyd | like to sweat. I'd never sit around and wait for just one piece of
Floyd | evidence. I'm gonna need to look at at least three good ones before
Floyd | taking action. You find me three things that demonstrate that
Floyd | something weird and out of the ordinary is going on, I'll have no
Floyd | choice but to believe you."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Look at this pie.  It's unnatural!"
Floyd | 2) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Three?"
		verbalK says, "We have the gun too"
		DavidW says, "Three."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Look at this pie.  It's unnatural!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hmm. That certainly is an unpleasant looking pie." Deputy Wilcox
Floyd | looks more closely at the pulsating pastry. "I don't think any woman
Floyd | in this town could or would bake such a monstrosity!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["That's all I've got right now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | He tips his hat. "Later, Miss."
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | A sudden eruption of ear-splitting demands for candy is followed,
Floyd | moments later, by an exhausted-looking woman towing a red-faced,
Floyd | shrieking little boy.  The noise persists for some time as she drags
Floyd | him off in the direction of the exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x deputy" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEPUTY
Floyd |
Floyd | Buck Wilcox's nephew, a slim, brown-haired kid no more than twenty. He
Floyd | really cares about upholding the law, and more than that, making sure
Floyd | Canyonville is a nice place to live. His hobbies include planting
Floyd | trees and then getting cats out of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | An unattended dog thumps into your shin as it runs past, panting in
Floyd | the warm weather. It disappears into a forest of legs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Aww."
		Jacqueline says, "That is adorable."
		DavidW says, "I live Buck Wilcox a lot more than Jimmy."
		DavidW says, "er like"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, crap. I have not fed my Neko Atsume cats yet this morning."
		verbalK asks, "What is a Neko Atusme ?"
		DavidW says, "Everyone's favourite cat game on mobile, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		DavidW says, "My Twitter feed has various pictures from it."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, they are fed now."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, did the seed count as 1?"
		DavidW says, "No."
		Jacqueline asks, "Or do we still have two things to find?"
		Jacqueline says, "The ray gun appears to not count."
		DavidW says, "You need 2 more things, yes."
		DavidW says, "And the gun doesn't count, correct."
		invisiwall says, "I don't think the gun counts either, cos it didn't show up as a talk option"
		verbalK is trying to find this Neko Atsume app. Cats and smartphones, how could it go wrong ?
		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "Right"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x fobb" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOBB
Floyd |
Floyd | A large bronze statue of the town's founder. He's got some swell
Floyd | muttonchops!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x carny" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARNY
Floyd |
Floyd | Gosh, he sure looks like an awful shady customer!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to carny" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CARNY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 7 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | The carny looks you over. "Well, who's this raven-haired beauty? Looks
Floyd | a little like me at that age. Better hope that don't work the other
Floyd | way around, huh? Look, I'm kiddin', kid, relax, that's a joke. But
Floyd | seriously, you gonna give my games a shot or ain't ya?
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Who are you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Who are you?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm Barney. Barney the Carny. Who are you, Quizzy the Question Girl?
Floyd | C'mon, I got prizes here. Broads dig prizes."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's your game, Barney?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What's your game, Barney?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I gotta shooting gallery, mostly. You shoot BBs at ducks usin' that
Floyd | gun. If you win, you pick up this beauty!" He holds up a trophy. It's
Floyd | made of some kind of strange metal that radiates a sickly yellow-green
Floyd | glow.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "That glow! That metal--that can help me prove what's going on!
Floyd | Please! I really, really need that!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["That glow! That metal--that can help me prove what's going on!
Floyd | Please! I really, really need that!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well", the carny laughs, "then you'd better hope you're good at
Floyd | shootin' ducks."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "How does your shooting gallery work?"
Floyd | 2) "I'm done talking!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm done talking!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, yeah. See ya in the funny pages, toots."
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "play game" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLAY GAME
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take bb gun" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BB GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | As you pick up the gun, a cheery tune begins playing, and the booth is
Floyd | awash in light. With a grinding kachunk the ducks begin moving.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Get ready...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Get ready...]
Floyd |
Floyd | A tin duck zips across the gallery!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Shoot it with the BB gun.
Floyd | 2) Shoot it with the cosmic ray gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Shoot it with the BB gun.]
Floyd |
Floyd | You fire the gun at the ducks. Pow! Plink! Pop! You miss them all as
Floyd | the shots veer widely off course from anywhere you aimed. Why, you're
Floyd | lucky you didn't put somebody's eye out!  The carny laughs at you.
Floyd | "Hey, better luck next time, kid".
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Well, okay"
		Jacqueline says, "So, it's rigged."
		Jacqueline says, "Jerk."
		Jacqueline says, "So I think we know what we do now."
		verbalK asks, "Use the other gun. The other gun can,t be rigged right?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take bb gun" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BB GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | As you pick up the gun, a cheery tune begins playing, and the booth is
Floyd | awash in light. With a grinding kachunk the ducks begin moving.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Get ready...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Get ready...]
Floyd |
Floyd | A tin duck zips across the gallery!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Shoot it with the BB gun.
Floyd | 2) Shoot it with the cosmic ray gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [Shoot it with the cosmic ray gun.]
Floyd |
Floyd | The ray shoots straight and true, melting the ducks into little piles
Floyd | of molten slag. The carny grumbles a bit, but a deal's a deal. He
Floyd | presses the trophy into your hot little hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Maybe it has auto-aim...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x trophy" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TROPHY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's warm and softly glowing in an unearthly sort of way. Other than
Floyd | that, it looks like an ordinary trophy which appears to actually be
Floyd | for bowling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "congrats on evidence #2."
		invisiwall says, "Well, you certainly BOWLED the carny over"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "How can the gun not be evidence number 3?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to deputy" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DEPUTY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 8 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Back again, huh? How're you're enjoyin' the fair, Miss Noodleman?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Look at this trophy. This is no normal metal!"
Floyd | 2) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Look at this trophy. This is no normal metal!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, you're right! It's like nothing I've ever seen before--almost as
Floyd | if it came from--from another world!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["That's all I've got right now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | He tips his hat. "Later, Miss."
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Cause the ray gun looks like a toy."
		verbalK asks, "oh ... Even when it shoots rays and melts stuff ?"
		Jacqueline says, "Should we do the haunted house ride? I want to do the haunted house ride."
		verbalK exclaims, "Scary lines of texts ! Let's go !"
		Jacqueline likes haunted house rides.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Haunted house?"
		invisiwall says, "Oh, I see"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Haunted Porch
Floyd | You're standing on the porch of a creepy haunted house. From inside,
Floyd | you can hear tinny recordings of booming laughter and creaking hinges.
Floyd | A small car rests on a track. A noisy midway lies to the north, and a
Floyd | glittering, futuristic pavilion to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | An elegantly lettered sign has been nailed to the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glass case (closed) (in which is a tombstone) and a
Floyd | small car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sign" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SIGN
Floyd |
Floyd | This crisply painted black and white sign bears the following text:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "NOTICE:
Floyd |
Floyd | Due to the high levels of bone-chilling fear generated by this
Floyd | terrifying ride, management is pleased to offer this complimentary
Floyd | tombstone to any fairgoer who dies of fright while within the haunted
Floyd | house."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Ok that's funny."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tombstone" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOMBSTONE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's made out of some kind of yellow-green crystalline substance
Floyd | that's glowing faintly. You've never seen a gem that looks quite like
Floyd | it. The rough, primal surface has been marred with a crude carving
Floyd | reading "Your Name Here? MWA HA HA"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Yellow-green, eh?"
		invisiwall says, "Top-notch artisanry"
		DavidW says, "mmhm"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "shoot glass" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | The ray passes right through it. Darn glass!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ha ha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open case" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | There doesn't seem to be any way to cheat and open it yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So we have to die to get it? That seems like a lose-lose."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You hop into the car, which rolls forward into the haunted house. A
Floyd | metal cuff snaps shut around your wrist. What an experience! The
Floyd | laziness and lack of attention to detail on the part of the staff is
Floyd | truly TERRIFYING! The implications of this shoddy workmanship, when
Floyd | you consider the importance of the American work ethic to beating the
Floyd | Russians, are enough to fill you with BONE-CHILLING FRIGHT! However,
Floyd | you don't actually die. As the car creaks its way past the last
Floyd | cardboard tombstone and into the light, the cuff on your wrist
Floyd | squeezes and a hidden heart monitor beeps. "Ah, a heartbeat! You've
Floyd | managed to survive!" a recorded voice chortles tinnily, "...THIS
Floyd | TIME!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The car reaches the end of the track and stops with a jolt before
Floyd | letting you back out onto the porch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Aha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a glowing trophy
Floyd |   a gruesome glowing pie
Floyd |   a physical results chart
Floyd |   a cosmic ray gun
Floyd |   a blue box (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of blue pills
Floyd |   a green canister (open)
Floyd |     a whole bunch of green pills
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Maybe the hula hoop will finally be useful?"
		Jacqueline asks, "What do the blue pills do? Do they lower our heartbeat?"
		invisiwall says, "No, IIRC they were the sucrose pills"
		invisiwall says, "Cos the other ones were the sponge pills"
		verbalK says, "Sorry I did not get everything about these pills ..."
		DavidW says, "The blue pills make you gain weight."
		Jacqueline asks, "Enough weight to make it difficult to find our pulse?"
Ghogg arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Jacqueline says, "I am guessing not."
		DavidW says, "I'm reasonably sure the pills are only useful for the pies puzzle."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "When this is all over, I want to try to eat the glowing pie."
		invisiwall asks, "And then shooting it?"
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we need to put something around our arm or find something to put in the cuff. And I'm not sure we've seen that thing yet."
		Jacqueline asks, "Where else do we need to go?"
		DavidW says, "You better try eating it now; you might not have it later."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "eat glowing pie" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT GLOWING PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | YOU'RE not eating that just to save Mary Jane from it!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "eat glowing pie" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT GLOWING PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | YOU'RE not eating that just to save Mary Jane from it!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Fine."
		DavidW says, "Bonstance has standards."
		invisiwall says, "I still can't get over 'BONSTANCE'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | The Haunted Porch
Floyd | You're standing on the porch of a creepy haunted house. From inside,
Floyd | you can hear tinny recordings of booming laughter and creaking hinges.
Floyd | A small car rests on a track. A noisy midway lies to the north, and a
Floyd | glittering, futuristic pavilion to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | An elegantly lettered sign has been nailed to the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glass case (closed) (in which is a tombstone) and a
Floyd | small car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Haunted Porch
Floyd | You're standing on the porch of a creepy haunted house. From inside,
Floyd | you can hear tinny recordings of booming laughter and creaking hinges.
Floyd | A small car rests on a track. A noisy midway lies to the north, and a
Floyd | glittering, futuristic pavilion to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | An elegantly lettered sign has been nailed to the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glass case (closed) (in which is a tombstone) and a
Floyd | small car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | A spacious plaza glittering with the promise of tomorrow. The center
Floyd | of the town square is to the north, and a spooky-looking haunted house
Floyd | lies to the east. The Car of Tomorrow gleams enticingly from on top of
Floyd | a raised dais. There is also a small kiosk distributing the Ice Cream
Floyd | of Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow is standing here, looking pretty and waiting for
Floyd | someone to talk to her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "'Hi, Bob.'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wife of tomorrow" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WIFE OF TOMORROW
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine The Wife of
Floyd | Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "um, yes?"
		verbalK says, "Yes that is what we want to do."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wife of tomorrow" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO WIFE OF TOMORROW
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to talk to The Wife of
Floyd | Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "just X WIFE"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wife" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | Her face is molded into a friendly simper, and below that she's made
Floyd | of shiny, snow-white plastic with a one-inch waist. This must be what
Floyd | wives are going to look like tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wife" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 9 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello I am W.I.F.E. (Wireless Intelligent Female, Electronic),
Floyd | another fine product of Minsystems Labs and your guide to the Wonders
Floyd | of Tomorrow! You can ask me about any part of the pavilion to learn
Floyd | more. As this prototype lacks a number of our exciting upcoming
Floyd | features such as social analysis and reaction diodes, for purposes of
Floyd | this demonstration I will be assuming that you are an affluent
Floyd | middle-aged man named Dave Johnson who is interested in purchasing me
Floyd | to impress the clients of his medium-sized ad agency. What would you
Floyd | like to know, Dave?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Can I take you for a test, er, walk?"
Floyd | 5) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "snrkk"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, I think I see the usefulness of W.I.F.E."
		Jacqueline says, "But let's chat first."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, Dave! The Car of Tomorrow is a sleek, state-of-the-art driving
Floyd | machine. It contains over two tons of steel and can reach speeds of
Floyd | one-hundred-forty miles per hour when dragged at high speed along a
Floyd | magnetic track by specially designed robots. The Car of Tomorrow is
Floyd | capable of running on unrefined oil and blocks of shale, has
Floyd | high-quality Texture-Tronic plastic seating for up to ten people,
Floyd | boasts Drive-Rite Suspension and foot-powered Auto-Stop braking
Floyd | technology, and is a delightful shade of cherry red. The Car of
Floyd | Tomorrow will be available to consumers by mid-1961, by which time it
Floyd | may also fly. Until then, enjoy this inert plywood prototype...and
Floyd | remember, tomorrow is calling!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Can I take you for a test, er, walk?"
Floyd | 5) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ha"
		Jacqueline says, "This is excellent."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, Dave! The Ice Cream of Tomorrow is a polymolecular
Floyd | bovine-emission based organic substance displaying hyperminimal atomic
Floyd | vibration. It's also absolutely scrumptious!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Can I take you for a test, er, walk?"
Floyd | 5) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Isn't this good? I love this stuff."
		verbalK says, "I want to be born in the fifties...."
		invisiwall says, "Oh my god"
		verbalK exclaims, "This is cool !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, Dave! I am a state-of-the-art, fully operational artificial
Floyd | wife, capable of completing all necessary functions at the fraction of
Floyd | the power use of a standard wife. I can cook a wide variety of dishes,
Floyd | clean and fold laundry, and laugh when I detect jokes made within my
Floyd | amusement radius. Best of all, my chest cavity--wastefully stocked
Floyd | with nothing more than a heart and lungs in those other
Floyd | wives--contains an ice machine, tumbler dispenser, and a bottle of the
Floyd | finest aged Scotch!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Gee, can I have some of that fancy Scotch?"
Floyd | 5) "Can I take you for a test, er, walk?"
Floyd | 6) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Man. Now I want to marry her."
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Can I take you for a test, er, walk?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Right away, Dave!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Gee, can I have some of that fancy Scotch?"
Floyd | 5) "Wait here for a moment."
Floyd | 6) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 6
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's stop talking for now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know best, dear!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrow Pavilion
Floyd | A spacious plaza glittering with the promise of tomorrow. The center
Floyd | of the town square is to the north, and a spooky-looking haunted house
Floyd | lies to the east. The Car of Tomorrow gleams enticingly from on top of
Floyd | a raised dais. There is also a small kiosk distributing the Ice Cream
Floyd | of Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow is standing here, looking pretty and waiting for
Floyd | someone to talk to her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Haunted Porch
Floyd | You're standing on the porch of a creepy haunted house. From inside,
Floyd | you can hear tinny recordings of booming laughter and creaking hinges.
Floyd | A small car rests on a track. A noisy midway lies to the north, and a
Floyd | glittering, futuristic pavilion to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | An elegantly lettered sign has been nailed to the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glass case (closed) (in which is a tombstone) and a
Floyd | small car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow rolls dutifully up behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "That's a fair description of what a great wife must have been expected to do in the fifties...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put wife in car" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT WIFE IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking The Wife of Tomorrow)
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow is too heavy for your fragile little arms to
Floyd | lift.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wife, get in car" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WIFE, GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Nice girls start up a conversation with people if they want to talk
Floyd | about something, instead of just spitting out orders like some kind of
Floyd | drill sergeant! If you can't find a way to bring it up in
Floyd | conversation, well, then it's probably not something you need to talk
Floyd | about anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to wife" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 9 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello again, Dave. How was your day?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Gee, can I have some of that fancy Scotch?"
Floyd | 5) "Wait here for a moment."
Floyd | 6) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "She'll follow you in."
		verbalK says, "4"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, can I have some of that fancy Scotch?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave." The Wife of Tomorrow winks
Floyd | saucily. "Why buy the cow if she gives away the Scotch for free?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Can you tell me about the Car of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 2) "Can you tell me about the Ice Cream of Tomorrow?"
Floyd | 3) "Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
Floyd | 4) "Wait here for a moment."
Floyd | 5) "Let's stop talking for now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		verbalK says, "I can't do that Dave."
		Jacqueline says, "Can't type. Too busy laughing."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's stop talking for now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know best, dear!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Haunted Porch
Floyd | You're standing on the porch of a creepy haunted house. From inside,
Floyd | you can hear tinny recordings of booming laughter and creaking hinges.
Floyd | A small car rests on a track. A noisy midway lies to the north, and a
Floyd | glittering, futuristic pavilion to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow is standing here, looking pretty and waiting for
Floyd | someone to talk to her.
Floyd |
Floyd | An elegantly lettered sign has been nailed to the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a glass case (closed) (in which is a tombstone) and a
Floyd | small car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Yeah this is good :)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You hop into the car. "Well, if you say so, dear," says the Wife of
Floyd | Tomorrow, following you in. Metal cuffs snap shut around both your
Floyd | wrists as the car rolls forward into the haunted house. The Wife of
Floyd | Tomorrow emits eeks at regular intervals every time a rubber bat or
Floyd | bored teenager in a mummy costume appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the end of the ride, the cuffs squeeze tight around both your wrist
Floyd | and that of the Wife of Tomorrow, and a hidden heart monitor beeps.
Floyd | "What's this?" a recorded voice says with an oily air of triumph. "It
Floyd | appears that the terror was too much for someone's poor old heart.
Floyd | Why, there's not a hint of a beat left! A promise is a
Floyd | promise...."
Floyd |
Floyd | The glass case slides open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Oh yeah, I didn't catch that reference haha"
		verbalK exclaims, "Nice !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take tombstone" 		

Floyd ]  The Haunted Porch
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TOMBSTONE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Midway Games
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Midway Games
Floyd | Rows of games line the midway here, creating a noisy, colorful passage
Floyd | between the town square center to the west and a gloomy-looking
Floyd | haunted house ride to the south. The most prominent booth is a
Floyd | shooting gallery containing several rows of ducks and a BB gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | A carny slouches against the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow rolls dutifully up behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oops. I keep thinking the 'midway' is the center."
		DavidW says, "w of midway"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Town Square Center
Floyd | All paths lead here, to the paved center of the town square.  A large
Floyd | bronze statue of Canyonville's founder, Charles Fobb, towers over you.
Floyd | The festival surrounds you on all sides--east to the midway, west to
Floyd | the exit, south to the Tomorrow Pavilion, and north to the annual
Floyd | Judging of the Pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Deputy Wilcox here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Wife of Tomorrow rolls dutifully up behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show tombstone to deputy" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW TOMBSTONE TO DEPUTY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 8 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Back again, huh? How're you're enjoyin' the fair, Miss Noodleman?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Look at this glowing tombstone. It's freakish! Freakish, I tell
Floyd | you!"
Floyd | 2) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Look at this glowing tombstone. It's freakish! Freakish, I tell
Floyd | you!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Freakish--that's the word for it, all right. It's certainly not good
Floyd | old Canyonville rock. Why, I don't think it's even American!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Confront the deputy about all three pieces of evidence. You're done
Floyd | poking around this festival--it's time to get justice for Jimmy and
Floyd | his poor brain, no matter what the consequences!
Floyd | 2) "That's all I've got right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Confront the deputy about all three pieces of evidence. You're
Floyd | done poking around this festival--it's time to get justice for Jimmy
Floyd | and his poor brain, no matter what the consequences!]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I...I just can't deny it anymore," the deputy says, taking the
Floyd | objects to examine. "There's something mighty strange going on. I
Floyd | don't know if it's brain guzzlers or regular guzzlers, and I certainly
Floyd | ain't convinced they hail from space, but I aim to find out."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Deputy pulls his gun and checks the bullets. "Just so happens,
Floyd | I've got an idea.  As long as everyone stays calm, we should have the
Floyd | situation cleared up in a few minutes.  Now, first thing we're gonna
Floyd | do--"
Floyd |
Floyd | A piercing scream rings out across the fairgrounds!  A moment later,
Floyd | Mary Jane appears, her dress torn and her tattered sash streaming out
Floyd | behind her. "Aliens!" she screams. "Aliens are attacking the
Floyd | festival!" You look in the direction she came from. It's true! Huge,
Floyd | jiggling shapes are oozing their way through the crowd. They look a
Floyd | little like gelatin molds being held up close to a camera and shaken
Floyd | vigorously, except for the tentacles, long and thick like pythons and
Floyd | dripping with glowing goop. More screams. Festival-goers are starting
Floyd | to panic. The calm before the storm is over--the Brain Guzzlers are
Floyd | making their move!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Deputy Wilcox! You're the law here. Do something!"
Floyd | 2) "Mary Jane! Your people need you now more than ever.  It's time to
Floyd | show you're a real Pine Nut Queen!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Aliens? Didnt hey use to call them martians in the fifties ?"
		Jacqueline says, "1 or 2"
		DavidW says, "We already talked about Martians with Renee."
		Jacqueline says, "I like them both, but suspect we have to do the shooting."
		invisiwall says, "Martians just means from Mars, I dunno"
		invisiwall exclaims, "Mary Jane, you can do it!"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "C'mon dude, could you please think more clearly? We have no idea if these things are Moon Men or Martians, so it's best to use the more inclusive term of alien."
		verbalK exclaims, "She is great shape, we have the chart to prove it, she should try to do something instead of eating pies the whoel day !"
		DavidW says, "We're gonna be in choice mode for several turns here."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Mary Jane! Your people need you now more than ever.  It's time
Floyd | to show you're a real Pine Nut Queen!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane looks at you with wild eyes. "Are you bonkers?" she
Floyd | screeches. "I abdicate!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The lead Brain Guzzler--at least, it's the one in front--stretches one
Floyd | tentacle over to the Tomorrow Pavilion, picks up the Car of Tomorrow,
Floyd | and pitches it at you like a javelin. Deputy Wilcox drops backwards
Floyd | into the dirt, knocking you and Mary Jane down next to him. You watch
Floyd | the Undercarriage of Tomorrow sail overhead and hear the car smash
Floyd | into the midway with a sound of splintering wood and the clang of
Floyd | steel on tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Huh," the deputy says. "Bit ornery. Just ta be safe, I think you
Floyd | ladies oughtta make for the designated shelter area in Harding Tunnel.
Floyd | I'll come and get ya once these fellas an' I--"  He ducks as an I-beam
Floyd | nearly decapitates him. "--have had a bit of a palaver."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Run away!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Abdicate?! Who made her queen?"
		DavidW asks, "The Pine Nut Festival Committee?"
		Jacqueline says, "Hooray for the Undercarriage of Tomorrow"
		invisiwall says, "Traditionally, I believe it is your mum and da that make you a queen"
		DavidW says, "And you totes missed the ice cream."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Run away!]
Floyd |
Floyd | You pelt down Main Street at top speed as Mary Jane struggles to keep
Floyd | up barefoot, having lost her high heels back at the fair. The screams
Floyd | of the festivalgoers echo down the empty street like water gurgling
Floyd | down a pipe. Wait and observe--set a few traps--then wait for everyone
Floyd | to gather in one place...those aliens have got to be smarter than the
Floyd | mindless blobs they look like. No wonder they're so fond of brains.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you reach the Saguaro Road intersection, you stop short. Mary Jane
Floyd | lets out another ear-splitting shriek.  It looks like the monsters
Floyd | weren't counting on everyone being at the fair after all.  One of them
Floyd | is oozing in from the north, two more from the west, and the biggest
Floyd | one yet is slobbering in from the south like a tidal wave of
Floyd | yellow-green goop. You're surrounded! You back away as the guzzlers
Floyd | close in.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gotcha!" hisses a voice, and something warm and slimy closes around
Floyd | your wrist.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Swing around and punch that monster square in the snoot!
Floyd | 2) Scream for help and try to pull away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Honestly, I am not sure what use it would be to punch ooze-monsters"
		invisiwall says, "Imagine punching Oobleck, I'm just saying"
		Jacqueline says, "I would like to shoot them with our ray gun, please and thank you."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Swing around and punch that monster square in the snoot!]
Floyd |
Floyd | You whirl around, swinging your free hand in a wide arc, and end up
Floyd | punching Renee on the side of her head. "Ow!" she grunts, more
Floyd | startled than hurt--nobody ever accused you of being overly
Floyd | strong--and staggers back, just in time for you to lose your balance
Floyd | and topple forward into the diner, dragging Renee down with you. You
Floyd | both end up splayed on the linoleum. She shoves you off and struggles
Floyd | to her feet long enough to drag Mary Jane through the door, slam it
Floyd | shut, and throw the deadbolt.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You see them too, right?" she says, turning to you. "I'm not crazy?
Floyd | They're really here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Yes, and golly, are they ever dangerous, and they're no dummies,
Floyd | either! We're in such a deep pickle right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1

		DavidW says, "pickles of deepness"

Floyd |
Floyd | ["Yes, and golly, are they ever dangerous, and they're no dummies,
Floyd | either! We're in such a deep pickle right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee sighs. "Be careful what you wish for, I guess. Listen--I don't
Floyd | think they know I'm in here. We can hole up for a while if we have to.
Floyd | Might get pretty sick of burgers, but as long as we don't alert
Floyd | them--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane lets out an ear-splitting shriek that nearly snaps your last
Floyd | nerve. You can't see anything in the diner, but Mary Jane just keeps
Floyd | screaming and bawling.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Shhh!"
Floyd | 2) Grab her and put your hand over her mouth.
Floyd | 3) Give her a good hard slap!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | [Give her a good hard slap!]
Floyd |
Floyd | Crakk!
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane blinks.  "You--you hit me!" she says, looking more
Floyd | surprised than hurt.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We'll all get a lot worse than a baby slap from flipping Bonnie
Floyd | Noodleman if you don't cut that out!" Renee hisses. "What on Earth is
Floyd | wrong with you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane holds out her arm, which is smeared with red. "I'm bleeding.
Floyd | I think--I think I'm dying!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee rolls her eyes. "That's beef juice, you dip. I was in
Floyd | the middle of making patties when I grabbed you. Now quiet down and
Floyd | hope to God that they didn't just hear--"
Floyd |
Floyd | A tentacle smashes through the front window, covering the diner in
Floyd | broken glass and goo. Mary Jane lets out another piercing scream. Even
Floyd | Renee makes a strangled squeak.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Run for it!"
Floyd | 2) "We have to fight!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "2?"
		verbalK asks, "Can we use the gun if we fight?"
		Jacqueline says, "That is my jope."
		Jacqueline says, "HOPE, even"
		verbalK says, "joy/hope I get it"
		invisiwall says, "Maybe, though we can't check our inv right now"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "Exactly"
		DavidW says, "Your inventory is in the wash."
		DavidW says, "Contents may settle."
		Jacqueline asks (of i), "Do you think we may no longer have the ray gun?"
		invisiwall exclaims, "Depends on how realistic we're being I guess!"
		Jacqueline says, "I see now why you'd want to take inventory, invisiwall - why, you're first initial is i."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["We have to fight!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee nods at you. "Right," she says, "help me pull up these stools.
Floyd | We'll go back to back."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wh-what about me?" Mary Jane sniffles.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Just try not to knock either of us down when you faint."
Floyd |
Floyd | Waves of ooze begin slopping over the broken windowsill and slithering
Floyd | purposefully across the floor towards you. Renee kicks at one, but
Floyd | it's like stepping in a mud puddle--she almost loses a sneaker.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We can't fight this stuff!" she moans. "We've gotta retreat. Out the
Floyd | back on three?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) (nod) "One..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Town Square Center
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [(nod) "One..."]
Floyd |
Floyd | The fryer suddenly explodes in a shower of grease and goo as a
Floyd | half-fried tentacle forces its way through the wall, reaching for you
Floyd | with ropy strands of sizzling, popping slime. "Twothreegogogo!" Renee
Floyd | shouts as the three of you scurry to the backdoor.  The diner roof
Floyd | collapses behind you under several tons of hungry brain guzzler,
Floyd | sending up a cloud of plaster dust.
Floyd |
Floyd | You crash through the back door and sprint desperately for the
Floyd | sidewalk. The monsters are everywhere now, tentacles questing in every
Floyd | direction, but you somehow avoid them, ducking, dodging, even hurdling
Floyd | one of the smaller ones. You head north. There don't seem to be as
Floyd | many along Saguaro. You can hear the girls breathing heavily on either
Floyd | side of you. You all made it! Now if you can just reach the tunnel--
Floyd |
Floyd | Like a green landslide, a brain guzzler the size of a house slides
Floyd | down the slope of Make-Out Mountain, its surface a forest of
Floyd | tentacles.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Oh my gosh!"
Floyd | 2) "Holy cow!"
Floyd | 3) "Jeepers jipes!"
Floyd | 4) You're so shocked, you actually say the f-word.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "FOUR"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | [You're so shocked, you actually say the f-word.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "FIDDLESTICKS!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You're petrified. It's huge. It's horrible. It's got to be the mother
Floyd | of all brain guzzlers. It's probably the one that ate Jimmy! Your feet
Floyd | feel like they're glued to the spot as a deep, primal fear bubbles up
Floyd | in your gut. Before you lies a sea of undulating goo, and the tide is
Floyd | coming in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane passes you. She's screaming her head off, yes, but she's
Floyd | also actually moving instead of standing like a statue. It's
Floyd | like having an ambulance drive past your ear, and somehow it breaks
Floyd | the spell.  You run.
Floyd |
Floyd | The three of you stagger through the entrance of the tunnel, a tidal
Floyd | wave of slime following you. A tentacle the size of a redwood slams
Floyd | into the cliffside. You can hear rock shattering and falling. Another
Floyd | tentacle. Another crash. The tunnel is collapsing!
Floyd |
Floyd | You run forward into the darkness until you can no longer hear the
Floyd | sound of tumbling rocks. "Everyone--okay?" Renee gasps.  Mary Jane
Floyd | whimpers. You check yourself over. You might have dropped a few of the
Floyd | things you were carrying back there somewhere, but you're not bleeding
Floyd | and nothing seems to be broken.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | You can see a heavy steel grate set into the wall here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is lying flat on her back, recovering.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is sitting with her knees against her forehead,
Floyd | looking miserable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "Jimmy!"
		Jacqueline says, "I knew it wouldn't be that f-word."
		DavidW says, "New and last chapter: Evening."
		invisiwall says, "FIDDLESTICKS"
		Jacqueline says, "Evening? You know what evening means..."
		verbalK asks, "Let's check INV to see what we lost ?"
		Jacqueline says, "BEAT POETRY"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You lost a lot of stuff."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Fiddlesticks. So we did."
		verbalK says, "Everything is OK, we still have th ehula hoop."
		DavidW says, "All the evidence, the pills, the ray gun."
		invisiwall says, "I want to know why we still have the yearbook and the nonburger, haha"
		verbalK says, "But we have our hula hoop."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | You can see a heavy steel grate set into the wall here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is lying flat on her back, recovering.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is sitting with her knees against her forehead,
Floyd | looking miserable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "I'm giving the hula hoop a pass if it collapses real tiny"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd | She's too out of breath to talk right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane looks up at you, her eyes ringed with red. "I can't believe
Floyd | I just ran off and left Jenny back at the fair. What if those
Floyd | things got her?"  She puts her face in her hands and weeps.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, I thought of a possible use for the hula hoop, but not here."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "say to Mary Jane, "I hate to tell you this but Jenny is dead because you abandoned her and you'll have that guilt for the rest of your life, long after your good looks and amazing metabolism have left you. I hope you are able to handle it and not turn to drugs."" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAY TO MARY JANE, "I HATE TO TELL YOU THIS BUT JENNY IS DEAD BECAUSE
Floyd | YOU ABANDONED HER AND YOU'LL HAVE THAT GUILT FOR THE REST OF YOUR
Floyd | LIFE, LONG AFTER YOUR GOOD LOOKS AND AMAZING METABOLISM HAVE LEFT YOU.
Floyd | I HOPE YOU ARE ABLE TO HANDLE IT AND NOT TURN TO D
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Damn. I was just a little too long on my speech."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, to the poet?"
		invisiwall says, "Wow Jacqueline, don't hold back or anything"
		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "Don't worry. I won't."
		invisiwall asks, "...what poet?"
		DavidW says, "There's a wee collapsed tunnel of rock between us and the beatniks."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pool of Light
Floyd | A police car has skidded and crashed into the side of the tunnel here,
Floyd | its lights filling the surrounding blackness with harsh flashes of red
Floyd | and blue. You can see the dimly-lit tunnel continuing to the
Floyd | southwest. Northeast and further in is nothing but pitch darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I just realized that."
		invisiwall says, "That's some intense poetry"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeepers, there could be anything down there! Wandering off into the
Floyd | darkness is just how they got Jimmy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks like the driver lost control of the vehicle. The front end is
Floyd | completely smashed, but you can probably still get the car open if you
Floyd | want to. About all you can make out inside is a vaguely human shape
Floyd | slumped over the wheel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open car" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle and pull as hard as you can. At first it seems to
Floyd | be jammed, but with a little effort and a few terribly unladylike
Floyd | grunts that you're glad nobody heard, you manage to swing it open.
Floyd | Flopped across the steering wheel like a boneless goose is the body of
Floyd | Buck Wilcox. That is...most of it. His brain is gone. It's
Floyd | been taken! No...guzzled!!
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I hope they make this movie one day, and that MST3K takes it on."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search wilcox" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH WILCOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "haha"
		DavidW says, "x him"
		Jacqueline says, "The guzzlers took his gun."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wilcox" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WILCOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Even Officer Wilcox didn't deserve to die like this! The one
Floyd | consolation is that his brain appears to have been pulled out through
Floyd | his ear before the car hit the wall, so at least he didn't
Floyd | suffer. He's been splattered by that greenish-yellow goo the Brain
Floyd | Guzzlers leave everywhere, and you spot a few flecks of something
Floyd | solid in it. On closer inspection, they appear to be fragments of
Floyd | eggshell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I don't know why, but I almost typed >LICK GOO"
		invisiwall says, "Through his ear... how Animorphs"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | You can see a heavy steel grate set into the wall here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is back on her feet, sweaty but more-or-less recovered.
Floyd | She's examining the grate.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is sitting with her knees against her forehead,
Floyd | looking miserable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | All those darn rocks are going to keep you from going out that way!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "What's behind the grate?"
		Jacqueline says, "oh yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x grate" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | The grate is covering the entrance to some kind of tunnel. Tiny
Floyd | engraved letters read  "Minsystems Labs Exhaust Vent C. No sneaking in
Floyd | through."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "what indeed?"
		verbalK says, "(I have to for for 10 minutes or so)"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "If you must for, go for."
		Jacqueline says, "I would be okay with a 10 minute break."
		Jacqueline asks, "Let's come back at half past? 16 minutes?"
		invisiwall exclaims, "See you all then!"
		DavidW says, "fine with me. I'll be here."
		verbalK exclaims, "I'm back !"
Firion arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Firion asks, "We're doing ClubFloyd today?" 		
DavidW says, "Yes. We're just taking a short break." 		
invisiwall says, "We are, there was a water break" 		
Ghogg says, "IF playing requires hydration" 		
Ghogg goes home. 		Jacqueline says, "Back"
		Firion says, "Welcome back."
		Jacqueline asks, "invisiwall?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah. I see invisiwall said something."
		verbalK asks, "This game is pretty cool. It came first right?"
		DavidW says, "I think so, yes."
		Jacqueline says (to Firion), "Yes, we're playing. It's on the bb. We've been playing 3.5 hours now, though, and are nearly done."
		Jacqueline says, "You know, I really didn't like her last game, so I'm very pleased to be loving this one."
		verbalK asks, "The quest game DavidW told us about ?"
		Jacqueline says, "No, Jacqueline, Jungle Queen"
		Jacqueline says, "I plan to go try the one David told us about."
		DavidW asks, "Her last game was Chlorophyll, wasn't it?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah, I guess so. I liked Chlorophyll too. It was J,JQ I didn't like."
		Jacqueline says, "Though I realize I am in the extreme minority there."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You didn't like J,JQ? Awwwww."
		Jacqueline says, "Nope"
		Jacqueline shrugs.
		Firion says (to Jacqueline), "I figured as much, I just got home from work that's the thing, so I was surprised to see it going on."
		invisiwall says, "I confess I actually still haven't played JJQ"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anyway, hrm. What now?"
		invisiwall says, "Though I did quite like Chlorophyll"
		Jacqueline asks, "Was the beat poet a red herring?"
		invisiwall says, "We saw a sign in the grate, I think"
		invisiwall says, "also there is a dead policeman"
		verbalK asks, "What happened to the hipster poets ?"
		DavidW says, "JJQ has a pirate ship, monkeys, flying squirrels, a parrot, and magical idols."
		Jacqueline asks, "I think we did what we could with the dead policeperson, didn't we?"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, aside from lick the goo from his ear, but that seemed unseemly."
		invisiwall says, "yes, I don't suppose it would be very productive to show that disaster to the other two"
		DavidW says, "Officer Wilcox and his eggshell killer will rest in pieces."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open grate" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter grate" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x grate" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | The grate is covering the entrance to some kind of tunnel. Tiny
Floyd | engraved letters read  "Minsystems Labs Exhaust Vent C. No sneaking in
Floyd | through."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take grate" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | You grunt and strain, but it's really in there! It would probably take
Floyd | at least three people working together to pull it out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		invisiwall says, "Hmmm I wonder who those could be"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | She's too upset to pay attention to you right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "mary jane, help" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MARY JANE, HELP
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Renee is the other girl."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "smack mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SMACK MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, Bonnie. I think we can get this grate off if we all pull
Floyd | together. Give me a hand, huh?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let me look around a little more first."
Floyd | 2) "Sure!  Let's do it!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Sure!  Let's do it!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Great! Okay, on three. One. Two. THREE!" You and Renee pull on the
Floyd | grate as hard as you can, but it doesn't come loose. "We could use a
Floyd | little help here, your highness," Renee hisses through
Floyd | clenched teeth. Mary Jane stands up, a little sullenly, and grips the
Floyd | bars. Between the three of you, the grate shifts a little, then pulls
Floyd | free in a shower of loose pebbles and concrete dust, sending you
Floyd | sprawling across the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Great," Renee says, standing up. "Okay, Miss Sharp Elbows, since I
Floyd | had the honor of cushioning your fall, you can have the honor of going
Floyd | up first."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Up you go!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Up you go!]
Floyd |
Floyd | You scramble up the narrow vent. It's dark, hot, and a tight squeeze,
Floyd | but you can smell tobacco smoke from somewhere above you, and hear a
Floyd | scratchy Perry Como record playing, so at least they've got the basics
Floyd | of civilization up there. The others follow you in. After more
Floyd | climbing than you want to think about, you come to another grate in
Floyd | the side of the vent.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Take a little peek through the grate.
Floyd | 2) Push the grate open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Take a little peek through the grate.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the slats of the grate, you can see a pleasant modernist
Floyd | living room. The music is coming from a Hi-Fi set next to a
Floyd | comfortable-looking leather easy chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee taps your foot. "Um, Bonnie? Why are we stopping?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I think we're about to break into someone's house."
Floyd | 2) Push the grate open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Look before you leap?"
		Jacqueline says, "yep"
		invisiwall says, "Oh dear"
		Firion exclaims, "Oh grate!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I think we're about to break into someone's house."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, well, unless you want to go back to just sitting on our butts
Floyd | being buried alive until we're starving, and then arm-wrestle me to
Floyd | find out which of us gets to eat Mary Jane, I think we're gonna have
Floyd | to live with it."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Push the grate open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Push the grate open.]
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the grate out into the room and slide out into a
Floyd | comfortable-looking living room lined with bookshelves and lit by a
Floyd | collection of Tiffany lamps. Renee emerges next, and whistles. "Nice
Floyd | place. Especially for the inside of a mountain."
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane slides out of the hole. "Thank you," she says politely, her
Floyd | voice cracking. "I p-picked the lamps myself. Now if you'll excuse
Floyd | me...I-think...I need some time alone. I'll just hop off t-to my
Floyd | room!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Wait, Mary Jane, is this your house?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Wait, Mary Jane, is this your house?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | She nods.  "H-help yourself to anything in the ki--ki--kitchen!"
Floyd |
Floyd | With a wail, Mary Jane rushes off to the northwest, her eyes wet and
Floyd | her face white as a sheet. You see a brief glimpse of a room festooned
Floyd | with ruffles and pink before the door slams behind her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east, but the southwest and east exits are
Floyd | currently blocked by heavy-duty security shutters. A spiral staircase
Floyd | leads up, and a gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		invisiwall says, "Ultramodern indeed"
		verbalK says, "Nice future..."
		Jacqueline says, "Man, avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow (technically I think it was called 'harvest gold'"
		Jacqueline says, "My kitchen was harvest gold when I was a kid, with avocado appliances."
		DavidW says, "Those were popular colours back then."
		Jacqueline says, "Yep"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Canyonville High yearbook)
Floyd | (You turn to the Table of Contents)
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Foreword: Advice for Today's Teen-Ager
Floyd | 2) Our Students: Pioneers at the Dawn of Tomorrow
Floyd | 3) Our Community: A Heritage of Superbness
Floyd | 4) (Close the yearbook)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I had an orange carpet in my room."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | [(Close the yearbook)]
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east, but the southwest and east exits are
Floyd | currently blocked by heavy-duty security shutters. A spiral staircase
Floyd | leads up, and a gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x leather-bound book" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LEATHER-BOUND BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | A thick book with raised embossing and gold corners around a rather
Floyd | lewd-looking tableau of a well-endowed peasant girl. Goodness!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read leather-bound book" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ LEATHER-BOUND BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee probaby wouldn't want you reading over her shoulder. It's not
Floyd | that important, anyway!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Renee has her priorities in order"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no way you're getting through while those shutters are down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no way you're getting through while those shutters are down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The aforementioned Tomorrowdome. Huzzah."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x mug" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge coffee mug brimming with steaming, fresh-roasted coffee.  It's
Floyd | gigantic! You could probably keep fish in here without them feeling
Floyd | cramped in the least, although they might have other problems. "The
Floyd | Doctor Said I Had To Cut Down To One Cup A Day" is printed on the
Floyd | side, so maybe it started off as a gag gift.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "The professor is either very oblivious or very confident"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to professor" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROFESSOR
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "My word!"  the professor says, looking up. "A survivor!  So the
Floyd | townsfolk haven't been entirely wiped out after all. Mary Jane will be
Floyd | thrilled one of you made it. She's always been more at ease with the
Floyd | hoi polloi."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm not the only survivor."
Floyd | 2) "Are you Mary Jane's father?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Oblivious is my guess."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm not the only survivor."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gee, Professor, I'm not the only one who made it past the Brain
Floyd | Guzzlers. There's me, Bonnie Noodleman--and my friend Renee--and Mary
Floyd | Jane is back, too, safe and sound!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The professor blinks. "Back? What do you mean?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, wasn't she at the festival? As the Pine Nut Queen?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nonsense!" he scoffs. "I've devoted my life to the pursuit of
Floyd | science, as has my daughter. I've strictly forbidden her to waste her
Floyd | intellect on all this populist fiddle-faddle. Go ahead; check her room
Floyd | if you don't believe me."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Sure, she's in her room now..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Is Science the bad guy again ?"
		DavidW says, "oh no, Science is good."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Sure, she's in her room now..."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "You see? Right where she should be." The professor peers at you.
Floyd | "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a very busy man. This Brain-Utilizing
Floyd | Brain-Unguzzler isn't going to finish inventing itself!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're building?"
Floyd | 2) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unfortunately, Miss Noodleman, I have more questions than answers
Floyd | myself.  But I will endeavor to enlighten you in any way I can."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Where did these awful things come from?"
Floyd | 2) "Why do they guzzle brains, anyway?"
Floyd | 3) "Once we defeat them--what happens next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Her last protagonist was a baby scientist, so I wouldn't expect it"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where did these awful things come from?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Fascinating question! Our best guess, based on the approach vector of
Floyd | several unidentified flying objects detected over the past 24 hours,
Floyd | is that they originate somewhere in the vicinity of Pluto. Though of
Floyd | course it's theoretically possible that they came from elsewhere and
Floyd | simply passed Pluto on the way. As I said, there's much we don't
Floyd | know."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're building?"
Floyd | 2) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unfortunately, Miss Noodleman, I have more questions than answers
Floyd | myself.  But I will endeavor to enlighten you in any way I can."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Where did these awful things come from?"
Floyd | 2) "Why do they guzzle brains, anyway?"
Floyd | 3) "Once we defeat them--what happens next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Why do they guzzle brains, anyway?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A scientific mystery! Perhaps it's some crude form of communication.
Floyd | Perhaps they seek to guzzle some vital chemical, found within our
Floyd | brains, and only incidentally guzzle the entire organ. Perhaps this is
Floyd | all some sort of intelligence test--they may, in truth, be as far
Floyd | above us as we are above common laboratory rats or the indolent
Floyd | Swede."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're building?"
Floyd | 2) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unfortunately, Miss Noodleman, I have more questions than answers
Floyd | myself.  But I will endeavor to enlighten you in any way I can."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Where did these awful things come from?"
Floyd | 2) "Why do they guzzle brains, anyway?"
Floyd | 3) "Once we defeat them--what happens next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Once we defeat them--what happens next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Difficult to say. Much of the planet is likely already unrecoverable.
Floyd | This impenetrable lab may act as an ark of technology and biological
Floyd | material, keeping us and our precious brains safely unguzzled until we
Floyd | may exit to rebuild the world in our own image. Or perhaps the
Floyd | military will succeed in driving the creatures off, and we'll simply
Floyd | have a great deal of mopping to do."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're building?"
Floyd | 2) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Unpenetrable. He really said that out lound."
		DavidW says, "He did. He doesn't know his tropes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What's that you're building?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "The Brain-Utilizing Brain-Unguzzler, or 'BUBU', also known as our
Floyd | planet's last, best hope for survival in the face of this Brain
Floyd | Guzzler onslaught."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "And just how does this 'BUBU' thingamajig work?"
Floyd | 2) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Firion says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["And just how does this 'BUBU' thingamajig work?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Perspicacious question, Miss Noodleman. The BUBU, or 'Brain-Utilizing
Floyd | Brain-Unguzzler', is an atomically powered device which uses radiation
Floyd | waves to reverse the magnetic flux of any material which originates
Floyd | from outer space, essentially using the Brain Guzzlers' own biological
Floyd | energy against them. Of course, every child has done the simple
Floyd | experiment in which water is slowly heated until a frog is boiled
Floyd | alive without even thinking to hop out of the pan. Now imagine the
Floyd | frog and the pan were on opposite ends of a table, and yet by making
Floyd | folds in the fabric, we could bring them together without the frog
Floyd | needing to pass over the entire tablecloth. That's essentially the
Floyd | principle the BUBU uses, minus the frog, of course." He sighs. "Or
Floyd | rather, it's the principle that it would use if I had all the
Floyd | parts I needed."
Floyd |
Floyd | He wheels out a blackboard. "The components listed here are...the bulk
Floyd | of what's required. Feel free to take a look at it when we're done
Floyd | talking."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Is that as nonsensical an explanation as it seems?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "It's as nonsensical as is typical of sci-fi movies in this trope, if that's what you mean."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read blackborad" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BLACKBORAD
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read blackboard" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BLACKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The blackboard is covered with chalk diagrams and chicken-scratch
Floyd | writing. One whole section of it is taken up with a checklist of
Floyd | components, reading as follows:
Floyd |
Floyd | Perforated Silver Membrane
Floyd | Micro-Mini Computer
Floyd | Brain Guzzler DNA Sample
Floyd | Purified Fructonium
Floyd | 20,000-Ton Impenetrable Steel Chassis
Floyd | Spork
Floyd |
Floyd | You carefully jot down the components on a sheet of loose-leaf paper.
Floyd | Now you can keep track of what you've got and what you need to find.
Floyd | It sure does feel swell to be neat and organized!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Excellent!" the Professor notes. "I suppose I'll have to risk opening
Floyd | the internal security shutters so you can search the house.
Floyd | Fortunately this facility remains completely impregnable from the
Floyd | outside, so it shouldn't be an issue."
Floyd |
Floyd | He fiddles with something or other, and you hear the sound of heavy
Floyd | shutters clattering open on the floor below.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Yep"
		Jacqueline says, "So, the DNA sample is down in the cop car, I'm assuming."
		DavidW says, "Fair assumption."
		invisiwall says, "Twenty-thousand tons of steel sound very easy to lug around"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a fork and a spoon here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Firion says (to floyd), "x spoon" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SPOON
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a completely average spoon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Maybe the junkyard where the goat was will have 20000 tons steel"
		Jacqueline says, "I don't think we'll see that junkyard or our goat even again."
		invisiwall asks, "Unless she has a trans-matter ray, though, what's she gonna do with it?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x telepad" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TELEPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | A flat, smooth sheet of tempered glass built into the counter.  A
Floyd | large yellow button next to it is labeled "TELEPORT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
Firion goes home. 		Jacqueline says, "I mean, maybe I'm wrong, maybe we teleport somewhere."
		DavidW says, "It might not be a trans-matter ray, but it might do."
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, must we somehow utilize the magic of science to combine this spoon and this fork?"
		invisiwall says, "Must be"
		verbalK asks, "Maybe if we teleport the spoon at the same position the fork is, they will somehow merge?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | fork: Taken.
Floyd | spoon: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put fork on telepad" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT FORK ON TELEPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the fork on the telepad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put spoon on telepad" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT SPOON ON TELEPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the spoon on the telepad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push yellow" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH YELLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The telepad buzzes. "ERROR. MULTIPLE OBJECTS DETECTED. ATTEMPTING
Floyd | FUSION." The fork and spoon seem to twist and ripple before vanishing
Floyd | from the telepad in a shimmer of light. "FUSION SUCCESSFUL."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push yellow" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH YELLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The telepad blinks a pleasant green, but otherwise nothing happens.
Floyd | Maybe you need to put something on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so we need to go find the other one."
		invisiwall asks, "So they've been fused AND teleported?"
		Jacqueline says, "Probably in the dining room."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x town" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | This room must be the part of the building that hangs out over the
Floyd | cliff, because all you can see is a magnificent aerial overlook of
Floyd | Canyonville.  The sun is setting over the mountains to the west,
Floyd | giving the houses long shadows. You can see a column of army tanks
Floyd | rolling down Saguaro Road, flanked by rows of jeeps.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You jiggle the handle. It's locked! You can hear Mary Jane playing
Floyd | marching band music at high volume on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | A long arched hallway of frosted glass running east and west.  The
Floyd | light of sunset tinges the serene blue of the carpet with orange and
Floyd | gold. The room is lined with displays, each featuring another
Floyd | brilliant MinSystems invention--two especially impressive ones are the
Floyd | weapons display and the transportation display. Heavy glass doors lead
Floyd | into the main MinSystems offices to the east, while a cozy foyer at
Floyd | the other end of the hall leads to the Minskys' private home.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x transportation display" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRANSPORTATION DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | This display details "a brilliant advance in remote delivery
Floyd | technology." It contains a white pod which looks something like a
Floyd | giant egg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x weapons display" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEAPONS DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The display concerns a "multi-target disintegration device" designed
Floyd | for a "wide range of military and civilian uses" known as the "RPS
Floyd | Cannon."  A prototype of the cannon is propped up, aiming at a paper
Floyd | target hanging from the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Is this actually a museum ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take prototype" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PROTOTYPE
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "cannon"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take canon" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CANON
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take cannon" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "I think the professor and/or his employees is just really proud of their inventions"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pod" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pod" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | A large, egg-shaped pod about the size of a garbage can, but
Floyd | lightweight enough for you to lift.  There's a closed hatch in the
Floyd | side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open pod" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | You open the telepod, revealing a spork.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take spork" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SPORK
Floyd |
Floyd | Hooray! Once you give this to the professor, you'll be one
Floyd | spork's-length closer to your very own superweapon!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a spork
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "Nice !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read checklist" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CHECKLIST
Floyd |
Floyd | A neat little copy of the checklist on the blackboard, which you can
Floyd | use to keep track of the BUBU components you still need to give to the
Floyd | Professor. It reads:
Floyd |
Floyd | Perforated Silver Membrane
Floyd | Micro-Mini Computer
Floyd | Brain Guzzler DNA Sample
Floyd | Purified Fructonium
Floyd | 20,000-Ton Impenetrable Steel Chassis
Floyd | Spork
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm tempted to go get the DNA with the spork"
		DavidW says, "I think the checklist items are checked after you deliver them."
		invisiwall exclaims, "Why not!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You brace your legs against the sides of the vent and descend in a
Floyd | controlled slide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pool of Light
Floyd | A police car has skidded and crashed into the side of the tunnel here,
Floyd | its lights filling the surrounding blackness with harsh flashes of red
Floyd | and blue. You can see the dimly-lit tunnel continuing to the
Floyd | southwest. Northeast and further in is nothing but pitch darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in car" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | In the police car are some fragments of eggshell and a body.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take eggshell" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE EGGSHELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick them off of his clothing. There's a big clump of them near
Floyd | his feet, too.  You've got almost the whole shell, now. Good for you,
Floyd | Bonnie! Helping Mother in the kitchen really paid off!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "snrk"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is the shell the DNA, or the goo?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x body" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BODY
Floyd |
Floyd | Even Officer Wilcox didn't deserve to die like this! The one
Floyd | consolation is that his brain appears to have been pulled out through
Floyd | his ear before the car hit the wall, so at least he didn't
Floyd | suffer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "both"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wilcox" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WILCOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Even Officer Wilcox didn't deserve to die like this! The one
Floyd | consolation is that his brain appears to have been pulled out through
Floyd | his ear before the car hit the wall, so at least he didn't
Floyd | suffer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take goo" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GOO
Floyd |
Floyd | It's corrosive and poisonous and honest-to-gosh, you really just don't
Floyd | want to touch that!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "er, you take the shell, not the goo"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		invisiwall says, "Maybe it dried out"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Pool of Light
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You scrabble back up the dark exhaust vent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Oh, nvm"
		Jacqueline asks, "So... into the actual labs?"
		verbalK exclaims, "Let's go !"
		invisiwall exclaims, "That might have more suff!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | A long arched hallway of frosted glass running east and west.  The
Floyd | light of sunset tinges the serene blue of the carpet with orange and
Floyd | gold. The room is lined with displays, each featuring another
Floyd | brilliant MinSystems invention--two especially impressive ones are the
Floyd | weapons display and the transportation display. Heavy glass doors lead
Floyd | into the main MinSystems offices to the east, while a cozy foyer at
Floyd | the other end of the hall leads to the Minskys' private home.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a paper target here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the doors a crack. An oozing tentacle shoots towards you! You
Floyd | quickly slam the door and throw the emergency lock. Your brief
Floyd | glimpses of the offices were enough to tell you they're totally
Floyd | overrun with Brain Guzzlers--you're not getting out that way!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, um, no."
		DavidW says, "Sorry"
		Jacqueline says, "How about no, then."
		invisiwall asks, "Shoot them with the cannon?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes. Yes, no."
		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "We don't get a turn to shoot."
		DavidW says, "also, that ain't an ordinary cannon."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cannon" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | A sleek, futuristic gun with three brass barrels. It's bulky and looks
Floyd | powerful, but it's light enough to hold in one hand. There's a dial
Floyd | you can turn on the side under a display. Currently the display is
Floyd | showing an image of a hand with the index and middle fingers extended,
Floyd | like a sideways peace sign.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Well, it said disintegration"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dial" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the dial.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x display" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the weapons display or the transportation display?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x weapons display" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEAPONS DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | The display concerns a "multi-target disintegration device" designed
Floyd | for a "wide range of military and civilian uses" known as the "RPS
Floyd | Cannon."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the dial until you hear a click. Now the display shows a hand
Floyd | curled into a fist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the dial until you hear a click. Now the display shows a hand
Floyd | with the palm and all five fingers lying flat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd ]  Hall of Amazing Advances
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the dial until you hear a click. Now the display shows a hand
Floyd | with the index and middle fingers extended.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm such a dork that I understood this cannon instantly from the name."
		verbalK says, "I don't get it..."
		Jacqueline says, "One would think it disintegrates multiple targets..."
		invisiwall says, "Ohhh"
		invisiwall says, "Oh that's great"
		verbalK asks, "Can someone please explain how this dial work ?"
		DavidW says, "I think invisiwall should explain."
		invisiwall says, "Rock paper scissors"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		verbalK exclaims, "oh !"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, is there some place we've not been?"
		invisiwall says, "MJ's room"
		Jacqueline says, "True."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess we could knock."
		invisiwall says, "But I can't think how to get in"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "...politeness, there's that, true"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You jiggle the handle. It's locked! You can hear Mary Jane playing
Floyd | marching band music at high volume on the other side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I have a suggestion to make if you need it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "knock" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KNOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm"
		invisiwall asks, "The door's not made of rock, paper, or scissors, is it?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 11 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, Bonnie." Renee smiles tiredly. "That was a heck of a thing.  Now
Floyd | what are we supposed to do?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "We need to rescue more people!"
Floyd | 2) "We need to destroy those things!"
Floyd | 3) "It doesn't matter. We're safe now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["We need to rescue more people!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, no kidding." Renee bites her lip. "Dad was at that festival. At
Floyd | least Mom was out of town--gosh, you don't think this is happening in
Floyd | other places, too, do you?  It was just so...I was...I was at the
Floyd | diner, like always. I was in the middle of making hamburgers for
Floyd | crying out loud!"
Floyd |
Floyd | She wipes a smudge of dirt off of her cheek. "That diner was--I lived
Floyd | there. I worked there every--every day. And now it's just--it didn't
Floyd | even take them two minutes to tear that place up.  Like it was
Floyd | nothing."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "That must have hurt. I know how much you loved that place."
Floyd | 2) "Shouldn't you be happy? I thought you hated working there."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["That must have hurt. I know how much you loved that
Floyd | place."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "It should have hurt. It was scary as heck, that's for sure. But
Floyd | I--I--this is horrible, but part of me sort of enjoyed it. I won't
Floyd | ever have to stand over that stupid grill again. I won't just have to
Floyd | stand there and take it when kids from school show up. There's a
Floyd | million little things that--I might be dead tomorrow, but at least I
Floyd | know those things are over, y'know?" She swallows.
Floyd | "It's sick, but I just feel free now."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What happened wasn't your fault."
Floyd | 2) (hug Renee)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [(hug Renee)]
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee seems surprised, but after a moment, she hugs you back. "Thanks,
Floyd | Bonnie. I don't know why I'm worrying about a stupid building when my
Floyd | parents could be... could be dead."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "They're probably somewhere safe right now, just as worried about
Floyd | you."
Floyd | 2) "Your parents have been through so much! They're tough as nails."
Floyd | 3) "I guess any of us might get some bad news about our families when
Floyd | this is over, but there isn't much to be done about it right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "3?"
		verbalK says, "3"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess any of us might get some bad news about our families
Floyd | when this is over, but there isn't much to be done about it right
Floyd | now."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I guess," Renee says.  "Can we talk about something else now?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Yeah, sure"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Somehow, science fiction doesn't seem so fun anymore. Not right now,
Floyd | at least."  Renee holds up the book.  "Period literature--Ye
Floyd | Goodwyfe's Bodice Overfloweth."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Okay, I should go!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See ya!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I was kind of hoping Renee would help us, but I guess I overestimated."
		Jacqueline says, "I have a plan."
		DavidW asks, "yes?"
		invisiwall says, "Yeah, the kids are all kinda shell shocked"
		Jacqueline says, "My plan is to crowd-source a plan."
		Jacqueline asks, "What should we do?"
		verbalK asks, "Isn't that from Archer ?"
		Jacqueline says (to verbalK), "It is, yes."
		verbalK asks, "Also, what is the hula hoop for ?"
		DavidW asks, "Does this crowd-sourcing include me?"
		Jacqueline says, "It is my favorite Archer line ever."
		invisiwall asks, "Anything else in the kitchen?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Hrm. Not yet it doesn't, no. Not yet."
		verbalK says, "Everybody is included in the crowd-sourcing except Cyril."
		DavidW says (to invisiwall), "yes, there's more in there."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Water-filled tubes cover the south wall of the kitchen. Lush
Floyd | fruit-bearing plants of every description practically drip from them,
Floyd | green and bursting with life. It doesn't look like there's any ripe
Floyd | fruit ready to pick at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x checklist" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHECKLIST
Floyd |
Floyd | A neat little copy of the checklist on the blackboard, which you can
Floyd | use to keep track of the BUBU components you still need to give to the
Floyd | Professor. It reads:
Floyd |
Floyd | Perforated Silver Membrane
Floyd | Micro-Mini Computer
Floyd | Brain Guzzler DNA Sample
Floyd | Purified Fructonium
Floyd | 20,000-Ton Impenetrable Steel Chassis
Floyd | Spork
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take fruit" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE FRUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take plant" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's just part of the set.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "No fruits at the momen"
		Jacqueline says, "No. But we need fruit. Hrm."
		invisiwall says, "Don't suppose there's a growth accelerator"
		invisiwall says, "And no fridge! How crass."
		verbalK says (to Jacqueline), "Mine is: I learned that flammable and inflammable means the same thing."
		DavidW says, "Let me know when you want a tip."
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "heh. Yeah"
		invisiwall asks, "I don't suppose there's anything left up in the dome?"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, it would be worth checking and we could give him some stuff."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to prof" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "These eggshells have got to be chock full of Deanna!"
Floyd | 7) "Got your spork, Professor!"
Floyd | 8) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 6
Floyd |
Floyd | ["These eggshells have got to be chock full of Deanna!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's 'DNA', but thank you, young chum! These are just what I was
Floyd | looking for."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "Got your spork, Professor!"
Floyd | 7) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh good. You didn't need the tip."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 6
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Got your spork, Professor!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Perfect!" The professor tosses the spork carelessly into the BUBU's
Floyd | inner workings.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "DEANNA"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "If it helps, the perforation doesn't have to be neat. You can even do
Floyd | the job yourself if necessary. But the membrane must be quite large."
Floyd | The professor holds out his hands.  "Imagine this, but much, much
Floyd | larger. At least the size of a wall, or the side of a house."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, use one of mine! You may not believe this, Miss Noodleman, but
Floyd | my latest design packs almost a full bit of processing power into an
Floyd | iron-plastic shell no heavier than twelve ordinary bowling balls!
Floyd | Sadly, I used the only working prototype as a brain for my
Floyd | revolutionary Wife of Tomorrow, and goodness knows where she is since
Floyd | the attack--off eating bon-bons, I expect."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "A full bit !"
		invisiwall says, "These are all good questions, but I'm glad Bonnie is also wondering about the 20 thousand ton thing"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where can I find fructonium?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, that's the atomic element which makes up fruit! Of course, we
Floyd | would need it in highly purified form, broken down to its most basic
Floyd | elemental state--difficult for all but the most talented botanical
Floyd | chemists. Good luck!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "The professor chuckles paternally. "Well, of course I wouldn't expect
Floyd | a mere girl to be able to lift so many thousands of tons. No, no, I've
Floyd | got a suitable chassis prepared, as a matter of fact--all I need from
Floyd | you is a nice design to use as a pattern. Something creative and
Floyd | pretty, anything you want, with one caveat--the BUBU will be
Floyd | vulnerable during the warm-up process, so in order to avoid suspicion,
Floyd | it must look exactly like a genuine Brain Guzzler spaceship.
Floyd | Shouldn't be hard for a teen-ager like yourself, with your science
Floyd | fiction and your high schools and what not."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Gosh, professor, how am I supposed to get a 20,000-ton chassis
Floyd | back here?"
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Canon on fruit."
		Jacqueline says, "oh? okay"
		invisiwall says, "We need to find fruit, though"
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, renee for the chassis?"
		verbalK says, "Renee will design the space ship I guess"
		verbalK says, "I mean the steel chassis"
		invisiwall says, "Yes, that makes more sense"
		invisiwall exclaims, "What a relief!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | That command isn't available in choice mode.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "6" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 6
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline wonders if the coffee mug is good for anything
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 11 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey there."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Renee, you're good with space things, right? Could you design a
Floyd | spaceship that would fool the Brain Guzzlers?"
Floyd | 3) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Same"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Renee, you're good with space things, right? Could you design a
Floyd | spaceship that would fool the Brain Guzzlers?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, they're basically just balls of gelatin that move towards food
Floyd | sources, so, yeah, probably.  Here, try something like this." Renee
Floyd | rips a page out of the book and doodles a slick looking spaceship on
Floyd | it.  It's perfect!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "...that was easy."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Okay, I should go!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See ya!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to prof" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "Professor, Renee drew this ship design..."
Floyd | 6) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Professor, Renee drew this ship design..."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's just what we need!" the professor says. "Those slimy fiends
Floyd | will never see it coming, now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find a micro-mini computer?"
Floyd | 4) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 5) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "That was the easy one. Now what?"
		invisiwall says, "Membrane, computer, fructonium"
		invisiwall says, "If we're to get the Wife's computer, I think we need to get out"
		Jacqueline asks, "I will be right back. Can someone else drive a sec?"
		verbalK says, "We need fruits decomposed to their most basic form. The canon disintegrates stuff."
		invisiwall asks, "verbalK, you want to take the wheel?"
		verbalK exclaims, "Yes ! If you guys help me with the map !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath the oranges and pinks of an evening sky. In the
Floyd | center of the room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is
Floyd | a cluttered desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "se to kitchen, I think."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "er sw"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sorry"
		invisiwall says, "We're still in the top floor"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Need to go down"
		DavidW says, "oh drat"
		DavidW says, "I thought we were down."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "We're all very down about how the town's been destroyed"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Water-filled tubes cover the south wall of the kitchen. Lush
Floyd | fruit-bearing plants of every description practically drip from them,
Floyd | green and bursting with life. It doesn't look like there's any ripe
Floyd | fruit ready to pick at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take fruit" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE FRUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "We can disintegrate stuff, but there's nothing to disintegrate"
		DavidW says, "Anyway, you've played Rock-Paper-Scissors? Fruit isn't one of the three."
		verbalK asks, "Ok, so what's our best move now ?"
		DavidW says, "I liked the getting out part."
		verbalK asks, "Could you guide me ?"
		DavidW says, "ne. d."
		invisiwall says, "Two thoughts"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You brace your legs against the sides of the vent and descend in a
Floyd | controlled slide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. Tons of rocks block the road to the southwest. To the
Floyd | northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the darkness.
Floyd | There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "One, how big is the telepod?"
		invisiwall asks, "Two, what does the tunnel blockage look like?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rocks" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ROCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | They're big and heavy, and oh boy, are there ever a lot of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Let's try to disintegrate these"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure we can fit in the transport pod, if that's what you're thinking."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "I think the telepad can't be any bigger than the telepod it connects to." 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I THINK THE TELEPAD CAN'T BE ANY BIGGER THAN THE TELEPOD IT CONNECTS
Floyd | TO.
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to take inventory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah. Disintegrate the rocks with the paper setting."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "use cannon" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "use cannon on rock" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE CANNON ON ROCK
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to use the RPS cannon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "How do I change the rock paper setings ?"
		invisiwall asks, "Fire/shoot?"
Doug arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		invisiwall says, "Oh. Turn the dial, I think"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "shoot cannon" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | The gun makes a clicking noise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "turn dial to change the setting. Shoot a target."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the dial until you hear a click. Now the display shows a hand
Floyd | curled into a fist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "turn dial" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the dial until you hear a click. Now the display shows a hand
Floyd | with the palm and all five fingers lying flat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "shoot cannon" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT CANNON
Floyd |
Floyd | The gun makes a clicking noise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "shoot cannon at rocks" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT CANNON AT ROCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to shoot the RPS cannon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "shoot the rocks"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "shoot the rocks" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOOT THE ROCKS
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | BA-THOOOM!
Floyd |
Floyd | The RPS cannon emits a powerful lance of pure anti-rock, blasting the
Floyd | rockslide into vapor.  For a moment, you think it didn't fully clear
Floyd | the hole. Then you breathe in the cool, fresh desert air and realize
Floyd | that night has fallen. The open road before you leads into darkness.
Floyd | What could be out there?  Can Canyonville still be saved?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "Ok got it thanks !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall exclaims, "We now have immense power over rocks, papers, and scissors!"
		verbalK says, "Scissors might be the most useful one"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Yeah, if those guzzlers try to attack us with scissors, they've got another think coming"
		verbalK asks, "Am I on the right way ?"
		DavidW says, "yes. sw again"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorman turns up his pointy nose at the obvious square, but waves
Floyd | you inside anyway, muttering something about quail hunting.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the stage is Traudl Brandt.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a beatnik bodyguard here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am back, but enjoying someone else driving. So thank you."
		DavidW says, "This is almost where we started. Junkyard west, Drive-In north, Beat Barn east,"
		DavidW says, "oh, we moved already."
		invisiwall asks, "Who's Traudl Brandt?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x Traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd | You've heard of her. She has a reputation, and not even a normal
Floyd | reputation, like girls who just park a little, but a really, really
Floyd | bad one--as in, she's European, and she's not even shy about
Floyd | it! She's your age, but looks older, probably from fast living and a
Floyd | steady diet of coffee and funny-smelling cigarettes.  She's wearing a
Floyd | clingy black leotard than matches her unkempt hair. In her lap rests a
Floyd | lump of white plastic you recognize as the head of the Wife of
Floyd | Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "She's the goth/emo chick. Mentioned in the yearbook."
		invisiwall says, "Ah, being European. Very scandalous."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Jacqueline says, "She has the brain"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x talk to Traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TALK TO TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Oh yeah, I got so distracted by the European thing haa"
		DavidW says, "oh, so she does."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x head of the wife" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HEAD OF THE WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the Head of the
Floyd | Wife of Tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "In general, 'of' is a bad word to use in commands."
		invisiwall says, "I feel like the game has trouble with leaving out the "the""
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x head wife" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HEAD WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks slightly melted, but still in one piece.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Remember how it kept asking back at the pavilion?"
		DavidW says, "It was 'of' again there too, that was the problem."
		verbalK asks, "How do I talk with Traudl ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen to traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "That's true."
Emily arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to traudel" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TRAUDEL
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd | She probably won't be able to hear you over all these deep
Floyd | philosophical conversations unless you get up on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aha"
		DavidW says, "there we go. You need to get up on stage, Bonnie."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x stage" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Long and low and mostly bare, the stage is the only brightly lit part
Floyd | of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the stage is Traudl Brandt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "get on stage" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ON STAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The beatnik bodyguard pulls you away from the stage.  "Like, no
Floyd | hassling the talent, dig?" It doesn't look like you'll be able to get
Floyd | up there while he's watching the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "i"
		verbalK exclaims, "HULA HOOP !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(If you do get up there, I'm curious to see if the hula hoop works)"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "use hula hoop" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE HULA HOOP
Floyd |
Floyd | You use the hula hoop. Fun! Then it falls down around your ankles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "show hula hoop to bodyguard" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW HULA HOOP TO BODYGUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The beatnik bodyguard is unimpressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "on stage. Not here."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "get on stage" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ON STAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The beatnik bodyguard pulls you away from the stage.  "Like, no
Floyd | hassling the talent, dig?" It doesn't look like you'll be able to get
Floyd | up there while he's watching the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "We need to get him away though"
		verbalK asks, "Yes ... any ideas ?"
		invisiwall asks, "Bribe him with the nonburger?"
		DavidW says, "examine him"
		invisiwall says, "Bodyguarding must be... er... hungry business"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x bodyguard" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BODYGUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The rough customer could be the doorman's burlier brother. He's
Floyd | peering at you with a suspicious squint, probably watching to make
Floyd | sure you don't square up the place. His immense hands grip a teeny
Floyd | tiny itty bitty little cup of coffee.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x cup" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUP
Floyd |
Floyd | The beatnik sees you eyeing the thimble-sized cup and puts a hand over
Floyd | it. "Like, no sharing, you dig? This has to last me all night and once
Floyd | it's gone it's like real gone, man." He yawns. "Like, they don't dig a
Floyd | man needs the bounty of the brown goddess poured out upon him just to
Floyd | stay in awake in this red onion of a coffeehouse. So what if it runs
Floyd | through me like a cool cat's lead sled through Squaresville, man?
Floyd | That's, like, what the porcelain birdbath is for, dig?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "How.... evocative"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You said earlier they aren't into solid food."
		invisiwall says, "Let's get the big mug of coffee then"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "OH RIGHT"
		Jacqueline says, "COFFEE"
		Jacqueline says, "That is totes it."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the stage is Traudl Brandt.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a beatnik bodyguard here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes please, I'd love some."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You scrabble back up the dark exhaust vent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "and up again"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the cluttered desk is an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You brace your legs against the sides of the vent and descend in a
Floyd | controlled slide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | As you push the door open, the goatee-wearing doorman stops you,
Floyd | sniffing the air.  "Coffee!" he declares. "You've got coffee!  Thought
Floyd | you'd sneak in your own bourgeoisie slop, huh? You leave that paint
Floyd | thinner out here, square sister, because there's no way I'm letting
Floyd | outside coffee through this door!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Hmmmm..."
		invisiwall says, "Rude"
		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		DavidW says, "doorman and bodyguard. They look alike, but they ain't the same person."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x doorman" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOORMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall exclaims, "Well of course not, he's not a prop. Rude!"
		DavidW says, "I think the description of the bodyguard mentions the resemblance."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x goatee" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GOATEE
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Doug says, "I like how Midnight. Swordfight. has a playscript and this game has props"
		verbalK says, "So I cant get the mug inside, but I need it in order to get tge bodyguard away from the stage ...."
		invisiwall says, "Maybe he's just inside the door"
		invisiwall asks, "Well, is there another source of coffee inside?"
		Jacqueline says, "(Everything is funnier when it involves a goatee.)"
		invisiwall says, "Maybe you can just dump out the ""bourgeoisie slop"" and give the bodyguard a big mug for refills"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Or eviller."
Amber arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "empty mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EMPTY MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "True"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | A huge coffee mug brimming with steaming, fresh-roasted coffee.  It's
Floyd | gigantic! You could probably keep fish in here without them feeling
Floyd | cramped in the least, although they might have other problems. "The
Floyd | Doctor Said I Had To Cut Down To One Cup A Day" is printed on the
Floyd | side, so maybe it started off as a gag gift.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I hate to think what this coffee tastes like now that it's been sitting out this whole time."
		verbalK says, "Maybe we need to get the doorman away from the door too..."
		invisiwall says, "I mean, it's still steaming and "fresh-roasted", so maybe it's like... science-enhanced coffee"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		verbalK asks, "Any ideas ?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "poor coffee" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > POOR COFFEE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Or maybe hide it in a thermos or prop coffin."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   an enormous coffee mug
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "telepod?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x telepod" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TELEPOD
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, egg-shaped pod about the size of a garbage can, but
Floyd | lightweight enough for you to lift.  There's an open hatch in the
Floyd | side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oho"
		Jacqueline says, "Good idea"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "put mug in telepod" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MUG IN TELEPOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the enormous coffee mug into the telepod.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Could hide inside that"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorman sniffs. "So, trying to sneak coffee in by hiding it! Nice
Floyd | try, but it won't work. That coffee doesn't come through this door,
Floyd | end of story!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "close it"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "close telepod" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE TELEPOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the telepod.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorman sniffs. "So, trying to sneak coffee in by hiding it! Nice
Floyd | try, but it won't work. That coffee doesn't come through this door,
Floyd | end of story!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "He's good !"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, then do it the hard way"
Amber:>Amber:> 		invisiwall says, "Damn your hound's nose"
		verbalK asks (of Jacqueline), "Which is ?"
		Jacqueline says, "I am happy to drive that bit if you want."
		verbalK exclaims, "Go ahead !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | (That's not one of the available props in this scene.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suggest dropping the coffee here as first step"
		verbalK asks, "Can we drink it ?"
		DavidW says, "the mug, I mean."
		Jacqueline says, "I have a (non-crowd-sourced) plan."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open pod" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | You open the telepod, revealing an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drop mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorman turns up his pointy nose at the obvious square, but waves
Floyd | you inside anyway, muttering something about quail hunting.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the stage is Traudl Brandt.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a beatnik bodyguard here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Or we drop the telepod in the house, go back to the kitchen, teleport the mug in the telepod"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close pod" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | You close the telepod.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to vK), "yes"
		Jacqueline says, "That is my plan."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drop pod" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see an enormous coffee mug here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims (at Jacqueline), "Hey it's much easier to come up with ideas when you're watching someone else drive !"
		invisiwall says, "That's cos driver's gotta keep an eye on the road eh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "f ne" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F NE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You scrabble back up the dark exhaust vent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "(I'm out in like five to run some errands btw)"
		Jacqueline says, "We are so close I don't think we'll postpone, we'll try to finish today. Sorry, I realize we've been playing a long time."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put mug on telepad" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MUG ON TELEPAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the enormous coffee mug on the telepad.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push yellow" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH YELLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The object on the telepad shimmers and vanishes. "TELEPORTATION
Floyd | SUCCESSFUL."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You brace your legs against the sides of the vent and descend in a
Floyd | controlled slide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorman turns up his pointy nose at the obvious square, but waves
Floyd | you inside anyway, muttering something about quail hunting.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the stage is Traudl Brandt.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a telepod and a beatnik bodyguard here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pod" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open pod" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN POD
Floyd |
Floyd | (the telepod)
Floyd | You open the telepod, revealing an enormous coffee mug.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Sometime I want to play with fusing stuff using the teleportation device"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take mug" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MUG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "The bodyguard wants it?"
		verbalK says, "Yes"
		invisiwall says, "Yes"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to bodyguard" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BODYGUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to strike up a casual conversation, using every single pointer
Floyd | you can remember from The Polite and Cheerful Girl's Guide To
Floyd | Awkward Conversations with Unsavory Strangers: Fifty Perfect
Floyd | Pointers.  Unfortunately, it quickly becomes apparent that all he
Floyd | cares about is coffee, keeping you away from Traudl, and geopolitics,
Floyd | in that order.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give mug to bodyguard" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE MUG TO BODYGUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The beatnik eagerly takes the huge mug of coffee. "Now that's where
Floyd | it's at! Maybe you're not such a square after all." He guzzles down
Floyd | the coffee thirstily. "Like that really hit the spot, doll--I--" He
Floyd | looks sudden distressed. "Like, gotta beat the gravel, like,
Floyd | quicksville, you dig?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The desperate beatnik runs off in the direction of, like, the
Floyd | bathroomsville, leaving the stage unguarded.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on stage" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET ON STAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You clamber up onto the stage to the sound of a few scattered boos.
Floyd | Hmph! As if there was even really a show to interrupt. She's just
Floyd | sitting there!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn (on the stage)
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl Brandt is sitting cross-legged in the middle of the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Wasn't necessarily expecting that reaction...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "use hula" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE HULA
Floyd |
Floyd | You use the hula hoop. Fun! Then it falls down around your ankles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "He did mention it"
		Jacqueline says, "Sadly, no one cares about our performance."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 13 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl Brandt sits before you like a smoke-wreathed goddess.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Um, Miss Brandt...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "That is seriously disappointing."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Um, Miss Brandt...?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl gives you an amused half-smile. "Well, what brings you flying
Floyd | my way, little bird?" she asks, with just a trace of a German accent.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "'Little bird' is building a weapon to fight the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to vK), "I know."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["'Little bird' is building a weapon to fight the Brain
Floyd | Guzzlers."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good on little bird--or maybe I should say little hawk. We need more
Floyd | people like you willing to stand up against the pigs and their masters
Floyd | and everybody else trying to keep this country ignorant."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "No, they're literally--look, have you even been outside today--oh,
Floyd | close enough."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Wow, is she flirting with Bonnie?"
		invisiwall says, "Or is this just how beatniks talk"
		Jacqueline says, ".i Nah. I think she's just being stereotypical. But who knows, maybe we'll get to kiss someone worthwhile afterall."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["No, they're literally--look, have you even been outside
Floyd | today--oh, close enough."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, then you're in the right place. We have a weapon here that's
Floyd | more powerful than any gun, more explosive than any bomb. We call it
Floyd | Art."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Actually I was more interested in that lovely robot head you're
Floyd | holding!  Wherever did you get it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Actually I was more interested in that lovely robot head you're
Floyd | holding!  Wherever did you get it?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "What, this? It came crashing through the bathroom window about an
Floyd | hour ago. I figured the morally upright citizens of this perfect
Floyd | little burg were showing us their small-town hospitality in brick form
Floyd | again, but this one's different. Some kind of sculpture--I like it.  I
Floyd | think I'll keep it."  She laughs.  "But tell you what.  If I knew
Floyd | you'd appreciate it as much as I do, I might let you borrow it. Why
Floyd | not?  Let's write a piece together. Awaken the poet's soul that dwells
Floyd | within you, and it's yours."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Uh--b-but I'm not really any kind of poet. Can't I just find you a
Floyd | helpful goat, or something?"
Floyd | 2) "I'll do my best. Mother always did say my soul was my best
Floyd | feature!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "A helpful goat :)"
		Jacqueline chuckles at the mention of the helpful goat.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'll do my best. Mother always did say my soul was my best
Floyd | feature!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good girl. Now, this isn't hard. Everyone's got poetry in their heart
Floyd | somewhere.  I'll whip up a batch of fresh words and images and all
Floyd | you've got to do is dig in.  Capiche?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's write some poetry!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, let's start with something simple." Traudl clears her
Floyd | throat and recites.  "The sky, darkness, graves, grave, glamour!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"
Floyd | 2) "My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of sadness."
Floyd | 3) "The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"
Floyd | 4) "Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "I'd say, judging from what we know about Traudl, the more depressing, the more points we get."
		Jacqueline says, "I like 2 but feel we should say 3, depending on whether or not this should rhyme."
		verbalK says, "It can still be a ABAB rhyme thingy"
		invisiwall says, "Nah, only the third one scans"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl frowns. "Uhm, no, little bird, this is a real poem.
Floyd | Real poems don't rhyme. Understand?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Well, maybe the first"
		Jacqueline says, "I KNEW IT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, let's try another prompt...
Floyd |
Floyd | Fire!  Ice!  Chocolate!  Mother-goddess, grown fat with aeons, ripe
Floyd | green hills and lush valleys. It rains! It rains! It rains! It rains!
Floyd | It rains! It rains!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll get my umbrella!"
Floyd | 2) "Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"
Floyd | 3) "Water runs in my ears and it's drowning my brains?"
Floyd | 4) "Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay 1"
		verbalK says, "2"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. I like 4"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I love 1, but no."
		invisiwall says, "I'm out, but my vote is totally for 1 haha"
		Jacqueline says, "Have fun, i."
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "We can do yours."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, it's a metaphor--ah--never mind."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe a more primal, compelling image...
Floyd |
Floyd | Womankind! We carry the world between our legs, hand-standing Atlases,
Floyd | twin bookends of meat and bone. Blood! War! Is there anything else? A
Floyd | rotting fruit. Flies. How dare we? How dare us all? Break
Floyd | free of the prison--stand in the purple light and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl sucks in an enormous lungful of air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "SCRRRREEEEEEEEEAMMM!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"
Floyd | 2) (scream as loud as you can)
Floyd | 3) "Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I like these all."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we scream?"
		verbalK says, "I would."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [(scream as loud as you can)]
Floyd |
Floyd | "That--little bird, no, you--don't have a poet's scream."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm on a roll! Give me something else".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "This is fun"
		Jacqueline says, "I am frustrated but having fun."
		Jacqueline says, "One sec. I have a repairman wanting to visit, so I should possibly not be wearing PJs."
		Jacqueline says, "Please wait for me. I don't want to miss this."
		verbalK says, "No problems."
		Jacqueline asks, "I am changed, but will have to step away when he arrives just to let him in. Now: where were we?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm on a roll! Give me something else".]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right.  How about this..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This land, bleak, bountiful, once grew bloody flowers. Steaks!
Floyd | Hamburgers! This land, this building, slaves in chains, robbed of
Floyd | white gold by two-legged vampires. Liberated! The hand of Art is on
Floyd | the udder, and it's your hand. You are the dairy farmer now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Okay, I give up."
Floyd | 2) "Death! Ponies!"
Floyd | 3) "I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Trying to make poetry that does not rhyme and without screaming"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "How nice for you."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "So...pretty good poem, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["So...pretty good poem, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, little bird. There is poetry in
Floyd | your soul, I know it--but you're still not letting it out.  Still, you
Floyd | do show promise.  And at least you're not trying to rhyme.
Floyd | Maybe we should try this again."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd | 2) "I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's write some poetry!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, let's start with something simple." Traudl clears her
Floyd | throat and recites.  "The sky, darkness, graves, grave, glamour!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"
Floyd | 2) "My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of sadness."
Floyd | 3) "The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"
Floyd | 4) "Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hmm. Not quite what I had in mind..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Crap - meant to type 2"
		Jacqueline smiles.
		Jacqueline says, "I really, really didn't mean 1."
		Jacqueline says, "Honest."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of
Floyd | sadness."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A little much, maybe?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline frowns.
		Jacqueline says, "It is so not much."
		Jacqueline says, "Soooo not much."
		verbalK asks, "Maybe we're supposed to keep disappointing her ?"
		Jacqueline says, "'Liberated! The hand of Art is on the udder, and it's your hand.' That. This is a little much."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, let's try another prompt...
Floyd |
Floyd | Fire!  Ice!  Chocolate!  Mother-goddess, grown fat with aeons, ripe
Floyd | green hills and lush valleys. It rains! It rains! It rains! It rains!
Floyd | It rains! It rains!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll get my umbrella!"
Floyd | 2) "Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"
Floyd | 3) "Water runs in my ears and it's drowning my brains?"
Floyd | 4) "Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't think I know about that one..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe a more primal, compelling image...
Floyd |
Floyd | Womankind! We carry the world between our legs, hand-standing Atlases,
Floyd | twin bookends of meat and bone. Blood! War! Is there anything else? A
Floyd | rotting fruit. Flies. How dare we? How dare us all? Break
Floyd | free of the prison--stand in the purple light and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl sucks in an enormous lungful of air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "SCRRRREEEEEEEEEAMMM!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"
Floyd | 2) (scream as loud as you can)
Floyd | 3) "Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Imagery's a little on-the-nose, but..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm on a roll! Give me something else".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "So it's 3"
		Jacqueline says, "We'll get that one if it rolls around again, yeah."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm on a roll! Give me something else".]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right.  How about this..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This land, bleak, bountiful, once grew bloody flowers. Steaks!
Floyd | Hamburgers! This land, this building, slaves in chains, robbed of
Floyd | white gold by two-legged vampires. Liberated! The hand of Art is on
Floyd | the udder, and it's your hand. You are the dairy farmer now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Okay, I give up."
Floyd | 2) "Death! Ponies!"
Floyd | 3) "I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Death! Ponies!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sigh."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "So...pretty good poem, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["So...pretty good poem, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, little bird. There is poetry in
Floyd | your soul, I know it--but you're still not letting it out.  Still, you
Floyd | do show promise.  And at least you're not trying to rhyme.
Floyd | Maybe we should try this again."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd | 2) "I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's write some poetry!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, let's start with something simple." Traudl clears her
Floyd | throat and recites.  "The sky, darkness, graves, grave, glamour!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"
Floyd | 2) "My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of sadness."
Floyd | 3) "The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"
Floyd | 4) "Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's... hmm."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks (of vk), "what was your idea?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, let's try another prompt...
Floyd |
Floyd | Fire!  Ice!  Chocolate!  Mother-goddess, grown fat with aeons, ripe
Floyd | green hills and lush valleys. It rains! It rains! It rains! It rains!
Floyd | It rains! It rains!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll get my umbrella!"
Floyd | 2) "Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"
Floyd | 3) "Water runs in my ears and it's drowning my brains?"
Floyd | 4) "Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Water runs in my ears and it's drowning my brains?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl winces. "No--no, that was another rhyme. I said don't
Floyd | rhyme!  It's...unpleasing to me." She takes a nervous drag on her
Floyd | cigarette.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay. This has to be it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe a more primal, compelling image...
Floyd |
Floyd | Womankind! We carry the world between our legs, hand-standing Atlases,
Floyd | twin bookends of meat and bone. Blood! War! Is there anything else? A
Floyd | rotting fruit. Flies. How dare we? How dare us all? Break
Floyd | free of the prison--stand in the purple light and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl sucks in an enormous lungful of air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "SCRRRREEEEEEEEEAMMM!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"
Floyd | 2) (scream as loud as you can)
Floyd | 3) "Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."
Floyd | 4) "Go Fighting Conifers, go, go, team?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A little trite."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm on a roll! Give me something else".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "What...."
		Jacqueline says, "What the..."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so clearly mowing the lawn will not help us win."
		verbalK asks, "Let's Hula hoop ?"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "Trie dthat."
		Jacqueline says, "er, tried that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "use hula" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE HULA
Floyd |
Floyd | That command isn't available in choice mode.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm on a roll! Give me something else".]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right.  How about this..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This land, bleak, bountiful, once grew bloody flowers. Steaks!
Floyd | Hamburgers! This land, this building, slaves in chains, robbed of
Floyd | white gold by two-legged vampires. Liberated! The hand of Art is on
Floyd | the udder, and it's your hand. You are the dairy farmer now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Okay, I give up."
Floyd | 2) "Death! Ponies!"
Floyd | 3) "I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "But we need that head ...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Death! Ponies!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sigh."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "So...pretty good poem, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["So...pretty good poem, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, little bird. There is poetry in
Floyd | your soul, I know it--but you're still not letting it out.  Still, you
Floyd | do show promise.  And at least you're not trying to rhyme.
Floyd | Maybe we should try this again."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd | 2) "I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's write some poetry!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, let's start with something simple." Traudl clears her
Floyd | throat and recites.  "The sky, darkness, graves, grave, glamour!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"
Floyd | 2) "My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of sadness."
Floyd | 3) "The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"
Floyd | 4) "Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "We've tried all of these, haven't we?"
		DavidW says, "You almost had it but you didn't follow through properly."
		verbalK says, "Even 1"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "We did? Hm."
		verbalK asks, "Ok so maybe that number 4 for the scream part is supposed to appear once we try everything ... and then we need to try that one ? It was the one about go go conifers ?"
		DavidW says, "When she screams, she's screaming the word 'SCREAM'."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of
Floyd | sadness."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A little much, maybe?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, let's try another prompt...
Floyd |
Floyd | Fire!  Ice!  Chocolate!  Mother-goddess, grown fat with aeons, ripe
Floyd | green hills and lush valleys. It rains! It rains! It rains! It rains!
Floyd | It rains! It rains!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll get my umbrella!"
Floyd | 2) "Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"
Floyd | 3) "Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't think I know about that one..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe a more primal, compelling image...
Floyd |
Floyd | Womankind! We carry the world between our legs, hand-standing Atlases,
Floyd | twin bookends of meat and bone. Blood! War! Is there anything else? A
Floyd | rotting fruit. Flies. How dare we? How dare us all? Break
Floyd | free of the prison--stand in the purple light and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl sucks in an enormous lungful of air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "SCRRRREEEEEEEEEAMMM!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"
Floyd | 2) (scream as loud as you can)
Floyd | 3) "Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."
Floyd | 4) "Go Fighting Conifers, go, go, team?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "We can't scream that, though."
		verbalK says, "I think we never tried 4"
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		Jacqueline says, "..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Go Fighting Conifers, go, go, team?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | A few members of the audience titter. "No--no--this thing you're
Floyd | doing, where the words end with the same sound?," Traudl hisses.
Floyd | "That's rhyming."
Floyd |
Floyd | She runs an unsteady hand through her hair. "You're embarrassing
Floyd | yourself and you're embarrassing me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm on a roll! Give me something else".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do you understand what you're trying to do?"
		verbalK says, "But it does not seem like a good idea"
		Jacqueline says, "I thought I did, but clearly I haven't cottoned on yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Don't rhyme."
		Jacqueline says, "Don't be overthetop."
		verbalK says, "I don't :) I mean, we want to get the head."
		verbalK says, "Traudl remains a mystery though ..."
		DavidW says, "Getting the head is more important than making Traudl happy."
		Jacqueline says, "We must let the poetry of our soul out into the universe."
		verbalK asks, "Did we try to take the head ?"
		Jacqueline says, "We can't do other stuff in choice mode."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm on a roll! Give me something else".]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right.  How about this..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This land, bleak, bountiful, once grew bloody flowers. Steaks!
Floyd | Hamburgers! This land, this building, slaves in chains, robbed of
Floyd | white gold by two-legged vampires. Liberated! The hand of Art is on
Floyd | the udder, and it's your hand. You are the dairy farmer now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What a coincidence, you recite like a cow!"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I give up."
Floyd | 3) "Death! Ponies!"
Floyd | 4) "I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "How nice for you."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "So...pretty good poem, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["So...pretty good poem, right?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl shakes her head.  "I'm sorry, little bird. There is poetry in
Floyd | your soul, I know it--but you're still not letting it out.  Still, you
Floyd | do show promise.  And at least you're not trying to rhyme.
Floyd | Maybe we should try this again."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd | 2) "I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can leave me, Little Bird, but you can't leave you."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn (on the stage)
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl Brandt is sitting cross-legged in the middle of the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take head" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE HEAD
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl looks like she's holding onto it pretty tightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "nah..."
		DavidW says, "yeah, you do need to solve the poetry puzzle."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to traudl" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TRAUDL
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 13 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl Brandt sits before you like a smoke-wreathed goddess.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Er, it's me again!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Er, it's me again!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, the little bird returns."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Let's write some poetry!"
Floyd | 2) "I need to leave, uh, daddy-o."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Let's write some poetry!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right, let's start with something simple." Traudl clears her
Floyd | throat and recites.  "The sky, darkness, graves, grave, glamour!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"
Floyd | 2) "My soul aches as it's devoured by a thousand mouths of sadness."
Floyd | 3) "The thunder's like drums, and it pounds like a hammer!"
Floyd | 4) "Great green gobs of greasy, grimy gopher guts."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "My guess is we don't get just one, we have to do them all somewhat okay."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, which one here?"
invisiwall goes home. 		verbalK says, "Something that does not rhyme, so not 3"
		verbalK asks, "1 is over the top ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Ghosts!  Pumpkins!  Witches!  Boo!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hmm. Not quite what I had in mind..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What next?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What next?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, let's try another prompt...
Floyd |
Floyd | Fire!  Ice!  Chocolate!  Mother-goddess, grown fat with aeons, ripe
Floyd | green hills and lush valleys. It rains! It rains! It rains! It rains!
Floyd | It rains! It rains!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'll get my umbrella!"
Floyd | 2) "Those darn aeons are so full of calories!"
Floyd | 3) "Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Ripe apples! Sweet tangerines! Bananas...bananas that
Floyd | dance...something about bananas."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't think I know about that one..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, this is fun! Give me something else."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe a more primal, compelling image...
Floyd |
Floyd | Womankind! We carry the world between our legs, hand-standing Atlases,
Floyd | twin bookends of meat and bone. Blood! War! Is there anything else? A
Floyd | rotting fruit. Flies. How dare we? How dare us all? Break
Floyd | free of the prison--stand in the purple light and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl sucks in an enormous lungful of air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "SCRRRREEEEEEEEEAMMM!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Violet like the hatred of my mother. Shoes! Fireflies!"
Floyd | 2) (scream as loud as you can)
Floyd | 3) "Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Meat and tulips! Sand! Death is inevitable."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A little trite."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I'm on a roll! Give me something else".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm on a roll! Give me something else".]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right.  How about this..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This land, bleak, bountiful, once grew bloody flowers. Steaks!
Floyd | Hamburgers! This land, this building, slaves in chains, robbed of
Floyd | white gold by two-legged vampires. Liberated! The hand of Art is on
Floyd | the udder, and it's your hand. You are the dairy farmer now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What a coincidence, you recite like a cow!"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I give up."
Floyd | 3) "Death! Ponies!"
Floyd | 4) "I dreamed that I was suffering for eternity in a void in my
Floyd | Maidenform bra."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What a coincidence, you recite like a cow!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Several members of the audience are laughing now. Traudl's sallow
Floyd | complexion is growing increasingly flushed. "Enough!" she cries.
Floyd | "Enough, enough, enough! Obviously, you don't have the soul of a poet
Floyd | at all. You have the soul of--of--"
Floyd |
Floyd | She sputters out an unflattering-sounding German word and stalks off.
Floyd | After two circuits of the room, several cigarettes and a torrent of
Floyd | Teutonic muttering, she seems to realize that she's accidentally left
Floyd | her little wooden fiefdom to you and hurries back to the stage.
Floyd | "Here--you wanted this, right?  I will give you this if you never try
Floyd | to recite poetry on my stage again."
Floyd |
Floyd | She hands you the Head of the Wife of Tomorrow, and the precious
Floyd | computer within. Another victory for the hoi polloi!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Beat Barn (on the stage)
Floyd | A smoky little hole in the wall filled with customers dressed in black
Floyd | and sipping coffee from tiny cups.  Scratchy jazz is playing softly in
Floyd | the background. A low stage is along one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Traudl Brandt is sitting cross-legged in the middle of the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yay."
		verbalK exclaims, "Nice !"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | (first getting off the stage)
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, the solution is more generous than I realized."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get off stage" 		

Floyd ]  The Beat Barn
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OFF STAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't on the stage at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "What else are we missing ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x checklist" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHECKLIST
Floyd |
Floyd | A neat little copy of the checklist on the blackboard, which you can
Floyd | use to keep track of the BUBU components you still need to give to the
Floyd | Professor. It reads:
Floyd |
Floyd | Perforated Silver Membrane
Floyd | Micro-Mini Computer
Floyd | Brain Guzzler DNA Sample (CHECK)
Floyd | Purified Fructonium
Floyd | 20,000-Ton Impenetrable Steel Chassis (CHECK)
Floyd | Spork (CHECK)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You scrabble back up the dark exhaust vent.
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to prof" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 4) "Here's your computer--sure hope it still works!"
Floyd | 5) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Here's your computer--sure hope it still works!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "She's certainly seen better days, but as strange as it may sound,
Floyd | this is one 'wife' whose most important job isn't looking good." The
Floyd | professor cracks open the Head of the Wife of Tomorrow and yanks out a
Floyd | handfull of circuits and wires. "Now, I just connect these
Floyd | here--and--"
Floyd |
Floyd | The speaker on the BUBU's control panel crackles into fuzzy life.
Floyd | "Hello? Dave? What's going on? I feel so--so sluggish and
Floyd | thick-waisted!  What's happening?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't worry your pretty little tubes about it, my dear," the
Floyd | professor says soothingly. "Later on I may need you to kill a few
Floyd | aliens, but for now, just lie there and let me work on you."
Floyd |
Floyd | "A spa day! Gosh, Dave, you sure know how to make a wife feel
Floyd | appreciated!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oh dear"
		Jacqueline says, "So, the hard ones now."
		Jacqueline asks, "Belatedly, I took middle of the road and I should have gone full-tilt hilarious on the poems, DW?"
		DavidW says, "Yes, rhymes all the way."
		DavidW says, "I thought you had to rhyme in sequence for one entire go, but apparently as long as each verse gets rhymed at one point of another, you're fine."
		Jacqueline says, "brb - letting repairdude in"
		DavidW says, "or repairdudette"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we might need a gender-neutral/genderqueer version of dude too."
		Jacqueline says, "No, I know it's a dude."
		Jacqueline says, "It's always the same dude."
		DavidW says, "oh, ok"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anyway, he is fixing my bathroom light. Now what?"
		verbalK says, "silver membrane, fructonium"
		DavidW says, "There's 3 places to revisit: Drive-In, Junkyard, and whatever's still to the South."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, yes. But I have no idea where to begin except that we need to make the plants produce fruit"
		DavidW says, "Explore first."
		Jacqueline asks, "vK, can you drive a bit?"
		DavidW says, "You won't solve the fruit puzzle by pre-thinking it this early."
		verbalK says, "yes"
		verbalK says, "yes"
		verbalK says, "yes"
		verbalK says, "yes"
		verbalK exclaims, "Sorry !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "If it helps, the perforation doesn't have to be neat. You can even do
Floyd | the job yourself if necessary. But the membrane must be quite large."
Floyd | The professor holds out his hands.  "Imagine this, but much, much
Floyd | larger. At least the size of a wall, or the side of a house."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where can I find fructonium?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why, that's the atomic element which makes up fruit! Of course, we
Floyd | would need it in highly purified form, broken down to its most basic
Floyd | elemental state--difficult for all but the most talented botanical
Floyd | chemists. Good luck!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "A 'perforated silver membrane'?  Where am I supposed to find one
Floyd | of those?"
Floyd | 3) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Let's go back to the goat's initial ome ?"
		verbalK says, "home*"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW says, "That's d. sw. sw. w."
verbalK arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "from the living room"
		verbalK asks (of DavidW), "from the living room ?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You brace your legs against the sides of the vent and descend in a
Floyd | controlled slide.
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel
Floyd | A cool, damp road beneath the mountain. Only a couple of the lights
Floyd | here work, and their dim yellow glow reflects off the slick concrete
Floyd | walls. The roads continues, exiting the tunnel to the southwest. To
Floyd | the northeast, you can see blue and red lights flashing in the
Floyd | darkness. There's an open exhaust vent in the wall here, leading UP.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Harding Tunnel Entrance
Floyd | From here, the road plunges northeast into the sheer cliffs and curves
Floyd | gently southwest towards town. Twisted-looking pines frame the tunnel
Floyd | entrance itself, which is pitch black and smells moist and alive. Far
Floyd | above you, you can see the sleek modernist wedge of Minsystems Labs
Floyd | perched at the edge of the cliffs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | Generations of garbage have been piled here in haphazard stacks,
Floyd | rusting and slowly sinking into the earth under the weight of tons of
Floyd | scrap. The only way out is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's "house", a rusting metal silo, stands empty, slowly
Floyd | falling apart under the weight of the ages.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This junkyard is where we found the goat, hours ago."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x silo" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SILO
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a little taller than a one-story house, but too narrow to have
Floyd | much living space. There's an open hatch on the side where a door
Floyd | probably used to be. You never noticed it before, but there are
Floyd | numbers printed on the side: "X271 -- Minsystems Labs."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "enter silo" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER SILO
Floyd |
Floyd | You poke your head in and look around.  There's nothing inside except
Floyd | a smell so dreadful it nearly makes your permanent wave go limp.
Floyd | McDillingfitty is nowhere to be seen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Seems like nothing changed here ..."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | Generations of garbage have been piled here in haphazard stacks,
Floyd | rusting and slowly sinking into the earth under the weight of tons of
Floyd | scrap. The only way out is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | McDillingfitty's "house", a rusting metal silo, stands empty, slowly
Floyd | falling apart under the weight of the ages.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
invisiwall arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  McDillingfitty's Junkyard
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "What lack we?"
		verbalK asks, "Ok, I think I'm gonna head for the drive in now, except if someone has an idea ?"
		verbalK says (to inivisiwall), "we are missing the silver membrane and fructonium"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Drive in, sure."
		DavidW says, "You need a perforated silver membrane and purified fructonium."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Ooh, that tricksy fructonium"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Drive-In
Floyd | You're standing in the drive-in on the edge of town, where all the
Floyd | coolest teens come to ignore movies. To the north is Make-Out
Floyd | Mountain, and flanking it are a number of less controversial
Floyd | mountains. Mist hangs in the cool air, clinging to the stunted pines
Floyd | and making the screen slick with tiny droplets. A dirt road leads
Floyd | south, and you can see buildings nestled in the low bowl of the
Floyd | valley.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smoking wreck is parked here upside down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x wreck" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WRECK
Floyd |
Floyd | The remains of the Mercury Meteor -- well, technically, now that it's
Floyd | hit the Earth's surface the correct term is "meteorite." Most of it's
Floyd | destroyed, but the glove compartment survived.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall asks, "Pines, screen, glove compartment?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x pines" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PINES
Floyd |
Floyd | They're tough little can-do trees with a lot of spirit. They've got to
Floyd | be, to make it out here in the desert!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x screen" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCREEN
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a ragged hole in the middle where your car crashed through.
Floyd | Other than that, it's in good condition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		verbalK asks, "Is it made out of silver ?"
		Jacqueline says, "OH YEAH"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take screen" 		

Floyd ]  The Drive-In
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SCREEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You carefully yank the screen down and roll it up neatly. Yippee! You
Floyd | just found a perforated silver membrane!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Of course."
		DavidW says, "yay"
		invisiwall says, "Why would... oh "silver screen""
		Jacqueline says, "Well done, vK"
		DavidW says, "I was hoping you'd figure it out."
		invisiwall asks, "Were they literally made of silver?"
		verbalK asks, "Let's go check the town now ?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Saguaro 300 Block
Floyd | You're standing on Saguaro Road, in a part of town your mother doesn't
Floyd | like you going. A junkyard squats to the west, and to the east, an old
Floyd | barn has been painted black and blue and hung with a neon sign reading
Floyd | "The Beat Barn." A dirt road leads north to the drive-in, and Saguaro
Floyd | Road itself heads into town to the south and curves northeast into the
Floyd | woods.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neon sign is lit up, casting a harsh blue glow over the asphalt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Forward Base Yankee Foxtrot
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Forward Base Yankee Foxtrot
Floyd | The look of this part of Saguaro Road has changed drastically since
Floyd | this morning. A line of tanks blocks the street to the south, and the
Floyd | air echoes with the sound of explosions and the tromp of busy
Floyd | artillery teams. To the east, the Yoshidas' flower shop seems to have
Floyd | been transformed into some kind of makeshift military headquarters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There might be some silver compound in it; I don't know."
		Jacqueline says, "Old screens did have a silver finish to them, not sure if it was actually silver."
		invisiwall says, "Ooh I see."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | The humble flower shop has been transformed into a military command
Floyd | base.  A large tabletop map of the town has been set up where the
Floyd | discount gardenia bin used to be, and a clump of officers surround it,
Floyd | gesturing at the diagram and shouting at each other.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is sitting on the stairs, looking miserable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Wow the town is super intense now."
		invisiwall exclaims, "At least Jenny is okay!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x jenny" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd | She actually managed to get cleaner somehow during the attack (or
Floyd | maybe afterwards, when they were bandaging up her arm), but she looks
Floyd | devastated.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to jenny" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 14 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh--Bonnie, you're alive!" Jenny tries to force a smile. "Well,
Floyd | that's--that's good."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Are you okay? What happened to your arm?"
Floyd | 2) "Are you okay? Why are all these soldiers here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Let's be considerate."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Are you okay? What happened to your arm?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Somebody, uh, kind of stepped on it. When we were all running.  It's
Floyd | not broken or anything, I just--I just--I can't, uh, I can't deal with
Floyd | all this!  Everything's gone all to heck, I don't know where anybody
Floyd | is, I can't even phone Mary Jane's house to find out if she's even
Floyd | alive because the phones are down..."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Oh, Her Royal Highness is alive, all right, and having a temper
Floyd | tantrum fit for a queen."
Floyd | 2) "She's alive, and she's just about worried sick about you!"
Floyd | 3) "Well, she was alive when I left her..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "2"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["She's alive, and she's just about worried sick about you!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "She is?"  Jenny's face lights up. "Oh, thank goodness! I'm been--I've
Floyd | been going just about nuts imagining all kinds of horrible things.
Floyd | Where is she? I have to find her!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "She's safe at home.  Uh, you sort of have to shimmy up an air vent
Floyd | to get in--"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This is how we get in. Sweet."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Yankee Foxtrot Headquarters
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["She's safe at home.  Uh, you sort of have to shimmy up an air
Floyd | vent to get in--"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh yes, I've been up that vent before." Jenny notices your
Floyd | expression. "What? She's got a ten o' clock curfew. It's ridiculous!
Floyd | Listen, I, uh, I really can't thank you enough for telling me this. I
Floyd | need to see her right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Gee, let's get back to the lab, then."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Wow, such a rebel"
		Jacqueline says, "It was a different time."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Gee, let's get back to the lab, then."]
Floyd |
Floyd | You and Jenny enjoy what is by current standards a relaxing walk back
Floyd | to the lab, during which neither of you dies. Soon you're standing at
Floyd | the door of Mary Jane's room.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We have a secret knock," Jenny explains, which turns out to be two
Floyd | barely audible taps.  "See, it stands for 'haircut', because at first
Floyd | it was going to be 'shave and a haircut' because we get our hair done
Floyd | together sometimes but we don't shave, or, er, at least we don't shave
Floyd | at a barbershop or anything like that, uh, so we dropped that part--"
Floyd |
Floyd | The door jerks open and Mary Jane launches herself at Jenny like a
Floyd | puffy-eyed pink cobra.  "Jenny!  You're ALIVE!" she squeals. "I
Floyd | thought your poor little brain had been guzzled!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought yours had!"
Floyd |
Floyd | After the tearful reunion, Mary Jane turns to you. "Well, gosh, now I
Floyd | feel like a real goony bird for crying over Jenny dying when she's not
Floyd | even dead. I ought to be pitching in and helping you and Dad stop
Floyd | those awful things. I'm going to the lab to see what's what!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny gives her a peck on the cheek. "Have fun!" Then you and Mary
Floyd | Jane climb the stairs to the Tomorrowdome.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, it's a BUBU," Mary Jane observes, grabbing a lab coat. "Or, well,
Floyd | gee, it's most of one at least. I can make it better!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The BUBU giggles. "Gosh, Dave, your hands are so tickley inside me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm kind of surprised it wasn't an eight o'clock curfew."
		invisiwall asks, "Okay, BUBU = booboo like the embarrassing pet name?"
		Jacqueline says, "No."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, maybe."
		invisiwall says, "I know it's the machine"
		Jacqueline says, "I forget that you were here earlier when the acronym was explained."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to professor" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROFESSOR
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 3) "I found an, uh, perforated membrane for you!"
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I found an, uh, perforated membrane for you!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "The screen from the drive-in! Excellent! Without those creature
Floyd | features playing through the kitchen window at all hours my daughter
Floyd | will be able to get through the dishes without dropping half of them
Floyd | because she was startled by the Moon Men or the Swamp Woman.  And as a
Floyd | bonus, I can use this for the BUBU, too!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The BUBU is kind of creeping me out, but maybe that's just me."
		invisiwall says, "No, same"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to mary jane" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 12 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane looks up. "Hi, Bonnie!" she says brightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "You're a scientist?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["You're a scientist?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sure, silly! I'm a little rusty, though. Cheerleading keeps me awful
Floyd | busy lately!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 2) "I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Where can I find fructonium?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm not the one to talk to about plant stuff!" Mary Jane lets out of
Floyd | a self-deprecating giggle.  "Outside of physics, engineering, and
Floyd | cheerleading and such, I'm pretty much useless!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Where can I find fructonium?"
Floyd | 2) "I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I should go!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane nods.  "Go get "em!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "So... I am now crowd sourcing a plan for the fructonium."
		Jacqueline asks, "Go to the kitchen so we can fiddle with the hydroponics?"
		DavidW asks, "Well, who in the game knows about 'plant stuff'?"
		Jacqueline says, "Jenny"
		verbalK exclaims, "Jenny !"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Where is she?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Kitchen."
		invisiwall says, "Eh, where'd she go..."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Very Pink Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Very Pink Room
Floyd | A frothy, frilly pink bedroom with a large canopy bed and a vanity
Floyd | buried under mountains of makeup. Posters of famous movie stars line
Floyd | the walls. A large bay window looks out on a pleasantly kept rose
Floyd | garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh. How convenient"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is keeping herself busy baking piles and piles of her
Floyd | famous snickerdoodles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to jenny" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Bonnie! How's everything going up there?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "We're putting together a machine to stop the brain guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "Don't worry about it, Jenny, all that matters is we're safe in
Floyd | here."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["We're putting together a machine to stop the brain
Floyd | guzzlers."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wow, that's great! I'm sure everything will work out and I'm, uh, I'm
Floyd | okay waiting here, I guess. I--do you want something baked? Anything?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "3"
		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can I--Bonnie, that's not exactly difficult. Don't you pay attention
Floyd | in home ec at all? That was practically the first thing they taught us
Floyd | after how to make a roux. I mean--sorry, I didn't mean to be rude. Of
Floyd | course I can help. Some nice fresh fruit is all I need."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny frowns, looking at the tubes. "Of course they're not ripe, poor
Floyd | things! They may look healthy, but they're all alone up here, stuck to
Floyd | a dumb old wall. If there's one thing I've learned it's that even if
Floyd | they have all the food and water they need plants will never be happy
Floyd | if they feel neglected. They need people to love them. They need
Floyd | people to talk to them! Openly! You can't just tell plants you love
Floyd | them and then run off with your popular friends every afternoon while
Floyd | they're stuck working in the shop. I mean being sold in the shop.
Floyd | Being sold is like the flowers' job, that's why I said it like that."
Floyd | Jenny coughs. "Anyway, uh, maybe just talking to them and giving them
Floyd | some attention would help."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Haha"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["What kinds of things can you bake?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "All kinds of things! It's not that different from botany, really,
Floyd | except more of the plants are dead and uh, ground up, plus there's
Floyd | eggs and things. But both require hard work and a good solid knowledge
Floyd | of baker's chemistry!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, uh, they're just kind of the first cookie I learned how to make.
Floyd | I sort of bake when I'm nervous. It gives me something to do with my
Floyd | hands. Mary Jane eats when she's nervous, so together we make a pretty
Floyd | good team!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "None of these plants are ripe!  What's going on?"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "5" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 5
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I should go."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See you later!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is keeping herself busy baking piles and piles of her
Floyd | famous snickerdoodles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So we should talk to the plants. I'm looking forward to the conversation options."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to garden" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 15 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | ...
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Er, hello?  Gosh, I feel silly."
Floyd | 2) "Good plant, good...planty planty."
Floyd | 3) "Good morning. My, don't you look lovely and green today!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, they are GOOD options."
		invisiwall says, "A+"
		verbalK asks, "2 ?"
		Jacqueline says, "3"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Good morning. My, don't you look lovely and green today!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | ...
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Please, oh, please...grow for me?"
Floyd | 2) "Come on, grow! Show those lazy vegetables how it's done!"
Floyd | 3) "You know what they say. Boys seldom make dinner of fruit that
Floyd | looks thinner!  So... go for it!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["You know what they say. Boys seldom make dinner of fruit that
Floyd | looks thinner!  So... go for it!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | ...
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Come on, be a sport!"
Floyd | 2) (stick out your stomach) "See, I'm growing. Doesn't this
Floyd | look fun?"
Floyd | 3) "If all the other plants jumped off a bridge...of...of not-growing,
Floyd | would you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Gosh. I hope not 3 but probably 3."
		Jacqueline says, "I meant that for the option before."
		invisiwall says, "I like being an example"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		invisiwall says, "Very proactive"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | [(stick out your stomach) "See, I'm growing. Doesn't this
Floyd | look fun?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | ...
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) (Appeal to fruit's sense of patriotism.)
Floyd | 2) (Bring up your past together.)
Floyd | 3) (Violent emotional breakdown)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Oh m y god"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "1!"
		verbalK says, "hahahaha"
		verbalK says, "I wanna do 2 or 3"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [(Appeal to fruit's sense of patriotism.)]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now look," you tell the plant sternly. "Maybe you're a plant. And
Floyd | maybe you're not worried about the Brain Guzzlers because you don't
Floyd | have a brain, or even a nervous system, and so you don't think any of
Floyd | this has anything to do with you. But let me tell you this, buddy!
Floyd | You grew on American soil, or out of American water, anyway, and that
Floyd | makes you a citizen of the good old United States of America!
Floyd | Americans don't give up when the going gets tough. Americans fight.
Floyd | Americans win! Our country has never been successfully conquered by
Floyd | slime monsters from space and, gosh darn it, it's never going to be!
Floyd | Now you're going to get off your lazy roots, citizen, and you're going
Floyd | to start growing! And one day... one day, you magnificent son of a
Floyd | gun, little children who aren't yet a gleam in Father's eye will
Floyd | salute the everloving heck out your memory!  There will be statues to
Floyd | you! People will look at still lifes and instead of saying 'Oh,
Floyd | another one of those', they'll stand a little taller. They'll wipe
Floyd | their eyes.  And they'll say, 'There, in that bowl, there lies a true
Floyd | American'. And then they'll go home and they'll have a gosh darn
Floyd | honest-to-mother barbeque with hamburgers and corn on the cob and yes,
Floyd | even fruit, and it will all be because of you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Your words and actions have moved the fruit to its various cores.
Floyd | Before your eyes, the bitter green lumps swell into a colorful
Floyd | cornucopia of ripe fruit!
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hydroponic garden is now bursting with oodles of ripe fruit in
Floyd | every color of the rainbow.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is keeping herself busy baking piles and piles of her
Floyd | famous snickerdoodles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "they're all good, but you can only pick one."
		invisiwall says, "Oh my god"
		Jacqueline says, "That was amazing."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to jenny" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi again, Bonnie!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Well I must declare I'm shocked they didn't grow in red white and blue after that"
		verbalK says, "It was cool indeed"
		DavidW says, "You can take the fruit now, by the way."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I should go."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See you later!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hydroponic garden is now bursting with oodles of ripe fruit in
Floyd | every color of the rainbow.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is keeping herself busy baking piles and piles of her
Floyd | famous snickerdoodles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take fruit" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE FRUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You pluck an armful of the ripest and fruitiest-looking fruit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "and cookies"
		verbalK asks, "Cookies ?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "take cookies" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE COOKIES
Floyd |
Floyd | "Take as many as you want!" Jenny says eagerly, practically shoving
Floyd | them into your hands. You end up with a lot more than you wanted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "snickerdoodles"
		invisiwall says, "Jenny's snickerdoodles"
		DavidW says, "Share with your friends!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to jenny" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JENNY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi again, Bonnie!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "Could you make something called 'fructonium' for me?"
Floyd | 4) "Here's that fruit, Jenny!"
Floyd | 5) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Do not ever question the need for cookies, vK."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Here's that fruit, Jenny!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Great! Oh, you just wait, I'll make you a nice fructonium pie!"
Floyd |
Floyd | And after a little kneading, a little flour, a little kneading,
Floyd | fifty-five minutes in the oven, and helping Jenny clean up the
Floyd | workspace because that's the considerate thing to do, it's ready.  You
Floyd | now have a gently glowing pie filled with purest refined fructonium!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Looks good enough to eat, doesn't it?" Jenny laughs. "Uh, but don't,
Floyd | okay? That's really pure. Your stomach would melt."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jeepers, you sure must like snickerdoodles."
Floyd | 2) "What kinds of things can you bake?"
Floyd | 3) "I should go."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "This game and glowing pies, I swear"
		DavidW says, "It's a day for glowing pie."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I should go."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See you later!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | It has its own self-sufficient hydroponic garden on one wall, and part
Floyd | of the counter space is taken up with a glass surface labeled
Floyd | "TELEPAD", but other than that it's a normal, if very upscale,
Floyd | kitchen. There's a great view of the town from the windows here. The
Floyd | door to the northeast leads back to the living room.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny Yoshida is keeping herself busy baking piles and piles of her
Floyd | famous snickerdoodles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "examine the pie!"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a fruit pie
Floyd |   too many snickerdoodles
Floyd |   a telepod (open but empty)
Floyd |   a RPS cannon
Floyd |   a checklist
Floyd |   a Depth Charge Deluxe
Floyd |   a game pamphlet
Floyd |   a Canyonville High yearbook
Floyd |   a collapsible hula hoop
Floyd |   a skirt-and-sweater combo (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x pie" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's vibrating like a purring cat and luminous with a gentle ruby red
Floyd | aura. Gosh, this is a real day for glowing pies.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "snickerdoodles" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SNICKERDOODLES
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Hahaha okay you win this one"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "x snickerdoodles" 		

Floyd ]  Hydroponic Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SNICKERDOODLES
Floyd |
Floyd | (the snickerdoodles)
Floyd | They smell great. Jenny's such a good baker!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | ""
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to professor" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROFESSOR
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "Have a snickerdoodle? Your daughter's friend made them.
Floyd | 3) "Here's that fuel, professor!  It's in pie form."
Floyd | 4) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Have a snickerdoodle? Your daughter's friend made them.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, she's very domestic, isn't she? Not exactly the sort of chum I'd
Floyd | prefer for Mary Jane--" His eyebrows raise as he nibbles on a cookie.
Floyd | "But I must admit that, scientifically speaking, she doodles a mean
Floyd | snicker."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "Here's that fuel, professor!  It's in pie form."
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Here's that fuel, professor!  It's in pie form."]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wonderful!" The professor drops the pie into the BUBU's tank. "That
Floyd | should give our machine the necessary zing it needs for all-day
Floyd | power!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "That's everything! Isn't it?"
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["That's everything! Isn't it?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | He nods. "That's everything. We can launch the BUBU whenever you're
Floyd | ready. But we'll only have one shot, young lady. So be ready for it."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "I'm ready to go.  Launch the BUBU!"
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Ok, are we read y?"
		invisiwall asks, "There's nothing we need to take care of is there?"
		DavidW says, "Unless you want to hand out more cookies."
		DavidW says, "To Renee and MJ."
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to jane" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | That command isn't available in choice mode.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "2, right?"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to Mary Jane" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd | That command isn't available in choice mode.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "I'm ready to go.  Launch the BUBU!"
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "I appreciate that, young lady."
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to Mary Jane" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MARY JANE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 12 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi again, Bonnie!"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "Jenny is making snickerdoodles. Want some?"
Floyd | 2) "I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Jenny is making snickerdoodles. Want some?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ooh, I would love some!" Mary Jane says, licking her lips.
Floyd | She takes a handful of cookies and stuffs one in her mouth. "Fammff
Floyd | yoo."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I should go!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane nods.  "Go get "em!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Really, though," the BUBU says, "I've gained 1.451 tons since this
Floyd | morning. I really ought to do a jumping jack or two."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to bubu" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BUBU
Floyd |
Floyd | That wouldn't be a very productive conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Should I go give some cookies to Renee ?"
		invisiwall says, "snrk"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to renee" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO RENEE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 11 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey there."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Want some of these snickerdoodles?"
Floyd | 3) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Want some of these snickerdoodles?"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, gosh, yes," Renee says, taking a handful. "Nearly dying makes you
Floyd | pretty hungry, huh?"
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "What's that you're reading?  Does the professor have an eye for
Floyd | good science fiction?"
Floyd | 2) "Okay, I should go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Modernist Living Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["Okay, I should go!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | "See ya!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Modernist Living Room
Floyd | This circular room is ultramodern, like something from twenty years in
Floyd | the future. The sleek, smart-looking furniture is a symphony in
Floyd | avocado, orange, and mustard-yellow. There are exits set into the
Floyd | wooden paneling to the southwest and northwest, and another exit past
Floyd | a small entry foyer to the east. A spiral staircase leads up, and a
Floyd | gaping exhaust vent leads down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Renee Finch is plopped in a comfortable-looking easy chair, leafing
Floyd | through a leather-bound book.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "So, are we ready to go ?"
		DavidW says, "let's save the city, the country, the world!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Are you just wandering around to make sure everyone has snickerdoodles?"
		verbalK says, "Yes, but I'm done now :)"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tomorrowdome
Floyd | A dome covers the roof of the laboratory, converting this top floor
Floyd | into a vast circular workspace with a view of the surrounding
Floyd | mountains  beneath a sky full of brilliant stars. In the center of the
Floyd | room is some sort of half-completed machine. Near it is a cluttered
Floyd | desk, with a blackboard looming over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane Minsky is working on the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | Professor Barrabas Rudolph Minsky is up to his elbows in the machine,
Floyd | tinkering away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "talk to professor" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO PROFESSOR
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Picture number 10 here.]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah, greetings again, my young chum."
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) "I have a question about the Brain Guzzlers."
Floyd | 2) "I'm ready to go.  Launch the BUBU!"
Floyd | 3) "I guess I won't bother you any more right now!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Sharing is Caring, Jacqueline"
		verbalK asks, "Ready?"
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes, ready"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | ["I'm ready to go.  Launch the BUBU!"]
Floyd |
Floyd | Nodding grimly, the professor helps you into the pilot's seat of the
Floyd | "spaceship." "May God have mercy on our souls," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mary Jane gives you a kiss on the cheek.  "Good luck, Bonnie!" Then
Floyd | she taps a few buttons and the dome slowly opens overhead.  Machinery
Floyd | grinds as the BUBU rises into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | A glittering sea of stars surrounds you. Below, you see the last
Floyd | flickering lights of Canyonville glinting off huge dark shapes. The
Floyd | town seems to undulate like an ocean of living ink. The few buildings
Floyd | you can see, in the scattered light from  fires and sparkling electric
Floyd | lines, aren't much more than shells. There's the ruins of the diner.
Floyd | Over there, the one remaining wall of the haunted house sways in the
Floyd | breeze. The last of the police station crumbles as you watch.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the south, a wave of Brain Guzzlers rolls over the line of tanks.
Floyd | You can hear faint shouts and bursts of futile gunfire. One enormous
Floyd | Guzzler is slowly oozing over the Beat Barn. Another probes the base
Floyd | of the cliff with its tendrils.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They look mean, Dave," the BUBU remarks, "but I was made to
Floyd | fight tough stains!
Floyd |
Floyd | 1) Fire the BUBU.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		invisiwall says, "Oh my god BUBU"
verbalK says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]  Tomorrowdome
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | [Fire the BUBU.]
Floyd |
Floyd | With a terrifying crack, light lances from the tip of the BUBU,
Floyd | fingers of electricity raking the sky like crude scratches carved into
Floyd | filmstock .The Brain Guzzlers begin to quiver, then to shrivel,
Floyd | sputting into loose piles like deflating party balloons. In minutes,
Floyd | it is over. The string is pulled, and Canyonville's remaining brains
Floyd | will remain unguzzled.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You did it!" a voice chirps from beneath you. You look down to see
Floyd | Mary Jane looking up at you, Jenny by her side, their hands clasped
Floyd | together and their hair whipped by the mountain wind.
Floyd |
Floyd | The professor stands behind them, staring thoughtfully off into some
Floyd | unknown future. "The way I see it," he muses, "we may never know why
Floyd | they came here, where they came from, or where they went. We may never
Floyd | know, and we may never be ready to know! All I know is that every year
Floyd | of my life I become more convinced that not only do we not know what
Floyd | we don't know, we also don't know what we do know. These are the
Floyd | things that come when man tampers in heavens--we, with our Sputniks
Floyd | and our weather balloons, we've opened the door and laid out the
Floyd | welcome mat. Dare we really shirk our responsibility when our guests
Floyd | arrive. Dare we?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Indeed, those words are full of wisdom. But though the future is
Floyd | uncertain, you've brought about a brighter today, and a brighter today
Floyd | is the first step to a brighter tomorrow.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...
Floyd |
Floyd | Jimmy Johnson was rescued, alive, well, and of normal size, some eight
Floyd | thousand miles away in a lifeboat, with no memory of where he had been
Floyd | or how his brain came to be returned to him.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** THE END...? ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Darn it."
		DavidW says, "congrats!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Jimmy lived?"
		invisiwall says, "Very movie-ending soliloquyesque, prof"
		verbalK asks, "So Jimmy's doing well ? Should we go kiss him now ?"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "No."
		DavidW says, "Some version of Jimmy lived, yes. For the sequel, I assume."
		verbalK exclaims, "This was fun!"
		invisiwall says, "Jimmy lived, but I'm going to headcanon that Bonnie went walking with Renee after these events"
		Jacqueline says, "This was very fun. Except for the bit about Jimmy."
		verbalK exclaims, "But what about the hula hoop ?!"
		DavidW says, "I suspect Jimmy and Officer Wilcox were made unlikable partly to minimize any upset feelings when they get killed."
		verbalK says, "I am starting to feel the need-to-know-what-the-hula-hoop-is-for..."
		DavidW says (to verbalK), "I don't know about the hula hoop."
		invisiwall asks, "Did we try using it to fool the heartbeat machine?"
		verbalK asks, "How would that work ?"
		DavidW asks, "I don't think it would work, but maybe 'put hoop in car'?"
		Jacqueline says (to invisiwall), "I thought about it, but I don't think we could make that work."
		invisiwall says, "Well, if it can compress really really tiny, we could wear it like a bracelet and then, um... re-expand it to get our wrist out.... I DUNNO"
		DavidW says, "The teddybear is more likely usable for the haunted house ride."
		Jacqueline says, "True"
		verbalK asks, "The teddy bear ? How ?"
		invisiwall asks, "There was a teddybear??"
		DavidW says, "We didn't have to get a hula hoop. We could've had a poetry book or a switchblade knife, or a teddybear."
		Jacqueline says, "So, the #2 game, Map, by Ade McT, is also a glulx game, so we could play that next week."
		DavidW says, "oh, I have not played Map."
		DavidW says, "I'll assume it's good if it came in 2nd."
		Jacqueline says, "I think I am okay with weekly still, as long as I can get a sub when I need one."
		Jacqueline says, "I think if we do anything else (first Sunday of the month, or biweekly, or whatever, that people will get confused.)"
		invisiwall says, "This was fun; won't be around next Sunday though, due to Thanksgiving in these here United States"
		DavidW says, "Maybe Wife of Tomorrow can hula hoop."
		invisiwall exclaims, "Or, ooh, maybe one of the other kids can!"
		DavidW says, "I have no idea. But there must be something."
		invisiwall says, "...then again it never appeared as a conversation option"
		Jacqueline says, "Y'all could undo a few and find out."
		DavidW says, "Maybe you can put it in the row of delicious pies."
		DavidW says, "I can't think of a sure-fire place in the game where it'd be possibly useful."
		DavidW says, "btw, the RPG cannon can shoot at the paper target in the Hall of Amazing Tech or whatever that room was called."
		DavidW says, "There are no scissors in the game to shoot at that I know of."
		Jacqueline nods.
		Jacqueline says, "Oh yeah, there was a paper target."
		verbalK is tired and is going to go get some food
		DavidW says, "There was ice cream of tomorrow. Usually, not not necessarily, it's the flavour you picked."
		DavidW says, "Also, the alternate way to deal with the pies is to swap the charts."
		invisiwall asks, "Swap what charts?"
		DavidW says, "The health chart in MJ's purse with the MJ Jr's growth chart in the plant shop."
		invisiwall says, "Ohhh a thing I hadn't seen"
		Jacqueline says, "ah yeah, right"
		DavidW says, "I don't know where one uses the switchblade, but maybe it's an option in the race from fairgrounds to tunnel."
		DavidW says, "The poetry book, of course, can be used on stage."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. Figured."
		Jacqueline says, "Love that puzzle. Best bit of the game."
		DavidW says, "I was worried you were getting too frustrated there."
		invisiwall asks, "Oh yes, how did you solve it?"
		DavidW says, "You rhyme and piss Traudl off so much, she gives you the head if you promise to leave."
		Jacqueline says, "You basically try to fail so as to frustrate her. She eventually gives you the head just so you won't come back."
		invisiwall says, "Hahahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "Which, we won't, because the bar has been destroyed."
		Jacqueline says, "So there's that."
		DavidW says, "yeah, having the bar get destroyed bothered me."
		Jacqueline asks, "oh?"
		DavidW says, "and the diner too, for that matter."
		DavidW says, "buildings are sanctuaries."
		DavidW asks, "oh, and where the heck were the pine nuts?"
		DavidW says, "An entire Pine Nut festival and parade, and I don't remember seeing any nuts."
		DavidW says, "There are horse droppings on the street after the parade, but the game calls them something else."
		invisiwall says, "The pine nuts were all immediately eaten of course ;D"
		DavidW says, "I wonder what sort of game the author will write next. We've had a witch school, a jungle adventure, alien plants, and a 50's comedy-horror."
Amber wags. 		
Amber goes home. 		Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm going to head out. Go explore my new neighborhood some more."
		DavidW says, "Maybe it'll be a bee-girl band next. Or a mermaid hospital."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "You should send her those ideas."
		DavidW says, "Her ideas will be better than mine."
		Jacqueline says, "By the way, got a note from her looking forward to the transcript, but she finds the mud a bit difficult to use, so she didn't join us. I can totally appreciate that."
		DavidW says, "Or a girl band AT a hospital. 'Jinks: Truly Contagious'."



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Map by Ade McT
As played on ifMUD on December 13, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Map written by Ade McT. It took second place in the 2015 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Roger asks, "What's on the menu?"
		DavidW says, "Map by Ade."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, that means we're all back for sure."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask map" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The white door in the hallway is new. You can't remember having seen
Floyd | it before. After the children left home, you had expected the house to
Floyd | be quieter. You hadn't expected it to grow. Now, with Brady gone,
Floyd | Samantha living with her boyfriend one town over, and everything being
Floyd | packed for the move, unexpected doorways and passages are the norm.
Floyd | Just yesterday morning, you had been vacuuming the bedroom and noticed
Floyd | a small archway behind the wardrobe leading to goodness knows where.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sometimes, on the nights when Derek doesn't come home, you imagine you
Floyd | can hear the creaks and groans of rending wood and stone as the house
Floyd | tortuously shifts itself into new configurations.
Floyd |
Floyd | When Derek arrived home from work last night, you tried to tell him
Floyd | about it, as you do most nights.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You should be glad of the extra space, Elaine," he said, "you've
Floyd | always wanted a workroom." Most of the time he just sighs and turns
Floyd | the TV on, only half listening to you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Roger says, "Could be promising"
		DavidW says, "a house that grows? yeah."
zarf arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		DavidW says, "(please have a batpole, please have a batpole)"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | Map
Floyd | A Deconstructural Fiction by Ade McT
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 150926 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Monday
Floyd |
Floyd | The week starts like it always does. Slowly. It was an effort to get
Floyd | out of bed this morning. Derek had left before the morning light
Floyd | spilled half-heartedly into the room and from the coolness of the
Floyd | sheets on his bed, you judge he had left early. His coffee cup was
Floyd | still warm, though. You imagine he had taken his coffee out into the
Floyd | garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some mornings, especially in summer when the weight of light on your
Floyd | eyelids wakes you early, you come across him in the garden staring
Floyd | across the expanse of lawn. At these times especially you try not to
Floyd | intrude but occasionally you will watch him through the kitchen
Floyd | window, wondering what he is thinking about.
Floyd |
Floyd | But today all that's left of Derek's morning routine is a half-empty
Floyd | coffee cup and a few toast crumbs on the sideboard. A week can go past
Floyd | when these remains are all you see of him, and this morning, like
Floyd | every morning, you begin your day by wiping away this evidence that
Floyd | Derek was ever here. Most of the rest of the morning is spent doing
Floyd | those little things that are done on auto-pilot, and, once done,
Floyd | forgotten until they need to be done again.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not until you are on the upstairs hallway, dusting the leaves of
Floyd | the rubber plant, that you see the white door you noticed yesterday
Floyd | stands open, light spilling from it into the darkened hall.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Note : Even if you are experienced with interactive fiction,
Floyd | typing "help" will get you started with some special commands.)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed. Pictures line the walls, barely
Floyd | illuminated. To the south of you is the spare room, opposite it,
Floyd | Brady's room and the hallway stretches toward the east side of the
Floyd | house. A flight of stairs leads down into the entrance hall, and the
Floyd | new white door hangs open next to the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I can never recall the difference between the yellow and the green buttons, but at least I have a 50/50 shot."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't remember the colours either. I just 'push space' or 'push enter'."
		DavidW says, "I have not played Map before"
		Jacqueline says, "Nor I."
		Roger says, "I'm not sure even rubber plants can survive in a space with no windows, but it's a magical space, so sure"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Full spectrum lighting."
Deesix arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HELP
Floyd |
Floyd | Some special commands in this story are:
Floyd |
Floyd | If you wish to end a day and move to the next day, simply type
Floyd | "tomorrow".
Floyd |
Floyd | If you forget what day it is, type "day" for a reminder.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you want to wait until a particular time, try the command "wait
Floyd | until" for example "wait until 2:30 pm"
Floyd |
Floyd | The command "about" will give you more information about this story
Floyd | and its contributors.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please note - this story contains images, and is best read in a modern
Floyd | interactive fiction interpreter like Windows Glulxe which you can
Floyd | download from here:
Floyd | [LINK]
Floyd | ersXglulxe.html.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oops"
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, hm. Anybody here know if missing those images means missing plot?"
		Doug says, "I've played it before but only got a few endings"
		verbalK says, "No idea"
		Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "Are the images mandatory?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or icing?"
		Doug says, "I think it gives you a replacement description if you don't have images"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ABOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Map is copyright 2015 by Ade McT (mikepreston99@outlook.com).
Floyd | It may be distributed for free, but not sold or included in any
Floyd | for-profit collection without written permission from the author.
Floyd |
Floyd | The vast proportion of the bug free story is due to the rigorous
Floyd | proof-readings of: Mandy Evans, ChrisP and J.
Floyd |
Floyd | Map was developed using Graham Nelson's most excellent
Floyd | inform7 and is powered, at least in parts, by the extensions of Emily
Floyd | Short, Eric Eve, and Ron Newcomb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "but maybe only if it can tell that you don't have images?"
		Jacqueline says, "It should be able to tell that here, I would think."
		Doug says, "the images are just maps of the house that show you where the new room is."
		Doug says, "so otherwise you just have to explore"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't really enjoy having your picture taken. You haven't for
Floyd | years. If the camera comes out, it's always you who is holding it, or
Floyd | trying to blend into the background blur, looking away.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you were first married, it was fun, and you still have the black
Floyd | and white passport sized set of linked photographs from the
Floyd | photo-booth in which you and Derek made funny faces at the camera,
Floyd | laughing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a map
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You started drawing the map on the day you noticed the house start to
Floyd | grow. Now, your drawing seems to have taken on a life of it's own.
Floyd | Each morning, it has changed. Sometimes, when you are walking around
Floyd | the house, the map seems to come to life in your hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see that since yesterday, there is a new door on the west wall of
Floyd | the hallway, and a new door east of the Main Bedroom.
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "ah, yeah, with images you don't get that last paragraph"
		Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't often look at yourself. It's difficult to pinpoint the
Floyd | moment when you stopped looking in the mirror, or glancing at your
Floyd | hair in a handy reflection in a shop window. How would someone else
Floyd | sum you up? Elaine Paterson. 40 years old. Dowdy in a neat and
Floyd | unassuming sort of way. Quiet. You wear thick jumpers when it's cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "sweet automap"
		Jacqueline says, "Man, this game was making the woman sound like she was 60."
		Jacqueline says, "But I guess that's just from my perspective."
		zarf says, "40? Kids these days"
		Roger says, "I would have guessed older too, but that seems fine."
		DavidW says, "I am old, I am old, I shall eat my porridge oats rolled."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, I guess on this first day we should explore all the presently-existing house?"
		Roger says, "I guess we could creep around our kids' old bedrooms but I personally don't care all that much either way"
		Roger asks, "DW you still driving the ship?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x white door" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WHITE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the white door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I'm wondering: do we explore 'new rooms' first? Or should we look at rooms that Elaine knows but we don't?"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. So don't go west yet."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x plant" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | Perhaps it's where you put it, but for some reason, over the years,
Floyd | this plant has grown slowly, the leaves small, the trunk pencil-wide.
Floyd |
Floyd | You remember the day you brought it home. "It won't grow flowers, you
Floyd | know," had said Derek as soon as he saw you come in the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You nodded and smiled. "Yes," you had said, "It says so on the label."
Floyd | You remember having a cold, coughing, the wind outside had made your
Floyd | fingers feel like they belonged to someone else.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know," he had said, "Malcolm and Judy were thinking of inviting
Floyd | us to dinner tonight."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh?" you replied, unwilling to commit, a vague feeling of dread
Floyd | creeping over you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We should go. Maybe you could try and make an effort this time."
Floyd |
Floyd | You didn't answer him, but you felt bright spots of red appears on
Floyd | your cheeks. He turned, losing interest in both the plant and you, and
Floyd | walked away. Three steps. You had been left holding the plant,
Floyd | uncertain.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where shall we put it," you had said to his back,  your voice small.
Floyd | "It might look nice in the lounge."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good Lord, no," he had snapped. "What's the point if it will never
Floyd | flower? Ugly looking thing anyway. Keep it out of the way somewhere."
Floyd |
Floyd | You had burst into tears right there in the middle of the entrance
Floyd | hall. It was the first time you had ever cried in this house. Maybe
Floyd | that's why you remember it so clearly. So you had stuck it away in the
Floyd | upstairs hall - out of sight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I actually think that's a sound plan, tempting as the new room is."
		Roger says, "We've still got important dusting to get to, I'm sure of it"
		Jacqueline says, "I know, I love this woman. So clean."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed. Pictures line the walls, barely
Floyd | illuminated. To the south of you is the spare room, opposite it,
Floyd | Brady's room and the hallway stretches toward the east side of the
Floyd | house. A flight of stairs leads down into the entrance hall, and the
Floyd | new white door hangs open next to the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think... if she could only get a nice bagel, she might feel better about her day."
		Jacqueline asks, "Ready to explore? DW, out of curiosity, are you making a map?"
		DavidW says, "I'll try to make a map, yes."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Thank you."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the spare room door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Spare Room
Floyd | The work bench, so recently unpacked and painstakingly pieced
Floyd | together, sits unused in the corner. The vast expanse of empty floor
Floyd | is intimidating.
Floyd |
Floyd | Over the years, the function of this room has changed and evolved
Floyd | alongside the family. It used to be a playroom for the children. Then
Floyd | it was an office when Derek worked at home for six months. Then it was
Floyd | a spare bedroom for visitors. But it was used so infrequently that
Floyd | Derek suggested you use it as a workroom "to do all those things
Floyd | you've always wanted to do."
Floyd |
Floyd | It was a good idea, but now you've cleared the old bed away and put a
Floyd | workbench in here, it still remains almost entirely unused. It's as
Floyd | if, when confronted with all this space and opportunity, your mind
Floyd | went blank, and everything you thought of seemed a waste of time
Floyd | somehow. It's like you're paralysed by indecision.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | The wooden surface of the workbench is entirely empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "gosh. No art supplies at all?"
		Roger says, "A bit clumsy to take the narrational telling that far, but he almost stopped in time, and it's harder than it looks."
Doug says (to Floyd), "dismantle bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DISMANTLE BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "That's all that's in here, eh?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "sorry, just checking :)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand on bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STAND ON BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the workdesk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | (first getting off the workdesk)
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get off bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OFF BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't on the workdesk at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get off bench" 		

Floyd ]  Spare Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OFF BENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't on the workdesk at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "(We'd gotten down successfully, I see.)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. The
Floyd | door in the north wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and
Floyd | Derek's room, and the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a
Floyd | doorway leads into the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think the bench might be a pushable thingy for a future attic."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, So both Brady's room and the hallway were east?"
		Doug says, "Brady's room is opposite the spare room, i.e. north"
		Jacqueline says, "Ah, now that I reread, yeah."
		Doug says, "the lack of oxford comma strike again."
		Doug says, "+s"
		Jacqueline says, "Unhuh"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'll go back to that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening Brady's bedroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Brady's Room
Floyd | Brady's room remains in the state it was when he moved out. You've
Floyd | left it untouched in the hope that one day you will hear a knock on
Floyd | the door and it will be Brady there, his tall thin frame slightly
Floyd | stooped, leaning against the doorway, a five day scrag of beard
Floyd | covering his habitual cheeky grin.
Floyd |
Floyd | The posters on the wall, reminders of winning sports teams and fading
Floyd | rock bands, are further apart than yesterday, as though spaced out and
Floyd | shifted by some unseen hand, showing acres of cream wallpaper. The
Floyd | bed, stripped of sheets, is only a textured mattress, the desk, piled
Floyd | with hockey trophies from his schooldays. Grey light from the window
Floyd | filters into the hallway behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek had said that Brady wasn't going to be back, and you should
Floyd | remove his things - sell them maybe - empty the room. You had shaken
Floyd | your head. "He'll be back," you said, "he'll always come home." Derek
Floyd | had disagreed. Privately, lately, you have been doubting it also. It
Floyd | wouldn't hurt for him to call, you often find yourself thinking. When
Floyd | the message light blinks on the answering machine, you always have a
Floyd | moment of hope.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x posters" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POSTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Brady's tastes always ran to...loud. The posters seem to be mainly
Floyd | long haired men shouting into the camera or clean cut young men,
Floyd | heavily muscled under hockey armour.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "clean cut hockey hair"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x trophies" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TROPHIES
Floyd |
Floyd | Golden plastic reminders of all Brady's hockey injuries.
Floyd |
Floyd | It wasn't something you and Derek had pushed him into, hockey. One day
Floyd | he had come home from school, face flushed around a wide grin and a
Floyd | black eye and had announced he was going to play hockey. On the ice.
Floyd | You hadn't even know they did ice hockey at his school. He had been
Floyd | good at it, too.
Floyd |
Floyd | The first time you went to see him play, his slim build standing out
Floyd | amongst his stockier team mates, even your uneducated eyes could see
Floyd | he had something - some sort of grace that floated him over the ice
Floyd | and lifted the game somehow. Whenever he had the puck, a palpable
Floyd | excitement seized the crowd - an unconscious reaction to his easy
Floyd | elegance.
Floyd |
Floyd | It only made the times he was brutally crushed into the barrier or
Floyd | mowed down by a lumpen opponent all the more unbearable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "Is that another band name?"
		Doug says, "an album cut, perhaps"
		Jacqueline says, "So, the game is set in Canada. Got it."
		verbalK exclaims, "Yay !"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh wait, not Canada."
		Roger says, "No Canadian alive talks about 'ice' hockey"
		verbalK says, "True that."
		verbalK asks, "Is there any other kind of hockey ?"
		Doug says, "I think it's set in the US but the author is British"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "No Canadian mother would ever say, 'I didn't even know they did ice hockey at his school.'"
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "Field hockey."
		Doug says, "hence hockey 'armour'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the window, you can see the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Alright, so Mom's being spending some quality alone time with my old Gretzky posters."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Brady's room overlooks the lawn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "This house reminds me of the Deadline house for some reason"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Anything else we want to do in here?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | The wooden desk is battered and dented and completely covered by
Floyd | Brady's old hockey trophies.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "day" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DAY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's Monday today.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drawer" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | More of a futon. Brady always insisted he felt more comfortable
Floyd | sleeping closer to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess I'm done here for now."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Brady's Room
Floyd | The posters on the wall, reminders of winning sports teams and fading
Floyd | rock bands, are further apart than yesterday, as though spaced out and
Floyd | shifted by some unseen hand, showing acres of cream wallpaper. The
Floyd | bed, stripped of sheets, is only a textured mattress, the desk, piled
Floyd | with hockey trophies from his schooldays. Grey light from the window
Floyd | filters into the hallway behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So no to the new room, going east."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. The
Floyd | door in the north wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and
Floyd | Derek's room, and the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a
Floyd | doorway leads into the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | It's like a history, this hallway, or a story. Black and white becomes
Floyd | colour. Hairstyles change from long to short and then long again.
Floyd | Young people become middle aged. Babies appear and disappear, becoming
Floyd | children. Through it all is the constant presence of Derek: A frowning
Floyd | boy; a serious looking young man with neat hair; A harried young
Floyd | father balancing two small children in his arms at some seaside
Floyd | resort; A middle aged man sat at the kitchen table.
Floyd |
Floyd | At this end of the hallway you are part of the tale, but your story
Floyd | seems to end somewhere in the middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Only having one bathroom for all these people is the root cause of her ennui"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "There might be a master bathroom too."
		Jacqueline asks, "There is certainly some odd mechanics in the writing of this game, and odd turns of phrase. Are we sure the author is British?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The pause before you enter Sam's room is almost subconscious. When she
Floyd | was at home, you were always an uninvited presence there and with both
Floyd | of you in her room, resentment hung thick, turning most interactions
Floyd | poisonous. Now, even with the room vacated there's a sense, at the
Floyd | doorway, of unwelcoming. It's not something you've been able to shake
Floyd | off even after these last two months without her.
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening Sam's bedroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha's Room
Floyd | The bed under the window seems further away today. The floor,
Floyd | uncluttered with Sam's possessions, has stretched slightly during the
Floyd | night. You used to be able to touch the empty desk from the door, and
Floyd | the walls, bare of brightly coloured posters, appear taller - the
Floyd | ceiling more distant.
Floyd |
Floyd | After Sam left, Derek had piled everything remaining into black
Floyd | plastic bags and, shaking with anger, had dumped them in the garbage.
Floyd | You feel now that maybe this had been the wrong thing to do - that you
Floyd | should have taken Sam's possessions from the trash and stored them
Floyd | somewhere. But, at the time, you had been angry too.
Floyd |
Floyd | It had been the first time you noticed the house's growth. As Derek
Floyd | removed books and posters and CD's and plastic figurines or furry
Floyd | jumbles of cuddly toys, the walls of the room had expanded. Walking
Floyd | across the floors had taken longer. Not much, but enough to be
Floyd | noticeable. Eight years living in the same house, vacuuming the same
Floyd | floors, has made you sensitive to any small change.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "I've met the author and he did have a British accent..."
		Jacqueline says, "Huh. Okay."
		Doug says, "the 'sat' thing is a particular colloquialism that drives Miseri crazy"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I wonder why the kids are so estranged from their folks."
		Roger says, "The fantasy of a growing house does seem particularly apt to the British"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes. For me it was the 'had said Derek' construction, the capital letters after semi-colons, and the lack of commons in places I expect them."
		Roger says, "Ennhhh I think this narrator's sense of estrangement is somewhat unfounded, as is stereotypical"
		DavidW says, "Neverending Story has a growing house. I think one of George McDonald's stories does too."
		Doug | Bloody hell. LEARN TO SAY "SHE IS SITTING" AND "SHE IS STANDING" OR YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER WILL VOMIT BLOOD.
		Doug | Pardon me. "Your English teacher will have been vomited blood". Does that work better for you?
		Jacqueline says, "It seems the house was distant in a different way when the children were at home, but while it might make more sense for the house to shrink after their departure, that might make for a less interesting game."
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "hee"
		Roger says, "Like an opportunistic infection"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You bought this bed when Sam was only eight. You had just moved here.
Floyd | At the time it had been a princess bed with a pink gauze canopy. Over
Floyd | the years, Sam had grown out of the canopy, but she had refused to let
Floyd | the bed go, even though, as she grew, her feet stuck further and
Floyd | further over the bottom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x posters" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POSTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | Just a plain wooden desk but, over the years, Sam has decorated it in
Floyd | graffiti, sequins, and vari-colored crepe paper, depending on her
Floyd | moods.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read graffiti" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ GRAFFITI
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about decorations.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Ah - 'bare of posters' - I misread."
		Jacqueline asks, "So that's it in here, eh?"
		DavidW asks, "bathroom next?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the bathroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | The bathroom is all in pale green. The toilet, sink and bath were here
Floyd | when you moved in, and there never really seemed to be a reason to
Floyd | change them. The mirrored cabinet above the sink steams up when anyone
Floyd | has a shower and because of the poor ventilation through the small fan
Floyd | in the window, the grouting between the tiles has always had mold
Floyd | problems.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There was a window in Sam's room too, but I assume it isn't special."
		Jacqueline says, "We can check after the bathroom, I guess."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the window, you can see the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | Your face, in the mirror, appears care-worn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | Your face, in the mirror, appears care-worn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the mirrored cabinet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in cabinet." 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN CABINET.
Floyd |
Floyd | The mirrored cabinet is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This woman is *really* good at cleaning."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the mirrored cabinet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Guess whats-his-name isn't going bald."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x toilet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | The toilet is old, but serviceable. It's supported the whole family
Floyd | for eight years.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "(literally supported the whole family)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "use toilet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | You have no need at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tub" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TUB
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Where's the photo of that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x shower" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SHOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bath" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BATH
Floyd |
Floyd | The bath is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take bath" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BATH
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not really sure that there's enough hot water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "..."
		Jacqueline says, "In truth, I was hoping we would be able to pick up the bath."
		DavidW says, "If there's only two people living here, there ought to be plenty of hot water."
		Jacqueline asks, "Nothing else? Go look at the window in Samatha's room, then go to our loveless master bedroom?"
		DavidW says, "no, go straight to bedroom."
		DavidW asks, "We'll probably be touring everything each day anyway, no?"
		Jacqueline says, "Prolly."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the main bedroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd | The beds are new. It had been your suggestion. You had surprised
Floyd | yourself one night, when, after a couple of glasses of wine, you had
Floyd | said to Derek, "Shall we get single beds, do you think? You need to
Floyd | get up so early, and you know how I toss and turn and keep you awake
Floyd | sometimes."
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek had looked up, surprised. "I suppose we might as well," he had
Floyd | said, after a pause, "it's not as though we need a double at our time
Floyd | of life."
Floyd |
Floyd | It had been a strange feeling, that first night, when the new beds had
Floyd | been unpacked and covered in freshly bought linen. Twenty five years
Floyd | of sleeping next to a warm, breathing body, and space to throw out an
Floyd | arm or a leg and still feel supported, replaced by open space each
Floyd | side of you. It had been a strange feeling, but not an unpleasant one,
Floyd | and you had slept better that first night than in a long time.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "How did I know there'd be separate beds?"
		verbalK asks, "Is this game about depression or... depressing by itself ?"
		Jacqueline says, "It's a paradox, vK"
		Jacqueline says, "Don't think about it too much, lest you be caught in the depressive spiral."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x detritus" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DETRITUS
Floyd |
Floyd | Just your accumulated personal items that seem to have built up over
Floyd | the years. A small avalanche of lipsticks and mascara bottles,
Floyd | hairbrushes and curlers, foundation and pins.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "It might be a tiny bit too late..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pins" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PINS
Floyd |
Floyd | Just your accumulated personal items that seem to have built up over
Floyd | the years. A small avalanche of lipsticks and mascara bottles,
Floyd | hairbrushes and curlers, foundation and pins.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the window, you can see the driveway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x driveway" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRIVEWAY
Floyd |
Floyd | From here you can see over the driveway and a little way along the
Floyd | street.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x street" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STREET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, your bed or Derek's bed?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x my bed" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MY BED
Floyd |
Floyd | A single bed. It's quite small, but comfortable. After twenty years of
Floyd | sharing a bed, you had forgotten how pleasurable it was to be able to
Floyd | sleep in your own space.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Time to flip those mattresses, lay"
		Roger says, ",lady"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x derek's bed" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEREK'S BED
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek prefers a much harder mattress to you. He says it's good for his
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "flip matress" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLIP MATRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "change sheets" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHANGE SHEETS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "dust" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DUST
Floyd |
Floyd | You rub the map.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "That's why we can't have nice things."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wardrobe" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WARDROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | A large wooden wardrobe in the corner of the room. It is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open wardrobe" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN WARDROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the wardrobe, revealing your and Derek's clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x clothes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | A thicket of greys and green, the clothes hang listlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "See no sign of a master bathroom. Hence the crushing banality."
		DavidW says, ">x narnia"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look behind clothes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK BEHIND CLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Indeed."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter wardrobe" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER WARDROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the wardrobe.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the wardrobe you can see your and Derek's clothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "'You rub the map' is nm's next poem"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You would have to get out of the wardrobe first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, you've noted that there's a new room behind this wardrobe? But we want to explore known rooms before these?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the wardrobe.
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The new room is east, actually."
		DavidW says, "Or, one of them."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "That room"
		Jacqueline asks, "Go there, or to rooms that existed back before our life had completely lost its meaning?"
		DavidW says, "I'd like to see all of this floor, including new rooms before heading downstairs."
		Roger says, "Sounds good to me"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | As you walk through the entrance, the air seems to shimmer
Floyd | somehow.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognise this room. It's the downstairs hallway in your Aunt
Floyd | May's house. It has the same musty becalmed air, smelling of age and
Floyd | dust.
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You were here only last month. Just before your Aunt was finally
Floyd | shipped off to the old folk's home. It wasn't a pleasant visit. Aunt
Floyd | May had been quiet, pensive, sad even. She had spent the whole time
Floyd | staring out of the window into her garden and hardly speaking. When
Floyd | you came in, Aunt May had been sat ramrod straight in her armchair.
Floyd | She turned her head when you entered the room, but hardly seemed to
Floyd | recognise you.
Floyd |
Floyd | She had been upset. Your Aunt Anna was taking her to an old folk's
Floyd | home because she was getting too frail to look after herself. When she
Floyd | had asked you if she couldn't come and live with you, a big part of
Floyd | you wanted to say yes. But, with the move, and everything that was
Floyd | happening with Samantha, it just seemed as though the fight with Derek
Floyd | would be too daunting.
Floyd |
Floyd | So you had made some excuses.
Floyd |
Floyd | On your way out she had looked up at you. "Remember me," she had said.
Floyd | "But not like this." You hadn't known how to respond. So you had left
Floyd | quietly, closing the lounge door behind you. Your mother's younger
Floyd | sister, Anna, had taken May to the home two weeks later. You haven't
Floyd | seen her since.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "With luck, there'll be a bagel and sudoko puzzle in the kitchen."
		Jacqueline asks, "To cheer her up, you mean?"
		DavidW says, "Maybe? I dunno. She doesn't seem to have anything planned for her day."
		Roger says, "Peter Parker is really bummed out these days"
		Jacqueline says, "There is cleaning to do, DW."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | A brief history of your maternal family tree. Uncles and aunts you
Floyd | have a passing acquaintance with mingle with more distant relatives.
Floyd | Dotted here and there are Monet prints. Your Aunt May loved Monet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "ah, I missed this room when I played"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sofa" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Aunt May has had this faded old thing for years. It was in her
Floyd | caravan when you were a child.
Floyd |
Floyd | She always told you it was a wedding present . When you pointed out
Floyd | that she had never been married, Aunt May would tap her nose and wink.
Floyd | As a young woman, you pretended to be annoyed but secretly you were
Floyd | delighted that this woman had so many secrets. So many hidden sides to
Floyd | her. You always hoped that when you reached her age, your life would
Floyd | have been as complicated and interesting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Wasn't Anna Mary Jane's aunt or mother?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the window, you can see the vegetable garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's garden used to be beautiful. And productive. She grew all
Floyd | kinds of vegetables and fruit. When she visited, it was always with a
Floyd | basket in which were unlikely combinations of odd vegetables.
Floyd | Aubergines mixed alongside purple french beans and baby turnips. Now,
Floyd | with her advancing years, she has let it become overgrown and wild.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "The genre of growing spaceships is sadly neglected"
		DavidW asks, "How's the house bring the other place's outside area here with it?"
		Jacqueline says, "Because they're not real, I suspect."
		DavidW says, "oh wait. The shimmer."
		Roger says, "Now you're thinking with portals"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Or that."
		Jacqueline says, "But really I think we're losing our mind and that Derek is just playing along."
		DavidW says, "Aunt May's rooms haven't moved. We simply got a new portal to them."
		verbalK says, "I am so lost right now ..."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "We never had kids. Or they died a very long time ago."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, deeper into her home?"
		Roger says, "Sure she doesn't need all this crap any more"
		DavidW says, "I'm hoping there'll be something to pick up. I'm getting antsy."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May has had this clock forever. Its tick is like a constant note
Floyd | in your life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Heh"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind clock" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK BEHIND CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hmph. No batpole there, I guess."
		Jacqueline says, "Have heart, little hobbit."
Roger says (to Floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You see that since yesterday, there is a new door on the west wall of
Floyd | the hallway, and a new door east of the Main Bedroom.
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | Despite her age, Aunt May keeps her home spotlessly clean. The window
Floyd | allows her to watch the comings and goings in the street from her
Floyd | strategically positioned armchair. An old dresser holds brass
Floyd | ornaments and a selection of glass flowers. The only door leads back
Floyd | out into the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dresser is an old folk's home leaflet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sits in her chair, hands folded quietly in her lap, staring
Floyd | out of the window. She looks up and smiles wanly. It seems to take her
Floyd | a while to recognise you. "Hello, Elaine love," she says, eventually.
Floyd | "It's nice that you could drop in, especially now I'm not going to be
Floyd | here much longer."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Aunt May(!)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to may" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | To engage in a conversation, try to ASK Aunt May ABOUT something, TELL
Floyd | Aunt May ABOUT something, or SHOW Aunt May something. Or, even, try
Floyd | saying "hello". Once you are chatting, you can just use "ASK ABOUT
Floyd | something", or if you are feeling confident, as a short hand, just "A
Floyd | something". You could also ask Aunt May to do things using: Aunt May,
Floyd | GO SOUTH for example.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "Wait.. what? Is she dead ?"
		Roger asks, "Are we?"
		DavidW says, "She's moving to a home."
		verbalK asks, "The home we are in?"
		Jacqueline says, "No. She is in an old folks home, but we are remembering the past or lost our minds or something."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask may about may" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Aunt May," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, dear?" she asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How are you, Auntie May?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm fine, thank you," she assures you. "Not that any of you care."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sighs heavily.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Or portal."
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x leaflet" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LEAFLET
Floyd |
Floyd | "Shady Willow Retirement Community". The photographs make it look
Floyd | quite nice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May shifts in her seat, and clasps her hands in her lap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask may about me" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You prattle on for a while about your life, and the move, and Derek
Floyd | and the kids, but it's not long before you run out of things to say,
Floyd | and the enormous silence in the room reasserts itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sounds like things are going well," says Aunt May, but she shakes her
Floyd | head slightly. "I'm surprised you've got time to come and visit."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May lets out a sigh that seems to come right from deep inside
Floyd | her. ""Oh, Elaine," she says, "they're wanting me to go to an old
Floyd | folk's home. I don't want to go. They're saying I'm not right on my
Floyd | own because of the fire."
Floyd |
Floyd | The call with Aunt Anna had been difficult. After the fire, she had
Floyd | wanted you to take Aunt May "for a few weeks while we get her sorted
Floyd | out". You had thought at the time, with some justification, that it
Floyd | was unfair of her to ask at such short notice. Anna is only just older
Floyd | than you. She has plenty of space in her house now her kids have left
Floyd | home. She blamed her husband. "He's always working," she had said. "I
Floyd | don't think I can cope with her by myself." You had demurred, making
Floyd | some excuses about moving house and Samantha being difficult. "You
Floyd | could at least try, Elaine," Anna had ended the call by saying. "We
Floyd | don't ask you to do much for the family."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask may about fire" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT FIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you have a fire?" you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Just a little accident," replies Aunt May. "I nodded off while my
Floyd | dinner was on the stove."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May turns her head slightly to look up the street, but you can't
Floyd | see what she is looking at.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I know I can't stay," says Aunt May, and her voice catches for a
Floyd | moment, "but it would be nice to live with someone I loved rather than
Floyd | all those strangers."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May had stayed with Anna for just a short time. She moved back
Floyd | into her flat despite Anna's protestations. Anna wanted to sell May's
Floyd | house. To do it up and use the money to fund May's final years in an
Floyd | old folks home. Your other aunts had disagreed. They wanted to get May
Floyd | a nurse - to let her stay here amongst all her things. The
Floyd | conversation had passed you by.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask may about anna" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT ANNA
Floyd |
Floyd | "How is Aunt Anna?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't talk to me about her", says your Aunt, her voice raising
Floyd | slightly. "She's no sister of mine. Forcing me into that Shady Willows
Floyd | place. It's a place for old people. Not for me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May looks at you directly. "I know you've had a tough time
Floyd | recently, Elaine, she says, "and I don't want to put on you, but
Floyd | you've got all that spare space now Brady and Sam are gone, and I know
Floyd | you're lonely what with Derek working all the time. Perhaps I could
Floyd | come and stay with you? We could be company for each other, and I
Floyd | could help out a bit around the house. What do you say?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you tell Aunt May "yes" or "no"?

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Jacqueline asks, "Yes?"
		Roger says, "ok"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | Do you tell Aunt May "yes" or "no"?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'd love to have you, Aunt May," you reply. "You're welcome to say as
Floyd | long as you like."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May smiles, and a tear trickles slowly down the side of her nose.
Floyd | "I knew you'd come through, Elaine," she says. "You've always had the
Floyd | kindest heart."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I want to say yes, but this is really something where we ought to talk to Derek first, no?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "It's time we stood up to Derek"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "that too"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "hug may" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HUG MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You place a kiss against your Aunt's dry cheek. She smiles, but
Floyd | doesn't turn to face you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "If it doesn't work out, May will probably forget this conversation anyway, so no harm no foul"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "You are horrible, sir. But I know you do it on purpose."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, what now?"

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | "Derek's been working hard," you say. "He says he is up for a
Floyd | promotion"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I remember when you met him," replies Aunt May. "You two looked good
Floyd | together."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May coughs, and dabs at her lips with a small handkerchief.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Err whoops I whispered that"
		Roger says, "Just hoping she'd badmouth him or something"
		Roger says, "So yeah I dunno; let's get going, I guess"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about garden" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Your garden's a bit overgrown," you say. "Doesn't Mr Turner come
Floyd | around anymore?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No," replies Aunt May. "I can't really afford him these days on my
Floyd | pension, and I don't get out there much anymore."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell may about house" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TELL MAY ABOUT HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd | "We're moving house," you say. "Derek has picked us a little bungalow
Floyd | up cheap. It's going to be much less work now the kids have left
Floyd | home."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Does it have a garden?" asks Aunt May. "You always loved gardening."
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't answer, because you realise you are not entirely sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
		Jacqueline says, "So we're moving."
		DavidW says, "That was unexpected."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "Maybe that was meant for a future day."
		Roger says, "Come over and live in our newer, tinier house"
		zarf says, "mutable houses always fetch a premium in today's market"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, seems silly to sell now, before all the new rooms and portals are added, upping the resale value."
		zarf says, "timing"
		Doug says, "there are moving boxes downstairs but you haven't been downstairs yet"
		Roger says, "Aunt May shows up, finds some completely different family living in the house, but she just moves in anyway because it's too awkward for anyone to say anything"
		DavidW says, "I think we should say goodbye to may for now and keep exploring."
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "may, bye" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MAY, BYE
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May just shakes her head. "I'm sure with your young legs, you
Floyd | could do that," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May wipes a weary hand across her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | Despite her age, Aunt May keeps her home spotlessly clean. The window
Floyd | allows her to watch the comings and goings in the street from her
Floyd | strategically positioned armchair. An old dresser holds brass
Floyd | ornaments and a selection of glass flowers. The only door leads back
Floyd | out into the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dresser is an old folk's home leaflet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sits in her chair, hands folded quietly in her lap, staring
Floyd | out of the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "That was >TELL MAY TO BYE"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x flowers" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLOWERS
Floyd |
Floyd | You used to play with the brass ornaments as a child. They are a mix
Floyd | of circus animals and ancient horse brasses. The glass flowers are
Floyd | your Aunt's pride and joy. She has collected them for years.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Game misinterpreted it as an order to May."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dresser" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRESSER
Floyd |
Floyd | A chipped white antique dresser.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dresser is an old folk's home leaflet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | On your way out of the room, Aunt May looks up at you. "I'll see you
Floyd | soon," she says, with a wide smile, "just give me a call when you're
Floyd | ready for me." Her smile turns slightly wolfish. "I'll call Anna and
Floyd | give her the good news."
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "How did the kids ever tear themselves away from this barrel of laughs"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, they're all a lot like you I suppose."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The window is shut: you'd break the glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "west"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, had to scroll back to see."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "North to Hallway, then go west once or twice to the rubber tree."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "D?"
		DavidW says, "no, west"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | White Room
Floyd | The walls and floor seem to glow, as if lit by something inside the
Floyd | very fabric of the building. The only exit is back out to the hallway
Floyd | to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the centre of the room, an old fashioned movie projector sits atop
Floyd | a plinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh right, you wanted to do all the new rooms on this floor."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x projector" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PROJECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks exactly like the projector your Aunt May used to have. Maybe
Floyd | she still does.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you were a child, every time your Mum took you to Aunt May's, the
Floyd | projector would make an appearance. Aunt May delighted in showing
Floyd | films of the family and films she had taken on her travels. Year after
Floyd | year, new footage emerged. It seemed never ending. You favourite movie
Floyd | was of your Mum as a young girl, playing on the beach with her
Floyd | sisters. It's a sharp, clear memory. Your Mum looks at the camera for
Floyd | a moment with a half-smile - distracted by something happening just
Floyd | off screen - and it was like you were there with them.
Floyd |
Floyd | The projector is currently switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on projector" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON PROJECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The projector crackles to life, the reels beginning to whirr and spin.
Floyd | On the wall opposite the door, silently, a white square of projected
Floyd | light appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | The white square is split and slashed by the visual crackle of
Floyd | fleeting imperfections and the number three flashes up, surrounded by
Floyd | a dark circle. Then this disappears and is replaced by the number two.
Floyd | Then the number one. The countdown stops, and the screen shows only
Floyd | pure white light.
Floyd |
Floyd | The film ends, to be replaced with crackles and dashes of visual
Floyd | noise. There is a clatter from the projector, and then a high speed
Floyd | whirring as it rewinds itself to the beginning. With a click, the
Floyd | white square disappears as the projector switches off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah. The film is a WIP."
		verbalK asks, "WIP ?"
		DavidW says, "Work In Progress."
		Roger says, "I'm not sure I can take even one more day of this"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x plinth" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLINTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The plinth is a twisted, organic looking column leading up to a small
Floyd | platform, on top of which is an old-fashioned movie projector.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Let's head downstairs and see if there's a bagel."
		Jacqueline asks, "That's all that's here, though, right?"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'm not sure why you're fixated on bagels, but let's go look."
		DavidW says, "yeah, no sofa or chair or anything."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Elaine just seems like a bagel person."
		Jacqueline says, "If you say so."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x answering machine" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ANSWERING MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | The display on the answering machine is blank. The play messages
Floyd | button is right next to the display.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the play messages button, but there's really nothing you want
Floyd | to do with it, so you put it back where it was.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline blinks.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x phone" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | A slim plastic phone in its cradle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		zarf says, "hrm"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | A small wooden table you bought to stand the phone on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | barometer on the wall that has indicated rain for years; the picture
Floyd | of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by the
Floyd | peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below the
Floyd | bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you came to view the house, eight years ago this coming May, the
Floyd | first thing you had noticed was this window. A south facing room
Floyd | should be bright, sunlit, welcoming. Over the years, you had always
Floyd | meant to change it - to get the builders in and make it larger. Maybe
Floyd | a bay-window in which you could sit and read while the sun warmed your
Floyd | shoulders.
Floyd |
Floyd | But for some reason you had never got round to it, and now, if you are
Floyd | being honest with yourself, you are glad. Some days, you spend all day
Floyd | in here, curled up on the sofa, welcoming the tepid light.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Huh. And here they do the capitalization after semi-colons differently."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sofa" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | Over the years the leather of the sofa has become shiny and worn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | This was your Aunty May's. It's never worked. The needle has always
Floyd | been stuck halfway between rain and drizzle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May gave it to you for your sixteenth birthday. It was an odd
Floyd | present, being broken even back then, but you had dutifully smiled and
Floyd | accepted it. Your father had hung it up in your bedroom where it lived
Floyd | on the wall between (and occasionally covered by) posters of Pink
Floyd | Floyd and, later, Nirvana.
Floyd |
Floyd | When she gave it to you, your Aunt had said "It's always useful for a
Floyd | sixteen year old to know the weather." She had said it with a wink,
Floyd | before planting a hairy kiss on your cheek. According to your mother,
Floyd | May had always been the strange sister. The oldest of six, she let her
Floyd | grey hair flow long and wild over her shoulders and had lived most of
Floyd | her life in a caravan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Maybe it's just me, but I get the sense that for some reason the author considers eight years an unfathomably long period of time to live in one house"
		DavidW says, "heh. maybe."
		Jacqueline says, "I am trying to do the math on us having Nirvana posters in our room but now being 40 with an empty nest."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek joined a book club. It sent him one blue leather bound classic
Floyd | per month for two years. Then it sent him one green bound work by
Floyd | Dickens. Now it's sending him red bound works by authors in their
Floyd | "American Masters" series. Neither he nor you have every actually read
Floyd | one, although you did start "Little Dorrit" once. The text was so
Floyd | small and dense though you kept drifting off to sleep and reading the
Floyd | same paragraph over and over again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I guess it makes sense, but it feels odd somehow."
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing the barometer will do *something* before the game's over."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TV
Floyd |
Floyd | A large flat screen attached to the wall opposite the window. Derek
Floyd | insisted on getting the largest. It is currently switched off, and the
Floyd | darkened screen shows a weakened reflection of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You switch the TV on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TV
Floyd |
Floyd | A large flat screen attached to the wall opposite the window. Derek
Floyd | insisted on getting the largest. It is switched on, and a game show
Floyd | desperately tries to gain your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photos" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHOTOS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photo" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PHOTO
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "'Pat, I'd like to buy a vowel? Is there an A?'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TV
Floyd |
Floyd | A large flat screen attached to the wall opposite the window. Derek
Floyd | insisted on getting the largest. It is switched on, and a news program
Floyd | desperately tries to gain your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TV
Floyd |
Floyd | A large flat screen attached to the wall opposite the window. Derek
Floyd | insisted on getting the largest. It is switched on, and a talk show
Floyd | desperately tries to gain your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I knew it. We are subconsciously changing the channel with our mind."
		Jacqueline asks, "What now, folks?"
		DavidW says, "'a bagel program desperately tries to gain your attention'"
		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "That program is probably on in the kitchen."
		Roger says, "I dunno. I'm happy enough to hit Tuesday"
		DavidW says, "no, no, no. Kitchen!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | barometer on the wall that has indicated rain for years; the picture
Floyd | of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by the
Floyd | peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below the
Floyd | bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The TV spills sounds and flickering images into the room.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN OFF TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You switch the TV off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oops, I meant to do S."
		DavidW says, "I'm sure the kitchen is connected to the dining room. Houses work that way."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, dining room."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week.
Floyd |
Floyd | It hadn't been your idea to sell the house. Now, with the move only a
Floyd | few days away, the sheer volume of things you have accumulated as a
Floyd | family is entirely daunting. You have tried to pack, but instead, half
Floyd | way through filling a box, you find yourself wandering around the
Floyd | house with an ornament or a lamp or a small table in your hands,
Floyd | wondering where to put it.
Floyd |
Floyd | When he gets home from work, Derek doesn't say anything, but you can
Floyd | sense his frustration that the pile of packed boxes in the dining room
Floyd | hasn't grown.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "We'll just shove everything into May's house"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOXES
Floyd |
Floyd | The boxes are taped shut and give no clue as to what is inside them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sideboard" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SIDEBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | This was your mother's, who had got it from her mother. It covers most
Floyd | of the wall against which it stands. You can't remember a time in your
Floyd | life when it wasn't present in your home.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your mother gave it to you when you were first married, and had moved
Floyd | into the little flat over the shop. "A good start," she had said,
Floyd | "something to build on."
Floyd |
Floyd | It had been far too big for your tiny new home, but you and Derek,
Floyd | laughing, had maneuvered it into place. You remember it had covered
Floyd | half of the kitchen door, so you both had to enter the room sideways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "They didn't label the boxes?!?"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
		Jacqueline says, "It makes it more fun later."
		DavidW asks, "How is that going, btw?"
		Jacqueline glances at the boxes by the wall in her real room (which are fortunately all lablelled).
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "It's... going. I'm nearly done unpacking the bedroom, actually."
		DavidW says, "oh good"
		Jacqueline says, "I'll be unpacked by the end of the year, I think."
		DavidW asks, "Any barometers from eccentric aunts?"
		Jacqueline says, "Nope"
		DavidW says, "oh well"
		Doug asks, "did you try PRESS BUTTON on the answering machine?"
		Roger says, "yes"
		Roger says, "No, we tried PUSH, sorry"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There were no messages, though. I suspect later there will be."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The kitchen in the new house is smaller than this. That's OK, though.
Floyd | You don't spend as much time in here as you used to when the kids were
Floyd | at home. Derek usually doesn't get home until after he's eaten. The
Floyd | last time you cooked a proper meal was probably a couple of months
Floyd | ago. Before Sam left. You had cooked her favourite, lasagna, because
Floyd | she said she didn't feel well, and she had looked so tired and
Floyd | unhappy. You wanted to cheer her up. Straight afterward, she had run
Floyd | to the toilet to throw it all back up again.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | On the counter, you don't see any bagels.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x post-it note" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X POST-IT NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'll be home at 7.00 pm. Derek."
Floyd |
Floyd | That's so like Derek. To put his name. As if you wouldn't know who had
Floyd | written it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, ">read note | Took the last bagel. See you tonight. Pack something. -- D."
		Jacqueline says, "ha"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha - That would have been awesome."
		Roger says, "Sorry I ate the last of the bagels from the icebox but they were so doughy and so cold"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock reads 3:13 pm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x calendar" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CALENDAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Today your only job, according to the calendar, is to pack.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x fridge" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The fridge has become Derek's filing cabinet. It's where he puts all
Floyd | the unpaid bills and reminders and bank statements, all held in place
Floyd | in some sort of order by a magnetic alphabet.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I saw no empty boxes to pack with."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The mostly empty shelves remind you that you need to tell Derek to go
Floyd | to the supermarket on his way home from work tomorrow. When you let go
Floyd | of the handle, the fridge door closes by itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Can we 'pack books' in the lounge?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the back door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Garden
Floyd | High fences surround the garden, giving it an air of privacy,
Floyd | sheltered from the street and any watchful eyes peeping from behind
Floyd | curtains in the neighbour's windows. A small patio area, attached to
Floyd | the side of the house, on which is a table and a set of peeling wooden
Floyd | chairs gives way to scrubby grass that you haven't quite got around to
Floyd | cutting for far too long.
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek calls this your "little patch of wilderness". That's his
Floyd | half-joke that isn't a joke at all, but instead, really it's a cutting
Floyd | indictment wrapped up in humour - contempt masked with levity.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can't even look after the bloody garden," Derek snapped at you
Floyd | once, after an argument about something you can't even remember. "It's
Floyd | what you wanted. It's why we moved here for goodness sake."
Floyd |
Floyd | When you were first married, gardening had been your passion. You
Floyd | inherited it from your mother, you suppose, whose own garden was, each
Floyd | year, a wondrous mass of colour and life.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I can't wait until he gets home so that we can give him a great big ol' hug."
		zarf says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder what he does for a living."
		zarf says, "cutting indictments"
		DavidW says, "heh"
		zarf says, "clerk in a judge's office. Works the paper-cutter."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sit" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can sit down on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chairs" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIRS
Floyd |
Floyd | The wooden slats aren't too comfortable, but you have spent more hours
Floyd | sat out here than you can count.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Gosh, I'm realizing we're not even through day one yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Two hours hin"
		Jacqueline says, "er, in"
		Jacqueline asks, "What now?"
		DavidW says, "I'm curious if we can 'pack'"
		Roger says, "Bury Derek in the garden, call it a good day"
		verbalK says, "And I still don't get this game..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pack" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "yay"
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Okay, to the ... what was it? A lounge?"
		Jacqueline says, "Where the books were."
		DavidW says, "'pack' doesn't seem to be a verb."
		Jacqueline says, "Except it doesn't even know the verb."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, that's our issue."
		DavidW says, "I suppose we could tell May about the projector."
		Jacqueline says, "We'll just have to tell Derek that we don't even know *how* to pack."
		DavidW says, "Or go out front, check the mailbox."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Mailbox seems like a good idea"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the back door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oo, package from 'Bagels of the Month'."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock reads 3:23 pm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the front door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Driveway
Floyd | Bounded by small grass borders that, via some unseen line down the
Floyd | middle, demarcate your house from the next, the driveway stretches out
Floyd | onto the road to the south. The open plan nature of the street is
Floyd | disconcerting.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're still not used to it, this openness of space, and this sharing
Floyd | of communal grass. When you grew up, each house in your terrace had
Floyd | its own little square patch of front garden bounded by a low stone
Floyd | wall. Sometimes with iron railings, painted green, or rusty, or
Floyd | shining black. Each garden had been a little statement by the house
Floyd | owner or tenant. Some had been lush bursts of colour in the spring and
Floyd | summer, some unkempt and weed-choked. Others had only been bare
Floyd | flagstones, empty and stark.
Floyd |
Floyd | It had been a matter of pride for your mother, that little twelve foot
Floyd | by twelve foot patch of space. Your father had the back yard reserved
Floyd | for his chickens and vegetables. Your mother owned that front space.
Floyd | It was hers entirely. She made it reflect herself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your car is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK exclaims, "We have a car !"
		verbalK says, "Let's get out of here."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Just a small grey car. You can't even remember what make and model it
Floyd | is. Nor can you remember the last time your drove it anywhere. Derek
Floyd | occasionally takes it out for a spin "to stop it seizing up."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "it's a metaphor, isn't it."
		Roger says, "That old grey car she ain't what she used to be"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The car is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock car" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNLOCK CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't have the keys. It's been so long since you've driven
Floyd | anywhere that you're not even sure where they are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, I had a glitch in my connection. Back now."
		DavidW says, "Probably in one of those unlabeled boxes."
		Roger says, "They're probably packed in an anonymous box now. Good work."
		Roger says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "I guess we could wait until 7"
		verbalK says, "How can she stay in this house? Everything, every single thing reminds her of something depressing or sad or old..."
		Roger says, "After 40 it's all downhill"
		DavidW says, "So we can't pack. We can't buy groceries we need. We can't (sob) even eat a bagel."
		Roger says, "Just marching towards death"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "ha"
		Jacqueline says, "It's a sad slog, yeah."
		verbalK asks, "Maybe we should try to cook something or feed her at least? Or will D bring diner with him ?"
		Jacqueline says, "D will come home and ask where his supper is."
		Jacqueline says, "And why have we not packed."
		verbalK says, "Obviously."
		DavidW says, "I can't imagine thinking about one's daughter throwing up everytime I enter my kitchen."
		Jacqueline says, "And we'll say, 'But I don't even know what that word means or how to use it as a verb,' and he'll just nod in a way that's meant to come across as understanding, but really he's wishing we would just die."
		Roger says, "We tried to grow up to become Strongbad but instead we ended up as Strongsad"
		Roger says, "My vote is some waiting"
		Jacqueline asks, "Do we have more rooms to explore and in which to discover sadness?"
		DavidW says, "I think we've seen all the rooms. We might've missed some because of unmentioned exits."
		DavidW says, "We could ask May about the projector and about the barometer."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's wait for smoochyboochkins to come home."
		DavidW says, "Other than that, there's nothing."
		Jacqueline asks, "The love of our life and our reason for living arrives hom around 7, right?"
		DavidW says, "I just hope Derek has a large enough box to pack May into."
		Jacqueline says, "er, home"
		verbalK exclaims, "Oh yeah the barometer and projector !"
		Jacqueline asks (of vK), "?"
		verbalK asks, "Asking may about them ?"
		verbalK asks, "Like DX said ?"
		verbalK says, "Sorry DW"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "See, it's problematic. He can't put us in the freezer, because he's just going to have to defrost it when we move."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, when he moves."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, okay."
		DavidW says, "Somehow I think Derek moves out and Elaine is staying here."
		Jacqueline says, "We can hope."
		verbalK says, "Elaine is staying here forever: she lost the keys of the car."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so you want to go talk to May before we see Derek."
		DavidW says, "yes please"
		verbalK says, "Seems like a good plan to me"
		DavidW asks, "shall I drive us there?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes, please."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close front door" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE FRONT DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | The bathroom is all in pale green. The toilet, sink and bath were here
Floyd | when you moved in, and there never really seemed to be a reason to
Floyd | change them. The mirrored cabinet above the sink steams up when anyone
Floyd | has a shower and because of the poor ventilation through the small fan
Floyd | in the window, the grouting between the tiles has always had mold
Floyd | problems.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has drained
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | Despite her age, Aunt May keeps her home spotlessly clean. The window
Floyd | allows her to watch the comings and goings in the street from her
Floyd | strategically positioned armchair. An old dresser holds brass
Floyd | ornaments and a selection of glass flowers. The only door leads back
Floyd | out into the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has been used
Floyd | up.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dresser is an old folk's home leaflet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The window is shut: you'd break the glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x may" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		DavidW says, "She's moved already."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has drained
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline sniffs.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "It's called moving on, something we clearly cannot comprehend"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha's Room
Floyd | The bed under the window seems further away today. The floor,
Floyd | uncluttered with Sam's possessions, has stretched slightly during the
Floyd | night. You used to be able to touch the empty desk from the door, and
Floyd | the walls, bare of brightly coloured posters, appear taller - the
Floyd | ceiling more distant.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ceiling" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CEILING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X
Floyd |
Floyd | You see that since yesterday, there is a new door on the west wall of
Floyd | the hallway, and a new door east of the Main Bedroom.
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Dagnabbit, Roger - I nearly spit my guava juice at the screen when I read that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Samantha's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. To the east, a doorway leads into
Floyd | the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | White Room
Floyd | The walls and floor seem to glow, as if lit by something inside the
Floyd | very fabric of the building. The only exit is back out to the hallway
Floyd | to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the centre of the room, an old fashioned movie projector sits atop
Floyd | a plinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "She's not with the projector."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is the spare room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The rubber plant you brought home from the garden centre a year after
Floyd | you moved in sits on a small plinth in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | barometer on the wall that has indicated rain for years; the picture
Floyd | of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by the
Floyd | peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below the
Floyd | bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "She's in the old folks home, decomposing."
		Jacqueline says, "And it's all our fault."
		DavidW says, "Anyway, May isn't to be found right now."
		verbalK asks, "So let's wait for the D?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pack books" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PACK BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "haha yes"
		DavidW asks, "so... wait until 7 pm?"
		Jacqueline says, "Our son never calls us, our daughter with the eating disorder hates us, our husband has no use for us anymore, and our aunt is wasting away without family in an old folks home. But hey, our house is growing, so that's cool."
		Roger says (to Jacq), "I think she was in the family way, is my guess"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "Okay, yeah, let's wait until 7... should we save first?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "clear save" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLEAR SAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW looks out the bagel window. Except we never got one.
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push save" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH SAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "I keep doing that!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wait until 7:00" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT UNTIL 7:00
Floyd |
Floyd | You wake with a start. Derek is shaking your shoulder. You seem to
Floyd | have fallen asleep on the sofa again. It's strange - you can't
Floyd | remember lying down, but you must have sat, just for a moment, and the
Floyd | soft light through the window from the gathering dusk sent you into a
Floyd | deep sleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have sleep in your eyes, and Derek's face in front of you is a
Floyd | blurred  smear.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge (on the lounge sofa)
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | barometer on the wall that has indicated rain for years; the picture
Floyd | of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by the
Floyd | peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below the
Floyd | bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek perches at the end of the sofa watching the TV. He glances up at
Floyd | you and smiles briefly before turning back to the show.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We got a smile!"
		Jacqueline says, "He really does love us."
		Jacqueline says, "We have a reason to keep living."
		DavidW says, "He does."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kiss derek" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | You want to kiss Derek, but he's been so distant recently that you
Floyd | can't bring yourself to bridge the space between you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline frowns.
		Roger says, "We should have packed the TV first, out of spite"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | This was your Aunty May's. It's never worked. The needle has always
Floyd | been stuck halfway between rain and drizzle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fix barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FIX BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to derek" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | To engage in a conversation, try to ASK Derek ABOUT something, TELL
Floyd | Derek ABOUT something, or SHOW Derek something. Or, even, try saying
Floyd | "hello". Once you are chatting, you can just use "ASK ABOUT
Floyd | something", or if you are feeling confident, as a short hand, just "A
Floyd | something". You could also ask Derek to do things using: Derek, GO
Floyd | SOUTH for example.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HIT BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask derek about work" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT WORK
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hmm?" he replies non-commitally, his eyes not leaving the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How was work?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek shrugs. "It was ok. Nothing exciting to report."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell derek about may" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TELL DEREK ABOUT MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | When you first told Derek about Aunt May being shipped off to a home,
Floyd | he had been furious. "Why didn't you tell me," he had said, barely
Floyd | containing his anger. "She could have come and lived with us. You know
Floyd | you would have liked that. You and May have always got along."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought you would have been against it," you had said, weakly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek had sighed. "Don't put this on me." You haven't really spoken
Floyd | about it since, and Derek looks so tired you're too nervous to bring
Floyd | it up again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask derek about move" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT MOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are you looking forward to moving?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It will be nice to get out of this place and start afresh," says
Floyd | Derek. "We need to hurry up with the packing though. The movers will
Floyd | be here next Tuesday."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "What if we take D to the room of one of our great kids ?"
		DavidW says, "I guess he'll find out when May's using up his hot water."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		verbalK says, "That sounds like a deadline."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "initiate the sexytimes with Derek" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INITIATE THE SEXYTIMES WITH DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell derek about projector" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TELL DEREK ABOUT PROJECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You start to tell Derek about the white room, and the plinth and the
Floyd | projector. But something holds you back. You realise you don't want
Floyd | to. That this is somehow too private to share with this man, even
Floyd | though you've been married all these years.
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek switches over the channel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, ""this man?""
		DavidW says, "Elainester, keepin' secrets."
		Jacqueline says, "I sense there a gap widening between us, right here on the sofa, as we speak."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask derek about supper" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT SUPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek doesn't respond, but continues to watch the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask derek about food" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT FOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | "You need to go to the supermarket tomorrow," you remind him. Derek
Floyd | grunts in acknowledgement.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I literally laughed out loud that time."
		verbalK says, "Ask derek about food today, right now"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask derek about bagel" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT BAGEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek doesn't respond, but continues to watch the TV.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | > DEREK, WHERE THE HELL IS MY BAGEL?
		Jacqueline says, "TIMING"
		Jacqueline says, "Darn you, DW."
		DavidW says, "sorry, but I need something to defend me against the miasma."
		DavidW says, "And bagels just seem to be the thing."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like there should be a content warning on this game."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, what now, emo peeps?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HELP
Floyd |
Floyd | Some special commands in this story are:
Floyd |
Floyd | If you wish to end a day and move to the next day, simply type
Floyd | "tomorrow".
Floyd |
Floyd | If you forget what day it is, type "day" for a reminder.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you want to wait until a particular time, try the command "wait
Floyd | until" for example "wait until 2:30 pm"
Floyd |
Floyd | The command "about" will give you more information about this story
Floyd | and its contributors.
Floyd |
Floyd | Please note - this story contains images, and is best read in a modern
Floyd | interactive fiction interpreter like Windows Glulxe which you can
Floyd | download from here:
Floyd | [LINK]
Floyd | ersXglulxe.html.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Should we just type 'tomorrow'?"
		DavidW says, "maybe the car keys are admist the junk in the bedroom table."
		DavidW says, "but yeah, tomorrow."
Roger says (to floyd), "ask derek about car" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK DEREK ABOUT CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no reply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tomorrow" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOMORROW
Floyd |
Floyd | In your dreams, you are running towards something, but it is
Floyd | constantly moving away from you. There is a hand reaching out, but it
Floyd | is just out of reach and someone is calling you but you can't quite
Floyd | make out if it is a child or just the wind blowing through a partially
Floyd | open window.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "I don't think there's dinner to eat, hair to brush, or any sudoko."
		Roger says, "I think we all know what we were running towards"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tuesday
Floyd |
Floyd | The morning has disappeared. You don't know where it went. The house
Floyd | continues its inexorable growth. Earlier, when you were dusting the
Floyd | upstairs hallway it seemed to take so much longer than usual, and a
Floyd | new door had appeared through which you were sure you could hear muted
Floyd | voices.
Floyd |
Floyd | Actually, you had woken late, and, slightly disoriented by the
Floyd | brightness of the morning, it had taken you a while to get your
Floyd | bearings. The phone had been ringing. You lay in bed and let it go to
Floyd | answer phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you drifted in and out of a doze, you listened to Aunt May
Floyd | pottering about the house. She tends to rise early. Ever since she
Floyd | moved in, each morning, you lie in bed listening to her moving about.
Floyd | It's comforting somehow, and, with Derek working so many hours, it's
Floyd | been nice to have someone to share the last days in the house with.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "A bagel ?"
Roger says (to floyd), "read calendar" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CALENDAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Today, you need to give the removals company a call in the morning to
Floyd | confirm the time for next Tuesday.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x calendar" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CALENDAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Today, you need to give the removals company a call in the morning to
Floyd | confirm the time for next Tuesday.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Timing, sorry."
		Roger says, "s'alright I jumped in there"
Roger says (to floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAP
Floyd |
Floyd | On the map, you see the upstairs hallway seems to have grown longer,
Floyd | and, in the middle of it is a new door leading north.
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | I have to work late tonight. I'll stay in town. Derek.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, this is starting to feel more British with its 'removals company' and 'answer phone'"
		Jacqueline says, "He's... not even coming home now."
		Jacqueline says, "Way to not even go through the motions, D."
		Jacqueline says, "Although, truth be told, I am planning to buy a bed for my office. I only plan to use it a couple of times each year, though."
		Roger says, "Mostly during interviews"
		Roger says, "So do we need to drag ourselves around the entire house again, or shall we cut to the new stuff"
		Jacqueline says, "New stuff, I say, completely ignoring your horrible joke."
		DavidW says, "Maybe a new fun coffee mug will cheer Elaine up."
		Roger says, "#1 MOM"
		Jacqueline says, "#1 WIFE"
		DavidW says, "GREEN THUMB ALERT"
		Jacqueline says, "#1 NIECE"
		DavidW says, "MY OTHER BED IS A PORSCHE"
		verbalK asks, "Maybe we should try to see a doctor? Call the suicide line or something ?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x map" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MAP
Floyd |
Floyd | On the map, you see the upstairs hallway seems to have grown longer,
Floyd | and, in the middle of it is a new door leading north.
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, Roger'd done that."
		Jacqueline says, "Let's go there."
		DavidW says, "yeah. It'll be between the kids' bedrooms."
		Roger says, "The Marauders' Map isn't as much fun when you're old and lame"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "heh"
		Roger says, "ohho"
		DavidW asks, "The plant moved?"
		Jacqueline says, "It did."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x plant" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | Since being moved into the sunlight of the dining room, the plant
Floyd | seems to have had a new lease on life. Its leaves stretch above your
Floyd | head, oriented toward the warming sun through the window.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It was Aunt May's doing, moving the plant into the dining room. As
Floyd | soon as she had seen it on the upstairs hallway, she had cried out in
Floyd | horror and insisted that you move it immediately. Derek wasn't too
Floyd | happy. He doesn't like clutter. But you have to admit, in the
Floyd | sunshine, the plant transforms a little. Leaves that were dull greyish
Floyd | green suddenly sparkle in the sun. You could almost imagine it sighing
Floyd | with relief.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb plant" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't think the branches would support your weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The game listened to you, Roger. Eerie."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boxes" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOXES
Floyd |
Floyd | The boxes are taped shut and give no clue as to what is inside them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "If this game had 500% more gardening, I might kinda like it"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open boxes" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BOXES
Floyd |
Floyd | They are securely taped shut and there's nothing in there that you
Floyd | really want to have to pack again.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the distance, you can hear the phone ringing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The display on the answering machine flashes with the number 1.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear noises coming from the room above. Aunt May keeps
Floyd | unconventional hours. Sometimes you will hear her moving about the
Floyd | house in the early hours of the morning. Some days she stays in bed
Floyd | till lunchtime and the house remains quiet. Most days, she stays in
Floyd | her room, sitting in her chair and watching through the window. Her
Floyd | presence is comforting somehow, and you know you can always pop in and
Floyd | have someone to talk to.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone on the hall table rings insistently.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone stops ringing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sigh. Go get it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ANSWER PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | The telephone isn't ringing right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Or not."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the play messages button, but there's really nothing you want
Floyd | to do with it, so you put it back where it was.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen to answer phone" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO ANSWER PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "press button" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | A briskly impersonal voice says "Hi, Mrs Paterson?" There is a pause.
Floyd | "It's Churchill's removals, you were going to call to arrange a time
Floyd | for pick up on Tuesday. Can you give us a call please and ask to speak
Floyd | to Karen. Thank you."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine whirrs on to the next message.
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek's voice, made small by distance, says "Hi Elaine, it's me. I
Floyd | just got a call at the office from the removals people. I guess you
Floyd | forgot to ring them. I told them to turn up at about 10 am on Tuesday.
Floyd | See you tomorrow night."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine falls silent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "play answering machine" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLAY ANSWERING MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | There are no messages to play.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I keep scrolling up to get verbiage, then come back to find it's done. Sorry."
		DavidW says, "we just woke up, geez"
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we go back to our save and rush to do this, just to see if he's nice to us for doing the one task we have for today?"
		Roger says, "I support that"
		DavidW says, "I don't think that'd work."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tomorrow" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOMORROW
Floyd |
Floyd | In your dreams, you are running towards something, but it is
Floyd | constantly moving away from you. There is a hand reaching out, but it
Floyd | is just out of reach and someone is calling you but you can't quite
Floyd | make out if it is a child or just the wind blowing through a partially
Floyd | open window.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Tuesday
Floyd |
Floyd | The morning has disappeared. You don't know where it went. The house
Floyd | continues its inexorable growth. Earlier, when you were dusting the
Floyd | upstairs hallway it seemed to take so much longer than usual, and a
Floyd | new door had appeared through which you were sure you could hear muted
Floyd | voices.
Floyd |
Floyd | Actually, you had woken late, and, slightly disoriented by the
Floyd | brightness of the morning, it had taken you a while to get your
Floyd | bearings. The phone had been ringing. You lay in bed and let it go to
Floyd | answer phone.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you drifted in and out of a doze, you listened to Aunt May
Floyd | pottering about the house. She tends to rise early. Ever since she
Floyd | moved in, each morning, you lie in bed listening to her moving about.
Floyd | It's comforting somehow, and, with Derek working so many hours, it's
Floyd | been nice to have someone to share the last days in the house with.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "DW, which way to the answering machine?"
		DavidW says, "w. s."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The display on the answering machine flashes with the number 1.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear noises coming from the room above. Aunt May keeps
Floyd | unconventional hours. Sometimes you will hear her moving about the
Floyd | house in the early hours of the morning. Some days she stays in bed
Floyd | till lunchtime and the house remains quiet. Most days, she stays in
Floyd | her room, sitting in her chair and watching through the window. Her
Floyd | presence is comforting somehow, and you know you can always pop in and
Floyd | have someone to talk to.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call removals company" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALL REMOVALS COMPANY
Floyd |
Floyd | Your fingers hover over the buttons, but you can't bring yourself to
Floyd | dial. The thought of speaking to a disembodied voice fills you with
Floyd | dread.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Elaine!"
		Roger says, "why must we fail at everything we attempt"
		DavidW says, "We can't bare to talk about something so personal."
		DavidW says, "er bear"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I can't blame Elaine for being depressed as hell."
		Roger says, "I can"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call derek" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALL DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | Your fingers hover over the buttons, but you can't bring yourself to
Floyd | dial. The thought of speaking to a disembodied voice fills you with
Floyd | dread.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen to messsages" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO MESSSAGES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen to answering machine" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO ANSWERING MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "it's 'press button'"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | A briskly impersonal voice says "Hi, Mrs Paterson?" There is a pause.
Floyd | "It's Churchill's removals, you were going to call to arrange a time
Floyd | for pick up on Tuesday. Can you give us a call please and ask to speak
Floyd | to Karen. Thank you."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine falls silent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call removals company" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALL REMOVALS COMPANY
Floyd |
Floyd | Your fingers hover over the buttons, but you can't bring yourself to
Floyd | dial. The thought of speaking to a disembodied voice fills you with
Floyd | dread.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, so now we wait for Derek to call and chew us out."
		Jacqueline says, "Except we'll be afraid to answer."
		Roger says, "Probably not feasible to pester May into doing this for us"
		DavidW says, "He won't call while we're standing here, you know."
		Jacqueline | > MAY, PLEASE DO THE ADULTING FOR US
		verbalK asks, "Sorry I had to leave when we started moving toward the answering machine, what did I miss ?"
		Jacqueline says, "We are socially paralyzed."
		Roger says, "She needs one of those Japanese companion robots"
		verbalK asks, "Is that supposed to be news ?"
		Jacqueline says, "We have one task today, to call the moving company (or 'removals company' as it's called here), but we can't bring ourselves to do it."
		Jacqueline says, "And so Derek will call to chew us out here in a sec."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone on the hall table rings insistently.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "answer phone" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ANSWER PHONE
Floyd |
Floyd | You move towards the phone, but you just can't bear to speak to a
Floyd | disembodied voice right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone on the hall table rings insistently.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone stops ringing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x answering machine" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ANSWERING MACHINE
Floyd |
Floyd | The display on the answering machine is flashing with the number 1.
Floyd | The play messages button is right next to the display.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PRESS BUTTON
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek's voice, made small by distance, says "Hi Elaine, it's me. I
Floyd | just got a call at the office from the removals people. I guess you
Floyd | forgot to ring them. I told them to turn up at about 10 am on Tuesday.
Floyd | See you tomorrow night."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The machine falls silent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, people kept playing this game after this. Interesting."
		verbalK says, "Omg... The D is so cold."
		Jacqueline says, "As for me, I'm coming close to losing my will to live."
		verbalK says, "He is also clearly fed up with us."
		Roger says, "Yeah I'm not feeling anything worth spending any more time on"
		Jacqueline asks, "I guess we should go check out the new room?"
		Roger says, "I guess"
		DavidW asks, "Perhaps there's a playground of happy children in the new room?"
		Jacqueline says, "Or bagels."
		verbalK says, "Or something depressing."
		DavidW says, "I am not programmed to respond in that area."
		Jacqueline says (to vK), "You are probably the winner in the predictions here."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Will you please take us there?"
		Roger says, "Imagine how grim this game would be if we were playing it alone"
		verbalK says, "I would've stopped long ago."
		DavidW says, "uh ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices, low and muted,  coming through the  door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | As you walk through the entrance, the air seems to shimmer
Floyd | somehow.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recognise this place. It's been months since you were here, but
Floyd | this is where you brought Samantha after she had told you. There she
Floyd | is, sat in the same chair, shoulders sagging sullenly, face turned
Floyd | away from you, chin in her hand. She looks so young.
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the reception door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You pause at the entrance for a moment. The only sounds in the room
Floyd | are the clicking heels of the nurse behind the reception desk. The
Floyd | cold air in the room makes you shiver.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk staring out into space.
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha sits quietly on one of the chairs. She barely glances up at
Floyd | you as you enter the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | At first, Samantha had not wanted you to come. Sat at the dining room
Floyd | table, she had hid her face behind her hair when she told you. "I've
Floyd | got an appointment at the Doctor's," she had said. "I guess you won't
Floyd | be coming."
Floyd |
Floyd | But you had surprised yourself. "Of course I'm coming," you had
Floyd | replied. "You're not keeping it," you said, before you had even
Floyd | thought what that would mean. The words had come directly out of you,
Floyd | an unintended accusation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha's head had jerked upwards. "It's my baby," she said, "I'll do
Floyd | what I want."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Doctor had been kind, if a little distant. Samantha had trembled
Floyd | next to you while he outlined her options, each more distressing than
Floyd | the last. When he had asked her what she wanted to do, Samantha, her
Floyd | face white and close to tears, had not replied. She had turned to look
Floyd | at you, her eyes beseeching you to answer for her. "What do you think,
Floyd | Mum?" she had said. You hadn't replied straight away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Aha. So, not an eating disorder."
		Jacqueline says, "My bad."
		Roger says, "Told you so"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "But ding! ding! ding! We have a winner in vK, who predicted we'd encounter something depressing!"
		Roger says, "Being a grandma at 40 is pretty cool though so let's run with it"
		Jacqueline says, "Well done, vK. Here's your prize: a shroud of darkness and eternal despair."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "snrk"
		verbalK says, "Thank you...."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask Sam about baby" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK SAM ABOUT BABY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, Sam," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah?" replies Sam.
Floyd |
Floyd | "When did you know?" you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I suppose I guessed when I took the pregnancy test," replies Sam,
Floyd | sarcastically. You restrain the urge to shout at her. There's so many
Floyd | things you could say.
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha sighs with irritation and rubs her face.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What do you think, Mrs. Paterson?" the doctor had asked you,
Floyd | eventually. "This is Samantha's decision, but I'm sure she would like
Floyd | your guidance and support."
Floyd |
Floyd | You had answered him. Samantha had burst into tears and ran from the
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's my choice," Samantha had screamed in the car on the way home. And
Floyd | then she had left. Gone to live with her boyfriend. When Derek had
Floyd | come home, you had hesitantly told him about Sam's condition, and the
Floyd | row. Derek had been furious. Not about the pregnancy, that he had
Floyd | accepted without comment. He had been furious with her because she had
Floyd | left home. "Of course we would have supported her," he had said.
Floyd | "Whatever she decided."
Floyd |
Floyd | You had kept quiet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There we go with the Britishisms again."
		Jacqueline says, "But I'm assuming this is supposed to be set in the US."
		verbalK asks, "Where? What ?"
		Jacqueline says, "'the row'"
		Jacqueline says, "I had never really heard that phrase until I lived in the UK."
		Jacqueline says, "But of course it's a common phrase there."
		zarf says, "the Dreadful Rauw"
		DavidW says, "It's in Harry Potter too, I think."
		verbalK says, "Ok thanks"
		DavidW says, "Makes me think differently about hedgerows now."
		Jacqueline says, "That's a different pronunciation, DW."
		DavidW asks, "is it?"
		DavidW says, "oh, I guess."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. Hedgerows is pronounced the way you think it is, and 'row' (as in a disagreement / fight) is as zarf spelled it above (rauw)"
		Jacqueline says, "So, I'm torn."
		Jacqueline says, "Keep playing, or go inflict self-harm on myself."
		Jacqueline says, "It's a toss up."
		Roger says, "Ennhhh I'm happy enough to quit here and if anyone wants to see the rest of it, they know where to find it"
		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, 'self-harm on myself' was redundant."
		DavidW says, "Perhaps May made cookies."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "I think I'm with you."
		DavidW says, "Almost certainly there's more film in the projector."
		Jacqueline says, "I actually have a lot of self-harm in the form of unpacking that I need to do."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay. Fine. I will stay to look at the projector."
		Jacqueline says, "But after that I go unpack a box."
		DavidW says, "ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk writing something down.
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha sits quietly on one of the chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Miss Paterson?" the receptionist says, brightly, interrupting your
Floyd | train of thought. "Doctor Bridge will see you now."
Floyd |
Floyd | Samantha glances in your direction, gets up unwillingly from the chair
Floyd | and walks slowly into the Doctor's office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, we're probably not done with this location yet?"
		Jacqueline says, "It appears not."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "follow sam" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOLLOW SAM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk tidying up the desk surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know if we have to wait here or not, to be honest."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think just go back into the house."
		DavidW says, "yeah, let's go"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "See, I'm sure this game ends up taking a happy turn that we'll never see because we gave up on it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | White Room
Floyd | The walls and floor seem to glow, as if lit by something inside the
Floyd | very fabric of the building. The only exit is back out to the hallway
Floyd | to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the centre of the room, an old fashioned movie projector sits atop
Floyd | a plinth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on projector" 		

Floyd ]  White Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON PROJECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The projector crackles to life, the reels beginning to whirr and spin.
Floyd | On the wall opposite the door, silently, a white square of projected
Floyd | light appears.
Floyd |
Floyd | The picture coarsens and then slips into focus. Aunty May is sitting
Floyd | in a featureless bedroom staring out of the window. As you watch, a
Floyd | nurse comes into the room and puts a tray down on the table next to
Floyd | her. Aunt May doesn't turn her head.
Floyd |
Floyd | The film ends, to be replaced with crackles and dashes of visual
Floyd | noise. There is a clatter from the projector, and then a high speed
Floyd | whirring as it rewinds itself to the beginning. With a click, the
Floyd | white square disappears as the projector switches off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "uhhh"
		Jacqueline asks, "I'm going to go cry now, okay?"
		Jacqueline says, "I'll be back in a week."
		DavidW says, "sorry"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Roger says, "Thanks Jacq! Good luck unboxing."
		Jacqueline exclaims (at Roger), "Thanks!"
		DavidW says, "oo, unboxing is the rage these days."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Feel free to keep playing. I'll leave the transcript running. Don't depress yourself too much."
		DavidW says, "good way of thinking about it"
		DavidW says, "I'm hoping May turns the place around."
		Jacqueline says, "I like your optimism."
		DavidW says, "She moved the rubber plant; she might fix up the garden and other stuff."
		verbalK says, "I'll be around DW, I am working on somehting at the same time, but I'm keeping an eye, just in case the happy turn Jacq is talking about might happen..."
		DavidW says, "I'm going to check the garden next, I think."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I might lurk, so you have the con"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the back door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Garden
Floyd | High fences surround the garden, giving it an air of privacy,
Floyd | sheltered from the street and any watchful eyes peeping from behind
Floyd | curtains in the neighbour's windows. A small patio area, attached to
Floyd | the side of the house, on which is a table and a set of peeling wooden
Floyd | chairs gives way to scrubby grass that you haven't quite got around to
Floyd | cutting for far too long.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | When Aunt May arrived, she had taken one look at the garden and given
Floyd | a gasp of horror. "You used to like gardening," she had said, shaking
Floyd | her head. "We've got to get this sorted out."
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's no point, Aunt May," you had replied. "We're moving soon."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May had looked at you shrewdly. "Hmmm...." she had said, "We'll
Floyd | see. This new house of yours, does it actually have a garden?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Not really," you had said.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK says, "Or maybe the game ends with Elaine finally overcoming her fear of everything to go buy a chair, a rope, a pen and a sheet of paper."
		DavidW says, "see! May's noticed the garden."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You bought the garden furniture set after the patio had been built.
Floyd | It's only a cheap wooden affair, now patched and faded from the
Floyd | weather.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder where May actually is."
		verbalK says, "(dead?)"
		zarf says, "the projector tells us"
		DavidW says, "She moved in with us; she didn't go to the home."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | picture of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by
Floyd | the peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below
Floyd | the bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light, especially now the room is so much larger.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "huh. The barometer's missing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x books" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Derek joined a book club. It sent him one blue leather bound classic
Floyd | per month for two years. Then it sent him one green bound work by
Floyd | Dickens. Now it's sending him red bound works by authors in their
Floyd | "American Masters" series. Neither he nor you have every actually read
Floyd | one, although you did start "Little Dorrit" once. The text was so
Floyd | small and dense though you kept drifting off to sleep and reading the
Floyd | same paragraph over and over again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Room
Floyd | Your Aunt has put her chair in front of the window where she can watch
Floyd | the comings and going of your neighbours. Her old sofa is against one
Floyd | wall alongside the grandfather clock that ticks time away in its deep
Floyd | voice. On the other side of the room is the dresser, weighed down with
Floyd | glass ornaments. Pictures cover most of the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | When Aunt May moved in, somehow you managed to squeeze all her things
Floyd | into the room. Fortunately, the room has expanded to accept them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sits in her chair, hands folded quietly in her lap, staring
Floyd | out of the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about garden" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Aunt May," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, dear?" she asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | You remember when you used to visit Aunt May years ago. You always
Floyd | took away a bag of home gown vegetables. The kids complained in the
Floyd | car on the way home, knowing that for the next few days, there would
Floyd | always be something green on their plate. "I used to like growing my
Floyd | vegetables," says Aunt May. "Frozen veg just aren't the same."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about derek" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT DEREK
Floyd |
Floyd | "He never seems to have much time these days," you say. "It's like
Floyd | he's avoiding being at home."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't you worry, love, he's always loved you deep down." Aunt May
Floyd | shakes her head. "It's a funny thing, isn't it. The more you love
Floyd | them, the further away they seem to get."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about samantha" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT SAMANTHA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sam..." you begin, but it's still too raw.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May looks at you and smiles sadly, "Children are hard, aren't
Floyd | they? I never had any, but I watched over your aunties and your mother
Floyd | growing up and they never stopped breaking my heart."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about baby" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT BABY
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May doesn't respond. She just shakes her head slightly and purses
Floyd | her lips.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May shifts in her seat, and clasps her hands in her lap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about projector" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT PROJECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You tell Aunt May about the white room, and about the plinth and the
Floyd | projector. She looks out of the window for a while, as if deep in
Floyd | thought. "I don't know what they are," she says, "but it sounds like
Floyd | there's something that can be changed. It sounds like the past is not
Floyd | always as fixed as you might think."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about rubber plant" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT RUBBER PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's still not doing well," you say, "the rubber plant I bought. Do
Floyd | you remember?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I did tell you to put somewhere more sunny," responds Aunt May, a
Floyd | little acidly. "They like sun on their leaves, a ficus."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about may" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT MAY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I said I'm fine."
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sighs heavily.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about me" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | "You look nice, love."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about removals" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT REMOVALS
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May doesn't respond. She just shakes her head slightly and purses
Floyd | her lips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask may about barometer" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MAY ABOUT BAROMETER
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've still got the barometer you gave me for my sixteenth," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's nice," says Aunt May, "I hope you got it fixed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Room
Floyd | Your Aunt has put her chair in front of the window where she can watch
Floyd | the comings and going of your neighbours. Her old sofa is against one
Floyd | wall alongside the grandfather clock that ticks time away in its deep
Floyd | voice. On the other side of the room is the dresser, weighed down with
Floyd | glass ornaments. Pictures cover most of the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sits in her chair, hands folded quietly in her lap, staring
Floyd | out of the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PICTURES
Floyd |
Floyd | A brief history of your maternal family tree. Uncles and aunts you
Floyd | have a passing acquaintance with mingle with more distant relatives.
Floyd | Dotted here and there are Monet prints. Your Aunt May loved Monet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May turns her head slightly to look up the street, but you can't
Floyd | see what she is looking at.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
zarf walks off through the wall; vivid gold light flares briefly around him. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May has had this clock forever. Its tick is like a constant note
Floyd | in your life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. It seems to be so much longer than
Floyd | yesterday. To the east, a doorway leads into the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has drained
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | Despite her age, Aunt May keeps her home spotlessly clean. The window
Floyd | allows her to watch the comings and goings in the street from her
Floyd | strategically positioned armchair. An old dresser holds brass
Floyd | ornaments and a selection of glass flowers. The only door leads back
Floyd | out into the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has been used
Floyd | up.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dresser" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Front Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DRESSER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline reads what's transpired. "So, you're going to undo all the horrid bits of your life, eh? Good luck!"
		DavidW says, "heh."
		Jacqueline goes to unpack a box.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Short Corridor
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Short Corridor
Floyd | The old clock in the corner punctuates the seconds with its deep bass
Floyd | ticking. All the pictures are still on the wall - lined up ancestors
Floyd | and forgotten relatives mixing with cheap reproductions of Monet's
Floyd | landscapes. A musty old sofa against the wall is lit up by the one
Floyd | window. A door to the south leads into your Aunt's front room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The room feels empty somehow, as if all the life in it has drained
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. It seems to be so much longer than
Floyd | yesterday. To the east, a doorway leads into the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Bedroom
Floyd | This has always been your favourite room. The large south facing
Floyd | window lets in plenty of light which makes it brighter than the rest
Floyd | of the house. However, over the last couple of days, the wooden floor
Floyd | has stretched, each pine tile becoming larger and the two single beds
Floyd | that used to be separated by the width of the small table are now
Floyd | several paces apart. Your dressing table, loaded with detritus, is
Floyd | under the window and a wardrobe in the corner partially obscures a new
Floyd | passageway that leads out of the eastern side of the house.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search table" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the small table or the dressing table?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dressing" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRESSING
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x small table" 		

Floyd ]  Main Bedroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SMALL TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You bought this a couple of months ago when you got the new beds. Now
Floyd | both you and Derek have a reading lamp. Derek likes to read late
Floyd | sometimes and at least now the light doesn't spill directly into your
Floyd | eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | Away from the faint light from the stairwell, the hall is darker, and
Floyd | the pictures that continue to line the walls are more indistinct. A
Floyd | little more light spills in from the open door. The door in the north
Floyd | wall leads to Samantha's room, opposite it, your and Derek's room, and
Floyd | the hallway stretches to the west. It seems to be so much longer than
Floyd | yesterday. To the east, a doorway leads into the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk sorting through some
Floyd | paperwork.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask receptionist about samantha" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK RECEPTIONIST ABOUT SAMANTHA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How can I help you?" replies the receptionist.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The doctor will see you soon," says the receptionist, and smiles
Floyd | without showing her teeth. "I'm sure you can discuss any issues with
Floyd | him." She turns away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pamphlets" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAMPHLETS
Floyd |
Floyd | Glossy brochures with titles like "Is Adoption for You?" or "You and
Floyd | Your Baby".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait an hour" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT AN HOUR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to wait.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask receptionist about time" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK RECEPTIONIST ABOUT TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist smiles at you, but doesn't respond. She just goes
Floyd | back to her work.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait until 5 pm" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT UNTIL 5 PM
Floyd |
Floyd | You potter around the house until 5:00 pm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk tidying up the desk surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Aunt May's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May's Room
Floyd | Your Aunt has put her chair in front of the window where she can watch
Floyd | the comings and going of your neighbours. Her old sofa is against one
Floyd | wall alongside the grandfather clock that ticks time away in its deep
Floyd | voice. On the other side of the room is the dresser, weighed down with
Floyd | glass ornaments. Pictures cover most of the walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May sits in her chair, hands folded quietly in her lap, staring
Floyd | out of the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Aunt May coughs, and dabs at her lips with a small handkerchief.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Brady's Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Brady's Room
Floyd | The posters on the wall, reminders of winning sports teams and fading
Floyd | rock bands, are further apart than yesterday, as though spaced out and
Floyd | shifted by some unseen hand, showing acres of cream wallpaper. The
Floyd | bed, stripped of sheets, is only a textured mattress, the desk, piled
Floyd | with hockey trophies from his schooldays. Grey light from the window
Floyd | filters into the hallway behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Still no word from Brady. You had hoped that when the phone rang this
Floyd | morning, it was him and it would have been his voice on the answering
Floyd | machine. It was still too hard to actually pick up the phone though -
Floyd | that's why you stayed in bed. Just a message on the machine would have
Floyd | been enough.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I need a bathroom break. bbiab."
		Jacqueline says, "This has been a long bathroom break. I hope he's okay."
		DavidW says, "That wasn't that long!"
		DavidW says, "I am a bit woozy now, though."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the front door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Driveway
Floyd | Bounded by small grass borders that, via some unseen line down the
Floyd | middle, demarcate your house from the next, the driveway stretches out
Floyd | onto the road to the south. The open plan nature of the street is
Floyd | disconcerting.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your car is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Driveway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The street is too open. There are too many eyes - all those blank
Floyd | windows reflecting and multiplying the world. Even thinking about
Floyd | passing the end of the driveway makes you feel uncomfortable. It's as
Floyd | if, unbounded by anything solid, all that space is too big to endure.
Floyd | It might dissipate you entirely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh geezus"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the front door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the front door, the lounge door or the dining room
Floyd | door?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "front" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FRONT
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the front door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dust plant" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DUST PLANT
Floyd |
Floyd | You rub the Rubber Plant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | The kitchen is due an update - it feels very seventies, with a faux
Floyd | marble worktop, dark wood-effect cupboards and garish tiling. The
Floyd | refrigerator is covered in scraps of paper and bills, all held in
Floyd | place by magnetic capital letters. The back door leads out of the east
Floyd | wall into the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | A calendar on the wall shows a grid of boxes for the month, all
Floyd | covered in small handwriting.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the refrigerator is a yellow post-it note.
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock on the wall ticks the seconds away into the air.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The mostly empty shelves remind you that you need to tell Derek to go
Floyd | to the supermarket on his way home from work tomorrow. When you let go
Floyd | of the handle, the fridge door closes by itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | The clock reads 5:18 pm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | All the bric-a-brac on the sideboard has been packed away for the
Floyd | move, leaving only dusty imprints on the wood. It had been filled with
Floyd | colourful plates and cups and seldom-used cookery books and odds and
Floyd | ends that the family had brought back from various holidays that
Floyd | couldn't find another home. Now the brown boxes on the floor and
Floyd | table, taped and anonymous, only serve to remind you of how much there
Floyd | is left to do before the removal van arrives next week. The pile of
Floyd | boxes seems to be higher than yesterday, but that's ok, because the
Floyd | room seems to have grown to accommodate them.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | On a plinth in the corner, a rubber plant brushes the ceiling.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Lounge
Floyd | Sometimes you think this room is made entirely from memories: the
Floyd | picture of your daughter, staring defiantly at the camera, flanked by
Floyd | the peaks of mountains; the wood paneling, a forgotten texture below
Floyd | the bookshelves; the books themselves, all green and blue leather -
Floyd | alphabetised soldier-sentries; a balding sofa and chair where Derek
Floyd | spends most of his evenings staring at the TV mounted to the wall.
Floyd | The too-small window overlooks the front driveway and lets in only
Floyd | just enough light, especially now the room is so much larger.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You switch the TV on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "watch tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WATCH TV
Floyd |
Floyd | A large flat screen attached to the wall opposite the window. Derek
Floyd | insisted on getting the largest. It is switched on, and an
Floyd | advertisement desperately tries to gain your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off tv" 		

Floyd ]  Lounge
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN OFF TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You switch the TV off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Entrance Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Entrance Hall
Floyd | The glassed front door leads directly south onto the driveway, and
Floyd | carpeted stairs angle up to the first floor. Doors lead east to the
Floyd | lounge and the dining room to the north. The room is bare except for
Floyd | an occasional table next to the front door in the southern wall, on
Floyd | which the telephone and answering machine squat.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway has no windows. It's always been a dingy place when the
Floyd | doors to the bedrooms are closed, but the open door allows some light
Floyd | to creep in. Pictures line the walls, barely illuminated. To the south
Floyd | of you is Aunt May's room, opposite it, Brady's room and the hallway
Floyd | stretches toward the east side of the house. A flight of stairs leads
Floyd | down into the entrance hall, and the new white door hangs open next to
Floyd | the staircase to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Waiting Room
Floyd | The reception area is painted a clinical light green and smells of
Floyd | disinfectant. Rows of chairs line the walls. A reception desk in the
Floyd | corner hold pamphlets and leaflets. The only other door apart from the
Floyd | one back into your house is in the opposite wall.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The receptionist stands behind the desk staring out into space.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT ON CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the chairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait until 6" 		

Floyd ]  Waiting Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT UNTIL 6
Floyd |
Floyd | You potter around the house until 6:00 pm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first getting off the chairs)
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd | The hallway stretches endlessly from east to west through the house.
Floyd | The blank white walls are broken only by a door to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear voices coming through the open door.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		verbalK asks, "What are you trying to do ?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wasn't sure."
		DavidW says, "Sam went to visit the doctor, and we left instead of waiting, and I have no way to tell if Sam's still there or not."
		Roger says, "Now she's stuck in there forever"
		DavidW says, "maybe."
		DavidW says, "I need to lie down for a bit."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Hallway
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'll come back to this later."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel it appropriate to quote KoL. We've been dancing around it, but really, it needs to be quoted."
		Jacqueline | This rainy miasma truly drowns your soul. You're feeling depressed, evil, and depressed.
		verbalK asks, "What's KoL?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Sleep well, DW!"
		Roger says, "Sounds about right."
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Jacqueline says, "Kingdom of Loathing, an old skool MMORPG that used to be quite popular."
		verbalK says, "Ok :)"
		olethros says, "KoL was not really multiplayer"
		olethros says, "it just allowed lots of people to log in at the same time"
		Jacqueline says, "It's worth checking out. It is full of great writing."
		olethros asks (of Jacqueline), "is it?"
		verbalK says, "Seems to still be ON: There are currently 573 players logged in."
		Jacqueline says (to olethros), "True, it was more of an online solo game, but it had interaction and cooperation."
		[LINK]
		olethros says, "I can't recall the interaction, apart from that happening on the mud"
		Jacqueline says (to olethros), "Yeah, there were shared houses where we could share resources and stuff, iirc."
		Jacqueline says, "But you're right in that game play was generally very individualized."
		
***** EPILOGUE: LATER THAT DAY ***** 		
		Doug says, "sorry I missed the last half of ClubFloyd, I was summoned to brunch"
		McMartin says, "The most delicious of cross-planar impositions"
		Olly) Doug says, "I was practicing witchcraft and becoming a lesbian."
		Olly says, "Sorry. Weird mind-bunnies."
		McMartin asks, "With huge, pointy teeth?"
		Olly says, "Thought bunnies."
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Look at this way, you are probably still in a good mood."
		Doug says, "aw"
		Doug | Jacqueline says, "I feel like there should be a content warning on this game."
		Doug says, "there was one! in the blurb"
		Doug | [Note - this story contains mature themes and scenes that some might find difficult or distressing.]
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I didn't read the blurb"
		Jacqueline asks, "Was it at the start of the game?"
		McMartin asks, "Which game was this?"
		McMartin says, "Also, that warning is not terribly useful"
		Jacqueline says, "(And I was actually joking, though. My thought was that one should only play it if already stable on anti-depressants.)"
		McMartin says, "Ah, Map"
		McMartin says, "This survived my level of detachment inculcated from previous years"
		Doug says, "I think the blurb was only on the ifcomp site."
		Doug says, "which yeah, it should have been in the game too"
		Doug says, "although probably too vague to be useful"
		Doug asks, "so are you going to continue Map next week?"
		Jacqueline says, "We didn't discuss it."
		Jacqueline says, "Half the people seemed kind of over it."
		Jacqueline says, "They have their mental health to consider."
		Jacqueline says, "I have left the transcript running. I think DW plans to poke at it more."
		Roger says, "I just found it extremely dull"
		Doug says, "I think there are 8 days total, and you only saw 2"
		Doug says, "well, 1.5"
		Doug says, "the structure becomes a little more apparent eventually"
		Doug says, "but yeah, no need to continue if no one's enjoying it. the next game is a lot more fun..."
		Jacqueline says, "I appreciate what I think it's trying to do, and if I were playing it solo the experience might have been different. I either would have given up quicker because her life is so terrible, or played more because the game would have gone more quickly playing alone. Not sure."
		Doug says, "somehow the sadness didn't bother me. I thought it was sort of a novelty to have a lonely housewife as the protagonist"
		Doug says, "it is a little weird in that, being a parser game with a map, you'd expect to want to examine stuff and manipulate objects etc, but none of that stuff actually matters. except for setting the mood, which you got in spades..."
		Doug says, "but it's mostly about revisiting scenes from the past and being given the option to make a different choice"
		Doug says, "but, I think it maybe wouldn't work as well if it were just a straight-up choice game."
		Doug says, "anyway, I'm off. see you next week for whichever game we play!"



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Midnight. Swordfight. by Chandler Groover
As played on ifMUD on December 20, 2015

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Midnight. Swordfight. written by Chandler Groover. It received third place overall, and first place for the Miss Congeniality Award, in the 2015 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

ANOTHER WARNING! A lot (most!) of the transcripts contained on this site are, shall we say, family-friendly. This is not one of those family-friendly transcripts. Just so we're clear.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask midnightswordfight" 		Roger says, "Sure I'm up for some late-night stabbery"

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you played interactive fiction before?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | This game has a limited action system. All the verbs you can use at
Floyd | any given time will be listed in the playscript kept in your
Floyd | inventory, which you can consult with EXAMINE PLAYSCRIPT. Others
Floyd | aren't likely to work, and guessing verbs isn't necessary. However, it
Floyd | may help to double-check the playscript under different circumstances
Floyd | to see what actions are available.
Floyd |
Floyd | ABOUT will show you the credits.

		DavidW says, "I remember leaving the daughter in the doctor's waiting room and never finding out what happened after."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | Midnight. Swordfight.
Floyd | A Folly by Chandler Groover
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 151019 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | But it must be real.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I guess we want to check out that script"
		DavidW says, "yeah"
		DavidW says, "parry, turn, thrust, duck."
		Jacqueline frantically searches her literature dbase for references to what this is a reference.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, midnight
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool engages a countess in a swordfight 
Floyd | in which the fool loses 
Floyd | and the countess achieves her revenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x) 
Floyd | attack, kiss
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing
Floyd | in your ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the
Floyd | garden. More importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your
Floyd | stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "Daffy Duck, sorta."
		DavidW asks, "geez. Checking instructions isn't meta?"
		Roger says, "That's pretty unkind"
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like this is maybe from a piece of actual lit (not to be dismissive of Disney, except that clearly I am being dismissive of Disney)."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, just figuring out what commands we could use so we didn't have to guess the verb like they said we didn't have to guess the verb got us stabbed?"
		DavidW says, "yup"
		Jacqueline says, "That is problematic."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, um, play again, this time attack?"
		Roger says, "It's like that one duel in Highlander"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or kiss?"
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing this might be a bit like Aisle, though."
		Jacqueline asks, "Yeah, but if so, that bit should be meta?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | But it must be real.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "But yes, it knows that's not a fresh load. Nice."
		Jacqueline says, "So: > ATTACK (?)"
		DavidW says, "I suppose so, yes."
		Roger says, "sure"
		DavidW says, "attack countess, this time."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You'll need to ATTACK (someone or something).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You lunge toward the countess with your cutlass. Initiative should
Floyd | matter during a duel, shouldn't it? But then there is a clash and you
Floyd | find your blade scraping the countess's rapier as she drives you back
Floyd | with a parry.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks fly from your feuding swords. You are both dancing over the
Floyd | lawn, back and forth, here and there, and somehow you are still alive.
Floyd | It's unbelievable. But that comes to an end when you make a misstep
Floyd | and the countess waltzes right into the opening.
Floyd |
Floyd | How did you get into the air? Why can't you feel anything? And what is
Floyd | your body doing down there without a head?
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "as opposed to attacking others there."
		Roger says, "I guess this game delivers on its promise"
		Jacqueline says, "Yep, Aisle-like, but that bit not being meta... weird."
		DavidW says, "more like Rematch, I guess."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kiss countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You cast aside your weapon. You cannot fight the countess. This feud
Floyd | is a mistake. Instead you walk across the lawn toward her.
Floyd |
Floyd | She must see it in your eyes. She must know how you feel. Perhaps she
Floyd | even has the same feelings?
Floyd |
Floyd | Apparently not, because what you get is her rapier plunged into your
Floyd | mouth. It keeps plunging until your lips are pressed onto its hilt.
Floyd |
Floyd | At least you got to kiss something.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "try attack onegin next"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure that's physically possible with a rapier, but okay."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack Onegin" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess? The countess? Why should you fight the countess when
Floyd | that bastard Onegin is undoubtedly the mastermind behind this whole
Floyd | charade?
Floyd |
Floyd | You're overcome with outrage and you lunge toward Onegin. It's
Floyd | certainly a pretty sight to see him flinch, but your cutlass never
Floyd | even grazes him before you've been repelled by the countess. Her sword
Floyd | intercepts your own; she's faster; she has pushed you back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Your challenge is with me!" she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then her rapier is in your gut, your innards spilling out. Somehow
Floyd | she must have done it when your focus was on Onegin. His smile is the
Floyd | last thing that you see, and your intestines are the last thing that
Floyd | you feel as you try to push them back inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | You aren't successful.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "maybe undo is supported"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack Ferdinand" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | Something whispers in your brain, like a perverse worm, encouraging
Floyd | you to attack Ferdinand, and you do. Onegin and the countess are
Floyd | irrelevant. All your frustrations erupt in your own second's
Floyd | direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | You swing around, your cutlass slashing sideways through the air, in
Floyd | order to take Ferdinand by surprise, but in the brief moment before
Floyd | your weapon would connect, you realize your mistake: nothing can take
Floyd | Ferdinand by surprise.
Floyd |
Floyd | She has your wrist, her knee is in your gut, and suddenly your arm is
Floyd | bending backward in her grasp. You can see in her eyes something
Floyd | nobody living has seen. That is because everyone who has seen it is
Floyd | dead. It is killing intent.
Floyd |
Floyd | "If this is how you repay your allies," says Ferdinand, "no wonder you
Floyd | have enemies."
Floyd |
Floyd | Now she has your sword, but she does not wait too long before
Floyd | returning it.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "mm. I remember one game where I had to attack an elbow. We ought to examine the countess, see what details pop out."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x her" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HER
Floyd |
Floyd | Ferdinand told you to run, but you were never going to listen, which
Floyd | is why she's serving as your second now. Her head is shaved completely
Floyd | bald, she has grown out her moustache and goatee, and she is wearing a
Floyd | captain's coat with epaulettes. It's a pity that she couldn't fight in
Floyd | your place; then the match might have been more even.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing
Floyd | in your ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the
Floyd | garden. More importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your
Floyd | stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		Roger says, "An interesting experience in maxing out narrative distance"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, expected HER to be set to the Countess."
		DavidW asks, "Who did you examine?"
		Jacqueline says, "HER"
		Jacqueline says, "undo"
		Jacqueline says, "oops"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "countess" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess cuts a formidable figure with her rapier upraised, its
Floyd | point a silver promise in the moonlight. Her face is partly hidden by
Floyd | a mask, her lips a scarlet smile underneath. Even encumbered by her
Floyd | outrageous gown (and it is indeed outrageous) you have no doubt that
Floyd | she is the better swordsman, and she seems to have no doubt about it
Floyd | either.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing in your
Floyd | ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the garden. More
Floyd | importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "mask. gown."
		Jacqueline says, "We have INVENTORY, EXAMINE, ATTACK, and KISS"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a playscript and a cutlass, and you are wearing
Floyd | motley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I suppose at some point we ought to try to figure out why the duel started."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're dressed as a chequered jester with enormous sleeves and
Floyd | jingling bells. You expected to spend this night playing practical
Floyd | jokes on the other guests, stealing kisses. Fighting a duel for your
Floyd | life was never on the agenda.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing
Floyd | in your ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the
Floyd | garden. More importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your
Floyd | stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		Roger says, "allegedly. I'm not sure I believe that."
		Jacqueline says, "This seems a poor choice of costume for a swordfight."
		Jacqueline says, "We really need to be more forward thinking in the future if we figure out how to live through this."
		DavidW says, "try attacking or examining the gown."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack gown" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK GOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | You lunge toward the countess with your cutlass. Initiative should
Floyd | matter during a duel, shouldn't it? But then there is a clash and you
Floyd | find your blade scraping the countess's rapier as she drives you back
Floyd | with a parry.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks fly from your feuding swords. You are both dancing over the
Floyd | lawn, back and forth, here and there, and somehow you are still alive.
Floyd | It's unbelievable. But that comes to an end when you make a misstep
Floyd | and the countess waltzes right into the opening.
Floyd |
Floyd | How did you get into the air? Why can't you feel anything? And what is
Floyd | your body doing down there without a head?
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		Jacqueline says, "No diff than attacking her, methinks."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x gown" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | A thousand luminescent jellyfish have been stitched together to create
Floyd | the countess's gown. They cannot breathe well in the open air, but
Floyd | their gasping only makes them glow more wonderfully. Their tentacles
Floyd | and arms drag out behind her in a stinging, lightning-crackled trail,
Floyd | but the countess moves just as gracefully as the jellyfish themselves
Floyd | would in water.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing in your
Floyd | ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the garden. More
Floyd | importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "jellyfish. Actual jellyfish."
		DavidW says, "Maybe there's some way to electrocute her."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "attack jellyfish" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK JELLYFISH
Floyd |
Floyd | You lunge toward the countess with your cutlass. Initiative should
Floyd | matter during a duel, shouldn't it? But then there is a clash and you
Floyd | find your blade scraping the countess's rapier as she drives you back
Floyd | with a parry.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sparks fly from your feuding swords. You are both dancing over the
Floyd | lawn, back and forth, here and there, and somehow you are still alive.
Floyd | It's unbelievable. But that comes to an end when you make a misstep
Floyd | and the countess waltzes right into the opening.
Floyd |
Floyd | How did you get into the air? Why can't you feel anything? And what is
Floyd | your body doing down there without a head?
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		Jacqueline says, "meh"
		Jacqueline says, "Wait, electrocute? They aren't electric eels."
		Jacqueline asks, "Did you mean get them to sting her?"
		DavidW | lightning-crackled trail
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. That. Hrm"
		Roger says, "This is a grim reality"
		Jacqueline asks, "Ideas?"
		Roger asks, "Can I take the con and thrash for a bit?"
		DavidW says, "examine more people and things."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Sure!"
Roger says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "doff mask" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DOFF MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | You aren't wearing the countess's domino mask.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "doff my mask" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DOFF MY MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | You aren't wearing the countess's domino mask.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "take mask" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "examine mask" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXAMINE MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | A domino mask fashioned entirely from pearls covers the countess's
Floyd | face. Far from romantic, it seems to lend the skin around her eyes a
Floyd | lesioned, bubbling appearance, or perhaps suggest frog-eggs or caviar.
Floyd | Nobody else would be able to wear such a thing without looking a
Floyd | fright; the countess makes it look impeccable.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is suddenly there, only inches away. A clash is ringing in your
Floyd | ears and you can see your own sword sailing out over the garden. More
Floyd | importantly, you can feel her sword sinking into your stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Revenge," she whispers in your ear, "is always sweeter than
Floyd | forgiveness."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		DavidW says, "we should try 'wake up'"
Roger says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
Roger says (to floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a white glove where it has been
Floyd | contemptuously thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the
Floyd | world takes form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but
Floyd | they are not dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the
Floyd | glove, and their eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Maybe you ought to try examining your playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "well hunh" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WELL HUNH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "okay, yielding control. Thanks DW. Not sure what has happened, but good work"
		DavidW says, "We've got backwards in the script, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "Wi-uld."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | ballroom, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool receives a challenge from a countess 
Floyd | and explores various avenues 
Floyd | to thwart the countess prior to their duel.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "What sort of command is 'future' or 'past'?"
		Jacqueline says, "I suppose we shall learn"
		DavidW asks, "Or 'clockwise' or 'counter-clockwise'?"
		Jacqueline says, "Perhaps those are for dancing>"
		Jacqueline asks, "?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "maybe."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glove" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GLOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | A simple white glove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "past" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PAST
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I don't see any good gameplay reason to make it so hard to get to this point"
		Jacqueline says, "Seems risky."
		Jacqueline says, "Like, you run the risk that people won't get past it and see all the work you put into the rest of your game."
		DavidW says, "We might have to revisit that point to learn more info."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, it said you wouldn't have to guess verbs beyond what's in the script, and yet we did just that."
		DavidW says, "the phrase 'wake up' was in the text."
		DavidW says, "italicized."
		Jacqueline says, "OH"
		Jacqueline asks, "WAS IT?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Jacqueline says, "I just went back and looked and I'm still missing it. Weird."
		DavidW | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is <i>wake up</i> from this nightmare.
		Roger says, "Hunh"
		Jacqueline says, "So, it doesn't say that at first."
		Jacqueline says, "It says something about it not feeling real, but not that."
		Jacqueline says, "And so I started ignoring (near)duplicate text."
		DavidW says, "That's why using UNDO is risky,."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we didn't use undo at first."
		DavidW says, "I'm still not sure what to do in the ballroom."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, I still feel it's risky to assume that the average player is smarter than I am." She then laughs a small, self-deprecating laugh.
		Roger says, "Just grind away, I think"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dancers" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DANCERS
Floyd |
Floyd | You cannot recognize anyone behind their masks. There is a jackal in a
Floyd | tailcoat, and a nymph with shellfish in her hair, and an enchantress
Floyd | with gold orbs for eyes, and someone with marzipan skin, and an alpine
Floyd | maiden with a shepherd's crook, and an antlered baron, and a raven in
Floyd | a judge's wig, and a sequined succubus, and other masqueraders more
Floyd | fantastic still, but the one thing they all have in common is that
Floyd | their frozen gazes are condemning you: Guilty, they seem to say,
Floyd | guilty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x countess" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking at the countess now, you can still feel the shame and
Floyd | confusion and rage that washed over you when she first threw down this
Floyd | glove -- or was it the only time she threw down the glove? Is this
Floyd | moment the same as the other? You were too shocked to respond, and
Floyd | could only watch her sail away through the crowd, up the grand
Floyd | staircase, like some royal frigate among smaller vessels bobbing in
Floyd | her wake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x jackal" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JACKAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's strange, but when you look at the individual dancers their
Floyd | details warp as though you were looking at something from inside a
Floyd | fishbowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a playscript, and you are wearing motley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x motley" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You thought you would look rather charming in motley when you selected
Floyd | this costume, but considering the circumstances you look more like a
Floyd | genuine fool than you ever intended -- with or without the
Floyd | costume.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chandelier" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHANDELIER
Floyd |
Floyd | You once heard a story about a chandelier falling on a crowd during a
Floyd | dance and crushing everyone under its weight. It just goes to show
Floyd | that you never know when death will come calling, or how.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You look down and find your reflection looking back from the polished
Floyd | marble. Apart from you, your mirrored double is the only thing that
Floyd | moves in this ballroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x staircase" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X STAIRCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand staircase? Monumental staircase is more like it. Battalions
Floyd | could march down those red-carpeted steps with room to spare, but
Floyd | right now the countess has the staircase to herself with her tentacled
Floyd | gown trailing behind her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | ballroom, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool receives a challenge from a countess 
Floyd | and explores various avenues 
Floyd | to thwart the countess prior to their duel.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Here, easier to read: inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to, future (f), past (p), clockwise (c), counter-clockwise (cc), wear, undress, wake up, kiss (when wearing motley)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take glove" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GLOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to lift the white glove, but your muscles strain and it
Floyd | remains stuck to the marble. This glove is the core around which the
Floyd | entire evening is anchored, and nothing will ever budge it from the
Floyd | spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "(Easier to read due to lack of mark-up, though in the final transcript they'll look nearly the same to the reader.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Not a dance move."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | When you reach the grand staircase landing, the countess is already
Floyd | gone, which is to say that she was never here at this particular
Floyd | moment. Perhaps she just left or perhaps she's about to arrive, but
Floyd | the salient point is that you're not going to find her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ferdinand, however, is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast
Floyd | toward the dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for
Floyd | dancing herself unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her cutlass,
Floyd | which you will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning
Floyd | against the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "It seems that plays are a genre unto themselves in IF. I'm having trouble thinking of non-IF examples in computer games where this is a thing. Is it a thing elsewhere?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, um, look behind the polar bear?"
		DavidW says, "well, hold on."
		DavidW says, "The game 'geography' has a time element."
		DavidW says, "Future and past are like east and west."
		DavidW says, "so the bear is in the 'next' room in the future direction."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ferdinand" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | Your oldest friend, Ferdinand might also be your only friend left now.
Floyd | There's no one more experienced when it comes to warfare, and in most
Floyd | situations you'd take whatever tactical advice she had to give. But
Floyd | when she drew you aside earlier tonight and told you that your goose
Floyd | was going to be cooked -- that the countess, indeed, was stoking the
Floyd | fire -- you assured her that you'd baste yourself thoroughly first.
Floyd | She didn't think it was funny. She also knew she wouldn't change your
Floyd | mind.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask ferdinand about cutlass" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FERDINAND ABOUT CUTLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cutlass" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUTLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | Ferdinand's cutlass has lopped away more heads than ever rolled during
Floyd | a revolution. But although she's agreed to lend you her weapon for the
Floyd | upcoming duel, you'll probably lose your own fingers before you even
Floyd | scratch the countess with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "It's TALK TO"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to ferdinand" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't talk to Ferdinand. She is paralyzed and will remain
Floyd | paralyzed in this moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss ferdinand" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You respect Ferdinand far too much to take any liberties with her,
Floyd | even as a joke. There's also the fact that she'd have your head if she
Floyd | ever found out that you'd stolen a kiss.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dancers" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DANCERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Right now the dancers appear to be engaged in a minuet, although
Floyd | nobody is moving and there's no music. You always found the minuet
Floyd | rather tedious, but this takes it to a new level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "continue into the future?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her rapier is resting nearby on the floor in an opened case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the black salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline makes a mental note to include the Adult warning.
		DavidW asks, "I guess Dmitri is trans?"
		Jacqueline says, "That is one interpretation, and possibly better than the theory on which I was working."
		DavidW asks, "I admit I was confused with Ferdinand; that's normally a male name, isn't it?"
		Jacqueline says, "Is this another one of those games where there was a warning in the blurb but not in the actual game? Because this scene feels like it came out of nowhere."
		Jacqueline asks, "Can we do something to sabotage her weapon? While Onegin is distracted?"
		DavidW says, "I think something like that is expected. We've seen two weapons out, not including the fleshy one."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Thank you, David. Well done."
		Jacqueline golf claps.
		Roger says, "I'd rather stick him into the bear"
		DavidW says, "Perhaps some good can be had by swapping the two swords, but I don't see what good it would do just yet."
vimes arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | behind a polar bear, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A voyeur observes a liaison 
Floyd | and exploits the opportunity 
Floyd | to replace a weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yep"
		DavidW says, "huh. Replace a weapon. Right there."
		Roger says, "Well then"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take countess's weapon" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE COUNTESS'S WEAPON
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take weapon" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE WEAPON
Floyd |
Floyd | When you try to take the rapier, you feel something resist, and then
Floyd | it occurs to you: there will always need to be some weapon in this
Floyd | case, otherwise the countess would be unarmed during the duel later.
Floyd | You'll need to find a replacement and drop it here if you want to
Floyd | remove the rapier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "The cutlass?"
		DavidW says, "I think a toy weapon would be a useful substitute. A rubber one, perhaps."
		Jacqueline says, "True, should such a thing exist here."
		DavidW says, "The countess will stab us with whatever weapon is left here, I think."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, let's not put Onegin's weapon in there, then."
		Roger says, "I might guess the answer is further in the past"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | It's unbelievable. Dmitri ought to know better than this. There must
Floyd | be, what, a few hundred people attending this masquerade ball, and he
Floyd | has to cavort with that bastard Onegin? You can't fathom what's going
Floyd | through his head, but at least there's one upshot: he has Onegin
Floyd | distracted, and the countess's unguarded weapon is yours to meddle
Floyd | with.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This is a clever technique I'm not sure I've seen before."
		Roger says, "TOPPLE BEAR ONTO LOVERS"
		Roger asks, "Which?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "I think our direction options are past and cc, currently."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x onegin" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Onegin, that bastard. He's just got to fuck everything in your life,
Floyd | doesn't he? First it was spreading that rumor (probably) and now it's
Floyd | this. You wonder how people like him even come to exist. What
Floyd | influences must have converged to plant him right here, at this
Floyd | moment, with Dmitri, behind this godforsaken polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "The technique of things being frozen, with past and future as directions."
		DavidW says, "One of zarf's games had something like this. Delightful Wallpaper."
		Jacqueline says, "Huh. I've heard of that and probably even played it, but don't recall it."
		Jacqueline says, "Then again, some years I hide my own Easter eggs."
		DavidW says, "You're moving influences onto frozen characters in Edward Gorey -like tableaus."
		vimes says, "i very much need to play delightful wallpaper, it seems"
		Roger says, "It's a quite zarfian game"
		DavidW says, "yes. The zarfness is strong in that one."
		DavidW asks, "shall we proceed counter-clockwise?"
		Jacqueline says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Salon
Floyd | Black sable tapestries hang from the ceiling and walls, and black
Floyd | velvet carpets the floor. Scarlet radiance slants through scarlet
Floyd | windowpanes. An ebony grandfather clock has stopped keeping the time
Floyd | at one quarter to twelve.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nobody here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clockwise you will look behind a polar bear, and when you glance back
Floyd | toward the past you can see a celebration in the banquet hall where
Floyd | everyone has gathered to drink, feast, and make merry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I don't feel up for driving this morning, DW. Glad you're at the helm."
		Roger says, "me also"
		DavidW says, "I've been awake all night, but I've eaten and had aspirin."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tapestries" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TAPESTRIES
Floyd |
Floyd | Such trappings bring to mind the plush interiors that cushion
Floyd | high-class coffins.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x windows" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOWS
Floyd |
Floyd | When you glance outside through the scarlet windowpanes you can see
Floyd | great tripods burning. Heretics writhe in their flames. It's a
Floyd | glorious auto-da-fe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Look behind them?"
		Jacqueline says, "The tapestries, I mean."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind tapestries" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK BEHIND TAPESTRIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I know it's not in the script..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tripods" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TRIPODS
Floyd |
Floyd | You see nothing special about the heretics burning on the tripods.
Floyd | They're what you might call "garden variety." But you'll be in a
Floyd | similar spot if you can't finagle some method to outwit the countess
Floyd | soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, and I think we should possibly examine the script all the time."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | black salon, one quarter to twelve
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool makes an acquaintance 
Floyd | when a grandfather clock 
Floyd | fails to express any hour.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Two long cast-iron hands mark the time at one quarter to twelve.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm, are we supposed to mess with the clock? I don't understand."
		Jacqueline asks, "Stop it?"
		Jacqueline asks, "So that it doesn't chime when time is timing?"
		Roger says, "We're already into the duel by that point, but maybe"
		Roger says, "Maybe just check out the polar bear"
		DavidW says, "well, I'm thinking if it's possible to change the clock's time, we might move in time too, offsetting all the other events in the other locations."
		Jacqueline says, "Try it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "set clock to 11:30" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SET CLOCK TO 11:30
Floyd |
Floyd | No, you can't set that to anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push minute hand" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH MINUTE HAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stop clock" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STOP CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess it's not in the script."
		Jacqueline says, "The only other thing is to make the clock's chimes break, but that seems harder."
		DavidW asks, "shall we continue into the past?"
		Jacqueline says, "Sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding blue pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their silver sparkling. A tremendous kielbasa glistens
Floyd | temptingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the black salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I have a feeling this may take more than one run, fwiw."
		Roger says, "Obviously we must get stabbed with a tremendous kielbasa"
		Jacqueline says, "You might be joking but I think you might be onto something."
		DavidW says, "I was thinking Dmitri might want the kielbasa."
		Jacqueline says, "I actually do want to try to put it in the weapon case."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | You pry the kielbasa from midair and heft it in one hand to test its
Floyd | weight. Yes, yes, this kielbasa will make for a perfectly delicious
Floyd | weapon in the right context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I must say, there's a backstory I'm having trouble understanding. This plainly isn't normal Earth stuff happening."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm curious to go put it in the case, but maybe we should explore more."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x swan" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SWAN
Floyd |
Floyd | She has outdone herself. Apart from her two human hands, this lady
Floyd | looks exactly like a swan. It is uncanny. She would probably
Floyd | waddle and peck breadcrumbs if she could move.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x angels" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ANGELS
Floyd |
Floyd | The "angels" are oysters, and they are "on horseback" because they've
Floyd | been wrapped in bacon. These angels have also been speared with a
Floyd | skewer, which the swan-lady is holding to her beak between thumb and
Floyd | forefinger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "We're not in imminent danger of death, so sure, let's be leisurely"
		DavidW says, "ok, not literal angels."
		DavidW says, "But even Lady Gaga might hestitate at a jellyfish dress that crackles lightning."
		Roger says, "hmmm I'm surprised there's still more past"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x flute" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FLUTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is never too early or late for champagne. When there's no occasion
Floyd | for champagne, then the champagne makes the occasion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cherubs" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHERUBS
Floyd |
Floyd | For some reason artists always represent cherubs as adorable little
Floyd | darlings when the truth is that they're hideous. Their skulls are
Floyd | elongated, their black eyes bulbous, their tiered teeth serrated, and
Floyd | their flesh cracked where an ordinary infant would have folds. A
Floyd | piranha would look friendlier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x banquet" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BANQUET
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aftermath
Floyd | Splintered glasses, paper streamers, confetti, and cigarette butts
Floyd | litter the floor. You cannot step anywhere without crunching something
Floyd | underfoot. The banquet-table has been thoroughly demolished, cracked
Floyd | into two halves that lean inward toward a sunken middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everyone else is gone, but Dmitri is sitting at the table as though
Floyd | nothing has happened, reading a book and nursing a martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, well," he says when you enter, "look who the cat dragged in!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving counter-clockwise would return you to the banquet hall when it
Floyd | was slightly more intact. Slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Shall we smooch some random crap"
		DavidW asks, "weird. Dmitri isn't frozen?"
		Jacqueline says, "Things appear to now be unfrozen."
		DavidW says, "In this location."
		Jacqueline says, "yes"
		DavidW says, "I think this is before Dmitri is f**ked, though."
		DavidW says, "We went into the past from salon to banquet hall."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | Vines dripping with muscatel grapes are draped like laurels around
Floyd | Dmitri's ears, and he has a toga knotted over one shoulder. He's not
Floyd | an adolescent but he's still blooming with youth like one. Some people
Floyd | never seem to age, not even when time's moving properly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | aftermath, early morning
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool engages in conversation 
Floyd | with an interested party, 
Floyd | or perhaps with a disinterested one.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | "They're fables," explains Dmitri. "Someone left this book behind and
Floyd | I've just been skimming the stories. Here, listen to this one."
Floyd |
Floyd | He clears his throat and then begins:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat 
Floyd | (the one was a monkey, the other a cat) 
Floyd | before a fire to watch chestnuts roasting. 
Floyd | Said Bertrand to Ratto, his voice imploring:
Floyd |
Floyd | "'My brother, you ought to exhibit your skill 
Floyd | and fish out those nuts so we can eat our fill. 
Floyd | Your paws are suited expertly to the task 
Floyd | whereas I am afraid mine would just burn, alas.'
Floyd |
Floyd | "'It is done,' answered Ratto, extending a paw 
Floyd | and attempting to dig through the ash with his claw. 
Floyd | One after another out the chestnuts popped 
Floyd | though Ratto was still scorched before he had stopped.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yet the poor cat had nothing to eat 
Floyd | for the monkey had made his retreat 
Floyd | with the chestnuts in hand; peasants bring 
Floyd | power in this manner to their king.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I believe that the phrase 'cat's paw' is derived from this fable,"
Floyd | says Dmitri, "but what I want to know is why a monkey and cat
Floyd | were eating roasted chestnuts in the first place."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Draconis arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		Jacqueline says, "Draconis, I'm not even sure how to catch you up to speed short of us taking a break and showing you the transcript."
Draconis says, "Okay." 		Jacqueline says, "But your help would be welcomed, methinks."
		DavidW says, "I suppose they were eating chestnuts because they were hungry. I'm eating peanuts."
Draconis says, "I can check in next week then." 		
Draconis says, "gah" 		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "Nah, stay."
		Draconis says, "I can check in next week if that's easier."
		Draconis says, "Okay."
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger&DW), "Would you all be cool with a short break while I send Draconis what's happened so far?"
		Roger says, "I doubt you'll be any more lost than the rest of us"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Exactly."
		Roger says, "I could take a break"
		DavidW says, "sure. break it is."
		Jacqueline | [LINK]
		Roger says, "Contains adult language and situations"
		Jacqueline says, "DEFINITELY contains adult language and situations."
		Jacqueline says, "And I'm not really sure why the author had to go there. You could describe the same scene without being quite so graphic."
		Jacqueline says, "Except that perhaps the character is meant to be taken really off guard, and they wanted us to feel that way too. If so: SUCCESS"
		Roger says, "I'm pretty unclear overall what the author is trying to accomplish, really"
		DavidW says, "Sometimes authors have more than one agenda."
		DavidW says, "Considering that our character can dress/undress and that we're at a costume party, almost certainly we'll have to disguise ourselves as someone else at one point."
		Jacqueline says, "Quite likely"
		Draconis asks, "Reading the transcript, and...wait, jellyfish??"
		DavidW says, "yes, the countess's dress has live jellyfish on it."
		Jacqueline says, "Yep"
		DavidW says, "We also have heretics burning on crosses outside."
		Draconis says, "Better than inside, I suppose."
		DavidW says, "and a 'rift' sent cherubim crashing into the banquet hall."
		Draconis asks, "I'm getting a bit confused with pronouns here. So Ferdinand is 'she', and Dmitri is 'he'?"
		Draconis says, "(I'm used to those both being very masculine names.)"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		DavidW says, "The game's pretty clear, though that Dmitri, a 'he', has female genitals."
		DavidW says, "So I'm assuming Dmitri is a trans man until new evidence contradicts it."
		Draconis says, "Similarly that Ferdinand has a beard and moustache. (That's why I was initially confused when X HER referred to Ferdinand; pronouns hadn't been used at that point.)"
		Draconis says, "No idea if that'll prove relevant but you never know."
		DavidW says, "It's possible, I suppose, that bodies are flexible in this setting. Maybe anyone can toggle their nether parts at will."
		Roger says, "Possibly it's just an artifact of the extreme cosplaying here"
		Roger says, "Like our swanlady friend"
		DavidW says, "We could be all fish."
		DavidW says, "Fish can go from male to female."
		Roger says, "Seems as likely as anything else"
		Roger says, "Hmmm we haven't done anything to slight anyone yet; I guess we should do that at some point too"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, I was just thinking of the characters as being themselves because they are, not because it's part of some game mechanic/dynamic."
		DavidW says, "That's the trouble with a game set in the 'fantastic' setting; there's too many possibilites. That's why I wanted to check if actual angels were being eaten."
Doug arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | "Honestly," says Dmitri, "I'm surprised you're still alive. I suppose
Floyd | that you must have done something tricky to manage that, eh? Put your
Floyd | finger on the record to stop the universe from turning, then slipped
Floyd | out the back door to dodge your appointment with the countess?
Floyd | Otherwise you'd be dead. You're an incompetent swordsman. I've seen
Floyd | you. But I guess it doesn't matter: you're here now, whenever
Floyd | now is in the grand scheme.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm afraid that you won't find many others still hanging around
Floyd | though. They've all gone. It's dreadfully late -- or maybe dreadfully
Floyd | early? Early and late are the same when the hour is right. But you
Floyd | know me. I never sleep."
Floyd |
Floyd | He pauses to turn a page in his book.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can't wake up when I do," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, so is Draconis caught up?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is the break over?"
		Draconis says, "Almost."
		DavidW says, "oh sorry"
		Draconis says, "Done."
		Draconis says, "And probably just as confused as you."
		DavidW asks, "So this is *after* the swordfight?"
		Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "Have you played?"
		Doug says, "yep"
		Draconis asks, "Could we check our script again?"
		Draconis says, "Might suggest subjects."
		Draconis says, "Otherwise ask about the RECORD."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, we're in mid-convo with Dmitri."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "countess" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'll tell you how I first saw the countess," says Dmitri. "It was a
Floyd | twilight evening some years back, and I was standing outside with the
Floyd | crowd on the steps leading into the opera house. If you aren't
Floyd | familiar with the opera house, it's situated beside a canal, and a
Floyd | long stairway runs down from the piazza to the water. People arrive in
Floyd | gondolas, and naturally there's a lot of preening and parading on that
Floyd | staircase.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, from where I was standing I could see something marvelous
Floyd | coming down the water. It was like a carriage, like a chariot,
Floyd | completely gold and drawn by seven bottlenose dolphins. They were
Floyd | pulling it through the canal just like a horse would pull a carriage
Floyd | on a street. But what's a bottlenose dolphin, you ask? I didn't know
Floyd | at the time, but since then I've learned that they're a highly
Floyd | endangered marine mammal. They look like very large, sleek fish, and
Floyd | supposedly there aren't more than fifty still alive. And
Floyd | seven were pulling that chariot through the canal. You can
Floyd | imagine the spectacle when it drew to a stop at the staircase and its
Floyd | passenger emerged. That passenger was none other than the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You don't need me to describe her appearance. She's always the most
Floyd | gorgeous person in the room -- or, in this case, on the waterfront.
Floyd | Everything she wore shimmered with diamonds. The world seemed to come
Floyd | into more focus around her, to clarify, like something magnified under
Floyd | a jeweler's loupe. You could feel that everybody in the crowd had
Floyd | either fallen in love with her immediately (if they weren't in love
Floyd | with her already), or that they were just boiling with jealousy, but
Floyd | she didn't pay any attention to them. She didn't climb the staircase
Floyd | either. Instead she went over to a walkway extending beneath a nearby
Floyd | bridge's underpass and came out again with the most grimy little
Floyd | urchin in the city. That child had been camped beneath that underpass
Floyd | for weeks, eating rats from a sewage pipe that emptied into the canal.
Floyd | Since there weren't many rats, the child wasn't very healthy. The
Floyd | countess took the child and actually wrapped it in her own cloak,
Floyd | right there in front of everybody at the opera house, and then she
Floyd | helped it step into her chariot and drove away again without even the
Floyd | slightest hello or goodbye to her socialite peers.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What an outrage that scene caused! I can hardly remember the opera
Floyd | itself because I was still thinking about the countess during the
Floyd | whole performance. Later on, the scandal was splashed all over the
Floyd | papers, but the countess never cared. She had seen someone in need and
Floyd | that was the only thing that mattered to her. Now I have it on good
Floyd | authority that her street urchin eats all the rats that anyone could
Floyd | ever want."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "This game if nothing else keeps surprising me"
		Draconis says, "Indeed."
		DavidW says, "I keep getting surprised by textdumps in this game."
		Draconis asks, "Can we ask about TIME or the RECORD?"
		DavidW says, "let me know when I can continue"
		Roger says, "I've absorbed it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | "What does anyone know about time?" says Dmitri. "It's always slipping
Floyd | away like an eel when you want it to stay put, and when you've got no
Floyd | use for it, why, then of course it drags its feet worse than a convict
Floyd | with a ball and chain. Time's a contrarian, that's what it is. It
Floyd | never makes any sense, so finally you stop trying to look for any
Floyd | sense in it."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "record" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RECORD
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "urchin" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > URCHIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "That street urchin will probably be an earl or something by the time
Floyd | that the countess is finished," says Dmitri. "You know that she's more
Floyd | than a countess herself? She's got enough titles and styles in
Floyd | different countries and districts and principalities or whatever that
Floyd | she can pick what she wants to be called. It wouldn't be wrong to
Floyd | address her as a baroness, a duchess, even a grand princess,
Floyd | but she prefers countess. For the word's ring, I suppose."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ferdinand" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're lucky to have Ferdinand on your side," says Dmitri. "The
Floyd | countess is formidable, but even she's as meek as a kitten in
Floyd | comparison. I can't begin to guess how many kills old
Floyd | Ferdinand must have under her belt. Of course it was all done in the
Floyd | line of duty, or whatever other nonsense people will say to try making
Floyd | it palatable. But facts are facts.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What does Ferdinand see in you, anyway? You're certainly not her peer
Floyd | in martial prowess, and not in social status either. I don't think you
Floyd | can claim to match her intellectual level. Maybe she keeps you around
Floyd | like a little pet dog. Am I in the right ballpark? You're like a shih
Floyd | tzu for her. Something she can take out every once in a while and play
Floyd | with and then put back into a kennel without feeling too guilty about
Floyd | it. Not that I think she can feel guilty about anything. She
Floyd | must have killed her conscience a long time ago. Probably her first
Floyd | victim.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Then again, perhaps I'm being too hard on her. I suppose life has
Floyd | taken its toll on Ferdinand just like everybody else. The difference
Floyd | is that not everybody else has a little pet shih tzu to distract
Floyd | themselves."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ouch."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "onegin" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "What could I tell you about Onegin that you don't already know?" asks
Floyd | Dmitri. "You don't want to know anything about him. No, what you
Floyd | really want is to know about me and Onegin, but
Floyd | there's nothing to tell about that either. There's nothing between us.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Of course I won't deny that I've fucked him, but he's just another
Floyd | notch in my bedpost. A handsome notch, but still a notch. Your problem
Floyd | is that you think he's such a bastard you can't fathom why I'd do it.
Floyd | And that is your problem, not mine. He might be a perfectly
Floyd | disagreeable character -- pompous, egomaniacal, even a little
Floyd | thick-skulled -- but that doesn't mean I can't have a good time with
Floyd | him. You see, the difference between us is that whereas you
Floyd | take everything much too personally, I just take things as
Floyd | they come. I've told you the same thing before, but did you listen to
Floyd | me? No. And you won't listen to me now. Forget about Onegin. Bury this
Floyd | ridiculous vendetta you have with him. It makes you look like a
Floyd | child."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Dmitri), "Thanks."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "bear" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | "You saw us behind the polar bear, did you?" asks Dmitri. "I don't
Floyd | care. I have nothing to hide. I'll admit I'm a little annoyed that
Floyd | you'd sit there and watch like a voyeur, but I'm not going to let
Floyd | myself get angry over it. I'm not the one who needs to grow up. You
Floyd | are."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So now we know there's a vendetta with Onegin..."
		Draconis says, "ME"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "vendetta" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > VENDETTA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you even know why you have a vendetta with Onegin?" asks Dmitri.
Floyd | "I'd be shocked if you did. The worst thing he's ever done to you is
Floyd | just exist on the same planet. He barely even acknowledges that
Floyd | you exist. I can understand why there'd be no warmth between
Floyd | you, but this lust for blood you've got is something else entirely.
Floyd | It's pathetic is what it is."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "planet" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLANET
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | "Even after all this time, you don't know who I am," says Dmitri.
Floyd | "It's hard for two people to really know each other, naturally, but
Floyd | I'm not talking about that deeper level. I'm talking about the
Floyd | surface, the little things that go into everyday life. Sometimes when
Floyd | I'm talking to you I feel like you're talking to someone else behind
Floyd | me. Like words leave your mouth and go over my head to this other
Floyd | person. And you seem satisfied with their response, whatever it is,
Floyd | because I don't give you a response. I can't. You don't hear
Floyd | me. But you don't want to, because you already think you know my
Floyd | answer. You've invented another me to suit yourself. Well, here I am
Floyd | now. I refuse to be that other person's shadow anymore."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Do we know our name?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "jellyfish" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JELLYFISH
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, the countess is always on the cutting edge when it comes to
Floyd | fashion," says Dmitri. "Who else would wear a gown made out of living
Floyd | jellyfish? Nobody. The jellyfish would sting most other people. But do
Floyd | they sting the countess? Oh no, because they love her."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "no"
		Draconis asks, "Can we ask about ME then?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "me" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ME
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know what I think about you," says Dmitri. "I've told you many
Floyd | times... so many times... but now I recognize it was my fault. Not
Floyd | that I'm apologizing. If anyone deserves an apology, it's me
Floyd | for putting up with what I did. What I mean is that people will always
Floyd | be themselves. No matter how many masks they wear. No matter how many
Floyd | costumes. Trying to change them is the greatest fool's errand in the
Floyd | world. Do you know how much agonizing it took me to reach that
Floyd | conclusion? I kept trying to resist. I wanted to believe that if I
Floyd | pushed a little harder, said the right thing, used the rights words in
Floyd | the right combination, everything would change like winter into
Floyd | spring. I was an idiot. An absolutely blithering moron. I won't say
Floyd | that I'm smarter now, but I am more pragmatic. Nowadays I'm
Floyd | content with much smaller victories -- like drinking a very well-made
Floyd | martini."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Or about LOVE?"
		Draconis asks, "Or CHANGE?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "martini" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MARTINI
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nothing slips down quite as smoothly as a martini," says Dmitri.
Floyd | "They must be mankind's greatest achievement."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "champagne" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHAMPAGNE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "love" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Love?" says Dmitri, and he stifles a laugh. "Yes, I suppose love is
Floyd | playing a role in tonight's farce. The question is why, since
Floyd | nobody's in love with anyone. Some people just think that
Floyd | they are. I won't name names, but I will say it makes them look...
Floyd | foolish. And I'm not just talking about you either."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "change" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHANGE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Ask him about the kielbasa. (Just kidding.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sex" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEX
Floyd |
Floyd | "You saw us behind the polar bear, did you?" asks Dmitri. "I don't
Floyd | care. I have nothing to hide. I'll admit I'm a little annoyed that
Floyd | you'd sit there and watch like a voyeur, but I'm not going to let
Floyd | myself get angry over it. I'm not the one who needs to grow up. You
Floyd | are."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "gender" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GENDER
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "party" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PARTY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Attending these masquerade parties is like playing russian roulette,"
Floyd | says Dmitri. "Someone always dies, and yet invitations have never been
Floyd | in higher demand. You remember last time it was that poor girl
Floyd | Matilda? And the year before that, they found the duke's cousin hanged
Floyd | in the kitchen pantry. This year it's your turn apparently."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "MATILDA or COUSIN or DUKE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Matilda, that poor girl," says Dmitri. "It's terrible what happened
Floyd | to her. Drowned in the fountain last year. She wasn't exactly an
Floyd | innocent lamb -- in fact, she was a spoiled brat -- always sticking
Floyd | her tongue out and snubbing her nose -- but it was an
Floyd | endearing snobbiness, if you know what I mean. She almost did
Floyd | it on purpose, adopted a character to poke fun at herself. Anyway, my
Floyd | point is that she had no enemies. Nobody could figure out a motive for
Floyd | why someone would want to kill her.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Everyone was shocked, of course, but no one took it worse than the
Floyd | countess. Those two had been great friends. You should've seen the
Floyd | countess out there bawling by the fountain. They had to pry the corpse
Floyd | away from her with a crowbar. Grief like that, you think that it only
Floyd | exists in novels, but then you see it firsthand and realize you never
Floyd | understood the world at all."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cousin" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUSIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can you imagine opening a door and being confronted by a dead body
Floyd | hanging from the rafters?" asks Dmitri. "I still remember the
Floyd | screaming from the cook. She said that she'd been going to get
Floyd | saffron, and what she got was that. Everyone suspected
Floyd | suicide, although the duke himself wouldn't humor the notion.
Floyd | He said murder. Someone always has to say murder."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "duke" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DUKE
Floyd |
Floyd | "The duke shot himself later on," says Dmitri. "That was definitely
Floyd | suicide. It didn't happen at a party though."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "murder" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MURDER
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's never been determined that a murder actually took place," says
Floyd | Dmitri. "Inquiries were made; they went nowhere; people moved on. That
Floyd | doesn't mean there aren't still suspicions in the air. Sometimes they
Floyd | flash out like knives when you least expect it. But it's almost a
Floyd | game. No one takes these things seriously."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "glove" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GLOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Throwing a glove at somebody is the traditional way to demand a
Floyd | duel," says Dmitri. "But the countess isn't wearing gloves tonight,
Floyd | which means that she brought one on purpose just to challenge
Floyd | you. The whole thing was premeditated."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Ooh."
		Draconis says, "Now we're getting somewhere."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "masquerade" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MASQUERADE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Attending these masquerade parties is like playing russian roulette,"
Floyd | says Dmitri. "Someone always dies, and yet invitations have never been
Floyd | in higher demand. You remember last time it was that poor girl
Floyd | Matilda? And the year before that, they found the duke's cousin hanged
Floyd | in the kitchen pantry. This year it's your turn apparently."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), " heretics" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | >  HERETICS
Floyd |
Floyd | "They're a highly dependable fuel source, heretics," says Dmitri. "I
Floyd | hear that in the countryside they spring up just as easily as weeds,
Floyd | although you'll occasionally spot them sprouting between the social
Floyd | cracks in more urban areas too. Some people are scared that we might
Floyd | burn them all and run out, but I say fiddlesticks. All you need to do
Floyd | to make more heretics is tweak the official definition a little."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clock" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | "That salon is a ghastly chamber," says Dmitri. "It's the sort of
Floyd | place that makes you giggle because you're nervous, and then you want
Floyd | to get out as soon as possible. No wonder it's always deserted. And to
Floyd | make matters worse, they say that it's... haunted isn't the right
Floyd | word, but visited. I wouldn't set foot in its precincts at
Floyd | all when the clock isn't working."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "CHERUB"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cherub" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHERUB
Floyd |
Floyd | "Beastly pests," says Dmitri. "There's nothing worse than a cherub
Floyd | infestation. Did you ever hear about the RMS Lusitania? It
Floyd | had a cherub infestation. The things made a nest in the boiler room
Floyd | and eventually ate through the hull. Everyone blamed that ship's
Floyd | sinking on a torpedo, but torpedoes don't leave bite-marks and
Floyd | perfumed guano behind, do they?"
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "o.o"
		DavidW says, "perfumed guano"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "lusitania" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LUSITANIA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Beastly pests," says Dmitri. "There's nothing worse than a cherub
Floyd | infestation. Did you ever hear about the RMS Lusitania? It
Floyd | had a cherub infestation. The things made a nest in the boiler room
Floyd | and eventually ate through the hull. Everyone blamed that ship's
Floyd | sinking on a torpedo, but torpedoes don't leave bite-marks and
Floyd | perfumed guano behind, do they?"
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "swan" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SWAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh yes, I saw that lady in the swan costume earlier," says Dmitri.
Floyd | "At first I thought she was a swan. I was ready to herd her
Floyd | outdoors. But then she turned around and gave me such a
Floyd | savage expression that I knew she couldn't be a swan. She had
Floyd | to be at least a baroness."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | "It certainly is a big kielbasa," says Dmitri. "What are you going to
Floyd | have with it: sauerkraut, pickles, mustard, fried onions? Maybe some
Floyd | vodka? Or are you just going to smack someone over the head with it
Floyd | like it's a baseball bat?"
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The jokes write themseleves here, so there's no need."
		DavidW says, "I'm running out of topics and thinking of saying farewell."
		Roger says, "I've got a few"
		DavidW asks, "yes?"
		Draconis asks, "Doesn't the person challenged to a duel get to choose the weapons?"
		Roger asks, "What was the dance again? Waltz? Minuet?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to flo), "Waltz" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "waltz" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WALTZ
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "minuet" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MINUET
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to flo), "second" 		
Roger says (to floyd), "second" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SECOND
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dueling has a certain etiquette," says Dmitri. "Duelists have seconds
Floyd | to help sort the rules out and keep everything by the book, because we
Floyd | can't have people killing each other in an uncivilized manner."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "second" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SECOND
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dueling has a certain etiquette," says Dmitri. "Duelists have seconds
Floyd | to help sort the rules out and keep everything by the book, because we
Floyd | can't have people killing each other in an uncivilized manner."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "garden" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Landscape gardens are bizarre," says Dmitri. "Some people build old
Floyd | towers in their gardens -- well, let me correct myself: they're
Floyd | designed to look old. They're called follies and they're
Floyd | absolutely useless. Uninhabitable, hollow shells for the most part.
Floyd | But they contribute to the garden's picturesque scenery,
Floyd | because who wouldn't want a romantic old pile in the corner?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Occasionally you'll even find fake hermits employed to live in these
Floyd | follies like wild men. That makes it more charming, to have a fake
Floyd | hermit living in a fake ruin. Who are the hermits? Poor people who
Floyd | need money. What is their job description? To sit around and never
Floyd | bathe and look contemplative. It's harder than it sounds. And if they
Floyd | make a mistake and do something as contemporary as trimming their hair
Floyd | or wearing shoes, why, then they aren't paid.
Floyd |
Floyd | "This palace's garden doesn't have a folly, thankfully."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "very belatedly, here is the blurb from the comp page: 'A fool receives a challenge from a countess. // Violence. Sex. Profanity. Sausage.'"
		Roger says, "Fake hermits were a real thing, I seem to recall"
		Doug says, "so yeah, content warnings"
Roger says (to floyd), "music" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MUSIC
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks (of Roger), "wow, really?"
		Roger exclaims, "Yeah!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Matilda, that poor girl," says Dmitri. "It's terrible what happened
Floyd | to her. Drowned in the fountain last year. She wasn't exactly an
Floyd | innocent lamb -- in fact, she was a spoiled brat -- always sticking
Floyd | her tongue out and snubbing her nose -- but it was an
Floyd | endearing snobbiness, if you know what I mean. She almost did
Floyd | it on purpose, adopted a character to poke fun at herself. Anyway, my
Floyd | point is that she had no enemies. Nobody could figure out a motive for
Floyd | why someone would want to kill her.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Everyone was shocked, of course, but no one took it worse than the
Floyd | countess. Those two had been great friends. You should've seen the
Floyd | countess out there bawling by the fountain. They had to pry the corpse
Floyd | away from her with a crowbar. Grief like that, you think that it only
Floyd | exists in novels, but then you see it firsthand and realize you never
Floyd | understood the world at all."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "cunt" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUNT
Floyd |
Floyd | "You saw us behind the polar bear, did you?" asks Dmitri. "I don't
Floyd | care. I have nothing to hide. I'll admit I'm a little annoyed that
Floyd | you'd sit there and watch like a voyeur, but I'm not going to let
Floyd | myself get angry over it. I'm not the one who needs to grow up. You
Floyd | are."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "cutlass" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUTLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | "A cutlass is a standard enough sword," says Dmitri. "What makes
Floyd | Ferdinand's cutlass special is that it belongs to Ferdinand. That
Floyd | sword has glutted itself on more blood than I care to think about.
Floyd | It's something that someone would hang in a museum -- that admirers in
Floyd | future generations will undoubtedly handle like a sacred relic -- but
Floyd | in your hands it's no more dangerous than a stick. Still better than
Floyd | nothing, I guess."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Hm, I remember that now, but you can have 'sex' without having 'erotica' / 'porn'"
Roger says (to floyd), "rapier" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RAPIER
Floyd |
Floyd | "The thing about a dueling rapier is that it hasn't got a good edge,"
Floyd | says Dmitri. "It requires a certain advanced talent to wield
Floyd | correctly, especially if you're wielding it with the intent to kill.
Floyd | But the countess shouldn't have any problems. She's a practiced
Floyd | duelist. When she goes for the throat, she gets the throat, and
Floyd | sometimes she takes the head too."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "motley" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | "In olden times it was only the court fool who could speak
Floyd | uncensored," says Dmitri. "Everything a fool said was discredited
Floyd | simply because a fool had said it, which allowed these court fools to
Floyd | speak the truth disguised as nonsense. That's why you find your
Floyd | costume so appealing, isn't it? I know you well enough. But what you
Floyd | haven't considered is that any society that still needs fools to hide
Floyd | the truth in jokes must be repressed. It's only when fools are retired
Floyd | for good that we'll have actual freedom. In that light, your motley
Floyd | could almost be considered a symbol for oppression, couldn't it? So
Floyd | much for fun and games."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says (to Jacqueline), "also chicks with dudes' names"
Roger says (to floyd), "domino" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DOMINO
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "mask" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | "Identity is the greatest prison in the world," says Dmitri.
Floyd | "Everyone's trapped in their own. And while wearing a costume doesn't
Floyd | allow you to escape, it does make you forget for a while. But then the
Floyd | morning breaks and you see how your make-up is smeared and your hair's
Floyd | come undone and the diamonds in your rings are just rhinestones.
Floyd | You've spilled wine on yourself. You're hungover. That's the real you,
Floyd | and you don't want to look in the mirror at it."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "time" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TIME
Floyd |
Floyd | "What does anyone know about time?" says Dmitri. "It's always slipping
Floyd | away like an eel when you want it to stay put, and when you've got no
Floyd | use for it, why, then of course it drags its feet worse than a convict
Floyd | with a ball and chain. Time's a contrarian, that's what it is. It
Floyd | never makes any sense, so finally you stop trying to look for any
Floyd | sense in it."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "playscript" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLAYSCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't tell me you don't know what a playscript is," says Dmitri.
Floyd | "It's something that's got everything written down -- scenes and stage
Floyd | directions and all that. Actors use them to memorize lines for plays.
Floyd | However, when they finally recite the lines they try to pretend that
Floyd | they're speaking spontaneously. That's what makes them actors."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Okay I think I'm spent"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "book" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | "I won't recite it again. You can read it for yourself," says Dmitri,
Floyd | opening the book to the right page.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sly Bertrand and Ratto in company sat 
Floyd | (the one was a monkey, the other a cat) 
Floyd | before a fire to watch chestnuts roasting. 
Floyd | Said Bertrand to Ratto, his voice imploring:
Floyd |
Floyd | 'My brother, you ought to exhibit your skill 
Floyd | and fish out those nuts so we can eat our fill. 
Floyd | Your paws are suited expertly to the task 
Floyd | whereas I am afraid mine would just burn, alas.'
Floyd |
Floyd | 'It is done,' answered Ratto, extending a paw 
Floyd | and attempting to dig through the ash with his claw. 
Floyd | One after another out the chestnuts popped 
Floyd | though Ratto was still scorched before he had stopped.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yet the poor cat had nothing to eat 
Floyd | for the monkey had made his retreat 
Floyd | with the chestnuts in hand; peasants bring 
Floyd | power in this manner to their king.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Shall we say FAREWELL and go use this kielbasa?"
		Roger says, "yes let's"
		DavidW says, "farewell, yes, but there's still more rooms to explore."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "farewell" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FAREWELL
Floyd |
Floyd | Dmitri turns his attention back to his reading and his martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Aftermath
Floyd | Splintered glasses, paper streamers, confetti, and cigarette butts
Floyd | litter the floor. You cannot step anywhere without crunching something
Floyd | underfoot. The banquet-table has been thoroughly demolished, cracked
Floyd | into two halves that lean inward toward a sunken middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everyone else is gone, but Dmitri is sitting at the table as though
Floyd | nothing has happened, reading a book and nursing a martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving counter-clockwise would return you to the banquet hall when it
Floyd | was slightly more intact. Slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Apparently the cherubs succeeded in smashing the banquet-table,
Floyd | although you don't know where they've gone now. Probably sucked back
Floyd | into another rift.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel as if I would have enjoyed the conversation more had we had our own voice in it as well."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding blue pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their silver sparkling.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the black salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "So CW and CCW move time forward and back in one location."
		Draconis says, "P and F move along our own path."
		Draconis asks, "Is that correct?"
		DavidW says, "well, c and cc seem to be more sideways-ish"
		DavidW says, "Not always the same location."
		[LINK]
		DavidW says, "and I don't quite understand how it fits vis-a-vis future/past."
		Draconis says, "I think it goes in with Dmitri's comment about 'turning the record'."
		DavidW says, "Anyway, I want to see the cloak room."
		Draconis says, "CW and CCW are rotating it."
		DavidW says, "Perhaps there's a cloak of darkness in there."
		Draconis says, "Sounds good."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cloak Room
Floyd | You find yourself lost in a forest. The trees are coat-stands draped
Floyd | with cloaks. Among the cloaks someone has hung a butchered pig
Floyd | carcass. Clockwise, the banquet awaits.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the past you can see the palace doors opened wide to the night.
Floyd | Guests are thronging through them to the masquerade, their stream
Floyd | bordered by footmen holding lanterns high, and foremost in this crowd
Floyd | is the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is the jewel set in the evening's crown. Onegin has her hand, but
Floyd | she is not looking at him; she is looking at everybody, enchanting
Floyd | them with her smile. Her domino mask is lowered and you can see her
Floyd | face. She is more beautiful than anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "I knew of follies (and have seen one or two), but didn't know of the garden hermits."
		Draconis says, "Or a hook we can pull for a secret passage."
		Doug says, "yay Cloak of Darkness"
		Draconis asks, "All cloakrooms have those, right?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pig" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | This pig carcass has been expertly butchered, with the belly slit wide
Floyd | enough for a person to easily slip inside. As a costume, you must
Floyd | admit that the idea is genius.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear."
		Jacqueline says, "I think I see where this may go."
		DavidW asks, "Why would we want to be a pig?"
		Roger says, "why wouldn't we want to be a pig"
		Jacqueline asks, "To pay David Cameron a visit?"
		DavidW says, "It's not kosher."
		Roger says, "I ran across garden hermits in some D&D research I believe"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Try explaining that to Cameron."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x countess" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You are in love with the countess. There, you can admit it. When you
Floyd | look at her like this, you cannot help but be in love. Even though she
Floyd | loathes you and you've come to loathe her too. Even though she wants
Floyd | to fly your flayed hide for a flag. You are in love. It is horrible
Floyd | news. But you aren't alone, because everyone loves the
Floyd | countess. That's what makes her the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "you have no idea where this will go."
		Draconis says, "I see a connection between the pig and the kielbasa..."
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "I completely believe you."
		Draconis asks, "Can we take the pig carcass?"
		DavidW asks (of Draconis), "I'm sure we can, but why?"
		Roger says, "for the shenanigans"
		Doug says, "but I'd like to hear where you think it will go!"
		DavidW says, "Are we gonna have a sexual dalliance with someone in it?>"
		Jacqueline says (to David), "Why?! Why, sir. This is INTERACTIVE FICTION, that's why."
		Jacqueline says, "Take all the things, man."
		Draconis says, "Rule one, anything not nailed down is MINE."
		Jacqueline says, "Exactly."
		Doug says, "You must admit that the idea is genius."
		Draconis says, "Rule two, anything I can pry loose is not nailed down."
		DavidW says, "Taking the pig costume means leaving the jester one, I bet."
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "hee"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pig" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You lift the pig carcass down. It's a bit unwieldy, but you'd rather
Floyd | leave a baby behind on a sinking ship than allow this opportunity to
Floyd | pass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "We could also hide something else in the pig."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | cloak room, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool finds amongst the coat-stands 
Floyd | a costume more ingenious 
Floyd | than human words can put into language.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You disrobe from your jester's motley and feel decidedly less
Floyd | tricksterish. You won't be stealing any kisses now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You hunch your shoulders together and crawl into the pig carcass. Now
Floyd | the sky is no longer a limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we didn't steal too many kisses as it was."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put motley on hook" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT MOTLEY ON HOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "indeed!"
		DavidW says, "We haven't stolen any kisses yet."
		Doug says, "there's been a dearth of kissing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | cloak room, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A pig finds amongst the coat-stands 
Floyd | a costume more ingenious 
Floyd | than human words can put into language.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | fly, oink (when wearing the butchered pig)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "We can FLY??"
		Draconis says, "Let's do it!"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear."
		DavidW says, "When pigs fly."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You fly upward but the trees close overhead: their branches form a
Floyd | ceiling, and you're still inside the palace. You thump your head and
Floyd | flutter back down to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "wait, actual trees?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trees" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TREES
Floyd |
Floyd | These coat-stands haven't actually sprouted from the ground, but they
Floyd | might as well have.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "oink" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You oink with meaning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Let's go duel"
		Draconis says, "!"
		DavidW asks, "can't we explore more?"
		Draconis says, "We can have a flying kielbasa fight!"
		Draconis says, "Well, we COULD."
		Draconis says, "But we could also have a FLYING KIELBASA FIGHT."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like I'm along for the ride. Do what you all will."
		DavidW says, "we could oink behind the bear too."
		Jacqueline sings, "Everybody was kielbasa fiiightiing..."
		Draconis says, "PUT BOTULINUM TOXIN IN KIELBASA. GIVE KIELBASA TO COUNTESS. OINK."
		Jacqueline) DavidW says, "we could oink behing the bear too, iykwimaityd."
		Jacqueline asks, "darn it. Why is there no typo tally in this room?"
		Roger says, "I think we've squeezed the goodness out of this location"
		Jacqueline squints at Roger.
		DavidW says, "I need a bathroom break."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay"
		Doug says, "the typo tally is counterclockwise."
		Draconis goes counterclockwise.
		Draconis gets dizzy.
		Draconis goes clockwise for a while.
		Doug says, "oink."
		Draconis says (to Doug), "But you aren't wearing a pig!"
		Roger says, "Inside a pig it's too dark to drink a martini"
		Draconis says, "Separate note, it seems the Sausage Duel was with trichinella, not botulinum. My bad."
		[LINK]
		Roger says, "Martinis used to be 1/3 vermouth"
		DavidW says, "back"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Now we just pour a spash of vermouth into the cap from the vermouth bottle and pass the cap over the martini without actually adding the vermouth."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yay. Let us continue to be surprised with where this will go."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x onegin" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Onegin, that bastard. He's strutting and puffing his chest, skin
Floyd | painted red from head to toe, wearing horns and bat-wings with his
Floyd | cock hanging out like some archfiend with nothing to hide. What an
Floyd | obnoxious exhibitionist. You'd think that the guests were all gazing
Floyd | at him from the grin on his face, but he's nothing next to the
Floyd | countess. He's just her pawn. He won't confess it to himself, but it's
Floyd | the truth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "That's...a bit different from the masquerades I've seen."
		DavidW says, "no comment"
		Jacqueline says, "We're going to end up doing him, or being done by him. There Doug: that's what I'm expecting."
		Draconis asks, "Do we even know the PC's gender?"
		Doug says, "DO is not in the playscript"
		DavidW says, "no, I don't know."
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Not right now it's not."
		Draconis says, "I'd guess male just because the fool is stereotypically male. But from what we've seen gender norms are very different in this universe."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe you just didn't find that scene."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think our gender is intentionally vague."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | At the Threshold
Floyd | The palace doors stand open, but no one has arrived yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A landscape garden stretches away into the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future, guests will deposit their cloaks in the cloak room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "my theory about the genderweirdness is that it's a play and the actors are crossdressing."
		Roger asks, "What's P? Past?"
		DavidW says, "yes"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Past."
		Roger says, "Oh"
		Draconis says (to Doug), "Ooh, interesting."
		Draconis says, "Hadn't thought about that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x doors" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOORS
Floyd |
Floyd | Whenever you are standing at a doorway, you never know if you are
Floyd | stepping in or stepping out. Divergent possibilities tug at you. You
Floyd | wonder whether you've made the right choice. But then you're stepping
Floyd | through the door and into whatever you're stepping into.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "but CMG has remained silent about it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x garden" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | This garden is where you will duel the countess at midnight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Maybe we can push the bear onto the lovers after all"
		Doug says, "i.e. it's intentionally vague and ambiguous."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "It seems it's a play set in the future (given that dolphins are so close to extinction that no one has heard of them), or perhaps just in a parallel universe (given the rift of cherubs, and how they are a pest that take down ships like torpedos)."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trees" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TREES
Floyd |
Floyd | Columns in a colonnade -- that's what these cypress trees seem like.
Floyd | This garden is a temple and they gird its sacred space. That's what
Floyd | the landscape architect must have been thinking.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x moon" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MOON
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a blue moon in the sky tonight. It looks just like a skull.
Floyd | You've known visions more reassuring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "(still reading Wikipedia) huh, 'devils on horseback' are dried fruit wrapped in bacon."
		Roger says, "I'll vote for a dream, if I must"
		Jacqueline asks (of Roger), "Dream or nightmare?"
		Draconis says, "We could still WAKE UP."
		DavidW says, "Cheese wrapped in bacon is the thing now."
		Draconis says, "It's in the playscript."
		Jacqueline says, "Save first."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. I've heard about this moon. I'll shut up, but can't wait to see."
		DavidW says (to Draconis), "I'm worried 'wake up' would return us to the duel."
		DavidW asks, "I'm curious about the fountain. Will we see Matilda?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Disaster seems to dog these masquerade parties. Last time it was
Floyd | Matilda that they found drowned in the fountain with her hair
Floyd | streaming around the water-lilies. Nobody could discover how it
Floyd | happened. This time it will be you that they find dead on the lawn,
Floyd | and everyone will know how it happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Fountain
Floyd | You gaze into the fountain's murky depths. Its water is stagnant and
Floyd | green from many years without cleaning, and unchecked lilies spill
Floyd | over its rim. Below its surface floats a drowned body.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future you will stand alone in a landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Wait WHAT"
		Draconis says, "X BODY"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x body" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BODY
Floyd |
Floyd | Before your eyes she rises from the fountain's sludge. Her skin is
Floyd | slick and green and semi-transparent like gelatin. You can see her
Floyd | dead organs inside, rotten, black, and her black veins running through
Floyd | her green body. Her hair drips down over her face. When she looks at
Floyd | you, her gaze is blank; she does not have pupils or irises, only
Floyd | whites as slimy as a dead frog's underbelly.
Floyd |
Floyd | She settles herself on the fountain's stone rim, dripping and
Floyd | drooping, her shoulders slouched.
Floyd |
Floyd | She waits.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Aren't you glad we dressed in a pig carcass for this?"
		Roger says, "Yup"
		Jacqueline asks, "Talk to her?"
		DavidW says, "We can be dead bodies together."
		Roger exclaims, "finally, smoochies!"
		Draconis says, "TALK TO BODY"
		Draconis says (to Roger), "Nope."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to body" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BODY
Floyd |
Floyd | She cannot talk to you, although her tongue is swollen with unspoken
Floyd | words. Only the dead can commune with the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says (to Roger), "We don't have the motley on."
		Roger says, "CURSES"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "oink" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You oink with bravado.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drowned girl draws one finger across her throat. Well, she can
Floyd | just go join the club with everyone else who wants you dead tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says (to Roger), "Necrophilia will have to wait."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the garden and the palace and the
Floyd | world diminish underneath your hooves until they appear small enough
Floyd | to step on, but you don't step on them. You fly higher and higher
Floyd | until the atmosphere thins into nothing. Shooting stars are brushing
Floyd | past your cheeks. You can see little planets in the distance hanging
Floyd | like humid nightblue fruit dependent from the heaventree.
Floyd |
Floyd | But your goal is not that far away. You fly upward toward the moon
Floyd | until you are flying downward toward the moon, and then you alight on
Floyd | its lunar surface.

		DavidW says, "w u t"
		Jacqueline grins.
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | A cratered wasteland. Soft cheese squishes underneath your weight and
Floyd | smoke rises from foreboding chasms cleft into the glowing camembert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you a great beast is sprawled, slaughtered. It has been dead
Floyd | for eons and its form has decomposed to the bare bone. It is larger
Floyd | than any other animal, some colossus from legend, its death-grip
Floyd | encapsulating a lunar mountain over which it has collapsed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Into its forehead, in the exact spot at which a bindi would be
Floyd | applied, is plunged a gleaming vorpal blade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I love this so much."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!!!!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Take it!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take camembert" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CAMEMBERT
Floyd |
Floyd | Acquiring cheese from the moon would not help you against the
Floyd | countess, would it? Unless perhaps she suffers from lactose
Floyd | intolerance, in which case you might slip the cheese... no, no, that's
Floyd | much too indirect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "and the waistcoat too"
		Jacqueline says, "(I mean that I love the moon as a cratered wasteland of camembert. I'm not sure about the other stuff. But I think the blade will be handy.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blade" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BLADE
Floyd |
Floyd | You begin to climb the beast beginning at a nearby talon sunk into the
Floyd | moonscape. It is rather a large talon, perhaps one thousand meters
Floyd | (give or take), but luckily the talon is sloped, and soon enough you
Floyd | are standing atop a knuckle from which you can survey a considerable
Floyd | metacarpus extending toward an even more considerable radius and ulna.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | metacarpus extending toward an even more considerable radius and
Floyd | ulna.How awkward, mountaineering on a giant skeleton! Any footholds
Floyd | you find are porous holes in the bone. You have no gear to help. It is
Floyd | all desperate scrambling and split-second decisions. At one point you
Floyd | come across a crack in the humerus large enough to swallow a house.
Floyd | Thankfully you can flutter over it.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | At last you arrive at a wide scapula. Many hours have elapsed, and
Floyd | your own bones ache from the ascent. You determine to rest for the
Floyd | night.
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, it is not really a night. There aren't normal nights when you
Floyd | are on the moon, and besides, space/time is still bent into a pretzel.
Floyd | But the constellations turn and fireflies twinkle in the gloom.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | But the constellations turn and fireflies twinkle in the gloom.It is
Floyd | at this juncture that you notice a strange lowing. You peer over the
Floyd | scapula toward a crater in the mountainside below. Inside this crater
Floyd | are numerous creatures like cows, but they are larvae. They are
Floyd | embedded in the lunar cheese, which is dripping from some petrified
Floyd | organ still attached to the giant skeleton's pelvis.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | In the morning you begin to descend again along the cervical vertebrae
Floyd | attached to the skull. It is a descent, because the skeleton is
Floyd | slouched over the mountain with its head downward. That is how it must
Floyd | have fallen when it was slain.
Floyd |
Floyd | It was indeed slain. You can make no mistake about that.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | It was indeed slain. You can make no mistake about that.Finally you
Floyd | are scrambling over its cranium, and there in the bone is stuck the
Floyd | vorpal blade. Everything is eerie and quiet, and somehow it seems as
Floyd | though you have come to this spot by appointment. That you are not
Floyd | alone. That the vorpal blade is studying you as you are studying it.
Floyd |
Floyd | It occurs to you that the blade might be some keystone holding the
Floyd | situation together, and that by drawing it out you might reawaken the
Floyd | monster or trigger another unforeseen calamity. But you have
Floyd | determined to take it, and therefore you are going to take
Floyd | it.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You grip the handle and you pull. The vorpal blade slides free as
Floyd | easily as a knife from butter -- or in this case, a sword from
Floyd | camembert.

		Jacqueline leans forward.
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | camembert.Nothing terrible happens. You have drawn the blade and it is
Floyd | yours, and without delay you return to the moon's surface.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | A cratered wasteland. Soft cheese squishes underneath your weight and
Floyd | smoke rises from foreboding chasms cleft into the glowing camembert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you a great beast is sprawled, slaughtered. It has been dead
Floyd | for eons and its form has decomposed to the bare bone. It is larger
Floyd | than any other animal, some colossus from legend, its death-grip
Floyd | encapsulating a lunar mountain over which it has collapsed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Dun dun dun..."
		Jacqueline says, "That was kind of amazing."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blade" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BLADE
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing is more dangerous than a vorpal blade. Even glancing at its
Floyd | edge threatens to slice your eyeballs open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x beast" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BEAST
Floyd |
Floyd | Monsters like this should not exist. They are the fever dreams that
Floyd | hermits have in the desert. They dwell under the floorboards in the
Floyd | mind, and you can hear them scratching if you listen close enough. But
Floyd | somehow this one must have gotten out. It must have grown. You're glad
Floyd | that something killed it long ago.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So we give her the kielbasa and this is our weapon. This plan pleases me."
		Doug asks, "and what was killed by the vorpal blade?"
		Roger asks, "traditionally, you mean?"
		Draconis says, "The Jabberwock."
		DavidW says, "yeah."
		Draconis asks, "Traditionally, though, aren't duelists supposed to have the same weapons?"
		Jacqueline says, "No"
		DavidW says, "Traditionally, the accused picks the weapons."
		Jacqueline says, "They -- oh, true."
		Jacqueline says, "They get to pick, but then you're right, both get that weapon, I think."
		Doug says, "traditionally, you can't time travel."
		Roger says, "They would often roll dice for the daggers, with the longer one being the advantage"
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Yeah, I think a lot of bets are off here."
		DavidW says, "Shame we can't both have kielbasas."
		Roger says, "yeah I'm feeling a bit less bloodthirsty than usual. But I'll get over it"
		Draconis says, "Maybe we can."
		Draconis asks, "What if we go back in time and take the kielbasa...AGAIN??"
		Roger says, "Alright let's go cut some bitches up"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | A cratered wasteland. Soft cheese squishes underneath your weight and
Floyd | smoke rises from foreboding chasms cleft into the glowing camembert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you a great beast is sprawled, slaughtered. It has been dead
Floyd | for eons and its form has decomposed to the bare bone. It is larger
Floyd | than any other animal, some colossus from legend, its death-grip
Floyd | encapsulating a lunar mountain over which it has collapsed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat cheese" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT CHEESE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Must we leave the moon? I want to stay here forever."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mountain" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't accurately judge the mountain's size with that monster
Floyd | draped over it. The proportions involved seem too fantastic.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Escape to Cheese Mountain"
		Roger says, "Maybe we can retire here after vengeance &c"
		DavidW says, "Easy brie-zy, mac n cheezy."
		Doug says, "if it were a many-worlds thing, then people might notice the different weapons when time unfroze, but it might be a Back to the Future thing where the photograph erases itself."
		Jacqueline says, "Any game that specifies the cheese of the moon as camembert and goes into osteological detail to the extent this game has wins my heart. I forgive it for the intentionally jarring pr0n earlier."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "yay"
		Roger says, "Are we sure maga didn't write this"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm not, actually."
		Emily says, "in case it was unclear why I liked this game so much"
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "haha"
		Jacqueline) Emily says, "All those things Jacqueline said, plus sausages and a masquerade..."
		Emily says, "pretty much yes"
		Jacqueline chuckles.
		Jacqueline says (to Emily), "Your predictable nature is endearing."
		DavidW says, "I wonder if there's a way to talk to Matilda. We need a death costume, I think."
		Draconis says, "I am slightly disappointed at the lack of giant moon spiders, I must admit."
		DavidW says, "Like a mummy, maybe."
		Jacqueline says, "We are inside a slaughtered pig, but perhaps, yeah."
		Emily says (to Jacqueline), "aw"
		Roger says, "beepbeep"
		DavidW says, "Dmitri has a toga costume; I don't see how that would help us."
		Jacqueline says, "Were it not for the fact that Chandler Groover has written other things, I would be calling maga right now asking if he wrote this. Because he conspicuously did not review it (because there were so many comp games and we were moving at the time)."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "credits" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CREDITS
Floyd |
Floyd | Midnight. Swordfight. is copyright 2015 by Chandler Groover.
Floyd | It may be distributed for free, but not sold or included in any
Floyd | for-profit collection without written permission from the author. It
Floyd | was made for the 2015 Interactive Fiction Competition.
Floyd |
Floyd | Many thanks to Adam Bredenberg, ffif, Kaosubaloo, PhoenixNine,
Floyd | verityvirtue, and David White for beta-testing!
Floyd |
Floyd | The game's online background image is modified from Bal masqué
Floyd | donné pour le mariage du dauphin by Charles-Nicolas Cochin, made
Floyd | in 1745.
Floyd |
Floyd | The game's cover image is modified from The Monkey and the
Floyd | Cat by Abraham Hondius, made in 1670.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, Chandler Groover also wrote Down, the Serpent and the Sun, and one now sees the delightful parallels."
		Draconis asks, "Are you sure maga didn't write that one too?"
		Roger says, "We might be able to double-kill tilda now"
		Jacqueline says (to Draconis), "Not 100% sure, no."
		Jacqueline says, "But damn, Chandler Groover has written a ton of things. I may have to go play them all now."
		Doug says, "also Toby's Nose, winner of Spring Thing"
		DavidW says, "Toby's Nose is good."
		Jacqueline asks, "How have I not really got Groover on my radar?"
		Jacqueline says, "Weird."
		Doug says, "you've been busy this year!"
		Jacqueline says, "I have. It is true."
		Jacqueline says, "I do slightly miss the days where I could sit an binge IF."
		DavidW says, "anyway, I assume the next step is 'fly'."
		Roger says, "Sounds good to me"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the moon diminishes underneath your
Floyd | hooves. As you fly higher you find yourself flying lower, breaking
Floyd | back into the world's atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | This re-entry stings a little, but sooner than later it's over and
Floyd | you've returned to that wretched masquerade party.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Thank goodness that pig's thick hide protected us upon re-entry."
		Doug says, "now we are wrapped in bacon!"
		DavidW says, "deja vu"
		Doug says, "AFGNCAAPs in bacon"
		Roger says, "Perhaps we are meant to see Matilda's killer"
		Draconis says, "We are an angel on horseback!"
		Doug says, "AFGNCAAPs on horseback I meant."
		Roger says, "Haha so we are"
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "heh"
		Doug says, "where's that braino tally"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Fountain
Floyd | You gaze into the fountain's murky depths. Its water is stagnant and
Floyd | green from many years without cleaning, and unchecked lilies spill
Floyd | over its rim, on which a dead girl is sitting.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future you will stand alone in a landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lillies" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LILLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't even see your reflection. Algae and scum have congealed into
Floyd | a green sludge inside the basin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x lilies" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LILIES
Floyd |
Floyd | A thin phlegm coats the lilies and glistens in the moonlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | Her skin is slick and green and semi-transparent like gelatin. You can
Floyd | see her dead organs inside, rotten, black, and her black veins running
Floyd | through her green body. Her hair drips down over her face. When she
Floyd | looks at you, her gaze is blank; she does not have pupils or irises,
Floyd | only whites as slimy as a dead frog's underbelly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "x playscript" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLAYSCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A pig properly attired 
Floyd | lends an ear 
Floyd | to lamentations from the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | fly, oink (when wearing the butchered pig)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "awww no stabbing yet"
		Roger says, "Snickersnackdom deferred"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | She cannot talk to you, although her tongue is swollen with unspoken
Floyd | words. Only the dead can commune with the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily goes home. 		
Emily has disconnected. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay snickersnacking"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ear" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Maybe we can take her tongue for later"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tongue" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TONGUE
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "maybe if we lend an ear she can make a silk purse"
		DavidW says, "I think we need to be in a corpse costume."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You clamber out from the pig carcass. Now the sky is once more is the
Floyd | limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Even though you're not dressed in a costume anymore, you still feel
Floyd | like a fool.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "ooh, a typo!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "brb (toilet)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A nonentity properly attired 
Floyd | lends an ear 
Floyd | to lamentations from the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear motley" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don your jester's motley and potential pranks inspire you.
Floyd | Everything in this wide world is kissable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | You bend toward her but then you flinch, repelled by a stench like
Floyd | flowers left to rot inside a vase.
Floyd |
Floyd | She stares back at you with her white frog-belly eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | She cannot talk to you, although her tongue is swollen with unspoken
Floyd | words. Only the dead can commune with the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A fool properly attired 
Floyd | lends an ear 
Floyd | to lamentations from the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | kiss (when wearing motley)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Perhaps another costume lies elsewhere or -when"
		DavidW says, "I really think there must be another costume."
		Draconis says, "Probably. The description says 'properly attired'."
		Roger says, "Or we can start killing things"
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure where, though."
		Draconis says, "I wish I could use Trizbort here..."
		Doug says, "Roger's thirst must be slaked"
		DavidW says, "I've been drawing a map"
		Draconis asks, "Oh?"
		Roger says, "maybe we can kill the swan"
		Roger says, "Or climb into the polarbear"
		Jacqueline says, "It says we can hear her lamentations"
		Jacqueline asks, "But also, kiss her?"
		DavidW says, "But as far as I know, we've been everywhere, unless wake up takes us even further into weirdness."
		Jacqueline says, "We are 'properly attired'"
		Roger says, "We tried to kiss her"
		DavidW says, "I tried to kiss her."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, while I was in the restroom, yeah. Missed that."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "It said the same in the pig suit."
		Draconis says (to Jacqueline), "But we still can't hear her."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, I've smelled that smell, and it doesn't smell much like flowers left to rot inside a vase."
		Roger says, "Let's revisit some places and times and sees what comes of it"
		DavidW says, "We can try to kiss the swan or Dmitri, I suppose."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | A kielbasa this tremendous demands a smooch equally tremendous, and
Floyd | you plant one with passion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "Didn't we try Dmitri?"
		DavidW says, "Fan art of the kielbasa kissing will be welcome."
		DavidW says, "No, we never tried to kiss him."
		Jacqueline says, "Hooray that kissing the kielbasa was anticipated."
		Draconis says (to DavidW), "If I were sufficiently artistic I would attempt it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x windows" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WINDOWS
Floyd |
Floyd | Black silhouettes are poised in the yellow palace windows, and even
Floyd | though they aren't moving they still convey some sense of happiness.
Floyd | It is like you are looking at puppets for a shadow-play, abandoned but
Floyd | still waiting to be animated.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "We'd probably cut our lips off if we kiss our other weapon"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | At the Threshold
Floyd | The palace doors stand open, but no one has arrived yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A landscape garden stretches away into the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future, guests will deposit their cloaks in the cloak room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cloak Room
Floyd | You find yourself lost in a forest. The trees are coat-stands draped
Floyd | with cloaks. Clockwise, the banquet awaits.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the past you can see the palace doors opened wide to the night.
Floyd | Guests are thronging through them to the masquerade, their stream
Floyd | bordered by footmen holding lanterns high, and foremost in this crowd
Floyd | is the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is the jewel set in the evening's crown. Onegin has her hand, but
Floyd | she is not looking at him; she is looking at everybody, enchanting
Floyd | them with her smile. Her domino mask is lowered and you can see her
Floyd | face. She is more beautiful than anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss countess" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't reach the countess without walking into the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mask" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MASK
Floyd |
Floyd | A domino mask fashioned entirely from pearls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x footmen" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOOTMEN
Floyd |
Floyd | These footmen form a gauntlet that the guests are passing through,
Floyd | like statues lining a pathway. Their features are somehow both neutral
Floyd | and severe, statues indeed, and they are wearing silver-threaded
Floyd | livery. Their lower bodies dissolve into shadow because the light from
Floyd | their lanterns does not reach that far.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cloaks" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOAKS
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to progress you have to push your passage through the cloaks.
Floyd | They are musky with perfume, cologne, and once you've advanced their
Floyd | folds close back behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search cloaks" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CLOAKS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Cloak Room
Floyd | You find yourself lost in a forest. The trees are coat-stands draped
Floyd | with cloaks. Clockwise, the banquet awaits.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the past you can see the palace doors opened wide to the night.
Floyd | Guests are thronging through them to the masquerade, their stream
Floyd | bordered by footmen holding lanterns high, and foremost in this crowd
Floyd | is the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is the jewel set in the evening's crown. Onegin has her hand, but
Floyd | she is not looking at him; she is looking at everybody, enchanting
Floyd | them with her smile. Her domino mask is lowered and you can see her
Floyd | face. She is more beautiful than anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x smile" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SMILE
Floyd |
Floyd | You are in love with the countess. There, you can admit it. When you
Floyd | look at her like this, you cannot help but be in love. Even though she
Floyd | loathes you and you've come to loathe her too. Even though she wants
Floyd | to fly your flayed hide for a flag. You are in love. It is horrible
Floyd | news. But you aren't alone, because everyone loves the
Floyd | countess. That's what makes her the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding blue pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their silver sparkling.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the black salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss swan" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS SWAN
Floyd |
Floyd | Always better to peck a swan than to have a swan peck you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "True enough"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a massive table that would seat at least a hundred were it not
Floyd | being upended by a cherub horde. Fortunately no one is sitting at the
Floyd | table. Everyone seems to have anticipated the interruption and moved
Floyd | away in time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
CMG arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		* Jacqueline has added CMG to the channel.
		DavidW asks, "Should we visit Dmitri again or visit Dmitri/Onegin?"
		Jacqueline says (to cmg), "We are very well into a game that is difficult to explain."
		Doug says, "CMG is the author. :)"
		Jacqueline says, "Have you played Mi-- OHO"
		inky says, "ha ha"
		CMG exclaims, "Yeah, I got here late to watch!"
		Doug says, "and I think he would agree that it's difficult to explain :)"
		DavidW says, "Explanations suddenly became a lot easier."
		Jacqueline laughs at herself. "Welcome! I guess I'm glad you weren't here when I was gushing about your writing skills."
		Doug says, "I showed him the temp transcript, hope that's ok."
		Jacqueline asks (of CMG), "Sorry, we just decided on this yesterday. I should have contacted you. How did you find out we were playing this?"
		CMG says, "I heard about a typo. I will fix it in an update."
		Doug says, "I fetched him from the Euphoria chatroom"
		Roger asks, "Are you now, or have you ever been, maga?"
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Certainly. Chandler, if you want me to update the temp transcript, I can."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "haha"
		CMG exclaims, "Have I ever been maga? Not to my knowledge. Please don't let me distract you from the game though!"
		Roger says, "Back to killing it is"
		Draconis asks (of CMG), "Are you SURE? Maybe you were maga and didn't know it?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aftermath
Floyd | Splintered glasses, paper streamers, confetti, and cigarette butts
Floyd | litter the floor. You cannot step anywhere without crunching something
Floyd | underfoot. The banquet-table has been thoroughly demolished, cracked
Floyd | into two halves that lean inward toward a sunken middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everyone else is gone, but Dmitri is sitting at the table as though
Floyd | nothing has happened, reading a book and nursing a martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving counter-clockwise would return you to the banquet hall when it
Floyd | was slightly more intact. Slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | You steal a kiss from Dmitri and he promptly rubs his cheek to remove
Floyd | any residue left by your lips.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Just wonderful," he says. "Exactly what I needed. I must've
Floyd | been begging for that and I didn't even know it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to dmitri" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DMITRI
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "KISS DMITRI'S GENITALIA"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "vorpal blade" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > VORPAL BLADE
Floyd |
Floyd | "A vorpal blade isn't a real weapon," says Dmitri. "It's invented,
Floyd | imaginary, from a poem. The most relevant stanza goes:
Floyd |
Floyd | "One, two! One, two! and through and through 
Floyd | the vorpal blade went snicker-snack! 
Floyd | He left it dead, and with its head 
Floyd | he went galumphing back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's why a vorpal blade is so deadly, you understand. It can cut
Floyd | through anything simply because it doesn't exist. When
Floyd | something doesn't exist, there's nothing it can't do."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "BTW, I've updated the temp transcript to include stuff up to just now:"
		Jacqueline | [LINK]
		Draconis asks, "What happens if you try to cut a vorpal blade with a vorpal blade?"
		DavidW says, "Possibly it slices itself in half."
		Jacqueline says, "I think there's only one. So successfully cutting a vorpal blade with a vorpal blade opens a rift in the space-time continuum and we all disappear."
		Draconis says, "Or cherubim appear."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "moon" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOON
Floyd |
Floyd | "Supposedly people act more irrationally during a full moon," says
Floyd | Dmitri. "More accidents happen. More people are killed. It may be
Floyd | superstition, but the night sky is brighter with a full moon, isn't
Floyd | it? Therefore people stay awake later, and that provides a larger
Floyd | window for mishaps. The moon doesn't change anyone. They're just as
Floyd | irrational as always."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "cheese" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CHEESE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "devil" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DEVIL
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "death" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DEATH
Floyd |
Floyd | "Attending these masquerade parties is like playing russian roulette,"
Floyd | says Dmitri. "Someone always dies, and yet invitations have never been
Floyd | in higher demand. You remember last time it was that poor girl
Floyd | Matilda? And the year before that, they found the duke's cousin hanged
Floyd | in the kitchen pantry. This year it's your turn apparently."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Have we found the kitchen or its pantry?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pig" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's extraordinarily difficult to butcher a pig correctly," says
Floyd | Dmitri. "They're like lobsters in the sense that they ought to be kept
Floyd | alive until the last instant before they're eaten. To that end, many
Floyd | butchers have great nets in their shops where they keep the pigs
Floyd | contained beneath the ceiling, just as a balloon vendor would use a
Floyd | net to prevent their balloons from escaping. Then, whenever anyone
Floyd | asks for a pig, the butcher just has to pop back and grab one."
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Since the author is now here, I have a question -- and feel free to take the Fifth -- but just how much drug use was involved in conceiving and writing this game?"
		DavidW says, "Thus was born net income."
Doug says (to Floyd), "jabberwock" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JABBERWOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "jabberwocky" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > JABBERWOCKY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "alice" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ALICE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've got nothing to say about that," says Dmitri.
Floyd |
Floyd | In order to speak with Dmitri, just mention whatever subject you'd
Floyd | like to hear his opinion about, or you could say farewell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "No drug use was involved in writing this game."
		Jacqueline says, "Fascinating."
		Jacqueline says, "(Kidding, of course.)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "farewell" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FAREWELL
Floyd |
Floyd | Dmitri turns his attention back to his reading and his martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "IF is its own drug!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding blue pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their silver sparkling.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the black salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Salon
Floyd | Black sable tapestries hang from the ceiling and walls, and black
Floyd | velvet carpets the floor. Scarlet radiance slants through scarlet
Floyd | windowpanes. An ebony grandfather clock has stopped keeping the time
Floyd | at one quarter to twelve.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nobody here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clockwise you will look behind a polar bear, and when you glance back
Floyd | toward the past you can see a celebration in the banquet hall where
Floyd | everyone has gathered to drink, feast, and make merry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "EXAMINE RADIANCE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x radiance" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RADIANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | When you glance outside through the scarlet windowpanes you can see
Floyd | great tripods burning. Heretics writhe in their flames. It's a
Floyd | glorious auto-da-fe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We've seen that."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her rapier is resting nearby on the floor in an opened case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the black salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "at first I thought 'tripods' meant it was a War of the Worlds thing"
		Draconis says, "Let's swap this weapon."
		Jacqueline says, "So replace the weapon."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put kielbasa in case" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT KIELBASA IN CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "TAKE RAPIER"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rapier" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE RAPIER
Floyd |
Floyd | You have multiple weapons you could swap with the rapier. In order to
Floyd | take the rapier, try dropping one of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis asks, "DROP KIELBASA then?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | You drop the tremendous kielbasa into the opened case on the floor,
Floyd | also taking the initiative to remove the rapier while you're at it.
Floyd | Let's see how well the countess fights with that for a
Floyd | weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Now let's go give Ferdinand our vorpal sword."
		DavidW says, "ok"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her cutlass, which you will
Floyd | borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning against the
Floyd | balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop blade" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP BLADE
Floyd |
Floyd | You prop the vorpal blade against the balustrade and take Ferdinand's
Floyd | cutlass, and already you can taste imminent victory. With a vorpal
Floyd | blade at your disposal, even an amateur such as yourself will be
Floyd | unstoppable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You disrobe from your jester's motley and feel decidedly less
Floyd | tricksterish. You won't be stealing any kisses now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You hunch your shoulders together and crawl into the pig carcass. Now
Floyd | the sky is no longer a limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her tremendous kielbasa is resting nearby on the floor in an
Floyd | opened case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the black salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "oink" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You oink with determination.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Thought something might happen there. Although I wasn't sure what, since everyone's frozen here."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. What are we wearing?"
		DavidW says, "I put the pig back on."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, that's what I get for stepping away for gelato."
		DavidW says, "I'm sorta glad we don't need to be in a particular room to change outfits."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "So now we move forward?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her vorpal blade, which you
Floyd | will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning against
Floyd | the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Reckon so"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a white glove where it has been
Floyd | contemptuously thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the
Floyd | world takes form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but
Floyd | they are not dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the
Floyd | glove, and their eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dancers" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DANCERS
Floyd |
Floyd | You cannot recognize anyone behind their masks. There is a jackal in a
Floyd | tailcoat, and a nymph with shellfish in her hair, and an enchantress
Floyd | with gold orbs for eyes, and someone with marzipan skin, and an alpine
Floyd | maiden with a shepherd's crook, and an antlered baron, and a raven in
Floyd | a judge's wig, and a sequined succubus, and other masqueraders more
Floyd | fantastic still, but the one thing they all have in common is that
Floyd | their frozen gazes are condemning you: Guilty, they seem to say,
Floyd | guilty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "vorpal lightsabre"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, have we figured out what the hell we did to piss off the Countess so?"
		DavidW says, "no obvious 'death' outfit there."
		Roger says, "I think that happened long ago"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "no, not really. We know she brought the glove ahead of time."
		Roger says, "Yeah, that"
		DavidW says, "And that a murder per masquerade seems to be traditional."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah. So she isn't doing this on a whim. But we don't yet know why. Hm."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe she killed the others."
Doug says (to Floyd), "x enchantress" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ENCHANTRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's strange, but when you look at the individual dancers their
Floyd | details warp as though you were looking at something from inside a
Floyd | fishbowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "And we were just the best she could come up with this time."
		DavidW says, "well, I would like to talk to Matilda about the countess."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		Roger says, "Maybe we'll be close enough to death after some murderage"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Hm. Wonder if we'll still be able to play after that."
		Roger says, "There's always save"
		DavidW asks, "should we try saving and waking up, see if our situation has improved?"
		Doug says, "I hope it's not a spoiler to say you don't need to save."
		Doug says, "although I suppose it won't hurt."
DavidW clears the save counter. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says, "It never hurts just in case we hit a crash, which sometimes happens due to Floyd rather than the game."
		Doug says, "good point."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Draconis says, "Attack!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "attack countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | It only requires a thought and you are already moving, less from your
Floyd | own volition than from the blade's volition in your hand. It knows
Floyd | your wants and knows how to meet them, and suddenly you have leapt
Floyd | into the air and the countess is beneath you with her tremendous
Floyd | kielbasa lifted to deflect your blow.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no deflection. Your vorpal blade slices through her weapon
Floyd | without any resistance. You cannot even feel the slice; your blade
Floyd | might as well have been passing through air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Impossible," the countess says, but that is all she has the chance to
Floyd | say before you are kneeling on the ground at her feet. You are still
Floyd | holding the blade in your hand and now its edge is buried in the lawn
Floyd | beneath the countess, having taken a vertical route through her body.

		hzomb says, "script"
		Roger says, "That was easy"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | beneath the countess, having taken a vertical route through her body.
Floyd | She wobbles in place, reaching about with one hand as if for support,
Floyd | and then she takes a woozy step forward. Her bisected figure comes in
Floyd | half. One side slumps backward onto the lawn and the other continues
Floyd | standing upright, that disoriented hand still grasping in midair for
Floyd | nothing. It is almost as though she does not realize she is dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull your vorpal blade skyward again, dislodging it from the lawn,
Floyd | and in the arc it makes it seems to shatter the countess. It draws her
Floyd | veins and tendons and her muscles along with it like a puppet yanked
Floyd | by strings, and she is not even a person anymore: she is a gory shower
Floyd | sprinkling across the garden. What remains where she once stood are
Floyd | only bones. They are quite bare. Vultures could not have picked them
Floyd | any cleaner.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now that," says Ferdinand, "is how to win a duel."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Snicker-snack indeed! ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am glad we saved, because I'm kind of curious what happens if we did this half-way."
		Jacqueline asks, "Like, what if we'd not given her a kielbasa, would we still win with the vorpal blade? What if we had a normal weapon, but she had a kielbasa?"
		Roger says, "let's see"
		DavidW says, "I suspect we also missed some details of backstory."
		CMG says, "You may want to look behind the curtain."
		Doug says, "maybe look behind... yeah."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I definitely think we missed some backstory."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "curtain" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | A paleontologist, upon finding a cache filled with dinosaur bones, was
Floyd | pleased to discover that they formed a single specimen, a veritable
Floyd | monster. It went into the textbooks. Not until many years later did
Floyd | other paleontologists begin to poke at the bones and doubt this
Floyd | original configuration. They rearranged the bones into another
Floyd | specimen, and it went into the textbooks instead. Well, it happened
Floyd | again, with reconfiguration after reconfiguration, and new dinosaur
Floyd | after new dinosaur. The poor textbooks were panting to keep up.
Floyd | Finally the paleontologists were flustered enough to tromp back and
Floyd | examine the cache's location, which happened to be on a farmer's
Floyd | property. When they consulted the farmer about it, they were told it
Floyd | was a mass grave for chickens.
Floyd |
Floyd | This game has no optimal ending. It has certain elements (weapons,
Floyd | costumes) that can be reconfigured to produce more than twenty-five
Floyd | different outcomes. Some involve violence. Others do not. You can
Floyd | change what happens to suit your preferences.
Floyd |
Floyd | All endings will lead you here behind the curtain.

		DavidW asks, "wow. That many endings?"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, I am now trying to figure if 'she is not even a person anymore: she is a gory shower sprinkling across the garden' should be my ifMUD logon or logoff message."
		hzomb says, "You should have read the beta vorpal blade ending."
		Roger says, "Perhaps we could otherwise just fly away forever"
		DavidW says, "I've been wondering if we gave the vorpal to the countess and we have the kielbasa during the battle."
		hzomb says, "That's an alternative."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "oooh yeah"
		DavidW says, "We could also attack the kielbasa instead of the countess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "attack kielbasa" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | It only requires a thought and you are already moving, less from your
Floyd | own volition than from the blade's volition in your hand. It knows
Floyd | your wants and knows how to meet them, and suddenly you have leapt
Floyd | into the air and the countess is beneath you with her tremendous
Floyd | kielbasa lifted to deflect your blow.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no deflection. Your vorpal blade slices through her weapon
Floyd | without any resistance. You cannot even feel the slice; your blade
Floyd | might as well have been passing through air.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Impossible," the countess says, but that is all she has the chance to
Floyd | say before you are kneeling on the ground at her feet. You are still
Floyd | holding the blade in your hand and now its edge is buried in the lawn
Floyd | beneath the countess, having taken a vertical route through her body.

		Draconis asks, "What if we kill Ferdinand or someone else instead?"
		DavidW says, "oh, same thing"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | beneath the countess, having taken a vertical route through her body.
Floyd | She wobbles in place, reaching about with one hand as if for support,
Floyd | and then she takes a woozy step forward. Her bisected figure comes in
Floyd | half. One side slumps backward onto the lawn and the other continues
Floyd | standing upright, that disoriented hand still grasping in midair for
Floyd | nothing. It is almost as though she does not realize she is dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull your vorpal blade skyward again, dislodging it from the lawn,
Floyd | and in the arc it makes it seems to shatter the countess. It draws her
Floyd | veins and tendons and her muscles along with it like a puppet yanked
Floyd | by strings, and she is not even a person anymore: she is a gory shower
Floyd | sprinkling across the garden. What remains where she once stood are
Floyd | only bones. They are quite bare. Vultures could not have picked them
Floyd | any cleaner.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now that," says Ferdinand, "is how to win a duel."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Snicker-snack indeed! ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kill onegin" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KILL ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess? The countess? Why should you fight the countess when
Floyd | that bastard Onegin is undoubtedly the mastermind behind this whole
Floyd | charade?
Floyd |
Floyd | You're overcome with outrage and you lunge toward Onegin, and when the
Floyd | countess tries to intercept you with her tremendous kielbasa, your
Floyd | vorpal blade slices through it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing can intercept a vorpal blade.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess cannot comprehend what has happened. She is staring at
Floyd | the severed stump left in her hand, but you've already finished your
Floyd | business. The same slice that went through her weapon also went
Floyd | through Onegin.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | through Onegin.
Floyd | He is looking at you in horror, and you can't blame him for that,
Floyd | although you don't feel sorry when his horrified head pops off his
Floyd | shoulders like a champagne cork. A bloody geyser rises from his neck
Floyd | and continues to rise for far longer than it has any right to do,
Floyd | scattering at its pinnacle into a scarlet shower that patters down
Floyd | over the garden. Warm droplets speckle your skin.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess sinks onto her knees at the sight, her gown ballooning
Floyd | around her. Blood is still spouting, still raining from Onegin's
Floyd | standing corpse, and his head hasn't come back down yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess says: "I surrender."
Floyd |
Floyd | You didn't even have to ask, and a good thing too, because you likely
Floyd | wouldn't have.
Floyd |
Floyd | When Onegin's head finally does land on the lawn, the countess faints.
Floyd | You can't blame her either.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Snicker-snack indeed! ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "No, countess... *I* am your father"
		hzomb asks, "Do we have to kill anybody?"
		Jacqueline says, "Wow."
		DavidW says (to hzomb), "The curtain said there are endings without violence."
		Jacqueline says, "One day I'm going to write a retrospective of the most amusingly-written gore scenes in IF, and this will be on the list."
		hzomb says, "There's more."
		Doug says, "now we get into the "Violence." part of the game"
		Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "Just now?"
		Roger says, "And the Sausage"
		Jacqueline asks (of Doug), "As in, we have not really seen violence yet?"
		DavidW says, "I suppose if we 'wake up' while wearing the pig outfit, we could fly from the duel."
		Doug says, "well, no, I am late"
		hzomb asks, "Do we only have to kill one?"
		Jacqueline says, "I was gonna say."
		Doug says, "although I think there are more gory endings."
		Doug says, "also much less."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of CMG), "Have you written any static fiction?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss countess" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb exclaims, "No!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, midnight
Floyd |
Floyd | A pig engages a countess in a swordfight 
Floyd | in which the pig... 
Floyd | and the countess...
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x) 
Floyd | attack, wake up 
Floyd | fly, oink (when wearing the butchered pig)
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away, but before she has
Floyd | the chance to strike with her tremendous kielbasa, your own sword
Floyd | rises to parry the blow. You did not even attempt to react; your
Floyd | vorpal blade did it for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | It also did much more than that. It has sliced her weapon in half,
Floyd | leaving the countess to stand there, stupefied, holding a severed
Floyd | sausage stump. She cannot process what has happened, and she never
Floyd | will.

		Draconis says, "We aren't a fool any more."
		hzomb says, "So you could fly."
		Roger says, "Oh yeah"
		DavidW says, "oh."
		CMG says, "I have. A few books and short stories."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | will.
Floyd | Your arm is moving here and there, zigzagging through the air, and
Floyd | you can barely process what is happening. But you know that
Floyd | you want it to happen. You know that it means you will win.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the vorpal blade has finished, your arm flicks it downward as an
Floyd | artist might flick down a brush to dislodge clinging paint. But there
Floyd | is nothing clinging to the blade. Its work was much too clean and
Floyd | quick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is still poised before you, but she is not moving
Floyd | anymore. When she finally blinks, that is when thin red lines in a
Floyd | grid begin to manifest across her face, and then across her entire
Floyd | body, and without further ado she tumbles apart into neat little cubes
Floyd | expertly butchered. It is like watching a house of cards topple, with
Floyd | no structural support to hold anything together.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear someone applauding: Ferdinand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bravo!" she says. "Bravo! I couldn't have done any better myself."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Snicker-snack indeed! ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Crazy thing. Here's another game where I would likely not have played long by myself, but because of CF I got to see the end and it's a favorite."
		Jacqueline asks (of CMG), "I'd like to read some of those. Are they easy to track down?"
		DavidW says, "wow. diced countess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the palace and your problems shrink to
Floyd | pinpricks below you. Someone is shouting something (it's the countess
Floyd | probably) but you don't hear what they're saying. You're not going to
Floyd | fight this silly duel, not when the heavens beckon, not when you can
Floyd | step into the stars.
Floyd |
Floyd | An interstellar wind tickles your chin.
Floyd |
Floyd | You won't return now that you've flown this far.

		Roger says, "Yeah I'll reiterate that the beginning was less-inviting than this game deserved, in my opinion"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You won't return now that you've flown this far.
Floyd | You leave the world and head for another. There are others
Floyd | out there. Worlds where gumdrops grow on trees, where people sleep
Floyd | during the day and awaken at night, where rivers run with honey, and
Floyd | where all seasons are autumn. Nobody should settle for one they
Floyd | dislike.
Floyd |
Floyd | During your travels you meet another pig beside a stellar stream.
Floyd | You've both stopped for a drink.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where are you going?" inquires the pig.
Floyd |
Floyd | When you answer "somewhere else," it says: "Me too."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Ever onward. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "The romance ending."
		Draconis says, "Is that a reference to Lucian? :D"
		hzomb asks, "Wait can you kiss the countess?"
		DavidW says, "Pigs... in... Spaaaaaaace"
		Roger says, "Presumably we could kiss if we were enmotleyed"
		CMG says, "My books are ebooks on Amazon and my stories are in some random webzines."
		Draconis says, "The rivers of honey, all seasons being autumn..."
		DavidW says (to hzomb), "I'd have to restore and change outfits."
		hzomb says, "We haven't oinked."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "You can wake up to toggle back and forth without restoring a saved game."
		Roger says, "That is also true"
Draconis heads back home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "oink" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You oink like a pig rooting for truffles, and the countess's fighting
Floyd | stance slackens. She looks at you with a new expression, as though she
Floyd | has just seen you for the first time, and then she begins looking to
Floyd | the left and right.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's going on?" she demands. "Where did this pig come from?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Ferdinand and Onegin are also in apparent confusion, peering over
Floyd | their shoulders, glancing back toward the palace. Soon the countess
Floyd | has Onegin searching behind the cypress trees, behind the fountain,
Floyd | behind anything that might serve for a hiding spot, but you -- her
Floyd | rightful opponent -- are nowhere to be found.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How could you ever let this pig onto the grounds?" she is snapping at
Floyd | Onegin. "Aren't there meant to be protocols? Aren't guests meant to
Floyd | have invitations? And now look at me, standing here, about to duel a
Floyd | pig! Where's that silly jester gone? Go and find out now, and don't
Floyd | come back until you've brought the right person -- person
Floyd | being the operative word!"

		hzomb exclaims, "Didn't need to kill anyone!"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | being the operative word!"
Floyd | Meanwhile Ferdinand has hooked you with a leash and is guiding you
Floyd | away from the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good move," she says when you're both alone in a little courtyard.
Floyd | "I'm glad that you finally took my advice and opted to escape rather
Floyd | than fight."
Floyd |
Floyd | You oink again. It won't do to break character now. But Ferdinand
Floyd | knows what you mean: Thank you for everything.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're welcome," she replies. "Now we need to get you on a train
Floyd | bound somewhere far away. Eventually the countess will figure out what
Floyd | happened, and you won't want to be anywhere in the country when she
Floyd | does. The trick will be to put you someplace where they don't eat
Floyd | pork. You do make for a tasty-looking pig."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Those who oink and run away may live to oink another
Floyd | day. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "These are great endings."
		Doug asks, "Lucian?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAKE UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a white glove where it has been
Floyd | contemptuously thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the
Floyd | world takes form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but
Floyd | they are not dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the
Floyd | glove, and their eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying motley, a rapier, a cutlass, and a playscript, and
Floyd | you are wearing a pig carcass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You clamber out from the pig carcass. Now the sky is once more is the
Floyd | limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Ha she doesn't even care if she's sausage-wielding when against the pig"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear motley" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don your jester's motley and potential pranks inspire you.
Floyd | Everything in this wide world is kissable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You cast aside your weapon. You cannot fight the countess. This feud
Floyd | is a mistake. Instead you walk across the lawn toward her.
Floyd |
Floyd | She must see it in your eyes. She must know how you feel. Perhaps she
Floyd | even has the same feelings?
Floyd |
Floyd | You take her hand -- the same hand that threw down that glove before
Floyd | -- and press it to your lips. Her breathing flutters; her chest
Floyd | heaves; she opens her mouth but she doesn't speak, and then her bones
Floyd | are water, she is melting in your arms, bent backward as you bend over
Floyd | to bind your breath with hers.
Floyd |
Floyd | Are those fireworks in the night sky above the palace? Are those
Floyd | tender violins playing? You feel her smile on your lips, her hands
Floyd | wrapping around your shoulders, and then you close your eyes.

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd | wrapping around your shoulders, and then you close your eyes.
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		hzomb doesn't like violins
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Something long and wet and spicy has just smacked your pate with a
Floyd | thwap, and you aren't embracing the countess at all. You're
Floyd | crouched on the ground and she's slapping you with a tremendous
Floyd | kielbasa.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mongrel! Imbecile!" she is shouting. "You aren't fit to kiss my
Floyd | feet!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The truth is that you didn't even make it to her feet before she
Floyd | started clobbering you, and you remain huddled in a ball until she's
Floyd | through venting her wrath. Then she drops the kielbasa and stalks back
Floyd | into the palace with Onegin following.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know what that was," says Ferdinand. "You certainly did take
Floyd | a beating tonight, but to call it a duel? At least the countess now
Floyd | seems satisfied. You have the most peculiar luck, I swear."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Love conquers all. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "Though I'm not sure love conquered anything there."
		Roger says, "The true love between a person and a sausage"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss onegin" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | What are you doing out here fighting a duel? You came to this
Floyd | masquerade party for one reason and one reason only: to steal kisses
Floyd | from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | You cast aside your weapon and lunge toward that bastard Onegin,
Floyd | seizing his cheeks and then planting your lips against his before he
Floyd | can resist. You are falling with him -- he is falling backward,
Floyd | toppled by your impact -- and you land on the lawn in a heap together.
Floyd | Limbs tangled. Bodies writhing. Chests heaving with passion.
Floyd |
Floyd | Passion isn't always romantic.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | Passion isn't always romantic.
Floyd | You can feel and hear a thwap against your back: the countess
Floyd | is standing nearby, throttling you with a tremendous kielbasa. But it
Floyd | doesn't matter. Your feud has always been with Onegin, and as you look
Floyd | into his furious eyes your kiss deepens.
Floyd |
Floyd | Finally he musters the strength and self-possession to shove you away,
Floyd | but you only dart back and peck his shoulders, his legs, his feet as
Floyd | he attempts to flee. You are chasing him in circles around the garden
Floyd | and he's cursing you as the countess pursues you both with her
Floyd | kielbasa.
Floyd |
Floyd | You won't stop, not for him and not for her. They wanted blood but you
Floyd | gave them nonsense instead, and now they'll have to live with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | That's what they get for fighting with a fool!
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Love conquers all. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Finally we can step back from murder and content ourselves with sexual assault"
		hzomb says, "It was sex or death."
		Roger says, "That strong tag looks malformed"
		DavidW says, "There's probably a taxes ending too."
		hzomb says, "It's feudal."
		Doug asks, "can you attack the playscript?"
		Doug says, "or kiss it"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "attack script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | You take out your playscript and tear it in half. Who wrote these
Floyd | scenes? They make no sense. You won't perform this dreck. Instead you
Floyd | toss the script into the wind and its sheets blow across the garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What are you doing?" says the countess. "Come back here!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't come back. You're walking away from this production. They
Floyd | can find someone else to play your role if the duel is that important
Floyd | because, frankly, you don't understand a thing.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | because, frankly, you don't understand a thing.
Floyd | You didn't know what you were getting into, but you didn't know it
Floyd | would be this. It almost feels like there's a conspiracy against you.
Floyd | Well, of course there is: you're supposed to be killed, after
Floyd | all.
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not going to happen. Not if you don't say your lines. Not if
Floyd | you don't play along.
Floyd |
Floyd | Let them boo and complain. Let them throw rotten fruit. Let them fill
Floyd | the newspapers with scathing reviews. Let them call you a prima donna.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are going to live. That's what counts.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Fuck the script. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Good thinking, DW"
		Doug says, "I guess you don't need a vorpal blade for that"
		DavidW says, "guess not"
		Doug says, "yes, good thinking DW :)"
		hzomb asks, "So how many endings is that?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yes, well done, DW."
		Jacqueline says, "I am going to step away now, tackle some unpacking. Thank you, Chandler. That was fantastic."
		Doug says, "I think CMG has stated that he miscounted and there are more than 25 endings"
hzomb applauds CMG 		DavidW says (to hz,), "I haven't been counting."
		hzomb applauds CMG
		Jacqueline says, "I'll leave the transcript open for people if they want to continue pecking at this. (Pun not intended. Honest.)"
		Roger says, "It's a suitably rewarding experience, yeah"
		Doug says, "but yes, there are many other weapon configurations"
		CMG says, "Yeah there are more than 25. I don't really know the true number."
		DavidW says, "I'm pleased with what we found. I do need a lie-down, though."
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "kiss script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | You press your lips against your playscript. Oh, what a blessing and
Floyd | torment its words are tonight! Sometimes you wish you could rip it in
Floyd | half, and sometimes you cherish its lines. It's just too bad that
Floyd | bastard Onegin gets to play a part.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away, but before she has
Floyd | the chance to strike with her tremendous kielbasa, your own sword
Floyd | rises to parry the blow. You did not even attempt to react; your
Floyd | vorpal blade did it for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | It also did much more than that. It has sliced her weapon in half,
Floyd | leaving the countess to stand there, stupefied, holding a severed
Floyd | sausage stump. She cannot process what has happened, and she never
Floyd | will.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | will.
Floyd | Your arm is moving here and there, zigzagging through the air, and
Floyd | you can barely process what is happening. But you know that
Floyd | you want it to happen. You know that it means you will win.
Floyd |
Floyd | When the vorpal blade has finished, your arm flicks it downward as an
Floyd | artist might flick down a brush to dislodge clinging paint. But there
Floyd | is nothing clinging to the blade. Its work was much too clean and
Floyd | quick.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is still poised before you, but she is not moving
Floyd | anymore. When she finally blinks, that is when thin red lines in a
Floyd | grid begin to manifest across her face, and then across her entire
Floyd | body, and without further ado she tumbles apart into neat little cubes
Floyd | expertly butchered. It is like watching a house of cards topple, with
Floyd | no structural support to hold anything together.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear someone applauding: Ferdinand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bravo!" she says. "Bravo! I couldn't have done any better myself."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Snicker-snack indeed! ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I don't feel compelled towards completionism on this one"
		Doug says, "I can show you my favorite ending"
		Roger says, "I'd be up for that"
		hzomb asks, "Did you find the rags?"
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		DavidW says (to hzomb), "no"
		CMG says, "It wasn't designed for completionism."
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a white glove where it has been
Floyd | contemptuously thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the
Floyd | world takes form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but
Floyd | they are not dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the
Floyd | glove, and their eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her vorpal blade, which you
Floyd | will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning against
Floyd | the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "You can literally kiss anything."
Doug says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a pig carcass, a rapier, a cutlass, and a playscript,
Floyd | and you are wearing motley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "Did you manage to figure out the clock? This is the part that stumped everyone."
		Doug says, "oh right!"
		Doug says, "no they did not"
		Roger says, "We fiddled with the clock a bit then gave up"
		CMG says, "I still haven't finished reading the transcript."
		DavidW says, "no, we didn't figure out the clock."
		Doug says, "I can let someone else drive if you want to do that"
		Doug says, "that's a fairly significant bit"
		CMG says, "I saw some more verbs in the transcript that I didn't know to programe. *sigh*"
		hzomb aww
		Roger says, "If you want to just show us, Doug, that's good enough for me"
		Doug says, "well, I'll continue with my fave ending first"
		CMG says, "More edits for the update."
Doug says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her tremendous kielbasa is resting nearby on the floor in an
Floyd | opened case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the black salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "drop cutlass" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP CUTLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You drop the cutlass into the opened case on the floor, reclaiming the
Floyd | tremendous kielbasa for yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her vorpal blade, which you
Floyd | will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning against
Floyd | the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "drop kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | You prop the tremendous kielbasa against the balustrade and reclaim
Floyd | the vorpal blade. This might make for a decent joke, but the joke will
Floyd | be at your expense.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "attack ferdinand" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ATTACK FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | Before the countess has the chance to strike, you lunge in the last
Floyd | direction that anyone would expect: toward your own second, Ferdinand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your tremendous kielbasa is raised overhead like an axe, but before
Floyd | you have the chance to strike, Ferdinand has seized your
Floyd | wrist, her knee is in your gut, and you've dropped your weapon on the
Floyd | lawn. You're doubled over in anguish, and then you feel and hear a
Floyd | thwap and then another thwap, because Ferdinand has
Floyd | appropriated the kielbasa and is smacking you relentlessly with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Down, dog!" she barks. "You mangy cur! I've never seen such
Floyd | disrespect! Attacking your own ally! Have you lost your mind?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess and Onegin can only stare as Ferdinand chases you across
Floyd | the garden, slapping you with the tremendous kielbasa at every step.
Floyd | Finally you collapse, but she just grabs your ankle and prepares to
Floyd | drag you away.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | drag you away.
Floyd | "I hope you understand that the duel's off," she tells the countess.
Floyd | "I'm not releasing this traitor until I've delivered my own
Floyd | retribution, and believe me, it will be significant."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't blame you," says the countess. "By all means."
Floyd |
Floyd | But when Ferdinand has pulled you a considerable distance into a
Floyd | little courtyard and you two are alone, she releases you and laughs.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It worked!" she says. "In a million years I never thought it would,
Floyd | but you were right!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't help but think that she might have overplayed her role in
Floyd | the plan, but you're in no position to grumble. You are alive, and
Floyd | soon you are laughing along with Ferdinand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You may not be a warrior," she says, "but when it comes to nonsense
Floyd | you're a champion."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** The best defense is a good kielbasa. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "Sororicide"
		Roger says, "Quite enjoyable"
		Doug says, "ok, back to the clock."
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a white glove where it has been
Floyd | contemptuously thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the
Floyd | world takes form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but
Floyd | they are not dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the
Floyd | glove, and their eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her tremendous kielbasa, which
Floyd | you will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning
Floyd | against the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "f" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > F
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her cutlass is resting nearby on the floor in an opened
Floyd | case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the black salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Salon
Floyd | Black sable tapestries hang from the ceiling and walls, and black
Floyd | velvet carpets the floor. Scarlet radiance slants through scarlet
Floyd | windowpanes. An ebony grandfather clock has stopped keeping the time
Floyd | at one quarter to twelve.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nobody here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clockwise you will look behind a polar bear, and when you glance back
Floyd | toward the past you can see a celebration in the banquet hall where
Floyd | everyone has gathered to drink, feast, and make merry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x clock" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | Two long cast-iron hands mark the time at one quarter to twelve.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x hands" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X HANDS
Floyd |
Floyd | These hands don't look like they're going start ticking anytime soon.
Floyd | But they might be taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh"
Doug says (to Floyd), "get hands" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET HANDS
Floyd |
Floyd | When you remove the cast-iron hands from the clock-face, they coil and
Floyd | twist in your own hands, black vipers. You drop them on the carpet and
Floyd | they slither away into the shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something stirs in the salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | You aren't alone here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oho"
		Doug says, "although my thinking when I played this game originally was to use them as a weapon."
		says (to floyd), "look"
		Jacqueline dropped back in to see what was happening.
		says (to Floyd), "look"
		Doug says (to hzomb), "you can use '>look' to give floyd commands"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Salon
Floyd | Black sable tapestries hang from the ceiling and walls, and black
Floyd | velvet carpets the floor. Scarlet radiance slants through scarlet
Floyd | windowpanes. An ebony grandfather clock tells no time.
Floyd |
Floyd | In one corner slouches the Red Death.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clockwise you will look behind a polar bear, and when you glance back
Floyd | toward the past you can see a celebration in the banquet hall where
Floyd | everyone has gathered to drink, feast, and make merry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I expected to get a hint about the clock elsewhere."
		Roger says, "Oh no, the red baron"
		Doug says, "the hands were fairly prominent in the clock description, I thought"
		Jacqueline says, "Whoa. The Red Death."
		Doug says, "being wrought iron"
hzomb | #clubfloyd 		DavidW says, "All clocks have hands."
		Roger says, "@recap #sf 12"
hzomb | '>x clock 		
hzomb | 'Two long cast-iron hands mark the time at one quarter to twelve. 		Roger says, "oops. I think we tried to push the hands or something and then wrote them off"
		DavidW says, "That's not significant."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "x death" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEATH
Floyd |
Floyd | Garbed in the grave's dirt-bedraggled and worm-eaten habiliments, the
Floyd | Red Death couldn't look more like a corpse if it were displayed on a
Floyd | bier. Crimson drops bead from every pore in its flesh, and the bags
Floyd | beneath its eyes have drooped to expose whites thoroughly bloodshot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to death" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DEATH
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "what" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHAT
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's not a very polite way to begin a conversation," says the Red
Floyd | Death with a pout. "Just barging around like a reporter asking
Floyd | questions. Not even a how-d'ye-do..."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "how" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HOW
Floyd |
Floyd | "Very well, thank you!" says the Red Death. "Although I'm a bit
Floyd | muddled."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "Why are you feeling muddled?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "why" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHY
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's difficult to explain," says the Red Death. "I'd intended to make
Floyd | my debut here at midnight, on the very stroke. But for some reason I
Floyd | just cannot put my finger on the time this evening. Is it
Floyd | twelve o'clock, or isn't it? Has the hour struck already, or hasn't
Floyd | it? There's a muddle if I've ever known a muddle!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "Why does your schedule need to be so precise?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "why" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHY
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's only a whim, but I stick to my whims," says the Red Death. "The
Floyd | first time I ruined a masque ball, I did it promptly at midnight, and
Floyd | it was a rousing success -- as gruesome as you please! You should have
Floyd | seen them running down the halls in such a pandemonium. They didn't
Floyd | know who they'd invited to the party! Although they hadn't
Floyd | invited me precisely. But in any event, since then it has
Floyd | become a tradition for me to make my appearance at midnight. I
Floyd | wouldn't have it any other way."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "When did you attend your first masque ball?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear tapestries" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR TAPESTRIES
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the sable tapestries)
Floyd | You have no reason to remove these tapestries from this salon, but
Floyd | pulling them aside does reveal... nothing interesting. Too bad there's
Floyd | not an arras anywhere. Then you might've found a dead counselor or
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I always check behind tapestries too," says the Red Death. "In case
Floyd | someone's trying to hide from me. I don't allow that."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "when" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHEN
Floyd |
Floyd | "At midnight, of course," says the Red Death. "However, if you meant
Floyd | to ask about the date or the month or the year or even the century,
Floyd | then I haven't the foggiest idea. Trifles like that tend to slip
Floyd | through my mind like a sieve. What pointless details! I've never been
Floyd | able to figure out why people are so obsessed with calendars. When
Floyd | you're as experienced as I am, then you'll realize that emotions are
Floyd | what matter."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Who hosted your first masquerade? You must remember that at
Floyd | least."
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "who" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHO
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I remember who, certainly," says the Red Death. "She was a
Floyd | marquise with a penchant for tormenting chimpanzees. She would buy
Floyd | them in great quantities from local zoos and then subject them to
Floyd | electric plates. On the night that I made my appearance, a guillotine
Floyd | had been erected in order that each party guest might try pulling the
Floyd | lever and decapitating their own ape. The irony is that only people
Floyd | are susceptible to my disease and, when I was through, the surviving
Floyd | chimpanzees had their own party with the corpses. They put the
Floyd | marquise under the guillotine a few times before that evening ended!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "Where did you come from?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "oh, also Dmitri said this when you asked about the clock: "I wouldn't set foot in its precincts at all when the clock isn't working.""
		hzomb says, "Motivation."
		Doug says, "which is maybe a bit subtle"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "where" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHERE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where did anything come from?" asks the Red Death. "It's a grand old
Floyd | question but I'm not in the mood for metaphysical chestnuts tonight."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "what" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHAT
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm here in my usual role as plague-bearer," says the Red Death.
Floyd | "It's my duty, you see, to travel about the countryside and lay waste
Floyd | to whatever civilizations fall within my pathogenic purview. To be
Floyd | honest, it grows a tad dull once you've been at the job for as long as
Floyd | I have. You've always got your bleeding and your lesions and your
Floyd | vomit. Throw in a few thousand rats here and there, some mass graves,
Floyd | some plague-doctors, and every programme runs about the same."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Red Death suppresses a yawn with one hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's why I like dropping in on masque balls from time to time. An
Floyd | extravagant setting tends to generate more extravagant horror. It's
Floyd | more entertaining for me to watch, although I suppose that it's just
Floyd | as miserable for the participants no matter what."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What do you think about this rumor that's going around?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "You can ask Dmitri about red death."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "what" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHAT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Rumor? What rumor?" asks the Red Death.
Floyd |
Floyd | You explain all about the rumor.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, when you put it like that," says the Red Death, "I should have
Floyd | to conclude that you're the victimized party. However, since you're
Floyd | also the one telling me this story, your account may be
Floyd | biased. I'm afraid I can't give my opinion, except to agree that
Floyd | Onegin does sound like a bastard."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "What would you do in my situation?"
Floyd |  "How-d'ye-do?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "what" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WHAT
Floyd |
Floyd | "I would do what I always do," says the Red Death. "The answer to
Floyd | everything is wholesale slaughter. You cannot balk at the countess's
Floyd | challenge. You must throw it back into her face with enough force to
Floyd | bury her six feet underneath the nearest cemetery plot. And ideally in
Floyd | a bloody, unrecognizable mess."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have a few lines you could recite.
Floyd | Speaking the first word is enough:
Floyd |
Floyd |  "How about lending me a hand with the countess?"
Floyd |  "Goodnight, sweet prince."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha - that was great about the rumor"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "how" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > HOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Scratching its chin for a moment, the Red Death considers your
Floyd | proposition.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know, it's not a halfway bad notion. I'm in a pickle myself, what
Floyd | with the hours having gone all sideways this evening, but your duel is
Floyd | scheduled for midnight precisely. If I were to pass on my mantle, so
Floyd | to speak, then you would know just when to start the ball rolling --
Floyd | and no one, please let me reassure you, survives against my contagion.
Floyd | Your countess wouldn't stand a chance."
Floyd |
Floyd | A ghastly smile creeps across the Red Death's face, running from ear
Floyd | to ear just like a glasgow souvenir.
Floyd |
Floyd | "All right," it says. "You've got yourself a deal. But remember: only
Floyd | start infecting people on the stroke!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Suddenly its graveclothes are empty, and after an odd hesitation they
Floyd | crumple to the carpet, leaving you alone once more with only the
Floyd | hourless grandfather clock.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Salon
Floyd | Black sable tapestries hang from the ceiling and walls, and black
Floyd | velvet carpets the floor. Scarlet radiance slants through scarlet
Floyd | windowpanes. An ebony grandfather clock tells no time.
Floyd |
Floyd | In one corner are empty graveclothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Clockwise you will look behind a polar bear, and when you glance back
Floyd | toward the past you can see a celebration in the banquet hall where
Floyd | everyone has gathered to drink, feast, and make merry.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x graveclothes" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRAVECLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | These blood-speckled bandages reek with disease. It's almost as though
Floyd | someone rotted away wearing them long before they were ever buried.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "Natty."
		DavidW says, "oh geez. This seems nasty."
		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, if we wear these can we talk to the girl?"
		Roger says, "Now Matilda will talk to us, at least"
		hzomb says, "Go on you know you want to."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You disrobe from your jester's motley and feel decidedly less
Floyd | tricksterish. You won't be stealing any kisses now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take graveclothes" 		

Floyd ]  Black Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GRAVECLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | You pinch and lift the graveclothes gingerly. Could a more repulsive
Floyd | costume be imagined?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear graveclothes" 		

Floyd ]  Red Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR GRAVECLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | As you shuffle into the graveclothes, a strange malevolence steals
Floyd | over the scenery; or perhaps you yourself have become that strange
Floyd | malevolence. Your fingertips drip with infection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "This is masterful."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "script" 		

Floyd ]  Red Salon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | red salon, hourless
Floyd |
Floyd | A corpse makes an acquaintance 
Floyd | when a grandfather clock 
Floyd | fails to express any hour.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | infect (when wearing graveclothes)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "You should type script in each room for clues."
		DavidW says, "we're gonna scare the swan girl."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding red pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their copper sparkling.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the red salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb gets tissues.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" 		

Floyd ]  Aftermath
Floyd | >
Floyd | > C
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Aftermath
Floyd | Splintered glasses, paper streamers, confetti, and cigarette butts
Floyd | litter the floor. You cannot step anywhere without crunching something
Floyd | underfoot. The banquet-table has been thoroughly demolished, cracked
Floyd | into two halves that lean inward toward a sunken middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everyone else is gone, but Dmitri is sitting at the table as though
Floyd | nothing has happened, reading a book and nursing a martini.
Floyd |
Floyd | Moving counter-clockwise would return you to the banquet hall when it
Floyd | was slightly more intact. Slightly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Banquet Hall
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Banquet Hall
Floyd | Somehow a rift must have opened, because obese cherubs are pouring
Floyd | through the air onto the banquet-table; or at least, they would be
Floyd | pouring if they were in motion. There are several hundred, faces
Floyd | grimacing and feathered wings shedding red pinions, and in their
Floyd | conglomerate they have impacted the table at one end, sending the
Floyd | other end skyward like a see-saw. Some even appear to be crawling
Floyd | upward along the table as rats would a mast aboard a sinking ship.
Floyd |
Floyd | This arrangement has naturally relocated the banquet itself into
Floyd | midair, where roasts and cakes and goblets and plates hang with their
Floyd | glazes and their copper sparkling.
Floyd |
Floyd | When it comes to the diners, most have already departed, although a
Floyd | few remain watching the cherubs with mild interest from seats pushed
Floyd | back against the walls. One lady dressed as a swan is eating angels on
Floyd | horseback, with a champagne flute daintily suspended in her other
Floyd | hand.
Floyd |
Floyd | A clockwise inclination would direct you into the aftermath, while
Floyd | moving counter-clockwise would steer you toward the cloak room, and in
Floyd | the future yawns the red salon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Cloak Room
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cloak Room
Floyd | You find yourself lost in a forest. The trees are coat-stands draped
Floyd | with cloaks. Clockwise, the banquet awaits.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the past you can see the palace doors opened wide to the night.
Floyd | Guests are thronging through them to the masquerade, their stream
Floyd | bordered by footmen holding lanterns high, and foremost in this crowd
Floyd | is the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is the jewel set in the evening's crown. Onegin has her hand, but
Floyd | she is not looking at him; she is looking at everybody, enchanting
Floyd | them with her smile. Her domino mask is lowered and you can see her
Floyd | face. She is more beautiful than anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | At the Threshold
Floyd | The palace doors stand open, but no one has arrived yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A landscape garden stretches away into the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future, guests will deposit their cloaks in the cloak room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Fountain
Floyd | You gaze into the fountain's murky depths. It is stagnant and red with
Floyd | thickened blood, and unchecked lilies spill over its rim, on which a
Floyd | dead girl is sitting.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future you will stand alone in a landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "uh... where's Matilda?"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "x girl" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | Her skin is peeled away and you can see her crimson muscles stretched
Floyd | and woven on her bones. Her red veins are pumping with blood and her
Floyd | red heart contracting inside her ribcage. Her face is framed with
Floyd | flaming hair. When she looks at you, her eyes are two embers; they
Floyd | burn through you as though you were paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh there."
		DavidW says, "'stand alone' confused me."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...oh yes... how lovely... to have someone to talk to... to listen...
Floyd | oh no, I would enjoy it, please... nobody ever listens... just a silly
Floyd | girl, they say... what can a silly girl have to say about anything...
Floyd | but I do have things to say, I do... I have my own dreams... maybe
Floyd | they're silly dreams... a silly girl with silly dreams... they mock me
Floyd | when my back is turned... I know it... but you listen, you listen, you
Floyd | understand me, you know me..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "dreams" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DREAMS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "script" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A corpse properly attired 
Floyd | lends an ear 
Floyd | to lamentations from the dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | infect (when wearing graveclothes)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...you may not think you know me... oh, you do... thank you for
Floyd | that... it means... you can't know what it means... my own family
Floyd | aren't this kind... they have responsibilities, they have important
Floyd | things to do... they don't have time... they never hear me when I
Floyd | speak... even when I yell, I scream at them... I feel like a fool...
Floyd | but I'm invisible... sometimes I think that I have always been a
Floyd | ghost... that I was born into this world as a phantom... a silly
Floyd | notion from a silly girl..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb passes tissues out. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...sometimes I knock against the wainscoting... they don't hear me...
Floyd | like I'm a rat behind the wainscoting... that's what they think...
Floyd | only a rat... their own daughter... but they love me, they love me,
Floyd | they do... only it's changed... our lives have changed... the years
Floyd | have changed us like old keys... now we don't fit the locks... doors
Floyd | won't open... I rattle handles... nobody hears... no one listens..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...when I look into this fountain I can see myself... I see the moon
Floyd | in the sky... I can see everything reflected... an underside... to
Floyd | everything... there is another meaning but I've lost it like a coin in
Floyd | the fountain... you don't know what it's like... don't say you do...
Floyd | you'll never know... you shouldn't know... I wouldn't wish this on
Floyd | anybody... this transparency... where you look through your own
Floyd | reflection and you can't see anything... no matter how close you lean
Floyd | to the water..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Brimming with blood, this fountain festers like an open sore in the
Floyd | world.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "You can ask Dmitri about the fountain."
		DavidW says, "I wonder if we can talk to the dead monster on the moon in this."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...even now I can still feel that hand on my head... pushing me
Floyd | down... holding me there... a human touch... a word... a glance... can
Floyd | mean so many things... but what does anyone else know about love...
Floyd | without having been there, without having been me... when we walked
Floyd | outside onto the lawn... and we could see the stars... the fountain in
Floyd | the night... and when we sat here together and I said..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "...you said..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | "...oh yes... how lovely... to have someone to talk to... to listen...
Floyd | oh no, I would enjoy it, please... nobody ever listens... just a silly
Floyd | girl, they say... what can a silly girl have to say about anything...
Floyd | but I do have things to say, I do... I have my own dreams... maybe
Floyd | they're silly dreams... a silly girl with silly dreams... they mock me
Floyd | when my back is turned... I know it... but you listen, you listen, you
Floyd | understand me, you know me..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "I was amused to get to the Red Death in this game shortly after having played Sequitur's game Prospero in sub-Q. Great minds think alike."
		DavidW says, "her speech cycles, i guess. We've seen that before."
		Roger says, "This is the sort of game that could support footnotes"
		Doug asks (of CMG), "where does the "online background image" appear?"
		DavidW asks, "Can I try talking to the dead giant on the moon?"
		Jacqueline asks, "We haven't yet discussed Death with Dmitri, right?"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "correct"
		CMG says, "Oh that's if you play it on Quixe."
		Doug says, "ohh, I see. the Play Online link on ifdb, as opposed to the Play On-line button."
		DavidW says, "well, death, yes. red death, no."
		hzomb says, "There is a lot for red death (can paste)."
		CMG says, "I didn't like how the Parchment version looked so I made that background image. It's just window dressing."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, that's why I capitalized Death. I meant the Red Death."
		DavidW asks, "so, visit Dmitri?"
		Doug says, "I never figured out if there's more info to get from Matilda"
		DavidW asks, "Do we need to be a jester again first?"
		hzomb says, "No we drained Matilda."
		hzomb says, "You could try other costumes."
		Doug says, "her dialog is anticlimactic."
		hzomb asks (of Doug), "What were you hoping for?"
		Doug says, "I enjoyed that there are three different conversation UIs in this game though."
		Doug asks (of hzomb), "more clues to her murder, I guess?"
		Roger says, "I thought it might be procedurally-generated when I saw it all elliptical like that"
		hzomb says, "CMG has issues with procedural content."
		Doug says, "my suspicion is that the countess thinks the PC killed Matilda, hence the duel"
		Roger says, "I dunno, let's go infect everyone"
		Jacqueline says (to hzomb), "Yeah, she acts as if she's about to tell you about her murder, then she cycles."
		hzomb asks, "Why can't ghosts get to the point?"
		Doug says, "I think it's anticlimactic because you have to do a lot in order to talk to her at all"
		Doug says, "but then what she says isn't all that useful"
		CMG says, "Matilda's dialogue was not procedurally generated. I took great care to write it like that."
		Roger says, "Yeah I see that now"
		DavidW says, "I think the infection is supposed to be just for the midnight duel? Although I'm not sure what could stop us from using it elsewhen."
		hzomb says, "Other people are frozen (except Dmitri)."
		Doug says, "but I am probably missing something."
		Roger says, "Infectous Kielbasa"
		Doug says, "what could stop you is a warning from the Red Death!"
		Jacqueline says, "I want to talk to Dmitri."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "infect matilda" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT MATILDA
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't midnight yet, and even if it were, this girl is dead already.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "of course all warnings are meant to be ignored in IF."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You peel away the blood-speckled graveclothes and the world feels less
Floyd | malevolent. You won't be infecting anyone now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  Fountain
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You hunch your shoulders together and crawl into the pig carcass. Now
Floyd | the sky is no longer a limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the garden and the palace and the
Floyd | world diminish underneath your hooves until they appear small enough
Floyd | to step on, but you don't step on them. You fly higher and higher
Floyd | until the atmosphere thins into nothing. Shooting stars are brushing
Floyd | past your cheeks. You can see little planets in the distance hanging
Floyd | like humid nightblue fruit dependent from the heaventree.
Floyd |
Floyd | But your goal is not that far away. You fly upward toward the moon
Floyd | until you are flying downward toward the moon, and then you alight on
Floyd | its lunar surface.

		
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | A cratered wasteland. Soft cheese squishes underneath your weight and
Floyd | smoke rises from foreboding chasms cleft into the glowing camembert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you a great beast is sprawled, slaughtered. It has been dead
Floyd | for eons and its form has decomposed to the bare bone. It is larger
Floyd | than any other animal, some colossus from legend, its death-grip
Floyd | encapsulating a lunar mountain over which it has collapsed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "visting the giant"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undress" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You clamber out from the pig carcass. Now the sky is once more is the
Floyd | limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear graveclothes" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR GRAVECLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | As you shuffle into the graveclothes, a strange malevolence steals
Floyd | over the scenery; or perhaps you yourself have become that strange
Floyd | malevolence. Your fingertips drip with infection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "is once more is the limit"
Guest2 arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to giant" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO GIANT
Floyd |
Floyd | This beast has probably been dead for more millennia than humankind
Floyd | has known the spoken word. Its bones aren't going to shake off the
Floyd | dust and have a conversation anytime soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "aw"
		Doug says, "no jabberwocky resurrection for you"
		DavidW says, "at least it was anticipated."
		hzomb says, "I wished for past here."
		Jacqueline says, "Darn"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "past" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PAST
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "wait, you tried talk and not infect?"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear clothes" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR CLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | You're already wearing the graveclothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "we can only infect at midnight."
		Doug says, "oh right, because that's how you talked to matilda"
		Doug says, "maybe it's midnight on the moon"
		DavidW asks, "is 'midnight' meaningful on the moon?"
		hzomb says, "Sure, there is day and night on the moon."
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect beast" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT BEAST
Floyd |
Floyd | It's always moontime here. Midnight doesn't figure into moontime.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "there you go"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You hunch your shoulders together and crawl into the pig carcass
Floyd | (after removing the graveclothes). Now the sky is no longer a limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the moon diminishes underneath your
Floyd | hooves. As you fly higher you find yourself flying lower, breaking
Floyd | back into the world's atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | This re-entry stings a little, but sooner than later it's over and
Floyd | you've returned to that wretched masquerade party.

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "future" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FUTURE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | At the Threshold
Floyd | The palace doors stand open, but no one has arrived yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A landscape garden stretches away into the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the future, guests will deposit their cloaks in the cloak room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "aw we could have kissed the jabberwock"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "undo.undo" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO.UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  At the Threshold
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | At the Threshold
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb asks, "What's the other outfit called?"
		hzomb asks, "The kissing one?"
		Doug says, "motley"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear motley" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don your jester's motley (after removing the pig carcass) and
Floyd | potential pranks inspire you. Everything in this wide world is
Floyd | kissable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm going to lie down now. Multi-UNDO makes me nauseous."
		hzomb says, "sorry"
		Doug says, "sorry, this is a silly tangent."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS
Floyd |
Floyd | You'll need to KISS (someone or something).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "on with infecting the duel"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss giant" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS GIANT
Floyd |
Floyd | You shiver at the thought.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "kiss moon" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS MOON
Floyd |
Floyd | What a creamy and marvelous flavor! No earthly camembert compares.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying graveclothes, a pig carcass, a vorpal blade, a
Floyd | rapier, and a playscript, and you are wearing motley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss rapier" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS RAPIER
Floyd |
Floyd | You consider kissing the countess's rapier, but the farther you keep
Floyd | it away from your head, the safer you'll probably feel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "kiss vorpal" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS VORPAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You press your lips against the vorpal blade. It is sharp and cold and
Floyd | clean like some instrument sanitized for surgery. You can taste its
Floyd | sharpness and its sharpness is cutting cleanly and coldly your lips,
Floyd | your tongue, your skin, your bone. Even the blood running down your
Floyd | throat is clean and cold. The blade is passing through you, or perhaps
Floyd | you are passing through it, but in either case it has opened the
Floyd | world. That world is peeling away on either side, sliced vertically
Floyd | like an opening through a curtain, until you can see dark leaves
Floyd | overhead and smell dark earth and hear branches bending and snapping.

		
Guest3 arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | overhead and smell dark earth and hear branches bending and snapping.
Floyd | You are in a dark woodland clearing, the vorpal blade shining in your
Floyd | hand although the forest light is weak. It must be shining from
Floyd | within. Against your back you can feel bark. You are resting against a
Floyd | tumtum tree. At some distance there is a sundial, old and mossy and
Floyd | hourless in the gloom, standing solitary on a grass plot riddled with
Floyd | abandoned burrows.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are not alone in the forest. Something is whiffling among the
Floyd | trees and you struggle to recall a warning someone gave you about this
Floyd | situation, but your uffish thoughts cannot remember the words. You
Floyd | have the vague sensation that you ought to be at home, preparing to
Floyd | broil your dinner, rather than waiting out here for whatever is
Floyd | advancing through the trees.
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing is clear anymore, but someone is supposed to kill
Floyd | something, at any rate. And yet now that you think about it,
Floyd | nothing was ever clear in the first place.
Floyd |
Floyd | Its eyes are aflame and it burbles as it comes, its jaws biting, its
Floyd | claws catching. At least this creature isn't a countess.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Out of the frying pan, into the tulgey wood. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "oops"
		Doug says, "whoops!"
		Roger says, "whuuu"
		hzomb says, "its jaws (it's)"
		hzomb says, "oops no"
		Jacqueline says, "Predictably anticipated."
		hzomb says, "yes. its claws (it's)"
		hzomb says, "no. Getting tired."
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Moon
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  Moon
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You hunch your shoulders together and crawl into the pig carcass
Floyd | (after removing your motley). Now the sky is no longer a limit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "fly" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FLY
Floyd |
Floyd | You rise into the night sky and the moon diminishes underneath your
Floyd | hooves. As you fly higher you find yourself flying lower, breaking
Floyd | back into the world's atmosphere.
Floyd |
Floyd | This re-entry stings a little, but sooner than later it's over and
Floyd | you've returned to that wretched masquerade party.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "x fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Disaster seems to dog these masquerade parties. Last time it was
Floyd | Matilda that they found drowned in the fountain with her hair
Floyd | streaming around the water-lilies. Nobody could discover how it
Floyd | happened. This time it will be you that they find dead on the lawn,
Floyd | and everyone will know how it happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "oh, I guess we didn't need to return to wake up"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear motley" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don your jester's motley (after removing the pig carcass) and
Floyd | potential pranks inspire you. Everything in this wide world is
Floyd | kissable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss fountain" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS FOUNTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | The gurgling fountain is in the past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear clothes" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR CLOTHES
Floyd |
Floyd | As you shuffle into the graveclothes (after removing your motley), a
Floyd | strange malevolence steals over the scenery; or perhaps you yourself
Floyd | have become that strange malevolence. Your fingertips drip with
Floyd | infection.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Landscape Garden
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Landscape Garden
Floyd | You are standing alone on a long manicured lawn bordered by cypress
Floyd | trees, whose moon-cast shadows divide the grass into neat quadrants as
Floyd | though it were a rugby field.
Floyd |
Floyd | Below the lawn, further into the past, there is a great and gurgling
Floyd | fountain, and in the future you can see the palace windows alive with
Floyd | candlelight and merriment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "now we can wake up"
		hzomb says, "Yes."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
hzomb pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | >
Floyd |
Floyd | I beg your pardon?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, midnight
Floyd |
Floyd | A corpse engages a countess in a swordfight 
Floyd | in which the corpse... 
Floyd | and the countess...
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x) 
Floyd | attack, wake up 
Floyd | infect (when wearing graveclothes)
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away, and her cutlass
Floyd | slices through your kielbasa and sinks promptly into your neck with a
Floyd | horrible crunch. Those were vertebrae, weren't they?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bringing a sausage to a swordfight was the last mistake you'll ever
Floyd | make.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		
hzomb pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb asks, "Who wants to do it?"
		Roger says, "go for it"
		CMG says, "Did you examine the polar bear? I'm pleased with that one."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "infect" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to infect?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I reckon we must have"
		hzomb asks, "Who should it be?"
		Roger says, "The comtesse first, let's say"
		hzomb says (to Roger), "It's not in rcap."
		Doug asks, "we examined the polar bear when we first saw it, or did it change?"
		hzomb says, "recap"
Roger says (to floyd), "countess" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "infect countess" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT COUNTESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You raise your arm toward the countess. That's enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | She drops her cutlass on the lawn.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a moment, blood wells from under her domino mask, scarlet rivers
Floyd | running down her cheeks. She lifts a hand to pull the mask away but it
Floyd | doesn't come away. It is stuck, and when she pulls harder there is a
Floyd | ripping sound. She cannot see what she has done, but around her eyes
Floyd | the skin has erupted with bubbling lesions like frog-eggs or caviar.

		Doug says, "that was the porn that jarred Jacq"
		Jacqueline says, "I don't think we did x the bear."
		hzomb says, "spoiler: blood"
Roger pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | the skin has erupted with bubbling lesions like frog-eggs or caviar.
Floyd | Now she is screaming. She sees her bloody hands. She knows that she is
Floyd | horribly broken. Meanwhile more blood is pouring from her every pore,
Floyd | drenching her gown, drenching the grass around her. Her body is
Floyd | melting into blood, her shape dissolving into it, until she is a
Floyd | shrieking heap upon the ground
Floyd |
Floyd | Her shrieks are in the wind. Around the garden cypresses rustle and
Floyd | the fountain plashes as both seconds fall, bleeding with her. It is a
Floyd | comprehensive plague.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the palace guests are falling too. Their shadows are erratic in the
Floyd | candlelit windows. You cannot picture them as real people. They are
Floyd | puppets and their strings have just been cut. It is a pandemonium, but
Floyd | it will all be over soon enough. It will end when the last reveler
Floyd | falls in the blood-bedewed halls, when the last screams are carried
Floyd | away by the breeze, when the candles blink out one by one as they
Floyd | gutter in wax.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then darkness and decay and the Red Death will hold illimitable
Floyd | dominion over all.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Memento mori. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "It's not in the transcript (I tried >X BEAR and >X POLAR)"
		| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bear"
		Roger says, "We infect the countess. It is super-effective."
		hzomb says, "It's near the start."
hzomb pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | >
Floyd |
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "I like how her jeweled mask foreshadows the bubbling lesions."
		hzomb says, "We just killed everone. Have some heart people."
		hzomb says, "everyone."
		Roger says, "They all deserved it"
		CMG says, "It's not really plot-important. I just like that bit of text about the bear."
		Doug | Far from romantic, it seems to lend the skin around her eyes a lesioned, bubbling appearance, or perhaps suggest frog-eggs or caviar.
		hzomb says, "And we died."
		Doug says, "oh, more literally foreshadowed than I remembered"
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Ah, my search wasn't cycling back to the beginning."
		Jacqueline asks, "Okay wait, I still can't find it. What's the bear description?"
		Doug asks (of CMG), "do you mean something other than finding Dmitri & Onegin going at it behind the bear?"
Roger says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "wake up" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
Roger says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | Ballroom
Floyd | On the floor you can see a red glove where it has been contemptuously
Floyd | thrown down, and expanding outward from this glove the world takes
Floyd | form. There are dancers surrounding you in a circle, but they are not
Floyd | dancing: they are staring at you and staring at the glove, and their
Floyd | eyeballs never cease staring because they are frozen.
Floyd |
Floyd | There has been some hitch and time stands still.
Floyd |
Floyd | A chandelier hangs overhead, candles unflickering. Everything is
Floyd | mirrored in the marble floor. Toward the future you can glimpse the
Floyd | grand staircase, where the countess is ascending with her back turned
Floyd | after having delivered her challenge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > P
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "cc" 		

Floyd ]  Ballroom
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CC
Floyd |
Floyd | Time doesn't bend that way from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "future" 		

Floyd ]  Grand Staircase
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FUTURE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Grand Staircase
Floyd | Ferdinand is leaning against a balustrade, her gaze cast toward the
Floyd | dancers in their formations below. She isn't one for dancing herself
Floyd | unless it's atop freshly slain enemies. Her tremendous kielbasa, which
Floyd | you will borrow later in your duel with the countess, is leaning
Floyd | against the balustrade beside her.
Floyd |
Floyd | The ballroom is in the past now, and in the future you will look
Floyd | behind a polar bear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her cutlass is resting nearby on the floor in an opened
Floyd | case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the red salon, and the
Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Thanks"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "script" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | behind a polar bear, evening
Floyd |
Floyd | A voyeur observes a liaison 
Floyd | and exploits the opportunity 
Floyd | to replace a weapon.
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x), take, drop, talk to
Floyd | 
Floyd | future (f), past (p), clockwise (c),
Floyd | counter-clockwise (cc) 
Floyd | wear, undress, wake up 
Floyd | infect (when wearing graveclothes)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "wear motley" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR MOTLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don your jester's motley (after removing the graveclothes) and
Floyd | potential pranks inspire you. Everything in this wide world is
Floyd | kissable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Kappiataitok, king among polar bears in life, gathering dust here now
Floyd | in death. No hunt was ever greater than the hunt that felled His
Floyd | Majesty. It's said that thirty hunters lost their lives during the
Floyd | climb in crevices, and thirty more in snowstorms raging hard enough to
Floyd | freeze a beating heart, and thirty more when Kappiataitok emerged to
Floyd | find his glacial sanctum populous with infidels. They could not
Floyd | conquer him with spears; the ice ran red with blood from everyone; and
Floyd | thirty more were dead before the king rose with a roar and broke away
Floyd | across the floes. But he had been wounded in the ankle and could not
Floyd | escape, and after thirty more and thirty more had fallen to his claws,
Floyd | he fell beneath the aurora and never woke into this world again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Kappiataitok, king among polar bears in life, gathering dust here now
Floyd | in death. No hunt was ever greater than the hunt that felled His
Floyd | Majesty. It's said that thirty hunters lost their lives during the
Floyd | climb in crevices, and thirty more in snowstorms raging hard enough to
Floyd | freeze a beating heart, and thirty more when Kappiataitok emerged to
Floyd | find his glacial sanctum populous with infidels. They could not
Floyd | conquer him with spears; the ice ran red with blood from everyone; and
Floyd | thirty more were dead before the king rose with a roar and broke away
Floyd | across the floes. But he had been wounded in the ankle and could not
Floyd | escape, and after thirty more and thirty more had fallen to his claws,
Floyd | he fell beneath the aurora and never woke into this world again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "sorry"
		Roger says, "I guess we didn't after all"
		Doug says, "my fault, you were driving"
		Doug says, "yeah huh, when we did it before it just showed the room desc again."
		hzomb asks, "So did we kiss anything here?"
		hzomb covers eyes.
		Jacqueline says, "Kappiataitok was so not in the transcript."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway."
		CMG says, "If you're in a room adjacent to "Behind the Polar Bear" then examining the bear moves you into the room. But in the room, you can examine the bear."
		Jacqueline says, "Yay that we've seen Kappiataitok now."
		Doug says, "ohhh"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Even standing on your tiptoes, you cannot reach the polar bear's jaws,
Floyd | and you settle for giving it a peck on the foot instead -- an
Floyd | appropriate supplication before royalty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "relevant to #hawaii talk"
Doug says (to Floyd), "wear graveclothes. talk to bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR GRAVECLOTHES. TALK TO BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | As you shuffle into the graveclothes (after removing your motley), a
Floyd | strange malevolence steals over the scenery; or perhaps you yourself
Floyd | have become that strange malevolence. Your fingertips drip with
Floyd | infection.
Floyd |
Floyd | These frozen tableaux aren't going to provide very lively
Floyd | conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "aw"
		Jacqueline says (to Doug), "Heh. True. Though that will be meaningless to this transcript."
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't midnight yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "get bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | This polar bear is much bigger than you are. You'd never be able to
Floyd | lug it around, and besides, you'd have little use for it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wear bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the polar bear)
Floyd | This polar bear is much bigger than you are. You'd never be able to
Floyd | lug it around, and besides, you'd have little use for it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger says (to floyd), "talk to bear" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | These frozen tableaux aren't going to provide very lively
Floyd | conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | Dmitri's chest is pressed against the wall, arms overhead with his
Floyd | fingernails raking down the wallpaper. Onegin is straddling his rear,
Floyd | gripping his waist, paused mid-thrust with his cock halfway inside
Floyd | Dmitri's cunt -- or maybe halfway out?
Floyd |
Floyd | As the countess's minion, it is Onegin's duty to carry her weapon, and
Floyd | right now her cutlass is resting nearby on the floor in an opened
Floyd | case.
Floyd |
Floyd | The polar bear itself is at least three meters tall, preserved
Floyd | taxidermically in a perpetual roar with claws outspread. Traveling
Floyd | counter-clockwise would reorient you toward the red salon, and the

		Doug says, "ah well."

Floyd | grand staircase is in your past.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "kiss onegin" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not in the playscript.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "We're grave"
		hzomb says, "ok"
		Jacqueline says (to hzomb), "Were you thinking of tapping him on the shoulder and saying, 'Mind if I cut in?'"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "infect onegin" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't midnight yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "did we want to infect other things at the stroke?"
		hzomb says, "It is in character - they're helping you in the duel."
		hzomb says, "You can try different targets in the duel."
		Roger says, "Sure, we can infect other folks, the playscript, etc etc, why not; we've come this far"
		Roger says, "I guess we haven't generally tried targetting ourselves either"
		hzomb says, "We did the blade."
Guest2 goes home. 		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Behind a Polar Bear
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying motley, a pig carcass, a vorpal blade, a rapier, and
Floyd | a playscript, and you are wearing graveclothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | You open your eyes.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | You open your eyes.
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect script" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | You must supply a noun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect me" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You are already teeming with infection.
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away, and her cutlass
Floyd | slices through your kielbasa and sinks promptly into your neck with a
Floyd | horrible crunch. Those were vertebrae, weren't they?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bringing a sausage to a swordfight was the last mistake you'll ever
Floyd | make.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect onegin" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT ONEGIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You raise your arm toward Onegin. That's enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | At first it seems that nothing has happened. After all, the bastard is
Floyd | painted red from head to toe. It isn't immediately obvious that his
Floyd | pores have begun to ooze blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | But then he notices. He looks down at himself, unable to tell where
Floyd | the pain is coming from, and you smile at the answer: Everywhere.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | the pain is coming from, and you smile at the answer: Everywhere.
Floyd | Now he is screaming. He doesn't know where to put his hands. He is
Floyd | stepping around as though he were stepping on hot coals because even
Floyd | his soles are bloody. He is a devil writhing in a pit. He is a sinner
Floyd | being flayed alive. His flesh is slipping from him in red slabs,
Floyd | splattering onto the lawn, leaving his raw muscles exposed to the
Floyd | nighttime air.
Floyd |
Floyd | He has collapsed in agony, and the countess and your second have also
Floyd | collapsed in their own crimson puddles. It is a comprehensive plague.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the palace guests are falling too. Their shadows are erratic in the
Floyd | candlelit windows. You cannot picture them as real people. They are
Floyd | puppets and their strings have just been cut. It is a pandemonium, but
Floyd | it will all be over soon enough. It will end when the last reveler
Floyd | falls in the blood-bedewed halls, when the last screams are carried
Floyd | away by the breeze, when the candles blink out one by one as they
Floyd | gutter in wax.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then darkness and decay and the Red Death will hold illimitable
Floyd | dominion over all.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Memento mori. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "still comprehensive."
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect all" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use multiple objects with that verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect ferdinand" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT FERDINAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You raise your arm toward Ferdinand. That's enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | She knows what you've done almost before you've done it. There's
Floyd | nothing she can do to save herself, but that doesn't stop her from
Floyd | rushing to grapple your arm -- as if disabling you would reverse the
Floyd | disease.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull your arm away. It's effortless. Her grip is weak. You can't
Floyd | understand why you ever viewed her as a friend, as an ally, when she's
Floyd | just as bloodthirsty as the rest.

		
Doug pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | just as bloodthirsty as the rest.
Floyd | She does not scream when she begins to bleed from every pore. Her bald
Floyd | head is a red skull dripping blood. Her gaze into your face is
Floyd | ferocious. She won't surrender and she fights to hold herself
Floyd | together, but then she buckles and vomits everything onto the lawn:
Floyd | bile and blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now she is convulsing on the ground, and the countess and that bastard
Floyd | Onegin are convulsing in their own crimson puddles. It is a
Floyd | comprehensive plague.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the palace guests are falling too. Their shadows are erratic in the
Floyd | candlelit windows. You cannot picture them as real people. They are
Floyd | puppets and their strings have just been cut. It is a pandemonium, but
Floyd | it will all be over soon enough. It will end when the last reveler
Floyd | falls in the blood-bedewed halls, when the last screams are carried
Floyd | away by the breeze, when the candles blink out one by one as they
Floyd | gutter in wax.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then darkness and decay and the Red Death will hold illimitable
Floyd | dominion over all.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Memento mori. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, UNDO the last
Floyd | command, view the CREDITS, or look behind the CURTAIN?
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "Genocide."
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect moon" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT MOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You must supply a noun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, ";"
		Jacqueline says, "Wow."
hzomb says (to Floyd), "infect sausage" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT SAUSAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "hm, I guess only people are nouns here"
		hzomb asks, "Did we bring it?"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a tremendous kielbasa and a playscript, and you are
Floyd | wearing graveclothes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
hzomb says (to Floyd), "infect kielbasa" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT KIELBASA
Floyd |
Floyd | You must supply a noun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		hzomb says, "yes"
		CMG says, "Moon and playscript aren't implemented for some reason. More things to fix. Hooray."
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect garden" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > INFECT GARDEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You must supply a noun.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to CMG), "Sorry. It's just one of the many services we provide."
Doug says (to Floyd), "wear pig" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR PIG
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "I don't know why it's giving that message. I wrote rejection messages for trying to use infect on inanimate objects."
		hzomb says, ">version"
hzomb says (to Floyd), "version" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > VERSION
Floyd |
Floyd | Midnight. Swordfight.
Floyd | A Folly by Chandler Groover
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 151019 / Inform 7 build 6L38 (I6/v6.33 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd | Identification number: //53B82FD1-5E12-41C5-9754-38E286481BBA//
Floyd | Interpreter version 1.3.1 / VM 3.1.2 / Library serial number 080126
Floyd | Standard Rules version 3/120430 by Graham Nelson
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x script" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCRIPT
Floyd |
Floyd | Scene: 
Floyd | landscape garden, midnight
Floyd |
Floyd | A corpse engages a countess in a swordfight 
Floyd | in which the corpse... 
Floyd | and the countess...
Floyd |
Floyd | Stage directions: 
Floyd | inventory (i), examine (x) 
Floyd | attack, wake up 
Floyd | infect (when wearing graveclothes)
Floyd |
Floyd | The countess is suddenly there, only inches away, and her cutlass
Floyd | slices through your kielbasa and sinks promptly into your neck with a
Floyd | horrible crunch. Those were vertebrae, weren't they?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bringing a sausage to a swordfight was the last mistake you'll ever
Floyd | make.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "infect curtain" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x curtain" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CURTAIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "You can only infect people, but the other things SHOULD give replies and they are not. Bleh."
		hzomb asks, "Is release 1 the latest version?"
		Doug says, "alas"
		Roger says, "A quirk in the rules ordering perhaps"
Doug says (to Floyd), "x weapons" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEAPONS
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x weapon" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEAPON
Floyd |
Floyd | (your weapon)
Floyd | You're wielding a tremendous kielbasa. It's a joke, of course, because
Floyd | you'll have just as much luck with this kielbasa for a weapon as you
Floyd | would with a sword. The countess is going to absolutely slaughter you
Floyd | tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is suddenly there, only inches away, and her cutlass slices
Floyd | through your kielbasa and sinks promptly into your neck with a
Floyd | horrible crunch. Those were vertebrae, weren't they?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bringing a sausage to a swordfight was the last mistake you'll ever
Floyd | make.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd |
Floyd | On the Stroke
Floyd | How did you ever get into this predicament? A rumor, a glove thrown
Floyd | down onto a dance-floor? Now you're standing in the moonlight and your
Floyd | knees are knocking together, although you hope that no one notices.
Floyd | You're still dressed for a masquerade and nothing feels quite real.
Floyd | Perhaps it isn't real... and all you need to do is wake up from
Floyd | this nightmare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene is set: landscape garden.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cast: your second, Ferdinand, handing your weapon over; your
Floyd | rival's second, Onegin, handing her weapon over; and your
Floyd | rival -- the countess.
Floyd |
Floyd | "En garde!" the countess cries.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		CMG says, "I haven't updated the release number. Maybe I should. Something in the code must be overriding those descriptions for infect."
Doug says (to Floyd), "x vorpal" 		

Floyd ]  On the Stroke
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X VORPAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You squint but can't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x countess's weapon" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COUNTESS'S WEAPON
Floyd |
Floyd | Through some twist in fate, the countess is wielding a cutlass
Floyd | tonight. Perhaps it's not her typical rapier, but she's just as
Floyd | dangerous with any blade.
Floyd |
Floyd | She is suddenly there, only inches away, and her cutlass slices
Floyd | through your kielbasa and sinks promptly into your neck with a
Floyd | horrible crunch. Those were vertebrae, weren't they?
Floyd |
Floyd | Bringing a sausage to a swordfight was the last mistake you'll ever
Floyd | make.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** Curtain. ***
Floyd |
Floyd | But the curtain can be raised again...

		Doug says, "oh right, I gave her my cutlass"
		Doug says, "well anyway, there are other weapon arrangements, but I don't recall them leading to significantly different endings."
		Doug asks (of CMG), "are there other clues we missed? about the duel, or the murders, or the vendetta?"
		hzomb says, "There is a xvffvat ending."
Guest3 goes home. 		hzomb asks, "Did we talk to Dmitri?"
		CMG says, "I don't think I should comment on the story."
		hzomb says, "It's for each reader to draw their own interpretation."
		hzomb says, "(Another xvffvat ending.)"
		Doug says, "well, I wasn't looking for specific, just wondering whether you think there's anything significant that we missed. But probably you haven't finished reading the transcript"
		Doug says, "*specifics"
		Doug says, "but I could also see you not wanting to answer that too. :)"
		hzomb says, "I don't see any Dmitri talk in recap."
		Doug says, "there was lots of Dmitri talk"
		Jacqueline says (to CMG), "There's another channel (#cf-spoilers) if you want to talk there. It won't be included in the final transcript."
		Roger says, "Yeah we chatted him up quite a bit"
		hzomb says, "ok. Just Red Death to ask about."
		CMG says, "Yeah I've been skimming the transcript while also trying to read the live chat. But I'd still refrain from pointing to clues about the murders, etc."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, I guess it's actually #cfspoilers, but anyway I've added you to it."
		Doug says, "I guess I was more just wondering if there is a definite answer to be found, or if it's all just incomplete hints"
		Doug says, "i.e. is it a solvable mystery like Toby's Nose, or more of a fill-in-your-own-blanks thing"
		CMG says, "I do not consider it to be as open-ended and wishy-washy as some reviwers have claimed. I'll say that."
		Doug says, "but I am happy to continue wondering."
		CMG says, "It's not solvable like Toby's Nose where the answer will be spelled out in bold letters. You have to think about the story."
		Roger says, "Not me! I'm taking this at face value."
		CMG says, "You can take it at face value. That's a valid choice."
		Doug tries to peel off Roger's mask but it won't budge!
		hzomb says, "For the longest time I tried to force it into a moral choices mold."
		hzomb says, "It's interesting how drama and morality point opposite ways. Infect = kill all = DRAMATIC = IMMORAL."
		hzomb says, "But the script and the roles suggest a stage setting."
		Roger says, "It threads an interesting path through parser and choice"
		hzomb asks, "You mean the restricted verb set?"
		Roger says, "yeah"
		hzomb says, "You can't drop the infected clothes. In moral terms: the game won't let you put a weapon of mass destruction beyond use."
		hzomb says, "In game terms, dropping a costume makes no sense: you would be restricting dramatic options."
		hzomb says, "It's hard to argue that the work is realistic which would give credence to a moral choices view."
		hzomb says, "But on the other hand, other characters can't change their roles (e.g. can't swap costumes). You control their fates."
		hzomb says, "Which raises doubts that it is a simple stage setting."
		CMG exclaims, "I really appreciate how you're thinking about it, hzomb!"
		hzomb says, "It took a long time to understand how I was thinking about Midnight."
		Jacqueline says, "Thank you, everyone."
		hzomb says, "The voyeurism scene did jar me. For a while I had a fantasy of an entirely female case."
		Jacqueline says, "I think next week, which is the last week before we do New Year's stuff, we'll play Sub Rosa, which appears to be the next Floydable game."
		hzomb says, "<3"
		Roger says, "Huzzah"
		hzomb says, "That's an intricate one to get the best score."
		Roger says, "Thanks everyone for this week"
		hzomb also tested Sub Rosa.
		hzomb asks, "Is the update out?"
		hzomb says, "They are planning an update (which I've tested)."
		Doug says, "FYI, Sub Rosa is quite long/difficult. at least, I didn't come close to finishing it in 2 hours."
		Doug says, "it's pretty great though"
		hzomb says, "It depends if you want a perfect score."
		hzomb says, "You can possibly solver the puzzles in 90 minutes and let the score slide."
		Doug says, "well, my score was 0/7"
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Doug says, "also DavidW has played it so we wouldn't have his expertise available"
		Doug says, "though of course he could hint us when we get stuck."
		Jacqueline says, "Sometimes all we do is a taste test. That's okay."
		Jacqueline says, "Gives us all a sense of whether or not we'd personally want to continue."
		Doug says, "fair enough."
		Doug says, "poor Map"
		hzomb says, "It took me three plays of Map to figure out how to make the first choice."
		hzomb asks, "Was it like that for you?"
		hzomb says, "I examined everything. And it was emotionally overwhelming."
		Doug says, "I did not find Aunt May on the first day, but I figured out how things generally worked by the third day I think"
		Doug says, "I didn't go back to replay yet though"
		Doug says, "I did finish during my 2-hour judging window."
		Doug says, "actually I think I went a little over"
		Doug says, "but yeah, Map did not go over well at Club Floyd"
		Doug says, "they quit on day 2"
		hzomb says, "It's a downer character."
		Roger says, "Alas we did"
		Doug says, "yeah, it's definitely a bleak start. well, bleak throughout, mostly"
		hzomb says, "The light at the end of the tunnel is the prospect of sorting her life out."
		Doug says, "but it does take a long time to figure out the overall structure of the game"
		Jacqueline asks (of hzomb), "But at what personal expense to our own lives?"
		Doug says, "and it's a little misleading that you can explore and examine stuff as in a typical parser game."
		hzomb says, "I didn't suffer but I did get very emotional reading it. It was a heavy experience."
		Jacqueline says, "It's like the Interactive Fiction of Dorian Gray... we get sadder as the protagonist turns their life around."
		Doug says, "I mean, I wouldn't want to turn it into a pure choice game, but it's an interesting design question"
		hzomb asks, "It could be a shorter sharper choice game. But would it be poignant?"
		Doug says, "and I think it didn't match up with Club Floyd's usual MO"
		Doug says, "which is to be very cautious and examine/do everything before moving on"
		hzomb says, "Examining for clues vs for flavour."
		Doug says, "like today, it was interesting how long it took before we went back to the duel"
		hzomb says, "You could just touch on a few things in Map and get the gist."
		Doug says, "I think people were expecting that we had to get everything just right before returning to the duel"
		hzomb says, "I had the opposite fear that people would breeze through in 10 minutes and dismiss the work."
		Doug says, "yeah, I was glad that eventually DavidW noticed the "wake up" clue. It's funny how people miss that (I totally missed it myself)"
		Doug says, "well, eventually I saw it, but"
		Roger says, "I did get the sense that we would need to go off-script somehow"
		hzomb says, "Yeah I wondered if script should run automatically. Or announce changes."
		hzomb says, "It's surprising that the script changes without you doing anything."
		Doug says, "the script actually expands to include WAKE UP"
		Doug says, "after dying 3 or 4 times, I think"
		Roger says, "ah"
		Doug says, "and it's also mentioned in the room description, but it's easy to ignore that since the rest of it is the same every time"
		Doug says, "I mean, I think the way it works is just fine, it's just funny that it's still easy to miss"
		hzomb says, "I also didn't twig at first that the script changes when you wear a new costume."
		hzomb says, "The costumes work well in the formalism. But I still find it clunky switching between verb sets."
		hzomb says, "Typically your character learns new verbs but doesn't lose them (you don't drop items often)."
		hzomb says, "(for games in general.)"
		Doug says, "true"
		Doug says, "I didn't mind it that much. It helps that you can WEAR a costume and it auto-removes the old one"
		hzomb says, "Yes, the author thinks a lot about how to make it simple and convenient (part of the motivation for the restricted verb sets)."
		Doug says, "ok, time for me to get some food. Thanks for playing & chatting, everyone!"
Doug has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		Jacqueline exclaims, "Yes. Thanks, all!"
		hzomb says, "Thanks I enjoyed it."



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Floyd | Standing out front is a sandwich board advertising an improbable and
Floyd | already completed Back to School sale.  Or I should say, "B4ck to Scho
Floyd | l."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        152
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         153
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  The part we're on
Floyd | here is firmly middle class, maybe on the low side.  There are a lot
Floyd | of small close-set houses with minimally-tended lawns, pockmarked by
Floyd | the occasional commercial space, including your restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cult's shop, Unspeakable Books and Gifts, is located a few miles
Floyd | to the west.  Carver's Cave is to the northeast.  That's where you
Floyd | guys originally obtained the Heart, and is probably worth checking
Floyd | out.  There's also an alleyway to the southwest.  The dining room is
Floyd | to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        154
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take West 7th into downtown, and from there, follow Mounds
Floyd | Boulevard along the river until you reach the edges of Indian Mounds
Floyd | Park.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mounds Boulevard (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Mounds Boulevard at Cherry Street, a little east of
Floyd | downtown.  "Mounds," because some Native American burial mounds are
Floyd | just down the road.  It's a pretty nice fall tableau here: lots of
Floyd | colorful leaves, the Mississippi River below, acorns everywhere.  You
Floyd | hate to think that whatever Stu has planned is going to ruin this.
Floyd | The super-secret entrance to Carver's Cave is down the bluff towards
Floyd | the river, and Randolph Avenue is southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x leaves" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        155
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LEAVES
Floyd |
Floyd | When the leaves change here, it's really quite nice, but it's a very
Floyd | short window.  When they're gone, the Cities are gray, brown and white
Floyd | until mid-April at least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x acorns" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        156
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ACORNS
Floyd |
Floyd | When the leaves change here, it's really quite nice, but it's a very
Floyd | short window.  When they're gone, the Cities are gray, brown and white
Floyd | until mid-April at least.
Floyd |
Floyd | The charge on the flashlight gives out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh right, that."
		DavidW says, "oo, acorns"
		DavidW says, "Any IF game with acorns has to be good."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hehe"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        156
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | There are none at all available!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "count leaves" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        156
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > COUNT LEAVES
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        157
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't drive the car onto the sidewalk.  Well, you shouldn't, at
Floyd | least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        158
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  159
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | Making sure that no one is watching, you hop the railing and scramble
Floyd | down the bluff side as carefully as you can.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The mouth of Carver's
Floyd | Cave has long since been barricaded and then covered naturally with
Floyd | rocks and sediment, but your cult, like Gollum, knows the secret ways.
Floyd | Only the followers of the Old Ones can penetrate the mysteries of --
Floyd | well, goddammit.  The shrub that normally covers up the secret
Floyd | entrance is gone.  Wait, not gone: crushed.  A jagged boulder is in
Floyd | its place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side
Floyd | now.  You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x crack" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  160
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | There's only a narrow passageway leading in and out of the cave now.
Floyd | You might be able to fit in, barely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf31" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  160
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "See what's downwards or squeeze in?"
		Zach says, "I like squeezing"
		DavidW says, "hm. Down first, I think."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       161
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       162
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeah, I don't think that's gonna work.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       163
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Small is a relative term, I guess.  But you couldn't fit in it, let's
Floyd | put it that way.  Water trickles out of it into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look in pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       164
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | The small pipe is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf32" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       164
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "swim" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       165
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SWIM
Floyd |
Floyd | The headline in tomorrow's Pioneer Press: Area Man, Unable to
Floyd | Drop Heavy Robe for Some Reason, Drowns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We might find our missing tire iron."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "remove robe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       166
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > REMOVE ROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take off the hooded robe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "swim" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       167
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SWIM
Floyd |
Floyd | The headline in tomorrow's Pioneer Press: Area Man, Unable to
Floyd | Drop Heavy Robe for Some Reason, Drowns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drop robe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       168
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DROP ROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You probably want to hang onto it.  You can't be a proper cultist
Floyd | without it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Well, Fine."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x river" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       169
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | The banks -- at least those parts that are not given over to docks --
Floyd | are lined with trees in the process of losing their leaves.  Up here,
Floyd | the river is not nearly so impressively wide as it is in, say, St.
Floyd | Louis.  On the other hand, it is cleaner.  Well, cleanish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  170
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "In?"
		Zach says, "Sure"
		genericgeekgirl says, "One sec."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       171
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drink water" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       172
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DRINK WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeesh.  Not unless you were dying of thirst.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  173
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Ok :)"
		DavidW asks, "was anything in the pipe? Or river?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Nope."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  174
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | You try wedging yourself into the crack.  You suck in your chest,
Floyd | twist your torso, turn your head, but it's no good.  You rub up
Floyd | against the sides of the boulder and the rock wall, and can make no
Floyd | progress.  Damn you, friction!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       175
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "get wet" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       175
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take water" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       176
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | You catch some of the trickling water and let it run through your
Floyd | fingers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "We need butter"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "rub self with wax paper" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       177
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > RUB SELF WITH WAX PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Wincing a little at the inherent grossness of this activity, you rub
Floyd | the greasy wax paper on your skin.  You now smell vaguely like an old
Floyd | pizza, and you are noticeably oranger.  On the plus side, you should
Floyd | have an easier time sliding through that narrow crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "And this is why I take all the things!"
		DavidW says, "Or a tire iron."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  178
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                                179
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The grease from the pizza is just enough to enable you to contort your
Floyd | way in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "crank flashlight" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           180
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > CRANK FLASHLIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | You crank up the flashlight a little, and then switch it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're in Carver's Cave, a small natural fissure underneath Saint
Floyd | Paul.  The Lakota called this place Wakan Tipi, the House of
Floyd | the Great Spirit.  It used to be accessible, a tourist attraction
Floyd | even.  Every so often, the entrance would be lost in a rockslide, and
Floyd | the city would open it back up again, until finally they chose to
Floyd | block it off entirely.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a beach of sorts, and beyond that, a calm, dark pool extending
Floyd | into the blackness.  Water laps gently near your feet, and there's an
Floyd | audible trickle from somewhere deep in the darkness.  It's otherwise
Floyd | deathly quiet, and very chilly.  You can leave to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying on the beach is the hacked-up corpse of a giant serpent,
Floyd | marinating in a puddle of purplish blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
jenrexrode disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x blood" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           181
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BLOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a purplish gelatinous goo, roughly the consistency of cold maple
Floyd | syrup.  It has a very bitter, acrid odor.  It's pooled inside the
Floyd | corpse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "eat blood" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           182
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT BLOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not a vampire.  But frankly, not even a vampire would drink
Floyd | this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x corpse" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           183
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's the body of the Great Spirit, or one such Great Spirit, that your
Floyd | uncle summoned in order to kill and cut out its heart.  That was
Floyd | another super-boring hours-long ceremony, but got pretty good at the
Floyd | end when it turned into some hardcore LARPing.  Your buddy Jake got in
Floyd | the final blow with a replica Glamdring from the SkyMall catalog.  The
Floyd | bad news is that the serpent's blood burned right through the sword.
Floyd | Anyway, your uncle then cut out the still-beating heart and put it in
Floyd | the Ark, where you assumed it was safe and secure, which it was,
Floyd | before your dumb ass got involved.
Floyd |
Floyd | The serpent's purplish blood is pooled in and around the corpse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ha ha wax paper"
		DavidW says, "Clever"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I wouldn't have thought of it if Zach hadn't suggested butter."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x beach" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           184
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BEACH
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a beach only in the strictest sense.  It's made up a dark, gritty
Floyd | clay.  You don't feel any particular compulsion to pull up a chaise
Floyd | longue or an umbrella.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x clay" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           185
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | (the beach)
Floyd | It's a beach only in the strictest sense.  It's made up a dark, gritty
Floyd | clay.  You don't feel any particular compulsion to pull up a chaise
Floyd | longue or an umbrella.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "dig" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           185
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DIG
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pool" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           186
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POOL
Floyd |
Floyd | Calm, but not entirely still.  There's a definite current flowing
Floyd | towards the south.  The cave presumably drains in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "So... something small, put into the pool, might come out the drain pipe outside."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Sure, but what?"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "South?"
		DavidW says, "yes, look south please"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  187
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           186
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Confused."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  187
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "So south and outside is the same direction."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           188
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The grease from the pizza is just enough to enable you to contort your
Floyd | way in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're in Carver's Cave, a small natural fissure underneath Saint
Floyd | Paul.  There's a beach of sorts, and beyond that, a calm, dark pool
Floyd | extending into the blackness.  Water laps gently near your feet, and
Floyd | there's an audible trickle from somewhere deep in the darkness.  It's
Floyd | otherwise deathly quiet, and very chilly.  You can leave to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying on the beach is the hacked-up corpse of a giant serpent,
Floyd | marinating in a puddle of purplish blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take blood" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           189
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BLOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | With your gloved hand, you carefully scoop some ichor into the Ziploc
Floyd | bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Um, ok."
		Zach says, "eww"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take corpse" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           190
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's pretty gross.  The cold down here has kept it from decomposing
Floyd | very much, but it's been chewed on by something, and it's all hacked
Floyd | apart.  Best to just leave it alone.
Floyd |
Floyd | A wrapper from a Baby Ruth bar floating just below the surface of the
Floyd | pool emerges from the darkness to the north, at the back of the cave.
Floyd | The current carries it to the south and out of view.  Oh man, a Baby
Floyd | Ruth would be awesome right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           191
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Maybe if we wait, more things come through?"
		Zach says, "Oh right, why are we messing with this crap"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf33" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           191
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "We're *hungry*"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           192
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You once again try to twist your way through the gap.  As you contort
Floyd | yourself in, though, you notice that the Ziploc bag of ichor is caught
Floyd | on a particularly sharp edge of the rock.  If you go any further, the
Floyd | bag will almost certainly tear in catastrophic fashion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           193
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "OHHHHHH."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put bag in pool" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           194
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN POOL
Floyd |
Floyd | You place the bag in the frigid water.  It seems to be
Floyd | neutrally-buoyant, suspended a few inches under the surface.  The
Floyd | current catches it, and it begins to drift towards the south wall of
Floyd | the cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  195
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       196
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Deposited here underneath the pipe is that Baby Ruth wrapper you saw
Floyd | earlier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look in pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       197
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ziploc bag has washed down here and clings to a rusty burr on the
Floyd | inside of the pipe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Uh oh."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take bag" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       198
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | As you grasp the open bag, you realize that it is now empty, or
Floyd | emptyish; there's a thin film of purple goo still clinging to the
Floyd | interior, but that's about it.  Apparently the ichor is water-soluble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       197
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       196
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  195
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           194
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           193
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x bag" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           194
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | It's sandwich-sized and made of a fairly flimsy material.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the Ziploc bag is some acidic goo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "close bag" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           195
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the Ziploc bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put bag in pool" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           196
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN POOL
Floyd |
Floyd | You place the bag in the frigid water.  It seems to be
Floyd | neutrally-buoyant, suspended a few inches under the surface.  The
Floyd | current catches it, and it begins to drift towards the south wall of
Floyd | the cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  197
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       198
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Deposited here underneath the pipe is that Baby Ruth wrapper you saw
Floyd | earlier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take bag" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       199
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | As you grasp the bag, it snags ever-so-slightly on a jagged edge of
Floyd | the pipe, but comes loose.  There's now a tiny tear in the corner.
Floyd | It's not enough to cause any serious leakage, but you'll have to be
Floyd | careful.  If you were to squeeze the bag, the blood would extrude,
Floyd | like frosting from a pastry bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Good to know."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       200
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Take the wrapper"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I bet the wrapper is hers."
		genericgeekgirl says, "One step ahead of you."
		Zach says, "What kind of monster would eat Baby Ruths"
		DavidW says, "sorry, really lagging here."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I want to frost someone with blood."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Like that bitch whenw e find her."
		Zach says, "Mwaha"
		genericgeekgirl says, "So the blood ate through the metal sword."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Maybe the lock?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Or the door itself. Or whatever."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  201
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Hmm, good idea"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        202
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest down
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mounds Boulevard
Floyd | You're on Mounds Boulevard at Cherry Street, a little east of
Floyd | downtown.  "Mounds," because some Native American burial mounds are
Floyd | just down the road.  It's a pretty nice fall tableau here: lots of
Floyd | colorful leaves, the Mississippi River below, acorns everywhere.  You
Floyd | hate to think that whatever Stu has planned is going to ruin this.
Floyd | The super-secret entrance to Carver's Cave is down the bluff towards
Floyd | the river, and Randolph Avenue is southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        203
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest down
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         204
Floyd ]  Exits: northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  The part we're on
Floyd | here is firmly middle class, maybe on the low side.  There are a lot
Floyd | of small close-set houses with minimally-tended lawns, pockmarked by
Floyd | the occasional commercial space, including your restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cult's shop, Unspeakable Books and Gifts, is located a few miles
Floyd | to the west.  Carver's Cave is to the northeast.  There's also an
Floyd | alleyway to the southwest.  The dining room is to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         205
Floyd ]  Exits: northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't drive the car onto the sidewalk.  Well, you shouldn't, at
Floyd | least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         206
Floyd ]  Exits: northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             207
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a small security camera mounted in the corner of the
Floyd | ceiling, and a thin black wire running from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 208
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeeze bag on office door" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 209
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BAG ON OFFICE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the office door)
Floyd | You smear a little goo on the door.  Nothing happens.  Apparently it
Floyd | can't burn through artificial wood-veneer.  Go science!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeeze bag on office lock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 210
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BAG ON OFFICE LOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't effectively smear the goo onto the metal bits of the lock;
Floyd | there's not much exposed.  You might have better luck if you could
Floyd | somehow get the goo into the keyhole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 211
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |   a Ziploc bag (closed)
Floyd |     some acidic goo
Floyd |   a clunky old computer monitor
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   some Breaking Bad DVDs
Floyd |   a flashlight (providing light)
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   some cans of near-food
Floyd |   some greasy sheets of wax paper
Floyd |   a hooded robe
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeeze bag in lock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 212
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BAG IN LOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to put the corner of the Ziploc bag into the keyhole.  It's
Floyd | in fairly deep.
Floyd |
Floyd | You inject some of the purple goo directly into the office door lock.
Floyd | Immediately, an acrid smoke begins to waft from the door.  You can
Floyd | hear the lock mechanism sizzling as it corrodes.  When you withdraw
Floyd | the bag, there's a jagged hole where the lock used to be.  The bag
Floyd | itself becomes snagged in the molten metal and rips apart, so you
Floyd | throw it away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, so we have a metal melter."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Woo!"
		Zach says, "Yay!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 213
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  214
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | This is one of those miserable windowless back rooms you find in a
Floyd | restaurant or retail shop.  You can imagine the kind of boss who might
Floyd | lair here.  He's got a mustache, maybe a hairpiece too, and wears a
Floyd | wide, earth-toned tie.  He smokes, probably cheap cigars.  He's loud
Floyd | and abusive to his employees.  As the place is not in use, he's not
Floyd | actually here, but his presence lingers nonetheless.
Floyd |
Floyd | The office door leads back out east into the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting on a desk is a small, boxy security system.  It seems to be
Floyd | lacking a monitor; in its place is a post-it note.  A thin wire leads
Floyd | out of it and up through a hole near the ceiling.  There's also a
Floyd | printer attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "All greased up and nowhere to go"
		DavidW says, "drat. I was too late yet again."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  215
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: "Fixing the monitor.  Sorry! -- Jeff".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put monitor on desk" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  216
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MONITOR ON DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the clunky old computer monitor on the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hook up monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  216
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > HOOK UP MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to hook up the clunky old computer monitor to?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "wire" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  217
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hook up monitor to wire" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  218
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > HOOK UP MONITOR TO WIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hook up monitor to printer" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  219
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > HOOK UP MONITOR TO PRINTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You hook up the monitor to the security system and power it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  220
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The system is composed of a central unit, probably some sort of
Floyd | internal storage for the feed.  There are also several controls, the
Floyd | most interesting of which are the rewind button and the print button.
Floyd | There's also an ancient printer attached.  The display is small and
Floyd | not exactly crisp.  It's currently showing the empty and static dining
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | The charge on the flashlight gives out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You were right about needing the bookstore monitor. Good call, that."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Need all the things!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "rewind" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  221
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > REWIND
Floyd |
Floyd | You rewind the feed.  It's impossible to tell that anything is
Floyd | happening, as there is no activity on the screen whatsoever.  Then all
Floyd | of a sudden, someone emerges from the bathroom, walking backwards with
Floyd | her back to you.  Oh, right, rewinding.  It's a young woman, wearing a
Floyd | crazily oversized coat with all manner of crap protruding from the
Floyd | pockets, to the point where it's a wonder that she can even move.  In
Floyd | one hand she has the Heart of Something; in the other she has a
Floyd | sandwich.  Oh.  Sorry, Walter.
Floyd |
Floyd | The reverse feed continues, with nothing happening for a minute or
Floyd | two.  Then you see the young woman once again.  She holds a rag in one
Floyd | hand, and tiptoes backward towards the bathroom, this time with her
Floyd | face to the camera.  You pause the image.  She's got medium-length
Floyd | dark hair, a little frizzy.  Freckles, maybe.  Looks a little like
Floyd | Alia Shawkat.  It's obviously not really her, but still.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait, this woman is totally familiar.  Who is she?  You've definitely
Floyd | seen her.  Think, man, think!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  222
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You focus on the young woman.  Who is she?  Did you go to school with
Floyd | her, maybe?  Meet her at a party?  You close your eyes for a moment.
Floyd | You see her, next to you, somewhere.  You try to visualize talking to
Floyd | her, but can't.  A-ha!  She was eating at the goddamned bacon booth at
Floyd | the state fair, with you and Sam.  Sam knew her.  In fact, she gave
Floyd | something to Sam: a hairclip or something.  Finally, a lucky break!
Floyd | All you have to do now is ask your ex-girlfriend, with whom you had a
Floyd | messy breakup, to help you.  That should work out great.  Sam lives to
Floyd | the north of the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "press print" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  223
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PRESS PRINT
Floyd |
Floyd | The printer fires up with a grating whirr.  After an interminable
Floyd | staccato dance of feeding and adjusting, it begins printing, and spits
Floyd | out an image of the young woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Who or what is an Alia Shakwat?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Shawkat, rather."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh. Arrested Development."
		genericgeekgirl shrugs.
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take image" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  224
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE IMAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't know her, but I assume someone famous? ('Famous' doesn't mean what it used to.)"
		genericgeekgirl says, "An actress, apparently."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I thought the wrapper would be enough, but I do wanna see what happens with Sam :D"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf34" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Office                                                  224
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg goes home. 		genericgeekgirl asks, "Onward?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  225
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | This is one of those miserable windowless back rooms you find in a
Floyd | restaurant or retail shop.  You can imagine the kind of boss who might
Floyd | lair here.  He's got a mustache, maybe a hairpiece too, and wears a
Floyd | wide, earth-toned tie.  He smokes, probably cheap cigars.  He's loud
Floyd | and abusive to his employees.  As the place is not in use, he's not
Floyd | actually here, but his presence lingers nonetheless.
Floyd |
Floyd | The office door leads back out east into the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting on a desk is a small, boxy security system.  It displays the
Floyd | dining room in blurry black and white.  A thin wire leads out of it
Floyd | and up through a hole near the ceiling.  There's also a printer
Floyd | attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "yup yup"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "rewind" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  226
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > REWIND
Floyd |
Floyd | You rewind the feed once more.  There's the young woman, stealing the
Floyd | Heart, after having knocked out Walter.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recall seeing the young woman at the State Fair, chatting with
Floyd | Sam.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "rewind" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  227
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > REWIND
Floyd |
Floyd | You rewind the feed once more.  There's the young woman, stealing the
Floyd | Heart, after having knocked out Walter.
Floyd |
Floyd | You recall seeing the young woman at the State Fair, chatting with
Floyd | Sam.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "I thought there might be something fun."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  228
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 229
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  230
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is where all the food would be stored, if the bistro were open
Floyd | and functioning.  There's a big fridge in the corner and many dusty
Floyd | shelves along the walls.  A wooden stair leads down to the basement,
Floyd | and a doorway leads north to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dusty shelves are some pizza boxes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 229
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             230
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a small security camera mounted in the corner of the
Floyd | ceiling, and a thin black wire running from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "nf" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             230
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > NF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         231
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  Your cult's
Floyd | bookstore is located a few miles to the west, Carver's Cave is to the
Floyd | northeast, and there's an alleyway to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sam's place is to the north, and the dining room is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         232
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You think about hoofing it all the way to Hague Avenue, but realize
Floyd | that it will take too much time.  You'd better drive there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         233
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            234
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hague Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're outside your ex-girlfriend's place.  She lives on a quiet,

		DavidW says, "And she stole our sandwich! Don't gloss over that, game."

Floyd | leafy side street, in a ground-floor apartment.  You haven't been here
Floyd | or talked to her since the breakup a few weeks ago.  You can head back
Floyd | to the bistro to the south, or the bookshop to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Sam's front door.  There's a prominent doorbell next
Floyd | to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Bitch is going down!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ring bell" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            235
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > RING BELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't reach the doorbell from inside your car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "exit car" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            235
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXIT CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            236
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ring bell" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            237
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > RING BELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You ring the bell.  You hear footsteps, and then she appears at the
Floyd | door: Samiira Abdi, your girlfriend up until a few weeks ago.  She was
Floyd | a really great catch, you recall with a sigh.  Tall and lanky, smart,
Floyd | pretty with a distinctive East African nose, and for a couple of
Floyd | years, she skated with the Minnesota RollerGirls under the name Somali
Floyd | Hatchet, which is just impossibly sexy.  Right now, she's sporting a
Floyd | look you've never seen outside of old family photos: a hijab.  She
Floyd | doesn't seem all that thrilled to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Barry," she says, affectlessly.  "What are you doing here?" --
Floyd | she stops and sniffs for a moment -- "Besides wearing a pizza?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could ask her about how she's doing or the hijab.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x samiira" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            238
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SAMIIRA
Floyd |
Floyd | Samiira Abdi, your girlfriend up until a few weeks ago.  She was a
Floyd | really great catch, you recall with a sigh.  Tall and lanky, smart,
Floyd | pretty with a distinctive East African nose, and for a couple of
Floyd | years, she skated with the Minnesota RollerGirls under the name Somali
Floyd | Hatchet, which is just impossibly sexy.  Right now, she's sporting a
Floyd | look you've never seen outside of old family photos: a hijab.  She
Floyd | doesn't seem all that thrilled to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x hijab" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            239
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X HIJAB
Floyd |
Floyd | It's rather shocking to see her in it.  She is not what you'd call a
Floyd | practicing Muslim, which, improbably, is at least part of the reason
Floyd | why you're not together anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask how she's doing" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            239
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK HOW SHE'S DOING
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask her about her" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            240
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK HER ABOUT HER
Floyd |
Floyd | You pause awkwardly.  "So, how have you been?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm OK.  Work's been decent."  Another pause.  "I'm seeing someone,
Floyd | you know."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the hijab or seeing someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask her about hijab" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            241
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK HER ABOUT HIJAB
Floyd |
Floyd | You point to the hijab.  "So what's the deal with --"
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father is coming over later," she says, her accent suddenly
Floyd | growing stronger.  "I thought maybe you were him.  I mean, he knows I
Floyd | don't wear it all the time, or ever, I guess, but it makes things
Floyd | easier when he's around."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about seeing someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "We shouldn't. But we're going to."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask about seeing someone" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            242
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK ABOUT SEEING SOMEONE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Already?" you say.  "That was pretty qui-- oh God, it isn't the same
Floyd | guy from your office party?"
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks down for a second.  "Yes, him.  Charles.  Is his name."
Floyd |
Floyd | You already knew his name.  A few weeks ago, you arrived unannounced
Floyd | at Sam's office party.  You found her in a supply room, drunk, blouse
Floyd | unbuttoned, with this Charles person.  That was the beginning of the
Floyd | end.
Floyd |
Floyd | No, that was the end of the end.  The beginning of the end was when
Floyd | you did the same thing to her a couple of months before.  You are a
Floyd | giant idiot.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the young woman or Uma.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Yeah we are."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Uma??"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask about uma" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            243
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK ABOUT UMA
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to lighten the mood.  "Hey, how's Uma's leg doing?  She still
Floyd | hobbling around?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Uma is Sam's cat, and the reason you two got together.  Sam brought
Floyd | her in one night with physalopterosis on one of your first shifts
Floyd | assisting at the U Clinic, and you got to talking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh my God, that dummy is killing me," she says.  "Every five
Floyd | minutes she cries to have me lift her up on the bed, and then three
Floyd | seconds later she is crying to get back down."  You shake your head in
Floyd | sympathy.  Cats.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the young woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask about woman" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            244
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK ABOUT WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look, Sam, I'm sorry to ask you like this, but it's super-important:
Floyd | do you remember at the state fair, there was this one woman you were
Floyd | talking to when we were at the bacon booth?  Someone you worked with,
Floyd | maybe?  She gave you something, like a hairclip.  Do you still have
Floyd | it, you think?  I am really sorry to be bugging you about this, but
Floyd | believe me when I say it's a matter of life and death."
Floyd |
Floyd | Sam thinks for a moment.  "Her name was Leah Weinstein or Weinberg or
Floyd | something.  She worked at the office for a couple of days then quit.
Floyd | She offered me the hairclip when I said we were going on the Crazy
Floyd | Mouse and my hair kept getting in my face.  She must have forgotten
Floyd | about it, and so did I.  Why do you need it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You could tell her about some cockamamie story or the spell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Obviously, we were *supposed* to visit Jeff before visiting Sam."
		genericgeekgirl says, "We couldn't have gotten here without the monitor, so.. yes."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Story or truth?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh, this is the Sam who owns the DVDs."
		DavidW says, "We saved. Choose whichever."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "tell story" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            244
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TELL STORY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "tell her about story" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            245
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TELL HER ABOUT STORY
Floyd |
Floyd | Quick, come up with something!  "Um, yeah, Leah works at the
Floyd | restaurant now.  Or she will, you know, when it opens.  So she needs
Floyd | her hairclip back."  Sam stares at you, her arms crossed.  I don't
Floyd | think she's buying it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could tell her about the spell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "tell her about spell" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            246
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TELL HER ABOUT SPELL
Floyd |
Floyd | "OK," -- you clear your throat -- "I need to track her down because
Floyd | she stole a valuable relic that is going to prevent my cult from
Floyd | channeling an Old One's essence into my uncle.  Personally, I don't
Floyd | care, but I guess it's an important religious thing, and he's going to
Floyd | be pissed if we don't get it back.  The hairclip is a component in a
Floyd | magic spell to find her."
Floyd |
Floyd | She smirks.  "Yeah, OK, that sounds perfectly reasonable.  Is there a
Floyd | voodoo doll involved?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, just a picture.  Do you have the clip?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe.  Wait here," she says, and heads inside.  She returns a few
Floyd | moments later with a small tortoise-shell-colored hairclip.  "I think
Floyd | this is it," she says, and starts to hand it to you.  Then she quickly
Floyd | withdraws it.  "You really need this?  What, are you dating this girl
Floyd | now?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, I really do, and no, I am not.  I never met her."
Floyd |
Floyd | She's about to give you the clip when she pauses again.  "Hey, you
Floyd | still have my Breaking Bad DVDs, don't you?  I think before you
Floyd | destroy the world you ought to give me back my discs."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the Breaking Bad DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask her about dvds" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            247
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK HER ABOUT DVDS
Floyd |
Floyd | (Sam about the Breaking Bad DVDs)
Floyd | "I could've sworn I returned those to you," you say.  "You sure I have
Floyd | them?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nice try, Barry.  You're holding them."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could give Sam the DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Hahahahaha."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give sam the dvds" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            248
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE SAM THE DVDS
Floyd |
Floyd | She takes custody of the discs and finally relents, handing over the
Floyd | clip.  "Have fun drowning the world in blood.  It was good to see you,
Floyd | Barry."  With that, she retreats into her apartment and closes the
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x clip" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            249
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | It's one of those little hinged plastic hair clippie things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "wear clip" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            250
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > WEAR CLIP
Floyd |
Floyd | It would probably look quite fetching, but your hair is too short to
Floyd | make good use of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hee hee"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf35" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            250
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            251
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            252
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Hague Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're outside your ex-girlfriend's place.  She lives on a quiet,
Floyd | leafy side street, in a ground-floor apartment.  You haven't been here
Floyd | or talked to her since the breakup a few weeks ago.  You can head back
Floyd | to the bistro to the south, or the bookshop to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Sam's front door.  There's a prominent doorbell next
Floyd | to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        253
Floyd ]  Exits: north northeast east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleveland Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Cleveland Avenue outside a magic shop affiliated with your
Floyd | cult, wedged between an insurance agent and a Subway.  A faded sign
Floyd | above the nondescript entrance to the north reads "Unspeakable Books
Floyd | and Gifts."  A placard indicates that the shop is closed, but you can
Floyd | see that the lights are on.  The bistro and Randolph Avenue are back
Floyd | to the east.  Sam's apartment is to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standing out front is a sandwich board advertising an improbable and
Floyd | already completed Back to School sale.  Or I should say, "B4ck to Scho
Floyd | l."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        254
Floyd ]  Exits: north northeast east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter shop" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             255
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SHOP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Jeff here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give clip to jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             256
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE CLIP TO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand it over.  "Alright, cool.  Now we just need a picture of
Floyd | her."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give photo go jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             256
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE PHOTO GO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give photo to jeff" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE PHOTO TO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sweet!" says Jeff.  "Alright, dude.  Showtime."  He gathers up some
Floyd | crap from behind the counter and leads you downstairs, to the shrine
Floyd | of Great Cthulhu, peace be upon him.  Jeff starts by drawing a
Floyd | trapezoid on the wood floor with a piece of chalk.  "Hey, better get
Floyd | your robe on," he says.  "Make this all official-like.  I think the
Floyd | big guys like it when we're dressed for the part."  Seems reasonable,
Floyd | so you comply.  "Sit on this side," he says, pointing to the wide end;
Floyd | he himself sits at the narrow end.  OK, yeah, this is starting to come
Floyd | back to you now.  He scrawls out an Elder Sign in the middle, and then
Floyd | lights a candle on either side of you.  He dips into a bag of, well,
Floyd | it looks like red sand, but is probably something like granulated
Floyd | Shoggoth nightmares.  Wait, no -- the bag is from Petco.  Anyway, he
Floyd | sprinkles that around a bit, then places the printout of the woman and
Floyd | her hairclip in the center, on top of the sign.  He grabs your hands
Floyd | and closes his eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "OK, so now repeat after me:  Ehye f'geb Tsathoggua wgah'n
Floyd | k'yarnak gof'nn..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I forget Tsathoggua vogon kayak golfing..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This goes on for much longer than you were hoping.  Finally Jeff
Floyd | yells, "Iä! Iä!"  The sand begins to swirl around until it resolves
Floyd | into the form of a street map.  Wow, this is pretty bitchin'.  You can
Floyd | feel power flowing through you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Barry, get ready!  Watch for the spark!"  At this, the image and the
Floyd | hairclip are consumed in brilliant green flames, accompanied by thick
Floyd | smoke.  The fumes begin to sting your eyes and nose.  You're tearing
Floyd | up, and you feel an insistent itch in your nasal passages.  A sneeze
Floyd | is coming on.  Hastur's hot hole, not now!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Hastur's hot hole!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "do not sneeze" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DO NOT SNEEZE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf36" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeeze nose" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sneeze" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SNEEZE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's what you're trying to avoid.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | brushing up against your lowered hood, and then propels forward.  A
Floyd | one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air and snot launches itself from
Floyd | your nostrils.  With nothing to stop it, or even blunt it, the sneeze
Floyd | scatters the colored sand everywhere.  A tiny spark from the green
Floyd | flames shoots like a meteor and lands on the now-bare floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff shakes his head.  Well, that's that, I guess.  You're never going
Floyd | to find another item of hers to use in the spell, at least not in
Floyd | time.  But on the bright side, you'll get to the meet the Old Ones,
Floyd | after Stu gets a hold of you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** It's not the end of the world, despite your best
Floyd | efforts ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      257
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "wear hood" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | With your hands unavailable, you grab an edge of the hood with your
Floyd | teeth and make an exaggerated jerking motion with your head.  The hood
Floyd | flops up over your face.  Good enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | and then propels forward.  A one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air
Floyd | and snot launches itself from your nostrils.  Fortunately, the droopy
Floyd | oversized hood catches most of the impact.  The sand is still more or
Floyd | less intact, and you've miraculously managed to keep hold of Jeff's
Floyd | hands as well.  A tiny spark from the green flame shoots like a meteor
Floyd | and lands on the sand-map.  Jeff, wiping a little snot from his face,
Floyd | peers closely at it.  The spark is on the south side of Summit Avenue,
Floyd | between Hamline and Syndicate.  That's where she is.  Her house,
Floyd | maybe?  Is she super-rich or something?
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		Zach says, "Yay"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf37" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    258
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | OK, so this is what's at Summit and Syndicate.  You're
Floyd | standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven by
Floyd | eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue, I
Floyd | guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd | That's odd.  I guess something important must be going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    258
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > CF37
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Huh, I didn't mean to do that. Muscle memory."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Meant to type space :)"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x police" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    259
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POLICE
Floyd |
Floyd | They seem to be just standing there, occasionally smiling and saying
Floyd | hello to people as they walk in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, ">take groceries from people"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take groceries" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    259
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE GROCERIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x people" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PEOPLE
Floyd |
Floyd | People of various sizes and ages, most of them dressed semi-formally,
Floyd | converging on the synagogue.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x volunteer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    261
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VOLUNTEER
Floyd |
Floyd | She's wearing a blue vest, designating her as an official person of
Floyd | some kind.  From time to time, you can see people walk up and hand her
Floyd | a brown grocery bag full of canned goods.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a clunk and a "D'oh!"  Someone's bag has ripped, and cans of
Floyd | food are rolling down the sidewalk.  The unfortunate person and the
Floyd | volunteer scramble to catch them and toss them into other
Floyd | not-quite-as-full bags sitting in the van.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take cans" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE CANS
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have those.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    263
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   some cans of near-food
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh, right."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x van" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    264
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VAN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's sitting there with its side door open.  There are a few dozen
Floyd | bags inside, and you can also see a jacket or hoodie wadded up next to
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x jacket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    265
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X JACKET
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a dark green jacket, probably belonging to the volunteer.  It
Floyd | looks like a small piece of paper is poking out of a pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x paper" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    266
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Hard to see from here, and it will look wicked suspicious to get much
Floyd | closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    267
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, maybe there's a food drive?"
		DavidW asks, "We can donate our near-food and get in, maybe?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give cans to woman" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    268
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE CANS TO WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You approach the volunteer and she looks up at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The volunteer seems grateful, but demurs.  "Do you have a bag, maybe?
Floyd | It's a bit clumsy like this.  I bet you could grab a bag at
Floyd | Kowalski's."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter supermarket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    268
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SUPERMARKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    269
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Every indication is that this Leah person is inside the synagogue.
Floyd | You should start there.  You can go to the supermarket and get some
Floyd | Ho-Hos after Stu has become chaos incarnate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter synagogue" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   270
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SYNAGOGUE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | This is the main entrance of the synagogue.  Directly in front of you,
Floyd | blocking access to what appears to be a fairly cushy lounge area, is a
Floyd | long folding table.  Mounted on the wall to your right you can see a
Floyd | small wooden bin and a large wooden rack.  The main sanctuary appears
Floyd | to be to the west, and you can exit to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting behind the table is an elderly woman.  She seems to be taking
Floyd | tickets from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x woman" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   271
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | She's got busybody written all over her.  She's relishing her
Floyd | authority, tiny though it may be.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x tickets" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   272
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TICKETS
Floyd |
Floyd | They're little rectangles of cardstock being handed to the elderly
Floyd | woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Steal the volunteer's ticket?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to woman" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   273
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome to Mount Zion," she says.  "Ticket, please."
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait, what?  Ticket?  You have to pay to worship?  "Um, how much are
Floyd | they?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They're not for sale.  They're sent out to members of the synagogue.
Floyd | Space is at a premium during the High Holy Days, you know."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, yeah, sure.  I'm actually a member; I just forgot my ticket."
Floyd |
Floyd | Great.  With all the police around, breaking or sneaking in does not
Floyd | seem to be an option.  Better obtain a ticket somehow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   274
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Ho-hos? After all this work, I think we're owed at least a burrito."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Or a Subway sandwich."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   275
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sir, I need to see a ticket before you can go in," she says flatly.
Floyd | You notice the police are starting to look over in your direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    276
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take jacket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    277
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE JACKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't need a woman's jacket, and also, the volunteer is standing
Floyd | right there.  But the small piece of paper poking out looks
Floyd | intriguing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take paper" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    278
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | The volunteer is standing right there.  Maybe if she were distracted,
Floyd | and you were quick enough, you might be able to snag it, but not now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drop cans" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    279
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > DROP CANS
Floyd |
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    278
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "throw cans" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    279
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > THROW CANS
Floyd |
Floyd | You throw the cans of near-food a short distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    278
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    279
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "squeeze blood on lady" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    279
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BLOOD ON LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Hee"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x bag" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    279
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to Zach), "ew"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    280
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd | You think about hoofing it all the way to Randolph Avenue, but realize
Floyd | that it will take too much time.  You'd better drive there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   281
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | This is the main entrance of the synagogue.  Directly in front of you,
Floyd | blocking access to what appears to be a fairly cushy lounge area, is a
Floyd | long folding table.  Mounted on the wall to your right you can see a
Floyd | small wooden bin and a large wooden rack.  The main sanctuary appears
Floyd | to be to the west, and you can exit to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting behind the table is an elderly woman.  She seems to be taking
Floyd | tickets from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x bin" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   282
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a small box mounted on the wall, which contains dozens of little
Floyd | black cloth circles.  Ohhhhh.  These are the, whatchacallit, beanies
Floyd | that Jews wear.  Most people seem to have brought their own, but every
Floyd | so often someone picks one out of the box and puts it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x rack" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   283
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RACK
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks vaguely like a towel rack, and in fact, there are things that
Floyd | look vaguely like towels hanging from it.  OK, not really towels:
Floyd | they're clearly of a thin, smooth and not very absorbent material.
Floyd | Each one has lots of little tassels or fringes on the ends, and
Floyd | there's some Hebrew writing on one of the long sides.  They are
Floyd | however, roughly towel-shaped, and have blue stripes in a very
Floyd | towelish pattern.  I suppose "shawls" is more appropriate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Was hoping for a bag, since it won't let us go to the grocery store."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    284
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             285
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTHEAST  west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Wait."
		DavidW says, "I suppose the paper in the jacket is the ticket we want."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "That didn't work earlier, right?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Yes."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I'm trying to get it."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Didn't it tell me earlier somethign about hohos when I tried to go to the supermarket?"
		genericgeekgirl grump.
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x puddle" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             286
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTHEAST  west
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PUDDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not Superfund-dirty, but it's nothing you want to drink.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  287
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kowalski's Supermarket
Floyd | This is Kowalski's, a Twin Cities chain of high-falutin supermarkets.
Floyd | Everywhere you look, there is food stacked floor to ceiling, and all
Floyd | of it looks good.  You're near the produce, which is attractively lit
Floyd | with special tinted lights, so that the greens and reds are deeper and
Floyd | more alluring.  There's a display of doughnuts in front of you, and by
Floyd | the registers you can see racks of candy bars, chips, cookies, and all
Floyd | sorts of horrible/delicious snacks.  You desperately want them all.
Floyd | Fortunately for you, the bakery and deli sections are on the far end
Floyd | of the store, so that you can't smell them from here.  You can exit to
Floyd | the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Each register has a stack of paper bags.  You can probably take one
Floyd | without opposition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take bag" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  288
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a bag, and and you didn't even purchase anything!  You're now
Floyd | part of the criminal element, I guess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put cans in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  289
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT CANS IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Kowalski's bag)
Floyd | You put the cans of near-food into the Kowalski's bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  290
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             291
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Yeah, it did."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put bag in puddle" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             292
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN PUDDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You dip the bag into the puddle.  It's now somewhat weakened, so you
Floyd | hold it from the bottom, to keep it from falling apart completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Muhahaha."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    293
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give bag to volunteer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    294
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE BAG TO VOLUNTEER
Floyd |
Floyd | You approach the volunteer and she looks up at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand the bag over to the volunteer.  She grabs it by the handles
Floyd | and turns around, when suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the bottom
Floyd | falls out.  Cans spill out and begin rolling down the sidewalk.  She
Floyd | starts chasing after them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take ticket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    295
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | With the volunteer scrambling around grabbing cans, you deftly lift
Floyd | the ticket from her jacket.  You start to feel bad about this, but
Floyd | then comfort yourself with the thought that she's probably been to a
Floyd | zillion of these before.  And she's wearing the blue vest, which is
Floyd | probably a Get Into Yom Kippur Free card anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You make a show of tracking down a can or two, then hand them to her.
Floyd | "Thanks!" she chirps, then resumes her duties.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl dances.
		genericgeekgirl says, "So much better than throwing cans at her :D"
		DavidW says, "I wonder what the puddle is for."
		genericgeekgirl says, "To make the bag rip."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x ticket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    296
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads "Mt. Zion Temple Yom Kippur Afternoon Service."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter synagogue" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   297
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SYNAGOGUE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | This is the main entrance of the synagogue.  Directly in front of you,
Floyd | blocking access to what appears to be a fairly cushy lounge area, is a
Floyd | long folding table.  Mounted on the wall to your right you can see a
Floyd | small wooden bin and a large wooden rack.  The main sanctuary appears
Floyd | to be to the west, and you can exit to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting behind the table is an elderly woman.  She seems to be taking
Floyd | tickets from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give ticket to woman" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               298
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE TICKET TO WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand your ticket to the woman, and she smiles.  "L'shana
Floyd | tovah," she says, whatever that means.  The flow of the crowd
Floyd | whisks you into the sanctuary to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | This is the main sanctuary of the synagogue, decorated in soothing
Floyd | pastels.  The business end is to the south: there's a raised area,
Floyd | with a podium, and behind that, there's a small flame burning adjacent
Floyd | to a small pair of doors set into the south wall.  In front of the
Floyd | raised area there are rows of seats to accommodate the sizable crowd.
Floyd | You came in from the east, and it looks like maybe there's a way out
Floyd | to the south as well.
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah must be somewhere in this crowd.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standing behind the podium is a goateed man wearing white robes,
Floyd | chanting something.  The rabbi, presumably.  Next to him is what
Floyd | appears to be an animal horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, did I miss stuff yet again? drat."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "find leah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               299
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > FIND LEAH
Floyd |
Floyd | You survey the assembled congregants.  Lots of people of all ages,
Floyd | sizes, and unexpectedly, colors.  Many of the boys are wearing the
Floyd | same sad uniform: a button-down shirt, khakis, and sneakers.  Don't
Floyd | kids have suits anymore?  Never mind that.  Focus!  Where is this Leah
Floyd | person?  Better keep searching the crowd.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei-nu, Vei-lo-hei a-vo-tei-nu, v'imo-tei-nu...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               300
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | You continue scanning the crowd for signs of the intrepid pain in the
Floyd | ass who took the Heart.  You don't see her, but you do see a kid
Floyd | reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows instead of his
Floyd | prayer book.  You can only silently salute his forethought.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei Av-ra-ham, E-lo-hei Yitz-chak, Vei-lo-hei
Floyd | Ya-a-kov...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Aww"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               301
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > G
Floyd |
Floyd | Dammit, where is she?  Then, at last, you spot her: she's up very
Floyd | close to the front, near the interior aisle, right in front of
Floyd | everybody.  Of course she is.  As unsuspiciously as you can manage,
Floyd | you thread your way through the crowd to arrive at an open seat just
Floyd | behind hers.  It's her alright -- same height, same build, same
Floyd | freckles, same frizzy hair that you saw on the security system.  You
Floyd | know, in person, she might be kind of cute.  Focus!  Anyway, she looks
Floyd | a little bored with the proceedings, truth to tell.  She's checking
Floyd | her phone from time to time.  She's no longer wearing the enormous
Floyd | many-pocketed trench coat.  She does have a big canvas satchel with
Floyd | her, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei Sa-rah, Eh-lo-hei Riv-kah, Eh-lo-hei Racheil,
Floyd | vei-lo-hei Lei-ah...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x satchel" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               302
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SATCHEL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a big grayish tote bag which reads "Mojo Monkey" on the side.  Oh
Floyd | my God, the apple fritters at Mojo Monkey.  When all this is done, you
Floyd | absolutely need to get over to Mojo's and -- Cthulhu's cthornhole!
Floyd | Stay on target!
Floyd |
Floyd | As you peer into the bag, you see what you can only assume is the
Floyd | Heart.  There's a parcel, about the size of a Chicago softball,
Floyd | wrapped in newspaper, with visible streaks of blood.  It's here with
Floyd | her!  She hasn't had to time to stow it safely anywhere.  Hell, she
Floyd | probably knows that that we're searching for it, and thinks that it's
Floyd | safer with her.  Oh, this is seriously lucky.  Now, perhaps you can
Floyd | ever-so-carefully take it out of the bag without her noticing...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...Ha-eil Ha-Ga-dol Ha-Gi-bor v'Ha-No-rah Eil Eil-yon...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf38" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               302
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Here goes nothin'."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You bend down to pretend to tie your shoes, and checking that the
Floyd | coast is clear, you reach into the bag.  Blindly, you paw around until
Floyd | you can feel the newspaper.  Great Nyarlathotep, it's almost within
Floyd | your grasp.  Just another inch and...
Floyd |
Floyd | Suddenly, there's a scream from the entrance to the sanctuary.  A
Floyd | policeman enters, takes a step, and falls over face-first.  Striding
Floyd | in over him is your Uncle Stu.  Oh no.  He must've found Jeff, who
Floyd | must've spilled the beans.  The rabbi stops his chanting, and everyone
Floyd | turns to Stu in shock and puzzlement.  Stu is changed, and not subtly.
Floyd | He's grown considerably, and his skin, which seems thicker and tougher
Floyd | somehow, is an ashen gray.  The ritual is almost complete.  All he
Floyd | needs now is to consume the Heart.  He raises his meaty fist; in it,
Floyd | you can see a blue crystal.  He intones some words that you can't make
Floyd | out from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear, and then feel, a high-pitched hum: a wave of sickening
Floyd | energy, penetrating your skin, into your bones, into your skull.
Floyd | People all around you begin convulsing in pain.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Yikes."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Still hungry. Think we can eat this thing?"
		Zach says, "Hmm"
		Zach says, "Mmm"
		DavidW asks, "Shouldn't we give the Heart to him? How would it help if we ate it?"
		Zach says, "Help our tummies"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf39" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "eat heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You seize upon an idea: the power can be yours, instead of Stu's.  You
Floyd | take a tentative bite of the Heart, then another.  The blood trickles
Floyd | down your throat, and instantly, you can feel your gnawing hunger
Floyd | abate.  Power courses through you.  As Leah and the other congregants
Floyd | crumple to the floor, you begin to thrum with otherworldly energy.
Floyd | Stu looks up and sees you, sees that you've eaten the Heart.  "No!" he
Floyd | hisses, and leaps toward you in desperation.  You've ascended far
Floyd | beyond the likes of him, though.  You snap his neck with your
Floyd | outstretched talons as easily as you would a breadstick.  You feel an
Floyd | overwhelming surge as your form bursts through the ceiling of the
Floyd | synagogue, and your mind encompasses the stars and the ocean floor.
Floyd | Then a thought occurs to you: wasn't there supposed to be some sort of
Floyd | ritual to prepare for this?  The explosion that tears through you
Floyd | demolishes much of Summit Avenue.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Your hunger is sated ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yay"
		genericgeekgirl om nom nom.
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give heart to stu" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HEART TO STU
Floyd |
Floyd | You make a choice: you are a cultist, dammit.  It's time to show these
Floyd | pinks what's what.  Triumphantly, you hand over the Heart to Uncle
Floyd | Stu.  He's completed every step of the ritual but the last one, and
Floyd | now his journey is complete.  He puts a hand on your shoulder, gives
Floyd | you an exaggerated wink, and tears into the Heart with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious,
Floyd | and you have made it possible.  Iä!  Iä!
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have found religion ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               303
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give heart to leah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               304
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HEART TO LEAH
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah is too busy dying to accept the Heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah doubles over in agony, along with almost everyone in the crowd.
Floyd | Damn, Stu is not the forgiving type.  Well, there's certainly nothing
Floyd | stopping you from reclaiming the Heart now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Aww"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hahahaha, aw"
		DavidW says, "ah. The game's good if either Stu or we eat it."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               304
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You run away, leaving Stu, Leah, and the bleeding congregation behind.
Floyd | Somehow you find your way through a maze of corridors until you're
Floyd | outside.  You don't stop running until you reach your car.  By now you
Floyd | hear sirens coming south down Hamline, but you know it's too late for
Floyd | them, and for anyone.  Stu has the Heart, no thanks to you.  The smart
Floyd | money says that his reign will not be pleasant for you.  Might as well
Floyd | go to the Nepalese place across from Kowalski's.  Yak dumplings make
Floyd | as good a last meal as any.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               304
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               305
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The main entrance to the sanctuary is complete pandemonium.  You'd
Floyd | never get through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blood begins to drip from the rabbi's ears as your uncle invokes the
Floyd | power of the crystal.  You see figures all around the sanctuary
Floyd | dropping to the floor.  "Make it stop," Leah pleads, almost inaudibly
Floyd | over the infernal hum.  She collapses to the ground, twitching, tears
Floyd | and blood streaking down her face.  She looks up and recognizes you.
Floyd | Clearly terrified, she curls up into a tighter ball.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | Almost everyone in the sanctuary, except for you and your uncle, is on
Floyd | the floor writhing, or worse, completely still.  Leah quivers
Floyd | involuntarily, her hands clutched around her ears, her eyes closed
Floyd | tight.  She whispers, perhaps to no one in particular, "Help me!"
Floyd | Alright, Stu, you think.  Point made.  Let's skedaddle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "kill leah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > KILL LEAH
Floyd |
Floyd | You're generally a non-violent person.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "skedaddle" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > SKEDADDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | Pandemonium grips the main sanctuary of the synagogue.  Your Uncle
Floyd | Stu, transformed by the daylong ritual you escaped, clutches a
Floyd | thrumming blue crystal.  The congregants and rabbi convulse in pain,
Floyd | as he shows no signs of letting up.  You came in from the east, and it
Floyd | looks like maybe there's a way out to the south as well.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting next to the podium is what appears to be an animal horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               306
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "blow horn" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > BLOW HORN
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the shofar)
Floyd | You leap over to the podium and grab the horn.  Seized by a sudden
Floyd | flash of insight and pity, you inhale until you're full to bursting,
Floyd | and put the horn to your lips.  You sound a massive, deep blast that
Floyd | reverberates against the walls of the sanctuary.  You keep the blast
Floyd | going, a single piercing note, forcing the air from your lungs until
Floyd | they begin to ache.  You look up, and see the congregation recovering.
Floyd | The horn's blast is drowning out the crystal!  Leah slowly uncurls
Floyd | herself, opens her eyes, and sees you sounding the horn.  She seems
Floyd | oddly calm now, and starts to crawl away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still you blow, your face turning red, then purple, the same note
Floyd | sounding, shaking the very walls of the temple.  You close your eyes
Floyd | as you expel the last bit of air.  Finally, there's a cracking sound,
Floyd | and a pulse of white light.  The crystal shatters.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rabbi stands, a trickle of blood running along his jawline and
Floyd | down his chin.  "Tekiah gedolah!" he shouts, as the other
Floyd | congregants snap out of their fugues.  Suddenly, there's another
Floyd | crack, and your dumbstruck uncle crumples to the ground.  Standing
Floyd | over him is Leah, clutching a Torah in both hands.  Her face is caked
Floyd | with blood, her dress dirty and wrinkled, her mascara running in thick
Floyd | black streaks down her face.  She looks up at you and smiles.  She's
Floyd | the most beautiful woman you've ever seen.  Three Saint Paul policemen
Floyd | burst in with tasers and handcuffs, but frankly, their job has been
Floyd | done for them.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I knew you couldn't be all bad," Leah says, between strained breaths.
Floyd | "You were so gentle with my roommate's beagle when we brought her in
Floyd | with a scratched eye last winter.  It was really sweet."  At this, she
Floyd | throws up.  Still, it's a nice moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		
genericgeekgirl pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               307
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | Como Park
Floyd | One year later.  You stand under the chuppah on a warm summer day in
Floyd | Como Park.  Sailboats and canoes dot the lake in front of you.  The
Floyd | air is filled with bird songs and the scent of flowers.  Leah stands
Floyd | to your right, beaming and crying.  Behind you are several dozen
Floyd | guests.  On her side: her parents, family, and friends.  On yours:
Floyd | Sandy, Jeff, and some of the other guys from the cult.  Yeah, the cult
Floyd | is still operating, but it's pretty mellow now.  Fewer human
Floyd | sacrifices, more pancake breakfasts.  Mostly now it's just a way to
Floyd | feel like you're part of something.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rabbi places his hands upon your heads and intones a final prayer.
Floyd | At your feet is a glass, wrapped in a napkin.  The rabbi points to it
Floyd | and nods.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl squee!
		DavidW says, "oh wow."
		Zach says, "Yay!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "smash glass" 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               307
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > SMASH GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You break the glass (on the second try) and kiss your bride.  The
Floyd | assembled crowd claps and hollers in approval.  Even the winged horror
Floyd | gives a celebratory screech.
Floyd |
Floyd | Let's get to the reception; you're starving.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Mazel tov ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, see some suggestions
Floyd | for AMUSING things to do, QUIT or UNDO the last command?
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "amusing" 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               307
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > AMUSING
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you tried:
Floyd |
Floyd | Consulting the tomes about Arkham, or Cthulhu, or Yuggoth, or
Floyd | Miskatonic U., or other Lovecrafty stuff?
Floyd | Licking the wax paper?  The Baby Ruth wrapper?
Floyd | Kissing Walter?
Floyd | Putting Walter in the oven?
Floyd | Putting the Ziploc bag on Walter?
Floyd | Putting the Breaking Bad DVDs in the security system?
Floyd | Taking Sam's nose?
Floyd | Taking Leah's satchel?
Floyd | Burning anything?
Floyd | Touching the ichor with your bare hand more than once?
Floyd | Wearing the hairclip?
Floyd | Singing while in the synagogue?
Floyd | Greasing someone else?
Floyd | Taking the houses on Randolph Avenue?
Floyd | Filling the glove with water?
Floyd | Swimming in the Mississippi River?
Floyd | Taking the ark of the Torah?
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, see some suggestions
Floyd | for AMUSING things to do, QUIT or UNDO the last command?
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "More like Necro-nom-nom-icon"
		Zach says, "That was pretty good"
Gerynar arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW says, "Unexpectedly happy ending found, yes."
Gerynar has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		McMartin says, "Did you get the Best Ending there? I seem to have been in the wrong room."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Yeah."
		McMartin says, "Hooray"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Anyone want to play around with the amusings, or are we done?"
		DavidW says, "I'm done, I think."



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NightFloyd Transcript:
Dial C for Cupcakes by Ryan Veeer
As played on ifMUD on October 30, 2014

Like ClubFloyd, the idea behind NightFloyd is that a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Unlike ClubFloyd, NightFloyd often takes on significantly larger works of interactive fiction, knowing going in that each one will take multiple sessions (but not always, as you'll see in this transcript). NightFloyd is also a bit more informal than ClubFloyd in that it's only announced on the ifMUD #clubfloyd bulletin board, and the time shifts around to meet player's schedules far more than ClubFloyd does. NightFloyd is organized by genericgeekgirl, aka Adri.

Below is a transcript of Dial C for Cupcakes written by Ryan Veeder. Dial C for Cupcakes is the sequel to Taco Fiction. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask dialcforcupcakes" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |                                       [press any key]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     RYAN VEEDER

		Zach says, "Oh no, scary games"
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | RYAN VEEDER        IN ASSOCIATION WITH INFORM 7 BUILD 6L02
Floyd | (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N) SD

		ghostghostghost oooOooooOoo0000ooo
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | (I6/v6.33 lib 6/12N) SD            PRESENTS

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |                DIAL C
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |                     FOR CUPCAKES

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd |                     FOR CUPCAKES
Floyd | Squiggles 'N Dots
Floyd | You pull on the front door to make sure it's locked, and then you make
Floyd | your way over to your car.
Floyd |
Floyd | Working for Claire is fun, some of the time, but it's definitely not
Floyd | where you thought you'd be at this point in your life.
Floyd | Retail.
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're not sure how you feel about the place's whole aesthetic:
Floyd | the hot pink bike rack, the preponderance of sock monkeys in the
Floyd | window, that slogan on the sign above the entrance. Sometimes it seems
Floyd | like a bit much. Still, it's better than no job at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob lives on this side of town, maybe east or maybe south of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into your car and turn the ignition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost swears, just a little at the intro.
Zach says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ABOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Hi! Thanks for playing this game! I hope you're enjoying it.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you have any desire to contact me about this game, I would
Floyd | encourage you to indulge that desire by hitting me up via email
Floyd | (rcveeder@me.com) or via Twitter (@rcveeder).
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks to my beta testers: Emily Boegheim, Toby Fox, Hamish, Jenni
Floyd | Polodna, Fred Snyder, and I think also Zach.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some cupcake names were supplied by my brother Sean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Okay that's it. Have fun!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You catch your reflection in the rear view mirror, and it occurs to
Floyd | you that a year ago, you were a year younger than you are right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Squiggles 'N Dots
Floyd | Working for Claire is fun, some of the time, but it's definitely not
Floyd | where you thought you'd be at this point in your life.
Floyd | Retail.
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're not sure how you feel about the place's whole aesthetic:
Floyd | the hot pink bike rack, the preponderance of sock monkeys in the
Floyd | window, that slogan on the sign above the entrance. Sometimes it seems
Floyd | like a bit much. Still, it's better than no job at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob lives on this side of town, maybe east or maybe south of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
jenrexrode arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x rack" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X RACK
Floyd |
Floyd | It began its life here as a glittery hot pink bike rack, but the
Floyd | glitter washed away pretty fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Lies. Glitter is forever."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x monkeys" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MONKEYS
Floyd |
Floyd | Claire went on a sock monkey binge in September. When she got tired of
Floyd | classic Rockford Red Heels she started making cheap tube sock monkeys,
Floyd | argyle sock monkeys, and finally a rainbow sock monkey. Then she
Floyd | realized she was running out of socks.
Floyd |
Floyd | A couple of them are wearing costumes—a witch's hat, a handkerchief
Floyd | with eyeholes cut out—but it's hard to find accessories sized for
Floyd | sock
Floyd | monkeys.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take monkey" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE MONKEY
Floyd |
Floyd | From inside the car, the most you can do is look at the preponderance
Floyd | of sock monkeys.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x slogan" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SLOGAN
Floyd |
Floyd | At the top, in a loopy but basically readable font, the sign says
Floyd | "Squiggles 'N Dots". And underneath that, it says: "That's what we
Floyd | gots!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Really, you mostly sell porcelain figurines and greeting cards.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | This Versa hatchback is an artifact of a period when everything was
Floyd | going in a different direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the passenger seat next to you is an orange piece of paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x paper" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You know what it says: It's an invitation from Claire to her goofy
Floyd | costume party. You get enough of Claire every day at work.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Where are the cupcakes!?"
		ghostghostghost says, "Party!"
		ghostghostghost asks, "Hopefully at the party?"
		Zach says, "Yay"
		Zach asks, "Who is Bob?"
		ghostghostghost says, "Curious if we can leave the car at this point."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | The shop is locked up and everything. Time to get going.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Nope."
		Zach asks, "Drive?"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "drive" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                    Squiggles 'N Dots, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You're almost certain Bob's house is either east or south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                  Alternative Medicine, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alternative Medicine
Floyd | This used to be the Ram's Head Tavern, but now it's under new
Floyd | management, and they're calling it "Alternative Medicine". You haven't
Floyd | been back since.
Floyd |
Floyd | The gift shop is back west; Bob's place is either south or east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]                  Alternative Medicine, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As much as you could probably use a drink, you told Bob you'd meet up
Floyd | with him right after work. Maybe he'll want to go out afterward.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                     Police Station, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Police Station
Floyd | Oh no. You should probably turn around.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is where you and Bob used to work, up until about a year ago. A
Floyd | year and two months.
Floyd |
Floyd | You seriously should head back west before anyone sees you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Ah."
		Zach asks, "Eek, are we MURDERER!?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]                     Police Station, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You really do not want to get out of the car here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                     Police Station, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The way you want to go is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                  Alternative Medicine, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alternative Medicine
Floyd | This used to be the Ram's Head Tavern, but now it's under new
Floyd | management, and they're calling it "Alternative Medicine". You haven't
Floyd | been back since.
Floyd |
Floyd | The gift shop is west, and the police station is east, so Bob's place
Floyd | must be south from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Sugar,, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sugar,
Floyd | Is that sign finished? Shouldn't they have put up more words?
Floyd |
Floyd | But the place is clearly open for business, since there's a line out
Floyd | the door. And the people walking out, the people who aren't carrying
Floyd | boxes of various sizes, are eating cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roads from the north, east, south, and west converge here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]                         Sugar,, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You could stop here and pick up a couple cupcakes to share with Bob,
Floyd | but it looks like you'd be waiting in line for an hour first, which
Floyd | isn't really an option.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                   Abandoned Building, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Building
Floyd | There used to be this really great taqueria here. You and Bob ate
Floyd | there all the time. It was fantastic. But then it got shut down, and
Floyd | you and Bob got indicted, and now you work at a place called Squiggles
Floyd | and Dots—Squiggles—and Bob is doing who knows what, and
Floyd | there
Floyd | are no tacos anymore.
Floyd |
Floyd | That cupcake place is north of here, so Bob's place must be either
Floyd | east or west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                     Get Your Licks, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Get Your Licks
Floyd | This is that cutesy ice cream place, with the lace curtains and the
Floyd | snotty Egyptian girl running it. Or, she used to. You and Bob agreed
Floyd | to boycott the place right before you lost your jobs, and if the lady
Floyd | had up and left town at some point, you wouldn't know either way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The place seems to be doing pretty good business nonetheless.
Floyd |
Floyd | You remember the hospital is north from here, so Bob's place must be
Floyd | over to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                   Abandoned Building, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Abandoned Building
Floyd | There used to be this really great taqueria here. You and Bob ate
Floyd | there all the time. It was fantastic.
Floyd |
Floyd | That cupcake place is north of here, and the ice cream parlor is east,
Floyd | so Bob's place must be further west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Bob's, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob's
Floyd | Oh, here we are!
Floyd |
Floyd | This is Bob's street, and there's Bob's house. And there in the
Floyd | doorway, as though he's been creepily waiting there for a while, is
Floyd | Bob, waving at you to come inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]                          Bob's, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You park on the street and pull yourself out of the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost run away.
Zach says (to Floyd), "bob, stop creeping" 		

Floyd ]                          Bob's, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BOB, STOP CREEPING
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks like he'd rather you came inside first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Eek"
		ghostghostghost says, "Hahahaha."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "bob, hello" 		

Floyd ]                          Bob's, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BOB, HELLO
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks like he'd rather you came inside first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "inside" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | You ascend the steps to Bob's front door, and he hastily ushers you
Floyd | inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | Get ready to Press Any Key To Continue a few times.

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd | Get ready to Press Any Key To Continue a few times.Bob indulges you in
Floyd | a quick hug before he demands that you sit down.
Floyd |
Floyd | You lean across the coffee table toward him, hands clasped. "So, how
Floyd | have you been?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He stares back at you, frustrated and helpless. Without his mustache,
Floyd | he looks like a very weary teenager.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Rae, we know each other, right? We cracked skulls together, side by
Floyd | side, for how many years. We don't need to go through this nicey-nice
Floyd | 'how's your folks' stuff."
Floyd |
Floyd | You roll your eyes and lean back. "Sheesh, Bob, I just wanted to know
Floyd | whether you're miserable or not. Sorry I had to be so polite about
Floyd | it."

		ghostghostghost says, "Oh. So we *are* the cops. Ok."
		ghostghostghost asks, "Have you played Taco Fiction?"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		ghostghostghost says, "This is kind of a sequel."
		Olly says, "We aren't the cops anymore."
		Zach says, "Ah"
		Zach says, "Right, Bob had to turn in his gun, badge, and mustache."
		ghostghostghost says (to Olly), "Yeah, that."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "Bob, tell me about misery" 		

Floyd | it.""I forgive you. I have in fact been pretty miserable, actually,
Floyd | and I'm gonna tell you all about it. You notice that I'm not asking
Floyd | you in return how you've been doing, because I wanna keep this quick,
Floyd | and furthermore I know all about how you've been doing—and the
Floyd | reason
Floyd | for that, is, tied in with the other stuff I'm gonna tell you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "And I'm gonna tell the story in order, so you'll have to wait until I
Floyd | get to that part. The first thing you gotta know is that I've been
Floyd | working security up at Sugar Comma."

		ghostghostghost says, "That was entirely coincidental :)"
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | working security up at Sugar Comma.""What's that?"

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | working security up at Sugar Comma.""What's that?""Rae. Are you gonna
Floyd | interrupt me all the way through this story."

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | interrupt me all the way through this story.""I don't know what Sugar
Floyd | Comma is! I can't understand the story if I don't have the basic
Floyd | context!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob wrinkles his nose. "Fair enough. All right, so Sugar Comma is this
Floyd | cupcake place that just—"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh! And the sign just says 'Sugar' with a comma—"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes! See, you do have the basic context! Can I tell my story
Floyd | now? The story that is the reason that I asked you to come here in the
Floyd | first place?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Go ahead."

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Go ahead.""Thank you."

		
ghostghostghost pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | "Yeah, yeah, sorry. Go ahead.""Thank you."## Security Office
Floyd | So like I said, I'm a security guard, which is the closest thing to
Floyd | being a cop that they'll let me do anymore. But I've got an office.
Floyd |
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway. The
Floyd | door opens in, which I'm pretty sure is a fire hazard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway I was standing around in my office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Unfortunately the constant "press any key" thing doesn't look super pretty on Floyd."
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		Zach says, "Neat scene change, though"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | The uniform that the security company gave me is clearly supposed to
Floyd | be a tan version of a real police uniform, but it's different in all
Floyd | these irritating little ways. I don't want to get into it. I don't
Floyd | carry a gun, that's the main thing. I'm not gonna get into it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | The desk is where all the important security stuff is, i.e., the
Floyd | display with the feeds from the cameras, and the hard drive that holds
Floyd | all the footage, and the TI-85 that I play Tetris on while I'm waiting
Floyd | for something to happen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "play tetris" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLAY TETRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | I remember I spent a lot of time playing on my calculator that day,
Floyd | but not at this specific juncture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x displays" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAYS
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x display" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DISPLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | There's four feeds, and they're in backwards order for no good reason.
Floyd | Camera One is the alley behind the building; Camera Two is the counter
Floyd | where people order cupcakes; Camera Three is the boss's office, which,
Floyd | creepy; and Camera Four is the sidewalk out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x camera one" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMERA ONE
Floyd |
Floyd | On Camera One's feed there were a couple of high school kids hanging
Floyd | around in the alley. Loitering!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x camera two" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMERA TWO
Floyd |
Floyd | On Camera Two I could see the backs of the heads of the two girls who
Floyd | were working the counter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x camera three" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMERA THREE
Floyd |
Floyd | The angle on Camera Three doesn't show you the boss's desk, just the
Floyd | space in front of the desk and the door. So it's impossible to tell
Floyd | whether the boss is at his desk or not.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x camera four" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAMERA FOUR
Floyd |
Floyd | On Camera Four I saw there was a card table set up out in front of the
Floyd | shop. I hadn't heard anything from the boss about something going on
Floyd | out in front of the shop, so I figured it was probably Mormons or
Floyd | similar, trying to convert the customers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Let's go bust the kids for loitering."
		ghostghostghost says, "Woo!"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > XYZZY
Floyd |
Floyd | >:F
Floyd |
Floyd | Awoooooooo! Pretty scary, boys and girls!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x desk" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | The desk is where all the important security stuff is, i.e., the
Floyd | display with the feeds from the cameras, and the hard drive that holds
Floyd | all the footage, and the TI-85 that I play Tetris on while I'm waiting
Floyd | for something to happen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost asks, "East?"
		Zach says, "Sure"
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Maybe we should take the calculator."
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take calculator" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CALCULATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | There are none at all available!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.

		Olly asks, "Also, is this the kind of desk with things in it?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open desk" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DESK
Floyd |
Floyd | It wasn't something I could open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Guess not."
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | The only thing that's supposed to be in the alley is the dumpster.
Floyd |
Floyd | But currently a couple of teenagers were there, with nothing better to
Floyd | do apparently.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "bust teenagers" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BUST TEENAGERS
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to teenagers" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO TEENAGERS
Floyd |
Floyd | I asked them what they were doing, and they said they were taking
Floyd | photos for a class. Like, they needed pictures of the dumpster, or the
Floyd | graffiti, I don't know. I told them the dumpster was Sugar Comma's
Floyd | intellectual property, so if they took any pictures of it they'd be
Floyd | violating the business's copyright. That got them to leave, or I guess
Floyd | maybe they already had the pictures they needed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x dumpster" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | All over the dumpster there are graffiti tags. I wish I could catch
Floyd | one of those punks in the act. Someday.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x tags" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't remember any of the tags specifically. You can barely read
Floyd | that crap regardless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "enter dumpster" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | I was plenty close to the dumpster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "look in dumpster" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | There was just plain ol' garbage in the dumpster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "search garbage" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GARBAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | I found nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "look under dumpster" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | I found nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | At this point I was carrying my TI-85.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                       Alley, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | Now it was just me and the dumpster out in the alley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x calculator" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CALCULATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You know, when they kicked us off the force, I almost thought they
Floyd | were gonna confiscate my calculator. But they couldn't, 'cause it's
Floyd | mine! I've had it since high school! And I'll never get rid of it. I
Floyd | don't need a stupid smart phone to keep myself busy. I mean,
Floyd | I do have one, but I typically forget it at home.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway, it's pretty beat-up, but it still does everything a calculator
Floyd | is supposed to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "calculate" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALCULATE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't have my calculator with me at that point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Humph."
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | I try to stay out of the boss's office whenever possible, since the
Floyd | only reason I ever end up in there is because of bad news.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Counter
Floyd | I was over at the counter, where all the cupcakes are displayed for
Floyd | people to drool over and then purchase.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kate the cashier was behind one cash register.
Floyd |
Floyd | Deb the cashier was behind the other one. They need two cash
Floyd | registers, that's how well this place is doing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x kate" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X KATE
Floyd |
Floyd | Kate is the taller one, with the mole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x deb" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DEB
Floyd |
Floyd | Deb is the shorter one, with the glasses.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open register" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN REGISTER
Floyd |
Floyd | They weren't something I could open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cakes" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take to deb" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE TO DEB
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | That day they were showcasing this collection of twelve different
Floyd | varieties of spooky cupcakes. I don't remember what any of them were,
Floyd | but it was the kind of thing where each one was trying to out-cute the
Floyd | others. Like, "Cake-ula", that was one of them. They were all
Floyd | incredibly lame, but you could tell they were extremely delicious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Boo-berry."
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to kate" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO KATE
Floyd |
Floyd | I did not bother talking to Kate, because she hates me.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to deb" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO DEB
Floyd |
Floyd | I asked Deb if she had any spare cupcakes for me, but she told me that
Floyd | the boss told her that I was not to be given any more free cupcakes.
Floyd | The justification, according to what Deb said the boss told her, was
Floyd | that my proclivities were cutting into the profit margins, but now
Floyd | that I tell the story out loud I wonder if it's not the cupcake staff
Floyd | trying to get me to lose weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Aw."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "eat cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing is, the cupcakes are behind a glass barrier, so you can't
Floyd | just grab them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "break glass" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BREAK GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | I am a violent man, but at this job I have to keep myself under
Floyd | control.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach :(
		Olly says, "Heh."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "deb, give me cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DEB, GIVE ME CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | [Use TALK TO to interact with characters.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]                      Counter, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | There are none at all available!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Guess we should go bother the tablers."
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sidewalk
Floyd | So then I was standing outside the front door of the Sugar Comma
Floyd | building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gail was there, sitting behind a card table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x gail" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Gail is the boss's favorite; he trusts her more than anybody else who
Floyd | works there. Definitely more than he trusts me. She's insufferable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | On the table there were a jar of jelly beans, a stack of cards, a big
Floyd | box, and an orange sign. And a pen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Ooh, ooh. I bet we can use the calculator to figure out how many jelly beans and win a cupcake."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "talk to gail" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO GAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | Since it was Gail, I knew it wasn't Mormons camped out in front of the
Floyd | store—or maybe Gail is a Mormon, I don't know—but I had to say
Floyd | something to excuse my coming out there, so I asked her what was going
Floyd | on with the card table. She said there was a contest going on: You
Floyd | guess how many jelly beans are in the jar, and the closest guess wins.
Floyd |
Floyd | I said, wins what? She said, wins a dozen cupcakes. So now I had a
Floyd | goal.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "A *dozen* cupcakes."
		Olly says, "So now we have a goal."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x jelly beans" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X JELLY BEANS
Floyd |
Floyd | The jelly beans were all orange and black and green. Apparently those
Floyd | are the scariest colors.
Floyd |
Floyd | So I leaned in and I counted. I didn't count all the jelly beans,
Floyd | obviously. But I had a strategy. I had this idea when I was like
Floyd | seventeen years old, and finally I had a chance to put it to use.
Floyd |
Floyd | It was a cylindrical jar, and at the top of the jar, from the center
Floyd | to the edge, I counted eight jelly beans. Down the side of the jar, I
Floyd | counted fourteen jelly beans. Obviously they weren't distributed with
Floyd | perfect mathematical regularity, but approximate figures were all I
Floyd | needed.
Floyd |
Floyd | I also needed to use my calculator for a little bit.
Floyd |
Floyd | I guess I must have also picked up one of the little cards, because I
Floyd | remember I was holding one at this point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "count jelly beans" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > COUNT JELLY BEANS
Floyd |
Floyd | The jelly beans were all orange and black and green. Apparently those
Floyd | are the scariest colors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Darn."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x calculator" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CALCULATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's pretty beat-up, but it still does everything a calculator is
Floyd | supposed to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "write answer" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRITE ANSWER
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | There was a field for my name, and some contact information I think,
Floyd | and of course there was a space to write my guess about how many jelly
Floyd | beans were in the jar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "fill out card" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FILL OUT CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "take pen" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PEN
Floyd |
Floyd | I wanted to take the pen with me, I was gonna bring it right back, but
Floyd | Gail had to be a Gail about it and said the pen had to stay at the
Floyd | table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "calculate" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALCULATE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't have my calculator with me at that point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost asks, "Wait, where did it go?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "write down 112" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRITE DOWN 112
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Nowhere."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | At this point I was carrying an answer card and my TI-85.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "We still have it."
		Olly asks, "112?"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "use calculator" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE CALCULATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I was all ready to calculate the number of jelly beans, but I figured
Floyd | I should do my calculating in my office, where nobody would be
Floyd | watching me. I didn't want it to look like I was cheating.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Ah."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "drop pen" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP PEN
Floyd |
Floyd | The pen was already here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Oh, she took it."
		ghostghostghost asks, "Back to the office?"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "calculate" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CALCULATE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't have my calculator with me at that point.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "use calculator" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > USE CALCULATOR
Floyd |
Floyd | With the numbers of jelly beans that I had counted firmly set in my
Floyd | mind's eye, I plugged those values into the formula for the volume of
Floyd | a cylinder, which obviously I have memorized. I had the answer within
Floyd | a few seconds.
Floyd |
Floyd | You wanna make a guess? >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "112" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | You wanna make a guess? >
Floyd | > 112
Floyd |
Floyd | Really? No, there were more than a thousand jelly beans. Try again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Come on, a serious guess. >

		Olly says, "2813"
Olly says (to Floyd), "2813" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | Come on, a serious guess. >
Floyd | > 2813
Floyd |
Floyd | Pretty close. The answer I got was 2,815. But, yeah, pretty close.
Floyd |
Floyd | I wrote 2,815 on the card, and I filled out the other information
Floyd | obviously, and then I was ready to win the contest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Whoops, I'll leave it to the math people"
		Zach says, "Hooray"
		ghostghostghost says, "2814.87 ;)"
		Olly says, "There is no pi key on this calculator for some reason."
		ghostghostghost says, "Those darn partial jellybeans."
Gerynar arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |

		
Gerynar says "bloop" and shrinks down into a little dot, then winks out...just like those old-fashioned B&w televisions. 		
Gerynar has disconnected. 		

Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, at this time, as I passed by the boss's office, I observed that
Floyd | his door was slightly open. And I heard some people talking in there.
Floyd | So I decided to hang back for a second and eavesdrop.
Floyd |
Floyd | It was my boss and your boss, talking about plans for their doofy
Floyd | costume party. My boss was saying that he was bringing a bunch of his
Floyd | famous cupcakes from the shop, but he didn't want to invite any of his
Floyd | employees. And then your boss said "Oh but I invited Rae, I
Floyd | hope she comes, she's such a fun-lover," and this is how I
Floyd | know that you've been working for Claire over at the Squiggle Factory.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rest of their conversation was pretty boring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		ghostghostghost says, "Gosh. Such a detective."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Sidewalk
Floyd | I was standing outside the front door of the Sugar Comma building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gail was there, sitting behind a card table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "write answer" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRITE ANSWER
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "take pen" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PEN
Floyd |
Floyd | I wanted to take the pen with me, I was gonna bring it right back, but
Floyd | Gail had to be a Gail about it and said the pen had to stay at the
Floyd | table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "fill out card" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FILL OUT CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "write on card" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRITE ON CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "write 2815" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WRITE 2815
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x card" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The number on the card was 2,815—a number that would earn me a dozen
Floyd | delicious cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly :-/
		ghostghostghost says, "Oh, we did it in the office."
		ghostghostghost says, "Argh."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "give card to gail" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE CARD TO GAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't want to get Gail started on any kind of conversation, so I
Floyd | shoved my card into the slot of the big box without making eye
Floyd | contact. I was supremely confident that my guess would be closer than
Floyd | anybody else's. I felt like such a champ. Now it was just a matter of
Floyd | time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "give card to gail" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE CARD TO GAIL
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm sure Gail probably wanted the stack of cards, but I wasn't about
Floyd | to give her any presents.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "wait until forever" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT UNTIL FOREVER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to wait.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Back inside, I guess."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Sidewalk
Floyd | I was standing outside the front door of the Sugar Comma building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Gail was there, sitting behind a card table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "RUN AWAY" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RUN AWAY
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                      Sidewalk, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | I did not wander off down the street. The way back in the building was
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Darn."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | I try to stay out of the boss's office whenever possible, since the
Floyd | only reason I ever end up in there is because of bad news.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x boss" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOSS
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Hm."
Olly says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't sing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "play tetris" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PLAY TETRIS
Floyd |
Floyd | I remember I spent a lot of time playing on my calculator that day,
Floyd | but not at this specific juncture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | The office is basically a broom closet. If it were any smaller I'd
Floyd | have to stand at my desk. Out the door to the east is the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | With nothing to do but wait until my victory was announced, I sat
Floyd | around in my office and played games on my calculator.
Floyd |
Floyd | A few hours later, Gail dashed by my door and told me the boss wanted
Floyd | to talk to me in his office—then she immediately dashed away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd ]                  Security Office, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Boo"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                   North Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Hallway
Floyd | Standing outside my office, the hallway goes south to the front of the
Floyd | shop, and north to the alley. And my office is on the west side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                   South Hallway, a few days ago
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Hallway
Floyd | At the south end of the hallway, the boss's office is on the west
Floyd | side, and the room where you actually buy the cupcakes is on the east
Floyd | side. The exit to the street is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The boss's door was wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Leo's Office
Floyd | So I was in the boss's office, which is, there's his desk, and behind
Floyd | that is his chair, and on the other side is the smaller chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | He told me to have a seat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "take seat" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SEAT
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take seat" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SEAT
Floyd |
Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "sit" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SIT
Floyd |
Floyd | As I sat down, I started thinking: Hey wait a minute, maybe I wasn't
Floyd | called down to get lectured at this time: maybe I'm here to accept my
Floyd | prize of a dozen cupcakes! But then the boss started talking, and I
Floyd | realized that was not going to happen.
Floyd |
Floyd | He said that they had just had a little closing ceremony for the jelly
Floyd | bean contest, and they announced the winning entry to everyone, and it
Floyd | turned out to be a Sugar Comma employee, and it was a "massive
Floyd | embarrassment", and I should have known better than to enter a contest
Floyd | for children.
Floyd |
Floyd | There may have been a bunch of little kids running around the whole
Floyd | time; I don't remember.
Floyd |
Floyd | So I said, then, do you have to give me my prize secretly? And he said
Floyd | no, I would not be receiving any prize, and the next time there's a
Floyd | contest of any kind at the shop I should assume that I'm disqualified
Floyd | in advance.

		ghostghostghost says, "Awwwww."
		Zach says, "!?!"
		ghostghostghost says, "Makes sense."
		Zach says, "The cupcakes were a lie"
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | in advance."But I earned those cupcakes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Absolutely you did."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And I'm gonna get them."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Of course you are."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And you're gonna help me."

		Zach says, "Hooray"
		ghostghostghost says, "Oh man."
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "And you're gonna help me.""Are you asking me, or telling me?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, we haven't talked in a long time, I didn't wanna presume—"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, good grief. Obviously I'm gonna help you."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh! Good."

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "Oh! Good.""So, how are we getting you your cupcakes?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well. Like I said, I know my boss is taking a bunch of them to his
Floyd | and your boss's costume party. And I know you're invited to that
Floyd | costume party."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, come on, Bob, I don't wanna go to—"

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "Oh, come on, Bob, I don't wanna go to—""Too late! You said you'd
Floyd | help!"

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | help!"## Front Yard
Floyd | Well.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob's boss's place is the biggest house in a neighborhood of big
Floyd | houses. There are huge windows, a huge tree hanging over a huge
Floyd | driveway, and of course a huge fence around the whole thing so nobody
Floyd | finds out about all this excess. A place like this should be crawling
Floyd | with little kids begging for candy, but it must be too late in the
Floyd | evening now.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your car is parked as close by as possible in case you need to make a
Floyd | quick getaway. The front door is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob said he'd be "around", so it looks like you'll have to find him.
Floyd | First, though, you need to find some cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "dial c" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DIAL C
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Oh dear."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a little ways off, so hopefully nobody will see it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "We don't have a costume."
Olly says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | From inside the hood, you can't see much of yourself, but you're
Floyd | pretty sure you look terrifying.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Oh, we do."
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter house" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER HOUSE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there appears to be a room east of here
Floyd | tucked behind the staircase, but it sounds like the action is in the
Floyd | room to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | A red-crowned crane ushers you in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x crane" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CRANE
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of her costume is pretty simple: black tights and a white dress,
Floyd | with a plume of black feathers attached to the back. Her mask must
Floyd | have required most of the effort. Underneath the mask, though, she's
Floyd | clearly Claire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x portrait" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PORTRAIT
Floyd |
Floyd | A wife, a husband, a daughter, a dog.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x claire" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLAIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of her costume is pretty simple: black tights and a white dress,
Floyd | with a plume of black feathers attached to the back. Her mask must
Floyd | have required most of the effort. Underneath the mask, though, she's
Floyd | clearly Claire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x ibis" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X IBIS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Thank god."
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to claire" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CLAIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | You utter a gravelly hello (hopefully the costume is helping to
Floyd | disguise your voice as well as your face) and the crane greets you
Floyd | warmly. She checks to make sure you have an invitation, and then she
Floyd | peers into your hood.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Is that you? Never mind, don't tell me!"
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "I love your costume." 		
Floyd [3] "Where are the cupcakes?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Da cupcakes. Give dem to me."
Zach says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where are the cupcakes?"
Floyd |
Floyd | She giggles. "They're in the dining room, but you'll have to go
Floyd | around," she says, indicating the room to the south. "Leo has the

		ghostghostghost says, ""Hello, welcom--" "Cupcakes. NOW.""

Floyd | kitchen locked up. He's a little bit eccentric about when people are
Floyd | allowed to eat which cupcakes."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "I love your costume." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What are you supposed to be?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I'm a Japanese red-crowned crane! I'm a symbol of good luck."
Floyd |
Floyd | She spreads her arms apologetically. "I was going to make wings, but I
Floyd | ran out of time."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "It looks very simple." 		
Floyd [2] "It looks wonderful." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "It looks very simple," you add.
Floyd |
Floyd | She smiles weakly. "They're very elegant creatures. I tried to imitate
Floyd | one as simply as possible."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, what business are you in?" you ask. Maybe you can throw Claire
Floyd | off the scent.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I eat rice and goldfish," she answers, "and I'm the mascot for
Floyd | Japan Airlines."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So," you say, and the followup your brain produces in its desperation
Floyd | is: "Do you have any cranes of your own?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, they're an endangered species. Oh, I'm sorry, did you mean
Floyd | construction cranes?" She shakes her head sadly. "No."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, uh..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Claire looks at you patiently. You clear your throat.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, uh..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Claire looks at you patiently. You clear your throat.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You stumble over an awkward attempt to excuse yourself, but the
Floyd | red-crowned crane just laughs. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll bump into
Floyd | each other again."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "bump" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > BUMP
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there appears to be a room east of here
Floyd | tucked behind the staircase, but it sounds like the action is in the
Floyd | room to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]                        Upstairs, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't think you're supposed to—" calls the red-crowned crane, but
Floyd | apparently she doesn't have the authority to stop you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs
Floyd | The old floorboards creak beneath you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The stairs go down to the foyer. South is a closed white door; east is
Floyd | an open gray door; and north is a pink door that is just slightly
Floyd | open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost asks, "North?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the bedroom door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Child's Bedroom
Floyd | Glow-in-the-dark constellations on the ceiling cast the room in an
Floyd | extremely faint green dimness.
Floyd |
Floyd | At one end of the room is a witch costume and a bag of candy. The door
Floyd | is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bed is a little girl, who is staring at you with eyes the size
Floyd | of pancakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "steal candy" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > STEAL CANDY
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob didn't say anything about any little girl's candy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Aww"
Zach says (to Floyd), "take candy" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CANDY
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob didn't say anything about any little girl's candy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "spook girl" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SPOOK GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "scare girl" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SCARE GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "talk to girl" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | The little girl cowers pitifully as you approach.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Got any cupcakes?" 		
Floyd [2] "Go back to sleep." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Got any cupcakes?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No." She shakes her head. "Sorry."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Go back to sleep." 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, uh..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The girl frowns. "Could you leave, please?"
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Go back to sleep." 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, uh..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The girl frowns. "Could you leave, please?"
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Go back to sleep." 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Go back to sleep."
Floyd |
Floyd | She furrows her brow. "First you go away. Then I'll go back to sleep."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Smart kid."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You back off from the girl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x costume" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COSTUME
Floyd |
Floyd | (the cloak)
Floyd | From inside the hood, you can't see much of yourself, but you're
Floyd | pretty sure you look terrifying.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x witch" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WITCH
Floyd |
Floyd | A broom, obviously; a pointy black hat; and a flimsy polyester poncho.
Floyd | Probably not very warm, especially on a night like tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x broom" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BROOM
Floyd |
Floyd | A broom, obviously; a pointy black hat; and a flimsy polyester poncho.
Floyd | Probably not very warm, especially on a night like tonight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x candy" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CANDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see the bag very well, but you can imagine a haul out of
Floyd | this neighborhood must be immense.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Child's Bedroom
Floyd | Glow-in-the-dark constellations on the ceiling cast the room in an
Floyd | extremely faint green dimness.
Floyd |
Floyd | At one end of the room is a witch costume and a bag of candy. The door
Floyd | is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the bed is a little girl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x constellations" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CONSTELLATIONS
Floyd |
Floyd | There's the Big Dipper, and that one's Orion, so this ceiling might be
Floyd | astronomically accurate. What a nerdy kid.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x girl" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GIRL
Floyd |
Floyd | She seems more fed up than scared, now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]                     Child's Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Upstairs, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs
Floyd | The old floorboards creak beneath you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The stairs go down to the foyer. South is a closed white door; east is
Floyd | an open gray door; and north is a pink door that is wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Fine, fine. We'll go."
		ghostghostghost says, "This time."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | The main feature of this room is the huge mirror over the marble sink.
Floyd | The way out is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a look at your reflection. You are a fearsome reaper,
Floyd | although with the ambient light from the hallway it's too bright for
Floyd | the glow-in-the-dark paint to show up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the gray door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x mirror" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MIRROR
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a look at your reflection. In the darkness, the
Floyd | glow-in-the-dark paint on the scrim in front of your face begins to
Floyd | activate, and the shape of a devious skull appears beneath your hood.
Floyd | So, that works.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Nice."
		Olly says, "Hm."
		Zach says, "Mwhaha"
		Olly says, "I wonder if a dark space will be improtant."
Zach says (to Floyd), " w" 		

Floyd ]                        Upstairs, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | >  W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the gray door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs
Floyd | The old floorboards creak beneath you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The stairs go down to the foyer. South is a closed white door; east is
Floyd | an open gray door; and north is a pink door that is wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the white door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | There's someone in here!
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh, she's asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | Light from outside illuminates a very tidy bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bottle of pills stands on the bedside table.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some lady is bundled up in the bed, sound asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take pills" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PILLS
Floyd |
Floyd | You recall from your cop days how troublesome other peoples'
Floyd | prescriptions can be, so you decide to steal just one pill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x pil" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x pills" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PILLS
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh, you recognize this. These are sleeping pills. Strong stuff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "We are terrible."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x lady" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | Her eyes are closed, her expression a complete blank. She has no idea
Floyd | that a strange woman has snuck into her room wearing a Grim Reaper
Floyd | costume.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wake lady" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAKE LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | You are unable to rouse her. She is out cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "get in bed" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN BED
Floyd |
Floyd | You can nap when you get home.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "touch lady" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TOUCH LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | Probably better to give the sleeping lady some space.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss lady" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > KISS LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside of this hood, you can't kiss anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Hey man."
		Zach says, "That's the saddest thing I've ever heard"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                     Master Bedroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Master Bedroom
Floyd | Light from outside illuminates a very tidy bedroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bottle of pills stands on the bedside table.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some lady is bundled up in the bed, sound asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Maybe that's why the Grim Reaper is so grim."
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Upstairs, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Upstairs
Floyd | The old floorboards creak beneath you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The stairs go down to the foyer. South is an open white door; east is
Floyd | an open gray door; and north is a pink door that is wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "I guess back downstairs?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there appears to be a room east of here
Floyd | tucked behind the staircase, but it sounds like the action is in the
Floyd | room to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Guest Room
Floyd | This must be a guest room most of the time. Right now, there are a
Floyd | bunch of coats thrown over the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | A Williams-Sonoma catalog sits on the foot of the bed, leafing through
Floyd | an overstuffed photo album.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x catalog" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CATALOG
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking him up and down, you can see a whisk, a garlic press, a
Floyd | pestle, a silicone brush, a silicone trivet, a silicone cookie sheet
Floyd | liner, a mortar, a rasp grater, and a strawberry huller hanging from
Floyd | his clothes. Across his chest are the words "WILLIAMS-SONOMA", in what
Floyd | looks like the correct font. He is wearing a colander on his head.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Heh."
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to catalog" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CATALOG
Floyd |
Floyd | The catalog looks up at you sheepishly. "Oh, hey. Hi."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you doing in here?" 		
Floyd [2] "Cute costume." 		
Floyd [3] "Whatcha lookin" at?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What are you doing in here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, see, I'm here with my girlfriend, but she's a lot more social
Floyd | than I am. So I thought I'd wait here."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Cute costume." 		
Floyd [2] "Whatcha lookin" at?" 		
Floyd [3] "You're being kind of a buzzkill." 		
Floyd [4] "What exactly are you waiting for?" 		
Floyd [5] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Cute costume."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Uh, thanks. I guess it's not as impressive as some of the others."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Whatcha lookin" at?" 		
Floyd [2] "You're being kind of a buzzkill." 		
Floyd [3] "What exactly are you waiting for?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Watcha lookin" at?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's Leo's photo album, it was just lying around in here. It looks
Floyd | like he's been to New Zealand."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "You're being kind of a buzzkill." 		
Floyd [2] "What exactly are you waiting for?" 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "He's probably waiting for the cupcakes."
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're being kind of a buzzkill."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, that's me."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What exactly are you waiting for?" 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Oops."
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What exactly are you waiting for?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I guess, either for her to come in here and tell me we're leaving, or
Floyd | for me to get up the nerve to go hang out with everybody else."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "You could work up the nerve right now." 		
Floyd [2] "You could leave right now." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "You could get up the nerve right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's not that easy. You can't just decide to stand sideways on the
Floyd | wall, right? I can't decide that I have confidence. It's a physical
Floyd | impossibility. Or, it feels like one, anyway."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "You can fake it, though." 		
Floyd [2] "You're gonna disappoint your girlfriend, though." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can fake it, though."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, people always say that."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But tonight, literally everyone out there is pretending to be
Floyd | something they're not," you say.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "You'll fit in as long as you're trying to have fun, the same way 		

Floyd | they all are."

		
Floyd [2] "You'll fit in as long as you're being as weird as they all are." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "You'll fit in as long as you're being as weird as they all are."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Heck, when you put it that way..." He sets aside the photo album and
Floyd | stands up. "I can play along, if I don't have to be cool.
Floyd | I'll just be, a catalog. Yeah. Yeah! Thanks."
Floyd |
Floyd | He smiles and takes off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly exclaims, "Yay!"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x coats" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Looks like most people wore pretty thick coats over their costumes.
Floyd | Meanwhile you, inside the copious folds of your voluminous robe, are
Floyd | uncomfortably warm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "look in coats" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN COATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Even a very thorough rifling-through reveals nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x album" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALBUM
Floyd |
Floyd | You flip through the album. It is boring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BED
Floyd |
Floyd | Under the bed is: a corpse! Just when you were starting to think there
Floyd | were no decorations in here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly exclaims, "!"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x corpse" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a fake corpse. You have seen real corpses.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take corpse" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | The fake corpse is fine right there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Just an Easter egg, maybe."
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to corpse" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Generally, it's best to talk to living things.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Guest Room
Floyd | This must be a guest room most of the time. Right now, there are a
Floyd | bunch of coats thrown over the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "It's irritating how the room descriptions don't tell you how to get out."
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                       Guest Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The only way out is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there's a room east of here tucked behind
Floyd | the staircase, but it sounds like the action is in the room to the
Floyd | south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x web" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X WEB
Floyd |
Floyd | Here and there in the web are little plastic spiders, and those cast
Floyd | some pretty creepy shadows.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a sleeping pill and an invitation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                          Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | A skeleton is plastered on the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The foyer is south of here, and a dim light emanates from the room to
Floyd | the east. The door to the north smells like there's a kitchen on the
Floyd | other side, but it's closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | Most of the light comes from the hall to the west; in here, there's
Floyd | just a pumpkin-scented candle, along with its reflection in the mirror
Floyd | over the sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a plate of cupcakes in here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Eww, bathroom cupcakes"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | The label says they're "Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin" cupcakes. Each
Floyd | one is covered in orange frosting and topped with a green frosting
Floyd | stem, with black triangle eyes peeking over the wrappers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick up a pumpkin cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "f l"
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | Most of the light comes from the hall to the west; in here, there's
Floyd | just a pumpkin-scented candle, along with its reflection in the mirror
Floyd | over the sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a plate of cupcakes in here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | plate of pumpkin cupcakes: Bob wants one of each flavor, so you won't
Floyd | be needing another one of these...bathroom cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x candle" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CANDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It hasn't been used very much. Well, how often do you want anything to
Floyd | smell like a pumpkin?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take candle" 		

Floyd ]                        Bathroom, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CANDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The pumpkin-scented candle is fine right there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                          Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hall
Floyd | A skeleton is plastered on the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The foyer is south of here, and a dim light emanates from the room to
Floyd | the east. The door to the north smells like there's a kitchen on the
Floyd | other side, but it's closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x skeleton" 		

Floyd ]                          Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SKELETON
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a bunch of bone-shaped stickers, arranged in an arms-akimbo,
Floyd | "What have we here? A fleshy person?" pose.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                          Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the kitchen door)
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "This errand is completely insane."
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there's a room east of here tucked behind
Floyd | the staircase, but it sounds like the action is in the room to the
Floyd | south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to crane" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CRANE
Floyd |
Floyd | She smiles. "Yes?"
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, uh..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Claire looks at you patiently. You clear your throat.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You stumble over an awkward attempt to excuse yourself, but the
Floyd | red-crowned crane just laughs. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll bump into
Floyd | each other again."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Just seeing if there were new options"
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parlor
Floyd | This is not an especially wild party. Or maybe you just showed up too
Floyd | late?
Floyd |
Floyd | A desiccated bouquet stands on the mantelpiece, and a skeletal arm is
Floyd | reaching out from inside the piano. The foyer is back north, and east
Floyd | is a conservatory.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Williams-Sonoma catalog is playing something spooky on the piano.
Floyd |
Floyd | An astronaut stands by the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | Medusa and the Solar System are chatting on a couch at the other end
Floyd | of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x bouquet" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOUQUET
Floyd |
Floyd | Dried-out wildflowers, perhaps arranged by a doe-eyed schoolmarm in
Floyd | the 1860s, just before she was shot dead by Deadeye Rick, the crazed
Floyd | ex-sheriff, and her ghost has haunted this bouquet ever since.
Floyd | Something like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x arm" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ARM
Floyd |
Floyd | The arm has been placed so as to interfere as little as possible with
Floyd | people playing the piano—Heaven forbid that form should ever take
Floyd | precedence over function.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "look in piano" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN PIANO
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | This astronaut must have either a lot of free time or a lot
Floyd | of money, because his costume seriously looks like the real thing:
Floyd | intricately detailed and comically bulky. His visor is opaque; you are
Floyd | only mostly sure that he can see you from in there—but in your
Floyd | costume, you have the same advantage over him.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the end table next to him is a cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake)
Floyd | It's covered in orange frosting and topped with a green frosting stem,
Floyd | with black triangle eyes peeking over the wrapper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake)
Floyd | You reach over and swipe the cupcake. The astronaut responds only by
Floyd | raising a hand in an "Are you serious?" gesture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "fight astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FIGHT ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Keep calm. No need to get mean.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "We are totally serious."
		Olly says, "We are bad news."
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | The astronaut waves slowly as you approach.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What's going on?" 		
Floyd [2] "That is a killer costume." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "We are.. the Cupcake Bandit!"
		Olly says, "The Cupcake Reaper."
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's going on?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He puts his hands on his hips, as if to say, "Well, someone stole my
Floyd | cupcake, so, not great."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "That is a killer costume." 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "That is a killer costume."
Floyd |
Floyd | He doesn't seem to hear you.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Where'd you get it?" 		
Floyd [2] "Aren't you uncomfortable, though?" 		
Floyd [3] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Where'd you get it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | No response.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Aren't you uncomfortable, though?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Aren't you uncomfortable, though?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He doesn't respond.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you trying to say?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What are you trying to say?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He points at his backpack again.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "I'm sorry, you're gonna have to speak up." 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Maybe we should have tried to talk to him before stealing his cupcake."
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm sorry, you're gonna have to speak up."
Floyd |
Floyd | He reaches out to start strangling you, but you're able to back up out
Floyd | of his reach. He can't seem to move away from the fireplace.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Uh, see you later."
Floyd |
Floyd | He doesn't respond.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake or
Floyd | the Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | The backpack is executed in a high degree of detail, but you couldn't
Floyd | say how much of it is true to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look back up at the astronaut's helmet.
Floyd |
Floyd | The astronaut waves slowly as you approach.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "vampire" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > VAMPIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "We have both of those."
Olly says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | The backpack is executed in a high degree of detail, but you couldn't
Floyd | say how much of it is true to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "open helmet" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN HELMET
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "I'm worried that the astronaut is suffocating."
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake, a
Floyd | Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake, a sleeping pill, and an
Floyd | invitation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Oh, I missed that we actually took it"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x fireplace" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FIREPLACE
Floyd |
Floyd | In front of the fireplace is a wrought-iron screen with a lot of
Floyd | fiddly curvy pieces.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Well, that's the important thing"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x screen" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SCREEN
Floyd |
Floyd | In front of the fireplace is a wrought-iron screen with a lot of
Floyd | fiddly curvy pieces.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "move screen" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOVE SCREEN
Floyd |
Floyd | The fireplace is fine right there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar says "bloop" and shrinks down into a little dot, then winks out...just like those old-fashioned B&w televisions. 		
Gerynar has disconnected. 		Olly says, "There's something wrong with the astronaut aside from the fact that we took his cupcake. (How was he going to eat it anyway?)"
Olly says (to Floyd), "x astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | This astronaut must have either a lot of free time or a lot
Floyd | of money, because his costume seriously looks like the real thing:
Floyd | intricately detailed and comically bulky. His visor is opaque; you are
Floyd | only mostly sure that he can see you from in there—but in your
Floyd | costume, you have the same advantage over him.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Parlor
Floyd | A desiccated bouquet stands on the mantelpiece, and a skeletal arm is
Floyd | reaching out from inside the piano. The foyer is back north, and east
Floyd | is a conservatory.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Williams-Sonoma catalog is playing something spooky on the piano.
Floyd |
Floyd | An astronaut stands by the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | Medusa and the Solar System are chatting on a couch at the other end
Floyd | of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x medusa" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MEDUSA
Floyd |
Floyd | It occurs to you that maybe you're not supposed to look. Well, too
Floyd | late now.
Floyd |
Floyd | Her skin is painted with patches of scales. Her black toga is cinched
Floyd | with a silver belt. The snakes braided into her hair, heads resting on
Floyd | her back and shoulders, are excessively realistic, but they are not so
Floyd | unnerving as her eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x eyes" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X EYES
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake)
Floyd | It's covered in orange frosting and topped with a green frosting stem,
Floyd | with black triangle eyes peeking over the wrapper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x medusa's eyes" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MEDUSA'S EYES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Well."
Olly says (to Floyd), "x medusa eyes" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X MEDUSA EYES
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine Medusa.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x solar system" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOLAR SYSTEM
Floyd |
Floyd | Her blonde head is the sun, and her headband represents either its
Floyd | rays or a series of pointy solar flares. Various celestial bodies
Floyd | appear across the rest of her outfit; slung around her waist is an
Floyd | asteroid belt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x catalog" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CATALOG
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking him up and down, you can see a whisk, a garlic press, a
Floyd | pestle, a silicone brush, a silicone trivet, a silicone cookie sheet
Floyd | liner, a mortar, a rasp grater, and a strawberry huller hanging from
Floyd | his clothes. Across his chest are the words "WILLIAMS-SONOMA", in what
Floyd | looks like the correct font. He is wearing a colander on his head.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly asks, "What on earth is a strawberry huller?"
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to medusa" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO MEDUSA
Floyd |
Floyd | The Solar System and Medusa pause their conversation as you approach.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "What are you [Medusa] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [4] "Your costume [Medusa's] is amazing." 		
Floyd [5] "What are you guys talking about?" 		
Floyd [6] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "4" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 4
Floyd |
Floyd | "Your costume is amazing."
Floyd |
Floyd | Medusa looks down at her hands and smiles. "Uh, thank you."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "What are you guys talking about?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "What are you guys talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "We're discussing Ophiuchus, and whether it's supposed to be one of
Floyd | the signs of the Zodiac," says Medusa. "I think we're kidding
Floyd | ourselves if we say it isn't."
Floyd |
Floyd | "And I think think the system as it stands works just fine," adds the
Floyd | Solar System.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "Um, what exactly is Ophiuchus?" 		
Floyd [4] "Why shouldn't Ophiuchus be a Zodiac sign?" 		
Floyd [5] "Why should Ophiuchus be a Zodiac sign?" 		
Floyd [6] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um, what exactly is Ophiuchus?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's a constellation: 'The Serpent-Bearer,'" Medusa explains. "It" on
Floyd | the ecliptic, the circle in the sky that connects the other twelve
Floyd | Zodiac signs."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Its foot is on the ecliptic," the Solar System clarifies.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "Why shouldn't Ophiuchus be a Zodiac sign?" 		
Floyd [4] "Why should Ophiuchus be a Zodiac sign?" 		
Floyd [5] "Isn't this whole argument kind of pointless?" 		
Floyd [6] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why shouldn't Ophiuchus be a Zodiac sign?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Because signs and constellations aren't the same thing. The Zodiac
Floyd | divides the year into twelve equal periods that aren't supposed to
Floyd | line up exactly with constellations in the first place. If it took
Floyd | Ophiuchus into account, you divide the year into thirteen parts
Floyd | instead, and everybody's horoscopes would be thrown out of
Floyd | whack—People who think they're Aries turn out to be Pisces!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Plus, with twelve signs, there's all these nice symmetries: Three
Floyd | signs for each classical element; four signs for each modality."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But thirteen is prime," adds Medusa. "More mysterious."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Solar System scratches her neck. "That's true..."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "Well, why should it be a Zodiac sign?" 		
Floyd [4] "Isn't this whole argument kind of pointless?" 		
Floyd [5] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, why should it be a Zodiac sign?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Medusa starts to count on her fingers. "We get to start over. Maybe
Floyd | the reason your horoscope never comes true is because astrologers have
Floyd | been doing it wrong for centuries. And astrology would be cooler!
Floyd | Instead of being, you know, a virgin, your star sign could be a guy
Floyd | wrangling a huge snake."
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks at her fingers: That makes two reasons.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, that's all I've got."
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, what do you think?"
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "I have to say, it sounds like Ophiuchus isn't supposed to be in 		

Floyd | there."

		
Floyd [2] "Oh, they should definitely add Ophiuchus." 		
Floyd [3] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [4] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [5] "Isn't this whole argument kind of pointless?" 		
Floyd [6] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Uh."
		Olly asks, "What do you think?"
		Olly asks, "Is g^3 still here?"
		Zach says, "Whoops, I got distracted"
		ghostghostghost waves.
		Olly says, "I say we support Ophiuchus."
		ghostghostghost says, "Sure."
Zach says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, they should definitely add Ophiuchus."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I know, right?" says Medusa, but the Solar System shakes her head.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nobody's horoscope would ever be correct if people like you were in
Floyd | charge."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Too bad! Two against one!" Here," Medusa says, producing a cupcake
Floyd | from behind the couch. "Take this, as a token of our victory. It's the
Floyd | Curse of the S'Mummy's S'Mores. I'll inform the astrological
Floyd | authorities later."
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the Curse of the S'Mummy's Smores.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "What are you [the Solar System] supposed to be?" 		
Floyd [2] "That [the Solar System] is a great costume." 		
Floyd [3] "So! Um." 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Woohoo"
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "That is a great costume."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Thank you! I challenged myself to make the most complicated thing
Floyd | possible on the smallest budget I could manage."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So! Um." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Carrying this many cupcakes at once isn't easy. You should find Bob
Floyd | and drop these off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You make an excuse, and the two ladies smile and wave goodbye.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there's a room east of here tucked behind
Floyd | the staircase, but the action is in the parlor to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Front Yard
Floyd | Bob's boss's place is the biggest house in a neighborhood of big
Floyd | houses. There are huge windows, a huge tree hanging over a huge
Floyd | driveway, and of course a huge fence around the whole thing so nobody
Floyd | finds out about all this excess. A place like this should be crawling
Floyd | with little kids begging for candy, but it must be too late in the
Floyd | evening now.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your car is parked as close by as possible in case you need to make a
Floyd | quick getaway. The front door is east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "find bob" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > FIND BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "go to car" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Not yet. Bob doesn't have his dozen cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're going to drop one of these cupcakes on the floor if you don't
Floyd | bring them back to Bob soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door is east. If you're taking off, you should take the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "drop vampire" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DROP VAMPIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't abandon that cupcake; it's integral to your mission. Better
Floyd | find Bob and hand it over to him.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly asks, "How do we find Bob?"
		Olly says, "I wasn't keeping up very well when we arrived."
		Zach says, "Hmm"
Zach says (to Floyd), "put cupcakes in car" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT CUPCAKES IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Curse of the S'Mummy's S'Mores cupcake: That cupcake is for Bob. You'd
Floyd | better find him and hand it over.
Floyd | Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake: That cupcake is for Bob.
Floyd | You'd better find him and hand it over.
Floyd | Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake: That cupcake is for Bob. You'd
Floyd | better find him and hand it over.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "wait" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > WAIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "look for bob" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK FOR BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door is east. If you're taking off, you should take the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                       Front Yard, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The front door is east. If you're taking off, you should take the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly asks, "Is there another way out of the house?"
		Olly says, "Oh. Hang on."
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Foyer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | Everything in here is lit in a weird, patchy way by the chandelier
Floyd | above, which is covered in a thinly-stretched spiderweb. The
Floyd | staircase's banister is garlanded with black tinsel. The family
Floyd | portrait on the wall looks to be the only thing that hasn't been
Floyd | decorated.
Floyd |
Floyd | A hallway leads north, and there's a room east of here tucked behind
Floyd | the staircase, but the action is in the parlor to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The red-crowned crane is standing around looking anxious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parlor
Floyd | A desiccated bouquet stands on the mantelpiece, and a skeletal arm is
Floyd | reaching out from inside the piano. The foyer is back north, and east
Floyd | is a conservatory.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Williams-Sonoma catalog is playing something spooky on the piano.
Floyd |
Floyd | An astronaut stands by the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | Medusa and the Solar System are chatting on a couch at the other end
Floyd | of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "put vampire in backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUT VAMPIRE IN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That cupcake is for Bob. You'd better find him and hand it over.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "give vampire to astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE VAMPIRE TO ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | The astronaut doesn't seem to care.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | The backpack is executed in a high degree of detail, but you couldn't
Floyd | say how much of it is true to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | It really is a miracle that you haven't dropped those cupcakes all
Floyd | over yourself yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "open backpack" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | It isn't something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | You almost drop a cupcake! Close one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Ok. So much for that idea."
		Zach says, "Maybe he was hiding behind the tree or the fence"
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Parlor, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The foyer is back north, and east is a conservatory.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carrying this many cupcakes at once isn't easy. You should find Bob
Floyd | and drop these off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "?"
		Zach asks, "Or in the conservatory?"
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage appears to lead east and out to the
Floyd | backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | A pair of pruning shears is leaning against one of the larger
Floyd | flowerpots.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleopatra and a Mexican wrestler are chatting near a cupboard,
Floyd | admiring in each other the audacity that allowed them both to show up
Floyd | more or less in their underwear.
Floyd |
Floyd | A tall shrub stands conspicuously among the other plants.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x tall shrub" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TALL SHRUB
Floyd |
Floyd | Branches thick with red leaves cover his entire body, except for his
Floyd | face and hands. Some of the leaves on his back are brown and dried
Floyd | out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Deck
Floyd | Pretty chilly out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The back yard is as dark as a pit. There's a little white gazebo way
Floyd | out at the other end, but who knows what lies between you and it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something hisses at you: "Psst! Rae!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yay"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x bob" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear him, but you can't see him.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to bob" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bob? Is that you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "That is a clichéd and stupid question, Rae." Now you can see him: a
Floyd | pasty face in the blackness just outside of the deck, a few feet below
Floyd | yours.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Aren't you cold out here?" 		
Floyd [2] Offer Bob the Curse of the S'Mummy's S'Mores cupcake. 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] Offer Bob the Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake. 		
Floyd [5] "I'm gonna go inside and look for some cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Here's one called the 'Curse of the S'Mummy's Smores'."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Seriously? What the heck kind of name is that?" Bob accepts the
Floyd | cupcake and stows it somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's supposed to be cute."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, I get that. I get that all too well, Rae."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Aren't you cold out here?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] Offer Bob the Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake. 		
Floyd [5] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Here, I got a Cake-o-Lantern Spicy Pumpkin cupcake." You hand it over
Floyd | to Bob. "Don't ask me where I found it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "What? Why shouldn't I?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Because I found it in the bathroom."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ah."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Aren't you cold out here?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "This cupcake is called 'Really Very Rich Red Velvet Vampire'."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you seriously just say all of those words?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes."
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob takes the cupcake from your hands. "Ridiculous. What's red velvet,
Floyd | anyway?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think it's chocolate, but with red food coloring."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Because freaking chocolate isn't freaking good enough? It has to be
Floyd | colorful?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Calm down, Bob."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Aren't you cold out here?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [3] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Aren't you cold out here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Actually yes I freaking am freaking cold out here! What an astute
Floyd | freaking intuition you possess! You should be a cop."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Maybe we could get him a coat."
		Olly says, "Except that would be a lot more like theft than the cupcakes."
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You do that. I'm gonna skulk around out here and eventually freeze to
Floyd | death."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly asks, "Why do we like this person?"
		Zach says, "Eh, he can deal with it"
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage leads east and out to the backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | A pair of pruning shears is leaning against one of the larger
Floyd | flowerpots.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleopatra and a Mexican wrestler are chatting near the cupboard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub is still standing around motionlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "The Cop Code"
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to shrub" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO SHRUB
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub acknowledges you as best he can while standing as stiffly as
Floyd | possible.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "Why are you standing like that?" 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why are you standing like that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm in character."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Should you be talking, then?" 		
Floyd [2] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [3] "Why are you in character as a plant?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Should you be talking, then?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub stiffens.
Floyd |
Floyd | "No."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "There's an astronaut in the other room who's way better than you 		

Floyd | at this."

		
Floyd [2] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [3] "Why are you in character as a plant?" 		
Floyd [4] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [5] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "There's an astronaut in the other room who's way better than you at
Floyd | this."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah." He sighs. "I hate that guy."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "Why are you in character as a plant?" 		
Floyd [3] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why are you in character as a plant?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Claire said we should stay in character as our costumes all night. So
Floyd | that's what I'm doing. Trying to do, anyway."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "Should I be in character too?" 		
Floyd [3] "Do you think the luchador and Cleopatra are in character?" 		
Floyd [4] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [5] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Should I be in character too?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe, yeah. If you feel like getting in the spirit of the evening at
Floyd | all."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "How can I get into character?" 		
Floyd [3] "Do you think the luchador and Cleopatra are in character?" 		
Floyd [4] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [5] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "How can I get into character?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, you look to me like a generic ghoul, so I guess some generic
Floyd | moaning and wailing would be appropriate."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "Do you think the luchador and Cleopatra are in character?" 		
Floyd [3] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you think the luchador and Cleopatra are in character?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He scoffs. "In character as a couple of teenagers, maybe."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Is your costume just a bunch of plants?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Are they real plants?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are they real plants?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, are you like a florist? Or a botanist?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm a nurse."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, what kind of shrub are you, exactly?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He rolls his eyes, but offers no answer.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [2] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You take your leave of the shrub.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take shears" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SHEARS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not a scythe, but it'll have to do.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "shear shrub" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHEAR SHRUB
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "cut shrub with shears" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT SHRUB WITH SHEARS
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub sees you coming with the shears and moves to the other end
Floyd | of the room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "cut shrub with shears" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT SHRUB WITH SHEARS
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub continues to evade your upraised shears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
Olly says (to Floyd), "cut shrub with shears" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT SHRUB WITH SHEARS
Floyd |
Floyd | You are unable to corner the shrub.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "cut shrub with shears" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CUT SHRUB WITH SHEARS
Floyd |
Floyd | You are unable to corner the shrub.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cleo" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CLEO
Floyd |
Floyd | Her costume is mostly accessories: An ornate necklace, a golden
Floyd | circlet, and multiple snake-shaped bracelets. She looks almost exactly
Floyd | like Liz Taylor did in 1963, but you can tell this one did her own
Floyd | makeup. It's "perfect", but not Hollywood perfect.
Floyd |
Floyd | In her hand is a tall green cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Sorry, I fell asleep."
Olly says (to Floyd), "x luchador" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LUCHADOR
Floyd |
Floyd | His costume is very simple—just a mask and a pair of tights—unless
Floyd | you
Floyd | consider his workout regimen to be one of the elements.
Floyd |
Floyd | In one of his huge hands is a black licorice cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "take green cupcake" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE GREEN CUPCAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | That seems to belong to Cleopatra.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to cleo" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CLEO
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleopatra and the luchador pull their eyes off of each other so they
Floyd | can acknowledge you.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "Pretty chilly tonight!" 		
Floyd [2] [To Cleopatra.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [3] [To the luchador.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [4] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "Pretty chilly tonight!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, outside it's very chilly," says the wrestler, in what could very
Floyd | well be a real accent. "But in here it's very warm and pleasant."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You must be uncomfortable in there," adds Cleopatra, looking you up
Floyd | and down.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] [To Cleopatra.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [2] [To the luchador.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What kind of cupcake is that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "This is 'Frostingstein's Monster'. It looks just like him, doesn't
Floyd | it? So cute! But yes, I'll admit it: I picked it because it had the
Floyd | most frosting."
Floyd |
Floyd | The luchador chortles.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] [To the luchador.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "Why haven't you [Cleopatra] eaten it, then?" 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why haven't you eaten it, then?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I'm saving it. For after the party. I wish I could dig in right
Floyd | now—" She swallows. "—but this isn't the place."
Floyd |
Floyd | She is looking directly at the luchador.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] [To the luchador.] "What kind of cupcake is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Er."
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "What kind of cupcake is that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "This is the 'Cupcake from the Black Lagoon'. I guess the licorice is
Floyd | supposed to be swamp plants. Vines? I don't know, I just love black
Floyd | licorice."
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleo fiddles with her braids.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, are you [the luchador] gonna eat that?" 		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, are you gonna eat that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I certainly am," he says. "I plan to enjoy it very, very much. And it
Floyd | will be all the more delectable after waiting for so long. Don't you
Floyd | agree?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes," hisses Cleopatra.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "I don't know if you guys care or not, but I was over by the guest 		

Floyd | room a second ago, and I noticed that there was nobody in there."

		
Floyd [2] "So, uh..." 		
Floyd [3] Try to exit this conversation. 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 1
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know if you guys care or not, but I was over by the guest
Floyd | room a second ago, and I noticed that there was nobody in there."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No kidding?" asks the luchador. "That's interesting."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's very interesting," says Cleopatra. "I should go check that
Floyd | out. Could you hold onto this?" She hands you her cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, yes, why don't you—Thanks." The luchador gives you his own
Floyd | cupcake, and the two of them scurry away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Score."
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Deck
Floyd | Pretty chilly out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The back yard is as dark as a pit. There's a little white gazebo way
Floyd | out at the other end, but who knows what lies between you and it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob is lurking around here somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to bob" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | "You got something?" asks Bob.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "Shouldn't I have a scythe?" 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Frostingstein's Monster cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] Offer Bob the Cupcake from the Black Lagoon. 		
Floyd [5] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "This one's called 'Frostingstein's Monster'."
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks at it for a while before he speaks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You know what? This is the problem with these people, right here.
Floyd | It's all about appearances with them. They're all frosting and no
Floyd | cake. All texture and no substance."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are you saying you don't like frosting?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Of course I like—I was speaking metaphorically."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "Shouldn't I have a scythe?" 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Cupcake from the Black Lagoon. 		
Floyd [4] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "3" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 3
Floyd |
Floyd | "Here's a Cupcake from the Black Lagoon."
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob squints at it. "Is this black licorice?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah. It's supposed to look like a black lagoon."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nobody likes black licorice. It's just there to look cute and then
Floyd | get scraped off, isn't it? Stupid."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think some people do like black licorice, though."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I doubt it, Rae."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "Shouldn't I have a scythe?" 		
Floyd [3] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "Shouldn't I have like a scythe?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, you're plenty scary already. A scythe would just slow you down.
Floyd | You'd end up cutting off somebody's costume and causing a whole
Floyd | rigamarole."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I really doubt I would accidentally cut someone's costume off."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's what you think! What I'm saying is, if you were carrying a
Floyd | scythe, some sort of rigamarole would end up happening. That's all I'm
Floyd | saying."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Lies. Licorice is wonderful."
		Olly says, "I like licorice."
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You do that. I'm gonna skulk around out here and try not to get
Floyd | arrested."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Good idea."
		DavidW says, "Licorice is a sometimes food."
Olly says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a pair of pruning shears, a sleeping pill, and an
Floyd | invitation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage leads east and out to the backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub is still standing around motionlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "moan" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You attempt an unearthly moan. shrub feigns terror.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hall
Floyd | This hallway connects the dining room to the north and the
Floyd | conservatory to the south. On a table in a small alcove is a platter
Floyd | of cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus lies on the floor in the alcove, separated from the humans by
Floyd | a plastic fence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus apparently does not want you to have these infernal cupcakes,
Floyd | and he barks and snarls at you until you pull your hand back from over
Floyd | the fence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x cerberus" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CERBERUS
Floyd |
Floyd | The head on the left is a German Shepherd, the one on the right is
Floyd | some kind of terrier, and the one in the middle (the one that's
Floyd | looking back up at you) is a Weimaraner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to cerberus" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO CERBERUS
Floyd |
Floyd | You wave, and say "Hey!" in a chipper tone, but there's no reaction.
Floyd | Dogs have never liked you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost asks, "I guess we're drugging the dog, huh?"
Olly says (to Floyd), "give pill to cerberus" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GIVE PILL TO CERBERUS
Floyd |
Floyd | You offer the pill to Cerberus. The thing doesn't really look like
Floyd | food, but Cerberus isn't about to take any chances; it slurps the pill
Floyd | up immediately.
Floyd |
Floyd | Of course, these things don't work instantaneously. You might have to
Floyd | wait a while before it takes effect—Or maybe not.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus emits a gigantic yawn, then falls to the floor, asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Poor pup. But yay for us."
		Olly says, "Looks like it."
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus is asleep at his post, and unable to stop you from reaching
Floyd | for the plate.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick up a Beelzebubblegum cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Whoops, bedtime"
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hall
Floyd | This hallway connects the dining room to the north and the
Floyd | conservatory to the south. On a table in a small alcove is a platter
Floyd | of cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus lies on the floor, its middle eyes closed in slumber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | Looks like someone beat you here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The table is covered mostly with empty dishes. A once-magnificent
Floyd | centerpiece has been reduced to damp crumbs. The selection of sliced
Floyd | meats and cheeses has been greatly diminished, and there are no
Floyd | crackers.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are platters laid out for seven cupcake flavors, but all except
Floyd | two are unoccupied.
Floyd |
Floyd | That door to the west must lead to the kitchen. The back hallway is
Floyd | south.
Floyd |
Floyd | The King of Diamonds is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do you have to 'take cupcakes' multiple times?"
		Olly says, "You only want one of each."
		DavidW asks, "like, was there more on that platter by Cerebus?"
		DavidW says, "oh, ok"
		Olly says, "Yes, but you aren't allowed to take more."
		DavidW says, "I missed the beginning."
		Olly says, "We are trying to get a complete set."
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | (the Beelzebubblegum cupcake)
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x platter" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLATTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the platter of Creepy Candy Corn Creature cupcakes
Floyd | or the platter of Double, Double, Toil and Truffle cupcakes?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take creepy" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CREEPY
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick up a Creepy Candy Corn Creature cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take double" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE DOUBLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You pick up a Double, Double, Toil and Truffle cupcake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hall
Floyd | This hallway connects the dining room to the north and the
Floyd | conservatory to the south. On a table in a small alcove is a platter
Floyd | of cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus lies on the floor, its middle eyes closed in slumber.
Floyd |
Floyd | You almost drop a cupcake! Close one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage leads east and out to the backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub is still standing around motionlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Deck
Floyd | Pretty chilly out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The back yard is as dark as a pit. There's a little white gazebo way
Floyd | out at the other end, but who knows what lies between you and it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob is lurking around here somewhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "talk to bob" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BOB
Floyd |
Floyd | "You got something?" asks Bob.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] Offer Bob the Beelzebubblegum cupcake. 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Creepy Candy Corn Creature cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] Offer Bob the Double, Double, Toil and Truffle cupcake. 		
Floyd [5] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "This one is a Beelzebubblegum."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah? That's pretty clever, actually. The devil face is stupid,
Floyd | though." He frowns at the cupcake, and then he hides it in whatever
Floyd | receptacle he brought along.
Floyd |
Floyd | "These people, Rae. They take everything too far. There's no subtlety
Floyd | in cupcake culture."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] Offer Bob the Creepy Candy Corn Creature cupcake. 		
Floyd [3] Offer Bob the Double, Double, Toil and Truffle cupcake. 		
Floyd [4] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand Bob the cupcake, and he deposits it somewhere in the
Floyd | darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's this one called?" he asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you care?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I like to know what it is I'm putting in my body, yes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's called 'Creepy Candy Corn Creature'."
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob rolls his eyes.
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] Offer Bob the Double, Double, Toil and Truffle cupcake. 		
Floyd [3] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand over the cupcake. "This one is called 'Double, Double, Toil
Floyd | and Truffle'."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's got a truffle on it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, that's why they call it that."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought truffles were expensive."
Floyd |
Floyd | "They might be. I dunno."
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob stows the cupcake somewhere. "Hmm."
Floyd |

		
Floyd [1] "So, how many cupcakes is that?" 		
Floyd [2] "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes." 		

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ]                          Deck, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > 2
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm gonna go inside and look for more cupcakes."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You do that. I'm gonna skulk around out here and wait for you to get
Floyd | back."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage leads east and out to the backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub is still standing around motionlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hall
Floyd | This hallway connects the dining room to the north and the
Floyd | conservatory to the south. On a table in a small alcove is a platter
Floyd | of cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus lies on the floor, its middle eyes closed in slumber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The table is covered mostly with empty dishes. A once-magnificent
Floyd | centerpiece has been reduced to damp crumbs. The selection of sliced
Floyd | meats and cheeses has been greatly diminished, and there are no
Floyd | crackers.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are platters laid out for seven cupcake flavors, but all except
Floyd | two are unoccupied.
Floyd |
Floyd | That door to the west must lead to the kitchen. The back hallway is
Floyd | south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Hm. The playing card left."
		Olly says, "Darn."
Olly says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | A narrow, sturdy-looking door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Is this a real kitchen? It looks like the set of a cooking show. So
Floyd | much counter space.
Floyd |
Floyd | And you can see why the boss didn't want anyone coming in here:
Floyd | Everything is totally spotless, and in total order—or, used to be. A
Floyd | collection of knives is spaced perfectly evenly, arranged by size, on
Floyd | the wall; the pots and pans are hung just as meticulously from the
Floyd | ceiling. The sink is huge, and gleaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south leads to the front hallway, and the door to the
Floyd | east leads to the dining room. The metal door to the north apparently
Floyd | leads to a walk-in freezer—good grief.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the exact center of one of the counters sits a pumpkin pie.
Floyd |
Floyd | Resting on the kitchen island are several cupcake platters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "x pie" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | A simple pumpkin pie in an aluminum tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "take pie" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Yiss."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "eat pie" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Maybe later.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | platter of Scarecrow Guts cupcakes: You pick up the Scarecrow Guts
Floyd | cupcake. Then, seeing an opportunity to save yourself some work, you
Floyd | pick up the empty platter and put the Scarecrow Guts cupcake on it.
Floyd | platter of Neapolitomb cupcakes: You put a Neapolitomb cupcake on your
Floyd | platter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "!!!!!"
		DavidW says, "Mad platter skillz"
Olly says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | You can see why the boss didn't want anyone coming in here: Everything
Floyd | is totally spotless, and in total order—or, used to be. A collection
Floyd | of knives is spaced perfectly evenly, arranged by size, on the wall;
Floyd | the pots and pans are hung just as meticulously from the ceiling. The
Floyd | sink is huge, and gleaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south leads to the front hallway, and the door to the
Floyd | east leads to the dining room. The metal door to the north apparently
Floyd | leads to a walk-in freezer.
Floyd |
Floyd | Resting on the kitchen island are several cupcake platters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x platters" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X PLATTERS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "x island" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ISLAND
Floyd |
Floyd | On the island are a platter of Scarecrow Guts cupcakes and a platter
Floyd | of Neapolitomb cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the freezer door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Freezer
Floyd | Good thing you're wearing this stuffy costume, because it is cold in
Floyd | here.
Floyd |
Floyd | This isn't a huge walk-in freezer. It's not like a commercial
Floyd | installation. Still, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a big tub of ice cream on the floor. On the shelves are some
Floyd | meats, a platter of Spookies and Scream cupcakes, and a platter of
Floyd | Salted Calaveramel cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | The freezer door slams shut behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take cupcakes" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CUPCAKES
Floyd |
Floyd | You put a Salted Calaveramel cupcake on your platter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "take spookies" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE SPOOKIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You put a Spookies and Scream cupcake on your platter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "No 'Let it Go Frozen cupcakes'?"
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You push on the freezer door. Hey, it looks like it's stuck. Maybe it
Floyd | needs another push.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Oh dear."
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You push on the freezer door. It still won't open. The cold is getting
Floyd | to you. You can feel your grasp on reality slipping...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying a cupcake platter, a pumpkin pie, a pair of pruning
Floyd | shears, and an invitation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Freezer, the future"
		Olly says, "I knew this was going to happen."
		ghostghostghost says, "*Now* can I eat the pie? :D"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "eat pie" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > EAT PIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Maybe later.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "moan" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > MOAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You moan creepily, but there's no response.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "C'mon, we're gonna die in here."
		ghostghostghost says, "I should at least get to eat something."
Olly says (to Floyd), "yell" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > YELL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Maybe we do a Captain America instead."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "push door" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | With failing strength you throw yourself bodily against the door.
Floyd | You're starting to see things: The current sweeps you between the
Floyd | icebergs and over the waterfall, and the gulls flying overhead scream
Floyd | "Wrong, wrong, wrong..."

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "cf40" 		

Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | "Wrong, wrong, wrong..."Oh, hey, that last push must have loosened it.
Floyd | The door is open now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]                         Freezer, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CF40
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Ugh, muscle memory."
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | You can see why the boss didn't want anyone coming in here: Everything
Floyd | is totally spotless, and in total order—or, used to be. A collection
Floyd | of knives is spaced perfectly evenly, arranged by size, on the wall;
Floyd | the pots and pans are hung just as meticulously from the ceiling. The
Floyd | sink is huge, and gleaming.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the south leads to the front hallway, and the door to the
Floyd | east leads to the dining room. Fog is rolling out of the walk-in
Floyd | freezer to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Resting on the kitchen island are several cupcake platters.
Floyd |
Floyd | The south door opens, and the King of Diamonds steps in. His
Floyd | expression is grim. Behind him stands the astronaut, his arms crossed
Floyd | like Boba Fett's.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Stand down, blackheart. Those cupcakes are for—Oh, come on, could
Floyd | you
Floyd | at least—" The King of Diamonds walks over to the freezer door that
Floyd | you left open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | That stupid astronaut is blocking the south door.
Floyd |
Floyd | The King shuts the freezer door, and then he turns back to you and
Floyd | your illicit cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "door is open now"
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
ghostghostghost says (to Floyd), "push king in freezer" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PUSH KING IN FREEZER
Floyd |
Floyd | You rush over to the King of Diamonds, shove him into the freezer, and
Floyd | slam the door on him.
Floyd |
Floyd | The astronaut moves in to open the door, but you're between him and
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The astronaut moves toward you warily.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost grins.
Olly says (to Floyd), "throw pie at astronaut" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > THROW PIE AT ASTRONAUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You toss the pie at the astronaut. He lifts his hands to intercept,
Floyd | but he's too late.
Floyd |
Floyd | The pie lands square on his visor, and smears itself all over his
Floyd | field of vision. He tries to wipe it away, but it looks like he's just
Floyd | making things worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | This might be a good time to get going.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		ghostghostghost says, "Good call!"
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | That stupid astronaut is blocking the south door.
Floyd |
Floyd | This might be a good time to get going.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]                         Kitchen, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The ways out of this kitchen are east to the dining room, south to the
Floyd | front hallway, and north into the freezer.
Floyd |
Floyd | You really should get out of here while you can.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]                       Dining Room, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The table is covered mostly with empty dishes. A once-magnificent
Floyd | centerpiece has been reduced to damp crumbs. The selection of sliced
Floyd | meats and cheeses has been greatly diminished, and there are no
Floyd | crackers.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are platters laid out for seven cupcake flavors, but all except
Floyd | two are unoccupied.
Floyd |
Floyd | That door to the west leads to the kitchen. The back hallway is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                        Back Hall, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Back Hall
Floyd | This hallway connects the dining room to the north and the
Floyd | conservatory to the south. On a table in a small alcove is a platter
Floyd | of cupcakes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cerberus lies on the floor, its middle eyes closed in slumber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]                      Conservatory, right now
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Conservatory
Floyd | The floor-to-ceiling windows are barely visible through the forest of
Floyd | potted trees and flowers. The parlor is west, a hallway is north, and
Floyd | a narrow path through the foliage leads east and out to the backyard.
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrub is still standing around motionlessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Olly says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Deck
Floyd | You scramble over to where you think Bob is. "We'd better get going,"
Floyd | you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bob isn't so sure. "Did you get the cupcakes?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes I got the cupcakes we need to leave right now."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay, fine! Jeez! Let's leave, then!"

		DavidW asks, "push space?"
		Olly asks, "I guess?"
		Olly asks, "How do you do that?"
		DavidW says, "just 'push space' in the toyshop without using Floyd."
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "Okay, fine! Jeez! Let's leave, then!"## Bob's Place
Floyd | "And you're 'pretty sure' they didn't know it was you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, just like you're 'pretty sure' they didn't see you standing
Floyd | around in the back yard."

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | around in the back yard.""Good enough for me! So now, we've got our
Floyd | prize—" Bob contemplates the Salted Calaveramel. "—And justice has
Floyd | been deserved. Which ones do you want?"

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | been deserved. Which ones do you want?""Oh, so there's a reward? How
Floyd | many do I get?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You get six, obviously. I know I won the contest, but you put in a
Floyd | lot of work too. Anyway, we're still partners, right?"

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | lot of work too. Anyway, we're still partners, right?""Right."
Floyd | Apparently.

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Apparently."Oh, before I forget." Bob swallows, not because there's a
Floyd | cupcake in his mouth, but because he's nervous. "I wanted to say
Floyd | something."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes?"

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | "Yes?""Well, what I wanted to say was, sorry you had to go to that
Floyd | stupid party, and put up with all their cutesy shenanigans. Sorry I
Floyd | made you do all that, is what I meant to say. I know it was a pain."
Floyd |
Floyd | You shrug and bite into the Curse of the S'Mummy's S'Mores.

		
Olly pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                       Bob's Place, right now
Floyd | You shrug and bite into the Curse of the S'Mummy's S'Mores.Delicious.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |              THE
Floyd |
Floyd |                 END
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT, or UNDO the
Floyd | last command?
Floyd | >

		Olly says, "Cool."
		Olly says, "I got to finish a CF game."
		jenrexrode says, "a"
		jenrexrode says, "er yay"
		DavidW says, "congrats"
		Olly says, "Though I think it had quite a bit do do with the fact that nobody else was doing anything a lot of the time."



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Hunger Daemon by Sean M. Shore
As played on ifMUD on November 23, 2014

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Hunger Daemon written by Sean M. Shore. Hunger Daemon took first in the 2014 Interactive Fiction Competition, and went on to be nominated for Best Game and Best Implementation in the 2014 Xyzzy Awards. You can learn more about this game, including how to download it, by visiting the IFDB: Hunger Daemon.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.

ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline hollers, "Reminder: the Sunday ClubFloyd hiatus ends in half an hour!" 		DavidW says, "And yay, I don't have to think up a game to play."
		Jacqueline says, "But have you already played what I wanted to play today>"
		Jacqueline asks, "er, ?"
		DavidW says, "well, yes."
		Roger exclaims, "I haven't!"
		Jacqueline says, "That is my main concern. I guess we'll see who shows up."
		Jacqueline says, "Like maybe Roger will show up."
		Roger says, "That slacker skipped the whole comp! Slacker."
		oddgrue says, "so clubfloyd is on? assuming my kid managed to stay occupied i will be joining"
		Jacqueline says, "It is. Twenty minutes yet, though."
		DavidW says (to oddgrue), "yes, ClubFloyd is restarting today. And soon-ish."
oddgrue arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
DavidW arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
DavidW says (to oddgrue), "by the way, are you by any chance the author of Jacqueline, Jungle Queen! and Whitefield Academy of Witchcraft? (Because I loved those games.)" 		
oddgrue says (to davidw), "sadly no... despite YEARS of wanting to write a game, i've never managed to." 		
DavidW says, "ah. well. Perhaps we can help with that someday." 		Jacqueline asks, "Ready? Okay! Who is here for the Clubbing and the Floyding?"
		says, "I am ready to Floyd."
		DavidW says, "I am ready to Club."
		Jacqueline asks, "Roger, are you in? oddgrue?"
JoshuaH arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Jacqueline says, "My one fear is that because NightFloyd already played these (I think... I need to post NightFloyd transcripts from during the ClubFloyd hiatus) that everyone but me will have played these."
		Jacqueline says, "Everybody gathering to watch just me play a game would be kind of not the point (and probably pretty boring)"
		vimes asks, "what, nobody's here to Flub?"
		Jacqueline says (to vimes), "You can be."
		Jacqueline says (to vimes), "Also, I'm glad you're here. Will you be around later today? Want to talk about which other comp games we can get to run on Floyd."
		vimes says, "yeah, i'll be around"
		Jacqueline asks (of Joshua,), "have you played Hunger Daemon?"
oddgrue exclaims, "i'm in, but will be off and on... i have a six year old trying to get my attention!" 		
inky arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		JoshuaH says, "Yeah."
		oddgrue says, "oops - forgot to talk on channel... i'm in, but wlil be off and on"
		Jacqueline says (to oddgrue), "That's fine. Have you played the game Hunger Daemon? (Also, please speak on-channel by prefacing what you say with #clubfloyd)"
		JoshuaH says, "I think the only Inform ones I didn't finish were Fifteen Minutes and Transparent."
		Jacqueline says, "Timing"
		Jacqueline says, "Roger, I may actually need you."
		Jacqueline says, "Or we could play something else, but the author is here and it would be nice to play his game."
		Jacqueline says, "At least, I think MrPatient is the author."
		Jacqueline asks (of MrPatient), "Right?"
		JoshuaH says, "But Hunger is amusing to watch, so whatever is okay."
		MrPatient says, "Yep, that's me. But it's cool. Play whatever works"
		Roger says, "whahunh"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Get in here. You and I are playing this."
		Jacqueline says, "It won a comp. I hear it is good."
		DavidW says, "All I played of Fifteen Minutes was one run-through where I did nothing but examine things and decided no way would I attempt to play it during comp conditions."
		Roger says, "Okay; if I'm mysteriously afk, blame the offspring"
		oddgrue says, "i've never played it"
		Roger says, "But I'll try to keep tuned in"
		inky says, "I'l play too"
		Jacqueline says, "Yay people. Yay actual game."
PaulS arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		Jacqueline says, "So, it looks like those people who said they'd play are all here, so I shall begin."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask hungerdaemon" 		
Floyd >Are you sure you want to quit? Please answer yes or no.> Please 		
Floyd answer yes or no.> ] 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | ...ilyaa nwagl geb tharanak r'luh hafh'drn kadishtu Hastur ftaghu
Floyd | nglui syha'hoth nilgh'ri f'phlegeth s'uhn, uln ooboshu gnaiih ftaghu
Floyd | f'ya bug kadishtu mnahn' shtunggliog shugg y'hah shugg chtenffnyth,
Floyd | nahafh'drn ep sgn'wahl llll navulgtlagln.  Naflebunma hai nog uaaah
Floyd | nog naflsyha'h Azathoth nggeb uaaah shogg fm'latgh, ehye cshugg
Floyd | y'hah...
Floyd |
Floyd | That's your Uncle Stu chanting, getting some occasional vocal backup
Floyd | from the other guys.  They've been going on for the better part of two
Floyd | hours now.  Prep-work for the big show tonight.

		Jacqueline asks, "How does one even pronounce llll?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Is it Welsh?"
		inky says, "yy, I think"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | hours now.  Prep-work for the big show tonight.
Floyd | ...sgn'wahl vulgtlagln stell'bsnaor syha'h gebyar nilgh'ri orr'e
Floyd | uaaah uln, throd fm'latghyar vulgtm tharanak kn'a mg uh'e nglui,
Floyd | fm'latgh Cthulhu nglui k'yarnak li'hee mnahn' uh'e chtenff. Athg y'hah
Floyd | lloig ep hlirgh 'fhalma hrii sll'ha, hupadgh wgah'nog shogg orr'e
Floyd | ebunma vulgtm ron, ebunma...
Floyd |
Floyd | There's really quite a bit of chanting at these things, and it can be
Floyd | a little repetitive.  Some themes tend to recur pretty often.  A lot
Floyd | of awakening and devouring, for starters.

		DavidW says, "I read some credits saying the author used a Cthulhu-language generator."
		Jacqueline says, "Nice."
		MrPatient says, "Yeah, no way I was typing that crap up"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | of awakening and devouring, for starters.
Floyd | ...wgah'n orr'e uaaah ron hafh'drn mg n'ghft shagg ooboshuog
Floyd | mnahn' r'luh naorr'e bug li'hee gnaiih Tsathoggua n'gha lw'nafh uh'e,
Floyd | n'ghftoth fm'latgh ckn'a hlirgh mnahn' uh'e ya goka.  Li'hee naflshagg
Floyd | stell'bsna ilyaa y'hah, ph'ah li'heenyth f'geb...
Floyd |
Floyd | The thing of it is, he's drawing out every single goddamned syllable.
Floyd | That "wgah'n" -- that took eleven seconds.  If he were just reading it
Floyd | straight, we'd have been out of here in forty-five minutes, and you'd
Floyd | have the rest of your day back.  But instead, he's doing all these
Floyd | vibratos and ululations, going over the same phrase over and over.
Floyd | It's enough to drive you insane.

		
vala arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		DavidW says (to MrPatient), "oh hi. :)"
		inky asks, "wait, you mean this isn't really from the necronomicon?"
		Emily says, "yeah, that was sweet"
		MrPatient says (to DavidW), "Howdy"
		Jacqueline says (to inky), "Please don't leave."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | It's enough to drive you insane.
Floyd | ...f'shugg s'uhn y-fhtagn gotha, ngthrod Shub-Niggurath y'hah
Floyd | hupadgh uln k'yarnak nguaaah lloig gluinyth 'fhalma h'gof'nn ah grah'n
Floyd | ngfhtagn nw, ngshtunggli shugg n'gha ngnog, ngooboshu nastell'bsna
Floyd | naflr'luh s'uhn. F'n'gha naflorr'e ron ngphlegeth h'bug 'fhalma ep
Floyd | li'hee shagg...
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a pause in the chanting.  Suddenly, you hear a baleful
Floyd | gurgling, almost a roar, coming from deep below.  It's your stomach.
Floyd | You missed breakfast, and now you're missing lunch, too.  Azathoth's
Floyd | ample arse!  How long is this ceremony going to take?

		
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Restaurant Basement                                   1
Floyd ]  Exits: UP
Floyd |
Floyd | Hunger Daemon
Floyd | The Travails of a Cafeteria Cultist by Sean M. Shore
Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 141014 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | Restaurant Basement
Floyd | You're in the basement of a defunct little bistro in the West 7th
Floyd | neighborhood of Saint Paul.  This is where your cult does most of its
Floyd | culting, on account of how your Aunt Sandy doesn't want any sacrifices
Floyd | in the house, and well, fair enough.  Uncle Stu owns the building, so
Floyd | you're not squatting or anything, but he's kept the place in a state
Floyd | of perpetual Coming Soonedness, so that you all can do your thing here
Floyd | with no interference.
Floyd |
Floyd | As I say, defunct bistro, so the restaurant-type stuff you'd
Floyd | normally find here is mostly gone.  In their place there's a group of
Floyd | guys wearing hooded robes, facing an altar at one end of the chamber.
Floyd | Your Uncle Stu has a lectern in front of him, atop which is a decrepit
Floyd | leather-bound book from which he is chanting.  There's a wooden stair
Floyd | leading to the pantry above and a winged horror slumped in a folding
Floyd | chair in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | [First-time players should type ABOUT.  Those playing via web browser:
Floyd | use ESC and X to navigate the menus, or turn on screen reader mode.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, about?"
		DavidW says, "yes please"
		oddgrue says, "sure"
		Roger says, "Sure"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ] HELP MENU
Floyd ]               Press a number to choose an option or
Floyd ]                       ESCAPE or X to exit.
Floyd ]                  (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.)
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | (If you're using a screen reader, press S to turn on Screen Reader
Floyd | mode. This message only appears on the front page of the menu system.)
Floyd |
Floyd |      1. About and Credits
Floyd |      2. Hints

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" 		

Floyd ] Hints
Floyd ]           Press a number or letter to choose an option,
Floyd ]  ESCAPE to move back a menu, L to leap to the top menu or X to exit.
Floyd ]                  (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.)
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | (Hints)
Floyd |
Floyd |      1. How do I escape the service in the basement?
Floyd |      2. How do I free Jeff?
Floyd |      3. How do I enter Carver's Cave?
Floyd |      4. How do I open the office door?
Floyd |      5. How do I get the serpent's blood?
Floyd |      6. How do I get the blood safely out of the cave?
Floyd |      7. Where can I find an image of the young woman?
Floyd |      8. Where can I find one of her possessions?
Floyd |      9. How do I avoid ruining the spell?
Floyd |      A. How do I get inside the sanctuary?
Floyd |      B. I'm finally in.  Where is she?
Floyd |      C. I've found her.  Now what?

		Jacqueline says, "ACK"
		Jacqueline says, "I MEANT 1"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x" 		

Floyd ]  Restaurant Basement                                     1
Floyd ]  Exits: UP
Floyd | Restaurant Basement
Floyd | You're in the basement of a defunct little bistro in the West 7th
Floyd | neighborhood of Saint Paul.  The restaurant-type stuff you'd normally
Floyd | find here is mostly gone.  In their place there's a group of guys
Floyd | wearing hooded robes, facing an altar at one end of the chamber.  Your
Floyd | Uncle Stu has a lectern in front of him, atop which is a decrepit
Floyd | leather-bound book, from which he is chanting.  There's a wooden stair
Floyd | leading to the pantry above and a winged horror slumped in a folding
Floyd | chair in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Hastur made her do it"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ] Hints
Floyd ]                Press a number to choose an option,
Floyd ]  ESCAPE to move back a menu, L to leap to the top menu or X to exit.
Floyd ]                  (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.)
Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | ()
Floyd |
Floyd |      1. About and Credits
Floyd |      2. Hints

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" 		

Floyd ] About and Credits (page 1 of 1)
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  Press ESCAPE to return to menu, L to leap to the top menu or X to
Floyd | exi
Floyd ] t.               (Press M to turn Book Mode ON.)
Floyd ]
Floyd | ( - About and Credits)
Floyd |
Floyd | Hunger Daemon is an entry in the 2014 Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Competition.  There are a couple of short timed sequences where it is
Floyd | possible to lock yourself out of victory for a move or two, but it
Floyd | will be very obvious when this happens, because the game will end.
Floyd | Outside of that, the various "winning" endings should always be
Floyd | available.
Floyd |
Floyd | To initiate a conversation with a character, you can TALK TO the
Floyd | character, or SAY HELLO TO her, or ASK her ABOUT or TELL her ABOUT
Floyd | something.  Use TOPICS to display conversation topics.  Occasionally a
Floyd | character might respond to something not in her topics list.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can use GO TO to return to places you've already been.   There are
Floyd | also a few other nonstandard verbs.  I hope that they're obvious in
Floyd | context.  Note: you might find yourself needing to INFLATE or SQUEEZE
Floyd | or REMEMBER some things.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks to Graham Nelson and Emily Short for Inform 7, and to Eric Eve,
Floyd | David Fisher and Wade Clarke for very helpful extensions.  All praise
Floyd | to my testers: Sam Kabo Ashwell, Neil Butters, Bob Reeves, Gráinne
Floyd | Ryan, Andrew Schultz, and Steven Westwood.  Any remaining shortcomings
Floyd | or errors in this game are wholly my responsibility.  Lovecraftian
Floyd | gibberish courtesy of the Cthuvian Ipsum Generator
Floyd | ([LINK]).  The cover art is
Floyd | adapted from a photo by Knoell8504 on Wikimedia Commons
Floyd | ([LINK]).
Floyd |
Floyd | Apologies to Rabbi Spilker, who deserves better than to appear here.
Floyd |
Floyd | I can be reached at mister_patient@yahoo.com.  Thanks for playing.
Floyd |
Floyd | ------------------------

		DavidW says, "yay testers"
		MrPatient says, "Heroes, all of them"
		Jacqueline says, "It seems I'm always finding the need to inflate or squeeze or remember things."
inky says (to Floyd), "x" 		

Floyd ]  Restaurant Basement                                     1
Floyd ]  Exits: UP
Floyd | Restaurant Basement
Floyd | You're in the basement of a defunct little bistro in the West 7th
Floyd | neighborhood of Saint Paul.  The restaurant-type stuff you'd normally
Floyd | find here is mostly gone.  In their place there's a group of guys
Floyd | wearing hooded robes, facing an altar at one end of the chamber.  Your
Floyd | Uncle Stu has a lectern in front of him, atop which is a decrepit
Floyd | leather-bound book, from which he is chanting.  There's a wooden stair
Floyd | leading to the pantry above and a winged horror slumped in a folding
Floyd | chair in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x horror" 		

Floyd ]  Restaurant Basement                                     2
Floyd ]  Exits: UP
Floyd |
Floyd | > X HORROR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a creature summoned from beyond the stars, beyond the depths of
Floyd | madness, to serve your uncle.  It can scarcely even be described.  To
Floyd | truly look upon it, to apprehend its features fully, would fracture
Floyd | one's mind.
Floyd |
Floyd | That said, it's a tall, lumpy, yellowish humanoid guy with black eyes
Floyd | and some tendrils around the mouth.  It's just sitting there on the
Floyd | chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...r'luh lw'nafh gnaiih ee ep bug nglui, ilyaa geb lw'nafh...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x book" 		

Floyd ]  Restaurant Basement                                     3
Floyd ]  Exits: UP
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOOK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's the book that got your uncle started many years ago, when he came
Floyd | across it in a dig in Paraguay.  It's at least a thousand pages long.
Floyd | A lot of the pages seem to have been inserted after the fact.  You
Floyd | haven't spent a lot of time handling it, but when you have, the
Floyd | reddish leather on the cover has flaked off and stuck to your fingers.
Floyd | There's no title on it, and it's written in an ancient language that
Floyd | you still can't read, despite your uncle's best efforts.
Floyd |
Floyd | You lean over to have a peek at the section that Stu is reading from.
Floyd | Dagon's dingus!  He's still on page 13!  We're going to be here all
Floyd | day.  Maybe you can slip out discreetly and get your lunch from the
Floyd | fridge upstairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...ah hriioth vulgtm uln mnahn' shogg n'ghft nglui zhro...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "IRTA It's a creature summoned from beyond the stars, beyond the depths of madness, to serve your lunch. Then I reread and was disappointed."
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly I am hungry."
		Roger says, "Apropos"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "I try to start eating *before* ClubFloyd starts. Or have plenty to munch on during."
		Roger says, "Anyway, go ahead and do all the usual start-of-game stuff, if you like."
inky says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  4
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You tiptoe over to the stairs as gingerly as you can.  Some of the
Floyd | other cultists give you a look of mild disapproval, leavened with
Floyd | jealousy at your having the courage to slip out first.  No one says
Floyd | anything, though, and your uncle continues his chanting.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is where all the food would be stored, if the bistro were open
Floyd | and functioning.  There's a big fridge in the corner and many dusty
Floyd | shelves along the walls.  A wooden stair leads down to the basement,
Floyd | and a doorway leads north to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dusty shelves are some pizza boxes and some cans of near-food.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  5
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the fridge, revealing an unexpectedly empty Ziploc bag.  The
Floyd | bag has the word "Barry" written on it with a black Sharpie, for all
Floyd | the good that did you.  It used to enclose a sandwich.  The sandwich
Floyd | is now presumably enclosed by Walter, who is the only one who's been
Floyd | up here.  Where is that clown?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get bag" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  6
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x pizza" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  7
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PIZZA
Floyd |
Floyd | They're from Papa Dimitri's on Hamline, from yesterday.  They still
Floyd | smell faintly of pizza, which isn't helping you curb your hunger right
Floyd | now, even if the pizza wasn't all that great.  The boxes are closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
maga arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
inky says (to Floyd), "open pizza" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  8
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN PIZZA
Floyd |
Floyd | Alas, all that remains are some greasy sheets of wax paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x near" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  9
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  down
Floyd |
Floyd | > X NEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn them to read the labels and wipe away some dust.  They're
Floyd | food, I guess, but none of them can be eaten individually, or in
Floyd | combination.  There's coconut milk, a can of chipotles in adobo,
Floyd | horseradish, a bottle of fish sauce, and sundry other substances which
Floyd | might be described as food-adjacent.  None of them will address your
Floyd | hunger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
		inky says, "fucking chipotles in adobo"
		inky says, "you seem so useful in the grocery store"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		MrPatient says, "In our house, that's a can that never gets finished"
		Roger says, "Now we know why Allen gave this a 1"
		Emily says, "ha ha ha"
		DavidW says, "I've never seen chipotles for sale."
		inky says, ""why doesn't the PC just chug the bottle of fish sauce?" Allen asks"
		Jacqueline says, "I was belatedly laughing about how my sandwich is now enclosed by Walter, but this other stuff is funny, too."
		Roger says, "Yeah it shows a deft touch"
		Roger says, "He should call the PULP TACO guy"
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 10
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You make sure the fridge and freezer doors are shut and then head out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is the bistro's cramped kitchen.  With your eye for detail, you
Floyd | notice a couple of things subtly out of place.  For one thing, Walter

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Oh, yeah. It comes in cans or fresh."

Floyd | is laid out on the floor.  Also, the Ark of, um, Whatever, which he
Floyd | was guarding, is open and empty.  The oven appears to be intact, for
Floyd | what that's worth, which is probably very little.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 11
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Ziploc bag (open but empty)
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 12
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're Barry, just a regular guy in the service of the Great Old Ones.
Floyd | OK, "in the service of" might be a little strong.  You haven't done
Floyd | much serving of late.  You only show up for the high holidays and
Floyd | important rituals if you can help it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x walter" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 13
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WALTER
Floyd |
Floyd | He's a big dude -- a monster, really -- and a friend of your uncle's.
Floyd | He's supposed to be keeping watch.  Instead, he's sprawled out on the
Floyd | floor, face down, sleeping peacefully.  There's a faint chemical whiff
Floyd | coming off him, as opposed to the usual aquavit.  You're not a
Floyd | physician per se -- a second-year vet student, actually -- but as far
Floyd | as you can tell, he's not dying or anything, just knocked out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x ark" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ARK
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ark of Whatever -- Mythos names give you a headache -- is a large,
Floyd | ornate box, covered in raised pictograms in some ancient tongue.  It's
Floyd | clearly very old, and somewhat alien-looking, and too big to schlep
Floyd | downstairs.  It contains the great Heart of Something or other, the
Floyd | crucial object needed for your uncle's transformation ritual that
Floyd | takes place tomorrow.  Or it did: the ark is open and empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | You run your finger over the raised pictograms, wondering how the hell
Floyd | this could have happened.  In order to even open the box, you'd need
Floyd | to have the combination, and press the symbols in the right --.  Oh,
Floyd | Jesus.  THIS IS YOUR FAULT.
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		DavidW does wavey hands and woo-woo-woop flashback noises.
		Jacqueline asks, "How is this OUR fault?"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  A Month Ago at the State Fair, On Line for Bacon on a St14k
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd | It's a hot, sweaty day at the state fair.  You're here along with
Floyd | perhaps a hundred thousand of your fellow Minnesotans, having spent
Floyd | the day gawking at the prize rabbits, admiring the butter sculptures
Floyd | of the dairy princesses, checking out the reliably liberal crop art,
Floyd | and consuming 4000 calories, much of it in the form of soybean oil.
Floyd |
Floyd | A Month Ago at the State Fair, On Line for Bacon on a Stick
Floyd | You're at the head of the line at the Fat Bacon stand, ready for your
Floyd | opportunity to give $5 in exchange for a piece of bacon on a stick.
Floyd | This is what your day has been missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some teenagers are manning the booth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient asks, "Why does it say St14k? Or is my client being weird?"
		Jacqueline says, "Mine says that too"
		Jacqueline says, "Weird."
		oddgrue says, "sorry guys... gotta go. i think next week i'll get my husband on kid detail before"
		DavidW says, "I see it too. The terp is blending the turns count with the very long room name."
		inky says, "at first I thought it was "stick""
oddgrue goes home. 		inky says, "then I thought it was "steak""
		PaulS says, "And mine. I assumed it was some special delicacy."
		JoshuaH says, "Leet."
		inky says, "then I thought it was st<fourteen characters>k"
		Roger says, "a turncount overwriting a too-wide location, perhaps"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, it's condensed due to the room name?"
		Jacqueline says, "Er, the turn count is in there. Just a weird Floydism."
		Roger says, "'On Line' is still weird"
		DavidW says, "Floyd's terp must have a narrow screen width."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, gosh, this game is making we want to move to Minnesota and become a cultist. Except not really. But it's fun."
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  A Month Ago at the State Fair, On Line for Bacon on a St15k
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a five-dollar bill
Floyd |   an all-important note that explains how to open the Ark of Gl'thub
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ]  A Month Ago at the State Fair, On Line for Bacon on a St16k
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's the folded-up piece of paper on which is written the exact
Floyd | sequence of pictograms one presses to open the Ark of Gl'thub.  It is
Floyd | not the only copy, thankfully.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "yeah, it's lovely"
inky says (to Floyd), "buy bacon" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > BUY BACON
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach into your pocket, pull out the money, and hand it over to
Floyd | the girl.  She hands you your bacon on a stick.  It's not all that
Floyd | great.  Meanwhile:
Floyd |
Floyd | the all-important note that explains how to open the Ark of Gl'thub:
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |

		
olethros arrives, full of fun and funk. 		

Floyd | At least, this is your best guess as to what happened, since the money
Floyd | and the note were in the same pocket.  But more to the point, who
Floyd | would even have picked it up, with all the garbage floating around the
Floyd | state fair?  Who would have noticed it?  There's no way that anyone
Floyd | could make sense of it.  It's just scribbles on a piece of paper.  No
Floyd | big deal.  Stu has another copy, so we're all good.
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		inky says, "I assume gl'thub -> github"
		MrPatient says, "Yes, this is a game about downloading Puppet modules, ultimately"
		Jacqueline says (to inky), "hee"
inky pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | press any key
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, maybe not.  Crap.  You need to make this right, like right now.
Floyd | Stu is going to eat you alive if he finds out that the Heart is gone,
Floyd | and that is literally.  Oh man, oh man.  Where to even start?  Jeff!
Floyd | Jeff will know what to do.  Better get over to the bookstore pronto,
Floyd | before Stu figures out what's happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		Jacqueline says, "So, possibly we gave it to the bacon-on-a-stick person when we paid. This has happened to me, though I was buying something else and the note I lost wasn't this important."
inky pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 17
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             18
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x chandelier" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             19
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CHANDELIER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been painted white, which transforms it from "schlock" into
Floyd | "shabby chic."
Floyd |
Floyd | As you look at the chandelier, your eye is drawn to a security camera,
Floyd | facing toward the front door and bathroom.  A tiny red light on the
Floyd | camera is illuminated.  A wire leads from the camera along the ceiling
Floyd | to the south, towards the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am watching while I break my morning fast for a few. I may not comment, but I'm here."
		olethros says, "I dont think we can get to the camera without a key"
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 20
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "so anyway, we follow the cable"
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 21
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the office door)
Floyd | (first unlocking the office door)
Floyd | It's locked, and Uncle Stu presumably has the key that must fit in its
Floyd | oversized keyhole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "sure enough"
inky says (to Floyd), "look in keyhole" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 22
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN KEYHOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's certainly big, but you can't see all the way through on account
Floyd | of the tumblers or whatever they're called.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky asks, "what, the key isn't in the lock, but on the other side?"
		olethros says, "ok, time to find jeff"
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             23
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a small security camera mounted in the corner of the
Floyd | ceiling, and a thin black wire running from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom                                                24
Floyd ]  Exits: east WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | With all the guys spending a lot of time in the restaurant, this tends
Floyd | to get used a fair bit.  It has the usual accoutrements: toilet, sink,
Floyd | and the like.  You can return to the dining room to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a frosted window on the west wall, currently wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Strangely, there's a filthy pillow on the floor underneath the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "no, tumblers are the things that block the lock"
inky says (to Floyd), "x pillow" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom                                                25
Floyd ]  Exits: east WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PILLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a regular pillow that has had a rough time lately, it seems.
Floyd | It's yellowed from sweat, has black dirt all over it, and smells of
Floyd | garbage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
maga whooped with Orlanth, and drank the Eight Known Drinks, so that his head would hurt during the ceremony. 		
inky says (to Floyd), "get pillow" 		olethros says, "the key pushes through the tumblers"

Floyd ]  Bathroom                                                26
Floyd ]  Exits: east WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET PILLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   27
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | This damp, quiet alley runs along the west side of the restaurant.
Floyd | It's littered with leaves and paved with gravel.  Randolph Avenue is
Floyd | back to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A window leads back east into the building.  Parked right alongside,
Floyd | in a little spot reserved for employees, is your Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "wait wait"
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom                                                28
Floyd ]  Exits: east west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | With all the guys spending a lot of time in the restaurant, this tends
Floyd | to get used a fair bit.  It has the usual accoutrements: toilet, sink,
Floyd | and the like.  You can return to the dining room to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a frosted window on the west wall, currently wide open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "flush toilet" 		

Floyd ]  Bathroom                                                29
Floyd ]  Exits: east west
Floyd |
Floyd | > FLUSH TOILET
Floyd |
Floyd | You flush the toilet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "I give it a C+"
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   30
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb out the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd | This damp, quiet alley runs along the west side of the restaurant.
Floyd | It's littered with leaves and paved with gravel.  Randolph Avenue is
Floyd | back to the northeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | A window leads back east into the building.  Parked right alongside,
Floyd | in a little spot reserved for employees, is your Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x leaves" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   31
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LEAVES
Floyd |
Floyd | It's early autumn.  Leaves are everywhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   32
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a 2001 Saturn sedan.  The color, as represented to you by the
Floyd | dealership, is "grey bronze."  Others with less sophisticated tastes
Floyd | might call it "brown."  The paint job is marred by the presence of
Floyd | muddy footprints on the roof.   Also, the trunk is open, and you
Floyd | definitely didn't drive here with it like that.  Someone must have
Floyd | broken the lock on -- no, wait.   There's no sign of forced entry.
Floyd | Whoever it was simply opened the trunk from the inside of the car,
Floyd | which you failed to lock.  Awesome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "count leaves" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   32
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > COUNT LEAVES
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aw"
		olethros says, "ha ha"
olethros says (to Floyd), "x trunk" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   33
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TRUNK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's larger than it looks from the outside, one of the few aspects of
Floyd | the car that provides a pleasant surprise.  It's open.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the trunk are a flashlight and some Breaking Bad DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Not inside the trunk is your tire iron.  It appears to have been
Floyd | stolen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "look in trunk" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   34
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN TRUNK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's larger than it looks from the outside, one of the few aspects of
Floyd | the car that provides a pleasant surprise.  It's open.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the trunk are a flashlight and some Breaking Bad DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get flashlight" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   35
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET FLASHLIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x dvds" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   36
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DVDS
Floyd |
Floyd | They're Sam's, not yours, but you're in no mood to return them anytime
Floyd | soon.  These are the very cool limited edition set, with the case
Floyd | shaped like a tank of methylamine.  Thankfully the thief has left
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "ok, inky drive"
inky says (to Floyd), "get dvds" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   37
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET DVDS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "look in car" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   38
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The Saturn is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd ]  Alley                                                   39
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the trunk and hop in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         40
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  south southwest WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  The part we're on
Floyd | here is firmly middle class, maybe on the low side.  There are a lot
Floyd | of small close-set houses with minimally-tended lawns, pockmarked by
Floyd | the occasional commercial space, including your restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cult's shop, Unspeakable Books and Gifts, is located a few miles
Floyd | to the west.  Jeff should be there; you should head over, ASAP.
Floyd | Carver's Cave is to the northeast.  That's where you guys originally
Floyd | obtained the Heart, and is probably worth checking out.  There's also
Floyd | an alleyway to the southwest.  The dining room is to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x houses" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         41
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  south southwest WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X HOUSES
Floyd |
Floyd | Most of them are one-and-a-half stories, built in the 1950s, with the
Floyd | sharply-slanted roofs that are necessary in Minnesota.  Some are
Floyd | better-maintained than others, but none will be appearing in
Floyd | Architectural Digest anytime soon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "GET HOUSES here might be fun. Not sure if I've tried from inside the car"
		inky says, "I feel like this is the first car implementation I'm played where it doesn't make me turn the key and stuff"
inky says (to Floyd), "get houses" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         42
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  south southwest WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET HOUSES
Floyd |
Floyd | In 2009, perhaps.  Housing prices have rebounded, though, and you
Floyd | couldn't afford them all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        43
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  east INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive off towards Highland Park for a couple of miles.  You arrive
Floyd | at your destination a few minutes later.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleveland Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Cleveland Avenue outside a magic shop affiliated with your
Floyd | cult, wedged between an insurance agent and a Subway.  A faded sign
Floyd | above the nondescript entrance to the north reads "Unspeakable Books
Floyd | and Gifts."  A placard indicates that the shop is closed, but you can
Floyd | see that the lights are on.  The bistro and Randolph Avenue are back
Floyd | to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standing out front is a sandwich board advertising an improbable and
Floyd | already completed Back to School sale.  Or I should say, "B4ck to Scho
Floyd | l."
Floyd |
Floyd | A mostly-deflated red balloon hangs limply from the sandwich board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        44
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  east INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.  (Incidentally, you don't need to worry
Floyd | about closing or locking or unlocking the car.  Just enter and exit.
Floyd | The locking and unlocking will be assumed.  No one else will mess with
Floyd | your car, I promise).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        45
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  east INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x it" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        46
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  east INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > X IT
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a plain red balloon.  It's currently deflated.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             47
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | You find the shop unlocked, strangely enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "inflate balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             48
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > INFLATE BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You inflate the balloon, carefully holding it closed with your fingers
Floyd | when you're done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "squeeze balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             49
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You squeeze the inflated balloon, and the air rushes out of it.  It
Floyd | would probably be more fun to inflate it and simply let it go.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x knickknacks" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             50
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X KNICKKNACKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Pendants, crystals, amulets, "healing" magnets, and all manner of
Floyd | other crap.  High profit margins, you're told.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying on the ground behind the display case, bathed in a strange
Floyd | yellow light, is your friend Jeff.  He's apparently frozen in place.
Floyd | You half-expect him to suddenly spring to life like one of those
Floyd | annoying street performers, but it doesn't look like that will happen.
Floyd | Frozen Jeff is holding a partially open box, emerging from which is an
Floyd | enormous, otherworldly, terrifying-looking beetle, also motionless.
Floyd | Next to the two of them is a small ceramic oval.  It seems to be the
Floyd | source of the strange yellow light, which also envelops an old
Floyd | computer monitor that's stashed back here for some reason.  I have to
Floyd | say, this doesn't make for a welcoming retail environment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "'pinks' comes from Devo and/or the Church of the Sub-Genius, btw"
		inky says, "man, church of the subgenius"
		JoshuaH says, "That takes me back."
inky says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             51
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's an old, clunky, heavy tube-based piece of crap.  It's bathed in
Floyd | the same yellow light as Jeff and the beetle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Bob"
inky says (to Floyd), "x beetle" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             52
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BEETLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It is huge, terrifying and probably deadly, covered in eyes and
Floyd | sporting oversized vicious mandibles.  The box in which it was stored
Floyd | reads "Qua'ox" in tiny copper letters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             53
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a smooth little oval-shaped object, about the size of an ice
Floyd | cream sandwich.  The terra cotta color suggests that it's ceramic, and
Floyd | therefore maybe fragile.  There's a single rune on it, which might
Floyd | mean something if you had ever paid attention in Sunday school, but
Floyd | well, that could never happen.  But you don't need a degree from
Floyd | Mythos Divinity School to realize that this thing is generating some
Floyd | kind of stasis field in which Jeff and the beetle are trapped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get beetle" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             54
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BEETLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking at the beetle is as much as you want to do.  In fact, you
Floyd | don't even want to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "erase rune" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             54
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ERASE RUNE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You smash the oval, and the yellow field dissolves.  Jeff seems dazed
Floyd | for a moment as the magic releases him.  The beetle, however, recovers
Floyd | very quickly.  It senses your presence, and begins to leap towards
Floyd | your face!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "jump" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > JUMP
Floyd |
Floyd | You jump on the spot, fruitlessly.  And also pizzalessly.  Christ,
Floyd | you're hungry.
Floyd |
Floyd | You throw your hands up to protect yourself, but it's no use.  The
Floyd | beetle bears down on you, tearing at your face with its mandibles,
Floyd | until it reaches bone.  And then it keeps going.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		inky says, "aie"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "duck" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DUCK
Floyd |
Floyd | The beetle adjusts course to match.
Floyd |
Floyd | You throw your hands up to protect yourself, but it's no use.  The
Floyd | beetle bears down on you, tearing at your face with its mandibles,
Floyd | until it reaches bone.  And then it keeps going.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Might undo a few"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             54
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             54
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "inflate balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > INFLATE BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You inflate the balloon, carefully holding it closed with your fingers
Floyd | when you're done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break seal" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK SEAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             56
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You smash the oval, and the yellow field dissolves.  Jeff seems dazed
Floyd | for a moment as the magic releases him.  The beetle, however, recovers
Floyd | very quickly.  It senses your presence, and begins to leap towards
Floyd | your face!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "drop balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             56
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DROP BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You let go of the inflated balloon.  It shoots wildly around the room
Floyd | as it deflates.  The beetle's instincts kick in.  It launches itself
Floyd | at the balloon, following it until it crashes into the bookshelf and
Floyd | lands on the floor.  The beetle watches with interest, then returns
Floyd | its attention to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You throw your hands up to protect yourself, but it's no use.  The
Floyd | beetle bears down on you, tearing at your face with its mandibles,
Floyd | until it reaches bone.  And then it keeps going.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have died ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		PaulS says, "One of two insect-related sudden deaths in this year's comp. Sort of a minor theme."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'm having a bit of trouble keeping up. But hahaha yay BEETLE IN YOUR FACE"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             56
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             55
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             56
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the counter, you can see Jeff and a nasty-looking beetle,
Floyd | motionless, bathed in a strange yellow light.  A small terra cotta
Floyd | oval seems to be generating the light, which also encompasses a clunky
Floyd | old computer monitor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Perhaps save before the beetle is freed?"
inky clears the save counter. 		
inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             56
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "I guess we can look downstairs first"
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             57
Floyd ]  Exits: south DOWN  outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the large bookshelf)
Floyd | As you reach to open the large bookshelf, you lose your grip on the
Floyd | balloon, which shoots around wildly for a moment before dropping to
Floyd | the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      58
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the large bookshelf)
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | If there's a customer who really knows what he's talking about, Jeff
Floyd | brings him down here.  He's got the place pimped out mad-scientist
Floyd | style, with beakers and tubes and the like.  There's also a carved
Floyd | wooden bookshelf stuffed to capacity with tomes, grimoires, librams,
Floyd | and even the occasional "book."  Stairs lead back up to the shop.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting among the beakers and tubes is a latex glove.
Floyd |
Floyd | On one end of the room, there's a shrine to the Chairman of the Board,
Floyd | the Big C himself, in all his tentacled glory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Can we put something over the beetle first?"
inky says (to Floyd), "get glove" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      59
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET GLOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "bookshelf" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      59
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > BOOKSHELF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x shrine" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      60
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHRINE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a small-scale statuette of Great Cthulhu, waving his tentacles
Floyd | around in a threatening manner, with little people trampled under his
Floyd | feet.  It's pretty sweet, even to a cafeteria cultist like yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x bookshelf" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      61
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOOKSHELF
Floyd |
Floyd | (the carved wooden bookshelf)
Floyd | It's a heavy wooden bookshelf, with a lot of grotesque flourishes
Floyd | carved in, groaning under the weight of the volumes it contains.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x tubes" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      62
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TUBES
Floyd |
Floyd | Typical Dr. Frankenstein or Herbert West stuff: bubbling flasks,
Floyd | wires, jars of strange fluids, and powders.  You've got some lab
Floyd | experience, but you don't know what any of this stuff does.  That's
Floyd | Jeff's department.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x beakers" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      63
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BEAKERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Typical Dr. Frankenstein or Herbert West stuff: bubbling flasks,
Floyd | wires, jars of strange fluids, and powders.  You've got some lab
Floyd | experience, but you don't know what any of this stuff does.  That's
Floyd | Jeff's department.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky asks, "hmm, anything else good down here?"
inky says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      64
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | If there's a customer who really knows what he's talking about, Jeff
Floyd | brings him down here.  He's got the place pimped out mad-scientist
Floyd | style, with beakers and tubes and the like.  There's also a carved
Floyd | wooden bookshelf stuffed to capacity with tomes, grimoires, librams,
Floyd | and even the occasional "book."  Stairs lead back up to the shop.
Floyd |
Floyd | On one end of the room, there's a shrine to the Chairman of the Board,
Floyd | the Big C himself, in all his tentacled glory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             65
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the counter, you can see Jeff and a nasty-looking beetle,
Floyd | motionless, bathed in a strange yellow light.  A small terra cotta
Floyd | oval seems to be generating the light, which also encompasses a clunky
Floyd | old computer monitor.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see a balloon here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put glove on beetle" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             66
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT GLOVE ON BEETLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the beetle would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             67
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach for the monitor, but receive a mild electric shock when you
Floyd | come in contact with the yellow light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Is there anything on the monitor?"
maga arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		DavidW asks, "maybe read it?"
inky says (to Floyd), "read monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             68
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's an old, clunky, heavy tube-based piece of crap.  It's bathed in
Floyd | the same yellow light as Jeff and the beetle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "I can't tell if it's attached to a computer"
inky says (to Floyd), "get balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             69
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "possibly now that the bookshelf is open the beetle will fall down"
inky says (to Floyd), "inflate balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             70
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > INFLATE BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You inflate the balloon, carefully holding it closed with your fingers
Floyd | when you're done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break seal" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             70
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK SEAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             71
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You smash the oval, and the yellow field dissolves.  Jeff seems dazed
Floyd | for a moment as the magic releases him.  The beetle, however, recovers
Floyd | very quickly.  It senses your presence, and begins to leap towards
Floyd | your face!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "drop balloon" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             72
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DROP BALLOON
Floyd |
Floyd | You let go of the inflated balloon.  It shoots wildly around the room
Floyd | as it deflates.  The beetle's instincts kick in.  It launches itself
Floyd | at the balloon, following it through the open bookcase and down the
Floyd | stairs!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "close bookcase" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             73
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BOOKCASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You push on the bookcase and the door clicks shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wait."
		inky says, "now it will trash the lab"
		Jacqueline asks, "Wasn't the beetle emerging from a box?"
		inky says, "yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "Can't we just put it back in the box?"
		inky says, "hmm, good question"
inky says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             73
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff's a fellow cultist, mid 40s, has an age-inappropriate hipster
Floyd | handlebar mustache.  He's a bit more religious than you are, but this
Floyd | mostly takes the form of wanting to melt things and summoning
Floyd | creatures from the Outer Realms to help him move furniture into a new
Floyd | apartment.  He's OK.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff appears from behind the counter, rubbing his eyes.  "Man, am I
Floyd | glad to see you," he says, as he surveys the scene.  He holds out a
Floyd | fist expectantly.  "Iä, dude!  Great work!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "That is Ia"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, but Jeff is okay."
		DavidW says, "oh. Now I see what was meant yesterday."
		inky says, "oh, I thought it was some techie-cultist lingo"
		DavidW says, "I didn't clue in."
inky says (to Floyd), "dap jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > DAP JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "fistbump or brohoof"
inky says (to Floyd), "knock fists" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > KNOCK FISTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "bro-fist jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BRO-FIST JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient asks, "dap? I gotta make another synonym?"
		inky says, "this is a complicated guess-the-verb puzzle"
inky says (to Floyd), "knuck jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > KNUCK JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "knucks jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > KNUCKS JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "It's becoming more difficult to know all the verbs that an IF author should implement."
		MrPatient says, "Evidently."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "brohoof jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             74
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > BROHOOF JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		PaulS says (to Jacqueline), "But I doubt that "dap" is one of them, in general."
		olethros asks, "so > FIST doesn't work?"
		MrPatient says, "I never heard brohoof either. This is an education"
		MrPatient says (to olethros), "You are thinking of Hunger Reamin'"
		Jacqueline says (to MrPatient), "You can make your Thank You check payable to ClubFloyd."
		DavidW says, "Brohoof is the Friendship is Magic variant."
		* vala has joined the channel.
		Jacqueline says (to MrPatient), "Except don't, because ClubFloyd doesn't have a bank account."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, hi. vala."
		vala says, "hey"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fistbump jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             75
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > FISTBUMP JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | You bump Jeff's fist, giving him an Iä in return.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could ask him about how he ended up in stasis or the beetle.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of vala), "Have you played Hunger Daemon?"
		vala says, "Yes, so I'll be quiet! :)"
		Jacqueline says, "There is also a channel called #cfspoilers where you can speak with others who are watching but who have also already played."
		vala exclaims, "thanks!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask jeff about beetle" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             76
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK JEFF ABOUT BEETLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You ask Jeff about the beetle, and explain about its current location.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, man, that sucked pretty bad.  Thanks again.  I had the box up
Floyd | here because I was gonna mail-order it out to some brothers in Eau
Floyd | Claire.  Nice work, dude.  I can wrangle it with this," he says,
Floyd | producing a small whistle from his pocket.  He puts it to his lips,
Floyd | and carefully opens the secret door once again.  The beetle,
Floyd | apparently waiting right behind it, leaps out right at Jeff's face.
Floyd | He blows the whistle.  You hear nothing, but the beetle drops to the
Floyd | ground, legs up, motionless.  Jeff scoops it up and puts it in an
Floyd | unbroken box.  "Alright, we got that taken care of."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about how he ended up in stasis.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "hm?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, crap. I need to mute cfspoilers."
Roger goes home. 		
Roger has disconnected. 		Jacqueline says, "Ignore my hm."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Roger!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask jeff about stasis" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             77
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK JEFF ABOUT STASIS
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm a dumbass, basically," says Jeff.  "This girl comes in.  I've
Floyd | never seen her before, so I figure she's a pink who's here to realign
Floyd | her aura or something.  But she starts talking about Carver's Cave
Floyd | with some authority, so I'm wondering if maybe she's on the team but
Floyd | just from out of town.  Then she produces the piece of paper you lost
Floyd | with the code to open the Ark of Gl'thub and asks for help in
Floyd | translating the symbols.  And I'm like, dude.  This can't be
Floyd | right.  So I tell her to hold on for a sec while I get something.  I'm
Floyd | going to sic the Qua'ox on her, but she's too fast, and pushes me
Floyd | down.  Next thing I know, she produces a Gothaullog stone and I'm
Floyd | frozen."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about the young woman or the small oval.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh. This is definitely our fault. This is what bacon on a stick gets you."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a woman" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             78
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > A WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | You ask Jeff to describe the young woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, she was young, maybe early twenties.  Dark frizzy hair,
Floyd | shoulder-length.  Wore a sort of trench coat or something."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about the small oval; or tell him about the Heart of
Floyd | Something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             79
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > A OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh yeah," he says. "That's a Gothaullog stone.  Puts you in stasis,
Floyd | but I guess you figured that part out.  She must have been digging
Floyd | into our stuff for a while now, to figure out how to make or find one
Floyd | of those."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could tell him about the Heart of Something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "I really don't want to tell him about the Heart of Something, because he is going to be all !!!!"
		inky says, "yeah, but we have to tell somebody"
		Jacqueline says, "But then maybe he will help us advance the plot, so."
		Jacqueline says (to inky), "Yeah. True."
		inky says, "plus he owes us for screwing up himself"
		Jacqueline says, "Fair enough. Let's hope he thinks that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "t heart of something" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             80
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > T HEART OF SOMETHING
Floyd |
Floyd | You mention to Jeff that you are pretty sure that his young woman
Floyd | snuck into the bistro, knocked out Walter, and made off with the Heart
Floyd | of Something.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Holy crap!" he says.  "She has the Heart of Unktahe?  Does anyone
Floyd | else know?"  You reply in the negative.  "Alright, man, we've got to
Floyd | get that thing back, like, ASAP.  Otherwise, we're both gonna end up
Floyd | on the slab.  I've got a spell we can use to try to track her down.
Floyd | We'll need two things: some personal object of hers, and an image of
Floyd | some sort.  See if you can get that stuff and bring it to me.  I'll
Floyd | make preparations here."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about Carver's Cave, the spell or Uncle Stu.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "also, ti seems like in some sense all cthulhu cultists are working together - it's not like anyone is going to get special treatment"
		Jacqueline asks, "I'm guessing the broken oval won't work as a thing of hers?"
inky says (to Floyd), "x oval" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             80
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
		MrPatient says, "Should have thought of that"
		MrPatient says, "It's off-stage forever"
		Jacqueline nods.
inky says (to Floyd), "a cave" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             81
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > A CAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You ask Jeff about Carver's Cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, well, she seems to know what she's doing, so I wouldn't be
Floyd | shocked if she's visited it.  Might be worth checking out, if you
Floyd | haven't already been there," he replies.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about the spell or Uncle Stu.

		Jacqueline asks, "Well, poo. We know nothing about her, except that she likes or sells bacons-on-sticks. Where to start?"

Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "a spell" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             82
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > A SPELL
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's just your basic locator spell.  We'll need an image of her, and
Floyd | something belonging to her.  Get those, and we can give it a shot."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask him about Uncle Stu.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "a stu" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             83
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > A STU
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dude, your uncle is going to be pissed if he gets to the end
Floyd | of that ritual and there's no Heart for him to eat."
Floyd |
Floyd | You have nothing specific in mind to discuss with Jeff right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "well, we can go to the cave"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		inky asks, "anything else to do here?"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess that is all we have really. I like caves."
		inky says, "I can't actually tell what benefit she got from coming hee"
		MrPatient says, "There are a lot of fun replies downstairs, if you're interested"
		inky says, "maybe she looked through his stuff while he was frozen"
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      84
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the large bookshelf)
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | If there's a customer who really knows what he's talking about, Jeff
Floyd | brings him down here.  He's got the place pimped out mad-scientist
Floyd | style, with beakers and tubes and the like.  There's also a carved
Floyd | wooden bookshelf stuffed to capacity with tomes, grimoires, librams,
Floyd | and even the occasional "book."  Stairs lead back up to the shop.
Floyd |
Floyd | On one end of the room, there's a shrine to the Chairman of the Board,
Floyd | the Big C himself, in all his tentacled glory.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "read libram" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      84
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ LIBRAM
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x librams" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      85
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LIBRAMS
Floyd |
Floyd | There are hundreds of books here on all manner of occult topics.  Only
Floyd | a few have titles on the spines.  Most are bound in some sort of
Floyd | leather, the source of which you don't want to know.  Others have
Floyd | ostentatious locks or other hardware to impress upon the reader how
Floyd | badass they (and by extension you) are.  Naturally, old warhorses like
Floyd | the Necronomicon are represented, along with some rarer
Floyd | stuff.  You could CONSULT TOMES ABOUT something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about heart" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      86
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You flip through the tomes and eventually find reference to Unktahe.
Floyd | It is the great serpent-like creature revered in antiquity by local
Floyd | Native American groups as the Great Spirit of the Mississippi River.
Floyd | There are details here for summoning it -- yeah, yeah, been there,
Floyd | killed that -- and then a brief discussion of the properties of the
Floyd | creature.  Its blood is highly acidic, burning through metal, wood and
Floyd | flesh with equal rapidity.  The heart of Unktahe is a source of great
Floyd | power for anyone who might consume it.  After the appropriate
Floyd | super-long and tedious ritual, one can eat it and assume the status of
Floyd | Vessel of the Old Ones.  Which would be happening right now, if you
Floyd | weren't such a crap cultist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "And this is a Cthulhuian adventure, so what's the worst that could happen in visiting a dark cave, really?"
		JoshuaH asks, "Isn't the bug downstairs?"
		Jacqueline says (to Josh), "Not anymore."
		inky says, "Jeff zapped it"
		DavidW says (to JoshuaH), "Jeff has a magic whistle."
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about stu" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      87
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT STU
Floyd |
Floyd | The tomes wouldn't have anything on anyone currently alive.  If
Floyd | there's anything Mythosy you want to look up, though, they might have
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about cthulhu" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      88
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT CTHULHU
Floyd |
Floyd | Big dude, octopus head, wings, kind of gooey, sleeps a lot, not fond
Floyd | of yachts.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about azazoth" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      89
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT AZAZOTH
Floyd |
Floyd | You flip through the tomes, but don't find anything about azazoth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about beetle" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      90
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT BEETLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You search the tomes, hoping that you can find something useful about
Floyd | this creature.  Ah, here: it's Van der Wurff's Compendium of
Floyd | Otherworldly Fauna.  And it's written in Yuggothic.  Awesome.  You had
Floyd | to learn that for your binding (essentially your cult mitzvah), but
Floyd | you've read approximately zero Yuggothic since then.  Pressing on, you
Floyd | flip around the book until you find a picture of what you're looking
Floyd | for, then translate, painfully: "The Qua'ox is a beetle-like creature
Floyd | from..." blah blah blah, yeah, yeah, how do we defeat it?  Oh, there
Floyd | we go: "The Qua'ox, like many predators, is particularly drawn by
Floyd | rapid, irregular movement, like that of potential prey.  It is also
Floyd | attracted by the color red."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "oops"
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about azathoth" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      91
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT AZATHOTH
Floyd |
Floyd | The books tell you what you remember from Sunday school: Azathoth is a
Floyd | blind idiot god at the center of the universe.  Seems like the sort of
Floyd | thing you'd want to worship.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about oval" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      92
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT OVAL
Floyd |
Floyd | The Joy of Culting explains that it's a special stone used to
Floyd | immobilize things or people.  Once activated, you need only break it
Floyd | to dispel the effect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about cave" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      93
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT CAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave, as you already know, is a natural fissure underneath
Floyd | Saint Paul.  The Lakota call it Wakan Tipi, or the House of
Floyd | the Great Spirit.  It's the Heart of the Great Spirit, Unktahe, which
Floyd | was stolen from the Ark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about ark" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      94
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT ARK
Floyd |
Floyd | You already know about the Ark of Gl'thub, but consult the books
Floyd | anyway.  The Ark, you read, is a sort of mystical puzzle-box, useful
Floyd | as a vault or container for objects of great value, especially those
Floyd | that aren't exactly shelf-stable.  To open the Ark, one must press the
Floyd | raised symbols on its surface in a very specific order, corresponding
Floyd | to the procession of the stars on the old Kadathian calendar.  In
Floyd | theory, one must be well versed in Mythos cosmology to comprehend this
Floyd | sequence, but in practice, you really just need to visit the Minnesota
Floyd | State Fair at the right time and wait for a dumbass to drop the code.
Floyd | It doesn't actually say that last part.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
		inky asks, "ok, anything else?"
		MrPatient says, "Try Arkham"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about hastur" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      95
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT HASTUR
Floyd |
Floyd | Like Candyman: you're not supposed to say the name, but you've done it
Floyd | plenty of times in the past.  I don't think he cares.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
JoshuaH says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about Antarctica" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      96
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT ANTARCTICA
Floyd |
Floyd | You flip through the tomes, but don't find anything about Antarctica.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "consult tomes about arkham" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      97
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CONSULT TOMES ABOUT ARKHAM
Floyd |
Floyd | The Mecca of the Mythos; also home to a famous asylum for
Floyd | supervillains.  Your group did a retreat there a couple of years ago.
Floyd | You went mainly for the clambake, and to meet cult women from around
Floyd | the world.  "Crazy in the head, crazy in the bed" is the saying, but
Floyd | in practice it turns out to be "Crazy in the head, really violent and
Floyd | dangerous."  From now on you're going to stick with normals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to MrPatient), "Well done on the writing and consitency of tone in this."
		MrPatient says, "Thanks"
		inky says, "ok let's cave it up"
inky says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             98
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a clunky old computer monitor and Jeff here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "ask jeff about monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             99
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK JEFF ABOUT MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh yeah," he says.  "That's from the bistro.  It was busted, so I
Floyd | tried fixing it.  I think it's working now.  You could bring it over
Floyd | if you're heading that way."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             100
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        101
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleveland Avenue
Floyd | You're on Cleveland Avenue outside a magic shop affiliated with your
Floyd | cult, wedged between an insurance agent and a Subway.  A faded sign
Floyd | above the nondescript entrance to the north reads "Unspeakable Books
Floyd | and Gifts."  A placard indicates that the shop is closed, but you can
Floyd | see that the lights are on.  The bistro and Randolph Avenue are back
Floyd | to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standing out front is a sandwich board advertising an improbable and
Floyd | already completed Back to School sale.  Or I should say, "B4ck to Scho
Floyd | l."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I'm scared, but so far this game has been mostly fun and only a little gruesome deathy, so yeah, let's cave it up."
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        102
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You think about hoofing it all the way to Randolph Avenue, but realize
Floyd | that it will take too much time.  You'd better drive there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             103
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Jeff here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        102
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Cleveland Avenue
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        103
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You think about hoofing it all the way to Randolph Avenue, but realize
Floyd | that it will take too much time.  You'd better drive there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd ]  Cleveland Avenue                                        104
Floyd ]  Exits: north east inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         105
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  The part we're on
Floyd | here is firmly middle class, maybe on the low side.  There are a lot
Floyd | of small close-set houses with minimally-tended lawns, pockmarked by
Floyd | the occasional commercial space, including your restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your cult's shop, Unspeakable Books and Gifts, is located a few miles
Floyd | to the west.  Carver's Cave is to the northeast.  That's where you
Floyd | guys originally obtained the Heart, and is probably worth checking
Floyd | out.  There's also an alleyway to the southwest.  The dining room is
Floyd | to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        106
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take West 7th into downtown, and from there, follow Mounds
Floyd | Boulevard along the river until you reach the edges of Indian Mounds
Floyd | Park.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mounds Boulevard (in the Saturn)
Floyd | You're on Mounds Boulevard at Cherry Street, a little east of
Floyd | downtown.  "Mounds," because some Native American burial mounds are
Floyd | just down the road.  It's a pretty nice fall tableau here: lots of
Floyd | colorful leaves, the Mississippi River below, acorns everywhere.  You
Floyd | hate to think that whatever Stu has planned is going to ruin this.
Floyd | The super-secret entrance to Carver's Cave is down the bluff towards
Floyd | the river, and Randolph Avenue is southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x leaves" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        107
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LEAVES
Floyd |
Floyd | When the leaves change here, it's really quite nice, but it's a very
Floyd | short window.  When they're gone, the Cities are gray, brown and white
Floyd | until mid-April at least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Once we're there, we should save"
inky says (to Floyd), "x acorns" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        108
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ACORNS
Floyd |
Floyd | When the leaves change here, it's really quite nice, but it's a very
Floyd | short window.  When they're gone, the Cities are gray, brown and white
Floyd | until mid-April at least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        109
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest DOWN
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  110
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | Making sure that no one is watching, you hop the railing and scramble
Floyd | down the bluff side as carefully as you can.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The mouth of Carver's
Floyd | Cave has long since been barricaded and then covered naturally with
Floyd | rocks and sediment, but your cult, like Gollum, knows the secret ways.
Floyd | Only the followers of the Old Ones can penetrate the mysteries of --
Floyd | well, goddammit.  The shrub that normally covers up the secret
Floyd | entrance is gone.  Wait, not gone: crushed.  A jagged boulder is in
Floyd | its place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side
Floyd | now.  You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  110
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x boulder" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  111
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOULDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a fairly large hunk of sandstone that looks like it tumbled down
Floyd | the bluff and landed here on top of the unfortunate shrub.  Instead of
Floyd | the shrub concealing the entrance, now you have the boulder mostly
Floyd | blocking it.  If you had to guess, you'd say Walter's assailant
Floyd | probably had something to do with this.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "push boulder" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  112
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH BOULDER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's too heavy to move.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  113
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | You try wedging yourself into the crack.  You suck in your chest,
Floyd | twist your torso, turn your head, but it's no good.  You rub up
Floyd | against the sides of the boulder and the rock wall, and can make no
Floyd | progress.  Damn you, friction!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "maybe this puzzle will involve greasing ourselves"
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       114
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       115
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Small is a relative term, I guess.  But you couldn't fit in it, let's
Floyd | put it that way.  Water trickles out of it into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "drink water" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       116
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DRINK WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | Yeesh.  Not unless you were dying of thirst.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to inky), "I know you're a fan of those sorts of games, but I'm not sure this is one of those."
inky says (to Floyd), "x water" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       117
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | A steady but unspectacular stream of water emerges from the pipe and
Floyd | drains into the river.  It's probably outflow from the cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "hee hee"
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       118
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a clunky old computer monitor
Floyd |   a latex glove
Floyd |   some Breaking Bad DVDs
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a Ziploc bag (open but empty)
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put glvove on pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       118
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT GLVOVE ON PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky asks, "ha ha, we've been driivng around wearing our hood?"
inky says (to Floyd), "put glove on pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       119
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT GLOVE ON PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | While it might be fun to block the flow for a little while, ultimately
Floyd | it's not a good use of your time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yes"
		MrPatient says, "'lowered' in this case means around your shoulders"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh."
		inky says, "oh, I see"
inky says (to Floyd), "raise hood" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       120
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > RAISE HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You lift your hood, covering your features and making you look quite
Floyd | sinister.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "laught" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       120
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LAUGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "laugh" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       120
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LAUGH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "cackle" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       120
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > CACKLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "lower hood" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       121
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOWER HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You lower the hood, revealing your features once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "look in pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       122
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | The small pipe is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       123
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x river" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       124
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | The banks -- at least those parts that are not given over to docks --
Floyd | are lined with trees in the process of losing their leaves.  Up here,
Floyd | the river is not nearly so impressively wide as it is in, say, St.
Floyd | Louis.  On the other hand, it is cleaner.  Well, cleanish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "search river" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       125
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "look in river" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       126
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "We are lugging around a CRT monitor?"
		inky says, "totally"
inky says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  127
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > UP
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes, and it's delightful."
		inky says, "I intend to use it for a takedown move later"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
inky says (to Floyd), "look in crack" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  128
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put glove in crack" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  129
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT GLOVE IN CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You think it'll be safer to just hold on to the latex glove for now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  130
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You try wedging yourself into the crack.  You suck in your chest,
Floyd | twist your torso, turn your head, but it's no good.  You rub up
Floyd | against the sides of the boulder and the rock wall, and can make no
Floyd | progress.  Damn you, friction!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ok, any ideas? otherwise we can head back to the bistro again"
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe there's grease at the bistro."
		Jacqueline says, "Kidding. Sort of."
		MrPatient says, "You can use GO TO, incidentally. Save some typing."
		inky says, "oh yeah, so it said"
inky says (to Floyd), "go to bistro" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  130
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO BISTRO
Floyd |
Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient exclaims, "Doh!"
inky says (to Floyd), "go to kitchen" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 131
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO KITCHEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Randolph Ave.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "search walter" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 132
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH WALTER
Floyd |
Floyd | He's got nothing on him.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x oven" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 133
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OVEN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a nice brushed-metal model and has been kept tidy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "open oven" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 134
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN OVEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the oven.  Perhaps there's a turkey roasting inside?  That
Floyd | would be very helpful right now.  Yeah, not so much.  It's scrubbed
Floyd | clean and empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Pantry?"
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  135
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is where all the food would be stored, if the bistro were open
Floyd | and functioning.  There's a big fridge in the corner and many dusty
Floyd | shelves along the walls.  A wooden stair leads down to the basement,
Floyd | and a doorway leads north to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dusty shelves are some pizza boxes (in which are some greasy
Floyd | sheets of wax paper) and some cans of near-food.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "aHA"
inky says (to Floyd), "get wax paper" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  136
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WAX PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the sheets of wax paper.  They're still quite slick and
Floyd | slippery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "rub wax paper n me" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  136
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > RUB WAX PAPER N ME
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to rub the greasy sheets of
Floyd | wax paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "rub wax paper on me" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  137
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > RUB WAX PAPER ON ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Applying grease while you're still wearing your robe is not going to
Floyd | produce the desired result.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha ha"
		inky says, "this is totally the solution, awesome"
		Jacqueline exclaims (at inky), "This totally IS your sort of game. Hooray!"
		DavidW says, "hee"
inky says (to Floyd), "go to crack" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  137
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO CRACK
Floyd |
Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to cave" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  138
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO CAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You know how to get there, but you would be better off exploring
Floyd | first, searching for clues, that sort of thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 139
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to cave" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 140
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO CAVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You know how to get there, but you would be better off exploring
Floyd | first, searching for clues, that sort of thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "c'mon man"
		MrPatient says, "It think you're going inside"
inky says (to Floyd), "go to river" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 140
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "try mounds"
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             141
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a small security camera mounted in the corner of the
Floyd | ceiling, and a thin black wire running from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to mounds" 		

Floyd ]  Mounds Boulevard                                        142
Floyd ]  Exits: southwest down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO MOUNDS
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Mounds Boulevard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mounds Boulevard
Floyd | You're on Mounds Boulevard at Cherry Street, a little east of
Floyd | downtown.  "Mounds," because some Native American burial mounds are
Floyd | just down the road.  It's a pretty nice fall tableau here: lots of
Floyd | colorful leaves, the Mississippi River below, acorns everywhere.  You
Floyd | hate to think that whatever Stu has planned is going to ruin this.
Floyd | The super-secret entrance to Carver's Cave is down the bluff towards
Floyd | the river, and Randolph Avenue is southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "hubba hubba"
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  143
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | Making sure that no one is watching, you hop the railing and scramble
Floyd | down the bluff side as carefully as you can.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "remove robe" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  144
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > REMOVE ROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take off the hooded robe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "rub wax paper on me" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  145
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up down INSIDE
Floyd |
Floyd | > RUB  WAX PAPER ON ME
Floyd |
Floyd | Wincing a little at the inherent grossness of this activity, you rub
Floyd | the greasy wax paper on your skin.  You now smell vaguely like an old
Floyd | pizza, and you are noticeably oranger.  On the plus side, you should
Floyd | have an easier time sliding through that narrow crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                                146
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The grease from the pizza is just enough to enable you to contort your
Floyd | way in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It is pitch dark, and you can't see a thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "oops, didn't think about that part"
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                                147
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some greasy sheets of wax paper
Floyd |   a clunky old computer monitor
Floyd |   a latex glove
Floyd |   some Breaking Bad DVDs
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a Ziploc bag (open but empty)
Floyd |   a hooded robe
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "turn on flashlight" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           148
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > TURN ON FLASHLIGHT
Floyd |
Floyd | You crank up the flashlight a little, and then switch it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're in Carver's Cave, a small natural fissure underneath Saint
Floyd | Paul.  The Lakota called this place Wakan Tipi, the House of
Floyd | the Great Spirit.  It used to be accessible, a tourist attraction
Floyd | even.  Every so often, the entrance would be lost in a rockslide, and
Floyd | the city would open it back up again, until finally they chose to
Floyd | block it off entirely.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a beach of sorts, and beyond that, a calm, dark pool extending
Floyd | into the blackness.  Water laps gently near your feet, and there's an
Floyd | audible trickle from somewhere deep in the darkness.  It's otherwise
Floyd | deathly quiet, and very chilly.  You can leave to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying on the beach is the hacked-up corpse of a giant serpent,
Floyd | marinating in a puddle of purplish blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Should we have saved?"
inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf3" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           148
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "I saved before solving the greasing puzzle"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh"
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, missed that. Cool."
		inky says, "this seems like the sort of game where you can't get in too much trouble, but I guess we'll see"
		MrPatient says, "The game is merciful, so no worries"
inky says (to Floyd), "x corpse" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           149
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CORPSE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's the body of the Great Spirit, or one such Great Spirit, that your
Floyd | uncle summoned in order to kill and cut out its heart.  That was
Floyd | another super-boring hours-long ceremony, but got pretty good at the
Floyd | end when it turned into some hardcore LARPing.  Your buddy Jake got in
Floyd | the final blow with a replica Glamdring from the SkyMall catalog.  The
Floyd | bad news is that the serpent's blood burned right through the sword.
Floyd | Anyway, your uncle then cut out the still-beating heart and put it in
Floyd | the Ark, where you assumed it was safe and secure, which it was,
Floyd | before your dumb ass got involved.
Floyd |
Floyd | The serpent's purplish blood is pooled in and around the corpse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, us being naked and covered in pizza grease isn't nearly as sexy as we were making it out to be beforehand."
		inky says, "yeah, pizza makes few things sexier"
inky says (to Floyd), "get blood" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           150
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BLOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to scoop up some of the blood with your bare hands, but the
Floyd | acidic goo burns you, and you abandon the attempt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "hmm"
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           151
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some greasy sheets of wax paper
Floyd |   a clunky old computer monitor
Floyd |   a latex glove
Floyd |   some Breaking Bad DVDs
Floyd |   a flashlight (providing light)
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a Ziploc bag (open but empty)
Floyd |   a hooded robe
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put blood in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           152
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BLOOD IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the puddle of purplish blood)
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to scoop up some of the blood with your bare hands, but the
Floyd | acidic goo burns you, and you abandon the attempt.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "wear glove" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           153
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > WEAR GLOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put on the latex glove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get blood" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           154
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BLOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | With your gloved hand, you carefully scoop some ichor into the Ziploc
Floyd | bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "sure, why not"
		DavidW says, "goo times"
		inky says, "ichor is powerless against plastic and rubber, well-known fact"
		inky says, "hee hee"
		Jacqueline says, "Because acid doesn't -- yeah"
inky says (to Floyd), "x water" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           155
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | Calm, but not entirely still.  There's a definite current flowing
Floyd | towards the south.  The cave presumably drains in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | A wrapper from a Baby Ruth bar floating just below the surface of the
Floyd | pool emerges from the darkness to the north, at the back of the cave.
Floyd | The current carries it to the south and out of view.  Oh man, a Baby
Floyd | Ruth would be awesome right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           155
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "I envisioned it as like an ochre jelly or something"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, we greased up and squeezed through and stil have the CRT monitor."
		inky says, "ha ha"
		MrPatient exclaims, "Ha!"
		inky says, "the crt monitor was also greased"
		Jacqueline says, "Clearly"
		MrPatient says, "Yes, that must be it"
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           156
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You once again try to twist your way through the gap.  As you contort
Floyd | yourself in, though, you notice that the Ziploc bag of ichor is caught
Floyd | on a particularly sharp edge of the rock.  If you go any further, the
Floyd | bag will almost certainly tear in catastrophic fashion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put bag in river" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           156
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN RIVER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put bag in water" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           157
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | You place the bag in the frigid water.  It seems to be
Floyd | neutrally-buoyant, suspended a few inches under the surface.  The
Floyd | current catches it, and it begins to drift towards the south wall of
Floyd | the cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Nice"
		inky says, "maybe it'll get stuck in the pipe, that would be a bummer"
		Jacqueline says, "Now we squeeze back out..."
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  158
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       159
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Deposited here underneath the pipe is that Baby Ruth wrapper you saw
Floyd | earlier.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       160
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "look in pipe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       161
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN PIPE
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ziploc bag has washed down here and clings to a rusty burr on the
Floyd | inside of the pipe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get bag" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       162
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | As you grasp the open bag, you realize that it is now empty, or
Floyd | emptyish; there's a thin film of purple goo still clinging to the
Floyd | interior, but that's about it.  Apparently the ichor is water-soluble.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oh"
		inky says, "whoops"
inky says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  163
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           164
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | The grease from the pizza is just enough to enable you to contort your
Floyd | way in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're in Carver's Cave, a small natural fissure underneath Saint
Floyd | Paul.  There's a beach of sorts, and beyond that, a calm, dark pool
Floyd | extending into the blackness.  Water laps gently near your feet, and
Floyd | there's an audible trickle from somewhere deep in the darkness.  It's
Floyd | otherwise deathly quiet, and very chilly.  You can leave to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying on the beach is the hacked-up corpse of a giant serpent,
Floyd | marinating in a puddle of purplish blood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Perhaps you didn't close the bag?"
inky says (to Floyd), "get ichor" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           165
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ICHOR
Floyd |
Floyd | With your gloved hand, you carefully scoop some ichor into the Ziploc
Floyd | bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "The course of true culting never did run smooth."
inky says (to Floyd), "close bag" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           166
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the Ziploc bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put bag in water" 		

Floyd ]  Carver's Cave                                           167
Floyd ]  Exits: south outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN WATER
Floyd |
Floyd | You place the bag in the frigid water.  It seems to be
Floyd | neutrally-buoyant, suspended a few inches under the surface.  The
Floyd | current catches it, and it begins to drift towards the south wall of
Floyd | the cave.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  168
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | With the pizza grease slathered on, and some creative shoulder
Floyd | movements and breathing, you manage to push your way through the
Floyd | crevice.
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       169
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get bag" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       170
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | As you grasp the bag, it snags ever-so-slightly on a jagged edge of
Floyd | the pipe, but comes loose.  There's now a tiny tear in the corner.
Floyd | It's not enough to cause any serious leakage, but you'll have to be
Floyd | careful.  If you were to squeeze the bag, the blood would extrude,
Floyd | like frosting from a pastry bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "now we're talkin'"
inky says (to Floyd), "x wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       171
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Probably your favorite candy bar, but you rarely ever eat one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  172
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave
Floyd | You're much of the way down the bluff here.  The shrub that normally
Floyd | covers up the secret entrance is gone.  A jagged boulder is in its
Floyd | place.  There's only a narrow crack leading into the bluff side now.
Floyd | You can also head further up and down the bluff.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, wait."
		MrPatient says, "EAT WRAPPER is fun"
		Jacqueline asks, "What was the point of this?"
inky says (to Floyd), "eat wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  173
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Desperate for empty calories, you start to eat the wrapper, praying to
Floyd | Great Nyarlathotep that some speck of caramel remains.  Then you
Floyd | recall that the wrapper came here by way of a sewer.  You put the
Floyd | wrapper down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I thought the point was to get something of hers."
		inky says, "well, I thought it was to find a personal item -- yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Not some gooey acidic blood."
		DavidW asks, "Perhaps the wrapper is hers?"
		inky says, "btu I assume we can use the ichor to open the lock"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "That is possible."
		DavidW says, "Although, a wrapper isn't that personal."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get wrapper" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  174
Floyd ]  Exits: north up down inside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WRAPPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to kitchen" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 175
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO KITCHEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Randolph Ave.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put ichor in door" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 176
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT ICHOR IN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | (the office door)
Floyd | The Ziploc bag isn't open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "squeeze bag" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 177
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You squeeze the bag, and some acidic goo extrudes from the torn tip,
Floyd | rather like a pastry bag.  A tiny bit drips at your feet and sizzles.
Floyd | You probably want to make sure you're putting the goo somewhere
Floyd | useful.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put ichor in lock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 178
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT ICHOR IN LOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | The Ziploc bag isn't open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put bag in lock" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 179
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN LOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You manage to put the corner of the Ziploc bag into the keyhole.  It's
Floyd | in fairly deep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "squeeze bag" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 180
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You inject some of the purple goo directly into the office door lock.
Floyd | Immediately, an acrid smoke begins to waft from the door.  You can
Floyd | hear the lock mechanism sizzling as it corrodes.  When you withdraw

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "squeeze ichor on lock" 		

Floyd | the bag, there's a jagged hole where the lock used to be.  The bag
Floyd | itself becomes snagged in the molten metal and rips apart, so you
Floyd | throw it away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 180
Floyd ]  Exits: north south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE ICHOR ON LOCK
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "Nicely done."
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  181
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | (first opening the office door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | This is one of those miserable windowless back rooms you find in a
Floyd | restaurant or retail shop.  You can imagine the kind of boss who might
Floyd | lair here.  He's got a mustache, maybe a hairpiece too, and wears a
Floyd | wide, earth-toned tie.  He smokes, probably cheap cigars.  He's loud
Floyd | and abusive to his employees.  As the place is not in use, he's not
Floyd | actually here, but his presence lingers nonetheless.
Floyd |
Floyd | The office door leads back out east into the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting on a desk is a small, boxy security system.  It seems to be
Floyd | lacking a monitor; in its place is a post-it note.  A thin wire leads
Floyd | out of it and up through a hole near the ceiling.  There's also a
Floyd | printer attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  182
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | It reads: "Fixing the monitor.  Sorry! -- Jeff".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "hmm, I guess this ensures we talk to Jeff even if we went to the cave first"
		MrPatient says, "Precisely"
inky says (to Floyd), "put monitor on system" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  183
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT MONITOR ON SYSTEM
Floyd |
Floyd | You hook up the monitor to the security system and power it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "use system" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  183
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > USE SYSTEM
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  184
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MONITOR
Floyd |
Floyd | The system is composed of a central unit, probably some sort of
Floyd | internal storage for the feed.  There are also several controls, the
Floyd | most interesting of which are the rewind button and the print button.
Floyd | There's also an ancient printer attached.  The display is small and
Floyd | not exactly crisp.  It's currently showing the empty and static dining
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "push rewind" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  185
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH REWIND
Floyd |
Floyd | You rewind the feed.  It's impossible to tell that anything is
Floyd | happening, as there is no activity on the screen whatsoever.  Then all
Floyd | of a sudden, someone emerges from the bathroom, walking backwards with
Floyd | her back to you.  Oh, right, rewinding.  It's a young woman, wearing a
Floyd | crazily oversized coat with all manner of crap protruding from the
Floyd | pockets, to the point where it's a wonder that she can even move.  In
Floyd | one hand she has the Heart of Something; in the other she has a
Floyd | sandwich.  Oh.  Sorry, Walter.
Floyd |
Floyd | The reverse feed continues, with nothing happening for a minute or
Floyd | two.  Then you see the young woman once again.  She holds a rag in one
Floyd | hand, and tiptoes backward towards the bathroom, this time with her
Floyd | face to the camera.  You pause the image.  She's got medium-length
Floyd | dark hair, a little frizzy.  Freckles, maybe.  Looks a little like
Floyd | Alia Shawkat.  It's obviously not really her, but still.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait, this woman is totally familiar.  Who is she?  You've definitely
Floyd | seen her.  Think, man, think!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		inky says, "ha ha"
		inky says, "good callback"
inky says (to Floyd), "think" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  186
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > THINK
Floyd |
Floyd | You focus on the young woman.  Who is she?  Did you go to school with
Floyd | her, maybe?  Meet her at a party?  You close your eyes for a moment.
Floyd | You see her, next to you, somewhere.  You try to visualize talking to
Floyd | her, but can't.  A-ha!  She was eating at the goddamned bacon booth at
Floyd | the state fair, with you and Sam.  Sam knew her.  In fact, she gave
Floyd | something to Sam: a hairclip or something.  Finally, a lucky break!
Floyd | All you have to do now is ask your ex-girlfriend, with whom you had a
Floyd | messy breakup, to help you.  That should work out great.  Sam lives to
Floyd | the north of the restaurant.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "push print" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  187
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH PRINT
Floyd |
Floyd | The printer fires up with a grating whirr.  After an interminable
Floyd | staccato dance of feeding and adjusting, it begins printing, and spits
Floyd | out an image of the young woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "She took our sandwich? She must PAY."
		MrPatient says, "Try putting the DVDS in the computer"
inky says (to Floyd), "get image" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  188
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IMAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | The charge on the flashlight gives out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put dvds in computer" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  189
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT DVDS IN COMPUTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You pop a disc into the security system at random.  "Yeah, bitch!
Floyd | Magnets!" enthuses Jesse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh wait, this thing has no input for a DVD.  And it was manufactured
Floyd | in like 1985.  Forget that happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put dvds in computer" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  190
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT DVDS IN COMPUTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You pop a disc into the security system at random.  You laugh as Huell
Floyd | and Kuby lie down on an enormous pile of money.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oh wait, this thing has no input for a DVD.  And it was manufactured
Floyd | in like 1985.  Forget that happened.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "Aschultz recommended this"
		inky says, "ha ha"
		inky says, "delightful"
inky says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Office                                                  191
Floyd ]  Exits: east
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Office
Floyd | This is one of those miserable windowless back rooms you find in a
Floyd | restaurant or retail shop.  You can imagine the kind of boss who might
Floyd | lair here.  He's got a mustache, maybe a hairpiece too, and wears a
Floyd | wide, earth-toned tie.  He smokes, probably cheap cigars.  He's loud
Floyd | and abusive to his employees.  As the place is not in use, he's not
Floyd | actually here, but his presence lingers nonetheless.
Floyd |
Floyd | The office door leads back out east into the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting on a desk is a small, boxy security system.  It displays the
Floyd | dining room in blurry black and white.  A thin wire leads out of it
Floyd | and up through a hole near the ceiling.  There's also a printer
Floyd | attached.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 192
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dining Room                                             193
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dining Room
Floyd | The old bistro had ten tables and seated about forty.  The chairs are
Floyd | propped up on the tables upside-down and covered in dust.  Large
Floyd | windows look out onto the street, but they're soaped up so that the
Floyd | public can't see all the important renovation work going on in here,
Floyd | which is to say none.  The kitchen is to the south, the bathroom is to
Floyd | the west, and you can walk out onto the street to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hanging from the ceiling is a funky, thrift-store-looking chandelier.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a small security camera mounted in the corner of the
Floyd | ceiling, and a thin black wire running from it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         194
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Randolph Avenue
Floyd | You're on Randolph Avenue, which stretches far to the west toward
Floyd | Highland Park and to the east towards the river.  Your cult's
Floyd | bookstore is located a few miles to the west, Carver's Cave is to the
Floyd | northeast, and there's an alleyway to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sam's place is to the north, and the dining room is south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "enter saturn" 		

Floyd ]  Randolph Avenue                                         195
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  northeast south southwest west
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER SATURN
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            196
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hague Avenue (in the Saturn)

		Jacqueline says, "This should go well"

Floyd | You're outside your ex-girlfriend's place.  She lives on a quiet,
Floyd | leafy side street, in a ground-floor apartment.  You haven't been here
Floyd | or talked to her since the breakup a few weeks ago.  You can head back
Floyd | to the bistro to the south, or the bookshop to the southwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is Sam's front door.  There's a prominent doorbell next
Floyd | to it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            197
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Saturn.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            197
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "ring doorbell" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            198
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > RING DOORBELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You ring the bell.  You hear footsteps, and then she appears at the
Floyd | door: Samiira Abdi, your girlfriend up until a few weeks ago.  She was
Floyd | a really great catch, you recall with a sigh.  Tall and lanky, smart,
Floyd | pretty with a distinctive East African nose, and for a couple of
Floyd | years, she skated with the Minnesota RollerGirls under the name Somali
Floyd | Hatchet, which is just impossibly sexy.  Right now, she's sporting a
Floyd | look you've never seen outside of old family photos: a hijab.  She
Floyd | doesn't seem all that thrilled to see you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, Barry," she says, affectlessly.  "What are you doing here?" --
Floyd | she stops and sniffs for a moment -- "Besides wearing a pizza?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could ask her about how she's doing or the hijab.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "good idea"
		MrPatient says, "maga tells me he has a vendetta against the MN RollerGirls"
		MrPatient says, "For beating the Seattle team recently"
		maga says, "more of a passing grudge than a vendetta"
		Jacqueline asks, "haha, oh right. We're greased up. Did we not put our robes back on?"
		maga says, "the Oly Rollers, *that* is a vendetta"
		MrPatient says (to maga,), "Oh hi, didn't know you were here"
		Jacqueline says, "He's a lurker"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            199
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're Barry, just a regular guy in the service of the Great Old Ones.
Floyd | OK, "in the service of" might be a little strong.  You haven't done
Floyd | much serving of late.  You only show up for the high holidays and
Floyd | important rituals if you can help it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		maga says, "on the threshold"
		Jacqueline says, "Apropos"
		maga says, "letting in eldritch drafts"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a her" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            200
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A HER
Floyd |
Floyd | You pause awkwardly.  "So, how have you been?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm OK.  Work's been decent."  Another pause.  "I'm seeing someone,
Floyd | you know."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the hijab or seeing someone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "seeing someone" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            200
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEEING SOMEONE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a seeing someone" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            201
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A SEEING SOMEONE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Already?" you say.  "That was pretty qui-- oh God, it isn't the same
Floyd | guy from your office party?"
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks down for a second.  "Yes, him.  Charles.  Is his name."
Floyd |
Floyd | You already knew his name.  A few weeks ago, you arrived unannounced
Floyd | at Sam's office party.  You found her in a supply room, drunk, blouse
Floyd | unbuttoned, with this Charles person.  That was the beginning of the
Floyd | end.
Floyd |
Floyd | No, that was the end of the end.  The beginning of the end was when
Floyd | you did the same thing to her a couple of months before.  You are a
Floyd | giant idiot.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the hijab, the young woman or Uma.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a hijab" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            202
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A HIJAB
Floyd |
Floyd | You point to the hijab.  "So what's the deal with --"
Floyd |
Floyd | "My father is coming over later," she says, her accent suddenly
Floyd | growing stronger.  "I thought maybe you were him.  I mean, he knows I
Floyd | don't wear it all the time, or ever, I guess, but it makes things
Floyd | easier when he's around."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the young woman or Uma.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "a young woman" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            203
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A YOUNG WOMAN
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look, Sam, I'm sorry to ask you like this, but it's super-important:
Floyd | do you remember at the state fair, there was this one woman you were
Floyd | talking to when we were at the bacon booth?  Someone you worked with,
Floyd | maybe?  She gave you something, like a hairclip.  Do you still have
Floyd | it, you think?  I am really sorry to be bugging you about this, but
Floyd | believe me when I say it's a matter of life and death."
Floyd |
Floyd | Sam thinks for a moment.  "Her name was Leah Weinstein or Weinberg or
Floyd | something.  She worked at the office for a couple of days then quit.
Floyd | She offered me the hairclip when I said we were going on the Crazy
Floyd | Mouse and my hair kept getting in my face.  She must have forgotten
Floyd | about it, and so did I.  Why do you need it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You could tell her about some cockamamie story or the spell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "a cockamamie" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            204
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A COCKAMAMIE
Floyd |
Floyd | Quick, come up with something!  "Um, yeah, Leah works at the
Floyd | restaurant now.  Or she will, you know, when it opens.  So she needs
Floyd | her hairclip back."  Sam stares at you, her arms crossed.  I don't
Floyd | think she's buying it.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could tell her about the spell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "a spell" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            205
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A SPELL
Floyd |
Floyd | "OK," -- you clear your throat -- "I need to track her down because
Floyd | she stole a valuable relic that is going to prevent my cult from
Floyd | channeling an Old One's essence into my uncle.  Personally, I don't
Floyd | care, but I guess it's an important religious thing, and he's going to
Floyd | be pissed if we don't get it back.  The hairclip is a component in a
Floyd | magic spell to find her."
Floyd |
Floyd | She smirks.  "Yeah, OK, that sounds perfectly reasonable.  Is there a
Floyd | voodoo doll involved?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, just a picture.  Do you have the clip?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe.  Wait here," she says, and heads inside.  She returns a few
Floyd | moments later with a small tortoise-shell-colored hairclip.  "I think
Floyd | this is it," she says, and starts to hand it to you.  Then she quickly
Floyd | withdraws it.  "You really need this?  What, are you dating this girl
Floyd | now?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, I really do, and no, I am not.  I never met her."
Floyd |
Floyd | She's about to give you the clip when she pauses again.  "Hey, you
Floyd | still have my Breaking Bad DVDs, don't you?  I think before you
Floyd | destroy the world you ought to give me back my discs."
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the Breaking Bad DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "a uma" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            206
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > A UMA
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to lighten the mood.  "Hey, how's Uma's leg doing?  She still
Floyd | hobbling around?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Uma is Sam's cat, and the reason you two got together.  Sam brought
Floyd | her in one night with physalopterosis on one of your first shifts
Floyd | assisting at the U Clinic, and you got to talking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh my God, that dummy is killing me," she says.  "Every five
Floyd | minutes she cries to have me lift her up on the bed, and then three
Floyd | seconds later she is crying to get back down."  You shake your head in
Floyd | sympathy.  Cats.
Floyd |
Floyd | You could ask her about the Breaking Bad DVDs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give dvds to sam" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            207
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE DVDS TO SAM
Floyd |
Floyd | She takes custody of the discs and finally relents, handing over the
Floyd | clip.  "Have fun drowning the world in blood.  It was good to see you,
Floyd | Barry."  With that, she retreats into her apartment and closes the
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I like her."
		maga says, "everyone likes her"
		DavidW says, "It's nice to see an ex who isn't evil."
inky says (to Floyd), "go to jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Hague Avenue                                            207
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  south southwest east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd | That noun did not make sense in this context.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to store" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             208
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO STORE
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Cleveland Ave.
Floyd |
Floyd | Unspeakable Books and Gifts
Floyd | This is the front room of Unspeakable Books and Gifts.  It's a "magic"
Floyd | shop for the pinks, the rubes who spell magick with a k.  They come
Floyd | here to buy healing crystals and novelty Buffy-themed Tarot decks and
Floyd | books about UFOs and accessing their past lives.  There's a long
Floyd | display case filled with various mystical knickknacks.  There's also a
Floyd | large bookshelf crammed with hokey New Age titles.  You can exit back
Floyd | onto the street to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see Jeff here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "Rooms only, sorry"
inky says (to Floyd), "give image to jeff" 		

Floyd ]  Unspeakable Books and Gifts                             209
Floyd ]  Exits: south down outside
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE IMAGE TO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand it over.  "Excellent.  OK, now we just need to find something
Floyd | of hers."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give hairclip to jeff" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HAIRCLIP TO JEFF
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sweet!" says Jeff.  "Alright, dude.  Showtime."  He gathers up some
Floyd | crap from behind the counter and leads you downstairs, to the shrine
Floyd | of Great Cthulhu, peace be upon him.  Jeff starts by drawing a
Floyd | trapezoid on the wood floor with a piece of chalk.  "Hey, better get
Floyd | your robe on," he says.  "Make this all official-like.  I think the
Floyd | big guys like it when we're dressed for the part."  Seems reasonable,
Floyd | so you comply.  "Sit on this side," he says, pointing to the wide end;
Floyd | he himself sits at the narrow end.  OK, yeah, this is starting to come
Floyd | back to you now.  He scrawls out an Elder Sign in the middle, and then
Floyd | lights a candle on either side of you.  He dips into a bag of, well,
Floyd | it looks like red sand, but is probably something like granulated
Floyd | Shoggoth nightmares.  Wait, no -- the bag is from Petco.  Anyway, he
Floyd | sprinkles that around a bit, then places the printout of the woman and
Floyd | her hairclip in the center, on top of the sign.  He grabs your hands
Floyd | and closes his eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "OK, so now repeat after me:  Ehye f'geb Tsathoggua wgah'n
Floyd | k'yarnak gof'nn..."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I forget Tsathoggua vogon kayak golfing..."
Floyd |
Floyd | This goes on for much longer than you were hoping.  Finally Jeff
Floyd | yells, "Iä! Iä!"  The sand begins to swirl around until it resolves
Floyd | into the form of a street map.  Wow, this is pretty bitchin'.  You can
Floyd | feel power flowing through you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Barry, get ready!  Watch for the spark!"  At this, the image and the
Floyd | hairclip are consumed in brilliant green flames, accompanied by thick
Floyd | smoke.  The fumes begin to sting your eyes and nose.  You're tearing
Floyd | up, and you feel an insistent itch in your nasal passages.  A sneeze
Floyd | is coming on.  Hastur's hot hole, not now!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "pinch nose" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > PINCH NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "hold nose" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > HOLD NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Mindful of the sand in front of you (not to mention Jeff, right in the
Floyd | line of fire), you let go of Jeff's hand and quickly cover your nose.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | brushing up against your lowered hood, and then propels forward.  A
Floyd | one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air and snot launches itself from
Floyd | your nostrils.  You manage to deflect the worst of it with your hands;
Floyd | the sand is still more or less intact.  The bad news is that by
Floyd | breaking your connection with Jeff, you've interrupted the spell.  The
Floyd | green flames from the image and hairclip die out in an instant.
Floyd | Whatever spark Jeff was talking about doesn't happen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff shakes his head.  Well, that's that, I guess.  You're never going
Floyd | to find another item of hers to use in the spell, at least not in
Floyd | time.  But on the bright side, you'll get to the meet the Old Ones,
Floyd | after Stu gets a hold of you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** It's not the end of the world, despite your best
Floyd | efforts ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "I hate this puzzle"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |   some greasy sheets of wax paper
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I tend to press above my upper lip to suppress a sneeze."
inky says (to Floyd), "give f smell pillow" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE F SMELL PILLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "smell pillow" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SMELL PILLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Garbage, for sure.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | brushing up against your lowered hood, and then propels forward.  A
Floyd | one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air and snot launches itself from
Floyd | your nostrils.  With nothing to stop it, or even blunt it, the sneeze
Floyd | scatters the colored sand everywhere.  A tiny spark from the green
Floyd | flames shoots like a meteor and lands on the now-bare floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff shakes his head.  Well, that's that, I guess.  You're never going
Floyd | to find another item of hers to use in the spell, at least not in
Floyd | time.  But on the bright side, you'll get to the meet the Old Ones,
Floyd | after Stu gets a hold of you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** It's not the end of the world, despite your best
Floyd | efforts ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "touch nose divot" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH NOSE DIVOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks (of MrPatient), "Why do you hate it?"
inky says (to Floyd), "touch upper lip" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH UPPER LIP
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "I don't think it's very clever"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, this time, let's just sneeze. Let the snot flow."
inky says (to Floyd), "sneeze" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SNEEZE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's what you're trying to avoid.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | brushing up against your lowered hood, and then propels forward.  A
Floyd | one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air and snot launches itself from
Floyd | your nostrils.  With nothing to stop it, or even blunt it, the sneeze
Floyd | scatters the colored sand everywhere.  A tiny spark from the green
Floyd | flames shoots like a meteor and lands on the now-bare floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jeff shakes his head.  Well, that's that, I guess.  You're never going
Floyd | to find another item of hers to use in the spell, at least not in
Floyd | time.  But on the bright side, you'll get to the meet the Old Ones,
Floyd | after Stu gets a hold of you.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | *** It's not the end of the world, despite your best
Floyd | efforts ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Just to see."
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Secret Chamber                                      210
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Secret Chamber
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "raise hood" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RAISE HOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | With your hands unavailable, you grab an edge of the hood with your
Floyd | teeth and make an exaggerated jerking motion with your head.  The hood
Floyd | flops up over your face.  Good enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't suppress it any longer.  Your head rears back involuntarily,
Floyd | and then propels forward.  A one-hundred-mile-per-hour blast of air
Floyd | and snot launches itself from your nostrils.  Fortunately, the droopy
Floyd | oversized hood catches most of the impact.  The sand is still more or
Floyd | less intact, and you've miraculously managed to keep hold of Jeff's
Floyd | hands as well.  A tiny spark from the green flame shoots like a meteor
Floyd | and lands on the sand-map.  Jeff, wiping a little snot from his face,
Floyd | peers closely at it.  The spark is on the south side of Summit Avenue,
Floyd | between Hamline and Syndicate.  That's where she is.  Her house,
Floyd | maybe?  Is she super-rich or something?
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		MrPatient says, "Well done"
		inky says, "so that's why cultists wear robes!"
		Jacqueline says, "Nice"
		maga says, "the hamline, the point on a mountain above which no ham can grow"
		DavidW says, "No ham? So sad."
		MrPatient says, "The whole game is about hamlessness, really"
		Jacqueline says (to maga), "This reminds me of the time that we went to the Creationist petrified rock museum and saw the 'Rock that Resembles a Ham'"
		maga says, "alt title : Mostly Hamless"
		DavidW says, "It has stew and berry."
inky pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    211
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | OK, so this is what's at Summit and Syndicate.  You're
Floyd | standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven by
Floyd | eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue, I
Floyd | guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd | That's odd.  I guess something important must be going on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		PaulS says, "Hamlet without the ham."
		inky asks, "wait, the synagogue is called mt zion temple? what is this, a baptist synagogue?"
inky says (to Floyd), "x officer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    212
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OFFICER
Floyd |
Floyd | They seem to be just standing there, occasionally smiling and saying
Floyd | hello to people as they walk in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    213
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Every indication is that this Leah person is inside the synagogue.
Floyd | You should start there.  You can go to the supermarket and get some
Floyd | Ho-Hos after Stu has become chaos incarnate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    214
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Saint Paul's a smallish city, but too big for you to just wander
Floyd | around in, especially today.  From here, your best bets are south,
Floyd | southeast and east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   215
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | This is the main entrance of the synagogue.  Directly in front of you,
Floyd | blocking access to what appears to be a fairly cushy lounge area, is a
Floyd | long folding table.  Mounted on the wall to your right you can see a
Floyd | small wooden bin and a large wooden rack.  The main sanctuary appears
Floyd | to be to the west, and you can exit to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting behind the table is an elderly woman.  She seems to be taking
Floyd | tickets from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x bin" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   216
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIN
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a small box mounted on the wall, which contains dozens of little
Floyd | black cloth circles.  Ohhhhh.  These are the, whatchacallit, beanies
Floyd | that Jews wear.  Most people seem to have brought their own, but every
Floyd | so often someone picks one out of the box and puts it on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "I hope this game is about a cultist learning the true meaning of yom kippur"
inky says (to Floyd), "get yarmulke" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   217
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET YARMULKE
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab a circle and put it on your head.  You're feeling more Jewish
Floyd | already.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to inky), "yay"
inky says (to Floyd), "x rack" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   218
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RACK
Floyd |
Floyd | It looks vaguely like a towel rack, and in fact, there are things that
Floyd | look vaguely like towels hanging from it.  OK, not really towels:
Floyd | they're clearly of a thin, smooth and not very absorbent material.
Floyd | Each one has lots of little tassels or fringes on the ends, and
Floyd | there's some Hebrew writing on one of the long sides.  They are
Floyd | however, roughly towel-shaped, and have blue stripes in a very
Floyd | towelish pattern.  I suppose "shawls" is more appropriate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    219
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   218
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   219
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | The woman behind the table clears her throat.  "Excuse me," she says.
Floyd | "Excuse me!  Do you have a ticket?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Wait, what?  Ticket?  You have to pay to worship?  "Um, how much are
Floyd | they?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "They're not for sale.  They're sent out to members of the synagogue.
Floyd | Space is at a premium during the High Holy Days, you know."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, yeah, sure.  I'm actually a member; I just forgot my ticket.
Floyd | I'll go get it."
Floyd |
Floyd | Great.  With all the police around, breaking or sneaking in does not
Floyd | seem an option.  Better find a ticket somehow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    220
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x volunteer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    221
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VOLUNTEER
Floyd |
Floyd | She's wearing a blue vest, designating her as an official person of
Floyd | some kind.  From time to time, you can see people walk up and hand her
Floyd | a brown grocery bag full of canned goods.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a clunk and a "D'oh!"  Someone's bag has ripped, and cans of
Floyd | food are rolling down the sidewalk.  The unfortunate person and the
Floyd | volunteer scramble to catch them and toss them into other
Floyd | not-quite-as-full bags sitting in the van.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get food" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    221
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast EAST
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET FOOD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             222
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTHEAST  west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x puddle" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             223
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTHEAST  west
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PUDDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not Superfund-dirty, but it's nothing you want to drink.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  224
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kowalski's Supermarket
Floyd | This is Kowalski's, a Twin Cities chain of high-falutin supermarkets.
Floyd | Everywhere you look, there is food stacked floor to ceiling, and all
Floyd | of it looks good.  You're near the produce, which is attractively lit
Floyd | with special tinted lights, so that the greens and reds are deeper and
Floyd | more alluring.  There's a display of doughnuts in front of you, and by
Floyd | the registers you can see racks of candy bars, chips, cookies, and all
Floyd | sorts of horrible/delicious snacks.  You desperately want them all.
Floyd | Fortunately for you, the bakery and deli sections are on the far end
Floyd | of the store, so that you can't smell them from here.  You can exit to
Floyd | the northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | Each register has a stack of paper bags.  You can probably take one
Floyd | without opposition.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get bag" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  225
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a bag, and and you didn't even purchase anything!  You're now
Floyd | part of the criminal element, I guess.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "eat doughnut" 		

Floyd ]  Kowalski's Supermarket                                  226
Floyd ]  Exits: northwest
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT DOUGHNUT
Floyd |
Floyd | Great and powerful Aqua Buddha, you are hungry.  But you have no money
Floyd | and no time.  You can eat later.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am going to have to remember the phrase 'superfund-dirty'"
inky says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             227
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             228
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Kowalski's bag
Floyd |   a kippah (being worn)
Floyd |   a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put pillow in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             229
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT PILLOW IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the filthy pillow into the Kowalski's bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "oh my"
inky says (to Floyd), "put baby ruth wrapper in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             230
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BABY RUTH WRAPPER IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the Baby Ruth wrapper into the Kowalski's bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    231
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x jacket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    232
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X JACKET
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a dark green jacket, probably belonging to the volunteer.  It
Floyd | looks like a small piece of paper is poking out of a pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get paper" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    233
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | The volunteer is standing right there.  Maybe if she were distracted,
Floyd | and you were quick enough, you might be able to snag it, but not now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             234
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put bag in puddle" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             235
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT BAG IN PUDDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You dip the bag into the puddle.  It's now somewhat weakened, so you
Floyd | hold it from the bottom, to keep it from falling apart completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    236
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give bag to volunteer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    237
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE BAG TO VOLUNTEER
Floyd |
Floyd | You approach the volunteer and she looks up at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You might be misunderstanding the idea here.  There needs to be
Floyd | shelf-stable food in it," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    238
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a Kowalski's bag (weakened)
Floyd |     a Baby Ruth wrapper
Floyd |     a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a kippah (being worn)
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I hope the @YouAreCarrying twitter account gets updated with modern works like this one."
inky says (to Floyd), "go to kitchen" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 239
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO KITCHEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Randolph Ave.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | This is a small professional kitchen.  Although the pots and pans and
Floyd | smaller appliances are all gone, the oven is still functional, as long
Floyd | as your uncle keeps paying the gas bill.  Also here, not part of the
Floyd | original decor, is the Ark of Whatever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door to the restaurant's office leads west, the pantry is to the
Floyd | south, and the dining room is to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cable from the security camera runs through here and into a small
Floyd | hole above the office door.
Floyd |
Floyd | Walter is here, unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get cans" 		

Floyd ]  Kitchen                                                 239
Floyd ]  Exits: north south west
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET CANS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  240
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Pantry
Floyd | This is where all the food would be stored, if the bistro were open
Floyd | and functioning.  There's a big fridge in the corner and many dusty
Floyd | shelves along the walls.  A wooden stair leads down to the basement,
Floyd | and a doorway leads north to the kitchen.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dusty shelves are some pizza boxes and some cans of near-food.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get cans" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  241
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET CANS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put cans in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  242
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT CANS IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the cans of near-food into the Kowalski's bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get pillow" 		

Floyd ]  Pantry                                                  243
Floyd ]  Exits: north down
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET PILLOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "go to parking lot" 		

Floyd ]  Parking Lot                                             244
Floyd ]  Exits: southeast west
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO PARKING LOT
Floyd |
Floyd | You head on over, leaving your car parked on Summit Ave.
Floyd |
Floyd | Parking Lot
Floyd | This is the narrow, inadequate parking lot for Kowalski's supermarket.
Floyd | It's filled to capacity, as usual.  The entrance to the supermarket is
Floyd | southeast, and the synagogue is back to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a puddle of dirty water here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    245
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Summit and Syndicate
Floyd | You're standing outside Mt. Zion Temple, which you've probably driven
Floyd | by eight thousand times, but never really noticed.  It's a synagogue,
Floyd | I guess?  It's certainly Jewish.  There's a sign outside, with a blue
Floyd | Star of David, since faded to purple.  The temple itself is a low,
Floyd | orange-brick mid-century modernist structure.  Kowalski's supermarket
Floyd | is to the east, and the entrance to the temple is south.  The
Floyd | restaurant is a drive to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Saturn is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Streams of people approach the synagogue from all directions.  They're
Floyd | dressed all fancy-like for the most part.  Some carry brown grocery
Floyd | bags.  Those with the bags are handing them to a volunteer standing
Floyd | outside a van parked out front.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are several St. Paul police officers posted around the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting in the van amongst the bags is a wadded-up jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give bag to volunteer" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    246
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE BAG TO VOLUNTEER
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand the bag over to the volunteer.  She grabs it by the handles
Floyd | and turns around, when suddenly, but not unexpectedly, the bottom
Floyd | falls out.  Cans spill out and begin rolling down the sidewalk.  She
Floyd | starts chasing after them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get ticket" 		

Floyd ]  Summit and Syndicate                                    247
Floyd ]  Exits: south southeast east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TICKET
Floyd |
Floyd | With the volunteer scrambling around grabbing cans, you deftly lift
Floyd | the ticket from her jacket.  You start to feel bad about this, but
Floyd | then comfort yourself with the thought that she's probably been to a
Floyd | zillion of these before.  And she's wearing the blue vest, which is
Floyd | probably a Get Into Yom Kippur Free card anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You make a show of tracking down a can or two, then hand them to her.
Floyd | "Thanks!" she chirps, then resumes her duties.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Foyer                                                   248
Floyd ]  Exits: north WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Foyer
Floyd | This is the main entrance of the synagogue.  Directly in front of you,
Floyd | blocking access to what appears to be a fairly cushy lounge area, is a
Floyd | long folding table.  Mounted on the wall to your right you can see a
Floyd | small wooden bin and a large wooden rack.  The main sanctuary appears
Floyd | to be to the west, and you can exit to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sitting behind the table is an elderly woman.  She seems to be taking
Floyd | tickets from people.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give ticket to lady" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               249
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE TICKET TO LADY
Floyd |
Floyd | You hand your ticket to the woman, and she smiles.  "L'shana
Floyd | tovah," she says, whatever that means.  The flow of the crowd
Floyd | whisks you into the sanctuary to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | This is the main sanctuary of the synagogue, decorated in soothing
Floyd | pastels.  The business end is to the south: there's a raised area,
Floyd | with a podium, and behind that, there's a small flame burning adjacent
Floyd | to a small pair of doors set into the south wall.  In front of the
Floyd | raised area there are rows of seats to accommodate the sizable crowd.
Floyd | You came in from the east, and it looks like maybe there's a way out
Floyd | to the south as well.
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah must be somewhere in this crowd.
Floyd |
Floyd | Standing behind the podium is a goateed man wearing white robes,
Floyd | chanting something.  The rabbi, presumably.  Next to him is what
Floyd | appears to be an animal horn.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...Ba-ruch a-tah A-do-nai...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "This rabbi bat-mitzvahed my daughter last week"
		DavidW says, "might want to save"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf5" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               249
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "also, there is an old joke that could totally have been reprised here, where the guy talks the ticket-taker into letting him in without a ticket"
		inky says, ""but don't let me catch you praying!""
		MrPatient says, "Heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x crowd" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               250
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CROWD
Floyd |
Floyd | You survey the assembled congregants.  Lots of people of all ages,
Floyd | sizes, and unexpectedly, colors.  Many of the boys are wearing the
Floyd | same sad uniform: a button-down shirt, khakis, and sneakers.  Don't
Floyd | kids have suits anymore?  Never mind that.  Focus!  Where is this Leah
Floyd | person?  Better keep searching the crowd.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei-nu, Vei-lo-hei a-vo-tei-nu, v'imo-tei-nu...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x bima" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               250
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIMA
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search crowd" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               251
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH CROWD
Floyd |
Floyd | You continue scanning the crowd for signs of the intrepid pain in the
Floyd | ass who took the Heart.  You don't see her, but you do see a kid
Floyd | reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows instead of his
Floyd | prayer book.  You can only silently salute his forethought.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei Av-ra-ham, E-lo-hei Yitz-chak, Vei-lo-hei
Floyd | Ya-a-kov...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x shofar" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               252
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHOFAR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's maybe a foot long, dark brown or black, and it's got a pronounced
Floyd | curve.  Looks like a free-range organic version of the horn Boromir
Floyd | used to gather the Fellowship as he was getting shot all full of
Floyd | arrows.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...E-lo-hei Sa-rah, Eh-lo-hei Riv-kah, Eh-lo-hei Racheil,
Floyd | vei-lo-hei Lei-ah...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "I spelled it bimah"
inky says (to Floyd), "x bimah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               253
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIMAH
Floyd |
Floyd | It's not particularly noteworthy.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...Ha-eil Ha-Ga-dol Ha-Gi-bor v'Ha-No-rah Eil Eil-yon...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "fair enough"
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               254
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to find Leah and get the Heart first.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...go-meil cha-sa-dim to-vim...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x crowd" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               255
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CROWD
Floyd |
Floyd | Dammit, where is she?  Then, at last, you spot her: she's up very
Floyd | close to the front, near the interior aisle, right in front of
Floyd | everybody.  Of course she is.  As unsuspiciously as you can manage,
Floyd | you thread your way through the crowd to arrive at an open seat just
Floyd | behind hers.  It's her alright -- same height, same build, same
Floyd | freckles, same frizzy hair that you saw on the security system.  You
Floyd | know, in person, she might be kind of cute.  Focus!  Anyway, she looks
Floyd | a little bored with the proceedings, truth to tell.  She's checking
Floyd | her phone from time to time.  She's no longer wearing the enormous
Floyd | many-pocketed trench coat.  She does have a big canvas satchel with
Floyd | her, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...v'ko-nei ha-kol...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "x satchel" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               256
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SATCHEL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a big grayish tote bag which reads "Mojo Monkey" on the side.  Oh
Floyd | my God, the apple fritters at Mojo Monkey.  When all this is done, you
Floyd | absolutely need to get over to Mojo's and -- Cthulhu's cthornhole!
Floyd | Stay on target!
Floyd |
Floyd | As you peer into the bag, you see what you can only assume is the
Floyd | Heart.  There's a parcel, about the size of a Chicago softball,
Floyd | wrapped in newspaper, with visible streaks of blood.  It's here with
Floyd | her!  She hasn't had to time to stow it safely anywhere.  Hell, she
Floyd | probably knows that that we're searching for it, and thinks that it's
Floyd | safer with her.  Oh, this is seriously lucky.  Now, perhaps you can
Floyd | ever-so-carefully take it out of the bag without her noticing...
Floyd |
Floyd | ...v'zo-cheir chas-dei a-vot v'im-a-hot...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               257
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a kippah (being worn)
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...u'mei-vi ge-u-lah liv-nei v'nei-hem...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put pillow in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               258
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT PILLOW IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You probably want to take something out of the bag, not put something
Floyd | in.
Floyd |
Floyd | ...l'ma-an sh'mo b'a-ha-vah,...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               259
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You bend down to pretend to tie your shoes, and checking that the
Floyd | coast is clear, you reach into the bag.  Blindly, you paw around until
Floyd | you can feel the newspaper.  Great Nyarlathotep, it's almost within
Floyd | your grasp.  Just another inch and...
Floyd |
Floyd | Suddenly, there's a scream from the entrance to the sanctuary.  A
Floyd | policeman enters, takes a step, and falls over face-first.  Striding
Floyd | in over him is your Uncle Stu.  Oh no.  He must've found Jeff, who
Floyd | must've spilled the beans.  The rabbi stops his chanting, and everyone
Floyd | turns to Stu in shock and puzzlement.  Stu is changed, and not subtly.
Floyd | He's grown considerably, and his skin, which seems thicker and tougher
Floyd | somehow, is an ashen gray.  The ritual is almost complete.  All he
Floyd | needs now is to consume the Heart.  He raises his meaty fist; in it,
Floyd | you can see a blue crystal.  He intones some words that you can't make
Floyd | out from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear, and then feel, a high-pitched hum: a wave of sickening
Floyd | energy, penetrating your skin, into your bones, into your skull.
Floyd | People all around you begin convulsing in pain.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "golly"
inky says (to Floyd), "get heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | With Leah crumpled and bleeding, you reach into the bag and grab the
Floyd | Heart.  The wrapping falls off, and you're left with the cool, bloody
Floyd | mass in your hands.  Although it is undeniably gross, it has the fine
Floyd | marbling of an aged, premium steak.
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah doubles over in agony, along with almost everyone in the crowd.
Floyd | Damn, Stu is not the forgiving type.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "whoops, slight ordering issue"
		Jacqueline asks, "Give it to him? Or eat it yourself?"
		MrPatient says, "Yeah, oops"
inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf6" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give heart to stu" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HEART TO STU
Floyd |
Floyd | You make a choice: you are a cultist, dammit.  It's time to show these
Floyd | pinks what's what.  Triumphantly, you hand over the Heart to Uncle
Floyd | Stu.  He's completed every step of the ritual but the last one, and
Floyd | now his journey is complete.  He puts a hand on your shoulder, gives
Floyd | you an exaggerated wink, and tears into the Heart with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious,
Floyd | and you have made it possible.  Iä!  Iä!
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You have found religion ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's at least two other endings."
inky says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf6" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "eat heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You seize upon an idea: the power can be yours, instead of Stu's.  You
Floyd | take a tentative bite of the Heart, then another.  The blood trickles
Floyd | down your throat, and instantly, you can feel your gnawing hunger
Floyd | abate.  Power courses through you.  As Leah and the other congregants
Floyd | crumple to the floor, you begin to thrum with otherworldly energy.
Floyd | Stu looks up and sees you, sees that you've eaten the Heart.  "No!" he
Floyd | hisses, and leaps toward you in desperation.  You've ascended far
Floyd | beyond the likes of him, though.  You snap his neck with your
Floyd | outstretched talons as easily as you would a breadstick.  You feel an
Floyd | overwhelming surge as your form bursts through the ceiling of the
Floyd | synagogue, and your mind encompasses the stars and the ocean floor.
Floyd | Then a thought occurs to you: wasn't there supposed to be some sort of
Floyd | ritual to prepare for this?  The explosion that tears through you
Floyd | demolishes much of Summit Avenue.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Your hunger is sated ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to MrPatient), "If you ever do an update, I also just found a typo: 'probably knows that that we're searching for it' (double that)"
		MrPatient says, "Ah, thanks"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You choose to flee with the Heart.  Stu won't get it, and neither will
Floyd | anyone else!  You scramble over the fallen figures littering the
Floyd | sanctuary, and head south through the doorway.  Somehow you find your
Floyd | way through a maze of corridors until you're outside.  A cement truck
Floyd | lumbers down the street.  Perfect!   You take hold of the Heart, cock
Floyd | your arm and prepare to destroy the thing.  Then Stu arrives, with a
Floyd | squad of police chasing close behind.  "I'll take that," he growls, as
Floyd | he wrests the Heart away from you.  With the first bite, he begins to
Floyd | grow even more massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and
Floyd | he swallows the rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from
Floyd | his torso, and he soon towers over the nearby buildings.  It's pretty
Floyd | cool.  Then he grabs you.  Oh, right.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the first to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Not the ending I was thinking of."
		inky says, "so there's at least *four* endings"
		MrPatient says, "Five, I think"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "give pillow to stu" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               261
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE PILLOW TO STU
Floyd |
Floyd | Uncle Stu declines the offer.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blood begins to drip from the rabbi's ears as your uncle invokes the
Floyd | power of the crystal.  You see figures all around the sanctuary

		DavidW says, "Five? huh."

Floyd | dropping to the floor.  "Make it stop," Leah pleads, almost inaudibly
Floyd | over the infernal hum.  She collapses to the ground, twitching, tears
Floyd | and blood streaking down her face.  She looks up and recognizes you.
Floyd | Clearly terrified, she curls up into a tighter ball.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   the Heart of Something
Floyd |   a filthy pillow
Floyd |   a kippah (being worn)
Floyd |   a latex glove (being worn)
Floyd |   a flashlight
Floyd |   a hooded robe (hood lowered) (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | And you're all greased up.
Floyd |
Floyd | Almost everyone in the sanctuary, except for you and your uncle, is on
Floyd | the floor writhing, or worse, completely still.  Leah quivers
Floyd | involuntarily, her hands clutched around her ears, her eyes closed
Floyd | tight.  She whispers, perhaps to no one in particular, "Help me!"
Floyd | Alright, Stu, you think.  Point made.  Let's skedaddle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "'And you're all greased up' may be my new 'You can smell the cheese'"
		inky says, "hmm, I feel like there should be a way to give him a fake heart"
inky says (to Floyd), "put kippah on heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KIPPAH ON HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the Heart of Something would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "OK, so there are six endings"
		inky says, "ha ha"
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
		inky asks, "so we're still down two?"
		Jacqueline says, "hahah"
		DavidW asks, "What if Leah eats it?"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		maga says (to Jacq), "it'll always be 'this is the new you-can-smell-the-cheese', though, like how 'purple is the new black' doesn't ever mean that next time you say 'orange is the new purple'"
inky says (to Floyd), "give heart to leah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HEART TO LEAH
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah is too busy dying to accept the Heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear."
inky says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
inky says (to Floyd), "cf6" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               260
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, okay, not that."
inky says (to Floyd), "give heart to leah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               261
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GIVE HEART TO LEAH
Floyd |
Floyd | Leah is too busy dying to accept the Heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | Blood begins to drip from the rabbi's ears as your uncle invokes the
Floyd | power of the crystal.  You see figures all around the sanctuary
Floyd | dropping to the floor.  "Make it stop," Leah pleads, almost inaudibly
Floyd | over the infernal hum.  She collapses to the ground, twitching, tears
Floyd | and blood streaking down her face.  She looks up and recognizes you.
Floyd | Clearly terrified, she curls up into a tighter ball.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "ask leah about heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK LEAH ABOUT HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You couldn't have a conversation in this mayhem.
Floyd |
Floyd | Almost everyone in the sanctuary, except for you and your uncle, is on
Floyd | the floor writhing, or worse, completely still.  Leah quivers
Floyd | involuntarily, her hands clutched around her ears, her eyes closed
Floyd | tight.  She whispers, perhaps to no one in particular, "Help me!"
Floyd | Alright, Stu, you think.  Point made.  Let's skedaddle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Destroy the heart?"
inky says (to Floyd), "destroy heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > DESTROY HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | Filled with disgust at what you're seeing, you have an idea: perhaps
Floyd | you can destroy the Heart before Stu can get hold of it.  You put it
Floyd | on the floor and stomp on it as hard as you can.  It's squished a
Floyd | little, but surely still edible, for certain values of "edible."  So
Floyd | much for that.  You pick it back up.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "burn heart" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > BURN HEART
Floyd |
Floyd | You have an idea: perhaps you can burn the Heart!  You rush the stage,
Floyd | and place the Heart over the open flame.  The Heart begins to warm up
Floyd | a little, but you can see at this pace that it won't burn up in any
Floyd | reasonable amount of time.  Hell, if anything, you're just making it
Floyd | more appetizing for Stu.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm, nope"
		inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "blow shofar" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > BLOW SHOFAR
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the shofar)
Floyd | You leap over to the podium and grab the horn.  Seized by a sudden
Floyd | flash of insight and pity, you inhale until you're full to bursting,
Floyd | and put the horn to your lips.  You sound a massive, deep blast that
Floyd | reverberates against the walls of the sanctuary.  You keep the blast
Floyd | going, a single piercing note, forcing the air from your lungs until
Floyd | they begin to ache.  You look up, and see the congregation recovering.
Floyd | The horn's blast is drowning out the crystal!  Leah slowly uncurls
Floyd | herself, opens her eyes, and sees you sounding the horn.  She seems
Floyd | oddly calm now, and starts to crawl away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Still you blow, your face turning red, then purple, the same note
Floyd | sounding, shaking the very walls of the temple.  You close your eyes
Floyd | as you expel the last bit of air.  Finally, there's a cracking sound,
Floyd | and a pulse of white light.  The crystal shatters.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rabbi stands, a trickle of blood running along his jawline and
Floyd | down his chin.  "Tekiah gedolah!" he shouts, as the other
Floyd | congregants snap out of their fugues.  Suddenly, there's another
Floyd | crack, and your dumbstruck uncle crumples to the ground.  Standing
Floyd | over him is Leah, clutching a Torah in both hands.  Her face is caked
Floyd | with blood, her dress dirty and wrinkled, her mascara running in thick
Floyd | black streaks down her face.  She looks up at you and smiles.  She's
Floyd | the most beautiful woman you've ever seen.  Three Saint Paul policemen
Floyd | burst in with tasers and handcuffs, but frankly, their job has been
Floyd | done for them.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I knew you couldn't be all bad," Leah says, between strained breaths.
Floyd | "You were so gentle with my roommate's beagle when we brought her in
Floyd | with a scratched eye last winter.  It was really sweet."  At this, she
Floyd | throws up.  Still, it's a nice moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | press any key

		DavidW says, "This is my favourite ending of the endings I know."
		inky says, "it does seem like the good ending"
inky pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               263
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | Como Park
Floyd | One year later.  You stand under the chuppah on a warm summer day in
Floyd | Como Park.  Sailboats and canoes dot the lake in front of you.  The
Floyd | air is filled with bird songs and the scent of flowers.  Leah stands
Floyd | to your right, beaming and crying.  Behind you are several dozen
Floyd | guests.  On her side: her parents, family, and friends.  On yours:
Floyd | Sandy, Jeff, and some of the other guys from the cult.  Yeah, the cult
Floyd | is still operating, but it's pretty mellow now.  Fewer human
Floyd | sacrifices, more pancake breakfasts.  Mostly now it's just a way to
Floyd | feel like you're part of something.
Floyd |
Floyd | The rabbi places his hands upon your heads and intones a final prayer.
Floyd | At your feet is a glass, wrapped in a napkin.  The rabbi points to it
Floyd | and nods.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "break glass" 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               263
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You break the glass (on the second try) and kiss your bride.  The
Floyd | assembled crowd claps and hollers in approval.  Even the winged horror
Floyd | gives a celebratory screech.
Floyd |
Floyd | Let's get to the reception; you're starving.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Mazel tov ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, see some suggestions
Floyd | for AMUSING things to do, QUIT or UNDO the last command?
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "It took me two tries to break the glass at my own wedding"
		DavidW says, "I love that ending."
		Jacqueline says, "That... is a very good ending that I did not think could possibly exist."
		PaulS says, "I am especially glad the winged horror gets to attend. I feel he has a dreary life."
		MrPatient says, "Aw, thanks"
		inky asks, "did you literally use a glass?"
		MrPatient says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Also, wow. A game we actually finished in under two hours."
		inky says, "I think we had a light bulb"
		DavidW says (to inky), "I didn't know one could do that."
		inky says, "supposedly it makes a better noise, too"
		Jacqueline says (to inky), "The illusion is ruined for me now."
		inky says, "hee hee"
		maga says, "presumably not everyone wants to wear steel-toed boots at their wedding"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "so it's a symbol of a symbol."
		Jacqueline says, "Sure, sure."
		jenrexrode says, "better safe than sorry."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, this was pretty awesome. Thank you for creating this, Sean."
inky says (to Floyd), "amusing" 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               263
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > AMUSING
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Have you tried:
Floyd |
Floyd | Consulting the tomes about Arkham, or Cthulhu, or Yuggoth, or
Floyd | Miskatonic U., or other Lovecrafty stuff?
Floyd | Licking the wax paper?  The Baby Ruth wrapper?
Floyd | Kissing Walter?
Floyd | Putting Walter in the oven?
Floyd | Putting the Ziploc bag on Walter?
Floyd | Putting the Breaking Bad DVDs in the security system?
Floyd | Taking Sam's nose?
Floyd | Taking Leah's satchel?
Floyd | Burning anything?
Floyd | Touching the ichor with your bare hand more than once?
Floyd | Wearing the hairclip?
Floyd | Singing while in the synagogue?
Floyd | Greasing someone else?
Floyd | Taking the houses on Randolph Avenue?
Floyd | Filling the glove with water?
Floyd | Swimming in the Mississippi River?
Floyd | Taking the ark of the Torah?
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, see some suggestions
Floyd | for AMUSING things to do, QUIT or UNDO the last command?
Floyd | >

		MrPatient says, "Thanks, you guys! It was great writing it and playing it with you."
		inky says, "yeah, that was fun"
		PaulS says, "It's a very good game, really fun."
		MrPatient says, "Taking the ark is worth your time, if you have a sec"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Como Park                                               263
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Como Park
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Sanctuary
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get torah" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TORAH
Floyd |
Floyd | You box up the ark of the Torah and ship it to a giant warehouse
Floyd | amidst thousands of similar crates.  Top men will be assigned to study
Floyd | it.  Top.  Men.
Floyd |
Floyd | Awakened from this momentary reverie, you recall that the ark is just
Floyd | a cupboard built into the wall of the sanctuary, and cannot be taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare, dumbstruck, as the last surviving members of the
Floyd | congregation quiver their last.  Stu strides over their bodies
Floyd | triumphantly.  Mission accomplished, I guess?  You didn't expect him
Floyd | to take it all the way, but Stu has been waiting for this moment for
Floyd | quite a while.  He's fired up and ready to roll.  Glancing at you
Floyd | dismissively, he snatches the Heart and tears into it with his
Floyd | suddenly-sharp teeth.  With the first bite, he begins to grow more
Floyd | massive.  His jaw unhinges like a great serpent's, and he swallows the
Floyd | rest of the Heart in one gulp.  Tentacles emerge from his torso, and
Floyd | he bursts through the ceiling with a primeval roar.  It is glorious.
Floyd | Even though you lost the Heart to begin with, you did at least make an
Floyd | effort to retrieve it, and Stu is feeling magnanimous.  You serve at
Floyd | his right tentacle for a brief while until the mood passes, and you
Floyd | are consumed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** You are among the last to be eaten ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		inky says, "hooray"
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
		Jacqueline says (to inky), "So, for next week it's a Choice Script game. I'll email Lynnea Glasser and Dan Fabulous and you to see if we can get it put on Floyd."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, yay. Top. Men."
		inky says, "sounds good"
		MrPatient says, "Thanks again, everyone. This was great. And you did a superlative job with the puzzles."
		Jacqueline says, "Are we still poking around? Like, are we going for a swim in the Mississippi river? Because when we're done poking around I have another general ClubFloyd logistics question."
		inky says, "I'm done poking but someone else can feel free to take over"
		inky says, "(cf2 is right there, I think"
		Jacqueline asks, "...at the river?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load cf2" 		

Floyd ]  Sanctuary                                               262
Floyd ]  Exits: SOUTH  east
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOAD CF2
Floyd |
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd ]  Super-Secret Entrance to Carver's Cave                  110
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTH  up DOWN  INSIDE
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       111
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Base of the Bluff
Floyd | You're at the bottom of the bluff now, with the river directly before
Floyd | you.  Protruding from the bluff is a small pipe.  A stream of water
Floyd | emerges and drips into the river.
Floyd |
Floyd | The entrance to the cave is above you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "swim" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       112
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SWIM
Floyd |
Floyd | The headline in tomorrow's Pioneer Press: Area Man, Unable to
Floyd | Drop Heavy Robe for Some Reason, Drowns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remove robe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       113
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > REMOVE ROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take off the hooded robe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "fwiw, for Quest, I found this forum thread: [LINK]"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "swim" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       114
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > SWIM
Floyd |
Floyd | The headline in tomorrow's Pioneer Press: Area Man, Unable to
Floyd | Drop Heavy Robe for Some Reason, Drowns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drop robe" 		

Floyd ]  Base of the Bluff                                       115
Floyd ]  Exits: up
Floyd |
Floyd | > DROP ROBE
Floyd |
Floyd | You probably want to hang onto it.  You can't be a proper cultist
Floyd | without it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Aw"
		inky says, "ha ha"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Thanks. I was going to ask vimes if he could maybe get the Quest game running."
		DavidW says, "well, it doesn't look likely. Something about a 'QuestConsole project in the source code' that's 'not pretty' and 'not had any attention for a whie'."
		Jacqueline says, "But my other question was whether or not people had ideas for the liveplay of 4 & 5. David, I know you're on a pretty slow connection, but I keep getting asked if we can do a hangout or twitch or something."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "I thought we got older Quest stuff to run on Floyd?"
		DavidW says, "I don't remember, but newer Quest stuff almost certainly won't work."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm torn over whether or not to do some sort of non-Floyd play of games in Quest or Twine and still call it ClubFloyd."
		DavidW says, "If you can think of a way to do it, sure."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm mostly worried that you, a regular, wouldn't be able to attend due to bandwidth issues."
		Jacqueline says, "I can probably do AlethiCorp as brutal cut and paste, because I hear the images are few and not that important."
		DavidW says, "Central library branch is open on Sundays now, but doesn't open until 1pm."
		Jacqueline says, "But With Those We Love Alive, there's serious multimedia that would need a different approach."
		DavidW says, "I didn't play AlethiCorp."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Well, I'm okay with starting later."
		DavidW says, "Or WTWLA."
		Jacqueline says, "I think we can do the next three without anything too special."
		Jacqueline says, "I could cut & paste Jacqueline if I have to."
		DavidW says, "WTWLA was at WordPlay, but I didn't get a chance to get to it."
		DavidW says, "Jacqueline has some cute graphics; non-essential, but still. And does some nifty in-game mappings."
		MrPatient says, "I have to go. Thanks again, and Happy Thanksgiving to any USians."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, next week we'll do Creatures Such as We, and I'll try to figure out what/if we can do for the others."
		DavidW says, "Thanks, MrPatient!"
		Jacqueline exclaims "Thanks, MrPatient!"



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NightFloyd Transcript:
Hill 160 by Mike Gerwat
As played on ifMUD on November 13, 2014

Like ClubFloyd, the idea behind NightFloyd is that a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Unlike ClubFloyd, NightFloyd often takes on significantly larger works of interactive fiction, knowing going in that each one will take multiple sessions (but not always, as you'll see in this transcript). NightFloyd is also a bit more informal than ClubFloyd in that it's only announced on the ifMUD #clubfloyd bulletin board, and the time shifts around to meet player's schedules far more than ClubFloyd does. NightFloyd is organized by genericgeekgirl, aka Adri.

Below is a transcript of Hill 160 written by Mike Gerwat. Hill 160 was released as part of the 2014 Interactive Fiction Competition. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting its IFDB page: Hill 160.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "load hill160" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to restore a saved game?

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |

		genericgeekgirl says, "Uh."
genericgeekgirl pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd | Enter your last name: I beg your pardon?
Floyd |

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | Enter your last name:
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Was it only over a year ago? All the razzamatazz, all the hero
Floyd | marching, over by Christmas they said. You'd been in that bloody
Floyd | factory since the age of 14, gone through all the strikes and misery
Floyd | of the early 1900's now. There seemed a way out. At least you'd get
Floyd | fed and there was the glory of England to fight for. Oh, how merrily
Floyd | you marched away to the depot, not knowing whether or not you'd come
Floyd | home to a hero's welcome and a chest full of medals or become another
Floyd | statistic of the first world conflict in history.
Floyd |
Floyd | Two months later, all that was knocked out of you. Blanko. Fatigues.
Floyd | March, march march. Orders. Being bawled out by Sergeant Major Grant.
Floyd | Then at the new year, when you'd marched up and down half of France
Floyd | and having had been there for months on end, and stuck for all those
Floyd | dreadful weeks in First Eypre, or Wipers as you learned to call it,
Floyd | thrust into long and badly constructed trench lines, frozen nearly to
Floyd | death out there, you were ready to call it quits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another summer has come and gone. You had your first leave and were
Floyd | promoted twice. First to Lance Corporal, then to Full Corporal. Now,
Floyd | you're off back again and you've got a platoon, with a few hardy souls
Floyd | and some new recruits mixed in. Fresh-faced boys, out of the training
Floyd | camp. They are totally raw, and know nothing about the life out here,
Floyd | have been fed all the bloody rubbish that home front propaganda can
Floyd | throw at them. After going through all that training and absolute
Floyd | misery, you are no longer a raw recruit, but are now a hardened
Floyd | veteran, after only a year or so.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's now the autumn of 1915 and here you are in the back of the
Floyd | support lorry that has gone as far as it can.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
genericgeekgirl pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hill 160
Floyd | A World War I Adventure in Terror by Mike Gerwat
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140911 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | IF Comp 2014 Release
Floyd | © 2014 by Mike Gerwat. All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Floyd | Special and Game Specific Commands are in the Help Menu under "How to
Floyd | Play"
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Lorry
Floyd | You're in the back of a support lorry which has been driven as far as
Floyd | it can go.
Floyd |
Floyd | Along with you are your platoon, Sergeant Major Grant and a bunch of
Floyd | other men. They are all lurching about as your lorry makes it's way
Floyd | towards the front lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Safe? Not really. You are not safe in here at all. Columns coming up
Floyd | to the front are the favourite targets for the German heavy guns to
Floyd | zero in on. You feel lucky this trip however. Earlier on, the lorry
Floyd | behind you copped it and tipped over. There were no survivors. Your
Floyd | shoulders ache like hell from the horrendous weight of your backpack.
Floyd | The lorry jerks to a stop and you hear the bark of your Sergeant
Floyd | Major:
Floyd |
Floyd | "All out Mates. Fall in on the road."
Floyd |

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "quit" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "quit" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "%quit" 		
Floyd says, "game ended by request of genericgeekgirl." 		genericgeekgirl says, "Gah."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask hill160" 		
Floyd: Are you sure you want to quit? Please answer yes or no.> ] 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to restore a saved game?

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | Do you want to restore a saved game?
Floyd | > NO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Enter your last name:

		genericgeekgirl says, "There we go."
		Zach asks, "Butt?"
		McMartin says, "Be warned: huge"
		genericgeekgirl says, "We like huge, uh.. butts."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "Butt" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | Was it only over a year ago? All the razzamatazz, all the hero
Floyd | marching, over by Christmas they said. You'd been in that bloody
Floyd | factory since the age of 14, gone through all the strikes and misery
Floyd | of the early 1900's now. There seemed a way out. At least you'd get
Floyd | fed and there was the glory of England to fight for. Oh, how merrily
Floyd | you marched away to the depot, not knowing whether or not you'd come
Floyd | home to a hero's welcome and a chest full of medals or become another
Floyd | statistic of the first world conflict in history.
Floyd |
Floyd | Two months later, all that was knocked out of you. Blanko. Fatigues.
Floyd | March, march march. Orders. Being bawled out by Sergeant Major Grant.
Floyd | Then at the new year, when you'd marched up and down half of France
Floyd | and having had been there for months on end, and stuck for all those
Floyd | dreadful weeks in First Eypre, or Wipers as you learned to call it,
Floyd | thrust into long and badly constructed trench lines, frozen nearly to
Floyd | death out there, you were ready to call it quits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another summer has come and gone. You had your first leave and were
Floyd | promoted twice. First to Lance Corporal, then to Full Corporal. Now,
Floyd | you're off back again and you've got a platoon, with a few hardy souls
Floyd | and some new recruits mixed in. Fresh-faced boys, out of the training
Floyd | camp. They are totally raw, and know nothing about the life out here,
Floyd | have been fed all the bloody rubbish that home front propaganda can
Floyd | throw at them. After going through all that training and absolute
Floyd | misery, you are no longer a raw recruit, but are now a hardened
Floyd | veteran, after only a year or so.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's now the autumn of 1915 and here you are in the back of the
Floyd | support lorry that has gone as far as it can.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
JoshuaH arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Hill 160
Floyd | A World War I Adventure in Terror by Mike Gerwat
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140911 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | IF Comp 2014 Release
Floyd | © 2014 by Mike Gerwat. All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Floyd | Special and Game Specific Commands are in the Help Menu under "How
Floyd | to Play"
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Lorry 
Floyd | You're in the back of a support lorry which has been driven as far as
Floyd | it can go.
Floyd |
Floyd | Along with you are your platoon, Sergeant Major Grant and a bunch of
Floyd | other men. They are all lurching about as your lorry makes it's way
Floyd | towards the front lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Safe? Not really. You are not safe in here at all. Columns coming up
Floyd | to the front are the favourite targets for the German heavy guns to
Floyd | zero in on. You feel lucky this trip however. Earlier on, the lorry
Floyd | behind you copped it and tipped over. There were no survivors. Your
Floyd | shoulders ache like hell from the horrendous weight of your backpack.
Floyd | The lorry jerks to a stop and you hear the bark of your Sergeant
Floyd | Major:
Floyd |
Floyd | "All out Mates. Fall in on the road."
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Eeek, I'm scared"
		Zach | Earlier on, the lorry behind you copped it and tipped over. There were no survivors.
		DavidW says, "oh darn. I don't want terror."
		Zach says, "War never changes"
Zach says (to Floyd), "about" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > ABOUT
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                          About this Game
Floyd | The game is based on my studies of World War I. For history buffs,
Floyd | I've changed a few things to suit the game to make it more exciting.
Floyd | War is war and some of the language may offend some people, plus it's
Floyd | definitely not PC! For the competition, I have made it somewhat easier
Floyd | to get through to comply with the Comp rules. When it goes up on the
Floyd | archive, it will be much harder with Release 2. Some of the names were
Floyd | loosely taken from Frederick Manning's "The Middle Parts of Fortune" I
Floyd | have deliberately miss-spelled some of them, so as not to infringe
Floyd | copyright.
Floyd |
Floyd | I make no money out of this game, since I just want other text
Floyd | adventure players to enjoy the game and also to get a little taste of
Floyd | what war was like back then. If you enjoy this game, you might like to
Floyd | try my much harder game on the archive "Genesis Quest" . Also,
Floyd | to learn about the life of someone who's deaf and blind, read 
Floyd | "Touch Me Please"  available on Kindle.
Floyd |
Floyd | I would welcome sensible comments on the game, plus if anyone's really
Floyd | stuck, mail me also. See the credits and about the author for more
Floyd | details.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "p" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |  > About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |  > Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |  > Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |  > Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |  > If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |  > How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		Zach says, "Dang, I just wanted to know the special commands"
		Zach asks, "Should we read all of these?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Go for it, if you want."
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                           Player Actions
Floyd |
Floyd | THROW | HEAVE | TOSS| HURL | (OBJECT) |AT| (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | DUMP (OBJECT) |IN| |INTO| |INSIDE| (OBJECT)
Floyd | ATTACK | KILL | FIGHT | HIT (NPC) with (OBJECT)
Floyd | LOCK (OBJECT)
Floyd | LOCK (OBJECT) with (OBJECT)
Floyd | UNLOCK (OBJECT)
Floyd | UNLOCK (OBJECT) with (OBJECT)
Floyd | TAKE| GET (OBJECT)| ALL
Floyd | PUT DOWN | DROP | (OBJECT) | ALL
Floyd | OPEN (OBJECT)
Floyd | OPEN (OBJECT) with (OBJECT)
Floyd | CLOSE |SHUT (OBJECT)
Floyd | EXAMINE |X|CHECK|INSPECT| (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | LOOK (AT) (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | LOOK (AT) (IN) (UNDER) (BEHIND) (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | SEARCH (OBJECT)
Floyd | READ (OBJECT)
Floyd | EAT (OBJECT)
Floyd | DRINK (OBJECT)
Floyd | PUT | PLACE (OBJECT) IN |WITH| |INSIDE| |INTO| |NEAR (OBJECT) or
Floyd | (NPC)
Floyd | PUT | PLACE (OBJECT) |BEHIND| |ON| |UNDER| |BESIDE| (OBJECT) or
Floyd | (NPC)
Floyd | PUSH | TOUCH (OBJECT) or (NPC) with (OBJECT)
Floyd | TURN (or SWITCH) (OBJECT) (ON) |(OFF)
Floyd | TURN (or SWITCH) (ON) |(OFF) (OBJECT)
Floyd | PUSH | PULL (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | PLAY (OBJECT)
Floyd | PLAY (WITH) (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | LIGHT OBJECT
Floyd | LIGHT (OBJECT) WITH (OBJECT)
Floyd | EXTINGUISH (or EXT) (OBJECT)
Floyd | EXTINGUISH (or EXT) (OBJECT) WITH (OBJECT)
Floyd | SHOOT | FIRE (OBJECT) at (NPC)
Floyd | SHOOT (OBJECT) or (NPC)
Floyd | SHOOT (OBJECT) or (NPC) WITH (OBJECT)
Floyd | PUT ON |WEAR| (OBJECT) (ALL)
Floyd | TAKE OFF |REMOVE| (OBJECT) (ALL)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		DavidW says, "I could use a bit more time to wake, yeah."
Ellison arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Zach says, "Rulebook dump"
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |  > NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |  > Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |  > Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       Useless Voice Actions
Floyd | SCREAM | YELL | SHOUT | HOLLER | BELLOW | SCREECH
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |  > Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |  > Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                          Special Commands
Floyd | AGAIN (or) (G): 
Floyd | Repeats the last command given by player.
Floyd |
Floyd | BRIEF: 
Floyd | Printing mode which gives long descriptions of places never before
Floyd | visited and short descriptions else.
Floyd |
Floyd | CLS: 
Floyd | Clears the screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | EQUIP ME (or) SELF or YOURSELF:
Floyd | Automatically equips the player with arms and backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | EXITS (or) DIRS: 
Floyd | Displays a list of exits from your current location.
Floyd |
Floyd | FILL BELT 
Floyd | Will automatically fill your gunbelt with the maxium 6 grenades. The
Floyd | backpack must be open for that to happen.
Floyd |
Floyd | INVENTORY (I): 
Floyd | Displays an inventory list of carried/worn items.
Floyd |
Floyd | HELP: 
Floyd | Displays the help and game info menu.
Floyd | May be typed at any time during the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | HOLSTER and UNHOLSTER 
Floyd | You can do these actions with the Colt pistol.
Floyd |
Floyd | LOOK: 
Floyd | Gives you a brief/full location description.
Floyd |
Floyd | NOTIFY ON/OFF: 
Floyd | Not used since there is no score in this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | OBJECTS: 
Floyd |  Will show you a list of objects that you have handled.
Floyd |
Floyd | OOPS: 
Floyd | Allows you to edit (using the cursor keys, and the delete,
Floyd | insert and backspace keys) your previous input command.
Floyd | For example if you enter THORW ROPE by mistake,OOPS will enable
Floyd | you to edit this command and correct it to THROW ROPE.
Floyd |
Floyd | PLACES: 
Floyd | Will show you a list of locations that you have visited.
Floyd |
Floyd | QUIT: 
Floyd | Quits the current game session. Always exit using QUIT.
Floyd | You should use the SAVE command (below) before doing this.
Floyd |
Floyd | RECORDING ON: 
Floyd | Allows you log all your commands to an output file.
Floyd | just the typed command will show up unlike the SCRIPTing command.
Floyd |
Floyd | RECORDING OFF: 
Floyd | Turns off the above command.
Floyd |
Floyd | REPLAY: 
Floyd | After you have finished a session with RECORDING ON and have
Floyd | QUIT the game you can replay the entire session by typing this
Floyd | and the name of the recording file you specified with RECORDING ON.
Floyd |
Floyd | RESTART or R
Floyd | Restarts the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | RESTORE: 
Floyd | Restores a previously saved game from disk.
Floyd |
Floyd | SAVE: 
Floyd | Saves the current game status on disk. Use BEFORE the QUIT command.
Floyd |
Floyd | SLING and UNSLING 
Floyd | You can do these actions with both the rifle and the trench gun.
Floyd |
Floyd | SCORE: 
Floyd | Summarizes your score. However this game has no score.
Floyd |
Floyd | SCRIPT or SCRIPT ON: 
Floyd | Causes all output to go to a disk file
Floyd | named whatever you decide to name it.
Floyd |
Floyd | VERBOSE: 
Floyd | Printing mode which always gives long descriptions of locations.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		JoshuaH says, "Good to know."
		Ellison says, "my games have code for making menus look awesome in environments like Floyd. I should really release a game at some point!"
		Zach says, "Yay"
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |  > Special Commands
Floyd |    Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |  > Game Specific Commands

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                       Game Specific Commands
Floyd | GAME-SPECIFIC COMMANDS
Floyd |
Floyd | AIM (or POINT)
Floyd | CHARGE
Floyd | COMFORT
Floyd | CROUCH
Floyd | EQUIP
Floyd | FILL
Floyd | FOLLOW
Floyd | GRAB
Floyd | GREASE
Floyd | GUARD
Floyd | HOLSTER
Floyd | ORDER
Floyd | PRY
Floyd | SALUTE
Floyd | SCOUT
Floyd | SHAKE
Floyd | SHINE
Floyd | SLAP
Floyd | SLING
Floyd | TACKLE
Floyd | UNHOLSTER
Floyd | UNSLING
Floyd | WET
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		Zach says, "Good to know, but I won't remember any of this"
		Zach says, "Huh, no marching"
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                            How to Play
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Last Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    Player Actions
Floyd |    NPC Interaction
Floyd |    Directions You Can Travel
Floyd |    Useless Voice Actions
Floyd |    Special Commands
Floyd |  > Game Specific Commands

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |  > How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Inside the Lorry 
Floyd | You're in the back of a support lorry which has been driven as far as
Floyd | it can go.
Floyd |
Floyd | Along with you are your platoon, Sergeant Major Grant and a bunch of
Floyd | other men. They are all lurching about as your lorry makes it's way
Floyd | towards the front lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Safe? Not really. You are not safe in here at all. Columns coming up
Floyd | to the front are the favourite targets for the German heavy guns to
Floyd | zero in on. You feel lucky this trip however. Earlier on, the lorry
Floyd | behind you copped it and tipped over. There were no survivors. Your
Floyd | shoulders ache like hell from the horrendous weight of your backpack.
Floyd | The lorry jerks to a stop and you hear the bark of your Sergeant
Floyd | Major:
Floyd |
Floyd | "All out Mates. Fall in on the road."
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | That's you Corporal Matey J. Butt: A battle-tested Brit, thrust into
Floyd | the bloody stinking war through no fault of your own. Tired of the
Floyd | drudgery of factory work, you enlisted for the glory that you thought
Floyd | would come to you for defending Mother England.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd | a trench gun
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x belt" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X BELT
Floyd |
Floyd | This gun belt wraps around your waist and has a holster attached to
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x holster" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X HOLSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | This holster is for carrying your 1911 Colt automatic. It is currently
Floyd | closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open holster" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN HOLSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the holster revealing: a pistol.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pistol" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X PISTOL
Floyd |
Floyd | This 1911 Colt .45 Automatic fires .45 calibre bullets, and is nasty
Floyd | at very close range. It is currently loaded.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot Sergeant" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT SERGEANT
Floyd |
Floyd | You have no reason to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "shoot me" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't have yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "shoot pistol at me" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT PISTOL AT ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not carrying it.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "Lies."
Zach says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > DANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > XYZZY
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x boots" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X BOOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | Designed for all types of terrain, these are very rugged combat boots
Floyd | with hobnails on the soles. Normally black (brown for officers), they
Floyd | are made of reversed hide, without toe-caps, and with a steel plate on
Floyd | the heel.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "These boots were not made for dancing."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "remove boots" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REMOVE BOOTS
Floyd |
Floyd | This is not the place to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Boo"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | This is your pathetic excuse of a backpack. It is currently closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't need to do that right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "I have, however, danced in army boots."
		DavidW says, "It can be done."
		genericgeekgirl says, "As any goth can tell you :D"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x helmet" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X HELMET
Floyd |
Floyd | The first delivery of a protective steel helmet (AKA Brodie
Floyd | helmet) to the British Army was in 1915. Initially there were far from
Floyd | enough helmets to equip every man, so they were designated as "trench
Floyd | stores, to be kept in the front line and used by each unit that
Floyd | occupied the sector. It was not until the summer of 1916, when the
Floyd | first 1 million helmets had been produced, that they could be
Floyd | generally issued. 
Floyd |
Floyd | The Brodie helmet reduced casualties but was criticized by General
Floyd | Herbert Plumer on the grounds that it was too shallow, too reflective,
Floyd | its rim was too sharp, and its lining was too slippery. These
Floyd | criticisms were addressed in the Mark I model helmet of 1916 which had
Floyd | a separate folded rim, a two-part liner, and matte khaki paint
Floyd | finished with sand, sawdust, or crushed cork to give a dull,
Floyd | non-reflective appearance.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Huh"
		JoshuaH says, "Good to know."
		Zach says, "But it's 1915 now!"
		DavidW says, "Goodness. A history lesson."
		Zach says, "This must involve time travel"
Nate arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		DavidW says, "No, the author just doesn't know about tone."
		Zach says, "Tone Travel"
Zach says (to Floyd), "march" 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > MARCH
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Like robots you all leave the lorry followed by Sergeant Major Grant
Floyd | and the rest of the platoon. Before you know it, the driver lurches
Floyd | off before the German guns can blow him the other men and the lorry to
Floyd | bits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Road to the Battlefield
Floyd | This rutted road, for want of a better word, leads and winds towards
Floyd | the front lines. No road is straight out here, they snake and twist
Floyd | round shell holes, they bridge deep mud, there are duckboards all over
Floyd | the place and it also has gaps in it, making the soldiers have to
Floyd | dodge round and return back to the road again. Another road leads west
Floyd | to a roadside camp and cafe. Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are
Floyd | here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Oooh, time travel *and* robot"
		DavidW says, "They might've had the word 'robot' then."
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure, though."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x duckboard" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X DUCKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | They are boardwalks or slatted flooring laid on wet, muddy, or cold
Floyd | surfaces.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to grant" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO GRANT
Floyd |
Floyd | With all the commotion going around you, you decide to wait until you
Floyd | get to the main trench before talking to anyone.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x grant" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X GRANT
Floyd |
Floyd | He's a hard-faced bugger. In battle, as gentle as a lamb, but out of
Floyd | battle, hard as nails. He's been in for years now, and he's one of the
Floyd | old regulars. Rumour has it, that he could have had promotion years
Floyd | ago, but he was involved in some sort of trouble with one of his
Floyd | superior officers, who was one of those privileged types. All talk and
Floyd | no knowledge. Some men were killed because of that officer's lack of
Floyd | care. Grant, hard as he is, does care for his men and he felt bitter
Floyd | about what happened. He lost ten men when there was no need to lose
Floyd | any. He's always so well turned out. His uniform never seems to
Floyd | crease, not even in the height of battle. A good man to have beside
Floyd | you in a tight situation. Respected but never seems to show his gentle
Floyd | side, only when in battle. You respect him. Around his neck you see
Floyd | him wearing a key.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x key" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the cabinet key or the housekey?
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "I don't know!"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Wait, we're carrying three guns?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd | a trench gun
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x trench gun" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X TRENCH GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | In reality it's a sawed off shotgun with 7 double-aught buckshot
Floyd | rounds in the magazine. It has a canvas sling attached to it for
Floyd | wearing on your back. It is currently loaded but the safety is on.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "woah, didn't know about those in WWI"
		Zach says, "Wait, is this Doom"
		McMartin says, "There is a pretty amazing thing laying out all the WWI kit"
		McMartin says, "THere is a 'trench club' that is *clearly* a morningstar"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Your P14 Enfield is a bolt action weapon with an integral 5-round
Floyd | magazine. It was principally contract manufactured by companies in the
Floyd | United States. It serves as a sniper rifle and as second line and
Floyd | reserve issue. The P14 is the successor to the P13 Enfield and the
Floyd | predecessor of the U.S. Rifle M1917 Enfield.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		McMartin | [LINK]
		Zach asks, "I can't remember: is that the British or German WWI iniform?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Your main objective right now is the trench to the north of you
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Screw that"
Zach says (to Floyd), "desert" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > DESERT
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You follow the Sergeant Major's orders and march along the road with
Floyd | your men falling in with the rest of the column. the road twists and
Floyd | bends, the mist still hangs around to the east and the line of shell
Floyd | holes lies to the west in its irregular line.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your feet ache and you are extremely tired. you had a restless night
Floyd | at the nearby base camp, the thunder of the guns from the front had
Floyd | kept you awake most of the night and the fact that you were going
Floyd | onwards to the front again made things worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | You march along wearily, swinging arms as on parade, just merely
Floyd | marching dejectedly, the front sucks youin to itself almost as you see
Floyd | the bobbing barrels of the troops in front of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your men are either side of you, but you keep bumping into them as
Floyd | they twist and turn their way along the road, stepping on to
Floyd | duckboards, deep puddles and bogs, the rain out here never seems to
Floyd | stop and the ground is extremely wet, even on some dry days, you have
Floyd | seen men sink with their heavy loads into deep mud and actually die,
Floyd | you can't always stop either to rescue them, those are your orders but
Floyd | you hate having to obey them at times.
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | You are at the junction of two roads. The north-south road that you
Floyd | are on and an east-west road. To the north lie the trenches. To the
Floyd | east, lies a zone of mist, caused by gun fire from the main British
Floyd | heavy guns firing on known German batteries, and to the west, an open
Floyd | field with line of older shell holes, some of which contain dead
Floyd | bodies, which are unable to be buried. Falling into one of these can
Floyd | mean death. Many of the shell holes are full of water. However they
Floyd | can save your life if there is a bombardment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		McMartin says, "I believe everything in the thing I linked is British"
		DavidW says (to Zach), "I think you're not gonna be given that option, to desert."
		DavidW says, "Death by sinking in mud? And not allowed to help a fellow grunt get out of it? Geez."
		Zach says, "There's no time!"
		DavidW says, "Of course there is."
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the road, thinking you may find an easier way for your men
Floyd | than the long slog you are currently plowing through. You have entered
Floyd | a zone of mist, wafting up from the gunfire from your artillery,
Floyd | firing sporadically at German batteries. Far to your front, the shells
Floyd | pass over your head. At least you know they won't hit you, or they
Floyd | shouldn't. Rounds have been known to fall short, even back here and
Floyd | you well remember two very good friends of yours falling victim to
Floyd | just one stray round. At the time you cursed the gunners but the
Floyd | shells are in such short supply out here and not very well made that
Floyd | they have been known to land on your own side. As one swishes
Floyd | overhead, sounding like an express train, you move forward toward the
Floyd | misty zone.
Floyd |
Floyd | Zone of Mist
Floyd | To the east of you, you can make out the huge gun pits that contain
Floyd | the British heavy guns. You see puffs of smoke emerging from the mists
Floyd | as shots are fired and shells pass overhead to the German lines,
Floyd | zeroing in on the enemy batteries. You can't see much in front of you
Floyd | here, just the heads of the troops bobbing up and down marching to and
Floyd | from the front line. Occasionally, you do hear large German shells
Floyd | being aimed at your own gun lines. Even though they fly over your
Floyd | head, they could be a danger to you as the ammo dump and gunline are
Floyd | east of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Wasn't sure if I could do that or not"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Open Field                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Open Field
Floyd | This open filed stretches west for as far as you can see and is
Floyd | littered with craters (or shell holes). As you survey the area, you
Floyd | hear the whizzing of the German shells overhead. You feel a vibration
Floyd | in the air. Fortunately there is an over-sized crater created by an
Floyd | earlier shelling nearby. Your instincts tell you that you either need
Floyd | to get into the crater or retreat back east as soon as possible. It's
Floyd | your choice Matey!
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "Isn't 'matey' navy slang?"
		DavidW says, "Or am I mistaken about that?>"
		Zach says, "It's what pirates say"
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter crater" 		

Floyd ]  Open Field                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > ENTER CRATER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a damn good thing you've entered the crater, because at that
Floyd | moment a German heavy shell or coal box as you call them, lands
Floyd | extemely close towhere you were standing. There is a fountain of mud
Floyd | and you get covered in it. At least it's just mud and not shell
Floyd | fragments. Luckily this time they haven't scored and the fragments
Floyd | whirl away uselessly and miss you. You take a deep breath, duck your
Floyd | head in case there's a follow up shell, and begin waiting for the
Floyd | shelling to cease.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit crater" 		

Floyd ]  Open Field                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT CRATER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Open Field                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the crater.
Floyd |
Floyd | Open Field
Floyd | The shelling has stopped for now so it's time to get your ample arse
Floyd | back to the Crossroads.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "ample arse"
		DavidW says, "yeah, definitely doesn't know about tone."
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You are now safely back in Crossroads.
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | You are at the junction of two roads. The north-south road that you
Floyd | are on and an east-west road. To the north lie the trenches. To the
Floyd | east, lies a zone of mist, caused by gun fire from the main British
Floyd | heavy guns firing on known German batteries, and to the west, an open
Floyd | field with line of older shell holes, some of which contain dead
Floyd | bodies, which are unable to be buried. Falling into one of these can
Floyd | mean death. Many of the shell holes are full of water. However they
Floyd | can save your life if there is a bombardment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The only way for right now is east and hope that the shelling stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the road, thinking you may find an easier way for your men
Floyd | than the long slog you are currently plowing through. You have entered
Floyd | a zone of mist, wafting up from the gunfire from your artillery,
Floyd | firing sporadically at German batteries. Far to your front, the shells
Floyd | pass over your head. At least you know they won't hit you, or they
Floyd | shouldn't. Rounds have been known to fall short, even back here and
Floyd | you well remember two very good friends of yours falling victim to
Floyd | just one stray round. At the time you cursed the gunners but the
Floyd | shells are in such short supply out here and not very well made that
Floyd | they have been known to land on your own side. As one swishes
Floyd | overhead, sounding like an express train, you move forward toward the
Floyd | misty zone.
Floyd |
Floyd | Zone of Mist
Floyd | To the east of you, you can make out the huge gun pits that contain
Floyd | the British heavy guns. You see puffs of smoke emerging from the mists
Floyd | as shots are fired and shells pass overhead to the German lines,
Floyd | zeroing in on the enemy batteries. You can't see much in front of you
Floyd | here, just the heads of the troops bobbing up and down marching to and
Floyd | from the front line. Occasionally, you do hear large German shells
Floyd | being aimed at your own gun lines. Even though they fly over your
Floyd | head, they could be a danger to you as the ammo dump and gunline are
Floyd | east of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no good reason to visit the gun lines. You have a
Floyd | reconnaissance to fulfill.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "mission" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > MISSION
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "huh"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You head back to the Crossroads.
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | You are at the junction of two roads. The north-south road that you
Floyd | are on and an east-west road. To the north lie the trenches. To the
Floyd | east, lies a zone of mist, caused by gun fire from the main British
Floyd | heavy guns firing on known German batteries, and to the west, an open
Floyd | field with line of older shell holes, some of which contain dead
Floyd | bodies, which are unable to be buried. Falling into one of these can
Floyd | mean death. Many of the shell holes are full of water. However they
Floyd | can save your life if there is a bombardment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You wind your way north. Your men are a mixed lot as you move further
Floyd | towards the front trench lines. You'll soon be settled down once you
Floyd | hit the trenches. You can see them now in the distance. They snake
Floyd | away in hap-hazard lines this way and that like a curved snake. You
Floyd | are getting nearer them as you trudge on. You'll be damn glad to get
Floyd | settled down, whatever that may mean. You hope you'll at least be able
Floyd | to rest your feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | One thing for sure: Once the weather is dry, it won't be too bad once
Floyd | you reach the trench. You almost feel as if you've come home. No one
Floyd | back in bloody London understands for one moment,what you have to go
Floyd | through out here and you don't want to enlighten them. They ask
Floyd | question after question but they would never understand what your
Floyd | world out here is like. It begins at the gun lines. That inevitable
Floyd | fear and yet, you feel at one with your men. There's a closeness
Floyd | there, with the regulars anyway. These new boys. How long will they
Floyd | last? They fall like flies out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | At last, you swing into the trench area along with all your men and
Floyd | settle yourselves as best as you can. There's that crinkled crude iron
Floyd | fence at the side of the trench, there's the usual parapet and
Floyd | parados, the reasonably dry bottom of the trench and just about enough
Floyd | room to sit down if you're lucky. Since you are the Corporal, you get
Floyd | a slightly better place to sit than do most of your men. The sound of
Floyd | distant ragged gunfire from the front is getting restless. The guns
Floyd | seem disturbed like a swarm of bees.
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to get some rest first.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Weeper starts complaining:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey Corporal? Got any cigs?" 
Floyd |
Floyd | You groan to yourself. He's always cadging other peoples cigarettes.
Floyd | He never seems to have any of his own, or if he does, he never shares
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "smack weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SMACK WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yell at weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > YELL AT WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't yell at Weeper.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Weeper starts complaining:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey Corporal? Got any cigs?" 
Floyd |
Floyd | You groan to yourself. He's always cadging other peoples cigarettes.
Floyd | He never seems to have any of his own, or if he does, he never shares
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "I suppose we reply 'no' or 'yes'?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to weepe" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO WEEPE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Weeper responds in his inimitably loud voice:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Bloody hell, why we put up with all this beats me, all that stuff
Floyd | in our packs. How the bloody hell can we fight weighed down with all
Floyd | that lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | If there's scrapping to be done, give me a bit of cold steel. it's
Floyd | either them or me and I'm damn sure I'm going to make sure it's me
Floyd | who'll live I'm telling you.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'm not easily roused but when one of them comes at me with fists
Floyd | or bayonet, then I can't help myself. Mind you, when I return to the
Floyd | trench I usually throw up. Must be the adrenaline I'm thinking.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey Corporal? Got any cigs?" 
Floyd |
Floyd | You groan to yourself. He's always cadging other peoples cigarettes.
Floyd | He never seems to have any of his own, or if he does, he never shares
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd | a trench gun
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | (first removing and dropping the backpack)
Floyd | You open your backpack revealing:
Floyd | a blanket, a bayonet, a spare pair of socks, a singlet, a bunch of
Floyd | underwear, a mess kit, a shovel, a canteen, a bunch of sweets, a
Floyd | powder jar, a cigarette tin, a cigarette lighter, a boot laces, a
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons, a spool of thread, a needle, some safepins, a
Floyd | bar of soap, a toothbrush, a pair of wirecutters, a gas mask, twelve
Floyd | grenades, twelve ammo clips and twelve shotshells.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Nate says (to floyd), ">PACK UP TROUBLES IN OLD KITBAG" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > >PACK UP TROUBLES IN OLD KITBAG
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says (to Nate), "and SMILE. SMILE. SMILE."
Zach says (to Floyd), "take tin" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE TIN
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open tin" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN TIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the cigarette tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give cigarette to weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GIVE CIGARETTE TO WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You remove a cigarette from the tin and give it to Weeper.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you don't he'll keep bugging you until you do. He's always been
Floyd | generous with his other stuff, such as any spare food and he's even
Floyd | brought men in from No Man's Land many a time when they would have
Floyd | been left out there to die. He's always been generous with his other
Floyd | stuff, such as any spare food and he's even brought men in from No
Floyd | Man's Land many a time when they would have been left out there to
Floyd | die.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They've a bloody right to live", he's always said, and many a man
Floyd | sent back to the dressing stations has reason to thank Weeper, so you
Floyd | don't mind giving him a smoke, though you do wonder when the day will
Floyd | come when he gives you one.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Nate says, "Do you know the way to Tipperary? I've been away so long."
		Zach says, "Rargh, typos"
		DavidW says (to Nate), "I think it's five blocks past Sesame Street."
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KISS WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can kiss him, Weeper backs away from you yelling: "I'm
Floyd | not gay!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Right, I'm sure that's what he'd say"
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KISS WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can kiss him, Weeper backs away from you yelling: "I'm
Floyd | not gay!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You remove your trench gun, rifle, and rest your head on your hands
Floyd | and make yourself as comfortable as possible. You slowly drift off to
Floyd | sleep. You drift off to sleep with the sound of the men who can't
Floyd | sleep playing their game of cards in your ears.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "Don't think 'gay' was the term back then."
		genericgeekgirl says, "He's not happy enough to kiss you. Don't take it personally."
		Zach says, "Aww"
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | As you are dreaming, the trench shakes and you are awake and alert,
Floyd | have the shells hit the trench, you feel the ground shake as you
Floyd | awaken. another shell crashes outside, shaking the dugout again, but
Floyd | it doesn't give way.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then you hear that high pitch squeaking, rasping and harsh.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bloody rats! They have been driven into the trench by the shelling.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel tiny feet beginning to run across you. The rats smell the
Floyd | food in the trench. They know where it is and they are also
Floyd | frightened. Someone in the trench gives a yell and a few home-made
Floyd | candles are lit.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl squeak!
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss rat" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KISS RAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "boo"
Zach says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You're already standing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | trench gun: Taken.
Floyd | rifle: You can only handle 1 weapon at a time.
Floyd | backpack: Taken.
Floyd | blanket: Taken.
Floyd | bayonet: Taken.
Floyd | spare pair of socks: Taken.
Floyd | singlet: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of underwear: Taken.
Floyd | mess kit: Taken.
Floyd | shovel: You grab your trusty shovel out of your pack.
Floyd | canteen: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of sweets: Taken.
Floyd | powder jar: Taken.
Floyd | cigarette lighter: Taken.
Floyd | boot laces: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons: Taken.
Floyd | spool of thread: Taken.
Floyd | needle: Taken.
Floyd | safepins: Taken.
Floyd | bar of soap: Taken.
Floyd | toothbrush: Taken.
Floyd | pair of wirecutters: You pull out your wire cutters from the pack.
Floyd | gas mask: Taken.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "whoops"
		Zach says, "Also, ha ha"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh man."
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a shotgun shell
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a ammo clip
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a grenade
Floyd | a gas mask
Floyd | a pair of wirecutters
Floyd | a toothbrush
Floyd | a bar of soap
Floyd | a safepins
Floyd | a needle
Floyd | a spool of thread
Floyd | a bunch of spare buttons
Floyd | a boot laces
Floyd | a cigarette lighter
Floyd | a powder jar
Floyd | a bunch of sweets
Floyd | a canteen
Floyd | a shovel
Floyd | a mess kit
Floyd | a bunch of underwear
Floyd | a singlet
Floyd | a spare pair of socks
Floyd | a bayonet
Floyd | a blanket
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a trench gun
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd | a cigarette tin
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "oopsie."
		genericgeekgirl says, "We're just standing here with our hands full of cigarettes and bullets."
Zach says (to Floyd), "smoke" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SMOKE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "smoke cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SMOKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "light cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > LIGHT CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | This dangerous act would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "brush teeth" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > BRUSH TEETH
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x toothbrush" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X TOOTHBRUSH
Floyd |
Floyd | Used with the soap to brush you teeth with. Toothpaste is in short
Floyd | supply so the soap is used as a replacement.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Eeww"
		DavidW says, "Apparently we carry cigarettes only to give them away."
		Zach says, "The Army is basically prison"
		Zach says, "I hope we get an Army Wife"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Not that guy, though. He's not gay."
		DavidW asks, "Our gun Suzie?"
		Zach says, "It's not gay if you're in the army!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a rifle here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can only handle 1 weapon at a time.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put all in backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PUT ALL IN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | gas mask: You put the gas mask in the backpack.
Floyd | pair of wirecutters: You put the pair of wirecutters in the backpack.
Floyd | toothbrush: You put the toothbrush in the backpack.
Floyd | bar of soap: You put the bar of soap in the backpack.
Floyd | safepins: You put the safepins in the backpack.
Floyd | needle: You put the needle in the backpack.
Floyd | spool of thread: You put the spool of thread in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons: You put the bunch of spare buttons in the
Floyd | backpack.
Floyd | boot laces: You put the boot laces in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette lighter: You put the cigarette lighter in the backpack.
Floyd | powder jar: You put the powder jar in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of sweets: You put the bunch of sweets in the backpack.
Floyd | canteen: You put the canteen in the backpack.
Floyd | shovel: You put the shovel in the backpack.
Floyd | mess kit: You put the mess kit in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of underwear: You put the bunch of underwear in the backpack.
Floyd | singlet: You put the singlet in the backpack.
Floyd | spare pair of socks: You put the spare pair of socks in the backpack.
Floyd | bayonet: You put the bayonet in the backpack.
Floyd | blanket: You put the blanket in the backpack.
Floyd | trench gun: You put the trench gun in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette tin: You put the cigarette tin in the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "Considering our impressive juggling skills, we can probably handle more than 1 weapon."
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Smoking is so dangerous cigarettes count as a weapon"
Zach says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not in need of answering Mother Nature's call just yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to get some rest first.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You've got a rat problem to attend to Corporal Butt!
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "ha ha"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | These rats are evil things, they are very large and some are really
Floyd | bloated. They eat the dead bodies outside the trench but they will eat
Floyd | anything they can get hold of. They are also extremely aggressive and
Floyd | will kill you if given half a chance.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "wait -- we have an ample arse AND our name is Butt?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "We named ourself, to be fair :)"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pet rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PET RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "oh, did we? I missed that."
Zach says (to Floyd), "take candy" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE CANDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take sweet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SWEET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open jar" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN JAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the powder jar revealing: some foot powder.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take sweets" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SWEETS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "drop sweets" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > DROP SWEETS
Floyd |
Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a bunch of sweets here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give sweets to rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GIVE SWEETS TO RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the bunch of sweets)
Floyd | The rats don't seem interested.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "Why don't we see rats here?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KISS RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can kiss him, rats backs away from you yelling: "I'm not
Floyd | gay!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "ha ha"
		DavidW says, "ha ha"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hahahahahhaa."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Downvoting this, for the promise of rats, but poor implementation :'("
		Zach says, "This is such an IF game"
		Zach says (to ggg), "aww"
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | The rats backs away as you try that ridiculous action.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "I'm not shooting them"
		DavidW asks, "So, realistically, how should we deal with the rats? Stomp 'em? Poison 'em? Shoot 'em?"
		DavidW asks, "Throw mud at 'em?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't talk to the rats.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "of course, you know, this means war."
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot rat" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT RAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You shoot the rats but a stray bullet hits and kills Weeper.
Floyd |
Floyd | GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd | This is one of the places where you can't UNDO. You need to restore
Floyd | a save game. Hope you've got a savegame handy.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** The End ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh no!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | That action cannot be undone.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Also ugh."
		Zach says, "The fuck"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Did they warn about this anywhere? Because that's super shitty."
JoshuaH says, ".. floyd press F" 		DavidW asks, "Are we having fun yet?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "%undo" 		
Floyd says (to genericgeekgirl), "Floyd doesn't know that trick." 		Zach says (to Game), "Fuck you"
		DavidW asks, "hm. Maybe rats don't like fire?"
		Zach says, "Perhaps"
		DavidW says, "One problem I tend to have with games like this is I don't have the training that the PC presumably got. I don't know how to deal with weaponry or battle strategies or any of it."
		Zach says, "Nor the rat killing training"
		DavidW asks (of Zach), "Wouldn't it have come up?"
		Zach asks, "Has it?"
		DavidW asks, "Surely there'd be some training regarding mud and latrines and deportment and so on?"
		Zach says, "You personally"
Ghogg arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW asks (of Zach), "huh? Are you asking if I've been trained to deal with rats?"
		genericgeekgirl does have rat killing training, fwiw.
		Zach says (to 3g), "Eeek"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I was pre-vet."
		Zach says, "Ah, interesting"
		DavidW says, "I have not had any rat training."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Also I've put down a few of my own rats."
		Zach :(
		Ghogg asks, "oh, did you need help?"
		Zach says, "We didn't realize this game has permadeath"
		Ghogg says, "oh oops"
		Ghogg says, "yeah, save often"
		Ghogg says, "the 'undo' death are the ones that occur from literally random rolls....usually"
		Zach says, "Jesus Christ"
		DavidW says, "That's a thought. We can try praying to Jesus to lead the rats away to paradise."
		Ghogg asks, "well anyway. would you like help?"
		Ghogg says, "(I did not look at the walkthrough to figure this out)"
		DavidW says, "We've barely begun the game, imho."
		Ghogg says, "ok. lemme know if you need rat-slaying help then"
		Zach asks, "Restart, then?"
		Ghogg says, "it doesn't take too long to get to where you were"
		DavidW says, "I guess so. Save when we reach the trench."
		Ghogg says, "but again: do save, 'cause this is one of those where you can do the 'right thing' but still die by random chance"
		DavidW says (to Ghogg), "Wow. That's really sucky."
Zach says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to restore a saved game?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "no" 		McMartin says, "Because the reader might not have heard that being a grunt in WWI kinda sucked"

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > NO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Enter your last name:

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "Butt" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd | Was it only over a year ago? All the razzamatazz, all the hero
Floyd | marching, over by Christmas they said. You'd been in that bloody
Floyd | factory since the age of 14, gone through all the strikes and misery
Floyd | of the early 1900's now. There seemed a way out. At least you'd get
Floyd | fed and there was the glory of England to fight for. Oh, how merrily
Floyd | you marched away to the depot, not knowing whether or not you'd come
Floyd | home to a hero's welcome and a chest full of medals or become another
Floyd | statistic of the first world conflict in history.
Floyd |
Floyd | Two months later, all that was knocked out of you. Blanko. Fatigues.
Floyd | March, march march. Orders. Being bawled out by Sergeant Major Grant.
Floyd | Then at the new year, when you'd marched up and down half of France
Floyd | and having had been there for months on end, and stuck for all those
Floyd | dreadful weeks in First Eypre, or Wipers as you learned to call it,
Floyd | thrust into long and badly constructed trench lines, frozen nearly to
Floyd | death out there, you were ready to call it quits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Another summer has come and gone. You had your first leave and were
Floyd | promoted twice. First to Lance Corporal, then to Full Corporal. Now,
Floyd | you're off back again and you've got a platoon, with a few hardy souls
Floyd | and some new recruits mixed in. Fresh-faced boys, out of the training
Floyd | camp. They are totally raw, and know nothing about the life out here,
Floyd | have been fed all the bloody rubbish that home front propaganda can
Floyd | throw at them. After going through all that training and absolute
Floyd | misery, you are no longer a raw recruit, but are now a hardened
Floyd | veteran, after only a year or so.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's now the autumn of 1915 and here you are in the back of the
Floyd | support lorry that has gone as far as it can.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]  Inside the Lorry                                     Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Hill 160
Floyd | A World War I Adventure in Terror by Mike Gerwat
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140911 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
Floyd | 6/12N)
Floyd |
Floyd | IF Comp 2014 Release
Floyd | © 2014 by Mike Gerwat. All Rights Reserved Worldwide
Floyd | Special and Game Specific Commands are in the Help Menu under "How
Floyd | to Play"
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the Lorry 
Floyd | You're in the back of a support lorry which has been driven as far as
Floyd | it can go.
Floyd |
Floyd | Along with you are your platoon, Sergeant Major Grant and a bunch of
Floyd | other men. They are all lurching about as your lorry makes it's way
Floyd | towards the front lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | Safe? Not really. You are not safe in here at all. Columns coming up
Floyd | to the front are the favourite targets for the German heavy guns to
Floyd | zero in on. You feel lucky this trip however. Earlier on, the lorry
Floyd | behind you copped it and tipped over. There were no survivors. Your
Floyd | shoulders ache like hell from the horrendous weight of your backpack.
Floyd | The lorry jerks to a stop and you hear the bark of your Sergeant
Floyd | Major:
Floyd |
Floyd | "All out Mates. Fall in on the road."
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Road to the Battlefield                              Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Like robots you all leave the lorry followed by Sergeant Major Grant
Floyd | and the rest of the platoon. Before you know it, the driver lurches
Floyd | off before the German guns can blow him the other men and the lorry to
Floyd | bits.
Floyd |
Floyd | Road to the Battlefield
Floyd | This rutted road, for want of a better word, leads and winds towards
Floyd | the front lines. No road is straight out here, they snake and twist
Floyd | round shell holes, they bridge deep mud, there are duckboards all over
Floyd | the place and it also has gaps in it, making the soldiers have to
Floyd | dodge round and return back to the road again. Another road leads west
Floyd | to a roadside camp and cafe. Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are
Floyd | here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You follow the Sergeant Major's orders and march along the road with
Floyd | your men falling in with the rest of the column. the road twists and
Floyd | bends, the mist still hangs around to the east and the line of shell
Floyd | holes lies to the west in its irregular line.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your feet ache and you are extremely tired. you had a restless night
Floyd | at the nearby base camp, the thunder of the guns from the front had
Floyd | kept you awake most of the night and the fact that you were going
Floyd | onwards to the front again made things worse.
Floyd |
Floyd | You march along wearily, swinging arms as on parade, just merely
Floyd | marching dejectedly, the front sucks youin to itself almost as you see
Floyd | the bobbing barrels of the troops in front of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your men are either side of you, but you keep bumping into them as
Floyd | they twist and turn their way along the road, stepping on to
Floyd | duckboards, deep puddles and bogs, the rain out here never seems to
Floyd | stop and the ground is extremely wet, even on some dry days, you have
Floyd | seen men sink with their heavy loads into deep mud and actually die,
Floyd | you can't always stop either to rescue them, those are your orders but
Floyd | you hate having to obey them at times.
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | You are at the junction of two roads. The north-south road that you
Floyd | are on and an east-west road. To the north lie the trenches. To the
Floyd | east, lies a zone of mist, caused by gun fire from the main British
Floyd | heavy guns firing on known German batteries, and to the west, an open
Floyd | field with line of older shell holes, some of which contain dead
Floyd | bodies, which are unable to be buried. Falling into one of these can
Floyd | mean death. Many of the shell holes are full of water. However they
Floyd | can save your life if there is a bombardment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Zone of Mist                                         Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the road, thinking you may find an easier way for your men
Floyd | than the long slog you are currently plowing through. You have entered
Floyd | a zone of mist, wafting up from the gunfire from your artillery,
Floyd | firing sporadically at German batteries. Far to your front, the shells
Floyd | pass over your head. At least you know they won't hit you, or they
Floyd | shouldn't. Rounds have been known to fall short, even back here and
Floyd | you well remember two very good friends of yours falling victim to
Floyd | just one stray round. At the time you cursed the gunners but the
Floyd | shells are in such short supply out here and not very well made that
Floyd | they have been known to land on your own side. As one swishes
Floyd | overhead, sounding like an express train, you move forward toward the
Floyd | misty zone.
Floyd |
Floyd | Zone of Mist
Floyd | To the east of you, you can make out the huge gun pits that contain
Floyd | the British heavy guns. You see puffs of smoke emerging from the mists
Floyd | as shots are fired and shells pass overhead to the German lines,
Floyd | zeroing in on the enemy batteries. You can't see much in front of you
Floyd | here, just the heads of the troops bobbing up and down marching to and
Floyd | from the front line. Occasionally, you do hear large German shells
Floyd | being aimed at your own gun lines. Even though they fly over your
Floyd | head, they could be a danger to you as the ammo dump and gunline are
Floyd | east of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Crossroads                                           Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You head back to the Crossroads.
Floyd |
Floyd | Crossroads
Floyd | You are at the junction of two roads. The north-south road that you
Floyd | are on and an east-west road. To the north lie the trenches. To the
Floyd | east, lies a zone of mist, caused by gun fire from the main British
Floyd | heavy guns firing on known German batteries, and to the west, an open
Floyd | field with line of older shell holes, some of which contain dead
Floyd | bodies, which are unable to be buried. Falling into one of these can
Floyd | mean death. Many of the shell holes are full of water. However they
Floyd | can save your life if there is a bombardment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sergeant Major Grant and your platoon are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You wind your way north. Your men are a mixed lot as you move further
Floyd | towards the front trench lines. You'll soon be settled down once you
Floyd | hit the trenches. You can see them now in the distance. They snake
Floyd | away in hap-hazard lines this way and that like a curved snake. You
Floyd | are getting nearer them as you trudge on. You'll be damn glad to get
Floyd | settled down, whatever that may mean. You hope you'll at least be able
Floyd | to rest your feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | One thing for sure: Once the weather is dry, it won't be too bad once
Floyd | you reach the trench. You almost feel as if you've come home. No one
Floyd | back in bloody London understands for one moment,what you have to go
Floyd | through out here and you don't want to enlighten them. They ask
Floyd | question after question but they would never understand what your
Floyd | world out here is like. It begins at the gun lines. That inevitable
Floyd | fear and yet, you feel at one with your men. There's a closeness
Floyd | there, with the regulars anyway. These new boys. How long will they
Floyd | last? They fall like flies out here.
Floyd |
Floyd | At last, you swing into the trench area along with all your men and
Floyd | settle yourselves as best as you can. There's that crinkled crude iron
Floyd | fence at the side of the trench, there's the usual parapet and
Floyd | parados, the reasonably dry bottom of the trench and just about enough
Floyd | room to sit down if you're lucky. Since you are the Corporal, you get
Floyd | a slightly better place to sit than do most of your men. The sound of
Floyd | distant ragged gunfire from the front is getting restless. The guns
Floyd | seem disturbed like a swarm of bees.
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Weeper starts complaining:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey Corporal? Got any cigs?" 
Floyd |
Floyd | You groan to yourself. He's always cadging other peoples cigarettes.
Floyd | He never seems to have any of his own, or if he does, he never shares
Floyd | them.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give cigarette to weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GIVE CIGARETTE TO WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		K-Y says, "oh man, this"
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "aaah"
Zach says (to Floyd), "open backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | (first removing and dropping the backpack)
Floyd | You open your backpack revealing:
Floyd | a blanket, a bayonet, a spare pair of socks, a singlet, a bunch of
Floyd | underwear, a mess kit, a shovel, a canteen, a bunch of sweets, a
Floyd | powder jar, a cigarette tin, a cigarette lighter, a boot laces, a
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons, a spool of thread, a needle, some safepins, a
Floyd | bar of soap, a toothbrush, a pair of wirecutters, a gas mask, twelve
Floyd | grenades, twelve ammo clips and twelve shotshells.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open tin" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN TIN
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the cigarette tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give cigarette to weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GIVE CIGARETTE TO WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You remove a cigarette from the tin and give it to Weeper.
Floyd |
Floyd | If you don't he'll keep bugging you until you do. He's always been
Floyd | generous with his other stuff, such as any spare food and he's even
Floyd | brought men in from No Man's Land many a time when they would have
Floyd | been left out there to die. He's always been generous with his other
Floyd | stuff, such as any spare food and he's even brought men in from No
Floyd | Man's Land many a time when they would have been left out there to
Floyd | die.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They've a bloody right to live", he's always said, and many a man
Floyd | sent back to the dressing stations has reason to thank Weeper, so you
Floyd | don't mind giving him a smoke, though you do wonder when the day will
Floyd | come when he gives you one.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You remove your trench gun, rifle, and rest your head on your hands
Floyd | and make yourself as comfortable as possible. You slowly drift off to
Floyd | sleep. You drift off to sleep with the sound of the men who can't
Floyd | sleep playing their game of cards in your ears.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Get on with the game.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		K-Y says, "sadly, it seems that right RPS was so overcome by the masterful writing of Hill 160 that RPS could not bear to cover any further comp games after it"
		DavidW says, "Don't forget to save."
		JoshuaH says, "Noticed that."
		JoshuaH says, "re:RPS"
		Zach says, "Wow"
		Zach asks, "Did they notice the typos and sudden shifts in tone?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf41" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You sleep on, in your dreams you are back at home in your small house
Floyd | in Yorkshire. It's mid winter and you are playing in the front room
Floyd | with your wife and small children. The war seems far away as you read
Floyd | a story to your little girl and boy. It all feels so real.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x wife" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | As you are dreaming, the trench shakes and you are awake and alert,
Floyd | have the shells hit the trench, you feel the ground shake as you
Floyd | awaken. another shell crashes outside, shaking the dugout again, but
Floyd | it doesn't give way.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then you hear that high pitch squeaking, rasping and harsh.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bloody rats! They have been driven into the trench by the shelling.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel tiny feet beginning to run across you. The rats smell the
Floyd | food in the trench. They know where it is and they are also
Floyd | frightened. Someone in the trench gives a yell and a few home-made
Floyd | candles are lit.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		K-Y | Very few games attempt to convey the complete and utter terror of war, to avoid any sort of jingoism, and to still create a sense of desperate excitement. Even fewer succeed. Hill 160, rather impressively, is one of the latter.
		Zach says, "Oh, there's desperation all right"
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You have nothing to shoot the rats with.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You shoot the rats but a stray bullet hits and kills Borne.
Floyd |
Floyd | GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd | This is one of the places where you can't UNDO. You need to restore
Floyd | a save game. Hope you've got a savegame handy.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** The End ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Can we light a candle?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf41" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You sleep on, in your dreams you are back at home in your small house
Floyd | in Yorkshire. It's mid winter and you are playing in the front room
Floyd | with your wife and small children. The war seems far away as you read
Floyd | a story to your little girl and boy. It all feels so real.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | As you are dreaming, the trench shakes and you are awake and alert,
Floyd | have the shells hit the trench, you feel the ground shake as you
Floyd | awaken. another shell crashes outside, shaking the dugout again, but
Floyd | it doesn't give way.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then you hear that high pitch squeaking, rasping and harsh.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bloody rats! They have been driven into the trench by the shelling.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel tiny feet beginning to run across you. The rats smell the
Floyd | food in the trench. They know where it is and they are also
Floyd | frightened. Someone in the trench gives a yell and a few home-made
Floyd | candles are lit.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "light candle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > LIGHT CANDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "light cigarette" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > LIGHT CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | This dangerous act would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "burn rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > BURN RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | This dangerous act would achieve little.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "shoot weeper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SHOOT WEEPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't have Weeper.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		McMartin says, "Did I, like, miss a memo and now players are supposed to play games so they can be deliberately immiserated for no reason"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask weeper for candle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > ASK WEEPER FOR CANDLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a trench gun, a rifle and a backpack here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says (to McMartin), "well, this particular features I haven't seen since 1985"
		Zach says, "There is no one else in this room"
		Zach says, "Until we shoot them"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "yeah, it's weird how all NPCs are invisible."
		K-Y says, "also, did we conclusively determine that this game was programmed by Radical Al"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > OPEN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | This is your pathetic excuse of a backpack. It is currently open.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the backpack are a blanket, a bayonet, a spare pair of socks, a
Floyd | singlet, a bunch of underwear, a mess kit, a shovel, a canteen, a
Floyd | bunch of sweets, a powder jar, a cigarette tin, a cigarette lighter, a
Floyd | boot laces, a bunch of spare buttons, a spool of thread, a needle,
Floyd | some safepins, a bar of soap, a toothbrush, a pair of wirecutters, a
Floyd | gas mask, twelve grenades, twelve ammo clips and twelve shotshells.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take bayonet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE BAYONET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "stab rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > STAB RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You have nothing to stab the rats with.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "Do we have something that can burn like a candle?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "stab rats with bayonet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > STAB RATS WITH BAYONET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't stab the rats with the bayonet.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take blanket" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE BLANKET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put blanket on rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PUT BLANKET ON RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the rats would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x singlet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X SINGLET
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a sleeveless shirt.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x mess kit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X MESS KIT
Floyd |
Floyd | This is what you keep your silverware and rations in.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rations" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RATIONS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give rations to rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GIVE RATIONS TO RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | The rats don't seem interested.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "put helmet on rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PUT HELMET ON RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the rats would achieve nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "Lies. It would be adorable."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take shovel" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SHOVEL
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab your trusty shovel out of your pack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "whack rats with shovel" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WHACK RATS WITH SHOVEL
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hit rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > HIT RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You chop and lash out as desperate rats rush at you, they want to eat
Floyd | anything they can and, if they can't find anything, they will go for
Floyd | your throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Lies"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Has this person ever *seen* a rat before?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hit rats with shovel" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > HIT RATS WITH SHOVEL
Floyd |
Floyd | The rats are still coming at you. You know what to do.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "NO I DON"T."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "dig a hole" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > DIG A HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KILL RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | As you strike again and again at the rats, you hurl their dead bodies,
Floyd | or bits of them out over the top of the trench. You frantically do
Floyd | this for about half an hour. In the end all the rats have been killed,
Floyd | but you know more can appear at any time. You drop your shovel at your
Floyd | feet. You're still quite wilted from the day's activities and its time
Floyd | to hit the kip once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		genericgeekgirl says, "Well then."
		DavidW says, "They're coming right for us!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "bury rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > BURY RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "What the fuck"
		Ghogg says, "so it is quite possible, on a second playthrough, to get the shovel out right away and be hitting the rats but lose"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x rat bodies" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X RAT BODIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "We sleep, kill rats for 30 minutes, and then back to bed"
		DavidW says, "So we should save again now."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cf42" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "The life of a soldier"
		Ghogg says, "I almost think the author sat down and figured out what percent chance stuff could happen like it was a RPG"
		Ghogg says, "like 'well 1 out of 10 people died at this place who were here, so we'll have a 1 in 10 chance of killing the PC'"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Huh."
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Once again, you settle down to sleep, hoping there won't be any more
Floyd | rats to tackle. Often however, they return again and again. you all
Floyd | try all the tricks you can think of, you hang bread above your head on
Floyd | thin wires made from broken phone cables but the rats will often leap
Floyd | on the bread, even when it's hung up.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "OK, I've figured it out"
		Zach says, "This is all just a bad acid trip"
		DavidW says, ">wake"
Zach says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WAKE
Floyd |
Floyd | The dreadful truth is, this is not a dream.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | You return to your dream of home, it is a lovely summers day now and
Floyd | you are sitting drinking a beer out in your very small garden with
Floyd | your wife, the sun is shining down on you.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | You sleep on. Suddenly, you are awoken by Grant. He shakes your
Floyd | shoulder roughly and you wake up. Your eyes are gummed up with sleep.
Floyd | You get to your feet and Grant barks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Talk to me Corporal!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | Grant has just woken you up. You're no longer sleepy.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill rats" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > KILL RATS
Floyd |
Floyd | You've killed every last one of the dirty stinking buggers for now at
Floyd | least. It's sleep time once again Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > SLEEP
Floyd |
Floyd | Grant has just woken you up. You're no longer sleepy.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to Grant" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO GRANT
Floyd |
Floyd |  Grant looks you in the eye:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Corporal, we're out of food. Those miserable bloody stinking rats
Floyd | have ruined our supplies. Parties were supposed to bring fresh food
Floyd | up. They have been delayed by Jerry shelling, but I've received a
Floyd | message that more is on the way, and I need someone to go out there
Floyd | and collect supplies. That person is you. You know what to do, since
Floyd | you've done runner duties before and you're both reliable and don't
Floyd | crack easily. We are out on a mission late tomorrow. There's an attack
Floyd | coming and I need to know the Jerry strength on the other side of this
Floyd | hill. The men need supplies for the attack, and it's up to you to go
Floyd | get them." 
Floyd |
Floyd | You curse to yourself, as the survival rate of runners is extremely
Floyd | low. You've seen as many as a dozen lost in one night. You know the
Floyd | risk you will take, but someone has to go out and get the food, and
Floyd | deliver it to Grant's dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | You reply: "Sir Yes Sir!"  Grant heads off to his dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		JoshuaH says, "Wait. I'm still confused about the bread on the wire."
		Zach says, "You should be"
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You're missing some equipment Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a shovel, a trench gun, a rifle and a backpack here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take all" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | shovel: Taken.
Floyd | trench gun: Taken.
Floyd | rifle: You can only handle 1 weapon at a time.
Floyd | backpack: Taken.
Floyd | spare pair of socks: Taken.
Floyd | singlet: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of underwear: Taken.
Floyd | canteen: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of sweets: Taken.
Floyd | powder jar: Taken.
Floyd | cigarette tin: Taken.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette: You take the cigarette from the cigarette tin.
Floyd | cigarette lighter: Taken.
Floyd | boot laces: Taken.
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons: Taken.
Floyd | spool of thread: Taken.
Floyd | needle: Taken.
Floyd | safepins: Taken.
Floyd | bar of soap: Taken.
Floyd | toothbrush: Taken.
Floyd | pair of wirecutters: You pull out your wire cutters from the pack.
Floyd | gas mask: Taken.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | grenade: You remove a grenade from your pack.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | ammo clip: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd | shotgun shell: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put all in backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PUT ALL IN BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | shotgun shell: You put the shotgun shell in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | ammo clip: You put the ammo clip in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | grenade: You put the grenade in the backpack.
Floyd | gas mask: You put the gas mask in the backpack.
Floyd | pair of wirecutters: You put the pair of wirecutters in the backpack.
Floyd | toothbrush: You put the toothbrush in the backpack.
Floyd | bar of soap: You put the bar of soap in the backpack.
Floyd | safepins: You put the safepins in the backpack.
Floyd | needle: You put the needle in the backpack.
Floyd | spool of thread: You put the spool of thread in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of spare buttons: You put the bunch of spare buttons in the
Floyd | backpack.
Floyd | boot laces: You put the boot laces in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette lighter: You put the cigarette lighter in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette tin: You put the cigarette tin in the backpack.
Floyd | powder jar: You put the powder jar in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of sweets: You put the bunch of sweets in the backpack.
Floyd | canteen: You put the canteen in the backpack.
Floyd | bunch of underwear: You put the bunch of underwear in the backpack.
Floyd | singlet: You put the singlet in the backpack.
Floyd | spare pair of socks: You put the spare pair of socks in the backpack.
Floyd | trench gun: You put the trench gun in the backpack.
Floyd | shovel: You put the shovel in the backpack.
Floyd | mess kit: You put the mess kit in the backpack.
Floyd | blanket: You put the blanket in the backpack.
Floyd | bayonet: You put the bayonet in the backpack.
Floyd | cigarette: You put the cigarette in the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		DavidW says, "Imagine putting pizza slices on a high wire over children."

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a rifle here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "takek rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKEK RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "heh"
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You're missing some equipment Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Hey Corporal Butt! Sergeant Grant told you what to do now get going
Floyd | and retrieve those supplies!
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You're missing some equipment Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach asks, "Huh, what are we missing?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WEAR BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | (first closing the backpack)
Floyd | You put on the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take trench gun" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE TRENCH GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to take the trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You're missing some equipment Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You've already examined the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW says, "'already examined'. That is so horrible."
		Ghogg says, "yeah, I hit this issue"
		Ghogg asks, "do you mind if I try something?"
		Zach says, "Sure"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get all" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GET ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | housekey: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a housekey
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "wear rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WEAR RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You sling the rifle over your right shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach asks, "Housekey!?"
		Ghogg says, "it's in a pocket"
		Ghogg says, "I was baffled for about an hour by that"
		Ghogg says, "there is reason why this ended up being my longest review"
		Zach says, "I can imagine"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to get out of trench first.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach asks, "Did you finish in 2 hours?"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get out of trench" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GET OUT OF TRENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Slowly and carefully, you lift yourself over the parados of the
Floyd | trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "oh god no"
		Ghogg says, "it's like a 6 hour game"
		DavidW says, "Spoiler: We're not playing for 6 hours tonight."
		Ghogg says, "oh so I solved your problem"
		Ghogg says, "play on"
		Ghogg says, "you needed to wear the rifle"
		Zach says, "Thanks"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You just got here and besides you may have to do battle.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You didn't deliver the supplies!
Floyd | Your rifle is missing a critical part.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		Zach asks, "What is going on?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | The obvious exits are northeast, northwest, south (to Crossroads) and
Floyd | west.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Use EXITS ON to enable the status line exit lister and EXITS OFF to
Floyd | turn it off.)
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		DavidW asks, "I think we need to load our rifle, maybe?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "load rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > LOAD RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't load the rifle.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "nah, you hit a bug"
		Ghogg says, "that a bit you're supposed to do later"
		DavidW says, ">hit bug with shovel"
		Zach says, "I'm never trusting RPS again"
		Zach says, "I need some cake"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You bravely start crawling and find yourself lost in a tangled maze
Floyd | of sharp barbed wire, you cut your hands on it as you try and
Floyd | extricate yourself from it, the more you try, the more you get
Floyd | entangled in it. as you are struggling with the wire, you feel a grip
Floyd | on your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Halt, halt!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the gray felt uniform of a German. He's taken you prisoner
Floyd | and he untangles you. All the while pointing a rather large Luger at
Floyd | you. There's no way you can escape, Your hands are bleeding anyway.
Floyd | You are hauled off behind the German lines. I'm told some German
Floyd | prisons aren't too bad. You've been captured and your soldiering days
Floyd | are over. GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		Ghogg says, "wrr"
		Ghogg says, "this is not the sequence I saw"
		JoshuaH says, "Should have put bread on the wire."
		DavidW says, "Randomized, I suppose."
		Zach asks, "Restore?"
		DavidW says, "You are in a minefield of unmarked passages, all alike."
		Ghogg says, "yeah"
Zach says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf42" 		

Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd |
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.>
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.>
Floyd | > CF42
Floyd |
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.>

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Please answer yes or no.>
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf42" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:
Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Once again, you settle down to sleep, hoping there won't be any more
Floyd | rats to tackle. Often however, they return again and again. you all
Floyd | try all the tricks you can think of, you hang bread above your head on
Floyd | thin wires made from broken phone cables but the rats will often leap
Floyd | on the bread, even when it's hung up.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a shovel, a trench gun, a rifle and a backpack here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You return to your dream of home, it is a lovely summers day now and
Floyd | you are sitting drinking a beer out in your very small garden with
Floyd | your wife, the sun is shining down on you.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You sleep on. Suddenly, you are awoken by Grant. He shakes your
Floyd | shoulder roughly and you wake up. Your eyes are gummed up with sleep.
Floyd | You get to your feet and Grant barks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Talk to me Corporal!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to grant" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO GRANT
Floyd |
Floyd |  Grant looks you in the eye:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Corporal, we're out of food. Those miserable bloody stinking rats
Floyd | have ruined our supplies. Parties were supposed to bring fresh food
Floyd | up. They have been delayed by Jerry shelling, but I've received a
Floyd | message that more is on the way, and I need someone to go out there
Floyd | and collect supplies. That person is you. You know what to do, since
Floyd | you've done runner duties before and you're both reliable and don't
Floyd | crack easily. We are out on a mission late tomorrow. There's an attack
Floyd | coming and I need to know the Jerry strength on the other side of this
Floyd | hill. The men need supplies for the attack, and it's up to you to go
Floyd | get them." 
Floyd |
Floyd | You curse to yourself, as the survival rate of runners is extremely
Floyd | low. You've seen as many as a dozen lost in one night. You know the
Floyd | risk you will take, but someone has to go out and get the food, and
Floyd | deliver it to Grant's dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | You reply: "Sir Yes Sir!"  Grant heads off to his dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take gun" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE GUN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can only handle 1 weapon at a time.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put gun in pack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > PUT GUN IN PACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the trench gun in the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wear pack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WEAR PACK
Floyd |
Floyd | (first closing the backpack)
Floyd | You put on the backpack.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take shovel" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SHOVEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take key" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wear rifle" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WEAR RIFLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You sling the rifle over your right shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit trench" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT TRENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | You're missing some equipment Matey.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take housekey" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE HOUSEKEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You already have that.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Nate says, "arr"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear backpack" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > WEAR BACKPACK
Floyd |
Floyd | You're already wearing it.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a housekey
Floyd | a shovel
Floyd | a mess kit
Floyd | a blanket
Floyd | a bayonet
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a backpack
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Nate asks, ".. why does he have a housekey in the trenches?"
		DavidW says (to Nate), "For luck? Who knows."
Zach says (to Floyd), "get out of trench" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GET OUT OF TRENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | Slowly and carefully, you lift yourself over the parados of the
Floyd | trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "get out of trench" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > GET OUT OF TRENCH
Floyd |
Floyd | You've already done that.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You bravely start crawling and find yourself lost in a tangled maze
Floyd | of sharp barbed wire, you cut your hands on it as you try and
Floyd | extricate yourself from it, the more you try, the more you get
Floyd | entangled in it. as you are struggling with the wire, you feel a grip
Floyd | on your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Halt, halt!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the gray felt uniform of a German. He's taken you prisoner
Floyd | and he untangles you. All the while pointing a rather large Luger at
Floyd | you. There's no way you can escape, Your hands are bleeding anyway.
Floyd | You are hauled off behind the German lines. I'm told some German
Floyd | prisons aren't too bad. You've been captured and your soldiering days
Floyd | are over. GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You just got here and besides you may have to do battle.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You didn't deliver the supplies!
Floyd | Your rifle is missing a critical part.
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach asks (of Ghogg), "Where's your review?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Hey Corporal Butt! Sergeant Grant told you what to do now get going
Floyd | and retrieve those supplies!
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		[LINK]
		Ghogg says, "I am pretty sure it is north"
		Ghogg says, "you just have been getting unlucky"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You bravely start crawling and find yourself lost in a tangled maze
Floyd | of sharp barbed wire, you cut your hands on it as you try and
Floyd | extricate yourself from it, the more you try, the more you get
Floyd | entangled in it. as you are struggling with the wire, you feel a grip
Floyd | on your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Halt, halt!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the gray felt uniform of a German. He's taken you prisoner
Floyd | and he untangles you. All the while pointing a rather large Luger at
Floyd | you. There's no way you can escape, Your hands are bleeding anyway.
Floyd | You are hauled off behind the German lines. I'm told some German
Floyd | prisons aren't too bad. You've been captured and your soldiering days
Floyd | are over. GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You bravely start crawling and find yourself lost in a tangled maze
Floyd | of sharp barbed wire, you cut your hands on it as you try and
Floyd | extricate yourself from it, the more you try, the more you get
Floyd | entangled in it. as you are struggling with the wire, you feel a grip
Floyd | on your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Halt, halt!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the gray felt uniform of a German. He's taken you prisoner
Floyd | and he untangles you. All the while pointing a rather large Luger at
Floyd | you. There's no way you can escape, Your hands are bleeding anyway.
Floyd | You are hauled off behind the German lines. I'm told some German
Floyd | prisons aren't too bad. You've been captured and your soldiering days
Floyd | are over. GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Nate disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You bravely start crawling and find yourself lost in a tangled maze
Floyd | of sharp barbed wire, you cut your hands on it as you try and
Floyd | extricate yourself from it, the more you try, the more you get
Floyd | entangled in it. as you are struggling with the wire, you feel a grip
Floyd | on your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Halt, halt!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the gray felt uniform of a German. He's taken you prisoner
Floyd | and he untangles you. All the while pointing a rather large Luger at
Floyd | you. There's no way you can escape, Your hands are bleeding anyway.
Floyd | You are hauled off behind the German lines. I'm told some German
Floyd | prisons aren't too bad. You've been captured and your soldiering days
Floyd | are over. GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "no" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | chance?
Floyd | > NO
Floyd |
Floyd | Quit the game then.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** The End ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
Floyd | command?
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "ha ha"
		Ghogg says, "hmmm"
		Ghogg says, "ok, I loaded a save game"
		Ghogg says, "and retried going north 10 times"
		Ghogg says, "didn't die once"
		DavidW says, ">tell grant to eat my shorts"
		Ghogg says, "so there must be some other condition"
		Zach says, "I love when game smack talk the user"
Nate arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Ghogg says, "or possibly the thing floyd uses to run the game has a broke rng"
		JoshuaH says, "Yeah, I looked at my transcript. It's non-obvious."
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
JoshuaH says, "..cf42" 		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "cf42" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "equip me" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EQUIP ME
Floyd |
Floyd | (first closing the backpack)
Floyd | You wear the rifle, trench gun, and pack. You're now equipped.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Until you get some sleep, you're not ready to go anywhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Once again, you settle down to sleep, hoping there won't be any more
Floyd | rats to tackle. Often however, they return again and again. you all
Floyd | try all the tricks you can think of, you hang bread above your head on
Floyd | thin wires made from broken phone cables but the rats will often leap
Floyd | on the bread, even when it's hung up.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Yeah, I would have never guessed that"
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You return to your dream of home, it is a lovely summers day now and
Floyd | you are sitting drinking a beer out in your very small garden with
Floyd | your wife, the sun is shining down on you.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | You sleep on. Suddenly, you are awoken by Grant. He shakes your
Floyd | shoulder roughly and you wake up. Your eyes are gummed up with sleep.
Floyd | You get to your feet and Grant barks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Talk to me Corporal!"
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "talk to grant" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TALK TO GRANT
Floyd |
Floyd |  Grant looks you in the eye:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Corporal, we're out of food. Those miserable bloody stinking rats
Floyd | have ruined our supplies. Parties were supposed to bring fresh food
Floyd | up. They have been delayed by Jerry shelling, but I've received a
Floyd | message that more is on the way, and I need someone to go out there
Floyd | and collect supplies. That person is you. You know what to do, since
Floyd | you've done runner duties before and you're both reliable and don't
Floyd | crack easily. We are out on a mission late tomorrow. There's an attack
Floyd | coming and I need to know the Jerry strength on the other side of this
Floyd | hill. The men need supplies for the attack, and it's up to you to go
Floyd | get them." 
Floyd |
Floyd | You curse to yourself, as the survival rate of runners is extremely
Floyd | low. You've seen as many as a dozen lost in one night. You know the
Floyd | risk you will take, but someone has to go out and get the food, and
Floyd | deliver it to Grant's dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | You reply: "Sir Yes Sir!"  Grant heads off to his dugout.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "exit" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Slowly and carefully, you lift yourself over the parados of the
Floyd | trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Slowly and carefully, you lift yourself over the parados of the
Floyd | trench. You start running and move as fast as you can, you have to
Floyd | dodge round newly made holes in the ground from the shelling. It's a
Floyd | stumbling run you make, hardly simple running as the ground is so
Floyd | uneven and you are dodging round shell holes.
Floyd |
Floyd | Battlefield
Floyd | All around you are the signs of past battles. Bits and pieces of
Floyd | abandoned guns, even some scraps of clothing, rotting corpses and
Floyd | general flotsam and jetsam of war. This area of the battlefield is
Floyd | now, however, reasonably safe, which is why the supply party is here,
Floyd | safe is a mere term because the Germans regularly target this part of
Floyd | the field, knowing ration parties use this route to reach the front.
Floyd | They have it under their eye so it's wise for you to do what you need
Floyd | and depart quickly.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg asks, "so why did the other time not work?"
		Zach says, "We needed >EQUIP ME"
		Ghogg says, "I didn't"
		DavidW says, "Probably 'EQUIP ME', yeah."
		Ghogg says, "hmm"
		Ghogg asks, "I think I closed my backpack?"
		JoshuaH says, "That's probably equivalent."
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf43" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | > SAVEOk.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "nope. I have no idea"
		Ghogg says, "but I only learned about EQUIP ME just now"
		JoshuaH says, "EQUIP was a multiple action of closing backpack and wearing/weilding stuff."
Zach says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | There are no obvious exits.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Use EXITS ON to enable the status line exit lister and EXITS OFF to
Floyd | turn it off.)
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x party" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > X PARTY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "exits on" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXITS ON
Floyd |
Floyd | Exit listing is now on.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Battlefield
Floyd | All around you are the signs of past battles. Bits and pieces of
Floyd | abandoned guns, even some scraps of clothing, rotting corpses and
Floyd | general flotsam and jetsam of war. This area of the battlefield is
Floyd | now, however, reasonably safe, which is why the supply party is here,
Floyd | safe is a mere term because the Germans regularly target this part of
Floyd | the field, knowing ration parties use this route to reach the front.
Floyd | They have it under their eye so it's wise for you to do what you need
Floyd | and depart quickly.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Don't you think it would be wise to get the supplies first?
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "get supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "!?!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "get all" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | housekey: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "get all" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ALL
Floyd |
Floyd | There are none at all available!
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "you aren't at the supplieets y"
Zach says (to Floyd), "go to supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "you have to meet the dudes with the supplies, the narrator is just rambling on about supplies"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You continue towards the direction in which you hope to meet the
Floyd | supply party.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your eyes are pinned on the general direction, you hope to see the
Floyd | pinpoint of the light of the party crawling forwards towards you. You
Floyd | hear the woosh of an over head shell. This one misses you and lands
Floyd | far to your east. you feel mud spatter up from the explosion.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "Oh, the game saying there were no Exists confused me about there being an exit"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You run towards what you hope is the supply party. Just as you see
Floyd | the pinpoint of light, rockets go up in the sky, lighting up the whole
Floyd | area. Now you are exposed to the German lines, their long range guns
Floyd | can target this area now as can their machine guns. You hear the
Floyd | rat-a-tat tat of the machine guns. Bullets spray all around you. You
Floyd | keep going, hoping to reach the party. Unfortunately a stream of
Floyd | bullets is fired and most of them find you. You fall forward on your
Floyd | face. you feel very little as you drift into unconsiousness and the
Floyd | life force leaves your body.
Floyd |
Floyd | GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "this is another random death spot"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You stand again and run for all you are worth, your breath is nearly
Floyd | spent when you catch sight of that small light you were looking for.
Floyd |
Floyd | You head towards it and reach the party.
Floyd |
Floyd | Battlefield
Floyd | All around you are the signs of past battles. Bits and pieces of
Floyd | abandoned guns, even some scraps of clothing, rotting corpses and
Floyd | general flotsam and jetsam of war. This area of the battlefield is
Floyd | now, however, reasonably safe, which is why the supply party is here,
Floyd | safe is a mere term because the Germans regularly target this part of
Floyd | the field, knowing ration parties use this route to reach the front.
Floyd | They have it under their eye so it's wise for you to do what you need
Floyd | and depart quickly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Several men from a supply party are here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take supplies" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > TAKE SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | The men in the party look at you extremely funny. One bloke asks
Floyd | another: "Why is this bugger just trying to take the supplies?" He
Floyd | pulls out his pistol and places a 45 caliber bullet squarely in your
Floyd | forehead.
Floyd |
Floyd | GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		Zach says, "OK, so why does this game have deaths that don't allow undos"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "But has this mechanism"
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to men" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO MEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't talk to the supply party.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Ghogg says, "I dunno, but the syntax here is gnarly"
		Ghogg says, "it's like 'ask men for supplies' or something"
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask men for supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK MEN FOR SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | The men hand over the supplies to you. You remove a lump of beef from
Floyd | the supplies, open your pack and mess kit, put the beef in the kit,
Floyd | close both the pack and it, and turn south to head back to the trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach asks, "Why didn't we just eat the millions of rats?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the supplies and make your way southwards to the trench.
Floyd | You go as fast as you can and can see the trench coming towards you.
Floyd | Suddenly rockets light up the sky. It's as bright as day again. You
Floyd | are in full view. a machine gun post opens up and bullets spray all
Floyd | around you. Some eventually find you and you scream in pain.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are left outside the trench and no one can come to rescue you.
Floyd | They dare not risk it with gun fire.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are in extreme pain now. You are bleeding seriously as well.
Floyd | There seems no hope for you. You have died! GAME OVER MATEY!
Floyd |
Floyd |  Hey Corporal Butt! You've blown it I'm afraid. Want another
Floyd | chance?

		DavidW says, "Rats are high in cholestrol."
		Zach cries
		DavidW says, "sorry. I don't know how to spell that word."
		Zach says, "I can't take this anymore"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Sorry :/"
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]  Battlefield                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: None
Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | OK, Here we go ! ! !
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
JoshuaH says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Now you are weighed down by your supplies. You make what speed you
Floyd | can. It's not a run this time but a fast walk, though you are weighed
Floyd | down, you realise that you are in danger all the way back to the
Floyd | trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | You make your way towards the trench. As you are nearing it, you hear
Floyd | a shell whiz overhead, it misses you and you carry on faster this
Floyd | time. You finally reach the edge of the trench, heave yourself over
Floyd | the edge of the parados and flop into the trench.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are shaking now. it's the shock. it always affects you that way.
Floyd | you open your pack and take your canteen. You open it and take a long
Floyd | drink from it and then close it. Your water is laced with cheap rum
Floyd | that you bought from one of your mates. You feel better now and the
Floyd | shaking has ended.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's not much of the night left. You set the supplies down next to
Floyd | you. Your stomach is now telling you that it's chow time and even
Floyd | though you're dead tired, it's time to dig into that nasty beef.
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your open pack is here on the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says (to ggg), "It's OK"
		Zach asks, "Unless you wrote this!?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "No!"
		genericgeekgirl says, "In my game, the rats would save the day."
		Zach says, "Yay!!"
		Ghogg says, "ok, bedtime for me"
		Ghogg says, "best of luck"
Ghogg goes home. 		DavidW asks, "Do we cook the beef before we eat it?"
		DavidW says, "(and why is the beef 'nasty'?)"
		DavidW says, "also, should probably save yet again."
Nate goes home. 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf44" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not in need of answering Mother Nature's call just yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "eat beef" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT BEEF
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd | a housekey
Floyd | a mess kit
Floyd | a blanket
Floyd | a bayonet
Floyd | a cigarette
Floyd |
Floyd | You are wearing:
Floyd | a trench gun
Floyd | a rifle
Floyd | a gun belt
Floyd | a pair of combat boots
Floyd | a battle helmet
Floyd | a uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a backpack, a bunch of supplies and a shovel here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | The supplies consist of bottles, containers and loaves of bread.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		Zach says, "The beef was a lie"
Zach says (to Floyd), "eat bread" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the bunch of supplies)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | That's plainly inedible.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "rest" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > REST
Floyd |
Floyd | Grant has just woken you up. You're no longer sleepy.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | Your stomach reminds you that it's chow time.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You've already got them.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open bottles" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOTTLES
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open containers" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CONTAINERS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can open.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x supplies" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SUPPLIES
Floyd |
Floyd | You've already examined the bunch of supplies.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
genericgeekgirl wanders off for a bit. 		
genericgeekgirl arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		genericgeekgirl says, "Oops."
Zach arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "help" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |  > About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		DavidW says, "You've only risked your life for those supplies. Of course they're not worth a second look."
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |  > About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |  > Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |  > Bug Reports
Floyd |    Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |  > Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]                              Credits
Floyd | I can't forget my faithful coder Al who also did the maps, and helped
Floyd | me test the game and get the bugs out. Without him, there would be no
Floyd | game at all.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Please press SPACE to continue.

		
Zach pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd ]                             Help Menu
Floyd ]
Floyd ]  N = Next                                             Q = Quit Menu
Floyd ]  P = Previous                                         ENTER = Select
Floyd |    About this Game
Floyd |    About the Author
Floyd |    Copyright
Floyd |    Bug Reports
Floyd |  > Credits
Floyd |    If You Get Killed
Floyd |    How to Play
Floyd |    Listing Exits
Floyd |    Traveling
Floyd |    Walkthru and Maps

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "q" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd | Main Trench
Floyd | The Latrine is northeast of here. To northwest are a Communication
Floyd | Trench and a Dugout. No Man's Land is to the west. The atmosphere is
Floyd | tense, since you never know when the next shell might bury you under
Floyd | the earth of your dugout. Fortunately, this is one of the stronger
Floyd | ones and it can resist shell fire, for a short while anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a backpack and a shovel here.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You're not in need of answering Mother Nature's call just yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
Zach has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW asks (of ggg), "Should we stop here?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Sure."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hill160" 		

Floyd ]  Main Trench                                          Rank: Corporal
Floyd ]  Exits: NORTHEAST  NORTHWEST  south WEST
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | :

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | :
Floyd | > QUIT
Floyd |
Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 			



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish Out of Me
by Michael J. Sousa and Jon Ingold
As played on ifMUD on December 18, 2014

Like ClubFloyd, the idea behind NightFloyd is that a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Unlike ClubFloyd, NightFloyd often takes on significantly larger works of interactive fiction, knowing going in that each one will take multiple sessions (but not always, as you'll see in this transcript). NightFloyd is also a bit more informal than ClubFloyd in that it's only announced on the ifMUD #clubfloyd bulletin board, and the time shifts around to meet player's schedules far more than ClubFloyd does. NightFloyd is organized by genericgeekgirl, aka Adri.

Below is a transcript of Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish Out of Me written by Michael J. Sousa and Jon Ingold. Till Death Makes a Monk-Fish Out of Me was released as part of the 2002 Interactive Fiction Competition, in which it took second place and won the price for Miss Congeniality. It went on to be nominated for Best Game, Best Writing, Best Story, and Best Individual Puzzle in the 2002 Xyzzy Awards. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Ghogg asks, "up for spinning ifdb on random?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Sure"
		Ghogg says, "ok, I'm going to hit the random and pick the first one that works on floyd"
		Ghogg says, "looks like ... till death make a monk-fish out of me"
		Ghogg says, "which oddly, I have not played, but most others may have so ..."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I think NF played that, albeit a few years ago."
		Ghogg says, "nothing else looks like it works. I can hit the button again if you like"
		Zach says, "I haven't played it"
		Ghogg says, "let's see, it was 2009"
		Ghogg asks, "you up for a clubfloyd repeat?"
		DavidW says, "I'm pretty sure I've played Monk-Fish."
		Zach says, "According to ifwiki, it's in the exciting Building genre"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I'm not really playing, so I'm happy with whatever."
		DavidW says, "(and geez, really lagging)"
You say (to floyd), "load tildeath" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd | tadsr - A text-only TADS 2.5.10 Interpreter.
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1993, 2006 by Michael J. Roberts.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "After you, Professor," Zak says, holding open the door.  "Think - if
Floyd | this works you'll be standing on the surface in no time!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, Zak, I know."
Floyd |
Floyd | TILL DEATH MAKES A MONK-FISH OUT OF ME
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2002, 2003 by Michael J. Sousa and Jon Ingold.
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.1 / Serial number 021103 / TADS 2.56
Floyd |
Floyd | Machine Room
Floyd |    The floor is a tangle of cables running from the bank of heavy
Floyd | machinery to the man-sized glass cylinder in the corner; it's like a
Floyd | blender plugged into a car-battery in a giant's world.  The whole
Floyd | arrangement looks suspiciously haphazard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Kurner is already here, looking like he only just got out of bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The others enter behind you.  "All set, Professor?" asks Zak, clapping
Floyd | you on the back.  Taking your arm he helps you into the glass tube.
Floyd | You don't need help, but this is a Momentous Occasion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I probably should just watch anyway."
		Ghogg says, "I dunno why I never got round to this one"
You say (to floyd), "x tube" 		

Floyd | I don't see any tube here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
[questionablecontent] inky says, "in most families claire would be the most awkward siblinf" 		
You say (to floyd), "x cables" 		

Floyd | The cables connect the various components to your machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The glass door slides quickly shut.  Your view of the scientists is
Floyd | somewhat obscured by a note, taped to the inside.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, this bit is clever"
		DavidW says, "at the beginning"
		DavidW says, "Actually, there are several clever bits in this game."
You say (to floyd), "x note" 		

Floyd | (first taking the note)
Floyd | "Well, Professor.  I suspect that from now on you will not prove a
Floyd | problem in my life any more.  Your machine is under my control.  Shall
Floyd | we say: if you are reading this, you are already dead."
Floyd |
Floyd | "FIVE," booms the automated countdown voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "noooo"
Zach says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | The glass cover is locked; but your eyes fall to the release switch on
Floyd | the side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside all the scientists gather around the machinery, intent; tapping
Floyd | gauges and nodding seriously.  All except Dr. Kurner, that is, who
Floyd | stands off to one side, leaning heavily on a counter, staring at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "FOUR."  There's a slight snigger sound just at the end; you remember
Floyd | laughing when you recorded that last week.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "pull switch" 		

Floyd | It's a push switch.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey - do you suppose it should be sparking like that?" Zak pipes up.
Floyd | The others tut and mutter.
Floyd |
Floyd | "THREE."  Power begins to build.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "of course it is"
Zach says (to Floyd), "push switch" 		

Floyd | You push the release.  Nothing results but a grating noise.  It's
Floyd | broken!
Floyd |
Floyd | "And then there's quite a bit of smoke too, isn't there?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "TWO."  The cables on the floor wriggle like a squid.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd | You smack the glass heavily.  Zak turns and gives you a cheery wave,
Floyd | then turns back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Maybe we should open it up and take a look?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Kurner's attention is taken briefly by a school of fish passing by
Floyd | the window.  No dedication, that man.
Floyd |
Floyd | "ONE."  The coils at the top of the cylinder make a searing noise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "die" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "die".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "dan ce" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "dan".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "dance".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "yell" 		

Floyd | Your words are muffled by the glass; which steams up as you shout.  You
Floyd | could probably write in the condensation with a fingertip, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Anyone got a screwdriver?"  A few pat their pockets, and shrug.
Floyd |
Floyd | "ZER-OH!"  The machine blasts a spurt of searing white light, as though
Floyd | your head has come off.  The scientists outside barely seem to notice
Floyd | as they hunt around for a coin to use in the screw-head.  Just as
Floyd | everything fades fuzzily to black, you see Kurner stumble himself; then
Floyd | the world slides away...
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Consciousness projection.  They'd not said it couldn't be done, but
Floyd | they had said it was pretty unlikely.  They'd not said you were mad,
Floyd | but they had said you were a little unusual, especially in your taste
Floyd | for sushi.  But you knew, if anyone down in AtlantisLab needs anything,
Floyd | it's a holiday on the surface.  Preferably a holiday as a
Floyd | twenty-two-year-old beach dweller.
Floyd |
Floyd | Which is where you should be right now.  It feels colder than Hawaii
Floyd | should this time of year.  You have a slight headache.  It's dark - so
Floyd | you open your eyes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says (to Zach), "go ahead"
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have nothing, absolutely nothing.  And you're cold as a
Floyd | consequence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | Well, you seem to be naked.  This isn't your body either.  So
Floyd | everything's gone to plan; except this doesn't look a lot like Hawaii.
Floyd |
Floyd | Tied around your toe is a tag.  It reads "John Doe."  Well, at least
Floyd | you know what name you should answer to.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Hooray"
Zach says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | You stand up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | In a drawer, standing up
Floyd |    You are standing up in a long metal drawer, halfway up a large wall
Floyd | of metal drawers.  Most of the others are closed; yours is open.  Below
Floyd | - about ten feet or so - is the floor of an unfamiliar room, with a
Floyd | door at the far end.  The main features seem to be metal:  metal
Floyd | ceiling, metal walls, metal piping along one side.  Coupled with the
Floyd | dim lighting, this is definitely not Waikiki Beach, by any stretch of
Floyd | the imagination.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | The ground is too far to jump!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "x drawers" 		

Floyd | Your drawer is empty bar you, without even a sheet, and is labelled
Floyd | "John Doe" at the front.  Looking around the others you see they're all
Floyd | labelled too - there's Jeremy Doe off to one side; Jack Doe a few
Floyd | levels up, and the lowest down you can read is Ms. Jenny Doe; who's
Floyd | about halfway to the ground.  The surrounding drawers are all closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd | Your drawer is already open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to floyd), "open jeremy doe"
You say (to floyd), "open jeremy doe" 		

Floyd | I don't see any jeremy doe here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "open jeremy doe drawer" 		

Floyd | I don't see any jeremy doe drawer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "climb down" 		

Floyd | What do you want to climb down?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "climb down drawers" 		

Floyd | The ground is too far to jump!
Floyd |

		Ghogg says, "hmm"

Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x pipe" 		

Floyd | The room is designed in smooth, sparse fashion.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Emily goes home. 		
Emily has disconnected. 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd | You're not tired.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd | You're a scientist, not an idiot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "yell" 		

Floyd | You resist the urge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "out of ideas, unless our drawer syntax is wrong"
		DavidW asks, "I know the other drawers are openable. Perhaps try 'open jeremy's drawer'?"
You say (to floyd), "open jeremy's drawer" 		

Floyd | You slide open Jeremy's drawer.  He's inside, asleep.  He seems to have
Floyd | a peg-leg.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter jeremy's drawer" 		

Floyd | You try to haul yourself, but his drawer starts to wobble alarmingly as
Floyd | you tug on it, and you wouldn't want to wake him.  Besides, you're
Floyd | headed downwards, surely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "get peg-leg" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "eek"
You say (to floyd), "open jack's drawer" 		

Floyd | You stand up, and can easily reach Jack's drawer to slide it open.
Floyd | Jack is inside, but he appears to be asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "x jack" 		

Floyd | You can only really make out his feet from down here, but they're very
Floyd | still, so he must be fast asleep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wake jack" 		

Floyd | Don't wake him.  He looks like he's sleeping real deeply.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter jack's drawer" 		

Floyd | You try to haul yourself, but his drawer starts to wobble alarmingly as
Floyd | you tug on it, and you wouldn't want to wake him.  Besides, you're
Floyd | headed downwards, surely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "open jenny's drAWER" 		

Floyd | (with the peg-leg)
Floyd | Hooking the drawer with Jeremy's leg, you slide it open.  Poor old
Floyd | Jenny rolls into view.  She looks positively knackered.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "enter jenny's drawer" 		

Floyd | The peg is far too cumbersome for this manoeuvre, so you first give it
Floyd | back to good old Jeremy next door.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a fair way down - so first you get a solid grip on the edge of
Floyd | your pallet, and then very gradually you slide off it.  There's a
Floyd | moment of flailing before one toe meets her drawer.  Slight kick in the
Floyd | ribs - you freeze - but she hasn't noticed.  Lucky.  Next foot, you
Floyd | can't see where it's going - oops, that felt like her head; you feel
Floyd | certain her eyes must open any second, you'll hear a complaint... no,
Floyd | no, somehow you get away with it.  The next time you put it down it's
Floyd | more or less onto a clear space - bar some hair.
Floyd |
Floyd | You let go of your drawer, now firmly astride Jenny's, and rub your
Floyd | hands.  There's a deep shadowed groove in either palm from holding up
Floyd | your weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says (to Zach), "save? dunno how deadly this game is"
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf9" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "oh no I am confused which is it"
You say (to floyd), "x jenny" 		

Floyd | Jenny is a red-head, and a good-looking one too.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "wake jenny" 		

Floyd | That might make for quite an embarrassing scene, don't you think?  You
Floyd | have broken into her drawer uninvited.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You make the final fall to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "open compartment" 		

Floyd | Which compartment do you mean, Rosalind's compartment, Kathleen's
Floyd | compartment, Victoria's compartment, or Charlotte's compartment?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
You say (to floyd), "rosalind's" 		

Floyd | Inside the compartment is an empty trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open all compartments" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Which compartment do you mean, Rosalind's compartment, Kathleen's
Floyd | compartment, Victoria's compartment, or Charlotte's compartment?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "rosalind's" 		

Floyd | Inside the compartment is an empty trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open all compartments" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open kathleen's compartment" 		

Floyd | You slide open the compartment.  Inside is a trolley on which lies what
Floyd | is clearly a corpse.  A transparent sheet covers face down to ankles,
Floyd | like it was wrapped in cling-film.  Only the feet protrude - no tag.  A
Floyd | little horrified, you slam the compartment closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "open victoria's compartment" 		

Floyd | You quickly slide it open and shut -- same story as the other
Floyd | compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open Charlotte's compartment" 		

Floyd | You quickly slide it open and shut -- same story as the other
Floyd | compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get trolley" 		

Floyd | You can't reach it from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Eek, this means Rosalind is a zombie"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x toe" 		

Floyd | "John Doe."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatch is about three foot square and flush with the floor.  Just by
Floyd | it is a circular recess in the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatchway will not open, will not budge and will not slide either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart says, "Oh, now the scientist recognizes corpses."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x recess" 		

Floyd | It's roughly ten centimeters wide and deep, and is barely a meter off
Floyd | the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | You can't see much from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "enter rosalind's compartment" 		

Floyd | You enter Rosalind's compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside Rosalind's compartment
Floyd |    A metal box, seven foot by four foot by five, arranged such that you
Floyd | could lie down spread-eagled but stoop when you stand.  The west wall
Floyd | is missing.  In the middle of the floor is a low flat trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get trolley" 		

Floyd | It's too heavy to lift.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "push trolley west" 		

Floyd | You push the trolley west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatch is about three foot square and flush with the floor.  Just by
Floyd | it is a circular recess in the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x recess" 		

Floyd | It's roughly ten centimeters wide and deep, and is barely a meter off
Floyd | the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg asks, "I guess up is an exit?"
		Zach asks, "Up?"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		Ghogg says, "it's a little ambiguous as written"
		Ghogg says, "go for it"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "bow" 		

Floyd | Anything for a little credit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x device" 		

Floyd | It's rectangular in shape and the words
Floyd |
Floyd | ** ERROR - Reset Required **
Floyd |
Floyd | are printed on the tiny display.  Near the display is a button.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x button" 		

Floyd | It's a single black button.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd | The display is cleared.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x wubdiw" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "wubdiw".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | Across the glass in arcing letters is emblazoned:  "YRAUTROM" (though
Floyd | the R's are a little strange).  Which is - you're quite sure - a place
Floyd | in Jordan; and not a place in Hawaii.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is bright in the corridor beyond, which smarts your eyes a little.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the bottom of the ramp, a robot appears through the hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "oho"
		Zach says, "omg guys"
		Zach says, "The PC isn't too bright"
		Ghogg asks (of Zach), "totally did *not* see that coming am I right?"
		Zach says, "So right"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x robot" 		

Floyd | The orange robot is shaped like a square coffee-table resting on one
Floyd | side.  The two legs - or rather, arms - at the top each boast a shining
Floyd | disc, like eyes; though only one is a camera lens and the other is a
Floyd | stubby protrusion like a hockey puck.  The two bottom prongs are run
Floyd | with caterpillar tracks.  Slung between them is brown hexagonal tube.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a Hearse-o-Matic, a Hansome.  Printed along one side is the
Floyd | robot's name: Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | Charlotte positions its hexagonal tube by the trolley base with a
Floyd | muffled clang.  It then powers toward you up the ramp, pushing the
Floyd | trolley ahead of it.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I knew from the toe tag."
		Lionheart says, "I suppose we should cut the PC some slack, he needs some braaaaains."
		Ghogg asks, "are there any other exits?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "exits".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | In the middle of the floor is a low flat trolley.  Just left of the
Floyd | door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot extends its hockey puck to an absurd length, reaching over
Floyd | the trolley in front, to clip into the recess by the door.  The
Floyd | entrance slides open, and the robot and trolley both disappear through
Floyd | the door.  Then the door slams shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg asks, "er, did we just lose? I guess we needed to be in the trolley?"
Zach has disconnected. 		
Zach has connected. 		Zach says, "Hmm"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | It is locked, it seems.  By the side, at shoulder height, is a black
Floyd | glass palm-scanner.  Three feet below is a circular recess and to the
Floyd | left is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Unless there's another trolley?"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x compartments" 		

Floyd | The names read: Kathleen, Victoria, Charlotte and Rosalind.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hatch slides open long enough to spit out an orange robot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open charlotte's compartment" 		

Floyd | You quickly slide it open and shut -- same story as the other
Floyd | compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot - whose name appears to be Kathleen - rumbles up the ramp.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open kathleen's compartment" 		

Floyd | You open the compartment - there is a trolley inside, pallet to a
Floyd | paleface, conveyance for a cadaver, station for a stiff.  You let it
Floyd | rest in peace, and close the compartment once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | At the top of the ramp, the robot does something to make the door open,
Floyd | and slips through.  Then the door slams shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "hmm"
		Zach asks, "So, zombie robots?"
		Ghogg asks, "probably a way to tag a ride on the robot then?"
		DavidW says, "I think the game is still playable and winnable."
Ghogg says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The hatch slides open long enough to spit out an orange robot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get on robot" 		

Floyd | There's no surface to clamber on.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot - whose name appears to be Victoria - rumbles up the ramp.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "hum"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot - whose name appears to be Victoria - rumbles up the ramp.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "follow robot" 		

Floyd | But Victoria is right here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot inserts its hockey puck into the circular recess and opens
Floyd | the door long enough for it to power through.  Then the door slams
Floyd | shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg asks, "I guess we need to nab the puck?"
		Zach says, "Hmm, sure"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get puck" 		

Floyd | I don't see any puck here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get robot" 		

Floyd | The days when you could pick up something so large, bulky and just
Floyd | plain heavy are long past.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot inserts its hockey puck into the circular recess and opens
Floyd | the door long enough for it to power through.  Then the door slams
Floyd | shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says (to Zach), "try noodling a bt"
		Zach asks, "Mind if I try restoring?"
		Ghogg says, "yeah"
Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Ghogg says, "maybe restore, get out the trolley again, push trolly to next to button, push button, jump in"
Zach says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf9" 		

Floyd | File to restore game from >
Floyd | Restored.
Floyd |
Floyd | In Jenny's drawer
Floyd |    You are standing precariously at the end of Jenny Doe's drawer.
Floyd | Yours is open some way above, and the ground in within jumping
Floyd | distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jenny seems blissfully unaware of your presence.  Though when she
Floyd | wakes, she's going to wonder about the bruise across her stomach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "down" 		

Floyd | You make the final fall to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open rosalind's" 		

Floyd | Inside the compartment is an empty trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "push trolley" 		

Floyd | The trolley's inside the compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "push trolley west" 		

Floyd | You can't seem to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter rosalind's" 		

Floyd | You enter Rosalind's compartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside Rosalind's compartment
Floyd |    A metal box, seven foot by four foot by five, arranged such that you
Floyd | could lie down spread-eagled but stoop when you stand.  The west wall
Floyd | is missing.  In the middle of the floor is a low flat trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "push trolley west" 		

Floyd | You push the trolley west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.  In the middle of the
Floyd | floor is a low flat trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "push trolley up" 		

Floyd | You start pushing, but with the trolley so heavy it rolls back, and
Floyd | with it so low it's hard to get more weight behind.  In the end, you
Floyd | give up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Top of ramp
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  You could take your bow, lit by the spotlight-glow
Floyd | through the window, or slip offstage through the door just beside it.
Floyd | Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd | The display is cleared.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | Bottom of ramp
Floyd |    This is a thin room then, between the wall of square drawers like a
Floyd | tiling and another side of sheer metal, east and west respectively.
Floyd | The floor is split-level; from where you stand a ramp leads up and
Floyd | northward, and light from a window there tumbles back down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The drawers stop about five feet from ground-level; below are four
Floyd | compartments.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is a smooth hatch set into the south wall.  In the middle of the
Floyd | floor is a low flat trolley.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hatch slides open long enough to spit out an orange robot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "get on trolley" 		

Floyd | You lie on the trolley.  It's cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot positions its hexagonal tube by the trolley base with a
Floyd | muffled clang.  It then powers away up the ramp, taking you with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Top of ramp, on on the trolley
Floyd |    This is a small stage, facing the stalls below down a ramp to the
Floyd | south, with the royal boxes on the wall above, reserved it seems for
Floyd | the Doe family.  Above you is a circular recess which is attached to a
Floyd | door.  Just left of the door is a small device.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg crosses his fingers
		Zach says, "Hooray"
Zach says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot extends its hockey puck to an absurd length, reaching over
Floyd | the trolley in front, to clip into the recess by the door.  The
Floyd | entrance slides open, and it passes through, taking you with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | Once in the corridor outside, you leap from the trolley before it, and
Floyd | the robot, power away.
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor,
Floyd | lighting round the bends on either hand, but right now your eyes are
Floyd | elsewhere - drawn to the window of the room you have just left.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf10" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x portholes" 		

Floyd | Through the portholes swim a variety of underwater fish, lit in the
Floyd | half-glow leaking from this dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot pushes the trolley through the hatch in the southwest wall
Floyd | and disappears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd | Here it is light, and there it is dark, and the glass acts as a mirror
Floyd | over which your haggard face looms.  Only it is not your face.  It is
Floyd | the face of Dr. Kurner.  A moment of staring is not enough, and you
Floyd | stare some more.  His nose is your nose, his eyes, wet and squinting,
Floyd | are your eyes, they move as you look over them.  You feel the tightness
Floyd | of his skin around your mouth and cheekbones.  And worse: his face is
Floyd | framed, like an advert for a circus clown, by an arcing title in large
Floyd | letters:
Floyd |
Floyd | MORTUARY
Floyd |
Floyd | Dead!  Ridiculous!  You're not dead!  You're standing upright.  Indeed,
Floyd | you're breathing!  Aren't you?  There - you blow a long breath onto the
Floyd | glass, and a pool of condensation smokes it over.  Alive.  You're
Floyd | alive.  And the sooner you can get back to your machine and get
Floyd | yourself back into your own skin, the better.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "oh, I'd fingered him as the villain"
		Zach says, "He is"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The condensation on the window evaporates away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | The airlock is closed.  And it doesn't look in good repair, either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "He stole our body!"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x airlock" 		

Floyd | The airlock is circular, and damaged, with loose wiring hanging from
Floyd | the frame. Set in the centre is the access mechanism, above is a small
Floyd | square spyhole.  The sight beyond it is not good - you can make out
Floyd | twisted metal, bent panels and wiring dripping from the ceiling like
Floyd | thick seaweed.  It appears not to have been breached, though, as there
Floyd | is no water.  Something moves about within: something large and orange.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Kathleen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x kathleen" 		

Floyd | The orange robot is shaped like a square coffee-table resting on one
Floyd | side.  The two legs - or rather, arms - at the top each boast a shining
Floyd | disc, like eyes; though only one is a camera lens and the other is a
Floyd | stubby protrusion like a hockey puck.  The two bottom prongs are run
Floyd | with caterpillar tracks.  Slung between them is brown hexagonal tube.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a Hearse-o-Matic, a Hansome.  Printed along one side is the
Floyd | robot's name: Kathleen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to floyd), "se"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | The airlock is closed.  And it doesn't look in good repair, either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x wires" 		

Floyd | Two wires, crudely torn.  They spark occasionally - and are quite
Floyd | possibly live!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf11" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "touch wire" 		

Floyd | Of course!  If you electrocute yourself - if you die - then your
Floyd | consciousness will flip back to your original body!  It's bound to,
Floyd | after all!  And then your problem is solved! ... Though you'll still
Floyd | have to help Dr. Kurner, somehow, wherever he is.  Excellent idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | You steel your courage, raise your hand... and have a moment of doubt.
Floyd | Are you sure you want to do this?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | You close your eyes, and close your hand around the two ends of the
Floyd | wires.  There is a terrible sparking as electricity leaps between them,
Floyd | flowing blue lightning between your fingers, along your skin, down your
Floyd | palm!
Floyd |
Floyd | However, due to Dr. Kurner's plastic prosthetic wrist replacement, it
Floyd | doesn't get much further than that.  Your hand comes away, a little
Floyd | blackened.
Floyd |
Floyd | The airlock door slides open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Victoria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "boo"
		Ghogg says, "har"
Zach says (to Floyd), "lick wire" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "lick".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "well, this might be a little like In the End"
		Ghogg says, "but less dark"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  Where the corridor is most
Floyd | crumpled, one of the panels underfoot is loose, rippling out from the
Floyd | floor.  A large orange robot is whirring back and forth here.  It is
Floyd | Rosalind.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "get panel" 		

Floyd | The panel is heavy, and one end is stuck in a pinch of metal, but this
Floyd | acts neatly as a hinge.  You prop it with a clang against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beyond is a dark hole in the flooring.  Who knows how far a drop it
Floyd | might be, how long one might tumble before finally crunching to certain
Floyd | death on the floor?
Floyd |
Floyd | Rosalind whirrs slowly across the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You cross yourself once.  This is it - a long jump - air whipped from
Floyd | your mouth - certain death on a solid flooring, who knows how far down.
Floyd | You can see nothing in there, it is black.  Will they ever find this
Floyd | body?  Who can say?  You close your eyes and leap into the dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | And land, an instant later, in a waist-deep hole.
Floyd |
Floyd | In a Hole
Floyd |    You are waist-high in a hole in the floor, in the middle of a
Floyd | corridor of mangled metal walls.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear Rosalind's trudging footsteps.  With a loud rumble, the robot
Floyd | looms over your head, filling your vision the way a cloud can blot out
Floyd | the sun.  You cower, raising your arms instinctively over your eyes, as
Floyd | Rosalind pitches forward into the hole...
Floyd |
Floyd | But it seems the centre of those robots is just a sheet of orange
Floyd | paper, as it rips easily when it hits your head.  A crash-smash later,
Floyd | you are standing in the debris of shattered robot, half filling the
Floyd | pit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | In a Hole
Floyd |    You are waist-high in a hole in the floor, in the middle of a
Floyd | corridor of mangled metal walls.  It's filled with the mangled rubble
Floyd | of robot parts, all a lurid orange.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "search rubble" 		

Floyd | Amongst the orange parts you find the robot's hockey-puck arm, which
Floyd | you take.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You scramble out of the hole.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "exits".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "aw"
		Zach says, "Poor Rosalind"
		Ghogg says, "if I was playing alone usually I test all the directions just in case but that'd be spammy"
		Ghogg asks, "I think nw then sw though?"
		Zach says, "Go for it"
Zach says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatch is about three foot square and flush with the floor.  Just by
Floyd | it is a circular recess in the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Kathleen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in recess" 		

Floyd | The hatch slides open for a brief moment, then slams shut.  You put the
Floyd | arm in once more, and this time, slip through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | Kathleen emerges from the northern hatch and heads south.  With a
Floyd | swish-snap, the southern hatch opens and she lumbers through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to floyd), "s"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | That hatch is sealed to you, and likely to remain so.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | By Airlock
Floyd |    This is just a short vestibule, from the airlock to the west to the
Floyd | main corridor back east.  The airlock door is sealed, but looking
Floyd | through its panel, you can see a long corridor, leading off into the
Floyd | distance.  This must be the umbilical to the rest of the lab.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The airlock door is shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | The door is sealed shut.  You can make out the opening mechanism - on
Floyd | this door it's near the top, out of reach for stumpy Dr.  Kurner and
Floyd | probably your old self too.  Set into the centre of the door is a
Floyd | viewing panel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd | You can see a long corridor, leading off into the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You spot a robot trudging along the curving corridor, disappearing
Floyd | through the southern hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg asks, "any ideas?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The vestibule runs east to west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The hatch is shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open north hatch" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x north hatch" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | Which hatch do you mean, the southern hatch, or the northern hatch?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Ahhh"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x northern hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatch is about three foot square and flush with the floor.  Just by
Floyd | it is a circular recess in the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in northern recess" 		

Floyd | I don't see any northern recess here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in recess" 		

Floyd | Which recess do you mean, the dented recess, or the circular recess?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in circular recess" 		

Floyd | The hatch opens; you dart through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | An orange robot is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Argh, confusing directions"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in recess" 		

Floyd | The hatch opens; you dart through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in dented recess" 		

Floyd | There is a dull click.  It seems not to want to work.  There could be a
Floyd | hundred finicky mechanical reasons why.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Computer Core And Coffin Room
Floyd |    This appears to be the hub of the Hansome's world.  Along one wall
Floyd | runs a large computer bank, over which soft lights play in colours
Floyd | tailored for electric eyes.  The far corner of the room contains a
Floyd | large glass cylinder that disappears through the ceiling; it is open at
Floyd | the bottom, where a coffin waits. The centre of the floor is taken up
Floyd | by a circular hatch marked "Waste Disposal".  The juxtaposition is
Floyd | quite unpleasant, and if too much so, you could leave back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "cylinder" 		

Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x cylinder" 		

Floyd | It's glass, and stretches upwards.  During a funeral, the base seals,
Floyd | it fills with water and coffins are flushed out to be found and buried
Floyd | on land.  You'd seen it before on the designs for this place, but never
Floyd | realised they'd been so heartless as to actually build the thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x hatch" 		

Floyd | Ah, the eco-friendly waste system.  A hatch, with a short tunnel,
Floyd | another hatch, and then the sea.  Waste goes into through one door and
Floyd | is ejected into the water.  Simple, effective, and self-cleaning.  The
Floyd | waste disposal hatch is closed, and there is no immediately obvious
Floyd | control to change that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x coffin" 		

Floyd | The coffin is a smart black number of regular height.  It is unmarked,
Floyd | open, and waiting with a depressing certitude.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "cf12" 		

Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to floyd), "enter coffin"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "enter coffin" 		

Floyd | You made that mistake when you joined AtlantisLab.  You're not doing it
Floyd | again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "grr"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Computer Core And Coffin Room
Floyd |    This appears to be the hub of the Hansome's world.  Along one wall
Floyd | runs a large computer bank, over which soft lights play in colours
Floyd | tailored for electric eyes.  The far corner of the room contains a
Floyd | large glass cylinder that disappears through the ceiling; it is open at
Floyd | the bottom, where a coffin waits. The centre of the floor is taken up
Floyd | by a circular hatch marked "Waste Disposal".  The juxtaposition is
Floyd | quite unpleasant, and if too much so, you could leave back west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "computer" 		

Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd | The computer has one main screen, a circular recess to serve as a
Floyd | monodigital keyboard, and a flat black palm scanner.  However, your
Floyd | gaze is taken by one larger switch, marked with beautiful portent:
Floyd | PERSONAL DETONATION DISPENSEMENT.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "push switch" 		

Floyd | You tug the switch.  It sticks halfway, and a message appears on the
Floyd | screen: DISPENSEMENT SET.  PROCEED VIA PERSONAL SETTING.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "touch scanner" 		

Floyd | Of course, it probably won't be happy with your print.  But you put
Floyd | your palm on the glass anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The computer heaves and splats.  You barely notice a squat oblong fire
Floyd | out from its base, because of a searing pain that shoots across your
Floyd | palm.  You pull back your hand, to find you have been branded!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x brand" 		

Floyd | The brand is a small black button - a tattoo just left of your
Floyd | lifeline.  Beneath it is inscribed "Press for detonation."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach O
Zach says (to Floyd), "press button" 		

Floyd | Your finger hovers over the contact.  Eyes to palm, eyes to bomb.  You
Floyd | can't help feeling it's a slightly extreme way to go.  But you press
Floyd | the button anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | "!ERROR - PERSONAL WITHIN BLAST RADIUS!" screams a siren from just
Floyd | above your wrist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "aww"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x keyboard" 		

Floyd | Much like the others you've seen.  Around the circumference are marked
Floyd | small lines.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor, you hear the sound of the robot hatch opening and
Floyd | closing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x lines" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "lines".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x screen" 		

Floyd | The screen is blank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg asks, "hmm, have we exhausted our places except for the broken thing?"
Zach and his life partner Soupy once built an ark with all same-sex animals when the ice caps melted. 		
Zach has disconnected. 		
Zach arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		
Gerynar says "bloop" and shrinks down into a little dot, then winks out...just like those old-fashioned B&w televisions. 		
Gerynar has disconnected. 		Ghogg asks (of Zach), "you ok?"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west, back to the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | That hatch is sealed to you, and likely to remain so.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The hatch is shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | The norhern hatch flips open and out pops Kathleen.  She slowly lumbers
Floyd | southward, disappearing through the southern hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yeah, sorry, internet disconnected"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x northern hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatch is about three foot square and flush with the floor.  Just by
Floyd | it is a circular recess in the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "And brain is sleepy"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "put puck in recess" 		

Floyd | The hatch opens; you dart through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd | You press the small black button.
Floyd |
Floyd | "!ERROR - PERSONAL WITHIN BLAST RADIUS!" screams a siren from just
Floyd | above your wrist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "hum hum"
		Ghogg says, "drive for a little"
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in recess" 		

Floyd | The hatch opens; you dart through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | By Airlock
Floyd |    This is just a short vestibule, from the airlock to the west to the
Floyd | main corridor back east.  The airlock door is sealed, but you recall
Floyd | that a long corridor leads off into the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | You spot a robot trudging along the curving corridor, disappearing
Floyd | through the southern hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The airlock door is shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The vestibule runs east to west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open hatch" 		

Floyd | I don't see any hatch here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Lies"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x recess" 		

Floyd | I don't see any recess here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x airlock" 		

Floyd | The door is sealed shut.  You can make out the opening mechanism - on
Floyd | this door it's near the top, out of reach for stumpy Dr.  Kurner and
Floyd | probably your old self too.  Set into the centre of the door is a
Floyd | viewing panel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x mechanism" 		

Floyd | Nothing fancy, just a large button that you'd need to jab.  You just
Floyd | can't reach it, that's all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | A robot enters the corridor to the east and with a twist of her arm,
Floyd | darts through the southern hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Curving Corridor
Floyd |    The western side of the dome, and an area not designed for human
Floyd | personnel.  Robot hatches stand secure at the north and southern ends,
Floyd | the latter a little dented, perhaps in the same explosion that damaged
Floyd | the east side.  Portholes peer out in the dark, their ring broken by a
Floyd | passage to the west, opposite an open archway to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The hatch is shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put puck in circular" 		

Floyd | The hatch opens; you dart through.
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The door is closed and locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Kathleen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd | Flat black glass, a panel that uses all manner of fancy beams to read
Floyd | over your palm-print and check you are who you think you are.
Floyd | Unfortunately, it's not clever enough to realise you now think you are
Floyd | someone that you actually aren't.  Or you think you are someone who
Floyd | you're not, but really are.  Or something like that.  Anyway, it's a
Floyd | pig-ignorant machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "I'm really confused"
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The door is closed and locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "The room connections curve around"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "put hand on panel" 		

Floyd | It bleeps red, displaying "PATTERN NOT IN DATABANK".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "I was thinking to try and get the peg leg again"
		Zach says, "To press the airlock mechanism"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x striplight" 		

Floyd | The neon striplight illuminates the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Victoria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | It is locked, it seems.  By the side, at shoulder height, is a black
Floyd | glass palm-scanner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "I'd jump in but I really have no idea what to do"
		Ghogg says, "I feel like we're missing a place/item"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		Lionheart says, "Maybe something in the other drawers in the morgue? What else besides a peg leg might there be in there"
		inky asks, "can you use the peg leg to push the button?"
		Ghogg says, "I seem to remember we had to set the pegleg down to jump down"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		Zach asks, "Can we get back in?"
		Ghogg says, "lemme just wander for a sec"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the rumbling sound of another robot in the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd | The panel has been lifted back and leans against a wall.  A hole nows
Floyd | fills the south end of the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You can go no further, as the ceiling pinches together.  Only a rat
Floyd | could get through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floydx), "wiring" 		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "x wiring" 		

Floyd | The wiring is dark and dead, like the hair of a drowned mermaid.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the rumbling sound of another robot in the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | An orange robot is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The door is closed and locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the rumbling sound of another robot in the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "guh"
		Ghogg asks, "e and se are the same?"
		Ghogg says, "it describes the corridor as curving southeast but the airlock door to the east"
Ghogg says (to floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | An orange robot is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | The door is closed and locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says (to floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Ghogg says, "yeah, I dunno"
		Ghogg says, "I'm gonna have cookies, you can keep trying if you want"
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf12" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "I think I'm done for the night. Anyone else?"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a robot arm.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your left palm has been branded with a button.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Kathleen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | An orange robot is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x striplight" 		

Floyd | The neon striplight illuminates the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "touch panel" 		

Floyd | It bleeps red, displaying "PATTERN NOT IN DATABANK".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "touch panel with arm" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "touch panel with disc" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "touch panel with puck" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "put puck on panel" 		

Floyd | Nothing happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Victoria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get on victoria" 		

Floyd | There's no surface to clamber on.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "enter hatch" 		

Floyd | The hatchway will not open, will not budge and will not slide either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "open porthole" 		

Floyd | Oh, brilliant idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "break porthole" 		

Floyd | Oh, brilliant idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "lick wire" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "lick".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get wire" 		

Floyd | The wires slip through your hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "touch wires" 		

Floyd | The wires slip through your hands.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x hole" 		

Floyd | It's dark down there, you can't make anything out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | You leap into the dark and land, an instant later, in a waist-deep
Floyd | hole.
Floyd |
Floyd | In a Hole
Floyd |    You are waist-high in a hole in the floor, in the middle of a
Floyd | corridor of mangled metal walls.  It's filled with the mangled rubble
Floyd | of robot parts, all a lurid orange.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "search rubble" 		

Floyd | There's nothing more there, but for her mangled remains.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "get rubble" 		

Floyd | Oh, why don't you just walk off with a corpse instead?  Besides, it's a
Floyd | bunch of heavy orange metal plates, which aren't exactly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd | You scramble out of the hole.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The only exit is west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Victoria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x panel" 		

Floyd | The panel has been lifted back and leans against a wall.  A hole nows
Floyd | fills the south end of the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x charlotte" 		

Floyd | The orange robot is shaped like a square coffee-table resting on one
Floyd | side.  The two legs - or rather, arms - at the top each boast a shining
Floyd | disc, like eyes; though only one is a camera lens and the other is a
Floyd | stubby protrusion like a hockey puck.  The two bottom prongs are run
Floyd | with caterpillar tracks.  Slung between them is brown hexagonal tube.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is a Hearse-o-Matic, a Hansome.  Printed along one side is the
Floyd | robot's name: Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd | You slip through the airlock, into a mangle of metal.
Floyd |
Floyd | Collapsed Corridor
Floyd |    This was the eastern quadrant of the dome, but something has fallen
Floyd | away and it is now a mangle of sheets of metal, intersecting skew-like.
Floyd | About halfway along, the roof is so low to the floor as to admit a mere
Floyd | few centimeters of space between.  Wiring hangs from the neon light,
Floyd | but only the first segment is still lit.  The loose panel is propped
Floyd | against the wall, revealing a promising, deep hole into the bowels of
Floyd | the dome.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear the rumbling sound of another robot in the corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You can go no further, as the ceiling pinches together.  Only a rat
Floyd | could get through.
Floyd |
Floyd | From the corridor outside you hear the swish-snap of the robot hatch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd | Corridor
Floyd |    The corridor curves southeast to southwest, smooth metal walls low
Floyd | and merging over your head.  Portholes splatter the north side like
Floyd | bullet-holes.  A neon striplight runs the length of the corridor, light
Floyd | leaking round the bends until it is cut on the west side by a
Floyd | robot-hatch, and on the east by an airlock door, which is open.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the south is the door back to the mortuary, a black glass panel by
Floyd | its side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd | The robot's hatch is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x robot arm" 		

Floyd | It's a two-inch long black cylinder, as wide as your prosthetic wrist.
Floyd | One end is marked with concentric ridges - that's the end that fits the
Floyd | hatch-locks.  It must be telescopic, somehow, but you can't see a
Floyd | mechanism.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | You are Dr. Kurner.  You shudder at that realisation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Victoria.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "extend robot arm" 		

Floyd | You waggle and flip the cylinder, but it refuses to extend to its full
Floyd | length.
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "shake robot arm" 		

Floyd | You waggle and flip the cylinder, but it refuses to extend to its full
Floyd | length.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "pull robot arm" 		

Floyd | You waggle and flip the cylinder, but it refuses to extend to its full
Floyd | length.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a robot arm.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your left palm has been branded with a button.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Lionheart asks, "Can we get a button on our right, prosthetic, palm?"
		Ghogg says, "sounds like it is worth a try"
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x palm" 		

Floyd | Your palm contains a brand.  Beneath it is inscribed "Press for
Floyd | detonation."
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the door appears Charlotte.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x right palm" 		

Floyd | I don't see any right palm here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x right hand" 		

Floyd | I don't see any right hand here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Lionheart says (to Floyd), "x hands" 		

Floyd | Your palm contains a brand.  Beneath it is inscribed "Press for
Floyd | detonation."
Floyd |
Floyd | The robot opens the hatch and rumbles through.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Ghogg says, "need to sneak to bed" 		
Ghogg goes home. 		* Rob has joined the channel.
inky made a fortune in the lucrative pasta business in revolutionary France. 		
inky has disconnected. 		
Ellison goes back to Squeamhurst.. 		
Ellison has disconnected. 		
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | Do you really want to quit?  (YES or NO) >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bye, thanks for playing!

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
genericgeekgirl disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
AWatt arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
AWatt chooses rock. RPS Bot 3000 chooses paper. Winner: RPS Bot 3000. 		
AWatt chooses paper. RPS Bot 3000 chooses scissors. Winner: RPS Bot 3000. 		
AWatt chooses paper. RPS Bot 3000 chooses scissors. Winner: RPS Bot 3000. 		
AWatt chooses scissors. RPS Bot 3000 chooses scissors. Winner: Tie. 		* AWatt has joined the channel.
AWatt disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 	



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina by Jim Aikin
As played on ifMUD on December 21, 2014

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina written by Jim Aikin. Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina was released in 1999, and was nominated for a Best Puzzles Xyzzy Award. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Jacqueline asks, "So, today is the solstice. Any wintry game suggestions?"
		Roger says, "Can't go wrong with Winter Wonderland"
		Roger says, "Also apropos I believe is For a Change"
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Is Winter Wonderland the one where you get stuck in the parklot and there are elves?"
		Roger says, "It's the one with icebergs, is about all I remember"
		Jacqueline says, "We've played WW, but not in (get this) five years (still weirds me out that we've been doing this this long)."
		Jacqueline says, "So yeah, I'd be down with that."
		AWatt asks, "Have you done Not Just An Ordinary Ballerina before?"
		Jacqueline says (to AWatt), "Hm. No."
		Stew says, "Howdy. I had to leave suddenly last week, sorry about that."
		Jacqueline says (to Stew), "No worries. We were just trying to potentially pick a wintry game, since it's Solstice."
		Roger says, "I don't think so, Watt"
		AWatt says, "IFDB link: [LINK]"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess all the 'winter' games are 'Christmas' games, huh."
		Jacqueline should write a good ol' Solstice game.
		Stew says, "Bet you've played all the Infocom games"
		Stew says, "not that we could play them on here either"
		Stew says, "but Suspended seems appropriate somehow"
		Stew says, "Get it? ;)"
		DavidW says, "okay, the tea is steeping."
		Roger says, "hmmm yeah there should be at least one Persephone rescue game"
		Jacqueline says (to Stew), "We actually have played a few, though not many, and we do play them here."
		DavidW says, "I have mixed feelings about NJAOB. It's difficult and I've never finished it."
		Roger says, "Meanwhile every other game has sundial recalibration"
		Jacqueline says, "Activision has yet to come after me for the transcripts."
		Stew says, "Buahahaha"
		DavidW says, "But it's definitely a winter-season game."
		Stew says, "But yeah, it seems like I started to play some IF sometime that had a wintry theme and I can't remember the name of it."
		DavidW says, "And I would like to finish NJAOB someday."
		Roger says, "Good enough for me, David"
		DavidW says (to Stew), "The Fire Tower: The Snow Edition."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, I am not super into puzzly games, but I'm also in a lot of pain this morning (did something to my neck), so I may not be able to stick around. Why don't you all play that?"
		Stew says, "No..."
		Jacqueline says, "I'll load it up."
		Roger says, "Avalanche Patrol: this time it's personal"
		Stew says, "No in response to David, it wasn't that"
		Roger says, "Guess we've got our theme for speedsolstice, too"
		Stew says, "I remember now, it was something I started coding as an example myself which I never finished! Perhaps I should make it into a story someday."
		DavidW asks (of Stew), "'The First Snows of Winter'?"
		DavidW says, "I'm lagging too badly to be of proper help."
		DavidW says, "Someone else will have to drive."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask notjustanordinaryballerina" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/1
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's Christmas Eve. Rather late on Christmas Eve.
Floyd |
Floyd | Just this afternoon your darling 7-year-old daughter Samantha
Floyd | announced that fully a week ago she mailed a letter to Santa Claus
Floyd | asking for Sugar Toes Ballerina, the unbelievably sought-after,
Floyd | impossible-to-find fad doll of the decade. Unwilling to see little Sam
Floyd | heartbroken on Christmas morning, you frantically phoned every toy
Floyd | store in town. Miraculously, you found a shop that claimed to have a
Floyd | Sugar Toes Ballerina in stock!
Floyd |
Floyd | But that was two hours ago -- before the flat tire. Now it's getting
Floyd | dark, and icy weather is closing in. The address you were given, on
Floyd | the outskirts of town, has proven to be that of a dilapidated and
Floyd | disreputable-looking shopping center -- not a modern chrome-and-neon
Floyd | strip mall, either, but a hulking two-story structure that looks to be
Floyd | the ill-favored offspring of a fairy castle and a canning factory. The
Floyd | shopping center is tucked well back from the street among brooding
Floyd | skeletal trees. Other than a few dim yellowish lights that show no
Floyd | trace of holiday spirit, the building is shrouded in gloom, and yours
Floyd | is the only car in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina
Floyd |
Floyd | An Interactive Seasonal Shopping Emergency
Floyd |
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1999 by Jim Aikin.
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 991128 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/9
Floyd |
Floyd | The Parking Lot
Floyd | Except for your car and the dirty snowdrifts in the corners, this
Floyd | broad expanse of pavement is entirely empty. The wind whistles a
Floyd | little, and instinctively you hunch your shoulders and turn up your
Floyd | collar. The dark bulk of the shopping center squats in decaying
Floyd | splendor to the south, and a paved walkway leads in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Note: For full instructions on how to play the game, type 'help' at
Floyd | any time.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I am not driving this week."
		Stew says, "neck status - scale of 1 to 10:"
		Roger says, "I guessI can do it"
		Jacqueline asks (of Stew), "With a 10 being the worst pain I've ever felt?"
		Roger asks, "it's just .Floyd DO THE THING yeah?"
		Stew says, "10 being best your neck has ever felt"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "It's just f do the thing"
Roger says (to Floyd), "x car" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/2
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Your late-model sedan is parked here, its windows beginning to frost
Floyd | up. For about the thousandth time you wish you'd insisted on buying
Floyd | that bright red number, but really this dull color is much more
Floyd | suitable for a family vehicle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "f DO THE THING"
Roger says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/3
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | As good-looking as ever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "That's not funny"
		Roger says, "Jim, Jim, Jim"
Roger says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/4
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to floyd), "x coat" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/5
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COAT
Floyd |
Floyd | Your winter coat is made of heavy wool. It's quite warm, and has a
Floyd | couple of pockets.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Anything else before we head storewards to Woolworths?"
Stew says (to floyd), "x pockets" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/6
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POCKETS
Floyd |
Floyd | In your pockets you find a car key and a wallet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to floyd), "x wallet" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/7
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | The wallet is in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large raccoon trots toward you, stands up on his hind legs for a
Floyd | moment and wrinkles his nose, then drops down and scurries off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to floyd), "open wallet" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/8
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | You'll have to take the wallet before you can do anything with it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get wallet" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/9
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to floyd), "open wallet" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/10
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the wallet, revealing a driver's license.
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat raccoon, busily sniffing around beneath the bushes, pauses for a
Floyd | moment to eye you warily, then gives a little hop and scampers away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x license" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/11
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LICENSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You grimace, as usual, at the thoroughly unflattering photo of
Floyd | yourself. Glancing at the vital statistics, you wonder fleetingly
Floyd | whether all that Christmas candy has caused you to gain any weight.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a scampering, scuttling sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x key" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/12
Floyd |
Floyd | > X KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | The key is in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew gets keyboard. 		
Stew drops keyboard. 		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get key" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/13
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I have paper for making a map and notes."
		Roger says, "It's all yours, amigo"
		Allen says, "oh, Woolsworth. They make my cat's favorite blanket"
		Jacqueline says (to Stew), "Oh, sorry, thought I'd responded. My neck, on your scale, is a 4, until I move the wrong way (which seems often) when it goes down to a 2 for sudden and exciting moments."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x key" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/14
Floyd |
Floyd | > X KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical car key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "darn this lag"
Stew says (to Jacqueline), "That's terrible" 		
Stew asks (of Jacqueline), "How did your neck get that way?" 		DavidW says, "I can't even do this at the library today; it's on holiday hours already."
Stew says (to Floyd), "put key in pocket" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/15
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KEY IN POCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the car key in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "close wallet" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/16
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the wallet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(and the library isn't open until 1pm on Sundays even on Sundays when it is open)"
Stew says (to Floyd), "put wallet in pocket" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/17
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT WALLET IN POCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the wallet in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat raccoon, busily sniffing around beneath the bushes, pauses for a
Floyd | moment to eye you warily, then gives a little hop and scampers away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW says, "oops. I didn't realize I wasn't in the toyshop."
		Stew asks, "One of those days, isn't it?"
		DavidW says, "It is. I wasn't ready for this at all."
		Roger says, "when are we going to get to the fireworks factory"
Stew says (to Floyd), "look under car" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/18
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | There's nothing under the car but pavement.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "look in car" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/19
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The late-model sedan is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "oh, we've started?"
		Roger says, "Nothing of import has occured"
		Stew says, "An interesting thing about this game is that you can't see into your pocket"
		Stew says, "The details of things anyway"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/20
Floyd |
Floyd | > EXITS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go south.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large raccoon trots toward you, stands up on his hind legs for a
Floyd | moment and wrinkles his nose, then drops down and scurries off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "To properly examine something you have to take it out. I kind of like that."
		Jacqueline says, "I am in a lot of pain, going to bow out. We're logging, though. Have fun."
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "Get well."
		Roger exclaims, "Okay thanks Jacq; good luck!"
AWatt says (to Jacqueline), "Take care." 		Stew says, "Yeah, hope your neck gets better. Try to get some rest."
		Stew says, "Hopefully it's one of those things where you can at least lie down."
		Stew asks, "What's next ehere?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Parking Lot                                        0/21
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Parking Lot
Floyd | Except for your car and the dirty snowdrifts in the corners, this
Floyd | broad expanse of pavement is entirely empty. The wind whistles a
Floyd | little, and instinctively you hunch your shoulders and turn up your
Floyd | collar. The dark bulk of the shopping center squats in decaying
Floyd | splendor to the south, and a paved walkway leads in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "goin s"
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/22
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x trash" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/23
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | The trash can is a concrete barrel, painted an attractive beige, about
Floyd | the size of an oil drum. There is a circular opening in the top.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x opening" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/24
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OPENING
Floyd |
Floyd | The trash can is a concrete barrel, painted an attractive beige, about
Floyd | the size of an oil drum. There is a circular opening in the top.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "marquee" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/24
Floyd |
Floyd | > MARQUEE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x marquee" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/25
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MARQUEE
Floyd |
Floyd | Evidently this board was put up to give directions to the various
Floyd | shops. Most of the names seem to have become quite jumbled, however.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "read marquee" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/26
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ MARQUEE
Floyd |
Floyd |    MAIN LEVEL:
Floyd | DOCK THEME IS WING
Floyd | RUE FOGGY USER SOLO
Floyd | PORK ROY TAUT
Floyd | SORE VENAL COAL DUST
Floyd | BUY DYING SW SHAM MICE
Floyd | PINK IN WINTER FELL
Floyd |
Floyd |    LOWER LEVEL:
Floyd | TUBE LP
Floyd | TAN HER DUFFERS
Floyd | STUDY HO HO VALUE
Floyd | THAT FIG CHEST LATIN
Floyd | RAW RED MARS SAND
Floyd | GHOST HATH RAGING
Floyd |
Floyd |    UPPER LEVEL:
Floyd | MUTE NITE
Floyd | APE FOLLY CAP
Floyd | PINE THINK
Floyd | OUT I OGLE SHY KOAN
Floyd | QUELL SONG CAST AND A BIB
Floyd | SIREN FED GERM NY
Floyd | TOOTH BEST CORE
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's bound to be something in the trash."
		Roger says, "Time to throw away our car keys and driver's license because we are freeeeeee"
		AWatt says, "Hahaha."
		Stew says, "I don't know why, I wanna go to Tooth Best Core"
		Stew says, "Ghost Hath Raging seems pretty good too"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search trash" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          0/27
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | In the trash can are a shopping bag and some heavy-duty work gloves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "anagrams I should think"
		Stew says, "Bingo, Roger! Gotta be it."
		AWatt says, "I might like to wear an Ape Folly Cap"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bag and gloves" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/28
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BAG AND GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | shopping bag: Taken.
Floyd | heavy-duty work gloves: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by two points.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "Pointage!"
		AWatt says, "ooh points"
		DavidW says, "It said they were scrambled, yes."
		DavidW says, "(argh lag argh lag argh lag)"
		Stew asks, "What's causing the lag BTW?"
		Roger says, "wow this is really deliberately old school"
		DavidW says (to Stew), "My ISP slows me slow after I use too much of their service in the month."
		Stew asks (of Roger), "Old school?"
JoshuaH arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Roger says, "reflective of the design priorities popular in IF in the 80s"
		Stew says, "I like 80's IF :)"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "yes, it's very old school in style."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x bag" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/29
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | On the side of this wrinkled but sturdy canvas shopping bag is
Floyd | printed, in large faded green letters, the Flogg & Grabby's Stufftown
Floyd | logo, which depicts a pair of hands outstretched toward one another,
Floyd | one hand extending a stylized hundred-dollar bill and the other a
Floyd | smaller version of the Flogg & Grabby's shopping bag itself ... on
Floyd | which can be seen a smaller version of the same logo, and so on in an
Floyd | infinite regress. The bag has handles, and appears to be surprisingly
Floyd | capacious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "it's a rucksack, as Graham Nelson and other british IF folks would say"
		Stew says, "this means we're going to need to carry too many things at some point"
		AWatt asks, "Is it empty?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "search bag" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/30
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | In the shopping bag is a scrap of paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get paper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/31
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "read paper" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/32
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ray -- if you need electricity after hours for any reason, the
Floyd | authorization code works out to 10612. I'm sure you remember how to
Floyd | manage the code entry. Also, in case you need to ask those damned
Floyd | monkeys anything -- for instance, if you're planning to take a trip --
Floyd | I should tell you: I've been able to work it out that at least one of
Floyd | them always tells the truth. Trouble is, I'm not sure which of them it
Floyd | is. Also, another of them must always tell a mix containing some truth
Floyd | and some falsehoods. The other two could be consistent truth-tellers,
Floyd | consistent liars, consistent mixer-uppers, or any two of the
Floyd | possibilities in any combination. Good luck sorting it all out!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "talking monkeys"
		DavidW says, "I'll close my browser; that might help."
		DavidW asks, "Perhaps this marquee's phrases will change as we reach their respective stores?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "read marquee" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/33
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ MARQUEE
Floyd |
Floyd |    MAIN LEVEL:
Floyd | DOCK THEME IS WING
Floyd | RUE FOGGY USER SOLO
Floyd | PORK ROY TAUT
Floyd | SORE VENAL COAL DUST
Floyd | BUY DYING SW SHAM MICE
Floyd | PINK IN WINTER FELL
Floyd |
Floyd |    LOWER LEVEL:
Floyd | TUBE LP
Floyd | TAN HER DUFFERS
Floyd | STUDY HO HO VALUE
Floyd | THAT FIG CHEST LATIN
Floyd | RAW RED MARS SAND
Floyd | GHOST HATH RAGING
Floyd |
Floyd |    UPPER LEVEL:
Floyd | MUTE NITE
Floyd | APE FOLLY CAP
Floyd | PINE THINK
Floyd | OUT I OGLE SHY KOAN
Floyd | QUELL SONG CAST AND A BIB
Floyd | SIREN FED GERM NY
Floyd | TOOTH BEST CORE
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "perhaps so"
		AWatt says, "PINK IN WINTER FELL must be a popular fashion line among the Westeros set."
		Roger says, "WE DO NOT DOFF"
		DavidW says, "I guess we can walk around the outside of the building or go in."
		AWatt says, "I'm keen to get at those shops myself"
		DavidW says, "Unless there's a secret entrance to the batcave under the trash receptacle."
		DavidW says, "yeah, I wanna see a shop"
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/34
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "This sort of game tends to reward wallowing, so move along at your own pace"
Stew says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/35
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/36
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/37
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a scrap of paper
Floyd |   some heavy-duty work gloves
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |   a driver's license
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "forgot we took the bag and gloves, silly me"
Stew says (to Floyd), "x gloves" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/38
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | The gloves are large, stiff to the touch, and rather grimy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "search gloves" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/39
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "wear the gloves? *gulp* might be cursed"
		Stew says, "oh that's right this isn't NetHack"
DavidW I expect a live wire or something where we'll need the gloves. Or maybe an evil rope to climb. 		
Stew says (to Floyd), "put gloves in bag" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/40
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT GLOVES IN BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the heavy-duty work gloves in the shopping bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "looks like we took the driver's license"
Stew says (to Floyd), "get wallet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/41
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "open wallet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/42
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the wallet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "put license in wallet" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/43
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT LICENSE IN WALLET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the driver's license in your wallet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "close wallet then put wallet in pocket" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/45
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE WALLET THEN PUT WALLET IN POCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the wallet.
Floyd |
Floyd | A fat raccoon, busily sniffing around beneath the bushes, pauses for a
Floyd | moment to eye you warily, then gives a little hop and scampers away.
Floyd | You put the wallet in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "put paper in pocker" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/45
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT PAPER IN POCKER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "put paper in pocket" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/46
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT PAPER IN POCKET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the scrap of paper in your pocket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt says, "this raccoon is giving me the creeps"
		Stew says, "it's doing the same thing all the time though right"
		AWatt says, "yah"
Stew says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/47
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |     some heavy-duty work gloves
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "okay now we are got our possesions sorted, onward!"
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/48
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/49
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Making the wallet not show up in inventory like that is moderately tricky in several languages"
JoshuaH hopes to cash in on automotive merchandise. 		DavidW says, "I've anagrammed SORE VENAL COAL DUST into LUNAR STOVES COLDAE."
		Stew asks, "oh really?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/50
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a sheet of plate glass. What can I say? The OPEN/CLOSED sign
Floyd | isn't very interesting either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through window" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/51
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt asks, "Something Wicked?"
		Stew says, "the northwest corner"
Stew says (to Floyd), "x corner" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/51
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "i smell a trap"
		DavidW says, "It's from Macbeth. 'Something wicked this way comes.'"
		DavidW says, "But here, 'Something Wicked' could mean a lingerie store."
		DavidW says, "yes, check out the shadowy recess."
Stew says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  In the Niche                                           2/52
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the Niche
Floyd | You are standing in a shallow recess in the west wall of the chilly
Floyd | passage. From here, the main part of the passage lies to the east and
Floyd | southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I suppose this might be a hiding place from a security guard?"
		AWatt says, "Mmm."
		Stew says, "seems like a good place to hide, something we could use later"
		Stew says, "or maybe it's a good place to hide our stuff from someone trying to steal it"
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/53
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x legend" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/53
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LEGEND
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Should we turn on VERBOSE?"
		Stew says, "perhaps we should save now"
		Stew says, "yes, and turn on verbose"
Stew says (to Floyd), "verbose" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/53
Floyd |
Floyd | > VERBOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Not Just an Ordinary Ballerina is now in its "verbose" mode, which
Floyd | always gives long descriptions of locations (even if you've been there
Floyd | before).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew asks, "how does the saving system work and will it work?"
		Stew says, "i forget"
DavidW clears the save counter. 		says, "Just 'push save' in the toyshop, not to Floyd."
Stew says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Stew says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/53
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/54
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Something Wicked door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/55
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "swear" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/55
Floyd |
Floyd | > SWEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt asks, "what about the office door?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sign" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/56
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SIGN
Floyd |
Floyd | The letters of the "Something Wicked" sign are rendered in such a way
Floyd | that they appear to be melting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x office" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/56
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OFFICE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "mellttting"
Stew says (to Floyd), "open office" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/56
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN OFFICE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "cheap cop-out there"
		AWatt says, "bizarre"
Stew says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/57
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | This cheerless, windowless, functional little room is lighted solely
Floyd | by a bank of 16 small black-and-white television monitors arranged in
Floyd | a 4x4 matrix on the north wall, above a broad desk. Mounted on the
Floyd | wall beside the doorway in the east wall is a gray metal box. A stout,
Floyd | balding security guard dressed in a gray uniform is slumped sideways
Floyd | in a chair, one elbow planted on the desk, fast asleep. The guard's
Floyd | chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm, and he snores faintly through
Floyd | his mustache.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "no, you probably just need to go west"
		DavidW says, "Old school games didn't already have facade objects."
		DavidW says, "er didn't always"
		DavidW says, "let sleeping guards lie."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x guard" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/58
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The guard is fast asleep. His face is broad-nosed and rather ruddy,
Floyd | and his drooping mustache is of a sandy hue. His gray uniform is
Floyd | frayed at the cuffs, and could do with a laundering. Fastened to the
Floyd | black leather belt around his waist are a nightstick and a holstered
Floyd | revolver. On the desk, almost beneath the guard's elbow, is a brass
Floyd | key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "gulp"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x monitors" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/59
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MONITORS
Floyd |
Floyd | The assorted grainy images on the 16 small black-and-white monitors
Floyd | flicker fitfully. They're arrayed in a 4x4 matrix, which looks like
Floyd | this:
Floyd |
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd | | M | | M | | M | | O |
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd | | O | | O | | S | | S |
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd | | O | | M | | O | | M |
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---

		AWatt says, "hoo boy"

Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd | | O | | O | | S | | M |
Floyd |  ---   ---   ---   ---
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The monitors indicated with the letter 'M' are showing reruns of
Floyd | "Mayberry R.F.D." Monitors showing a static surveillance image of a
Floyd | location within the shopping center are indicated by the letter 'S'.
Floyd | Others (indicated by 'O') are dark.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mounted below the monitors are three buttons and a four-position
Floyd | rotary dial. One of the buttons is green, one red, and one yellow.
Floyd | [For more on how to use the monitors, type "INFO ON MONITORS".]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "a horrible complicated puzzle"
		Stew says, "ow my brain"
		Stew asks, "only three monitors showing surveillance?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x monitor 7" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/59
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MONITOR 7
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the TV monitors,
Floyd | colored buttons, and rotary dial.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This lag is gonna kill me."
		AWatt asks, "Will we need to use these to track guard movements or something?"
		DavidW says (to AWatt), "I don't know."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "info on monitors" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/60
Floyd |
Floyd | > INFO ON MONITORS
Floyd |
Floyd | To learn more about the image on any particular monitor, you can refer
Floyd | to it by its row (letter a through d) and column (number 1 through 4)
Floyd | -- "EXAMINE A3", for instance, reports what's showing on the third
Floyd | monitor in the top row. If you'd prefer a more compact display, you
Floyd | can type "SMALL MONITORS". To restore the large display, type "LARGE
Floyd | MONITORS". To restore the monitors to their starting arrangement, type
Floyd | "RESET MONITORS".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "This is almost as bad as a rope"
		DavidW says, "Regardless, these monitors are obviously important, but maybe not now."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x b3" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/61
Floyd |
Floyd | > X B3
Floyd |
Floyd | On the monitor, you see the exterior of a shop window with a lighted
Floyd | display case visible in the window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x b4" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/62
Floyd |
Floyd | > X B4
Floyd |
Floyd | On the monitor, you see a railing and three doors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x case" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/62
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x display case" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/62
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DISPLAY CASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x d3" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/63
Floyd |
Floyd | > X D3
Floyd |
Floyd | On the monitor, you see an outdoor area at the base of a power pole.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/64
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The box on the wall is about a foot high and eight inches wide. It's
Floyd | painted gunmetal gray, and has a door with a brass keyhole on the
Floyd | front; at present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew asks, "which key unlocks which lock?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "x key" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/65
Floyd |
Floyd | > X KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's an ordinary brass key, the teeth shiny from use, on an
Floyd | official-looking oversize key ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That's probably a box of keys to everywhere."
		Stew says, "right."
		DavidW says, "and yeah, the brass key likely unlocks it."
		DavidW says, "But I bet if we just grab the key, he'll wake up and grab or shoot us."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dial" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/66
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DIAL
Floyd |
Floyd | The rotary dial is currently set to 1.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x buttons" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/67
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BUTTONS
Floyd |
Floyd | The buttons mounted below the TV monitors are a lot alike -- fat and
Floyd | round. The button on the left is red, the one in the center is green,
Floyd | and the one on the right is yellow.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. I don't really want to fiddle with the monitors just yet."
		DavidW says, "I like knowing the lay of the land first."
		Stew says, "i bet if we do anything too funny to the monitors he wakes up"
		Stew asks, "what's the next move then?"
		DavidW says, "well, if there's sound at all."
		DavidW says, "Since we've saved, we might as well see what happens if we take the key."
Stew says (to Floyd), "get key" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/68
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | The guard's elbow is firmly planted on the key ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "a ha, that's the catch to it"
		Stew says, "somehow we have to get the key off the ring without waking him up"
		DavidW says, "(argh lag again)"
		DavidW says, "I really wish I wasn't lagging."
		Stew says, "lag is no fun"
		DavidW says, "Maybe the guard needs to be jostled somehow, something that doesn't wake him but slightly irritating so he moves in his sleep."
		DavidW says, "Like a perfume, maybe."
		DavidW says, "Or try tickling his moustache. I dunno."
		DavidW says, "But I suspect we ought to explore first."
		DavidW says, "A solution might become more obvious once we know what we have to work with."
		AWatt asks, "I think we can go further down the Chilly Passage. South is it?"
		DavidW says, "East from the office, then south, yes."
Stew says (to Floyd), "e then s" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/70
Floyd |
Floyd | > E THEN S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "i sense a game within a game coming on"
		Stew asks, "colossal adventure?"
		Stew says, "more like colossal cave adventure"
		AWatt says, "I believe we're on camera here (the railing, three sides)."
		Stew says, "gulp"
		DavidW says, "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE is the solution to 'SORE VENAL COAL DUST'."
		AWatt says, "Bam."
		DavidW says, "Railing, three doors, it said."
		Stew asks, "not on camera?"
		DavidW says, "Also, DOCK THEME IS WING => SOMETHING WICKED"
		Stew says, "very good."
Stew says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/71
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Colossal Adventure door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "open colossal" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/72
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN COLOSSAL
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "okay so i get the picture, all the shops are locked"
		Stew says, "most of them anyway"
		Jota says, "Well, it is Sunday."
		Stew says, "har har har!"
		DavidW says, "There might be one open store. You never know."
		Stew says, "Yes, there's always that one thing you never know about that makes you have to check every single one."
		DavidW says, "Exactly."
		DavidW says, "Please explore more."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x tree" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/73
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | The Christmas tree is quite tall, and dominates the center of the
Floyd | Arcade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "search tree" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/74
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | The tree is too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/75
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Center of the Arcade
Floyd | The center of the arcade is open to the deep gray sky, and surrounded
Floyd | on the east, north, and west by railings. In each railing is an
Floyd | opening through which you can pass. The south end of the arcade is
Floyd | occupied by a large Christmas tree, and next to the Christmas tree is
Floyd | a boxy object that looks rather like a fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x object" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/76
Floyd |
Floyd | > X OBJECT
Floyd |
Floyd | The misshapen hearth stands about four feet high and five feet wide.
Floyd | It looks to have been made out of a cardboard box. If it's intended to
Floyd | give the arcade a cheerful, homey air, the hearth is a dismal failure.
Floyd | It seems to have been painted by schoolchildren equipped with very
Floyd | inadequate brushes and a supply of paint that had already begun to
Floyd | clot. Even the stockings 'hung from the mantel with care' are painted
Floyd | on, as are the burning logs. One flap of cardboard is folded down to
Floyd | the ground to make a narrow flat area in front of the hearth. Possibly
Floyd | this is intended to be a place to stack extra logs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "that's pitiful"
Stew says (to Floyd), "move box" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/77
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The hearth seems to be fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "lift flap"
Stew says (to Floyd), "lift flap" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/77
Floyd |
Floyd | > LIFT FLAP
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "kick box" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/78
Floyd |
Floyd | > KICK BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get box" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/79
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not exactly portable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew asks, "a cardboard box that isn't portable?"
		DavidW asks, "stand on box?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "stand on box" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/80
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND ON BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "ugh"
		DavidW says, "hm. How odd."
		Stew says, "yeah, to go to all that trouble to describe it in detail"
		DavidW says, "Perhaps we zap a letter remover at it to get a heart."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x flat" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/80
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FLAT
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x area" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/80
Floyd |
Floyd | > X AREA
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x logs" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/81
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LOGS
Floyd |
Floyd | The misshapen hearth stands about four feet high and five feet wide.
Floyd | It looks to have been made out of a cardboard box. If it's intended to
Floyd | give the arcade a cheerful, homey air, the hearth is a dismal failure.
Floyd | It seems to have been painted by schoolchildren equipped with very
Floyd | inadequate brushes and a supply of paint that had already begun to
Floyd | clot. Even the stockings 'hung from the mantel with care' are painted
Floyd | on, as are the burning logs. One flap of cardboard is folded down to
Floyd | the ground to make a narrow flat area in front of the hearth. Possibly
Floyd | this is intended to be a place to stack extra logs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "steam's coming out of my ears"
		Stew says, "not really"
Stew says (to Floyd), "search pine" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/82
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH PINE
Floyd |
Floyd | There's quite a lot of stuff on the tree -- tinsel and glass balls and
Floyd | candy canes and little angels with trumpets. Doubtless it would be
Floyd | even more impressive if the tree were lighted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x lights" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/83
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LIGHTS
Floyd |
Floyd | There seem to be some lights interwoven among the ornaments. It's a
Floyd | shame they're not lighted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x plug" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/83
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PLUG
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x cord" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/83
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CORD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Remember the code from the paper."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x paper" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/84
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a crumpled scrap of paper, with scrawled writing on one side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "read paper" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/85
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ PAPER
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to pick up the scrap of paper in order to read it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "There's probably no electricity to the tree right now."
		DavidW says, "Try 'climb tree' while we're here."
Stew says (to Floyd), "climb tree" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/86
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | You'd surely tip it over. And even if the prospect of vandalism
Floyd | doesn't bother you, the noise would likely wake the guard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "not likely"
		Stew says, "tip it over I mean"
		Stew says, "if it's as large as it says it is"
		DavidW asks, "It looks like we can't go south past the tree?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/87
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no door there, only the Christmas tree.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "handy can't go message, for once"
		Stew says, "north is back the way we came"
		DavidW says, "I guess west or east next."
		Stew says, "east and west it is"
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/88
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT". It
Floyd | catches your eye that the door of "PARK YOUR TOT" is standing slightly
Floyd | ajar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "uh oh somebody parked their tot"
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/89
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Children's Play Area
Floyd | This small, cheerfully painted room is evidently used by parents who
Floyd | want to leave their children in a safe, supervised environment while
Floyd | shopping. The door is to the west, and in addition to the large shop
Floyd | window beside the door there is a window in the east wall. The walls
Floyd | are done in broad swaths of primary colors, and a large plastic
Floyd | climbing toy fills much of the floor space. On the south wall is a
Floyd | poster with some dancing musical notes, and on the north wall is an
Floyd | old-fashioned blackboard. The room is very cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an adorable teddy bear lying here waiting for somebody to
Floyd | come along and cherish him.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, multicolored, flat, roundish lump of plastic is lying near
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see some alphabet blocks and a wad of clay here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "PORK ROY TAUT => PARK YOUR TOT"
		Stew says, "ding, ding, ding, ding!"
Stew says (to Floyd), "x plastic" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/90
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PLASTIC
Floyd |
Floyd | A limp lump of red and yellow plastic. The plastic is surprisingly
Floyd | thick and tough beneath your fingers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/91
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The teddy bear is about two feet tall and soft to the touch, with
Floyd | thick dark brown fur, stubby legs, a button nose, and an amiable
Floyd | expression on his stitched-on face. You feel quite comforted just
Floyd | looking at him -- as if nothing could possibly harm you. Around his
Floyd | neck is a name-tag, which announces to the world that his name is
Floyd | Aleister Growley.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt says, "rimshot"
		AWatt asks, "can we cherish him?"
		DavidW says, "That's a disturbing name for a teddy bear."
		DavidW says, "hug the bear"
Stew says (to Floyd), "cherish bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/91
Floyd |
Floyd | > CHERISH BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "rats"
Stew says (to Floyd), "hug bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/92
Floyd |
Floyd | > HUG BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can hug the teddy bear, you'll need to pick it up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/93
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that your hands are quite numb. You are unable to
Floyd | get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get gloves" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/94
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that your hands are quite numb. You are unable to
Floyd | get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/95
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get gloves" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/96
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "wear gloves" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/97
Floyd |
Floyd | > WEAR GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | You put on the heavy-duty work gloves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/98
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Children's Play Area
Floyd | This small, cheerfully painted room is evidently used by parents who
Floyd | want to leave their children in a safe, supervised environment while
Floyd | shopping. The door is to the west, and in addition to the large shop
Floyd | window beside the door there is a window in the east wall. The walls
Floyd | are done in broad swaths of primary colors, and a large plastic
Floyd | climbing toy fills much of the floor space. On the south wall is a
Floyd | poster with some dancing musical notes, and on the north wall is an
Floyd | old-fashioned blackboard. The room is very cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an adorable teddy bear lying here waiting for somebody to
Floyd | come along and cherish him.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, multicolored, flat, roundish lump of plastic is lying near
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see some alphabet blocks and a wad of clay here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hug bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/99
Floyd |
Floyd | > HUG BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can hug the teddy bear, you'll need to pick it up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "get bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/100
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that even wearing the gloves, your hands are quite
Floyd | numb. You are unable to get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "auuuughghghgh"
		AWatt says, "BOO"
		DavidW asks, "Is the window open?"
		Stew says, "that's not physically possible"
Stew says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/101
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The window affords a view of the gloomy, snow-smudged landscape to the
Floyd | east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "close window" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/102
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can close.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew feels like swearing.
		DavidW asks, "So why is the room so friggin' cold?"
		Stew says, "magic"
		Stew says, "i don't know"
		DavidW says, "I suppose this is the room where we can't pick up anything."
		Stew says, "typical 80's thing"
		DavidW says, "Unless we have a parka or something."
		AWatt says, "we're wearing a jacket"
		DavidW says, "Obviously it's not warm enough."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take blocks" 		AWatt says, "indeed"

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/103
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE BLOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that even wearing the gloves, your hands are quite
Floyd | numb. You are unable to get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Make sure never ever to drop anything in here."
		Stew says, "it's colder than the outside"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shop window" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/103
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHOP WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the Park Your Tot
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x poster" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/104
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The poster, which has seen better days, is evidently intended to give
Floyd | youngsters the idea that music is fun. It features a five-line musical
Floyd | staff that winds like a river among fat pie-shaped wedges of color. At
Floyd | one time the colors must have been bright, but the poster has by now
Floyd | faded so badly that it's hard to be sure what they originally were.
Floyd | The pie-slice on the left is a sort of aggressive lemony beige, the
Floyd | one in the center might best be described as rusty pumpkin, and the
Floyd | one on the right is a blotchy mix of pea-soup and turgid aquamarine.
Floyd | On the staff are some dancing notes with little smiles. Above the
Floyd | staff is the admonition "Our little friends love cheerful tunes!", and
Floyd | along the bottom is a line of lyrics: "It's as easy as one, two,
Floyd | three...."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/105
Floyd |
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | Fa-la-la-la-laah, la-la-la laaaaahh!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "those kind of posters made me ill when i was a child"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blackboard" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/106
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BLACKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The black chalkboard -- and where could it have come from? surely
Floyd | these things are seen nowadays only in museums -- is quite smudged and
Floyd | dusty. Some numbers have been written on it. There is also a slogan of
Floyd | some sort scrawled in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "read blackboard" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/107
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ BLACKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a nearly illegible slogan of some sort scrawled in one corner,
Floyd | and two rather peculiar-looking equations that have been written out
Floyd | in large, well-formed numerals:
Floyd |
Floyd |      11426    34041
Floyd |     + 6505   + 2431
Floyd |      -----    -----
Floyd |      21234    42022
Floyd |
Floyd | Even given the rusty state of your arithmetic skills, these sums seem
Floyd | obviously wrong. You find yourself wondering what sort of misguided
Floyd | teacher this glorified babysitting service has been able to hire, and
Floyd | make a mental note never to drop little Samantha off here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read blackboard" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/108
Floyd |
Floyd | > READ BLACKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a nearly illegible slogan of some sort scrawled in one corner,
Floyd | and two rather peculiar-looking equations that have been written out
Floyd | in large, well-formed numerals:
Floyd |
Floyd |      11426    34041
Floyd |     + 6505   + 2431
Floyd |      -----    -----
Floyd |      21234    42022
Floyd |
Floyd | Even given the rusty state of your arithmetic skills, these sums seem
Floyd | obviously wrong. You find yourself wondering what sort of misguided
Floyd | teacher this glorified babysitting service has been able to hire, and
Floyd | make a mental note never to drop little Samantha off here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew asks, "is this what the electricity code?"
		Stew asks, "or is it something else?"
		DavidW says, "This is something else."
		Stew says, "perhaps we need to turn the power on and get the heat on"
		DavidW says, "maybe"
		DavidW says, "Or maybe we need a hot water bottle. Who knows."
Stew says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/109
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Children's Play Area
Floyd | This small, cheerfully painted room is evidently used by parents who
Floyd | want to leave their children in a safe, supervised environment while
Floyd | shopping. The door is to the west, and in addition to the large shop
Floyd | window beside the door there is a window in the east wall. The walls
Floyd | are done in broad swaths of primary colors, and a large plastic
Floyd | climbing toy fills much of the floor space. On the south wall is a
Floyd | poster with some dancing musical notes, and on the north wall is an
Floyd | old-fashioned blackboard. The room is very cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an adorable teddy bear lying here waiting for somebody to
Floyd | come along and cherish him.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, multicolored, flat, roundish lump of plastic is lying near
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see some alphabet blocks and a wad of clay here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "the climbing toy: examine and climb it."
Stew says (to Floyd), "x blocks" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/110
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BLOCKS
Floyd |
Floyd | The blocks are made of plastic in various bright colors, and have
Floyd | rounded edges and corners. Each block is inscribed with six letters of
Floyd | the alphabet, one on each side, and there are six blocks in all,
Floyd | fastened together with a flexible plastic chain whose obvious
Floyd | function, other than possibly for teething, is to keep them from being
Floyd | separated from one another. The letters on the six blocks, in no
Floyd | particular order, are as follows:
Floyd |
Floyd |    EULDCG
Floyd |    GNWANI
Floyd |    CYMTIS
Floyd |    ERRAPI
Floyd |    NEFSAT
Floyd |    CEARTS
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "more puzzles"
		DavidW asks, "CUDGLE AWNING MYSTIC... ?"
		DavidW asks (of RAPIER), "FASTEN TRACES?"
		Stew says, "climb toy"
Stew says (to Floyd), "climb toy" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/111
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | You weigh too much. You'd surely break it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "x toy" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/112
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | Given the rounded edges and the thick soft pad on the floor beneath
Floyd | it, the colorful plastic climbing toy is probably quite safe for
Floyd | youngsters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toy" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/113
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | Given the rounded edges and the thick soft pad on the floor beneath
Floyd | it, the colorful plastic climbing toy is probably quite safe for
Floyd | youngsters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push toy west" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/114
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH TOY WEST
Floyd |
Floyd | Is that the best you can think of?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "insulting us now"
		DavidW says, "I'm thinking, if we're on the roof and have to jump down into the arcade, this might break our fall."
Stew says (to Floyd), "search toy" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/115
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH TOY
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push nose" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/115
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I guess we can't do much more here right now."
		DavidW says, "Maybe find a magnifying glass for the slogan."
		Stew says, "i am suddenly getting considerably sleepy"
		DavidW says, "The second sum makes sense in base 5."
		Stew says, "a ha base 5"
		Stew says, "and the other one"
		Stew asks, "try a different base on that one perhaps?"
		DavidW says, "base 7"
		Stew says, "so... 75? base 75? not sure what that signifies"
		Stew says, "12? base 12? a key to some other numbers? maybe it has something to do with the blocks"
		DavidW says, "I suppose it'll make sense later."
		DavidW says, "I saw nothing in that room to use any numbers on."
		Stew says, "suppose that's true"
		Stew says, "i mean i think you're right"
		Stew asks, "well we've been at this for about two hours I think now?"
		DavidW says, "No doubt, a Christmas elf squirrel girl will request help from a friendly shopper that knows hexadecimal."
		DavidW says, "yes, it's been two hours. And we've barely seen the depths of this game."
		DavidW says, "The marquee indicated at least 3 floors of shops, and we've only seen one shop plus two doors to other shops so far."
		Stew asks, "one kind of has to be thorough with a game this involved, though, right?"
		DavidW says, "oh yes, I think so."
		DavidW says, "Perhaps this should be the game I play during the next week."
		Stew says, "Maybe. This would've made a good Infocom game"
		DavidW says, "hm, It's not quite at Infocom's standards. And it's too interested in geeky stuff like anagrams and weird math."
		Stew says, "Yeah, the weird math, man."
inky arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
olethros arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
olethros says, "what ho" 		DavidW says (to inky-and-olethros), "welcome"
		Stew says, "We're playing a weird game where right now, you can't pick up a teddy bear because the room is too cold... yes the room is colder than the outside."
		Stew says, "We don't know why yet."
		olethros says, "hm"
olethros says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/116
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Children's Play Area
Floyd | This small, cheerfully painted room is evidently used by parents who
Floyd | want to leave their children in a safe, supervised environment while
Floyd | shopping. The door is to the west, and in addition to the large shop
Floyd | window beside the door there is a window in the east wall. The walls
Floyd | are done in broad swaths of primary colors, and a large plastic
Floyd | climbing toy fills much of the floor space. On the south wall is a
Floyd | poster with some dancing musical notes, and on the north wall is an
Floyd | old-fashioned blackboard. The room is very cold.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is an adorable teddy bear lying here waiting for somebody to
Floyd | come along and cherish him.
Floyd |
Floyd | A large, multicolored, flat, roundish lump of plastic is lying near
Floyd | the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can also see some alphabet blocks and a wad of clay here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros asks, "I assume you can climb?"
olethros says (to Floyd), "cherish bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/116
Floyd |
Floyd | > CHERISH BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "nope, says we're too heavy"
olethros says (to Floyd), "hug bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/117
Floyd |
Floyd | > HUG BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you can hug the teddy bear, you'll need to pick it up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we need to explore more, but it sounded as if Stew wanted to quit."
		DavidW says, "We cannot."
		DavidW says, "er We cannot climb."
		olethros asks, "what is unexamined?"
		DavidW says, "The clay. We never examined the clay."
		Stew says, "I'm just very sleepy for some reason."
olethros says (to Floyd), "x clay" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/118
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CLAY
Floyd |
Floyd | A soft, misshapen, grayish wad of modelling clay about the size of
Floyd | your fist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "get it" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/119
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IT
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that even wearing the gloves, your hands are quite
Floyd | numb. You are unable to get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "I didn't think I would be sharp enough for this kind of game."
olethros says (to Floyd), "get bear" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/120
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BEAR
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that even wearing the gloves, your hands are quite
Floyd | numb. You are unable to get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We can't take *anything* in this room."
olethros says (to Floyd), "rub hands" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/120
Floyd |
Floyd | > RUB HANDS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open window" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/121
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is so cold that even wearing the gloves, your hands are quite
Floyd | numb. You are unable to get a grip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's just the nature of the room."
olethros says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/121
Floyd |
Floyd | > DANCE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "lump" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/121
Floyd |
Floyd | > LUMP
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "lump of plastic" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/121
Floyd |
Floyd | > LUMP OF PLASTIC
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x plastic" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/122
Floyd |
Floyd | > X PLASTIC
Floyd |
Floyd | A limp lump of red and yellow plastic. The plastic is surprisingly
Floyd | thick and tough beneath your fingers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros asks, "what is that?"
		DavidW says, "No idea."
		DavidW says, "Maybe a weather balloon."
olethros says (to Floyd), "x poster" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/123
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The poster, which has seen better days, is evidently intended to give
Floyd | youngsters the idea that music is fun. It features a five-line musical
Floyd | staff that winds like a river among fat pie-shaped wedges of color. At
Floyd | one time the colors must have been bright, but the poster has by now
Floyd | faded so badly that it's hard to be sure what they originally were.
Floyd | The pie-slice on the left is a sort of aggressive lemony beige, the
Floyd | one in the center might best be described as rusty pumpkin, and the
Floyd | one on the right is a blotchy mix of pea-soup and turgid aquamarine.
Floyd | On the staff are some dancing notes with little smiles. Above the
Floyd | staff is the admonition "Our little friends love cheerful tunes!", and
Floyd | along the bottom is a line of lyrics: "It's as easy as one, two,
Floyd | three...."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/124
Floyd |
Floyd | > SING
Floyd |
Floyd | Fa-la-la-la-laah, la-la-la laaaaahh!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We tried all that."
		olethros says, "I am out of ideas"
		Stew asks, "Did you see the weird chalkboard yet?"
olethros says (to Floyd), "kick lump" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/125
Floyd |
Floyd | > KICK LUMP
Floyd |
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "chalkboard" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/125
Floyd |
Floyd | > CHALKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x chalkboard" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/126
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CHALKBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The black chalkboard -- and where could it have come from? surely
Floyd | these things are seen nowadays only in museums -- is quite smudged and
Floyd | dusty. Some numbers have been written on it. There is also a slogan of
Floyd | some sort scrawled in the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we need to explore elsewhere."
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/127
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | That's a wall, not a door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/128
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | That's a window, not a door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  The Children's Play Area                               2/129
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | That's a wall, not a door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/130
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I suppose down would be to the washrooms? Maybe?"
		olethros asks, "no idea. How about the adventure?"
olethros says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/131
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | As good-looking as ever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/132
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   some heavy-duty work gloves (being worn)
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "Most doors are locked"
		DavidW says, "Locked door."
		DavidW says, "I'm lagging badly. Forgive the late answers."
		olethros says, "ok, just drive to the next location"
		DavidW says, "I can't drive while lagged."
Stew says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/133
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/134
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Center of the Arcade
Floyd | The center of the arcade is open to the deep gray sky, and surrounded
Floyd | on the east, north, and west by railings. In each railing is an
Floyd | opening through which you can pass. The south end of the arcade is
Floyd | occupied by a large Christmas tree, and next to the Christmas tree is
Floyd | a boxy object that looks rather like a fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/135
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
Stew arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
Stew says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/136
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Colossal Adventure door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Stew says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/137
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "this looks rather scary down here"
		olethros says, "all for darkness"
		DavidW says, "It's Christmas. No monsters."
		olethros asks, "but maybe go east first?"
		AWatt asks, "unmarked door could contain heat/power source?"
Stew says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/138
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "probably a grue in here"
		Stew says, "or equivalent"
		olethros says, "oh, hm, ok, then"
		Stew says, "whoever made this game seems to have a love for 80's style stuff"
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/139
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Narrow Passage                                         2/140
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Narrow Passage
Floyd | This narrow, high-ceilinged passageway is faintly illuminated by an
Floyd | arched opening to the south, and a cold breeze is coming from that
Floyd | direction. If there's a light bulb in the ceiling here, it's burnt
Floyd | out, leaving the walls on the east and west sides of the passage
Floyd | nothing but inky blackness. To the north, you can just make out the
Floyd | lower end of a flight of stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Building                                    2/141
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Building
Floyd | The ungainly bulk of the shopping center looms over you to the north,
Floyd | broken here by an open archway. Dirty snow is piled high against the
Floyd | building, and the wind has a chill bite. A path extends along the base
Floyd | of the building to the west, and another path strikes off through the
Floyd | leafless trees to the southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Stew says, "old school if"
		olethros says, "ok outside"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search snow" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Building                                    2/141
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH SNOW
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I kinda want to see more of the inside first."
		olethros says, "seems to be dark .. but ok"
olethros says (to Floyd), "in" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Building                                    2/142
Floyd |
Floyd | > IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Wandering around in the countryside will accomplish little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Narrow Passage                                         2/143
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Narrow Passage
Floyd | This narrow, high-ceilinged passageway is faintly illuminated by an
Floyd | arched opening to the south, and a cold breeze is coming from that
Floyd | direction. If there's a light bulb in the ceiling here, it's burnt
Floyd | out, leaving the walls on the east and west sides of the passage
Floyd | nothing but inky blackness. To the north, you can just make out the
Floyd | lower end of a flight of stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "get bulb" 		

Floyd ]  Narrow Passage                                         2/143
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BULB
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Narrow Passage                                         2/144
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You explore the east wall with your hands, but find it unbroken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/145
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | As you grope along the wall, your hands find a gap, through which you
Floyd | stumble.
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We didn't see all of the mall."
		olethros says, "ok I think we need a light source"
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Narrow Passage                                         2/146
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Narrow Passage
Floyd | This narrow, high-ceilinged passageway is faintly illuminated by an
Floyd | arched opening to the south, and a cold breeze is coming from that
Floyd | direction. If there's a light bulb in the ceiling here, it's burnt
Floyd | out, leaving the walls on the east and west sides of the passage
Floyd | nothing but inky blackness. To the north, you can just make out the
Floyd | lower end of a flight of stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/147
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/148
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/149
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "anything else we need to explore here? if not, out for a lightsource"
		Stew says, "there are quite a few doorways we haven't tried yet"
		Stew says, "we haven't been upstairs"
		Stew says, "to the top floor i mean"
		DavidW says, "Not down here, but in the main mall."
		DavidW says, "There's three floors of shops and we haven't found stairs or elevator."
		DavidW says, "Seriously, we've barely begun this game."
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/150
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/151
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no shop door in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/152
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/153
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no shop door in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/154
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "west"
		DavidW says, "We haven't been west of Arcade North"
		DavidW says, "We also haven't been west of Arcade Center."
		Stew says, "i just spilled water on my desk"
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/155
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/156
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/157
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Inkwell Fine Print door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open inkwell" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/158
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN INKWELL
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/159
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Your Gorgeous Self door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open self" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/160
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SELF
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x window" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/161
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a sheet of plate glass. What can I say? The OPEN/CLOSED sign
Floyd | isn't very interesting either.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "look through window" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/162
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "hm"
olethros says (to Floyd), "x small sign" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/162
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SMALL SIGN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open gray" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/162
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN GRAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/163
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/164
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "n"
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/165
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/166
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/167
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Something Wicked door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open something" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/168
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SOMETHING
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open office" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/168
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN OFFICE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/169
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | This cheerless, windowless, functional little room is lighted solely
Floyd | by a bank of 16 small black-and-white television monitors arranged in
Floyd | a 4x4 matrix on the north wall, above a broad desk. Mounted on the
Floyd | wall beside the doorway in the east wall is a gray metal box. A stout,
Floyd | balding security guard dressed in a gray uniform is slumped sideways
Floyd | in a chair, one elbow planted on the desk, fast asleep. The guard's
Floyd | chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm, and he snores faintly through
Floyd | his mustache.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "aha"
		DavidW says, "We've been in the office; there's no actual door for it."
		DavidW says, "Also, with the lag, you're going a bit quickly for me now. The text jumps in huge page dumps."
		DavidW says, "We think the brass key under the guard's elbow unlocks the box on the wall, where there's probably more keys."
		Stew says, "well I pretty much finished drying my desk off"
		DavidW says, "I'd like to see the marquee outside the mall and see if it's changed at all in response to our progress."
		DavidW asks, "hm. Is the guard's chair one on casters? Can we gently pull or push his chair?"
olethros says (to Floyd), "push guard" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/170
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH GUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | It would be safer not to wake him.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "get keys" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/170
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KEYS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x guard" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/171
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GUARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The guard is fast asleep. His face is broad-nosed and rather ruddy,
Floyd | and his drooping mustache is of a sandy hue. His gray uniform is
Floyd | frayed at the cuffs, and could do with a laundering. Fastened to the
Floyd | black leather belt around his waist are a nightstick and a holstered
Floyd | revolver. On the desk, almost beneath the guard's elbow, is a brass
Floyd | key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "*almost* beneath the elbow"
olethros says (to Floyd), "get key" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/172
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | The guard's elbow is firmly planted on the key ring.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW I suggested chair, not guard, plus examine the chair. 		olethros says, "oh"
olethros says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/172
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, okay then"
		DavidW says, "I still advocate exploring."
		olethros says, "ok"
olethros says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  Security Office                                        2/173
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Security Office
Floyd | This cheerless, windowless, functional little room is lighted solely
Floyd | by a bank of 16 small black-and-white television monitors arranged in
Floyd | a 4x4 matrix on the north wall, above a broad desk. Mounted on the
Floyd | wall beside the doorway in the east wall is a gray metal box. A stout,
Floyd | balding security guard dressed in a gray uniform is slumped sideways
Floyd | in a chair, one elbow planted on the desk, fast asleep. The guard's
Floyd | chest rises and falls in a slow rhythm, and he snores faintly through
Floyd | his mustache.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/174
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  In the Niche                                           2/175
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In the Niche
Floyd | You are standing in a shallow recess in the west wall of the chilly
Floyd | passage. From here, the main part of the passage lies to the east and
Floyd | southeast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/176
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/177
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros asks, "ok, out again?"
olethros says (to Floyd), "x marquee" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/178
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MARQUEE
Floyd |
Floyd | Evidently this board was put up to give directions to the various
Floyd | shops. Most of the names seem to have become quite jumbled, however.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "You found stairs up to the west of the arcade."
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/179
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/180
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no shop door in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/181
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Also, we should go north of the west of arcade"
olethros says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/182
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/183
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | A quick visual survey shows that the upper concourse is in the shape
Floyd | of an open square. Ignoring the shop doors, it looks rather like this:
Floyd |
Floyd |            |    |
Floyd | ------------    ------------
Floyd | |        north side        |
Floyd | |      --------------      |
Floyd | |      |            |      |
Floyd | | west |  _         | east |
Floyd | | side |||\         | side |
Floyd | |      |            |      |
Floyd | |      --------------      |
Floyd | |        south side        |
Floyd | ----------------------------
Floyd |
Floyd | To reach the north side from the west side, for example, you need to
Floyd | travel north. But to return from the north side to the west side, you
Floyd | would travel west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
olethros says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/184
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/185
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/186
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out on the center of the arcade to the
Floyd | north; the top of a Christmas tree pokes up past the railing. On the
Floyd | south wall is a large and rather cutesy cartoon poster of a prancing
Floyd | reindeer. There's a door in the southwest corner beneath a sign that
Floyd | reads "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU", and another in the southeast corner
Floyd | next to a sign that declares it "THE BOOT SECTOR". You can also
Floyd | proceed east or west along the concourse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/187
Floyd |
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Here's Looking At You door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open here" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/188
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN HERE
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open the" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/188
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN THE
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to open?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "open boot" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/189
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOOT
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/190
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below. Above a door in the east wall is a sign that reads "BIG
Floyd | ON BALLS AND RACQUETS", to the northeast another door whose sign reads
Floyd | "MY GREEN FRIENDS", and to the southeast a door whose sign says "THE
Floyd | BOOT SECTOR".
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go north or south from here, around a corner to one of the
Floyd | east-west walkways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  North Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/191
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below, where you can see a large Christmas tree. You can
Floyd | continue along the passage to the east or west, or pass through an
Floyd | open archway that leads north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/192
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dreary Passage
Floyd | This north-south passageway is distinguished mainly by the boarded-up
Floyd | doors and windows in the east and west walls, and by the fact that a
Floyd | good deal of trash has blown in from somewhere and not been swept up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x trash" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/192
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "walls" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/192
Floyd |
Floyd | > WALLS
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/193
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The door there is boarded over.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/194
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East End of the Upper Promenade
Floyd | A long, roofed-over promenade extends westward from here. To the
Floyd | northeast is a doorway leading into a squat and fussy-looking round
Floyd | tower with a conical roof, and to the north is a stairway leading
Floyd | downward. A doorway to the south yawns wide open, and the sign above
Floyd | the door, which reads "TUNE TIME", is hanging crooked. To the
Floyd | southwest is an open archway. Looking out to the north you can see
Floyd | over the top of the hedge, beyond which your car is sitting by itself
Floyd | in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/195
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hedge Path
Floyd | A high hedge borders this narrow gravel walkway on the north (to your
Floyd | left as you come down the walk from the Main Entrance), and the blank
Floyd | brick wall of the building is to the south. Toward the east end of the
Floyd | path is a stairway leading upward, and at the west end the main
Floyd | entrance of the shopping center can be glimpsed. Beyond the stairway
Floyd | is a round tower with a conical roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/196
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | This small, bare, deeply shadowed area beneath the outside stairway is
Floyd | wedged between the close-pressing hedge on the north and the walls of
Floyd | the building on the south and east. In the cylindrical curve of the
Floyd | east wall is set a doorway, which is blocked by a sheet of gray stone.
Floyd | On the west, there is just room to squeeze between the hedge and the
Floyd | stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Lying here is a coil of electrical cable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/196
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x doorway" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/196
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOORWAY
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "cable" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/196
Floyd |
Floyd | > CABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "x cable" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/197
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a length of electrical cable, heavily insulated with a wrapping
Floyd | of black plastic. Both ends of the cable have been scraped clean of
Floyd | insulation, revealing a thick twist of braided copper wire.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
olethros says (to Floyd), "get it" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/198
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "search trash"
olethros says (to Floyd), "search trash" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/198
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		olethros says, "ok, we have ... A CABLE"
		DavidW says, "Ok, I have to give up on following this. I can't read a hundred line text dumps."
		DavidW says, "I have no idea what's happened since we came upstairs."
		DavidW says, "We've zipped around and I have no clue."
		DavidW says, "The trash was back at the Dreary Hallway."
		DavidW says, "I don't know where we are now."
		DavidW asks, "Did we even check the store doors?"
		DavidW asks, "Did we look at the tree from above?"
Stew makes several stilted attempts at a goodbye, then opens a window and climbs out of sight down a ladder. 		DavidW says, "Looking over the text, you walked past the open door to TUNE TIME."
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		AWatt says, "Maybe we can use the cable to plug in the Christmas lights in the Arcade"
		DavidW says, "The trouble with the tree was, I believe, lack of electricity in the mall in general."
		AWatt says, "Oh, right."
		DavidW says, "Still, feel free to try; I've returned to the lounge."
		DavidW says, "Stew, I think, had to leave because he was too tired."
		DavidW says, "Probably post-lunch sleepiness."

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/199
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | This small, bare, deeply shadowed area beneath the outside stairway is
Floyd | wedged between the close-pressing hedge on the north and the walls of
Floyd | the building on the south and east. In the cylindrical curve of the
Floyd | east wall is set a doorway, which is blocked by a sheet of gray stone.
Floyd | On the west, there is just room to squeeze between the hedge and the
Floyd | stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/200
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hedge Path
Floyd | A high hedge borders this narrow gravel walkway on the north (to your
Floyd | left as you come down the walk from the Main Entrance), and the blank
Floyd | brick wall of the building is to the south. Toward the east end of the
Floyd | path is a stairway leading upward, and at the west end the main
Floyd | entrance of the shopping center can be glimpsed. Beyond the stairway
Floyd | is a round tower with a conical roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x tower" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/201
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOWER
Floyd |
Floyd | The tower is somewhat taller than the remainder of the building --
Floyd | three floors high, as well as you can judge from here. It is not
Floyd | equipped with windows, and the outer wall is of unattractive yellowish
Floyd | brick. The conical roof is covered with shingles so deep green they
Floyd | might be black. They look, in the fading light, to be badly
Floyd | water-stained, possibly even rotting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/202
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Behind the Stairs
Floyd | This small, bare, deeply shadowed area beneath the outside stairway is
Floyd | wedged between the close-pressing hedge on the north and the walls of
Floyd | the building on the south and east. In the cylindrical curve of the
Floyd | east wall is set a doorway, which is blocked by a sheet of gray stone.
Floyd | On the west, there is just room to squeeze between the hedge and the
Floyd | stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/203
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | The doorway in the curving wall is blocked from top to bottom by a
Floyd | surface of gray stone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x stone" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/204
Floyd |
Floyd | > X STONE
Floyd |
Floyd | The sheet of gray stone is crisscrossed by diagonal striations, as if
Floyd | it has been abraded by heavy machinery.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "arcade north" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/204
Floyd |
Floyd | > ARCADE NORTH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "go to Arcade North" 		

Floyd ]  Behind the Stairs                                      2/204
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO ARCADE NORTH
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/205
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hedge Path
Floyd | A high hedge borders this narrow gravel walkway on the north (to your
Floyd | left as you come down the walk from the Main Entrance), and the blank
Floyd | brick wall of the building is to the south. Toward the east end of the
Floyd | path is a stairway leading upward, and at the west end the main
Floyd | entrance of the shopping center can be glimpsed. Beyond the stairway
Floyd | is a round tower with a conical roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a scampering, scuttling sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/206
Floyd |
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Only the wind.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "search hedge" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/207
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH HEDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You paw through the prickly hedge, and find nothing except twigs and
Floyd | thorns.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/208
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Straight into the wall of the building? I don't think so.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/209
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | The hedge is much too thick.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/210
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a length of cable
Floyd |   some heavy-duty work gloves (being worn)
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/211
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/212
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hedge Path
Floyd | A high hedge borders this narrow gravel walkway on the north (to your
Floyd | left as you come down the walk from the Main Entrance), and the blank
Floyd | brick wall of the building is to the south. Toward the east end of the
Floyd | path is a stairway leading upward, and at the west end the main
Floyd | entrance of the shopping center can be glimpsed. Beyond the stairway
Floyd | is a round tower with a conical roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/213
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/214
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Patio
Floyd | In better weather, this paved expanse might be a pleasant place to
Floyd | have a cappuccino or a frozen yogurt. The tables and chairs have all
Floyd | been taken indoors, however, leaving the patio frigid and uninviting.
Floyd | Over the low hedge to the north you can see your car in the parking
Floyd | lot. The Main Entrance is off to the east, and on the south is a glass
Floyd | door beneath a sign that reads "BIG YUMMY SANDWICHES". Set in the
Floyd | pavement near the door is a small grate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x grate" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/215
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | The metal grate is set flush with the pavement, and has numerous round
Floyd | openings, each of which is about the size of an old-fashioned silver
Floyd | dollar. Through the openings you can dimly see the flicker of flowing
Floyd | water, and a gurgling noise is audible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open grate" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/216
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | The grate seems to be firmly fixed in place.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x glass door" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/216
Floyd |
Floyd | > X GLASS DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the door glass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/217
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/218
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Patio                                                  2/219
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Wandering around in the countryside will accomplish little.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/220
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/221
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Main Entrance                                          2/222
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main Entrance
Floyd | The heavy structure of the shopping center stretches left and right
Floyd | from here. When you crane your neck the building seems almost to be
Floyd | leaning outward, as if it's in some danger of collapsing on top of
Floyd | you, or perhaps pouncing on you. Doubtless that's only a trick of the
Floyd | light. An arched entryway beckons to the south, above it the
Floyd | inscription
Floyd |
Floyd |         FLOGG & GRABBY'S STUFFTOWN
Floyd |                  EST. 1974
Floyd |
Floyd | carved in a pigeon-flecked substance that looks more like plaster than
Floyd | real stone. Running along the building above the arch is a
Floyd | covered-over exterior walkway.
Floyd |
Floyd | A walk at street level affords passage east and west along the front
Floyd | of the building, and the deserted parking lot lies to the north.
Floyd | Affixed to the building next to the arch is a glass-fronted marquee,
Floyd | and standing alongside the marquee is a large drum-shaped trash
Floyd | receptacle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Chilly Passage                                         2/223
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chilly Passage
Floyd | In spite of the arched ceiling and gilt brickwork, this chilly and
Floyd | ill-lit passageway fails to cast an inviting spell. Rather, it gives
Floyd | an impression of inexpressible sorrow, if not outright squalor.
Floyd | Perhaps the odor of damp and decay is to blame. A door in the east
Floyd | wall is situated next to a display window that bears the legend
Floyd | "SOMETHING WICKED". The open doorway in the west wall, next to which
Floyd | is a small placard that says "OFFICE", seems more starkly
Floyd | businesslike. The passage is open to the north and south, and there is
Floyd | a deeply shadowed recess or niche in the northwest corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/224
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x tree" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/225
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | The Christmas tree is quite tall, and dominates the center of the
Floyd | Arcade.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x lights" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/226
Floyd |
Floyd | > X LIGHTS
Floyd |
Floyd | There seem to be some lights interwoven among the ornaments. It's a
Floyd | shame they're not lighted.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x ornaments" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/227
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ORNAMENTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You're too far away from the tree to make out the details of the
Floyd | ornaments. There are a lot of them, that much is clear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x wall" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/227
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WALL
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x walkway" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/227
Floyd |
Floyd | > X WALKWAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/228
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Center of the Arcade
Floyd | The center of the arcade is open to the deep gray sky, and surrounded
Floyd | on the east, north, and west by railings. In each railing is an
Floyd | opening through which you can pass. The south end of the arcade is
Floyd | occupied by a large Christmas tree, and next to the Christmas tree is
Floyd | a boxy object that looks rather like a fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "Arcade Center" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/228
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/229
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/230
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x doorway" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/230
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOORWAY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/231
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/232
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a flying leap at the ceiling, accomplishing nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  Bottom of the Stairs                                   2/233
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs
Floyd | It's hard to see much in this area, but a little light filters in from
Floyd | the narrow passage to the south, and down from the stairs to the
Floyd | north. There is an unmarked doorway in the east wall, and an open
Floyd | archway to the northwest, beyond which lies only darkness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  The East Side of the Arcade                            2/234
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The East Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the east side of the shopping mall's central
Floyd | arcade. A gap in the railing here affords access to the center of the
Floyd | arcade to your west. The walkway proceeds north from here, and to the
Floyd | south is a stairway leading downward. In the northeast corner is a
Floyd | door above which is a sign that reads "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE", and to the
Floyd | east is another door beneath a sign that proclaims "PARK YOUR TOT".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/235
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Arcade North
Floyd | You are standing at the north end of a large arcade area, which is
Floyd | open to the sky. A walkway with a railing runs around three sides of
Floyd | the arcade. From here you can go east or west along the walkway, or
Floyd | south into the open center of the arcade. In the northeast corner,
Floyd | where this walkway makes a right angle with the one that runs along
Floyd | the east side of the arcade, is a door above which a sign reads
Floyd | "COLOSSAL ADVENTURE". On the southern side of the arcade, across the
Floyd | central area, is a tall pine tree, whose branches glitter faintly in
Floyd | the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "restore Arcade Center" 		

Floyd ]  Arcade North                                           2/235
Floyd |
Floyd | > RESTORE ARCADE CENTER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to restore.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  The Center of the Arcade                               2/235
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Center of the Arcade
Floyd | The center of the arcade is open to the deep gray sky, and surrounded
Floyd | on the east, north, and west by railings. In each railing is an
Floyd | opening through which you can pass. The south end of the arcade is
Floyd | occupied by a large Christmas tree, and next to the Christmas tree is
Floyd | a boxy object that looks rather like a fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/236
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "go lavatory" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/236
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO LAVATORY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "enter lavatories" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/237
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER LAVATORIES
Floyd |
Floyd | There's nothing around here to type on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x inkwell" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/238
Floyd |
Floyd | > X INKWELL
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open inkell door" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/238
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN INKELL DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/238
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the Your Gorgeous Self door or the Inkwell Fine
Floyd | Print door?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open Inkwell Fine Print door" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/239
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN INKWELL FINE PRINT DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open Your Gorgeous Self door" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/240
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN YOUR GORGEOUS SELF DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/241
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/242
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/243
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a length of cable
Floyd |   some heavy-duty work gloves (being worn)
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x shopping bag" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/244
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHOPPING BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | On the side of this wrinkled but sturdy canvas shopping bag is
Floyd | printed, in large faded green letters, the Flogg & Grabby's Stufftown
Floyd | logo, which depicts a pair of hands outstretched toward one another,
Floyd | one hand extending a stylized hundred-dollar bill and the other a
Floyd | smaller version of the Flogg & Grabby's shopping bag itself ... on
Floyd | which can be seen a smaller version of the same logo, and so on in an
Floyd | infinite regress. The bag has handles, and appears to be surprisingly
Floyd | capacious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/245
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/246
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/247
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/248
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/249
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/250
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/251
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "se" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/252
Floyd |
Floyd | > SE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/253
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the In The Pink door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open in the pink door" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/254
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN IN THE PINK DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open here's looking at you door" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/255
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x in the pink" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/256
Floyd |
Floyd | > X IN THE PINK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x in the pink window" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/256
Floyd |
Floyd | > X IN THE PINK WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the In The Pink
Floyd | door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/257
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out on the center of the arcade to the
Floyd | north; the top of a Christmas tree pokes up past the railing. On the
Floyd | south wall is a large and rather cutesy cartoon poster of a prancing
Floyd | reindeer. There's a door in the southwest corner beneath a sign that
Floyd | reads "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU", and another in the southeast corner
Floyd | next to a sign that declares it "THE BOOT SECTOR". You can also
Floyd | proceed east or west along the concourse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x tree" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/258
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TREE
Floyd |
Floyd | From here you can look down on the luxuriant greenery of the Christmas
Floyd | tree. Though it's not quite close enough to touch, you have a closeup
Floyd | view of the ornaments.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x ornaments" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/259
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ORNAMENTS
Floyd |
Floyd | The glass balls and tinsel glitter faintly, even in the dim light.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "open the boot sector door" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/260
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN THE BOOT SECTOR DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x the boot sector" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/261
Floyd |
Floyd | > X THE BOOT SECTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/262
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The reindeer poster, about four feet square and drawn in cartoonish
Floyd | primary colors, seems intended to represent Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Floyd | Reindeer. He's prancing with improbable friskiness, and his nose is
Floyd | remarkably red and bulbous. The phrase 'button nose' springs to mind.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/263
Floyd |
Floyd | > X NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Rudolph's nose is round and red, and is raised a little higher than
Floyd | the surface around it. It's a little smudged, as if people have been
Floyd | poking at it with their fingers.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "poke rudolph's nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/263
Floyd |
Floyd | > POKE RUDOLPH'S NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x poke nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/263
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POKE NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x touch poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/263
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOUCH POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "touch poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/264
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't feel a whole lot while wearing the gloves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "remove gloves" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/265
Floyd |
Floyd | > REMOVE GLOVES
Floyd |
Floyd | You take off the heavy-duty work gloves.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "touch poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/266
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "touch nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/267
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "touch rudolph's nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/267
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH RUDOLPH'S NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x rudolph's nose" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/267
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RUDOLPH'S NOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "take poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/268
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The poster is firmly attached to the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "rip poster" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/268
Floyd |
Floyd | > RIP POSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "Curse God" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/268
Floyd |
Floyd | > CURSE GOD
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/269
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below. Above a door in the east wall is a sign that reads "BIG
Floyd | ON BALLS AND RACQUETS", to the northeast another door whose sign reads
Floyd | "MY GREEN FRIENDS", and to the southeast a door whose sign says "THE
Floyd | BOOT SECTOR".
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go north or south from here, around a corner to one of the
Floyd | east-west walkways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x my green friends" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/270
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MY GREEN FRIENDS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x big on balls and racquets" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/271
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BIG ON BALLS AND RACQUETS
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a typical shop door with a large plate glass window in the
Floyd | center. Near the bottom of the window is hung an OPEN/CLOSED sign. At
Floyd | present the door is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  North Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/272
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below, where you can see a large Christmas tree. You can
Floyd | continue along the passage to the east or west, or pass through an
Floyd | open archway that leads north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/273
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/274
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/275
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  The West Side of the Arcade                            2/276
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The West Side of the Arcade
Floyd | You are standing on the west side of the central arcade area. A gap in
Floyd | the railing affords access to the center of the arcade on the east,
Floyd | and the walk extends north from here. To the southeast is a broad
Floyd | stairway leading upward, and beside the stairway in the south wall is
Floyd | a door above which a sign in elaborate Olde Englishe letters reads
Floyd | "INKWELL FINE PRINT". In the west wall is a display window, and next
Floyd | to it a door above which is a pink sign that reads "YOUR GORGEOUS
Floyd | SELF". A gray door on the northwest bears a small sign with the
Floyd | universal symbol for unisex lavatories.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ]  West Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/277
Floyd |
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | From this open passageway you can look over the railing to the central
Floyd | arcade below, or descend the stairs to the east. The concourse
Floyd | continues to the north and south. Above the door to the west is a sign
Floyd | that reads "IN THE PINK", and a door in the southwest corner bears the
Floyd | legend "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU". There is also an unmarked and
Floyd | dismal-looking passage that leads northwest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  South Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/278
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | South Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out on the center of the arcade to the
Floyd | north; the top of a Christmas tree pokes up past the railing. On the
Floyd | south wall is a large and rather cutesy cartoon poster of a prancing
Floyd | reindeer. There's a door in the southwest corner beneath a sign that
Floyd | reads "HERE'S LOOKING AT YOU", and another in the southeast corner
Floyd | next to a sign that declares it "THE BOOT SECTOR". You can also
Floyd | proceed east or west along the concourse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/279
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below. Above a door in the east wall is a sign that reads "BIG
Floyd | ON BALLS AND RACQUETS", to the northeast another door whose sign reads
Floyd | "MY GREEN FRIENDS", and to the southeast a door whose sign says "THE
Floyd | BOOT SECTOR".
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go north or south from here, around a corner to one of the
Floyd | east-west walkways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/280
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no shop door in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ]  East Side of the Upper Concourse                       2/281
Floyd |
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't, since the Balls And Racquets door is in the way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  North Side of the Upper Concourse                      2/282
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | North Side of the Upper Concourse
Floyd | This open passageway looks out over a railing to the center of the
Floyd | arcade below, where you can see a large Christmas tree. You can
Floyd | continue along the passage to the east or west, or pass through an
Floyd | open archway that leads north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/283
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Dreary Passage
Floyd | This north-south passageway is distinguished mainly by the boarded-up
Floyd | doors and windows in the east and west walls, and by the fact that a
Floyd | good deal of trash has blown in from somewhere and not been swept up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x trash" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/283
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "search trash" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/283
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH TRASH
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x doors" 		

Floyd ]  Dreary Passage                                         2/284
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOORS
Floyd |
Floyd | On each side of the passageway is a vertical rectangle that must once
Floyd | have been a shopdoor and, next to it, a squarish area that would have
Floyd | been the shop's window. The doors and windows are now covered with
Floyd | plywood.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), " n" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/285
Floyd |
Floyd | >  N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East End of the Upper Promenade
Floyd | A long, roofed-over promenade extends westward from here. To the
Floyd | northeast is a doorway leading into a squat and fussy-looking round
Floyd | tower with a conical roof, and to the north is a stairway leading
Floyd | downward. A doorway to the south yawns wide open, and the sign above
Floyd | the door, which reads "TUNE TIME", is hanging crooked. To the
Floyd | southwest is an open archway. Looking out to the north you can see
Floyd | over the top of the hedge, beyond which your car is sitting by itself
Floyd | in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "East End of the Upper Promenade" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/285
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "nw" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/286
Floyd |
Floyd | > NW
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no shop door in that direction.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "ne" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/287
Floyd |
Floyd | > NE
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "sw" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/288
Floyd |
Floyd | > SW
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East End of the Upper Promenade
Floyd | A long, roofed-over promenade extends westward from here. To the
Floyd | northeast is a doorway leading into a squat and fussy-looking round
Floyd | tower with a conical roof, and to the north is a stairway leading
Floyd | downward. A doorway to the south yawns wide open, and the sign above
Floyd | the door, which reads "TUNE TIME", is hanging crooked. To the
Floyd | southwest is an open archway. Looking out to the north you can see
Floyd | over the top of the hedge, beyond which your car is sitting by itself
Floyd | in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Darkness                                               2/289
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Darkness
Floyd | It's really very dark in here...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/290
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East End of the Upper Promenade
Floyd | A long, roofed-over promenade extends westward from here. To the
Floyd | northeast is a doorway leading into a squat and fussy-looking round
Floyd | tower with a conical roof, and to the north is a stairway leading
Floyd | downward. A doorway to the south yawns wide open, and the sign above
Floyd | the door, which reads "TUNE TIME", is hanging crooked. To the
Floyd | southwest is an open archway. Looking out to the north you can see
Floyd | over the top of the hedge, beyond which your car is sitting by itself
Floyd | in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/291
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Hedge Path
Floyd | A high hedge borders this narrow gravel walkway on the north (to your
Floyd | left as you come down the walk from the Main Entrance), and the blank
Floyd | brick wall of the building is to the south. Toward the east end of the
Floyd | path is a stairway leading upward, and at the west end the main
Floyd | entrance of the shopping center can be glimpsed. Beyond the stairway
Floyd | is a round tower with a conical roof.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ]  Hedge Path                                             2/292
Floyd |
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | Straight into the wall of the building? I don't think so.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "East End of the Upper Promenade" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/285
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  East End of the Upper Promenade                        2/286
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | East End of the Upper Promenade
Floyd | A long, roofed-over promenade extends westward from here. To the
Floyd | northeast is a doorway leading into a squat and fussy-looking round
Floyd | tower with a conical roof, and to the north is a stairway leading
Floyd | downward. A doorway to the south yawns wide open, and the sign above
Floyd | the door, which reads "TUNE TIME", is hanging crooked. To the
Floyd | southwest is an open archway. Looking out to the north you can see
Floyd | over the top of the hedge, beyond which your car is sitting by itself
Floyd | in the parking lot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/287
Floyd |
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West End of the Promenade
Floyd | It seems the toy store wasn't so hard to find after all. In the south
Floyd | wall is a wide window and a door above which a sign reads "PALACE OF
Floyd | PLAY". The promenade leads back to the east -- but you scarcely notice
Floyd | that, because your eye is caught by the lighted display case in the
Floyd | window. Yes, there she is! Sugar Toes Ballerina herself!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x ballerina" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/288
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BALLERINA
Floyd |
Floyd | Gazing at the delicate beauty of the doll renews your resolve. You're
Floyd | glad you braved the weather, and by now you've nearly forgotten about
Floyd | the inconvenience of changing the flat tire. Sugar Toes Ballerina is
Floyd | worth any amount of effort.
Floyd |
Floyd | She stands a little more than a foot tall on the tips of her toes,
Floyd | bare arms gracefully outstretched, her tiny face grave and yet
Floyd | ethereal. She is dressed in a frilly pink outfit decorated with flecks
Floyd | of glitter -- not, one would think, a doll that would appeal to an
Floyd | adult, however passionately your daughter may feel. Yet somehow the
Floyd | doll melts away your cynicism, restores your belief in grace and
Floyd | innocence. Now if only you can find a way to get into the toy shop....
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt says, "Welp, I found the toy."
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x toy shop" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/289
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TOY SHOP
Floyd |
Floyd | It's an ordinary shop door, and seems to be quite firmly locked. You
Floyd | rattle the knob and tap on the glass, to no avail. Peering through the
Floyd | door, you feel certain you can see, deep in the dim recesses of the
Floyd | shop, something large and -- how shall we put it? -- something large
Floyd | and BLUE moving about. Whatever it is, it doesn't respond to your
Floyd | knocking and shouting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/290
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a length of cable
Floyd |   some heavy-duty work gloves
Floyd |   a shopping bag
Floyd |   a heavy winter coat (being worn)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/291
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West End of the Promenade
Floyd | It seems the toy store wasn't so hard to find after all. In the south
Floyd | wall is a wide window and a door above which a sign reads "PALACE OF
Floyd | PLAY". The promenade leads back to the east -- but you scarcely notice
Floyd | that, because your eye is caught by the lighted display case in the
Floyd | window. Yes, there she is! Sugar Toes Ballerina herself!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "door" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/291
Floyd |
Floyd | > DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/292
Floyd |
Floyd | > X DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | It's an ordinary shop door, and seems to be quite firmly locked. You
Floyd | rattle the knob and tap on the glass, to no avail. Peering through the
Floyd | door, you feel certain you can see, deep in the dim recesses of the
Floyd | shop, something large and -- how shall we put it? -- something large
Floyd | and BLUE moving about. Whatever it is, it doesn't respond to your
Floyd | knocking and shouting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "x break glass" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/292
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BREAK GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "go to security office" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/292
Floyd |
Floyd | > GO TO SECURITY OFFICE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see any such thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "take sugar toes" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/293
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE SUGAR TOES
Floyd |
Floyd | The indirect lighting coming from beneath the case makes it seem you
Floyd | could reach out and touch the doll -- but alas, the window is in the
Floyd | way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		AWatt says, "Well, I'm out of steam. Thank you all for letting me play with you today."
AWatt disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
olethros disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		
AWatt arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		
AWatt says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  West End of the Promenade                              2/294
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | West End of the Promenade
Floyd | It seems the toy store wasn't so hard to find after all. In the south
Floyd | wall is a wide window and a door above which a sign reads "PALACE OF
Floyd | PLAY". The promenade leads back to the east -- but you scarcely notice
Floyd | that, because your eye is caught by the lighted display case in the
Floyd | window. Yes, there she is! Sugar Toes Ballerina herself!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
AWatt disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		DavidW says, "Playing it at home; figured out how to get power on."
		AWatt exclaims, "Well done!"



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Guilty Bastards by Kent Tessman
As played on ifMUD on December 28, 2014

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Guilty Bastards written by Kent Tessman. Guilty Bastards was released in 1998 and was nominated for the Best NPCs Xyzzy Award. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load guiltybastards" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Guilty Bastards
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1998 by Kent Tessman
Floyd |
Floyd | Release 2.09 02-09-00
Floyd | Written using the Hugo Compiler v2.5
Floyd | (New players should type "help".)
Floyd |
Floyd | Your hotel room
Floyd |   Morning sunlight filters through the gauzy drapes.  Old wooden night
Floyd | table, fan overhead, the usual trappings.  The door leads out into the
Floyd | hallway.  The neatly made bed looks exactly the same as it did when you
Floyd | saw it this morning--from where you woke up slumped in the chair in the
Floyd | corner.
Floyd |   The desk clerk must've slipped an envelope under the door sometime
Floyd | early this morning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. I do see that GB was a finalist for Best NPCs in its year. That's a good sign."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take envelope" 		

Floyd | You scoop the envelope up off the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | Looking good.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are carrying an envelope.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x envelope" 		

Floyd | It's addressed to you in handwriting.  Plain white envelope, no return
Floyd | address, no postmark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read envelope" 		

Floyd | It's addressed to you in handwriting.  Plain white envelope, no return
Floyd | address, no postmark.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd | (Assuming you mean the envelope.)
Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the envelope are a small note and a studio pass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "read envelope"
		DavidW says, "open envelope. read letter."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd | Handwritten, again, but this time on Rocket Pictures stationery.
Floyd |
Floyd | "8:30 at the studio.
Floyd |
Floyd |            --MW"
Floyd |
Floyd | (which of course stands for Milt Walker)
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 1)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "heh footnotes"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "fn" 		

Floyd | You can't use the word "fn".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "" 		

Floyd | What?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote" 		

Floyd | Try "footnote (number)".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 1" 		

Floyd | Milt Walker, the head of Rocket Pictures, is one of those people you've
Floyd | met in passing (since you don't exactly run in the same social circles)
Floyd | and under somewhat shady circumstances.  It was a couple years ago and
Floyd | involved Milt's son and a boatload of South American marijuana.  Grass,
Floyd | he kept calling it.  You remember finding it vaguely funny sitting
Floyd | across a table from this austere-looking studio head in a seedy Los
Floyd | Angeles bar while he speculated in a low voice about how he was going
Floyd | to "get rid of that much grass."  How he did get his son out of that
Floyd | jam and what part you played in the whole imbroglio you swore never to
Floyd | reveal, not even here.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 2)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "try f or note as an abbrev for footnote"
		Jacqueline says, "imbroglio"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "f 2" 		

Floyd | You can't use the word "f".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 2" 		

Floyd | Yes, it's true:  the author heisted the idea for these footnotes from
Floyd | the Infocom game "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".  But they are
Floyd | a pretty nifty idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pass" 		

Floyd | It's a drive-on parking pass for the Rocket Pictures Studios lot dated
Floyd | today.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "time" 		

Floyd | Better start with a verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Hrm. Wanna lay bets on whether or not the time is in the status bar that we can't see?"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm pretty much 100% certain that sleepmask doesn't work with Hugo games, but it may be worth me checking."
		JoshuaH says, "There is."
		DavidW says, "oh, yeah, better check that."
		DavidW says, "there might also be a 'time' command."
		Jacqueline says, "I just tried 'time'"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | Are you sure you want to quit (YES or NO)?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask guiltybastards" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:00 a.m.
Floyd | Guilty Bastards
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1998 by Kent Tessman
Floyd |
Floyd | Release 2.09 02-09-00
Floyd | Written using the Hugo Compiler v2.5
Floyd | (New players should type "help".)
Floyd |
Floyd | Your hotel room
Floyd | Morning sunlight filters through the gauzy drapes.  Old wooden night
Floyd | table, fan overhead, the usual trappings.  The door leads out into the
Floyd | hallway.  The neatly made bed looks exactly the same as it did when
Floyd | you saw it this morning--from where you woke up slumped in the chair
Floyd | in the corner.
Floyd | The desk clerk must've slipped an envelope under the door sometime
Floyd | early this morning.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Huh."
		Jacqueline says, "The 'critical error' is a bit concerning, but it seems to be marking stuff up."
		Jacqueline says, "And running, which I didn't expect."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take envelope" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:01 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE ENVELOPE
Floyd |
Floyd | You scoop the envelope up off the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Yep. There's the time."
		Jacqueline says, "We don't have much time to get to the studio, it would seem."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open it" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:02 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN IT
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean the envelope.)
Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the envelope are a small note and a studio pass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read note" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:03 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ NOTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Handwritten, again, but this time on Rocket Pictures stationery.
Floyd |
Floyd | "8:30 at the studio.
Floyd |
Floyd |            --MW"
Floyd |
Floyd | (which of course stands for Milt Walker)
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 1)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "fn 1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FN 1
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "fn".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 1
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt Walker, the head of Rocket Pictures, is one of those people
Floyd | you've met in passing (since you don't exactly run in the same social
Floyd | circles) and under somewhat shady circumstances.  It was a couple
Floyd | years ago and involved Milt's son and a boatload of South American
Floyd | marijuana.  Grass, he kept calling it.  You remember finding it
Floyd | vaguely funny sitting across a table from this austere-looking studio
Floyd | head in a seedy Los Angeles bar while he speculated in a low voice
Floyd | about how he was going to "get rid of that much grass."  How he did
Floyd | get his son out of that jam and what part you played in the whole
Floyd | imbroglio you swore never to reveal, not even here.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 2)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 2
Floyd |
Floyd | Yes, it's true:  the author heisted the idea for these footnotes from
Floyd | the Infocom game "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".  But they are
Floyd | a pretty nifty idea.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "mm. See if there's a status line with the next command."
		Jacqueline says, "There will be. It's just the footnotes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Pelican Hotel
Floyd ] 8:04 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the door and leave, closing the door behind you, then head
Floyd | down the stairs and outside to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pelican Hotel
Floyd | The exterior of the Pelican has been painted so many times that its
Floyd | peeling shell is probably suitable protection against radioactive
Floyd | fallout.  Warm Los Angeles sunlight glows through the hazy blue-gray
Floyd | of the summer sky.  The rather quiet street outside the hotel runs
Floyd | south toward Sunset Blvd.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. I guess possible there were other things in the room, but it seems unlikely."
		Jacqueline says, "Still, the rule is we agree before we move on."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:03 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Your hotel room
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes, I'm still lagging. An entire page of text showed up all at once."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:04 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The night table is off to the left of the door, set along the wall.
Floyd | Sitting on the night table are your cousin's car keys.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take keys" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:05 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE KEYS
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the keys off the night table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bed" 		

Floyd ] Your hotel room
Floyd ] 8:06 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BED
Floyd |
Floyd | There's nothing too remarkable about the bed.  It's comfortable
Floyd | enough, from what you remember.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > X CHAIR
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't need to refer to that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, I think that's it. Anything else before we head out?]"
		DavidW says, "I told Dropbox to pause; that might help"
		DavidW says, "Considering that we need to be at the studio soon, I wouldn't do the usual exhaustive search in the room."
		Jacqueline says, "That's what I was thinking."
		DavidW says, "so yes, we should go."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Pelican Hotel
Floyd ] 8:07 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the door and leave, closing the door behind you, then head
Floyd | down the stairs and outside to the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pelican Hotel
Floyd | The exterior of the Pelican has been painted so many times that its
Floyd | peeling shell is probably suitable protection against radioactive
Floyd | fallout.  Warm Los Angeles sunlight glows through the hazy blue-gray
Floyd | of the summer sky.  The rather quiet street outside the hotel runs
Floyd | south toward Sunset Blvd.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in volvo" 		

Floyd ] Pelican Hotel
Floyd ] 8:08 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN VOLVO
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to studio" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive midtown to the main gate of Rocket Pictures Studios and park
Floyd | in Visitor Parking.
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd | (This last is demonstrated by the fact that there are one- and
Floyd | two-story shopping plazas and office buildings stretching as far as
Floyd | the eye can see instead of souvenir shops and T-shirt stands.)
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 8)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH asks, "8?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. They're not autonumbered."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "MINIGAME: Find all the footnotes!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 8" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 8
Floyd |
Floyd | Let's face it:  Maybe Hollywood never was what it used to be.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open gate" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GATE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the studio gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, like, is there a thing to stick our pass in to open this gate or something?"
		DavidW says, "just 'n', I think. Or examine gate, if there's a call button."
		JoshuaH says, "We've already parked."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. You'd think it'd be called Studio Parking or something."
		Jacqueline shrugs.
		DavidW says, "also, when you did 'undo', I think you got back into the car."
		Jacqueline says, "Yes, I did. On purpose."
		DavidW says, "I'm still lagging a bit."
		Jacqueline says, "But I guess if you all think we're here, we can get out."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, um."
		Jacqueline says, "Try random directions? Or..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter studio" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't enter the studio gate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Maybe N."
		DavidW says, "I said try 'north' or examine the gate."
		DavidW says, "The gate might not be coded as a door object."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 8:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(and I really hate lagging like this. I type a reply and wait a minute or more for it to show up.)"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "It's fine. Gives me a chance to poke at other things while we go slowly for your lag. :)"
		Jacqueline says, "So, more N, then."
		DavidW says, "I guess. The note wasn't specific where to meet Milt."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 8:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |   Milt Walker is here, standing outside the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt speaks in a fairly low voice, straight and to the point, looking
Floyd | around, careful not to be overheard.  "Maybe you already guessed this,
Floyd | but I asked you here to talk about Cindy Painter's death.  I don't
Floyd | know if there's anything that you can find out that the cops haven't
Floyd | or won't, but I'm willing to give you twelve hours to see what you can
Floyd | do."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wow. That is some writing, that is."
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. Witness."
		DavidW says, "I suppose we should ask Milt about Cindy, since I, for one, haven't even heard of her before."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. We haven't. Good place to start."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask Milt about Cindy" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 8:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's such a goddamned tragedy," Milt says, pulling his glasses down
Floyd | and rubbing his eyes.  "I've known her for years, since long before
Floyd | she came here, tried to break in.  Knew her father, her parents are in
Floyd | Detroit.  She was just on the verge; she was making a picture for
Floyd | us--Stuart Fina was the executive on it."  He points over toward the
Floyd | side building.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Here," Milt says.  He hands you a report marked "LAPD Homicide
Floyd | Report".  "A contact of mine at the Police Department managed to
Floyd | procure this.  I don't know if it will be of any help."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "After we grill Milt, either go into the main building, or check out what the admin bldg knows."
		Jacqueline says, "Probably go speak to the exec, but let's read the report first."
		DavidW says, "oh, read that report, of course."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read report" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 8:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ REPORT
Floyd |
Floyd | The report is titled "LAPD HOMICIDE REPORT".  It describes how on May
Floyd | 23, Cindy Painter, a twenty-four year-old actress, was found strangled
Floyd | in her apartment on National Boulevard.  Forensics suggest that she
Floyd | opened the door to have the intruder burst in on her.  The body was
Floyd | found in the bedroom; there were no signs of assault other than
Floyd | strangulation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "That is a very short report."
		DavidW says, "ask Milt about Fina"
Lionheart arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW says, "also note that when he mentioned Stuart Fina, he pointed to a side building."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about fina" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 8:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "He's a pretty sharp kid," he says.  "Been with us about a year,
Floyd | worked on a couple of medium-sized pictures.  This picture Cindy was
Floyd | doing--Hugs and Kisses--was his first as Executive in Charge
Floyd | of Production.  Sounds like he's done a good job on it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "You might want to go to her apartment--I don't know if the police are
Floyd | still there or not.  Maybe you can find something they're missing."
Floyd | He hands you a single apartment key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sure, my boss has the key to my apartment."
		JoshuaH says, "I was about to say."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, I guess he's a family friend, but still. Ca-reepy."
		DavidW says, "ask him about police. Maybe we can get a donut too."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about police" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 8:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT POLICE
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Milt.)
Floyd | Milt doesn't seem to know anything about the police.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm going to be in and out today--I've still got a damned studio to
Floyd | run, even with all this mess going on.  I'll try to keep checking back
Floyd | out here for you after an hour or so."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about suspects" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT SUSPECTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "suspects".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about witnesses" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT WITNESSES
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "witnesses".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline frowns.
		DavidW says, "I don't think we have much else to ask Milt about at this time."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 8:23 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "verbose" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > VERBOSE
Floyd |
Floyd | Verbose descriptions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 8:24 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Side building
Floyd ] 8:25 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side building
Floyd | The people who work in this building are the people who all hope
Floyd | that one day they'll end up working in the other building.  Not that
Floyd | this building is bad--not that it's a fire hazard or anything like
Floyd | that--although the budget allocated for repairs to the roof probably
Floyd | went into new oak paneling inside the main building.  And maybe this
Floyd | place someone like you could at least get into.  Probably just by
Floyd | leaving the shade of this tree and climbing up the set of three stairs
Floyd | that leads to the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "also, if time is critical, we shouldn't dillydally."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:26 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Reception area
Floyd | You could plunk yourself down in one of the two comfy-looking
Floyd | high-backed chairs while waiting for someone.  The minty-blue hospital
Floyd | tint to the walls could take some getting used to, though.  A hallway
Floyd | of office doors extends to the west, or you can go back outside to the
Floyd | south.
Floyd | The building's receptionist is sitting at her desk.  Her nameplate
Floyd | says her name is Anne.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phone rings.  Anne answers it and takes down a message.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about fina" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:27 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Who shall I say is here?" Anne asks, looking you up and down.
Floyd | "Um...forget it.  I'll just buzz him."  She punches a couple of
Floyd | buttons on her phone and speaks very briefly into it before hanging
Floyd | up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Since we're on a clock, I hate to wait. Just go w?"
		DavidW says, "I dunno."
		DavidW says, "Try, see if Anne stops us."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:28 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Now, seeing as you don't know your way around here, the best you can
Floyd | hope for is to wind up wandering the halls and maybe getting security
Floyd | called on you.  Better to wait here if there's someone you need to
Floyd | see.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There we go then."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about cindy" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:29 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think it's horrible what happened to her!  I was so upset when I
Floyd | heard--I didn't know her, though."  Anne looks at you.  "What do you
Floyd | have to do with it?  Is that why you're here?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "say yes" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAY YES
Floyd |
Floyd | That doesn't make any sense.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question.  (Although you sound rather positive.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about fina" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:30 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "I just called him for you."  She seems a little annoyed with your
Floyd | impatience.  "You're welcome to have a seat."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "hrm"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about anne" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:31 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT ANNE
Floyd |
Floyd | Anne looks at you in a way that says, hey, I'm just the
Floyd | receptionist--I'm not bothering you, am I?
Floyd |
Floyd | Stuart Fina appears from somewhere down the hallway.  He obviously
Floyd | doesn't recognize you, but he manages to greet you with one of those
Floyd | practised smiles that suggests you're the best thing that's happened
Floyd | to him all day.  "Hi there.  Stuart Fina."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so, sit on on chair as the room description suggests."
		DavidW says, "er sit on THE chair"
		Jacqueline asks, "Ask Fina about Cindy, I guess?"
		Jacqueline says, "I doubt >INTRODUCE ME is a thing"
		JoshuaH says, "Ya."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about cindy" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:32 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, well, geez..."  Stuart trails off, shaking his head.  "God, I
Floyd | really don't know what to say...I mean it's terrible, absolutely
Floyd | terrible.  She had such a bright future.  She was going to be a huge
Floyd | star.  Her picture, the one she was doing with us--it's going to be a
Floyd | hit.  A huge hit.  When people see it they're going to think
Floyd | about James Dean and Marilyn Monroe and all wonder 'What if...?'"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yes, ask Fina about Cindy, movie, Milt."
		DavidW says, "and about Fina himself, of course."
		Jacqueline says, "What if, eh? So her death might be good for publicity for the film, but that seems a bit much."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about fina" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:33 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | Stuart would probably rather not talk about himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "Well, Stuart will just have to get over that!"
		JoshuaH exclaims, "As if!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about movie" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:34 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT MOVIE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, it's going to be a big, big hit.  It's testing through the
Floyd | roof--test audiences are just loving it.  Cindy's perfect in it:  this
Floyd | sweet, adorable girl plotting all these terrible ways to kill her
Floyd | cheating lover."  Stuart sighs heavily.  "It just makes what happens
Floyd | to Cindy that much sadder...that much more of a tragedy."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "maybe ask him about alibi."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about milt" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 8:35 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Milt?  I idolize Milt," Stuart says.  "You know what he is in this
Floyd | business?  The godfather.  The king.  Milt talks and people don't even
Floyd | question it.  If there's one guy you don't want to look like an idiot
Floyd | in front of it's Milt Walker."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about alibi" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT ALIBI
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "alibi".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about actors" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT ACTORS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "actors".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about actor" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT ACTOR
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "actor".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Was curious about co-stars."
		DavidW says, "I think it's time to visit her apartment."
		Jacqueline says, "..Joshua?]"
		JoshuaH says, "Sure."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Side building
Floyd ] 8:36 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side building
Floyd | The people who work in this building are the people who all hope
Floyd | that one day they'll end up working in the other building.  Not that
Floyd | this building is bad--not that it's a fire hazard or anything like
Floyd | that--although the budget allocated for repairs to the roof probably
Floyd | went into new oak paneling inside the main building.  And maybe this
Floyd | place someone like you could at least get into.  Probably just by
Floyd | leaving the shade of this tree and climbing up the set of three stairs
Floyd | that leads to the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We didn't get much of anything from him, did we?"
		Jacqueline says, "Not really, no."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Wait, which way back to the car?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "I'm always losing my car!"
		JoshuaH asks, "E then S?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Ah, yeah. We're in a nook, aren't we?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e'" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E'
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "e'".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 8:37 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:38 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in volvo" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 8:39 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN VOLVO
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to apartment" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 8:50 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive south to National Blvd. and pull over to the curb next to
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building.
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 8:51 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 8:52 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 8:53 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So what does that mean, precisely? POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS? It means we unlock the door and enter, right?"
		DavidW says, "if you see any trash receptacles, dumpsters, please check 'em out."
		Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter apartment" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:54 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the
Floyd | door quietly behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Now keep in mind that this is a crime scene, and you may want to be
Floyd | fairly judicious about what you disturb--or at least leave disturbed.)
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sofa" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:55 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | The sofa is cloth-covered, off-white, relatively new, low almost to
Floyd | the floor, and not the cheapest you could possibly find.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "search sofa. Anything could be in the cushions. Also look under it and behind it."
		Jacqueline says, "It commands our attention because it is There."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. There was a warning about disturbing stuff, but..."
		Jacqueline shrugs.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search sofa" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:56 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't find anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under sofa" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:57 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | A cassette tape is half-sticking out from under the sofa, probably
Floyd | overlooked by the police.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oho"
		Jacqueline says, "Those slackers."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get tape" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:58 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET TAPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "I remember cassettes."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "Few policepeople play IF, I guess."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I did when I was a policepeople."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x tape" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 8:59 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TAPE
Floyd |
Floyd | Handwritten on the cassette label is "New Songs - May 15".  If the the
Floyd | tape player in the Volvo worked, you'd even be able to give it a
Floyd | listen.  The contact address on the tape is in Santa Monica.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks (of Joshua), "oh, make me feel old, why don't you?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "If it's any consolation, I remember a car we had that had an 8-track in it."
		Roger says, "Our pickup did"
		DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "yes, that helps."
		Roger says, "Clunk clunk goes the buttons"
		Jacqueline says, "You're welcome. It was a '78 convertible Super Beatle."
		Jacqueline says, "I think it was a '78, anyway. One of the last years."
		Jacqueline asks, "So... bedroom?"
		DavidW says, "Look behind sofa"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right."
		Jacqueline says, "I got the impression it was in the center of the room, but perhaps not."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look behind sofa" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:00 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK BEHIND SOFA
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't find anything behind the sofa.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Examine television; there could be a sticker or doodad on it."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x television" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:01 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X TELEVISION
Floyd |
Floyd | The fairly expensive television is sitting on the floor in the way in
Floyd | of a fairly expensive television just purchased by someone who has yet
Floyd | to buy a nice wall-unit for it.  The TV is turned off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, leave the tv alone. Bedroom next, please."
		Jacqueline says, "Ah. A TV that doesn't mount to the wall. It's like a time machine, this game."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:02 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Not a good idea:  everything in the bedroom has been covered with
Floyd | plastic--presumably to protect the crime scene from contamination--so
Floyd | you'd be best not to go tromping around all over it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "PEOPLE"
		DavidW says, "Kitchen, then."
		Jacqueline asks, "How are we s'posed to investimagate?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:03 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Refrigerator, stove, sink, kitchen window.  An empty carton of
Floyd | grapefruit juice sitting on the counter.  The living room is back out
Floyd | to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "fridge" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | That doesn't make any sense.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x fridge" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:04 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Done in the same style and color as the stove:  part of a matching
Floyd | set.  The fridge is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open fridge" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:05 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in fridge" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:06 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK IN FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | The refrigerator is curiously empty of anything edible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close fridge" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:07 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look through window" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:08 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | Through the window you can see behind the building, where a narrow
Floyd | alley plays host to a garbage dumpster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "DUMPSTER"
		DavidW says, "It's possible the tape is the *only* thing we're to find here."
		DavidW says, "The window seems significant to me."
		DavidW says, "aka trash receptacle."
		DavidW says, "We must get to it."
		DavidW says, "god I hate lagging. I mentioned the window before you looked through it."
		Jacqueline says, "I lived in Alaska on dialup once, DW. I recall the pain."
		DavidW says, "ow"
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we just run right for the dumpster, or is there more we'd like to do here?"
		DavidW says, "Make sure you close the fridge. Look in oven and close it. ExamineCheck the juice container"
		JoshuaH says, "Probably not anything in the sink."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sink" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:09 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SINK
Floyd |
Floyd | It's pretty much your average stainless-steel kitchen sink and faucet
Floyd | combo.  Entirely appropriate for washing dishes or rinsing vegetables
Floyd | or anything like that.  The boring tangle of plumbing is likely
Floyd | concealed in the cupboard beneath the sink.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ooh, cupboard"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search cupboard" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:10 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CUPBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | The cupboard is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cupboard" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:11 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CUPBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see the kitchen sink's plumbing in the cupboard.
Floyd | Various cleaning supplies--rags, cleansers, disinfectants, etc.--are
Floyd | tucked away in the cupboard in the space around and behind the
Floyd | plumbing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search cupboard" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:12 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CUPBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see the kitchen sink's plumbing in the cupboard.
Floyd | Various cleaning supplies--rags, cleansers, disinfectants, etc.--are
Floyd | tucked away in the cupboard in the space around and behind the
Floyd | plumbing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Really? That took a minute to give me no new info?"
		DavidW says, "search the rags"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:11 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Refrigerator, stove, sink, kitchen window.  An empty carton of
Floyd | grapefruit juice sitting on the counter.  The living room is back out
Floyd | to the west.
Floyd |   You can see the kitchen sink's plumbing in the open cupboard.
Floyd | Various cleaning supplies--rags, cleansers, disinfectants, etc.--are
Floyd | tucked away in the cupboard in the space around and behind the
Floyd | plumbing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search rags" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:12 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | You find a box of garbage bags tucked away behind the pipes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "take those"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:13 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying an envelope, your cousin's car keys, a police report,
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment key, and a cassette tape.  Inside the
Floyd | envelope are a small note and a studio pass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "But... but... crime scene"
		Jacqueline says, "Fine."
		DavidW says, "the garbage bags, I mean"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess we already took the tape."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I realize."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take bags" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open stove" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN STOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | You're either hungry or you've suddenly been struck by the urge to
Floyd | cook.  Neither is really what you should be thinking about right now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Maybe I wanted to search the oven for someone's head."
		DavidW says, "Some IF ovens have dismembered heads."
		Jacqueline says, "Totally."
		Jacqueline says, "It's as if ovens are made for the purpose in IF."
		Jacqueline says, "So, how do we get to that dumpster? We don't climb through this window."
		DavidW says, "timing"
inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		DavidW says, "(it's kinda eerie that heads in ovens is a minor trope)"
		DavidW asks, "Did you close the fridge?"
		DavidW says, "I think we can probably reach the dumpster from outside. I don't think going through the window is a good idea unless we have no choice."
		JoshuaH says, "sidewalk outside goes S"
		Jacqueline says, "I did close the fridge, but not the cupboard."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close cupboard" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLOSE CUPBOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You go out, ducking under the police tape before closing and locking
Floyd | the door behind you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks (of JoshuaH), "To an alley, maybe?"
		Jacqueline says, "Wait."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Ah. I didn't fully read. Sorry."
		DavidW asks, "Are you going to lock the apartment door?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Where did you see the alley?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "No, but I didn't *un*lock, it either."
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing there's an alley."
		Jacqueline says, "I can go back and try, though."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "lock apartment" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LOCK APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | It's already locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, which way?"
		DavidW asks, "Can we reach that overhang?"
		DavidW asks, "Is anything in the greenery?"
		Jacqueline asks, "What command do you want me to try?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search greenery" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GREENERY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search greenery" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GREENERY
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't find anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(You moved before I could react.)"
		DavidW says, "Not outside the apartment door. Outside the building."
		DavidW says, "argh. Lagging really badly now."
		DavidW says, "Outside the building there"
		DavidW says, "Outside the building there's an overhang and greenery."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. I went there and searched the greenery. Not sure about the overhang, though."
		DavidW says, "Maybe we can climb up there? But the dumpster has to be ground accessible, logically."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb overhand" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB OVERHAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "overhand".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb overhang" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > CLIMB OVERHANG
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "overhang".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I didn't see you search the greenery here."
		DavidW says, "oh wait, I see you did"
		Jacqueline says, "So. The dumpster."
		JoshuaH says, "Maybe it's E from National, but other than that or through the window, I'm stumped."
		DavidW asks, "yeah. If you can't find it by walking around the building, go through the window. But really, how to expect to go from dumpster to window?"
		JoshuaH says, "The desc also mentioned other apartments' doors."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oops"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the
Floyd | door quietly behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wait. Undoing a bit."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | Unable to undo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You go out, ducking under the police tape before closing and locking
Floyd | the door behind you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | Going east will just get you further away from your car and where you
Floyd | want to be.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm."
		Jacqueline asks, "Gosh, maybe the window?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Going west will just take you past the back of the building to the
Floyd | south, away from your car and where you want to be.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I haven't been mapping, so I can't suggest directions explicitly."
		Jacqueline says, "I'll undo until we're back in her livingroom."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Kitchen
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd | Refrigerator, stove, sink, kitchen window.  An empty carton of
Floyd | grapefruit juice sitting on the counter.  The living room is back out
Floyd | to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open window" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN WINDOW
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the kitchen window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline glares at the kitchen window.
		Jacqueline sighs, grabs a pen.
		DavidW says, "seriously, the dumpster must be accessible from outside."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. It will be. The only clue we have is 'behind the building,' so it's odd that we're not allowed to go wandering. Perhaps I should wander from the base of the stairs, not from our car."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You go out, ducking under the police tape before closing and locking
Floyd | the door behind you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Is this a mythical dumpster?"
		Jacqueline asks, "A taunt?"
		DavidW says, "Or wander the hallway; there might be a backstairs."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 9:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the
Floyd | door quietly behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | Seeing as none of the other doors belongs to you, you'll probably have
Floyd | a hard time doing that without getting arrested.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, like a mountain painted on a backdrop? That would be evil. I suppose it's possible, but ick if so."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. Exactly like a mountain painted on a backdrop."
		DavidW says, "If you're giving up on the dumpster, try to play the tape or go to the Santa Monica address on the tape."
		DavidW says, "oh, also open the box of garbage cans and VERIFY that only bags are in there."
		DavidW says, "er box of bags"
Jacqueline gets bored and wanders off to the Toyshop. 		
Jacqueline arrives, ready to play with the toys. 		Jacqueline says, "Sorry about that. Back."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open bags" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN BAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the box of garbage bags.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bags" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | The garbage bags are stretchy plastic and dull orange in color.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "I don't think we have a tape player, do we?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Maybe we're down to the address in SM?"
		DavidW says, "I wasn't sure if we had a player or not."
		JoshuaH says, "Just the broken one in the car."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "There wasn't one mentioned in the apartment."
		Jacqueline says, "Possibly there was a Walkman(TM) on the body."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 9:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 9:23 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:24 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 9:25 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to santa monica" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 9:40 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO SANTA MONICA
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive to Santa Monica and park along Ocean Avenue.
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Monica, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
Floyd | States and not be driving on the sand.  Ocean Avenue extends north and
Floyd | south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish
Floyd | buildings.  You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "or a walkman in the dumpster. :)"
		Jacqueline says, "I hate when people call it 'continental US' or 'mainland US'"
		Jacqueline exclaims (at DW), "Taunt me no more with your mythical dumpster!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read cassette" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 9:41 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CASSETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Handwritten on the cassette label is "New Songs - May 15".  If the the
Floyd | tape player in the Volvo worked, you'd even be able to give it a
Floyd | listen.  The contact address on the tape is in Santa Monica.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, the contact address is SM, and now here we are in SM, at the beach. Um."
		DavidW says, "'Taunting Dumpster': the new rad game that everyone's talking about!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "ClubFloyd were told there was a dumpster to find. You won't believe what happens next!"
		DavidW asks, "Might there be surfer dudes and dudettes? Frankie and Annette?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Man. Frankie and Annette? You were worried about dating yourself?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 9:42 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | To get anywhere by driving, try something along the lines of "drive to
Floyd | my hotel".  (Or, if you plan to walk, you'll have to get out of the
Floyd | car.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | A bit redundant, don't you think?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh oh oh. Still in the car."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 9:42 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Monica, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
Floyd | States and not be driving on the sand.  Ocean Avenue extends north and
Floyd | south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish
Floyd | buildings.  You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to address" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO ADDRESS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "address".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Meh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 9:43 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 9:44 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overlooking the beach
Floyd | From here you can see the hazy mist hanging over the Pacific Ocean
Floyd | and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu.  A cement
Floyd | stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to
Floyd | where the Volvo is parked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Well, let's just go because it's there, shall we?"
		JoshuaH says, "Sure."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Beach
Floyd ] 9:45 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb down the cement steps to the sandy beach below.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beach
Floyd | You're facing south on a walking/running/rollerblading/whatever path
Floyd | that parallels the beach north-south along the ocean.  Quite a few
Floyd | people are involved in beach-ish activities.  You could follow the
Floyd | coastline further to the south, or go back up to the higher ground
Floyd | overlooking the beach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The address was 'Surfing USA'."
		JoshuaH says, "Hrm."
		Roger says, "Heh"
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, continuing in the 'because it is there' theme, S?"
		DavidW says, "I'm guessing the critical errors are failures to display an image."
		DavidW says, "yes, explore the beach, please."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "That was my thought, too."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:46 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd | The house is archetypically tall and thin--the norm for houses along
Floyd | this row on the Santa Monica beach.  A balcony looks out from the
Floyd | second story--you can hear music from above.  There's a doorbell here
Floyd | at path level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well of course we just stumbled upon the musician's house.'"
		Jacqueline says, "Of course we did."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ring bell" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:47 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RING BELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the doorbell and hear a muffled ring indoors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, ">ask billy about the myth of the dumpster"
		DavidW says, "I guess wait a turn and hope Billy isn't dead."
		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "GOOD PLAN"
		Jacqueline hopes Billy isn't dead.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:48 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | After a minute or so, Billy Van Earl comes ambling down from somewhere
Floyd | upstairs.  "Hey," he says, squinting.  He obviously doesn't know you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:50 a.m.
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hrm"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to billy" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:51 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TALK TO BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy is listening.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Y'know, strangled and with a cassette player playing beside his cooling body."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about cindy" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:52 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy raises his eyebrows.  "Geez...I never heard of her, you know?
Floyd | Wish I could help you out."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "OH REALLY"
		Jacqueline is doubtful.
		Jacqueline asks, "Can I scream, J'ACCUSE! yet?"
		JoshuaH asks, "ask about cassette?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, okay. Fine."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask Billy about cassette" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:53 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT CASSETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy shrugs.  "It's just a tape of some of our songs.  We make, like,
Floyd | dozens of 'em, give 'em out all over the place.  Who knows where that
Floyd | one came from?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ask him about cindy, fina, movie, cassette, milt, apartment."
		DavidW says, "show him the cassette too, if necessary"
		Jacqueline asks, "Why would you put your address on cassettes you randomly hand out to strangers, hm? HM?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about fina" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:54 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Never heard of the guy."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "This was before Google."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about movie" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:55 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT MOVIE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I've never heard of that."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about milt" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:56 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Should I know who that is?" Billy asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about apartment" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:57 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy doesn't seem to know anything about Cindy Painter's door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about billy" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:58 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy would probably rather not talk about himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about music" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 9:59 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT MUSIC
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's my band, Funkzilla.  It's our new CD."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Oh god."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about funkzilla" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 10:00 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT FUNKZILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Funkzilla's my band.  We just put out a new CD:  El Thump."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Oh GAWD."
		DavidW says, "what about Cindy? You haven't asked about Cindy yet."
		Jacqueline says, "Gosh, now I am suddenly not wishing that this game had a soundtrack."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I did."
		Jacqueline says, "First thing. Claims not to have heard of her."
		DavidW says, "oh. hm."
		DavidW asks, "This is looking like a dead end. Maybe return to Milt with the tape?"
		Roger says, "what there are CDs now"
		Roger says, "I thought we were trapped in the past"
		Jacqueline shrugs. "I guess. He said he'd be back in an hour.
		JoshuaH says, "Sounds good."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "CDs were a thing you published, but you didn't really burn music to them on your computer at this point, I think, so mix tapes were also a thing."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Beach
Floyd ] 10:01 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Beach
Floyd | You're facing south on a walking/running/rollerblading/whatever path
Floyd | that parallels the beach north-south along the ocean.  Quite a few
Floyd | people are involved in beach-ish activities.  You could follow the
Floyd | coastline further to the south, or go back up to the higher ground
Floyd | overlooking the beach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 10:02 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overlooking the beach
Floyd | From here you can see the hazy mist hanging over the Pacific Ocean
Floyd | and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu.  A cement
Floyd | stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to
Floyd | where the Volvo is parked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 10:03 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no car here to get in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Oops."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 10:02 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overlooking the beach
Floyd | From here you can see the hazy mist hanging over the Pacific Ocean
Floyd | and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu.  A cement
Floyd | stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to
Floyd | where the Volvo is parked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 10:03 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Monica
Floyd | This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
Floyd | States and not be driving on the sand.  Ocean Avenue extends north and
Floyd | south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish
Floyd | buildings.  You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 10:04 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to studio" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 10:09 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive midtown to the main gate of Rocket Pictures Studios and park
Floyd | in Visitor Parking.
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 10:10 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Assuming Milt is still there."
		DavidW says, "Or ask more about the CD and Funkzilla."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:11 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, is outside one of the
Floyd | soundstages having a smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "zomg It's Johnny LaFleure?!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x lafleure" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:12 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X LAFLEURE
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, looks at you over the top
Floyd | of his sunglasses and a fresh Players Light.  His demeanor both puts
Floyd | you at ease and creeps you out:  it seems to say both "Hey, how you
Floyd | doing?" and "Hey, got any younger sisters?" at the same time in that
Floyd | smooth Quebecoise accent.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline backs away slowly.
		DavidW says, "We could also try turning on the tv and hope a random news story fits into our story somehow."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess we should ask creepy Canadian about Cindy."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I did consider that earlier, but given the time it takes to get there, let's not do that unless we're out of options."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask lafleure about cindy" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:13 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK LAFLEURE ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | "It is sad what happened to her," Johnny said.  "I would be very upset
Floyd | if that happened to me."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "HAHAHA"
		Jacqueline says, "That is awesome."
		Roger asks, "heh. Is this guy the NPC-award-winner?"
		DavidW says, "oh, he's a keeper, he is."
		DavidW says, "(hoping that subsequent drawls don't make my comment come out wrong.)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask lafleure about milt" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK LAFLEURE ABOUT MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | "I like Milt Walker," Johnny tells you, nodding.  "When I was down a
Floyd | little, when my movies weren't doing so good, Milt he didn't give up
Floyd | on me.  And now look at me I'm a star again!  You believe me, it's
Floyd | good to be me."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "ask lafluere about 90 alterna-funk bands"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask lafleure about funkzilla" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK LAFLEURE ABOUT FUNKZILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure doesn't seem to know anything about Funkzilla.
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny drops the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and flattens it
Floyd | under his toe.  "Back to work," he says, and disappears back into the
Floyd | soundstage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Ask him about poutine"
		JoshuaH says, "(90's, whatever)"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Wait, LaFleure! Come le back!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, is outside one of the
Floyd | soundstages having a smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I bet we find a crushed cigarette butt at or near the crimescene, perhaps under the mythical dumpster"
		Jacqueline says, "hm. Possibly, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "Though we've been to the crime scene and found no such thing."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask johnny about johnny" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JOHNNY ABOUT JOHNNY
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure would probably rather not talk about himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny drops the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and flattens it
Floyd | under his toe.  "Back to work," he says, and disappears back into the
Floyd | soundstage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "I'm prepared to lose this bet"
		Jacqueline says, "I think Johnny LaFleure would simply ADORE to talk about himself, game."
		DavidW says (to Roger), "Best NPCs in general, not any one in particular."
		Jacqueline asks, "Do y'all want me to undo again to ask him something?"
		Roger says, "Oh I see"
		Roger says, "Ennhh that kinda feels like cheating in a game like this"
		Jacqueline says, "We have been undoscumming a lot, actually."
		Jacqueline says, "Because the game is kind of cruel with its time."
		DavidW says, "Also, finalist, not winner."
		Jacqueline says, "But this one is straight-forward."
		Roger says, "Alright"
		Jacqueline asks, "What next? Milt?"
		JoshuaH says, "Milt."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, ever since living in Alaska, I can't understand why anyone would go by 'Milt,' but I digress."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |   Milt Walker is here, standing outside the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about cassette" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT CASSETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt doesn't seem to know anything about the cassette tape.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Did you take the butt?"
		DavidW says, "Take the cigarette butt -- it might be a clueeee"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, true."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |   Milt Walker is here, standing outside the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, is outside one of the
Floyd | soundstages having a smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask johnny about movie" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JOHNNY ABOUT MOVIE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I've heard good things and I've heard bad things.  There's no
Floyd | sure things, you know?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny drops the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and flattens it
Floyd | under his toe.  "Back to work," he says, and disappears back into the
Floyd | soundstage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take butt" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BUTT
Floyd |
Floyd | You haven't seen anything like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take cigarette" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE CIGARETTE
Floyd |
Floyd | You haven't seen anything like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sorry. No go."
		DavidW says, "okay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |   Milt Walker is here, standing outside the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about funkzilla" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT FUNKZILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt doesn't seem to know anything about Funkzilla.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, ">ASK MILT ABOUT RED HERRINGS"
		Jacqueline says, ">ALSO ASK MILT ABOUT MYTHICAL DUMPSTERS"
		DavidW says, "At least we verified that Funkzilla is a valid topic."
		DavidW says, "also, try asking about dumpster -- it seems this game understands game objects as topics."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about dumpster" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt doesn't seem to know anything about the dumpster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "aha. The dumpster is a real object."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about kdfjldjf" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT KDFJLDJF
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "kdfjldjf".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Okay. Dumpster exists."
		Jacqueline says, "Dammit"
		Jacqueline says, "So, we really must find that damn thing."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, we can turn on the TV while we're there"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anything else before we head back to the apartment?"
		DavidW says, "NOT mythical."
		DavidW says, "Yes, do the happy dumpster dance."
JoshuaH asks, "milt about lafluere" 		JoshuaH says, "ask milt about lafluere"
		JoshuaH says, "? or the musician"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about billy" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt shakes his head, frowning slightly.  "I may have heard of
Floyd | him--he's, what, in some kind of band?  I don't see what that has to
Floyd | do with Cindy's death."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about johnny" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT JOHNNY
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's a tough one," Milt says.  "I mean, I like Johnny--he's a star
Floyd | and I think despite making some terribly shitty movies he's a good
Floyd | actor--but he can be tough to handle, to say the least.  Especially
Floyd | where other people's wives are involved and such."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show cassette to milt" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:21 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW CASSETTE TO MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt doesn't seem too interested in the cassette tape.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says (to JoshuaH), "f ask milt about lafluere"
		Jacqueline says, "Anything else before we go for a drive>"
		DavidW asks, "Maybe ask Anne about Lafluere too?"
		Jacqueline asks, "?"
		DavidW says, "If Lafluere is a creep around women, let's ask Anne about him."
		JoshuaH says, "Te receptionist."
		Jacqueline says, "hm. ya think? Okay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about anne" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 10:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT ANNE
Floyd |
Floyd | "That girl who works over in the other building?  She's the niece of
Floyd | one of our shareholders."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "(also Lafluere is our top suspect, on almost no evidence whatsoever.)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 10:23 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 10:24 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 10:25 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to apartment" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:36 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive south to National Blvd. and pull over to the curb next to
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building.
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:37 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:38 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | Sure, you could go for a stroll now, but what would that
Floyd | accomplish?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:37 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 10:38 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "See, I even made a map of this bit, but I prefer brute-force wandering."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 10:39 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Be a little more specific about what you'd like to enter.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "I'm curious about how a studio mogul knows about a lame unsigned funk-metal band. But, like, whatevs."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter apartment" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 10:40 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ENTER APARTMENT
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the door and go in, ducking under the tape and closing the
Floyd | door quietly behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on tv" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 10:41 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN ON TV
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn the television on.  The local L.A. news is on the current
Floyd | channel.  There's a brief mention of Cindy Painter's death, with no
Floyd | details other than that police are investigating.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "watch tv" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > WATCH TV
Floyd |
Floyd | Better start with a verb.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 10:44 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 10:41 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd | Rather sparsely decorated:  a fairly new sofa sitting in the middle
Floyd | of the hardwood floor commands your attention.  There's a television
Floyd | in the corner.  The sole bedroom is to the north.  East takes you into
Floyd | the kitchen, or you can go back out into the stairwell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn off tv" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's living room
Floyd ] 10:42 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TURN OFF TV
Floyd |
Floyd | Switched off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, ideas on the dumpster... ?"
		JoshuaH asks, "drive to alley?"
		DavidW says, "Wear the garbage bags. Enter the bedroom."
		DavidW says, "(god, that took me ages to think of)"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wear bag" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > WEAR BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't wear garbage bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Haha."
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 10:43 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You go out, ducking under the police tape before closing and locking
Floyd | the door behind you again.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 10:44 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Apartment stairs
Floyd ] 10:45 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment stairs
Floyd | You stand on the cool cement steps outside Cindy Painter's
Floyd | apartment.  At least you assume it's hers on account of all the yellow
Floyd | "POLICE LINE--DO NOT CROSS" tape crisscrossing the door, which is
Floyd | closed.  The doors to the other apartments are closed, too.  You can
Floyd | go back down to the ground from here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 10:44 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:45 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN
Floyd |
Floyd | Be a little more specific about where you'd like you to get.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:46 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to alley" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO ALLEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You haven't seen anything like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh but we have."
		DavidW says, "We won't contaminate the bedroom if we're plastic wrapped."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay. I looked at a walkthrough. Sorry. Just for this, though. Immediately shut the window."
		Jacqueline says, "We would never have gotten this otherwise."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out of car" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:47 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT OF CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd ] 10:48 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Cindy Painter's apartment building
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street and under the thick
Floyd | greenery hanging lazily from a concrete overhang to the base of the
Floyd | stairs leading up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Oh. I thought you meant disguise ourselves as a bag of garbage and wait for the garbagemen to pick us up and throw us in the dumpster."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "go behind building" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO BEHIND BUILDING
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Josh), "hahah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 10:47 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "go behind building" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:48 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO BEHIND BUILDING
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Back alley
Floyd | A narrow sliver of pavement between two buildings, one of them being
Floyd | Cindy Painter's.  The kind of narrow sliver that would be hell trying
Floyd | to maneuver through for parking, not to mention the miracle that the
Floyd | guys driving the garbage truck to get that dumpster must have to
Floyd | perform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x dumpster" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:49 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Dented and beaten-up and closed at the moment.  Scattered on the
Floyd | ground around the dumpster are sundry bits and traces of garbage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search garbage" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:50 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH GARBAGE
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't find anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search dumpster" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:51 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The dumpster is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open dumpster" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:52 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | With a bit of effort you manage to force the lid of the dumpster open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Is the window scene described as an 'alley'? Also, don't forget diagonal directions."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search dumpster" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:53 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH DUMPSTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The dumpster contains, well, a lot of garbage, including an ordinary
Floyd | green garbage bag, a bright green garbage bag, a bright red garbage
Floyd | bag, a black garbage bag, a dark gray garbage bag, a bright yellow
Floyd | garbage bag, a reddish brown garbage bag, a white garbage bag, a light
Floyd | gray garbage bag, a bright orange garbage bag, a olive garbage bag, a
Floyd | dull orange garbage bag, a dark brown garbage bag, a light brown
Floyd | garbage bag, a bluish-green garbage bag, a yellowy brown garbage bag,
Floyd | a charcoal-colored garbage bag, a maroon garbage bag, a dark blue
Floyd | garbage bag, and an ordinary red garbage bag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "omg. srsly?"
		JoshuaH says, "Holy moly."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is this a clue that we need another clue before we do this?"
		Roger says, "Haha"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or heck, do we just search each one?"
		DavidW says, "wow. 'GO BEHIND BUILDING'. Seriously, wow."
		JoshuaH says, "examine our bags to see what color they are"
		DavidW says, "Choose the one that matches the one we found. Dull orange, I think it was."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Oh, right!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Of course!"
		Jacqueline asks, "Ours were dull orange?"
		JoshuaH says, "I think so."
		DavidW says, "I think so. Examine it again if you have to."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search dull orange garbage bag" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:54 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH DULL ORANGE GARBAGE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | The dull orange garbage bag is closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "examine box"
		Jacqueline says, "That was anticlimactic"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open dull orange garbage bag" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:55 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN DULL ORANGE GARBAGE BAG
Floyd |
Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside the dull orange garbage bag are a birthday card and a torn
Floyd | business card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oho"
		Jacqueline asks, "Polic, what did you do while you were here, eh?"
		Jacqueline says, "Police, even."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read card" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:56 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | More like the tattered corner of what used to be a business card.  The
Floyd | only word you can really make out is "...Bixby".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take business card" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:57 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BUSINESS CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read birthday card" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:58 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ BIRTHDAY CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | A birthday card with bright cartoon balloons drawn all over the front.
Floyd | Inside:
Floyd |
Floyd |       "Cindy Baby,
Floyd |
Floyd | Happy birthday, baby!  You're a real inspiration for me and my
Floyd | music and the whole band.  Me and Funkzilla wouldn't be the same
Floyd | without you.
Floyd |
Floyd |       Billy xoxo"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "aHA"
		Jacqueline says, "J'ACCUSE AGAIN"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take birthday card" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 10:59 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > TAKE BIRTHDAY CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "So, go confront Mr. Billy Lyingpants?"
		DavidW says, "huh. He said he didn't even know her."
		Roger says, "CASE CLOSED"
		DavidW says, "read the business card"
		DavidW says, "and take the card"
		DavidW says, "er take the business card"
		Jacqueline says, "We did take the biz card. It is just a corner. Mentions a new thing: Bixby."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe she was dating Bill Bixby and made him mad and he turned green and strangled her."
		DavidW says, "oh wait, that was in the scroll back. Sometimes I miss stuff when the screen jumps more than a screenful of text"
		DavidW says, "I suppose ask Milt about Bixby."
		DavidW says, "Or revisit Billy. Or both."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, back to Milt, then back to Mr Lyingpants?"
		Roger says, "Ask Jean, maybe"
		DavidW asks, "who's Jean?"
DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't care which you visit next." 		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I think he means Johnny."
		JoshuaH says, "Milt seems like an info giver, so maybe talk to him first."
		DavidW says, "It'll be interesting enough to see how you leave the alley."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "go to car" 		

Floyd ] Back alley
Floyd ] 11:00 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | There's no car here to get in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "'go around building'? 'leave alley'? 'go to front of building'?"
		DavidW asks, "'go back'?"
		DavidW asks, "'out'?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 11:01 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | National Boulevard
Floyd | The sidewalk leads south from the street to Cindy Painter's
Floyd | building, which is a three-story apartment complex.  Maybe it's not
Floyd | Beverly Hills, but you know, it's not bad.  National extends to the
Floyd | east, and also to the west before curving away to the north.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "yay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] National Boulevard
Floyd ] 11:02 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "go to studio" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO TO STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't enter the studio pass.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to studio" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:13 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive midtown to the main gate of Rocket Pictures Studios and park
Floyd | in Visitor Parking.
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:14 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I wonder where the commisary is."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 11:15 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, is outside one of the
Floyd | soundstages having a smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | Johnny drops the butt of his cigarette onto the ground and flattens it
Floyd | under his toe.  "Back to work," he says, and disappears back into the
Floyd | soundstage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "He's not here now?"
		Jacqueline says, "Urh"
		DavidW says, "Johnny's job is to smoke cigs all day."
		Jacqueline says, "At least when Johnny dies, the cause will be more clear."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:22 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:16 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, wait."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nm" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > NM
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "nm".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 11:17 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | It's by trying to get into the main building that you learn--if you
Floyd | didn't know already--that trying to get into an office on a studio lot
Floyd | is like a maximum security jailbreak in reverse.  The Pentagon would
Floyd | be easier to get into.  Especially looking like a potential wannabe
Floyd | filmmaker, starved of sleep and cash the way you are.  Milt Walker's
Floyd | assistant has never heard of you, and the friendly yet stern gentleman
Floyd | behind the security desk suggests you get yourself on an appointment
Floyd | list.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Johnny LeFeure"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 11:18 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Maybe he'll be back in an hour like before."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "He left, too, though."
		JoshuaH says, "(Milt)"
		DavidW says, "(I was punning on his name, or trying to. Isn't feure the French word for smoke or fire?)"
		Jacqueline says, "No, it's Johnny The Flower"
		Roger says, "yup"
		DavidW says, "I *know* but he smokes cigs and so I made a pun or tried to. My comments were split up by lag."
		Roger says, "I think he's a mashup of Guy LaFleure and Johnny LaRue, but possibly only in my own continuum"
		Jacqueline says, "You may be confusing him with Johnny LafFufFaFumée"
		Jacqueline says, "Er, LaFumée"
		Jacqueline says, "Weird paste to get the accent, there."
		Jacqueline says, "(On a keyboard with no numpad)"
		Jacqueline says, "I saw we go confront Mr. Lyingpants, then return."
		DavidW says, "'feu' is fire; I verified that, at least."
		Roger says, "Sounds bonne to me"
		Jacqueline says, "Ah, yes. Feu is fire, fumée is smoke"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:19 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:20 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "okay, thanks."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to santa monica" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 11:25 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO SANTA MONICA
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive to Santa Monica and park along Ocean Avenue.
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Monica, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
Floyd | States and not be driving on the sand.  Ocean Avenue extends north and
Floyd | south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish
Floyd | buildings.  You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 11:26 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 11:27 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overlooking the beach
Floyd | From here you can see the hazy mist hanging over the Pacific Ocean
Floyd | and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu.  A cement
Floyd | stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to
Floyd | where the Volvo is parked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Beach
Floyd ] 11:28 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb down the cement steps to the sandy beach below.
Floyd |
Floyd | Beach
Floyd | You're facing south on a walking/running/rollerblading/whatever path
Floyd | that parallels the beach north-south along the ocean.  Quite a few
Floyd | people are involved in beach-ish activities.  You could follow the
Floyd | coastline further to the south, or go back up to the higher ground
Floyd | overlooking the beach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:29 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd | The house is archetypically tall and thin--the norm for houses along
Floyd | this row on the Santa Monica beach.  A balcony looks out from the
Floyd | second story--you can hear music from above.  There's a doorbell here
Floyd | at path level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ring bell" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:30 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > RING BELL
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the doorbell and hear a muffled ring indoors.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:31 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | After a minute or so, Billy Van Earl comes ambling down from somewhere
Floyd | upstairs.  "Hey," he says, squinting.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:33 a.m.
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about birthday card" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT BIRTHDAY CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Johnny LaFleure.)
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure isn't here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about birthday card" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:34 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT BIRTHDAY CARD
Floyd |
Floyd | "What am I supposed to know about somebody's birthday card?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show card to billy" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW CARD TO BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Which card do you mean, the birthday card or the torn business card?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "AAAAAAAH"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show birthday card to billy" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:35 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BIRTHDAY CARD TO BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Billy looks at the card, surprised.  Then not-so-surprised.  Then he
Floyd | swallows.  "Well, that could be any Billy, right?"  He reconsiders.
Floyd | Deep breath.  "Well...okay, so I did know her.  Look, can you blame
Floyd | me?  For lying, I mean?  I'm pretty freaked out here."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about cindy" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:36 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Billy.)
Floyd | "Look, man," Billy says, "You don't think I'm broken up over what
Floyd | happened?  Maybe I even, like, loved her, you know?  You think I don't
Floyd | miss Holly?  Well I do."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "...Holly?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about holly" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:37 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT HOLLY
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Billy.)
Floyd | Billy's eyes widen.  "What?  Holly--?  Did I say Holly?  You
Floyd | mean...well, um.  God...damn..."  He blows his breath out.  You caught
Floyd | him.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Aw, geez, man..." Billy begins.  "Yeah, right--it sounds
Floyd | great to have all these chicks, right?  But it's a nightmare, you
Floyd | know?  I'm lying to Cindy, I'm making up excuses for where I've been,
Floyd | where I'm going, I'm sitting there in Malibu listening to Holly bitch
Floyd | and whine--and God, she can bitch and whine--all the time thinking
Floyd | 'Cindy's gonna kill me...Cindy's gonna kill me...'"  Really trying his
Floyd | best to get your sympathy.  "But what was I supposed to do?  Dump
Floyd | Holly?  She's Holly Golden, man."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about johnny" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:38 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT JOHNNY
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Billy.)
Floyd | Billy doesn't seem to know anything about Johnny LaFleure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about milt" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:39 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Billy.)
Floyd | "Exactly!  Milt Walker, man!" Billy says excitedly.  "If you want to
Floyd | find out what happened to Cindy, that's one dude you should talk
Floyd | to--Milt Walker's one of those guys who knows everything and
Floyd | everybody."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about murder" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:40 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT MURDER
Floyd |
Floyd | (Assuming you mean Billy.)
Floyd | Billy looks perplexed.  "Well, I don't know who killed her.
Floyd | I didn't have anything to do with it."  Then he suddenly clues in that
Floyd | maybe that's not the first thing on anyone's mind.  "You know, not
Floyd | that anybody'd even think I did, right?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask him about alibi" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK HIM ABOUT ALIBI
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "alibi".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I have to go in an hour. It'd be cool to figure this out. I feel like we're far alongish."
		JoshuaH says, "Yeah. I note that Billy has a totally different response to asking about Milt this time."
		DavidW says, "We got a new lead: Holly Golden."
		JoshuaH says, "Before, he was like "Should I know who that is?""
		DavidW asks, "Did you ask about Bixby?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, no."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask billy about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Billy Van Earl's house
Floyd ] 11:41 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BILLY ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, I know who you're talking about," Billy says, "but I don't know
Floyd | much about him.  Other than he was Cindy's agent and she talked about
Floyd | him once in a while.  I think he may've liked her, too.  In a way
Floyd | that's more than just her agent, you know?  Like, she said something
Floyd | once about how he said something that made her uncomfortable.  I don't
Floyd | really remember, though..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "She did tear up the business card, to be fair."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe Billy McLyingPantaloons really is just scared."
		DavidW says, "Or someone did."
		DavidW says, "I wouldn't assume that Cindy threw out that bag."
		Jacqueline says, "Fair enough."
		Jacqueline asks, "So... Milt?"
		DavidW says, "I think we go to Anne (and Milt, if he's there, or Johnny) ask about Bixby and Holly."
		DavidW says, "If Milt isn't there, try to talk to Fina again,"
		Jacqueline says, "mmkay"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Beach
Floyd ] 11:42 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Beach
Floyd | You're facing south on a walking/running/rollerblading/whatever path
Floyd | that parallels the beach north-south along the ocean.  Quite a few
Floyd | people are involved in beach-ish activities.  You could follow the
Floyd | coastline further to the south, or go back up to the higher ground
Floyd | overlooking the beach.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Overlooking the beach
Floyd ] 11:43 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Overlooking the beach
Floyd | From here you can see the hazy mist hanging over the Pacific Ocean
Floyd | and the long curve of the coastline north past Malibu.  A cement
Floyd | stairway descends to the beach from here, or you can go back east to
Floyd | where the Volvo is parked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 11:44 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Santa Monica
Floyd | This is about as far west as you can get on the mainland United
Floyd | States and not be driving on the sand.  Ocean Avenue extends north and
Floyd | south, lined with palm trees and brightly colored, Santa Monica-ish
Floyd | buildings.  You can get a better view of the beach to the west.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Santa Monica
Floyd ] 11:45 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to studio" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:50 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO STUDIO
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive midtown to the main gate of Rocket Pictures Studios and park
Floyd | in Visitor Parking.
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate, in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 11:51 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 11:52 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd ] Side building
Floyd ] 11:53 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side building
Floyd | The people who work in this building are the people who all hope
Floyd | that one day they'll end up working in the other building.  Not that
Floyd | this building is bad--not that it's a fire hazard or anything like
Floyd | that--although the budget allocated for repairs to the roof probably
Floyd | went into new oak paneling inside the main building.  And maybe this
Floyd | place someone like you could at least get into.  Probably just by
Floyd | leaving the shade of this tree and climbing up the set of three stairs
Floyd | that leads to the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 11:54 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Reception area
Floyd | You could plunk yourself down in one of the two comfy-looking
Floyd | high-backed chairs while waiting for someone.  The minty-blue hospital
Floyd | tint to the walls could take some getting used to, though.  A hallway
Floyd | of office doors extends to the west, or you can go back outside to the
Floyd | south.
Floyd |   Anne, the building's receptionist, is sitting at her desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about lafleur" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 11:55 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT LAFLEUR
Floyd |
Floyd | Anne looks at you in a way that says, hey, I'm just the
Floyd | receptionist--I'm not bothering you, am I?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 11:56 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | Anne looks at you in a way that says, hey, I'm just the
Floyd | receptionist--I'm not bothering you, am I?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask anne about fina" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 11:57 a.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK ANNE ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "Again?  Okay," she says, and calls Stuart Fina in his office.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:00 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:01 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | Stuart Fina appears from somewhere down the hallway.  He smiles a
Floyd | "You, again" smile.  "Oh, you again," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "y" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:03 p.m.
Floyd | Do you want to keep waiting (YES or NO)?
Floyd | > Y
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about holly" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:04 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT HOLLY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Holly Golden was the hot thing for quite a while," Stuart tells you.
Floyd | "But, you know, people always want a new hot thing.  She even tried
Floyd | for the role in Hugs and Kisses, but we went with Cindy
Floyd | Painter."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline makes a note.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about johnny" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:05 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT JOHNNY
Floyd |
Floyd | Stuart doesn't seem to know anything about Johnny LaFleure.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Ooh."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about billy" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:06 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know anything about him."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "and Bixby"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask fina about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Reception area
Floyd ] 12:07 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK FINA ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | "He's Cindy's agent.  He was, I mean.  I never really had any dealings
Floyd | with him."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. Might need Milt for more on Bixby, and maybe Johnny for more on Holly.,"
Gerynar arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Jacqueline says, "I wonder if we can just hop in the ol' volvo and drive to bixby"
		DavidW says, "I dunno."
		DavidW says, "Holly is looking like the suspect now."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, to recap thus far: Billy is/was shagging both Holly & Cindy, Bixby was maybe into Cindy but she wasn't into him per se, and Holly competed for the role Cindy got in the movie?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Anything else?"
		DavidW says, "I think that's what we know so far. I bet Holly and Johnny might be dating now, though, as a wild guess."
		Gerynar asks, "whatcha all playin'?"
		DavidW says (to Gerynar), "Guilty Bastards."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "I would not be surprised, given what we heard about Johnny."
		Jacqueline says, "Perhaps this game is called Guilty Bastards because all of them are guilty."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ] Side building
Floyd ] 12:08 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Side building
Floyd | The people who work in this building are the people who all hope
Floyd | that one day they'll end up working in the other building.  Not that
Floyd | this building is bad--not that it's a fire hazard or anything like
Floyd | that--although the budget allocated for repairs to the roof probably
Floyd | went into new oak paneling inside the main building.  And maybe this
Floyd | place someone like you could at least get into.  Probably just by
Floyd | leaving the shade of this tree and climbing up the set of three stairs
Floyd | that leads to the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 12:09 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd | Johnny LaFleure, French-Canadian movie star, is outside one of the
Floyd | soundstages having a smoke.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "yeah, Hollywood is a long shag carpet."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask johnny about holly" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 12:10 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JOHNNY ABOUT HOLLY
Floyd |
Floyd | "A sexy peach!" Johnny exclaims.  "Yes, I was her man not too long
Floyd | ago, but, you know, things did not work out.  My career got back on
Floyd | track and suddenly there were lots of other girls around and that was
Floyd | a cause of stress."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Okay, crap. I took a bite of soup just after typing that command, but before reading LaFleur's reply."
		Jacqueline says, "That was a close one for my keyboard."
		DavidW says, "heh heh"
		JoshuaH says, "Heh. Poor, poor LaFleure."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask johnny about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 12:11 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK JOHNNY ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | "That guy is a bastard," Johnny says.  "He punched me in the eye once.
Floyd | In the eye!  And when I was talking to him to be my agent!  What do
Floyd | you think about that, then?  I don't want to do business with no
Floyd | character like that."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Hulk smash."
		Jacqueline says, "In the film that will be made of this, Johnny shall be played by (a young) Gérard Depardieu. That is how I am imagining this, and it is not helping."
		Jacqueline asks, "So... go find salmon sperm? Um, I mean... Milt?"
		DavidW says, "I worry that we may be missing info because you seem to expect only one response to a topic. You never attempt to reask a topic for more detail."
		DavidW says, "ask about bixby. Bixby might be Johnny's agent, for all we know."
DavidW says, "(grr lag)" 		DavidW asks, "So Bixby is a bastard.. but is he a *guilty* bastard?"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 12:12 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Main building
Floyd | You're just in front of the main administrative building.  Somewhere
Floyd | behind these walls are the executive offices of Rocket Pictures:  a
Floyd | motley assemblage of manic creative near-genius, mediocre posturing,
Floyd | epidemic insecurity, monumental bravado, white-knuckle risk-taking,
Floyd | milquetoast acquiescence, stark paranoia, and great leather furniture.
Floyd |   Milt Walker is here, standing outside the building.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "sure, find Milt."
		Jacqueline says, "YAY MILT"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 12:13 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | "He's been Cindy's agent since she came out here," Milt says.  "But
Floyd | he's what you'd call small time.  Cindy was starting to break out.  We
Floyd | talked about if, after her movie opened, she should be thinking about
Floyd | moving up to a bigger agent."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline adds 'Cindy was going to fire Bixby' to the list.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask milt about holly" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 12:14 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK MILT ABOUT HOLLY
Floyd |
Floyd | "She's a famous actress.  She's been in some pictures for us.  A bit
Floyd | of a prima donna, too, for what it's worth.  I don't know what else to
Floyd | tell you."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show birthday card to milt" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 12:15 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BIRTHDAY CARD TO MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt nods.  "Van Earl must've given that to her.  Good for her for
Floyd | throwing it out."
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt sighs.  "All right.  I should have told you--I knew that Cindy
Floyd | was seeing this...this Billy Van Earl.  But he's not capable of
Floyd | murder.  What he is is a goddamned deadbeat, and I just
Floyd | wanted to...show some respect for Cindy and not have this kind of
Floyd | thing get out.  He's not capable of murder."  Milt pauses.  "Or do you
Floyd | think he is?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline slow claps and says, "Way to help our investigation, Milt."
		DavidW says, "show business card to milt"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show business card to milt" 		

Floyd ] Main building
Floyd ] 12:16 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BUSINESS CARD TO MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt looks at the card for a second.  "Might be Chuck Bixby.  He was
Floyd | Cindy's agent.  Got an office out on Wilshire."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "WILSHIRE! Yay, thank you, Milt."
		JoshuaH says, "Yay location."
		Jacqueline asks, "Anything else before we follow that lead?"
		JoshuaH says, "I'm good."
		DavidW says, "yay, an address."
		DavidW says, "drive to Wilshire!!"
		DavidW says, "Thanks, Milt! You're a sexy peach!"
		Jacqueline says, "heehee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio backlot
Floyd ] 12:17 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio backlot
Floyd | It wouldn't be the hardest thing in the world to get lost back here
Floyd | among the soundstages, each of them nearly identical to the next
Floyd | except for the identifying number stenciled on it in faded white
Floyd | paint.  If you keep going straight to the north, eventually you'll get
Floyd | to the main building.  Or you could turn around and head back to the
Floyd | parking lot.  More buildings of an administrative flavor are over to
Floyd | the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 12:18 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Studio gate
Floyd | Welcome to Rocket Pictures Studios.  It's everything a Hollywood
Floyd | studio should be:  it has a bold, impressive gate; the grounds of the
Floyd | lot extending to the north are lined with rows of pale hangar-like
Floyd | soundstage buildings and ceramic-roofed bungalows; there's a
Floyd | staggering abundance of motorhomes; it has its own watertower; and
Floyd | it's not actually in Hollywood at all.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in car" 		

Floyd ] Studio gate
Floyd ] 12:19 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET IN CAR
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb into the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to wiltshire" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO WILTSHIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "wiltshire".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drive to wilshire" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:30 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > DRIVE TO WILSHIRE
Floyd |
Floyd | You drive east along Wilshire, away from Beverly Hills and toward
Floyd | downtown.  You pull off onto a quiet side street and park.
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd., in your cousin's Volvo
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get out" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:31 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > GET OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the Volvo.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:32 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd | You're standing right in the entrance to an old sunwashed stone
Floyd | office building at the corner of Wilshire and, well, somewhere just
Floyd | west of La Brea.  The lobby is about what you'd expect to find:
Floyd | office directory on one wall, small maintenance closet, fire alarm,
Floyd | ventilation grill.  Actually, of some interest but little use is the
Floyd | out-of-commission movie theater here on the ground level.  Other than
Floyd | that, you can go up and in to the offices.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I say we just go upstairs, but this isn't real life, it's IF, so we should probably toss the place."
		DavidW says, "hm. Lots of details. At least read the directory first."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read directory" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:33 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ DIRECTORY
Floyd |
Floyd | The directory is made up of those plastic letters stuck in a grooved
Floyd | backing mounted on the wall.  It looks like the listings haven't been
Floyd | updated since the mid-1980s or so, and a few of the letters are
Floyd | missing so the names are a little bastardized:
Floyd |
Floyd |    Dr. Emile Johns n - Br ast Enla gment
Floyd |    Greenhorn & Smi h - I migration Law ers
Floyd |
Floyd | (and the one you're looking for:)
Floyd |
Floyd |    Ch ck Bixby - Talent Agent
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 20)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It'd be in-ter-es-ting if more than one of our suspects lives or works in the same building."
		DavidW says, "The closet might have rubber gloves."
		DavidW says, "or a flashlight."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh right. Footnotes."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 20" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 20
Floyd |
Floyd | If you're thinking, "Golly, that's an odd cross-section," think again.
Floyd | This is Hollywood.  Those are probably the top three essential
Floyd | services.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search closet" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:34 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SEARCH CLOSET
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't find anything.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open closet" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN CLOSET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the maintenance closet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x grill" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:35 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X GRILL
Floyd |
Floyd | Angled rows of metal shutters form a grating that you can't see
Floyd | through, but through which you can definitely feel a draft.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:36 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > U
Floyd |
Floyd | You climb the stairs until you find the door to "Chuck Bixby - Talent
Floyd | Agent".
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd | The office is fairly bright--lots of windows.  The most notable
Floyd | thing in it is a big wooden desk on which, along with a bunch of other
Floyd | stuff, sits a computer.  The other most notable thing is a small,
Floyd | solid-looking safe visible under one side of the desk--notable in that
Floyd | "Hey, there's a safe here" sort of way.
Floyd |   Chuck Bixby is sitting at his desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bixby" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:37 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck is in his late thirties, graying hair clipped short, hanging
Floyd | onto cool for as long as he can.  He regards you for the most part
Floyd | with a bemused raised eyebrow--but then you get the impression he
Floyd | regards pretty much everyone this way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about bixby" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:38 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck would probably rather not talk about himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Hey, there's a safe here."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about safe" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT SAFE
Floyd |
Floyd | You haven't seen anything like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x safe" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:39 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X SAFE
Floyd |
Floyd | It's a solid-looking gray safe sitting on the floor by Chuck's desk.
Floyd | The safe is closed and has a dial to open the combination lock on the
Floyd | front.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about safe" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:40 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT SAFE
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's a good safe," Chuck tells you.  "Paid top dollar for it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about Cindy" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:41 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT CINDY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Cindy?  I thought the world of her," Chuck says.  "I still do.  I was
Floyd | as proud of her as of anybody I've ever represented.  She was going to
Floyd | go far--and she was such a good person, too."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about having the hots for Cindy and how she was going to fire his ass" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT HAVING THE HOTS FOR CINDY AND HOW SHE WAS GOING TO
Floyd | FIRE HIS ASS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "having".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about job" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT JOB
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "job".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about movie" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:42 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT MOVIE
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, I've never seen it--not even a test screening," Chuck says.
Floyd | "The studio's really, really close-lipped about it.  What, do I think
Floyd | she would've moved on, got a new agent?  Maybe."  Chuck shrugs.
Floyd | "These things happen.  You lose clients, you get new clients.  You
Floyd | can't let it really affect you one way or the other."  A beat.
Floyd | "Waitasec--you weren't really asking about me, were you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about billy" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:43 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT BILLY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look," he says, "I never really thought that much of him, not that it
Floyd | matters at all."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about holly" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:44 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT HOLLY
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck shrugs.  "She's a movie star.  I don't know her.  I probably
Floyd | don't know much more than you."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about fina" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:45 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT FINA
Floyd |
Floyd | "He was the studio guy in charge of Cindy's movie, but I've really
Floyd | only talked to him a couple of times," Chuck tells you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "In a surprise twist clickbait ending, it turns out Milt is guilty as sin."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about Milt" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:46 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | "Milt Walker is a tough guy, a good guy, an honest guy, a bastard of a
Floyd | tough negotiator," Chuck tells you.  "You ask around this town, you'll
Floyd | get all sorts of opinions on what people think of Milt Walker."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show business card to milt" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BUSINESS CARD TO MILT
Floyd |
Floyd | Milt isn't here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "er"
		DavidW says, "Don't forget to ask about Holly, Billy, Johnny, and Fina."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show business card to bixby" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:47 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BUSINESS CARD TO BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, that's mine."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about johnny" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:48 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT JOHNNY
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was almost his agent once," Chuck tells you.  "A few years ago,
Floyd | he'd done about nine lousy movies in a row and no one in town would
Floyd | even talk to him.  So we went out to dinner and he tried to sleep with
Floyd | my wife and I ended up punching him in the eye and, hey, today I'm not
Floyd | his agent."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "haha"
		Jacqueline says, "This game definitely has its moments."
		DavidW asks, "hm. Ask Bixby about wife?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about wife" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT WIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't use the word "wife".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. When we decide to leave, try listening to the vent."
		DavidW says, "Ask about the band, I forget the name."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask bixby about funkzilla" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:49 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT FUNKZILLA
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck doesn't seem to know anything about Funkzilla.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "Ask Bixby about LaFleure" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:50 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > ASK BIXBY ABOUT LAFLEURE
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was almost his agent once," Chuck tells you.  "A few years ago,
Floyd | he'd done about nine lousy movies in a row and no one in town would
Floyd | even talk to him.  So we went out to dinner and he tried to sleep with
Floyd | my wife and I ended up punching him in the eye and, hey, today I'm not
Floyd | his agent."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:49 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd | The office is fairly bright--lots of windows.  The most notable
Floyd | thing in it is a big wooden desk on which, along with a bunch of other
Floyd | stuff, sits a computer.  The other most notable thing is a small,
Floyd | solid-looking safe visible under one side of the desk--notable in that
Floyd | "Hey, there's a safe here" sort of way.
Floyd |   Chuck Bixby is sitting at his desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "examine computer?"
		JoshuaH says, "I wish I didn't know anything about Funkzilla, either."
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x computer" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:50 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X COMPUTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The computer is turned on and currently running some sort of Windows
Floyd | scheduler program showing Bixby's appointments--you don't recognize
Floyd | any of the names.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we need to come back here tonight, once Bixby's gone, and crack that safe."
		Jacqueline says, "And that thought annoys me."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read appointments" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > READ APPOINTMENTS
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the computer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		JoshuaH says, "Well, we've only got 7 1/2 hours left or so."
		Jacqueline says, "I shall have to duck out in a bit, but you all should continue when that time comes if you want to."
		Jacqueline says, "Because next week we have New Years games."
		Jacqueline asks, "What now?"
		DavidW says, "I'm not sure where to go from here."
		JoshuaH says, "show birthday card? He seems nonplussed about Billy, but the card opened more dialog earlier."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show birthday card to bixby" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:51 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW BIRTHDAY CARD TO BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck doesn't seem too interested in the birthday card.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "show tape to bixby?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "show cassette to bixby" 		

Floyd ] Chuck Bixby's office
Floyd ] 12:52 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > SHOW CASSETTE TO BIXBY
Floyd |
Floyd | Chuck doesn't seem too interested in the cassette tape.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Did we ask about Milt?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline | "Milt Walker is a tough guy, a good guy, an honest guy, a bastard of a tough negotiator," Chuck tells you. "You ask around this town, you'll get all sorts of opinions on what people think of Milt Walker."
		DavidW says, "right. Milt is a .... bastard."
		Jacqueline says, "I wonder where Holly lives."
		Jacqueline says, "And if anyone had their breasts augmented."
		DavidW asks, "hm. I suppose we search this building as much as we can, and maybe the beach?"
		DavidW says, "and yeah, I really want to know how to find Holly."
		Gerynar checks his chest and sighs in relief, still the same
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:53 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd | You're standing right in the entrance to an old sunwashed stone
Floyd | office building at the corner of Wilshire and, well, somewhere just
Floyd | west of La Brea.  The lobby is about what you'd expect to find:
Floyd | office directory on one wall, small maintenance closet, fire alarm,
Floyd | ventilation grill.  Actually, of some interest but little use is the
Floyd | out-of-commission movie theater here on the ground level.  Other than
Floyd | that, you can go up and in to the offices.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open grate" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > OPEN GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't do that with the ventilation grill.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Listen to grate, I suggested."
		Jacqueline asks, "hm. Set off a fire alarm to get into his safe?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen to grate" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:54 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > LISTEN TO GRATE
Floyd |
Floyd | The ventilation grill is not making a sound.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We might overhear something."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x alarm" 		

Floyd ] Wilshire Blvd. building lobby
Floyd ] 12:55 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > X ALARM
Floyd |
Floyd | A little red fire alarm mounted on the wall, with a handle to pull in
Floyd | case of fire.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Footnote 19)
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		JoshuaH says, "Nice."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "alarm" 		

Floyd | > SAVESaved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 18" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 18
Floyd |
Floyd | Jake Duffy is the younger brother of Sergeant Duffy, who ably assisted
Floyd | the player in Infocom's mystery games Deadline and The Witness, and
Floyd | was quick to slap the cuffs on him or her in Suspect.  (In other
Floyd | words, this is another case where the author has borrowed cheerfully
Floyd | from an interactive-fiction classic.)  Sergeant Duffy's key trait was
Floyd | his ability to appear instantly whenever needed, never overstaying his
Floyd | welcome, and subsequently disappearing just as instantly without a
Floyd | trace.  Now, Jake Duffy may not exactly be a cop like his big brother,
Floyd | but in a rare gesture of generosity toward the player's plight, at
Floyd | least that curious ability has here been made hereditary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ACK"
		Jacqueline says, "DON'T READ DON'T READ TYPO"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "footnote 19" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > FOOTNOTE 19
Floyd |
Floyd | It is, of course, an offense to pull a fire alarm if there's no fire.
Floyd | Just in case you were thinking of doing anything of the sort.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline does not read it.
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pull alarm" 		

Floyd | %% Critical error.
Floyd | %% Message: stream_open_file: unable to open file.
Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:56 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > PULL ALARM
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach up, give the fire alarm a tug, and it starts ringing.
Floyd | Building security (actually just one old guy in a shabby navy blazer)
Floyd | arrives shortly and--after giving you a suspicious once-over--escorts
Floyd | you and everyone else across the street.
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The building empties out as the fire department arrives, sirens
Floyd | wailing, lights flashing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh, you're not pulling that."
		Jacqueline says, "I am"
		Jacqueline says, "I have"
		Jacqueline says, "And I'd DO IT AGAIN"
		Jacqueline asks, "Now, how do we get to that safe?"
		DavidW says, "I went through this in RL yesterday. It's not fun,."
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha aw"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > E
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:56 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd | Chuck Bixby is standing around, like everyone else, waiting for the
Floyd | fire alarm to stop ringing.
Floyd | A crowd of people--some from the building, some who have just
Floyd | stopped on the street--watches the spectacle of fire trucks and
Floyd | firefighters.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > W
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:56 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd | Chuck Bixby is standing around, like everyone else, waiting for the
Floyd | fire alarm to stop ringing.
Floyd | A crowd of people--some from the building, some who have just
Floyd | stopped on the street--watches the spectacle of fire trucks and
Floyd | firefighters.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't go that way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:56 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd | Chuck Bixby is standing around, like everyone else, waiting for the
Floyd | fire alarm to stop ringing.
Floyd | A crowd of people--some from the building, some who have just
Floyd | stopped on the street--watches the spectacle of fire trucks and
Floyd | firefighters.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:57 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > S
Floyd |
Floyd | The fire department is making everyone stay across the street from the
Floyd | building while the alarm is going off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "go behind building" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > GO BEHIND BUILDING
Floyd |
Floyd | You don't see that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Should I have not pulled it? It kinda seemed like it was there to be pulled."
		DavidW says, "I don't think we can open the safe in these circumstances."
		DavidW says, "We don't know the combo or have a stethoscope or touch-sensitive gloves or anything."
		JoshuaH says, "Hmm. I'd say pull the alarm then hide in the duct, but..."
Gerynar says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:58 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd | Chuck Bixby is standing around, like everyone else, waiting for the
Floyd | fire alarm to stop ringing.
Floyd | A crowd of people--some from the building, some who have just
Floyd | stopped on the street--watches the spectacle of fire trucks and
Floyd | firefighters.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think you need to pick a better time to pull the alarm."
		Jacqueline says, "It is admittedly hard to use a sphygmomanometer when there's a fire alarm going off."
		Jacqueline says (to Gerynar), "We have a driver because we are on a timer, fyi."
		Gerynar says, "sorry"
		Jacqueline says, "And it's a brutal timer. Looking is a move. Going the wrong direction is a move."
Gerynar says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ] Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd ] 12:57 p.m.
Floyd | >
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Just off Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | This quiet, palm-tree-lined street runs south toward Wilshire Blvd.
Floyd | and the old office building at the corner.
Floyd | Chuck Bixby is standing around, like everyone else, waiting for the
Floyd | fire alarm to stop ringing.
Floyd | A crowd of people--some from the building, some who have just
Floyd | stopped on the street--watches the spectacle of fire trucks and
Floyd | firefighters.
Floyd |   Your cousin's Volvo is parked here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to Gerynar), "No worries, you were late to the party, so I was just letting you know."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, IJLTS sphygmomanometer"
		Jacqueline says, "And it's in my paste buffer now, so sphygmomanometer"
		Gerynar says, "that makes me think of an episode of Big Bang Theory"
		DavidW says, "well, you saved before pulling the fire alarm."
		DavidW says, "Like, you can, I suppose, see if you can visit Chuck's office and find the combo in a desk drawer."
		DavidW says, "ugh. I hate this lag. hate it."
		Jacqueline says, "The mean old firemen won't let me enter the building, though."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm, actually, Gerynar. We *do* need a new driver."
		Jacqueline says, "I have to go volunteer soon. I should get ready."
		Jacqueline says, "Although perhaps DW should drive so that things keep up with his lag."
		Gerynar says, "can't really do it...I remember a bit about studying the source when I was learning HUGO"
		DavidW says, "Climb a palm tree? I'm sure no one would notice."
		Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Can you drive?"
		Jacqueline says, "I'm afraid I'm out of here in a bit, for three+ hours."
		DavidW says, "I don't think I can drive. Sorry. I should lie down soon."
		Jacqueline says, "Gosh. Cindy's murder may go unsolved."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, we could just table it until after New Year's games."
		Jacqueline asks, "Shall we do that?"
		JoshuaH says, "Sounds good to me."
		DavidW says, "It's an interesting game, though, to be sure."
		Jacqueline says, "I just saved. The save is called 'alarm'"
		DavidW says, "yeah, I'm okay with tabling it."
		Jacqueline says, "Okay, folks. Thanks for playing. See you next week for New Year's games."
Not a valid command. Try typing 'help'. 		
You click your ruby slippers together three times and disappear, safe in the knowledge that there's no place like home... 		
Seeya later. 			



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t of the demon's body by his
Floyd | tongue. Enkidu chopped off Humbaba's head, and the ground shook, and
Floyd | the forest trembled, and the soil ran with blood. And then it rained,
Floyd | it rained, it rained..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storyteller trails off, eyes unfocused, as if lost in another
Floyd | world. After a long moment, she comes back and looks at you. "Perhaps
Floyd | this seems to you a strange story to tell at such a time?" she asks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | A smile. "There is a secret that all storytellers know," the teller
Floyd | says, and I will tell it to you now." She beckons you close, and says
Floyd | each word distinctly. "No story is true, until the listener has heard
Floyd | it. A story is no more true than a doll is a man. To a child, a doll
Floyd | can seem to be filled with life and wishes and dreams; but this is not
Floyd | because of the doll. It is because of the child."
Floyd |
Floyd | The teller coughs, but the cough turns to long, gasping chokes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "comfort her" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > COMFORT HER
Floyd |
Floyd | [Things to try:  LOOK | LOOK AT | GO | TALK TO | GREET | ATTACK | TAKE
Floyd | | TOUCH | HEAL | LISTEN | PRAISE | MOCK | STORY | UNDO | or an
Floyd | EMPHASIZED word. For more detailed instructions, type INFO]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to teller" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > TALK TO TELLER
Floyd |
Floyd | She is not nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "touch" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > TOUCH
Floyd |
Floyd | (the herbs)
Floyd | You feel nothing unexpected.
Floyd |
Floyd | The teller's eyes sparkle. "The power of the teller is to share the
Floyd | story with the people," she says, "but the power of the listener is to
Floyd | make the story true, or untrue. Only a teller who understands where
Floyd | the true power lies becomes a master; only a teller who knows not to
Floyd | hoard this power can bring change to this world."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storyteller coughs again, very, very weakly. There will be but a
Floyd | few more breaths, now, before the end.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | Wind tugs gently at the tent flaps, then subsides.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
maga says (to Floyd), "praise storyteller" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > PRAISE STORYTELLER
Floyd |
Floyd | She is not nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x her" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > X HER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't see "her" (Sihan) at the moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x teller" 		

Floyd ]
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TELLER
Floyd |
Floyd | She is not nearby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What is her actual name, again?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]    yes  no
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd | A lamp burns low, its nearly-spent wick barely lighting up the
Floyd | storyteller's small tent. Nothing adorns the walls or brightens up the
Floyd | floor; all that is here is a small straw mat, on which the teller
Floyd | lies, breathing shallowly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I have one last gift for you," she says, her voice fading but still
Floyd | beautiful, "a choice you must make. You must make your decision not
Floyd | out of consideration for me, nor for Saiph, nor for any but yourself,
Floyd | for it is you who will walk the path this choice lays out, and you
Floyd | alone. There is no shame in refusing, for the ways to the path are
Floyd | many, and another will find it in time. But I think, perhaps, it is
Floyd | well-suited for you."
Floyd |
Floyd | The storyteller grips your hand tight, and summons up one final
Floyd | reserve of strength, holding your gaze with eyes that begin now to
Floyd | fade. "The teller must gather the people each time the moon dies," she
Floyd | says. "The teller must tell the stories to the people so the young
Floyd | will learn and the old not forget. The teller must teach the people
Floyd | who they are, and how to shape who they will be. Will you do these
Floyd | things? Will you become the storyteller?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Oh, another choice."
		maga says, "well, maybe we'll suck at it less than we do at arguing"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd ]    yes  no
Floyd |
Floyd | > YES
Floyd |
Floyd | The teller sighs, and sinks back into her pillow, and your father's
Floyd | sister Isi lies before you once again. Peace slowly fills her
Floyd | pain-wracked face, and she mutters something as the old eyes close.
Floyd | You bend closer to hear.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You will tell the stories well, my child," Isi says in a voice softer
Floyd | than grass in the wind, "You will tell them well."
Floyd |
Floyd | The voice falls silent, then, and there is much darkness before the
Floyd | next story begins.
Floyd |
Floyd |  [Press any key to continue]

		Jacqueline says, "I am sort of surprised we were chosen, given how badly people reacted to us."
maga pushes the green 'space' button. 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | This is a story about a healer in the village who was in love with a
Floyd | strong warrior man, Saiph. On the night of the telling, when the
Floyd | healer's aunt Isi became the teller, their enemy Sihan tried her best
Floyd | to turn the people towards needless war with the outsiders. The healer
Floyd | spoke against this reckless path, but the people heard the words of
Floyd | Sihan more clearly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Words flew between these two firebrands, but their rancor was too
Floyd | bitter and curdled to heal. The arrival out of the blackest night of
Floyd | the strange newcomers shook the crowd, so sure peace was the way. The
Floyd | healer who brokered a fragile peace, and agreed to share their
Floyd | resources with the curious strangers to their land.
Floyd |
Floyd | And the teller lay dying, struck down from shock or chance with a
Floyd | weakened heart, and in her final moments called the healer to her
Floyd | side. She told the healer how the story ended, and whom the telling
Floyd | changed. A teller died and a teller was born, and the story will
Floyd | always guide the way.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** This telling has ended ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, read the AFTERWORD,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "So, that was not a terrible ending at all."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like we somehow pulled that one out of the fire."
		DavidW says, "yes, you did well"
Jearl says (to Floyd), "afterword" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > AFTERWORD
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Thank you for interacting with "Whom The Telling Changed." If you
Floyd | haven't already, try playing again and pursuing a different path.
Floyd | There are many ways to experience this story, and many perspectives
Floyd | you may encounter: what you assumed to be right and wrong, good and
Floyd | evil with one play-through may not be as simple as you thought. Your
Floyd | very first action sets your course, but there are many ways to alter
Floyd | it as both stories progress, some surprising.
Floyd |
Floyd | The storyteller's tale is part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest
Floyd | story recorded by human history, originating in Sumeria more than
Floyd | 4,000 years ago. The specific words used by the teller are my own, a
Floyd | mishmash of various versions of the Humbaba story from Sumer, Babylon,
Floyd | and Akkadia. The quest of the Cedar Forest is only a small part of the
Floyd | full epic, which is well worth reading or re-reading.
Floyd |
Floyd | The setting of my frame story is not meant to be any more specific
Floyd | than somewhere in the Fertile Crescent, thousands of years ago, but to
Floyd | fill in the details of atmosphere and setting I am indebted to Karen
Floyd | Rhea Nemet-Nejat's book "Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia." The
Floyd | various translations of the Gilgamesh epic were also very useful:
Floyd | specifically, those of Mitchell, Ferry, and Gardner/Maier, all of
Floyd | which are beautiful and readable versions of the work.
Floyd |
Floyd | Thanks also to my beta testers James Cunningham, Michael Fransioli,
Floyd | and Henrik 'Drix' Jensen, to storyteller Beth Horner, and to the
Floyd | friends who helped me wrestle the very nebulous concept for this piece
Floyd | towards its final implementation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, read the AFTERWORD,
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "No pun intended (re: out of the fire)"
Limax walks slowly out of the room and into the sunset. 		maga asks, "or possibly it steers you towards victory regardless?"
		DavidW says, "no, I don't think victory is assured."
		Jacqueline says, "I was thinking that, but that doesn't seem like Aaron."
		Jacqueline says, "He seems like the sort that would kill Bambi *and* her mother just because the establishment never would."
		Jacqueline says, "Not out of malice for Bambi, just for conventional approach."
		maga says (to Jacq), "also the sort to gender-switch Bambi"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, one more time? Or do we want to just replay this next week?"
		Jacqueline smiles at maga.
		Jacqueline says, "I am kind of inclined to just call it a day and replay this next week."
		Jearl says, "works for me"
Roger disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		Jacqueline says, "Maybe I'll invite Aaron and share this transcript with him."
		DavidW asks, "So, next week, we can be Stabby Macpherson?"
		Jacqueline exclaims (at DavidW), "Yes!"
		Jacqueline says, "And like Sihan, if we want to."
		Jacqueline says, "Anyway, see you all next week."
		DavidW says, "good game"
		DavidW says, "til next week"



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NightFloyd Transcript:
No Time to Squeal by Mike Sousa and Robb Sherwin
As played on ifMUD on March 20, 2014

Like ClubFloyd, the idea behind NightFloyd is that a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Unlike ClubFloyd, NightFloyd often takes on significantly larger works of interactive fiction, knowing going in that each one will take multiple sessions (but not always, as you'll see in this transcript). NightFloyd is also a bit more informal than ClubFloyd in that it's only announced on the ifMUD #clubfloyd bulletin board, and the time shifts around to meet player's schedules far more than ClubFloyd does. NightFloyd is organized by genericgeekgirl, aka Adri.

Below is a transcript of No Time to Squeal written by Mike Sousa and Robb Sherwin. No Time to Squeal was released as part of the 2001 Interactive Fiction Competition, in which it took fourth place. It went on to be nominated for a Xyzzy for Best Writing. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting IFDB.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

		Allen asks, "what game?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Dunno yet."
		Zach says, "Picking a random game from the front of ifwiki: No Time To Squeal"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Is there a pig? Because I will so totally play that."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh hey, it's Recchi's."
		genericgeekgirl says, "So, uh. Squeal might actually be something terrifying."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Surreal Horror."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Yiss."
		genericgeekgirl says, "And it's conveniently already in Floyd."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Ok, I'll give folk a couple more minutes, but yeah, I like this idea."
pollux arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "load ntts" 		

Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd | tadsr - A text-only TADS 2.5.10 Interpreter.
Floyd | Copyright (c) 1993, 2006 by Michael J. Roberts.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |    What sucks, about being the pro agent for a sociopathic defensive
Floyd | tackle like Tavarian Pittman, is the never-ending, ulcer-inducing,
Floyd | cloud of dark dread that seems to follow him and those that associate
Floyd | with him.  Tavarian is a chiseled 6'4", 313lb athletic monster -- he
Floyd | can run the 40 yard dash in 4.33 seconds, and can throw opposing
Floyd | players around the football field with ease.  While playing, he is a
Floyd | whirling dervish of rage.  Unfortunately, Tavarian displays that same
Floyd | kind of restraint in everyday life.
Floyd |
Floyd |    Four months ago, he celebrated winning an award at the Nokia Sugar
Floyd | Bowl by crashing an off-campus party and proceeded to get roaring drunk
Floyd | with his friends.  It was a theme party -- a pre-med student hosting it
Floyd | had a cadaver on display as the party's centerpiece.  After drinking
Floyd | himself into an almost criminal level of intoxication, Tavarian and his
Floyd | friends started throwing the corpse around the house as if it were an
Floyd | old softball.  Tavarian punched a hole through the back of the thing's
Floyd | neck and started a ventriloquist act in extremely poor taste.
Floyd |
Floyd |    An attending film studies student had brought his camcorder with him
Floyd | and recorded the entire thing.
Floyd |
Floyd |    It made national headlines: Tavarian was called out by sports
Floyd | writers everywhere, denounced as an archdemon, and the summation of
Floyd | What's Wrong With Collegiate Sports.  His nickname soon became 'The
Floyd | Ripper' when one beat writer wondered if his next act was in writing
Floyd | "Dear Boss" letters to the local paper. Tavarian had already declared
Floyd | for the NFL Pro Draft, so he had no option of returning to school and
Floyd | laying low until the incident blew over.  He was likely to go
Floyd | completely undrafted, as no professional team could afford the PR hit
Floyd | they would take by selecting him.
Floyd |
Floyd |    You'd been trying to make it on your own as a sports agent for a
Floyd | while now.  You love the independence of being your own boss, you'd
Floyd | always loved sports and you wanted to be able to provide an affluent
Floyd | living for your wife and the baby that was on the way... but it hasn't
Floyd | been easy.  Becoming successful on your own has been a complete
Floyd | Catch-22 -- you need to sign a high-profile client in order to make any
Floyd | real money, but no normal athlete wants to risk being your first big
Floyd | contract.
Floyd |
Floyd |    Tavarian was looking for an agent when you met him while scouting a
Floyd | winter baseball game a few months back.  You had managed to win a huge
Floyd | arbitration case for the backup shortstop on the Red Sox -- no small
Floyd | prize, considering the perennial all-star he plays behind -- and you
Floyd | started to generate whispers that perhaps you had a talent for working
Floyd | miracles.  Tavarian, who was in need of one, introduced both himself
Floyd | and his girlfriend Theresa during the game.  You in turn introduced
Floyd | your wife, Charlise.  Both girls were five months pregnant with their
Floyd | first child and they completely hit it off.  Charlise practically sold
Floyd | you herself, painting a glorious picture of how hard you work and what
Floyd | a good soul you are -- essentially depicting you in the kind, glowing
Floyd | terms that she sees you with everyday.
Floyd |
Floyd |    Tavarian expressed to you his desire to turn his life around and get
Floyd | drafted by an NFL team in April, and ultimately hired you that day.
Floyd | Since then you have been working the circuit, trying to bend the ear of
Floyd | the 32 NFL general managers.  It hasn't been easy -- being away from
Floyd | your wife for most of the time has been excruciating, really -- and it
Floyd | didn't help when Tavarian spent a night in jail after going berserk on
Floyd | some pizza delivery guy while Theresa was visiting her parents... but
Floyd | with a calming influence around him 24/7 ever since, there have been no
Floyd | other problems.
Floyd |
Floyd |    Really, he doesn't seem to be the psychotic harbinger of death that
Floyd | the media has painted him out to be.  Not when you really get to know
Floyd | him.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Golf Course
Floyd |    You're on the golf course with the general manager of the New
Floyd | England Patriots.  The meeting is going well, so far, but your mind is
Floyd | really with Charlise, who is now nine months pregnant and due any day
Floyd | now.  Funnily enough, even in your semi-distracted state, this is the
Floyd | first team you've made progress with.  It's a good fit -- they see you
Floyd | as a local boy who can be trusted, and they have some serious defensive
Floyd | issues they could solve with Pittman.  The Patriots are picking
Floyd | twenty-third, and have a history of not being overly concerned with
Floyd | drafting or signing guys with... well, with some question marks.
Floyd | Katzenmoyer, Peter, Meggett, Mowatt -- it's not exactly like
Floyd | quarterback Donny Osmond handing off to halfback Marie.  If you can
Floyd | just convince them to meet Tavarian... then, provided he just acts like
Floyd | himself, he's at least got the opportunity to charm them.  Maybe they
Floyd | don't take him in the first round, but even if he is taken in the
Floyd | second or third it would be a great day for him, *considering* and all,
Floyd | and a major success for yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dan Fonda, the general manager of the Patriots, is here with you.  He's
Floyd | up two strokes on you, but is heading for a triple-bogey on this hole.
Floyd | The other two guys in the foursome -- director of Player Development
Floyd | Terry O'Hare and current player Bucky Johnson, are a dozen strokes
Floyd | behind you two.  You can probably get it into the cup in two strokes
Floyd | from here, and win the match outright.  Or, should you slice, hook or
Floyd | just outright shank it, you'll ensure that Fonda wins.  He seems
Floyd | earnest and sincere, and the kind of guy who wouldn't catch on if you
Floyd | let him win.  But then, he might be the kind of guy who doesn't respect
Floyd | someone who can't "beat" him on the greens.  Just which you're not sure
Floyd | of, yet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Enjoy the wall of text."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Whew. Ok."
		Zach says, "Hmmm"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Apparently we are playing golf. LIFE OR DE*ahem* Golf."
		Zach says, "I say we win and drive circles around him with a golf cart"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hehe"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "win" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "win".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "learn how to play golf" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "learn".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | Your name is Kieron Scott.  You are an agent within the field of
Floyd | professional sports, and just starting out with your own business.  You
Floyd | are in your late twenties, are about 5'10", 175lbs and have blue eyes
Floyd | and black hair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a pitching wedge.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x wedge" 		

Floyd | Your pitching wedge.  True, sturdy, and faithful.  You had messed
Floyd | around with graphite clubs before, and still use them occasionally, but
Floyd | when the pressure's on, you want Old Faithful at your side.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x ball" 		

Floyd | Titleist, #3.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "hit ball toward hole" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "toward".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x dan" 		

Floyd | Dan Fonda is a former cornerback who worked his way into the NFL by
Floyd | putting in hard time in every league he could find until he could get a
Floyd | look -- the XFL, the Canadian Football League, Arena ball, and some
Floyd | Soviet Prison Conference that he doesn't talk about that much.  A few
Floyd | years past his playing days, he's kept himself in excellent physical
Floyd | shape, and seems to have stepped right out of an old 'Dockers'
Floyd | commercial.  You suspect that he's receptive to bringing in a player
Floyd | like Tavarian, who has a few strikes against him, because he's had to
Floyd | scrape his way to the top himself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hit ball" 		

Floyd | You swing the club, and sure enough, your aim is sweet.  You land the
Floyd | ball onto the green and manage to sink it in on the next putt.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good work," beams Dan.  "It's been a long time since I've had any
Floyd | competition, especially playing with these two clowns," he gestures
Floyd | over to Terry and Bucky.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, you watch out, Fonda, I get this kink out of my swing and I'm
Floyd | all over you," says Bucky.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You had eight mulligans, Bucky," says Dan.  "You've been discarding
Floyd | more balls than the guy who does the neutering over at the local vet."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ouch," says Terry.  Ouch, indeed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Country Club Parking Lot
Floyd |    Finding your car in the parking lot isn't extremely difficult -- as
Floyd | it's not a Lexus, Porsche or BMW, 99% of the cars are eliminated right
Floyd | away.  Of the two remaining cars, the jet-black Hummer with a woofer
Floyd | completely taking up all available space past the front seats belongs
Floyd | to Bucky, and the 95 Neon is yours.  (Hey, at least it's the two door
Floyd | version with the big engine, and not some wood-grained station wagon
Floyd | that would garner nothing but looks of disdain and sympathy from the
Floyd | other golfers.)  You head over toward it in order to put your clubs
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Say, Kieron," says Dan, "Why don't you come over to the club house
Floyd | with us.  We could talk some things over regarding Pittman and the
Floyd | draft."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "I wonder if there's anything else you can really do there."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x bucky" 		

Floyd | I don't see any bucky here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x neon" 		

Floyd | Your Neon has served you well -- no headgasket problems yet.  The
Floyd | interior is a little noisy, but overcome with its decent stereo system.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "turn on stereo" 		

Floyd | I don't see any stereo here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter neon" 		

Floyd | You can't enter your car while carrying your clubs!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open trunk" 		

Floyd | Opened.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Tell you what," says Dan, "I'm going over to the club house -- meet us
Floyd | there for lunch."
Floyd |
Floyd | Dan then heads south, over toward the club house.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Yeah, yeah. See you. Gotta figure out first how to get my clubs in my car. First time and all."
Zach says (to Floyd), "put clubs in trunk" 		

Floyd | You put the clubs away and then shut the trunk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter car" 		

Floyd | You open the car door and get in.
Floyd |
Floyd | Inside your car
Floyd |    Chrysler did some good work with the early model Neons -- although
Floyd | there isn't much room in the backseats, and the dash, save for your
Floyd | built-in cell phone, is kind of spartan, it's plenty comfortable and
Floyd | extremely responsive.  Overall, it kind of moves like a slot car.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "What's a slot car?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "turn on stereo" 		

Floyd | I don't see any stereo here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "I was lied to."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "turn on radio" 		

Floyd | The car hasn't been started.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "close door" 		

Floyd | It's already closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "turn on car" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to turn your car on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "turn ignition" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "ignition".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		jenrexrode says, "is a little racecar on a track with a slot"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x key" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "key".
Floyd |

		Zach says, "Ha"

Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "start car" 		

Floyd | Before starting the car, you decide to run over to the club house and
Floyd | tell Dan that you can't stay for lunch.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dan," you say, "I'd love to be able to stay and chat.  Thing is, my
Floyd | wife is due any moment now.  I've really got to drop by and check up
Floyd | real quick, in case something happened and she was unable to reach me
Floyd | with the phone.  It's odd -- she should have called by now.  Tell you
Floyd | what, though, why don't I meet you and Terry for a couple beers
Floyd | tonight, provided she doesn't go into labor?  I've got a presentation I
Floyd | can give that will explain just why I honestly believe that Tavarian
Floyd | has shaped up, and what he can do for your club."
Floyd |
Floyd | "No problem," says Dan.  "You've got my number, right?  Sounds like a
Floyd | plan."
Floyd |
Floyd | You've actually got no presentation in mind, but you pretty much know
Floyd | what you want to say -- it's just a matter of turning it into a format
Floyd | that Microsoft Powerpoint can understand.  But hey, living life on the
Floyd | edge like this is what being an agent is all about.
Floyd |
Floyd | You say good-bye to both Terry and Bucky and head back toward your car.
Floyd |
Floyd | You place the key into the ignition and give it a turn -- the car fires
Floyd | up without a problem.  (You get a wistful, longing glance from the guy
Floyd | next to you trying to start his MGB, but ignore it.)
Floyd |
Floyd | Your favorite radio station is apparently in the middle of an
Floyd | eight-minute marathon of Third Party Microsoft Certification
Floyd | commercials, so you change over to NPR.
Floyd |
Floyd | Turning out of the country club and heading home, things are pretty
Floyd | slow-going. As it turns out, according to the radio, somebody snapped
Floyd | today and is waving a gun at people a few dozen miles down the freeway.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		says (to Floyd), "You don't need to turn the car on, *I* do"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drive" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | The traffic is still something awful up ahead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "get out of car" 		

Floyd | Always trying to get yourself on Fox's 'World's Most Suicidal Drivers,'
Floyd | aren't you Kieron?
Floyd |
Floyd | You try to drive, but can't get very far because of the backlog of
Floyd | cars.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "change channel" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "channel".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "change radio" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to change the radio.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hm... looks like the congestion of cars is starting to thin a little...
Floyd |
Floyd | It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to call Charlise and let her know
Floyd | you're going to be a little late.  She might have heard about the
Floyd | lunatic on the highway and might be, rightfully so, a bit concerned.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are empty-handed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The traffic jam has almost completely dispersed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "call wife" 		

Floyd | The phone rings eight times and the answering machine picks up.
Floyd | Usually the both of you leave a rather detailed message for one another
Floyd | when leaving the house, so she's probably napping or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | A police cruiser goes screaming past you in the breakdown lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the car into gear and drive home.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pull into the garage, close the garage door and get out of the car.
Floyd |
Floyd | Garage
Floyd |    You are in your garage.  It's technically a two-car garage, but as
Floyd | you only have one automobile, you've got a lot of floorspace designated
Floyd | for various tools and around-the-house equipment.  To the east is the
Floyd | laundry room door.  The garage door has been closed behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a buzzing sound coming from the laundry room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x tools" 		

Floyd | The tools and equipment aren't important.
Floyd |

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x tools" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | The tools and equipment aren't important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Clearly we disagree."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | (Opening the laundry door)
Floyd | Laundry room
Floyd |    Sometimes, when you've started to take for granted what an absolute
Floyd | treasure you have as a wife, she goes and pulls a stunt like this and
Floyd | raises the bar.  Even though her water could break at any moment now,
Floyd | she still managed to haul down a few of those bulky sweaters you like
Floyd | lounging about in from the top of your closet, and place them into the
Floyd | dryer.  After all, warm equals sanitary, safe, and clean.  Bringing
Floyd | down one of them is considerate, sure.  But four or five?  So you can
Floyd | pick one out specifically?  That's above and beyond the call of duty,
Floyd | alright.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "I'm scared they're laundry bees in the next room."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I like my laundry like I like my women. Covered in BEEEEEES."
		Zach says, "heehee"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x sweater" 		

Floyd | The sweaters are in the dryer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "open dryer" 		

Floyd | You open and turn off the dryer, and place the sweaters on top of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take sweater" 		

Floyd | Which sweater do you mean, the knitted sweater, the Red Sox jersey, the
Floyd | UCONN sweatshirt, the Scottish knit, or the wool sweater?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "OPTIONS"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x knitted" 		

Floyd | You'd always suspected that your weren't your aunt's favorite, and this
Floyd | crimson-and-fluorescent oversized monstrosity she gave to you two
Floyd | Christmases ago was the smoking gun as to why.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your dog scratches at the hallway door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Sorry, puppy. Sweaters first."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sox" 		

Floyd | #5 NOMAR!  MVP!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x uconn" 		

Floyd | It was a gift from a few years ago when they were doing that
Floyd | inexplicable 'The Team That Makes You Go Hmm' slogan phase.  You're no
Floyd | scholar, but neither a stranger to lore and letters.  But you can
Floyd | perceive no sense there as to why *that* was their slogan.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x scottish" 		

Floyd | This was a gift from Charlise when she went visiting her ancestors in
Floyd | Glasgow a few years back.  It's really held up well over the years, and
Floyd | you get all sentimental thinking of what a great value it was just by
Floyd | looking at it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x wool" 		

Floyd | Okay, you don't wear this out in public much, but Charlise digs it, so
Floyd | what can you do.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear your dog Watson barking in another room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Which one? Before our dog gets murdered."
		Zach asks, "Uhh, Scottish?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I vote for the scottish sweater. Because we love our w-- Timing."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take scottish" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "wear scottish" 		

Floyd | You put it on and quickly remove it -- you're a bit warm after being in
Floyd | the sun all day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh fine."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Laundry room
Floyd |    You're within your Laundry Room -- it's a close-quartered little
Floyd | thing that links your house's hallway, which is to the north, with the
Floyd | garage.  There's a washer and dryer here.
Floyd |    Sitting on the dryer is a knitted sweater, a Red Sox jersey, a UCONN
Floyd | sweatshirt, and a wool sweater.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open washer" 		

Floyd | Done.
Floyd |

		
Zach has disconnected. 		
Zach has connected. 		
Zach disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. 		

Floyd | You hear your dog Watson barking in another room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look in washer" 		

Floyd | There is nothing in the washing machine.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look in dryer" 		

Floyd | There is nothing in the dryer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "North?"
		Zach says, "Sure"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | (Opening the hallway door)
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd |    A few pictures line the hallway, but it's otherwise sparse.  Your
Floyd | living room, kitchen, and bedrooms are further down the hall to the
Floyd | north.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your dog Watson runs to your feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pet dog" 		

Floyd | The beagle wags his tail at you happily, and returns to his puttering
Floyd | around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x dog" 		

Floyd | Watson is a faithful and handsome young beagle, with brown eyes and tan
Floyd | and white fur.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "give sweater to dog" 		

Floyd | The beagle rejects the offer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take dog" 		

Floyd | You pick up the beagle and pat him on the head a couple of times.  He
Floyd | licks your face and then you gently put him down.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "pet dog" 		

Floyd | The beagle wags his tail at you happily, and returns to his puttering
Floyd | around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pictures" 		

Floyd | Charlise has a knack for decorating, they complement the hallway
Floyd | nicely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Hallway
Floyd |    A few pictures line the hallway, but it's otherwise sparse.  Your
Floyd | living room, kitchen, and bedrooms are further down the hall to the
Floyd | north.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Hallway
Floyd |    You're about halfway down your hallway.  To the west is your living
Floyd | room.  The bedrooms and kitchen are further north, down the hall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson runs past your feet down the hallway and disappears into the
Floyd | living room, barking and yelping for your attention.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Uh oh, crazy murderer"
		Zach asks, "North?"
		Zach asks, "Err, West?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    You enter your living room and automatically take a whiff of the
Floyd | room's scent -- the smell of your new leather couch isn't so new that
Floyd | you don't notice it yet.  It cost you almost the entire commission you
Floyd | made when you got Artero Gueterrez a six-month minor league contract
Floyd | with the Toledo Mud Hens, but both you and Charlise had earmarked this
Floyd | one for years.  (Good kid, that Artero, but couldn't hit a curveball in
Floyd | an airless vacuum.)
Floyd |
Floyd | The room is laid out with the couch in front of your television and
Floyd | stereo speakers.  A couple of Charlise's frescos hang from the walls,
Floyd | and you've started to add stucco to the ceiling.  A couple of your
Floyd | golfing trophies adorn the shelves near the phone, and a signed
Floyd | Garciaparra bat is also hanging up, encased in a plastic preservation
Floyd | shell.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson's over in front of the couch, sniffing and snorting at
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your main front window has a long crack running through it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The auxiliary window to the right of that one is completely shattered.
Floyd | Glass from it has sprayed out onto your floor, definitely smashed from
Floyd | something or somebody on the outside.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around near the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x couch" 		

Floyd | After years of sitting and sleeping on a second-hand couch that your
Floyd | older brother gave you from his college years, you were happy to have
Floyd | this nice leather one.  There are claw marks in the carpet near the
Floyd | edge of the sofa -- it appears as if Watson has been trying to get at
Floyd | something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x glass" 		

Floyd | The shards of glass are almost everywhere.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x carpet" 		

Floyd | It's hunter green and in good shape, save for the shattered glass and
Floyd | claw marks near the sofa.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look under carpet" 		

Floyd | The carpet isn't important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look under couch" 		

Floyd | You find a baseball, which you promptly pick up.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "What can it meaaaaaan?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x baseball" 		

Floyd | It's not one of yours... it's apparently what was thrown through your
Floyd | front window.  There's some writing on it, in a flowery cursive text,
Floyd | not completely unlike an autograph.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "read writing" 		

Floyd | Upon closer inspection, it's not an autograph at all.  You make out the
Floyd | words, slowly, but it says:
Floyd |
Floyd | NO TIME TO SQUEAL KIERON
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "EEEEEEEEEE."
		Zach says, "Apparently we owe money to the baseball mob"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Eek."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    Something -- a baseball, a rock, a human fist -- tried getting into
Floyd | your house earlier.  Glass is strewn all about your floor from your
Floyd | (former) right front window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Exits lead north to your kitchen and east to the hallway.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around near the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeal" 		

Floyd | There is no time.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "I guess we really hurt that guy's feelings by not going to lunch with him"
		genericgeekgirl says, "YES."
Zach says (to Floyd), "show ball to dog" 		

Floyd | The beagle isn't impressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "clean up glass" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "throw ball" 		

Floyd | It would be simpler to just drop the baseball.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take glass" 		

Floyd | That would hurt, though.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Aww"
Zach says (to Floyd), "search couch" 		

Floyd | There's nothing on the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "But if we don't clean it up, Watson might get hurt :("
		Zach says, "Don't worry: He's an extraordinarily well trained dog"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Living Room
Floyd |    Something -- a baseball, a rock, a human fist -- tried getting into
Floyd | your house earlier.  Glass is strewn all about your floor from your
Floyd | (former) right front window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Exits lead north to your kitchen and east to the hallway.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around near the couch.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Kitchen?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    Pots, pans, chairs, tables -- and your wife laid out on the floor,
Floyd | not moving, in a puddle of... something.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson enters the kitchen sheepishly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x wife" 		

Floyd | She's breathing.  You try to wake her up, gently.  You go to move her
Floyd | head away from the side of the counter and notice her hair stuck to it
Floyd | in some kind of paste or something.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Watson, did you do this?"
		genericgeekgirl says, ""paste""
		Zach says, "Evil dog"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x paste" 		

Floyd | It's blood from the side of her head.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "call 911" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to call the number 911.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe a phone in the bedroom?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "search wife" 		

Floyd | There's nothing in your wife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    Pots, pans, chairs, tables -- but none of that matters right now.
Floyd |    Charlise is here, unconscious or asleep on the floor.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "panic" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "panic".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cry" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "cry".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" 		

Floyd | Sorcery in that manner seems to fail you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "help wife" 		

Floyd | You clear her hair away from the side of the counter.  It looks like
Floyd | you might have pulled a little too hard, though, because the pain wakes
Floyd | her up.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Ow!" says Charlise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Not leaving anything to chance, you run into the living room and dial
Floyd | 911, asking for an ambulance -- you then sprint back to be with your
Floyd | wife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "That did not occur to me."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to charlise" 		

Floyd | "Are you okay?  Honey?"  You don't want to shake her or anything -- but
Floyd | if you have to, is that okay?  Maybe, though?  You can't remember what
Floyd | you're supposed to do if this comes up, even though that girl from the
Floyd | breathing classes covered this.
Floyd |
Floyd | Charlise doesn't really respond -- she's still groggy from the fall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Stay calm and Floyd on"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Kitchen
Floyd |    Pots, pans, chairs, tables -- but none of that matters right now.
Floyd |    Charlise is here, still woozy from the fall.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x chair" 		

Floyd | I don't see any chair here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "help charlise" 		

Floyd | There is no more blood to clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take wife" 		

Floyd | You pick her up and carry her outside the house.  The ambulance comes
Floyd | quickly and whisks you both away.
Floyd |
Floyd | LDR Room
Floyd |    The LDR (labor, deliver, recovery) Room is a warm, yet somewhat
Floyd | generic, setting designed to provide for the comfort of each patient,
Floyd | newborn, and family member throughout the birthing process.  The decor
Floyd | is straight out of Disney Corp's idea of pregnant bliss:  azure walls
Floyd | covered with the occasional sunflower, well-polished teak furniture, an
Floyd | antique rocking chair.  The fetal monitor and other assorted scanning
Floyd | equipment seem almost out of place here.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What happened?" you ask Charlise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Charlise struggles for a bit to remember.  "Watson was barking at
Floyd | something...  I was in the bedroom...  I don't know what happened, I
Floyd | think I slipped or something... oh, God, Kieron, this doesn't feel
Floyd | right at all..."
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse arrives from the hall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "I want to like, give her some water. And a chair."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to nurse" 		

Floyd | "What's up -- is she going to be okay, is the baby -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "Just one sec," she says, "I'll find out in just a bit."
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse begins hooking up the various monitors to Charlise.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse introduces herself and begins checking on your wife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Me too, but I didn't think they were implemented"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to charlise" 		

Floyd | "Hey, chin up, kid" you say.  She gives you a questioning look,
Floyd | something that effectively says Why are you talking to me like you're
Floyd | coaching a tee-ball team?
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse puts a belly band on your wife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x belly band" 		

Floyd | The belly band is wrapped around your wife's belly.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse patiently waits for the fetal monitor to give a reading.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x monitor" 		

Floyd | It looks like a 17" monitor running some kind of proprietary birthing
Floyd | software.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse is reviewing the monitor strip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse is studying the fetal monitor with a concerned look.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeal" 		

Floyd | There is no time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse's face goes white.  She moves over toward the intercom.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Paging Dr. McKinney, I need you in LDR 14 STAT, paging Dr. McKinney,
Floyd | LDR 14 STAT!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hold wife's hand" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "wife's".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse takes your wife's blood pressure and checks her heart rate.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse continues to study the fetal monitor strip.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "hug wife" 		

Floyd | It's difficult to get your arms around her, but you do the best you
Floyd | can.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse takes your wife's temperature.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "talk to wife" 		

Floyd | "Look, I'll give your parents and your sister a call after this," you
Floyd | say.  "Is your sister still living in Colorado?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think she just recently moved toward the desert," says Charlise.
Floyd |
Floyd | The doctor arrives from the hall.  He takes a look at the monitors, and
Floyd | does a very poor job of attempting to conceal an expression of horror.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let's get her over to the operating room," he says.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the Operating Room
Floyd |    Charlise was brought into the Operating Room, but you were told to
Floyd | stay outside.  You're not sure if she's okay, if the baby is okay, or
Floyd | what is going on in there, but you have to find out.
Floyd |    There is an orderly here, sitting at the end of a long metal bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to orderly" 		

Floyd | "Hey, look man...  that's my wife in there.  Can't you let me in?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The orderly shakes his head in the negative.  "I'm sorry -- can't do
Floyd | it."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "punch orderly" 		

Floyd | The orderly punches you back, and then lets the confrontation drop.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the Operating Room
Floyd |    The OR Hall is a big, empty room with aqua tiles and a bench to sit
Floyd | upon.  There is a door that leads into the operating room itself.  To
Floyd | the right of the long metal bench is an intercom.  The orderly won't
Floyd | let you in, though.
Floyd |    There is an orderly here, sitting at the end of a long metal bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Haha. Nice reponse though."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are empty-handed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x intercom" 		

Floyd | The intercom is a smallish box that is used as a means of paging other
Floyd | staff members.  The only notable feature is a small black button.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "push button" 		

Floyd | As you go to use it, the orderly looks up at you and you make believe
Floyd | you're doing something else.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter door" 		

Floyd | The orderly blocks your path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to orderly" 		

Floyd | "I'll be sure to let you know when it's okay for you to go in," says
Floyd | the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Outside the Operating Room
Floyd |    The OR Hall is a big, empty room with aqua tiles and a bench to sit
Floyd | upon.  There is a door that leads into the operating room itself.  To
Floyd | the right of the long metal bench is an intercom.  The orderly won't
Floyd | let you in, though.
Floyd |    There is an orderly here, sitting at the end of a long metal bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | A janitor arrives from the hall.  He goes over toward the intercom and
Floyd | speaks something into it.
Floyd |
Floyd | As he heads down the hallway, he stops to chat with the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, Jimmy," says the janitor.  "How are you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Good, good," says the orderly.  "I think I finally have this flu beat.
Floyd | And you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh...  just dandy.  Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"  says the
Floyd | janitor.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yes, quite comfortable," agrees the orderly.  "Unseasonably warm,
Floyd | even."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you hear about that mess on the highway?" asks the janitor.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Actually, I did.  Weird for someone just to lose it that way, wouldn't
Floyd | you say?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The orderly lets out a low whistle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The conversation subsides and the janitor continues down the hallway,
Floyd | disappearing into a utility closet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x closet" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "closet".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x orderly" 		

Floyd | He is a friendly chap, determined to not let you pass him.  The word
Floyd | "ROGERS" is on his nametag.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to rogers" 		

Floyd | You try and engage in some small talk, but fail miserably.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to rogers about highway" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take nametag" 		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | The orderly is wearing the nametag and won't let you have it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Outside the Operating Room
Floyd |    The OR Hall is a big, empty room with aqua tiles and a bench to sit
Floyd | upon.  There is a door that leads into the operating room itself.  To
Floyd | the right of the long metal bench is an intercom.  The orderly won't
Floyd | let you in, though.
Floyd |    There is an orderly here, sitting at the end of a long metal bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x bench" 		

Floyd | It's a long metal bench.  An orderly currently occupies one end of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sit" 		

Floyd | (the bench)
Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pace" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "pace".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "dance" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "dance".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd | What do you want to sing to?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "sing to orderly" 		

Floyd | You decide to not sing to the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You're not going anywhere until you get out of the bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about weather" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "weather".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "call tavarian" 		

Floyd | I don't see any tavarian here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the bench.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You feel compelled to stay as close to Charlise as possible.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "call someone" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "someone".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "tell orderly about baseball" 		

Floyd | You wonder what the orderly has to say instead, so you ask him about
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Um...  Did you say something?" asks the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "tell orderly about wife" 		

Floyd | You wonder what the orderly has to say instead, so you ask him about
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't know much about that," says the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about janitor" 		

Floyd | "There's just something about that guy.  He looks like the Unabomber,"
Floyd | says the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about Unabomber" 		

Floyd | "Heh...  I'm telling ya," he says, "could be his twin..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "threaten orderly" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "threaten".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "tell orderly about unabomber" 		

Floyd | You wonder what the orderly has to say instead, so you ask him about
Floyd | it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Heh...  I'm telling ya," he says, "could be his twin..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "build a bomb" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "build".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about bomb" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "bomb".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to orderly" 		

Floyd | You try and engage in some small talk, but fail miserably.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about gunman" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "gunman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about shooter" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "shooter".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about highway" 		

Floyd | "Some whacko tied up traffic for hours -- been all over the news, " he
Floyd | replies.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about wacko" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "wacko".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about news" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "news".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about highway" 		

Floyd | "Some whacko tied up traffic for hours -- been all over the news, " he
Floyd | replies.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "I was hoping for more."
Zach says (to Floyd), "ask orderly about traffic" 		

Floyd | "I don't really know," states the orderly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "press button" 		

Floyd | You speak into the intercom and hope that the orderly doesn't notice.
Floyd |
Floyd | "James Rogers, please report to LDR 14, James Rogers, to LDR 14."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Whoops," says the orderly.  "I'll be right back."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Whoo."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "How did he not notice?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "enter door" 		

Floyd | (Opening the OR door)
Floyd | Operating Room
Floyd |    The Operating Room is fairly dark, save for the operating table
Floyd | illuminated by the strong lights that Charlise is on.  There is a
Floyd | doctor and nurse here working by her table.
Floyd |
Floyd | "How did he get in here?"  asks the nurse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe we had to learn his name?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "judo chop nurse" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "judo".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Yeah, but it's still.. how did he not notice us standing right next to him talking into the intercom?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to nurse" 		

Floyd | "I just want to know what's going on," you say to the nurse.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The doctor is attempting a c-section.  Stand over there, and be quiet,
Floyd | please," says the nurse.  "As soon as we know something, we'll let you
Floyd | know."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to nurse" 		

Floyd | "We're not getting many life signs from the baby," says the nurse.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to nurse" 		

Floyd | "I'm not sure what it is, right yet," she says.
Floyd |
Floyd | You overhear a bit of the conversation between the doctor and his
Floyd | assistants.  It doesn't sound good, it doesn't sound like the baby made
Floyd | it...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "save baby" 		

Floyd | Please specify the name of the game to save in double quotes, for
Floyd | example, SAVE "GAME1".
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr.  McKinney comes over to you.  "Mr. Scott, I'm sorry..." he begins.
Floyd |
Floyd | The words slough off your ears, you stare off, in disbelief...
Floyd |
Floyd | "Charlise is going to make a full recovery, but the baby, we
Floyd | couldn't... she didn't make it."
Floyd |
Floyd | Gone?  Like that?  But why, for what reason...
Floyd |
Floyd | Your knees buckle briefly, and you fall to the ground.  You need to get
Floyd | up, you know that you need to get up, 'she'?  A baby girl, your baby
Floyd | girl, gone, you imagine your wife's eventual tears, that she has yet to
Floyd | find this out, you have to be there for her, buck up, get it together,
Floyd | but everything your hear and see meshes into a horrible cacophony...
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART or QUIT:  >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Nooooo."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Restart?"
		Zach says, "Yeahr"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can't possibly want another one."
Floyd |
Floyd | But Mother, I can!
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, you *are* the fickle one, aren't you, Sweet Pea?"
Floyd |
Floyd | O, I'm dainty!
Floyd |
Floyd | "If I can not put up a reasoned, well-thought out resistance as to why
Floyd | we should not be waddling our way over to the refrigerator and
Floyd | consuming yet another batch of old-fashioned brined dill pickles, then
Floyd | how on earth am I going to have the parental confidence to tackle such
Floyd | inevitable topics like The Truth Behind Santa Claus, Braces & Social
Floyd | Ostracization, and The Senior Prom?"
Floyd |
Floyd | .  .  .
Floyd |
Floyd | "Exactly.  Although there is no manual, per se, on any of this, I'm
Floyd | fairly confident that brazenly conforming to your every wish and desire
Floyd | is probably the wrong way to tackle parenting."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Though...  they *would* be quite tasty."
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Bedroom, on the comfy chair
Floyd |    Inexplicable vegetable cravings aside, this room leaves you quite
Floyd | content for the moment.  You're curled up in what you and Kieron call
Floyd | 'the comfy chair', reading one of the Dean Koontz novels you missed in
Floyd | hardcover.  Being 39 weeks pregnant, you've had ample time to catch up
Floyd | on your reading.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your bedroom is paneled with a kind of faux wooden interior, to kind of
Floyd | make it look like the inside of a log cabin.  To your left is your bed,
Floyd | and just beyond that is a dresser.
Floyd |    Your beagle is here, puttering around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Tricksy."
		Zach says, "Nice"
		genericgeekgirl says, "> give in, eat all the pickles. Also some ice cream."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x watson" 		

Floyd | Watson is a faithful and handsome young beagle, with brown eyes and tan
Floyd | and white fur.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pet dog" 		

Floyd | The beagle wags his tail at you happily, and returns to his puttering
Floyd | around.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x dresser" 		

Floyd | The dresser complements the other furniture nicely.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson's ears perk up, and he leaves to the hallway.
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel the baby squirm about... and find yourself talking to her, for
Floyd | just a bit.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The first time he came home from work, after we got back from our
Floyd | honeymoon... he was drenched in sweat after having beaten some kid ten
Floyd | years younger than him in basketball.  The kid eventually signed with
Floyd | one of the larger branches, No Limit, or something like that.  Kieron
Floyd | came in with that sad, exhausted look on his face... I think he knew at
Floyd | that point that he wasn't going to sign him.  I was fussing over this
Floyd | one painting -- trying to get colored lighting for it, before the paint
Floyd | congealed -- and he dropped his briefcase on the floor and said 'I
Floyd | think one of us needs a hug.'  I turned, looked over toward him,
Floyd | somewhat slightly confused.  After a beat he said, 'It's not you is it?
Floyd | Ah, ah right... must be *me* then.'"
Floyd |
Floyd | "And that's how it began, married life.  You never really prepare
Floyd | yourself for that moment.  You can read all the articles you want on
Floyd | the subject, but you don't know... when that critical moment comes...
Floyd | if you'll be looking at the rest of your life with someone who is
Floyd | really just a stranger.  Or someone who will remain just as fresh,
Floyd | funny, and driven as the day you met him."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I took the next day.  To commence with the props, I mean.  And we've
Floyd | traded off and on like that ever since.  And on those days where he
Floyd | utterly failed to get a signature on a deal he was assured was a 'lock'
Floyd | and on those days when my greens and oranges have turned to blue and
Floyd | red, we've sounded off to each other, individually and in concert.  And
Floyd | I hope, sure, that one day you'll feel this -- get this -- as well,
Floyd | Sweet Pea."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to baby" 		

Floyd | You recall a few verses that you had been reading earlier before, some
Floyd | nonsense nursery rhymes, really:
Floyd |
Floyd | "He thought he saw an Elephant,
Floyd | That practised on a fife:
Floyd | He looked again, and found it was
Floyd | A letter from his wife.
Floyd | 'At length I realise,' he said,
Floyd | 'The bitterness of Life!'"
Floyd |
Floyd | "He thought he saw a Rattlesnake
Floyd | That questioned him in Greek:
Floyd | He looked again, and found it was
Floyd | The Middle of Next Week.
Floyd | 'The one thing I regret,' he said,
Floyd | 'Is that it cannot speak!'"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "open dresser" 		

Floyd | You're preoccupied with food for the moment and decide to not go
Floyd | looking through your dresser.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson starts barking.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "> don't go in there. we want to live."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I guess we should. Also pickles."
		Zach says, "Hopefully this is the past and we can't die"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Bedroom, on the comfy chair
Floyd |    Inexplicable vegetable cravings aside, this room leaves you quite
Floyd | content for the moment.  You're curled up in what you and Kieron call
Floyd | 'the comfy chair', reading one of the Dean Koontz novels you missed in
Floyd | hardcover.  Being 39 weeks pregnant, you've had ample time to catch up
Floyd | on your reading.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your bedroom is paneled with a kind of faux wooden interior, to kind of
Floyd | make it look like the inside of a log cabin.  To your left is your bed,
Floyd | and just beyond that is a dresser.
Floyd |
Floyd | Watson continues barking, most likely to be let out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | Oof!  You're not too sure about the feasibility of that.  Maybe in a
Floyd | bit.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a crash -- it sounds like one of the windows in your living
Floyd | room!
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear Watson barking.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd | Ah, almost there.  Trivial tasks have really become grand gestures
Floyd | lately for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | Okay, you're no longer on the comfy chair.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You momentarily forget that your hallway is west, so you head that way
Floyd | instead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Hallway
Floyd |    The hallway leads to your kitchen, and beyond that, the room where
Floyd | the crash came from.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Nice redirect"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "go to living room" 		

Floyd | I don't see any living room here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Nope, too much to ask for."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "s" 		

Floyd | You've never really gotten used to locomotion at this weight... you
Floyd | enter the kitchen, and slip upon something, a spill of some kind...
Floyd |
Floyd | You hit your head on the counter on your way down...
Floyd |
Floyd | Shapes fade in and out of view... some time passes, but you have no
Floyd | idea how much...  you vaguely remember Kieron coming home... hear
Floyd | passages of sound -- an ambulance, sharp words at a hospital...
Floyd |
Floyd | And you awake to news you aren't prepared to hear.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART or QUIT:  >

		genericgeekgirl says, "That was quick. Onward. Maybe we can be the baby next."
		Zach says, "I don't want to die!"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Another enormously hectic day at the Saint Columbia Veteran's Hospital,
Floyd | but hectic in a good way -- there's a palatable energy in the air with
Floyd | the recent flood of newborns and the successful bypass surgery of a
Floyd | minor (although, incredibly talented and quite gracious) celebrity
Floyd | having been recently completed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your friend -- and fellow nurse -- Jessica has been talking up a
Floyd | double-blind date that the two of you are to be going on this weekend,
Floyd | which will at least be interesting if nothing else.  Last time the two
Floyd | of you tried this, she found a couple guys from an Internet Go Server.
Floyd | While they were definitely amusing, (and definitely available) they
Floyd | were a little too preoccupied with moving stones around a monitor
Floyd | screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Trying to get them out of the house again proved to be almost
Floyd | excruciatingly difficult.  So Jess has things planned with some other
Floyd | guys she met over Relay Chat.
Floyd |
Floyd | "They are into something," Jess said, "called Magic: The Gathering.
Floyd | See?  That implies that they are into social get-togethers and
Floyd | gatherings.  It's all been taken care of.  Plus, they sent me gifs of
Floyd | themselves and they have that David Copperfield meets Harry Houdini
Floyd | thing going on, as all magicians do.  Trust me!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Well, you seem to recall something about that being a card game, but
Floyd | why not give her the benefit of the doubt?  It's good to get out and
Floyd | mix things up socially again, especially since the last creep you dated
Floyd | finally got the message and stopped coming around the hospital.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't help but notice the clock -- 1:17pm.  Still another thirteen
Floyd | minutes left of this break.  Excellent.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Break Room
Floyd |    You're inside one of the many break rooms here at the Hospital, just
Floyd | recharging with some apple chips and a bottle of Evian before heading
Floyd | back to your shift.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door leading out of the break room is to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Magic: how to pick up chicks on IRC"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hahahahaha."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "eat apple chips" 		

Floyd | You eat some apple chips.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drink water" 		

Floyd | You drink the water.  Very refreshing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | You drink the water.  Very refreshing.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your friend Jessica pops her head into the room for a moment.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sarah, it's Freddie," she says.  Freddie.  Your ex-boyfriend.  He
Floyd | hadn't come to work in order to stalk you for almost two weeks now.  It
Floyd | would be too soon if he held out for two more centuries.  "I tried to
Floyd | tell him that you weren't working today, but he says that he saw your
Floyd | car.  Do you want me to -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "No, it's okay," you say.  You've tried being nice.  You've tried being
Floyd | stern.  You've tried to gently break the news to him that you no longer
Floyd | wish to see him, and you've told him point blank to his face.  Enough
Floyd | is enough.  It's time to start being a complete bitch -- anything to
Floyd | let him know you're serious.
Floyd |
Floyd | Jen gives you a thumbs-up sign and wishes you luck.  She leaves the
Floyd | room and goes toward the reception area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Oh man. Do you think Freddie is the whacko?"
		Zach says, "That's what I was thinking"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | (Opening the door)
Floyd | Reception Area
Floyd |    This is where the patients' guests and loved ones congregate before
Floyd | entering the rest of the hospital and the individual rooms.
Floyd |    Freddie is here, looking grim.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Thank God you're here," he says.  "I have something to say to you,
Floyd | please, just hear me out."  He can't help instinctively giving you a
Floyd | visual once-over; must be the uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "> sigh and roll eyes"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x freddie" 		

Floyd | Freddie's about 5'9", and 150 pounds.  He's very handsome on the
Floyd | outside, in a young-Robert-Redford way, but just not someone you want
Floyd | to be around because of what he's like on the inside.  He's a bit of an
Floyd | aspiring inventor, and tinkers around with electronics but has no real
Floyd | formal education and gets frustrated easily.  He's obsessed with a girl
Floyd | being around while he works away at one of his many poorly-conceived
Floyd | mechanical devices, but then goes into total ignore mode once you -- or
Floyd | one of his other previous girlfriends -- comes over.  And you stopped
Floyd | being That Girl somewhere between age 14 and 15.  Also, when things
Floyd | start to go wrong with one of his projects he swears like a blue-faced
Floyd | sailor.  And he gets *mean*.  Etcetera, etcetera.  It just got
Floyd | pointless to be around him.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I was working on the refrigeration unit -- you know, the one I was
Floyd | telling you about before," he says, as he brings a hand up to brush his
Floyd | fair hair out of his face.  "And I knew, really, that I had to have you
Floyd | back.  I have a poem for you.  Can I -- is this okay?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to freddie" 		

Floyd | "This really is not the time, Freddie.  Listen, I don't want you coming
Floyd | here any more.  Do you understand?"  "Please," he says.  "Just listen.
Floyd | Hear me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie pulls out a piece of paper.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "hit freddie" 		

Floyd | Probably best not to do that, he'd interpret it to mean that you still
Floyd | want his bod.
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie clears his throat and continues.
Floyd |
Floyd | "And if I say to you tomorrow," Freddie says, in a very bad British
Floyd | falsetto, "Take my hand, child, come with me.  It's to a castle I will
Floyd | take you, Where what's to be, they say will be."  He looks up briefly.
Floyd | You try to remember where that is from.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Catch the wind, see us spin,` he continues, "Sail away, leave today,
Floyd | Way up high in the sky."
Floyd |
Floyd | "But the wind won't blow, You really shouldn't go, It only goes to show
Floyd | That you will be mine By takin' our time.  Oooh, oooooh....."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "> swoon"
Zach says (to Floyd), "kiss freddie" 		

Floyd | You'd hate to give him the wrong idea -- besides, he's really pissed
Floyd | you off by coming down here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie licks his lips and continues singing.
Floyd |
Floyd | "And if you say to me tomorrow, Oh what fun it all would be, Then
Floyd | what's to stop us, pretty baby, But What Is And What Should Never Be."
Floyd |
Floyd | He looks up at you with puppy-dog eyes.  As if reading the lyrics --
Floyd | badly -- to an old Led Zeppelin song is somehow going to instantly
Floyd | change the fact that he's a mite desperate oil-covered stalker without
Floyd | a hint of real social charm?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to freddie" 		

Floyd | "What on earth was that, Freddie?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "It was 'What Is And What Should Never Be' from Zep's second album.  I
Floyd | -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "I know what it was.  You had to come down here, and interrupt my break
Floyd | for that?  You simply had to state that, hm?  What on earth does that
Floyd | even mean, anyway?  'You will be mine by taking our time'?  Is that
Floyd | what you think?  How can I put this into words you'll understand -- Go
Floyd | away.  Leave me alone, and never speak to me again.  Am I getting
Floyd | through to you?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "But -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "Apparently not.  Look, I'll put this into words that you can
Floyd | understand."  You clear your voice and start singing a quick impression
Floyd | of the Led Zeppelin song called "D''yer Mak'er."  "Go, go, go, go, go!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie digs through his jacket.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Is it a ring? Don't be a ring."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Or a gun."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to freddie" 		

Floyd | You start to speak, but he cuts you off in mid sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie shows you a gun, briefly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "See this, bitch?  I'm going to make you sorry you ever met me."
Floyd |
Floyd | Freddie puts the gun away and storms out of the hospital.
Floyd |
Floyd | A moment later, your name comes up on the intercom.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sarah Thompson, please report to LDR 14, Sarah Thompson, LDR 14."
Floyd |
Floyd | The LDR -- the labor, delivery, and recovery room -- is just north of
Floyd | the reception area.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Yup."
Zach says (to Floyd), "follow freddie" 		

Floyd | I don't see any freddie here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You enter the LDR Room, one of many here at the hospital -- a bit of
Floyd | oversentimental tedium designed to keep the expectant couples thinking
Floyd | pleasant thoughts, and introduce yourself to the patient and husband.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hi, I'm -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sarah, right," says the man, "I know.  Look, I am really concerned
Floyd | about my wife here, can you --"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You bet, don't worry.  I will take a look and see what's up."  You
Floyd | suspect that everything will probably be okay -- it was just a nasty
Floyd | shock to her head, not a gunshot wound to the belly or anything, but
Floyd | you feel the need to play it cool in case something is the matter.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hook the belly band up to the woman and turn on the various
Floyd | monitors.
Floyd |
Floyd | "So, do you follow the Red Sox?"  you ask the husband, in an attempt to
Floyd | liven his mood a bit and get him thinking of another kind of tragedy.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Yeah, a little -- hopefully this'll be the year," says the husband.
Floyd | "I mean, we get Garrett back, we have new management..."
Floyd |
Floyd | You take a look at the monitor strip.  Things do not look good, but you
Floyd | continue to play your poker face.
Floyd |
Floyd | "New management, right?"  you say absent-mindedly.  "Wait, wasn't that
Floyd | one guy who those crazies put out on a stake and -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "Well, yeah, Duquette, the GM.  Kind of a shame seeing him on fire like
Floyd | that, but I guess we New England denizens can only go so many centuries
Floyd | without burning witches and heretics at -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | You study the fetal monitor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything makes sudden, horrible sense.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something -- the umbilical? -- is wrapped around the baby's neck.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your face goes white.  The husband stops in mid-sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | After getting to the intercom, you send out a page:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dr. McKinney, I need you in LDR 14 STAT, paging Dr. McKinney, LDR 14
Floyd | STAT!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The husband looks confused and alarmed, but you have work to do.  You
Floyd | take his wife's blood pressure, temperature and heart rate.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We're going to need to get to the OR," you tell the husband, softly.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. McKinney does his best to save the little girl.  The poor baby had
Floyd | a nucal cord -- they're just so damn hard to predict.  You head over to
Floyd | the OR table to see if CPR can save a life, but before you arrive, you
Floyd | stop dead in your tracks as you watch the father's face fill with
Floyd | horror.
Floyd |
Floyd | You overhear a bit of the conversation between the doctor and his
Floyd | assistants.  It doesn't sound good, it doesn't sound like the baby made
Floyd | it...
Floyd |
Floyd | The doctor shakes his head and leaves the operating table.  You can
Floyd | tell from the manner in which he carries himself that the baby didn't
Floyd | make it.
Floyd |
Floyd | He passes you, just a shell of his regular self.  This is the first
Floyd | time you've seen him like this -- he's usually a bastion of security
Floyd | and success.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. McKinney goes to break the news to Kieron, the woman's husband.
Floyd |
Floyd | You leave the Operating Room.  You wander back over to the break room
Floyd | to pick up your stuff.  Jessica meets you half-way there.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Did you hear yet?"  she says.  "Freddie's on the news.  They've got a
Floyd | camera on him.  Over on channel 5."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I don't really want to hear about Freddie right now," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | "What's wrong?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "The baby, the baby from LDR 14, you know, that couple?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, yeah."
Floyd |
Floyd | "The baby died.  Dr. McKinney just -- well, I just got back."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's so sad," says Jessica.  She pauses a couple of respectful
Floyd | beats.  "Let's go get some lunch."
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART or QUIT:  >

		genericgeekgirl says, "The timing of this makes no sense."
		genericgeekgirl says, "The shooting stuff happened before we went to the hospital."
		genericgeekgirl says, "But this suggests that the couple was already at the hospital while we talked to Freddie."
		Zach says, "Yeah, there should be a time gap there."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Anyway. I wonder what's next."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The shrieking squeals of the damned bring you back into a hazy
Floyd | consciousness.  As you begin to soak in the unbearable ambiance around,
Floyd | you attempt to shake off your rising awareness for a few moments more
Floyd | of self-ignorance.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your jailer enters from the palpable darkness; all business this
Floyd | morn(?).  It checks the integrity of your shackles, in a horrible
Floyd | pantomime of surface world care.  Where does it expect you to go?
Floyd | Where does it suspect you will scurry to?  His actions relating to
Floyd | internal security only bring forth a dull hope into your mind, a hope
Floyd | that he will torture away without expression.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Hell
Floyd |    Being damned for all eternity, this is your 'home'.  This particular
Floyd | cell of yours has no real name or identifiable markings.  You can't
Floyd | even recall if you've always been in this particular station, or some
Floyd | other any longer.  It appears to be a claustrophobic, hollowed-out cave
Floyd | within the heart of an active volcano.  If you strain, you can make out
Floyd | passageways to other caves, but turning your head to the side is often
Floyd | prohibitively painful.
Floyd |    A brawny, sinewy Cacofiend stands before you, prepping you for the
Floyd | punishment you are about to receive.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x cacofiend" 		

Floyd | The Cacofiend is eight or nine feet tall, proportionally wide, and
Floyd | enormously muscular.  Its skin appears to be a kind of unearthly,
Floyd | fire-charred, thick crimson hide.  Its face is grotesque, misshapen --
Floyd | with caking and protruding horns screaming out from its skull, angry
Floyd | daggers for eyes, a rotting, bulbous nose... it's incapable of bearing
Floyd | personal malice, and carries itself like a mindless automation.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cacofiend digs its nails into your flesh, right into the little
Floyd | divot above your breastbone.  You squirm, to no avail.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to cacofiend" 		

Floyd | You begin to speak but the cacofiend screams for your silence -- you
Floyd | quickly comply.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cacofiend rips the skin of your chest, exposing your ribcage,
Floyd | stomach and various entrails.  One of your intestines slithers down to
Floyd | the hot floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "What."
		Zach says, "We must have been an evil baby"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | Something's beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cacofiend looks over toward your right for the source of the
Floyd | beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Or this is Freddie being psychotic"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look right" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "right".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look" 		

Floyd | Hell
Floyd |    Being damned for all eternity, this is your 'home'.  This particular
Floyd | cell of yours has no real name or identifiable markings.  You can't
Floyd | even recall if you've always been in this particular station, or some
Floyd | other any longer.  It appears to be a claustrophobic, hollowed-out cave
Floyd | within the heart of an active volcano.  If you strain, you can make out
Floyd | passageways to other caves, but turning your head to the side is often
Floyd | prohibitively painful.
Floyd |    A Cacofiend is here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something continues to beep.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x beeping" 		

Floyd | It sounds like a pager.  Well, the parts that don't sound like souls
Floyd | burning in agony, anyway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Cacofiend hands you the pager.
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's for you..." he says with a shrug.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your Office
Floyd |    You never thought of yourself having some sort of 'God' complex, so
Floyd | awakening from a dream where you were being burned alive in hell,
Floyd | purgatory or whatever is easily brushed off with a swig of Mr. Pibb and
Floyd | a couple moments to simply compose yourself.  You're on a hot streak
Floyd | now, anyway -- after successfully delivering quintuplets for that rock
Floyd | star two days ago (the lead singer for -- what was that band's name?
Floyd | -- Scatbag or something, you think) you got the admiration of not only
Floyd | every Gen X-er on the staff, but your daughter as well, for delivering
Floyd | the offspring of "the voice of her generation".  But impending fame has
Floyd | its ups and downs -- while you're due to be interviewed by Salon.com
Floyd | for saving the woman's life, it looks like your interviewer... will be
Floyd | Au James Wagner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You win some, you lose some.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pager" 		

Floyd | From the extension, it looks like you're needed STAT in LDR 14.
Floyd |
Floyd | You let out a loud gassy burp; that Mr. Pibb was really carbonated.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Ah."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Let's go save a baby."
		Zach says, "Yay!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "save baby" 		

Floyd | I don't see any baby here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd | You can exit the office by going north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You exit the office and rush over to the LDR.  You're updated by the
Floyd | nurse and quickly head over to mom.  You take a look at the monitors,
Floyd | and do a very poor job of attempting to conceal an expression of
Floyd | horror.  You turn toward the nurse.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let's get her over to the operating room," you say.
Floyd |
Floyd | Operating Room
Floyd |    The Operating Room is fairly dark, save for the operating table
Floyd | illuminated by the strong lights that the patient is on.  The nurse
Floyd | updates you on the woman's condition.
Floyd |
Floyd | Before you is the patient's belly, prep'd for the C-Section.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x woman" 		

Floyd | The patient is draped and ready for the C-Section.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a scalpel.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small burp escapes from your mouth, definitely Mr. Pibb.  Thankfully,
Floyd | the nurse didn't hear it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "operate" 		

Floyd | (the patient)
Floyd | (with the scalpel)
Floyd | You make a low transverse incision, and cut through the layers of
Floyd | muscle.  You can now see the baby.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x baby" 		

Floyd | You notice the baby girl has a nucal cord.  You try to reduce it by
Floyd | slipping the umbilical cord over the baby's head, but it's too tight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cut cord" 		

Floyd | (with the scalpel)
Floyd | You double clamp the cord and cut it in the middle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give cpr" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "cpr".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take baby" 		

Floyd | The OR door swings open and somebody enters the room.  The nurse rushes
Floyd | over to him and has a quick conversation -- he takes a few steps back
Floyd | and watches intently.
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach in and extract the head.  The nurse suctions the head and
Floyd | nose, getting the amniotic fluid out of the airway.  You then deliver
Floyd | the shoulders and the baby slides out -- it doesn't make a sound.  You
Floyd | hand the baby girl to waiting pediatrician where they attempt CPR.
Floyd | After several minutes of frantic resuscitation, the baby stirs for a
Floyd | moment, a split-second so short that you wonder if it existed at all.
Floyd | They continue to attempt to revive her, but she collapses further.
Floyd | It's as if something more than a simple umbilical cord has taken her
Floyd | life...
Floyd |
Floyd | You see the worry and sweat pouring off the baby's father.  This won't
Floyd | be easy... it never has been before.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART or QUIT:  >

		* TheCustodian has joined the channel.
		genericgeekgirl says, "Grump."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hello, Custodian! Welcome to NightFloyd."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Do you understand how channels work?"
TheCustodian arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. 		
TheCustodian says, "Aha" 		
TheCustodian asks, "Am I in clubfloyd?" 		
genericgeekgirl says, "Yup! You can chat on the channel by typing "#clubfloyd Hello"" 		TheCustodian exclaims, "Hello!"
DavidW arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		TheCustodian says, "Ah, many thanks"
		says, "Conversation happens on the channel, and game play happens in the Toyshop. To type commands to floyd simply preface them with f. Like this "f look"."
		Zach says, "Mr. David!"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Hey DW."
		genericgeekgirl says, "We're playing No Time to Squeal. And we've failed three times now to save a baby."
		TheCustodian says, "Ta."
		DavidW says, "hi. Sorry, I forgot. I had a large late spaghetti dinner and I had to lie down."
		DavidW says, "oo, NTTS is difficult, I seem to recall."
		Zach says, "It's all the damn baseball's fault"
		Allen says, "lack of large sunny rocks to lie upon and digest in canada"
		TheCustodian says, "Er so, DavidW - I recognize your nick…I poked my head in to see if any of the crew here wanted to take thwacks at it for Valley of Steel."
		DavidW says (to Allen), "The rocks will be imported in, um, May."
		TheCustodian says, "(and to humbly beg feedback/criticism. Sorry if this is the wrong place.)"
		DavidW says, "oh, hi, Custodian."
Gerynar arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		TheCustodian exclaims, "Cheers!"
		DavidW says, "Right place, but the time was last week, I think."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I'm sure folk would be interested in playing. Possibly after this one? (If not today, then next Thursday at 10pm.)"
		TheCustodian says, "Of course. No intent to disrupt. :-) I wasn't sure how to offer my willingness to correspond/converse re: the game that I saw a transcript of you guys playing, other than to show up."
Zach says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Where did all this fog come from?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    A filthy place, mongrels and predators scurry and skulk about the
Floyd | edges of your vision, seemingly self-satisfied in their hidden snark
Floyd | just beyond your focus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The alley wall behind you rises until it seems that you shall never
Floyd | grow tall enough to surpass it.  It melts away in its own acclivity,
Floyd | merging into a starless night.  Walls to both sides reflect a build of
Floyd | age and accompanying deterioration.  Your skin crawls with the
Floyd | sensations of spying from some things, some group of denizens choosing
Floyd | themselves to be, as of yet, unrevealed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Fogging spoils your far sight to the west, while it reveals your sole
Floyd | path for this continued evening venture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x fog" 		

Floyd | So thick... it continually swirls, you are unable to see through it to
Floyd | the street beyond.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | A beautiful seven year old girl!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You are empty-handed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd | The occasional chirp of a nearby salesman can be heard to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    Before you is the door to a home, a crumbling dwelling lost in the
Floyd | alley.  The air here is thick, as if you are uncomfortably supporting
Floyd | it and propping it up.  The glow of a gas streetlight throws flickery
Floyd | shadows upon the lone window of the slum apartment.  The alleyway
Floyd | street is still quite sticky here, and each footstep concludes in
Floyd | release from an audible 'glop.'
Floyd |
Floyd | The alley continues into further fog to the west and east and to the
Floyd | north is the rotting apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The occasional chirp of a nearby salesman can be heard to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen to salesman" 		

Floyd | I don't see any salesman here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | The door appears withered, yet is locked from within quite forcibly.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bit of light escapes from the door underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a cry from behind the door!
Floyd |
Floyd | A woman's voice, struggling: "O... Murder!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Further sounds of thrashing emote from within.  You hear something wet
Floyd | and sticky strike the other side of the door and fall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Though maybe we can help"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd | You knock on the door.  Eerie silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | A wiry, black rat wriggles its way out from underneath the door and
Floyd | scurries away to the alley to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x rat" 		

Floyd | The rat has scurried far away by now.
Floyd |
Floyd | The occasional chirp of a nearby salesman can be heard to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "follow rat" 		

Floyd | The rat has scurried far away by now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I think we ought to run get help"
		Zach asks, "Maybe the salesman?"
		DavidW says, "I think so. Unless that rat's hole is big enough to look/reach through."
		genericgeekgirl says, "The best chance we've seen so far, I guess."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "West?"
		DavidW says, "sure"
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The alley opens into a thicker white fog.
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    You are at the western edge of what was once a filthy, urban alley.
Floyd | It has morphed into a quieter, nigh angelic scene.  Thick clouds have
Floyd | touched down and billow endlessly, within continual waves defined by
Floyd | their own soft motion.  The alleyway stretches away until it, seemingly
Floyd | hundreds of yards away, bubbles away into the night into an
Floyd | effervescent rise of environmental content.
Floyd |    A man stands nearby, smiling vacantly, shifting his weight from foot
Floyd | to foot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "I assume we're not in sleepmask mode?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" 		

Floyd | His inherent, learned honesty betrays any possibility of The Ruse.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hello, little one," he says.  "My name is John."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell man about door" 		

Floyd | You wonder what he has to say instead, so you ask him about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Always such a bother coming from in there!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell man about murder" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "murder".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell man about door" 		

Floyd | You wonder what he has to say instead, so you ask him about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Always such a bother coming from in there!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask man about himself" 		

Floyd | "Me?  My name is John.  I just sell wares."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask man about wares" 		

Floyd | "They are quite delightful," says John.  "Not much call for them
Floyd | nowadays, though.  Oh, well."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" 		

Floyd | "They are quite delightful," says John.  "Not much call for them
Floyd | nowadays, though.  Oh, well."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "buy ware" 		

Floyd | John bends his brittle frame over, to speak to you eye-to-eye.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you know what this is?  What's contained within?  Alright.  I'll
Floyd | tell you.  But where to begin?  I can see you have no coin or copper,
Floyd | but I'll presume your credit's good.  It can be our little secret, if
Floyd | we like, and I definitely suspect, even... that we should."
Floyd |
Floyd | John brings down the potion and hands it to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Something wonderful is sure to happen, usually your prayers will be
Floyd | answered in kind.  Just be certain of your intentions and faith, for if
Floyd | you react with a curse or a whine, these wares of mine are liable... to
Floyd | get all mixed up!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x potion" 		

Floyd | The potion looks quite pure, no suspended particles of any kind.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is purple.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask john about potion" 		

Floyd | "Something wonderful is sure to happen, usually your prayers will be
Floyd | answered in kind.  Just be certain of your intentions and faith, for if
Floyd | you react with a curse or a whine, these wares of mine are liable... to
Floyd | get all mixed up!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Crap, no. I forgot.It's been a while."
		DavidW asks, "forgot what?"
		Zach says, "Sleepmask"
		DavidW says, "oh"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    You are at the western edge of what was once a filthy, urban alley.
Floyd | It has morphed into a quieter, nigh angelic scene.  Thick clouds have
Floyd | touched down and billow endlessly, within continual waves defined by
Floyd | their own soft motion.  The alleyway stretches away until it, seemingly
Floyd | hundreds of yards away, bubbles away into the night into an
Floyd | effervescent rise of environmental content.
Floyd |    A man stands nearby, smiling vacantly, shifting his weight from foot
Floyd | to foot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Shall we drink it? And pray for a miracle?"
		Zach says, "Sure"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drink purple" 		

Floyd | Gulp!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The choice seems to be drink it either here or at the door"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    You are at the western edge of what was once a filthy, urban alley.
Floyd | It has morphed into a quieter, nigh angelic scene.  Thick clouds have
Floyd | touched down and billow endlessly, within continual waves defined by
Floyd | their own soft motion.  The alleyway stretches away until it, seemingly
Floyd | hundreds of yards away, bubbles away into the night into an
Floyd | effervescent rise of environmental content.
Floyd |    A man stands nearby, smiling vacantly, shifting his weight from foot
Floyd | to foot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Better idea."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The thick white fog dissipates and you wander back to...
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    Before you is the door to a home, a crumbling dwelling lost in the
Floyd | alley.  The air here is thick, as if you are uncomfortably supporting
Floyd | it and propping it up.  The glow of a gas streetlight throws flickery
Floyd | shadows upon the lone window of the slum apartment.  The alleyway
Floyd | street is still quite sticky here, and each footstep concludes in
Floyd | release from an audible 'glop.'
Floyd |
Floyd | The alley continues into further fog to the west and east and to the
Floyd | north is the rotting apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drink purple" 		

Floyd | Gulp!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | The apartment grows before your very eyes!
Floyd |
Floyd | You are momentarily disoriented and the beaker slips out of your tiny
Floyd | hands, shattering on the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    Before you is the door to a home, a crumbling dwelling lost in the
Floyd | alley.  The air here is thick, as if you are uncomfortably supporting
Floyd | it and propping it up.  The glow of a gas streetlight throws flickery
Floyd | shadows upon the lone window of the slum apartment.  The alleyway
Floyd | street is still quite sticky here, and each footstep concludes in
Floyd | release from an audible 'glop.'
Floyd |
Floyd | The alley continues into further fog to the west and east and to the
Floyd | north is the rotting apartment.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "o-k. I wasn't expecting 'pray'."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x apartment" 		

Floyd | The apartment is rotting before you, its construction as poor as its
Floyd | likely tenants.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break it" 		

Floyd | You'll have to tell me how to do that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hole" 		

Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "hole" 		

Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hole" 		

Floyd | I don't see any hole here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" 		

Floyd | The door appears withered, yet is locked from within quite forcibly.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bit of light escapes from the door underneath.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "crawl under door" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "crawl".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		pollux says, "I think you just need to go north."
Zach says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd | The door is locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "go under door" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under door" 		

Floyd | There is four inches of space in between the bottom edge of the door
Floyd | and the road.  You peer as best you can into the apartment itself and
Floyd | see little, save for the motions of one in light footwear skirting
Floyd | around a positioned bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "knock" 		

Floyd | What do you want to knock?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "knock on door" 		

Floyd | You knock on the door.  Eerie silence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | There seems to be one way in, but you are too tall to fit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "He said that the potion will cause our prayers to be answered."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "shrink" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "shrink".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Is the door getting taller?  Further from the alleyway?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | There seems to be one way in, but you are too tall to fit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | After your words, you realize that it is, of course, you who are
Floyd | shrinking.  You are certainly no larger than twelve inches in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Finally."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | There seems to be one way in, but you are too tall to fit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "More prayer!"
		genericgeekgirl says, "OH COME ON."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | You shrink further.  It seems like you are three, perhaps three and a
Floyd | half inches tall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "oh. Pray repeatedly."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Being quite small in size, you run under the door and into the
Floyd | apartment...
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment
Floyd |    You are within a cramped apartment, no greater than 12 feet square.
Floyd | Directly across from the front door is a fireplace, full of deep soot
Floyd | and organs.  To your right is a compact board table, adjacent to a bed
Floyd | propped approximately one foot high by a secondary, mildewey mattress.
Floyd |
Floyd | A human-sized, upright Hare breaks from ripping the intestines of a
Floyd | bound, human woman and carefully peers at your entrance.
Floyd |
Floyd | The woman moans -- a strained wail -- her head slumped over and eyes
Floyd | appearing dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "eww"
Ellison arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Zach says, "Always such bad timing"
		DavidW asks, "Is this Jack the Ripper?"
		Zach says, "Jack the Jack Rabbit Ripper"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Yeah, they reference it earlier."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x hare" 		

Floyd | He is wearing a glossy top hat, a mirrored monocle over his left eye,
Floyd | and a swashbuckler's vest.  His nose twitches irregularly, as if a
Floyd | symptom of a spastic, involuntary syndrome.  His white fur is stained
Floyd | crimson in splashes, where the woman's blood and flesh has splattered
Floyd | and soaked into it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The hare rips away a purplish, engorged organ and some fleshy, meaty
Floyd | sections of the woman's stomach.  He hurls these parts at the left
Floyd | wall, splashing her blood everywhere and he does so with meticulous
Floyd | strain and patience.
Floyd |
Floyd | The woman cries forth with cursing, swearing, and explicatives that you
Floyd | have never, ever heard before in your life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "But it also seems to be Alice in Wonderland."
		Zach says, "Yeah"
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill hare" 		

Floyd | You are much too small and insignificant to hurt the Hare.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare snaps off a piece of intestine and throws it at you!
Floyd |
Floyd | The intestine shifts into an ugly garden snake mid-flight, and snares
Floyd | itself around your neck!
Floyd |
Floyd | The woman's eyes close, a terrible wheeze of air leaves her esophagus.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "bizarre"
		Zach says, "Oh, this is the dream of the fetus"
		DavidW asks, "Excuse me?"
		Zach says, "haha"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh. Oh god. You're right."
		DavidW asks, "I don't know what to do here. 'Cry' and drown him in tears?"
		Zach says, "A baby choked on her umbilical cord earlier"
		DavidW asks, "Pray some more?"
		pollux says, "Pray again, maybe we'll go out altogether like a candle."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Nothing happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare snaps the neck of the woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Crap."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cry" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "cry".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Where is our god now?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fireplace" 		

Floyd | The fireplace is filled with organs, sweat, blood and soot.  Looking
Floyd | within it, it appears to get lighter at the other end, not darker.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare squats down and enters the fireplace.  It leaps once, and
Floyd | appears to have left the apartment completely.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		TheCustodian asks, "Squeal?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "squeal" 		

Floyd | There is no time.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Sing another song for me, sweetie, and I shall certainly return myself
Floyd | to sleep and slumber," says the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Snake??"
		TheCustodian says, "Heh, walked into that one."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter fireplace" 		

Floyd | You make your way into the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment, in the fireplace
Floyd |    The fireplace is filled with organs, sweat, blood and soot.  Looking
Floyd | up, it appears to get lighter at the other end, not darker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "climb" 		

Floyd | What do you want to climb?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "climb fireplace" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to climb the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You are not tall enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd | You are not tall enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Nothing happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
TheCustodian says (to Floyd), "climb" 		

Floyd | What do you want to climb?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a snake (wrapped around your neck).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Nothing happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take snake" 		

Floyd | The snake would never dream of letting you do such a thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "unwrap snake" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "unwrap".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cut snake" 		

Floyd | You have nothing sharp enough to cut the snake with.
Floyd |
Floyd | The snake flashes briefly animate for a moment to tighten its grip.
Floyd | "Snug, isn't it, my lovely?"  he whispers before quieting once again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing" 		

Floyd | What do you want to sing to?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Apartment, in the fireplace
Floyd |    The fireplace is filled with organs, sweat, blood and soot.  Looking
Floyd | up, it appears to get lighter at the other end, not darker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Was there a blade we could grab?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing to snake" 		

Floyd | The snake flashes animate once more, and begins to join your song.  In
Floyd | between slurred humming, he says, "I understand, you know, your clever,
Floyd | clever ruse.  Really!  I do!  But, my love, I am no savage beast to be
Floyd | beaten with a song.  I feel our love can't quite continue like this for
Floyd | very long.  For I am your special friend this eve, and I am very, very
Floyd | wrong."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd | Apartment
Floyd |    You are within a cramped apartment, no greater than 12 feet square.
Floyd | Directly across from the front door is a fireplace, full of deep soot
Floyd | and organs.  To your right is a compact board table, adjacent to a bed
Floyd | propped approximately one foot high by a secondary, mildewey mattress.
Floyd | There is a prostitute here, tied up, shredded and destitute.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "search soot" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "soot".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask snake about snake" 		

Floyd | The snake just hisses...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "search organs" 		

Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x prostitute" 		

Floyd | She is a wisp of a woman, approximately 5'7" and slight of build.  She
Floyd | is laying in tattered clothes on a stinking mattress, her hands and
Floyd | left leg bound to the apartment walls with thick chain.  She has been
Floyd | viciously ripped from just below her neck straight down toward her
Floyd | pelvis, Her internal organs are scattered about her gaping chest
Floyd | cavity, although some have leaked over to the bed and others smear the
Floyd | walls, slowly crawling down to the floor.  Her long blonde hair is
Floyd | matted with blood and pulp into the sheets upon her bed, and she seems
Floyd | unable to focus, articulate her horror, or die.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask snake about hare" 		

Floyd | The snake just hisses...
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sing to woman" 		

Floyd | You decide to not sing to the woman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to woman" 		

Floyd | She is dead.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sing to mom" 		

Floyd | I don't see any mom here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "It just said she was unable to die. Hmpf."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x mattress" 		

Floyd | The mattress isn't important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "unchain woman" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "unchain".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It seems we need to get taller to climb the fireplace."
Zach says (to Floyd), "help woman" 		

Floyd | It's too late for help.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe we can get another potion?"
		DavidW asks, "I doubt it. Also, wouldn't John be too far away at our size?"
		Zach asks, "Magic?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x knife" 		

Floyd | I don't see any knife here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x organs" 		

Floyd | Ruptured, leaking, and disgusting!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | I don't see any sword here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x blade" 		

Floyd | I don't see any blade here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Damn. Hopeful thinking."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bed" 		

Floyd | There's nothing hiding under the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Nothing happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x snake" 		

Floyd | The snake chortles deeply and tightens itself slightly around your
Floyd | neck.  Though as small as yourself, it frustrates all attempts at
Floyd | discovery, exploration, and conversation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Ahh..." breathes the snake, "deliciousss...!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Opposite of pray."
		Zach says, "Clever!"
		DavidW says, "oh, get in the fireplace!"
		jenrexrode says, "yarp"
		DavidW says, "curse in there"
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter fireplace" 		

Floyd | You make your way into the fireplace.
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment, in the fireplace
Floyd |    The fireplace is filled with organs, sweat, blood and soot.  Looking
Floyd | up, it appears to get lighter at the other end, not darker.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Wonderful," whispers the snake, "wouldn't you sssay...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "I am within ecstatic delights," breathes the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown much larger, and are almost full size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Now this is most comfortable, sweeeetieeee....!"  The snake breathes
Floyd | up close against your ear.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are now your natural size.
Floyd |
Floyd | The snake tightens its grip around your neck once more.  "Not too tight
Floyd | just yet, I hope," he mutters.  The snake returns, quickly, to its
Floyd | pseudo-slumber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" 		

Floyd | You are not tall enough.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | You grow again, past the container of the fireplace itself and you find
Floyd | yourself within a reserved, quiet study...
Floyd |
Floyd | Study
Floyd |    This is a long, open drawing room evidently used for study and soft
Floyd | research.  A rich, teak desk sits in solitude, equidistant from the
Floyd | west wall (upon which hangs a set of somber oil paintings) and the east
Floyd | wall (almost completely defined by stained glass).  Near the desk is
Floyd | Rumford fireplace, the same portal from which you arrived.  Toward the
Floyd | far wall is an ornament stand, and wire stairs that lead up to an
Floyd | in-house second level and black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a snake (wrapped around your neck).
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x stand" 		

Floyd | The ornament stand is right before a door that leads, presumably,
Floyd | outside.  It has two legs, sits two feet high and two feet across.  The
Floyd | tabletop has been buffed and polished to a satiny sheen.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the ornament stand is a battle scene.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x scene" 		

Floyd | A tiny, yet exquisitely detailed figurine made up of several different
Floyd | autonomous pieces that, together, depicts a swordsman brandishing a
Floyd | steel blade against several cornered beasties.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Ah yis."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x blade" 		

Floyd | It is about the length of the swordsman's torso.  The sword would
Floyd | appear to be detachable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Perfect."
		genericgeekgirl says, "We can resize it and cut the snake away."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take sword" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | It is terribly small.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | Nothing else happens.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Your surroundings appear to grow in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Your surroundings appear to grow in size again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Don't we want to be smaller?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | The sword is very small.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd | A beautiful seven year old girl!
Floyd | How old did you say you were?  Six months, seven years?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | After your words, you realize that it is, of course, you who are
Floyd | shrinking.  You are certainly no larger than twelve inches in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | The sword is tiny.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cut snake" 		

Floyd | (with the sword)
Floyd | The blade of the sword is not sharp enough to cut the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Wonderful," whispers the snake, "wouldn't you sssay...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "I am within ecstatic delights," breathes the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown much larger, and are almost full size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drop sword" 		

Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | Your surroundings appear to grow in size again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ah, we have to sharpen it too, I guess."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take sword" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | The sword is small in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drop sword" 		

Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | After your words, you realize that it is, of course, you who are
Floyd | shrinking.  You are certainly no larger than twelve inches in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | You shrink further.  It seems like you are three, perhaps three and a
Floyd | half inches tall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "take sword" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "cut snake" 		

Floyd | (with the sword)
Floyd | The blade of the sword is not sharp enough to cut the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Damn."
		Gerynar asks, "poke the snake?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "I hoped it was just too small and therefore not sharp enough."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "poke snake" 		

Floyd | Poking the snake doesn't seem to have any effect.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yeah"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Study
Floyd |    This is a long, open drawing room evidently used for study and soft
Floyd | research.  A rich, teak desk sits in solitude, equidistant from the
Floyd | west wall (upon which hangs a set of somber oil paintings) and the east
Floyd | wall (almost completely defined by stained glass).  Near the desk is
Floyd | Rumford fireplace, the same portal from which you arrived.  Toward the
Floyd | far wall is an ornament stand, and wire stairs that lead up to an
Floyd | in-house second level and black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You choke, suddenly!  The snake arises for mere moments, to simply
Floyd | increase the pressure around your neck.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I don't think the sword grows with us, but regardless, we need to sharpen the blade."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | The sword is small in size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "It definitely changed size with us."
Gerynar says (to Floyd), "curse sword" 		

Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe something up the stairs?"
		DavidW says, "I lose total track of relative sizes."
		genericgeekgirl says, "So we need to not hold it if we want to adjust the relative size."
		DavidW says, "er lost"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd | You slowly ascend the stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "That's not ominous at all."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | (opening the door first)
Floyd | Fog, of makeup you have seen before, spills out from the locale beyond
Floyd | and into yours.  A slavering roar splits your eardrums -- a terrible
Floyd | gyre and gimble that nearly knocks you down!
Floyd |
Floyd | Emerging from the clouded beyond is a single monstrosity, a grotesque
Floyd | jabberwock with jaws that bite and claws that catch!  Its beady,
Floyd | squinty eyes ooze thick pus as it contorts its vision in order to find
Floyd | you.  The beast now blocks your path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "O hai."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "kill jabberwock." 		

Floyd | (with the sword)
Floyd | You are too small in size to cause any damage.
Floyd |
Floyd | The jabberwock gives you a once over... but the beast displays no
Floyd | intelligent cunning whatsoever.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "ok, this is very bad"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Ahh..." breathes the snake, "deliciousss...!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | The jabberwock wails a mournful tune!  The jabberwock knocks the sword
Floyd | from your hand!  It goes flying to the floor below, beneath the stairs!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |    A grotesque beastie is lurking about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | The jabberwock blocks your path.
Floyd |
Floyd | The jabberwock wails a mournful tune!  The jabberwock knocks the sword
Floyd | from your hand!  It goes flying to the floor below, beneath the stairs!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |    A grotesque beastie is lurking about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |    A grotesque beastie is lurking about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Study
Floyd |    This is a long, open drawing room evidently used for study and soft
Floyd | research.  A rich, teak desk sits in solitude, equidistant from the
Floyd | west wall (upon which hangs a set of somber oil paintings) and the east
Floyd | wall (almost completely defined by stained glass).  Near the desk is
Floyd | Rumford fireplace, the same portal from which you arrived.  Toward the
Floyd | far wall is an ornament stand, and wire stairs that lead up to an
Floyd | in-house second level and black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Ahh..." breathes the snake, "deliciousss...!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Wonderful," whispers the snake, "wouldn't you sssay...?"
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown a little larger.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "I am within ecstatic delights," breathes the snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | You have grown much larger, and are almost full size.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "curse" 		

Floyd | "Now this is most comfortable, sweeeetieeee....!"  The snake breathes
Floyd | up close against your ear.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are now your natural size.
Floyd |
Floyd | The purple potion has worn off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x sword" 		

Floyd | The sword is very large.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "up" 		

Floyd | You slowly ascend the stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sing to sword" 		

Floyd | You decide to not sing to the sword.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "let's give this another try. With cheating."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | (opening the door first)
Floyd | Fog, of makeup you have seen before, spills out from the locale beyond
Floyd | and into yours.  A slavering roar splits your eardrums -- a terrible
Floyd | gyre and gimble that nearly knocks you down!
Floyd |
Floyd | Emerging from the clouded beyond is a single monstrosity, a grotesque
Floyd | jabberwock with jaws that bite and claws that catch!  Its beady,
Floyd | squinty eyes ooze thick pus as it contorts its vision in order to find
Floyd | you.  The beast now blocks your path.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "kill jabberwock" 		

Floyd | (with the sword)
Floyd | You unleash the sword in a quick, wide arc, ripping through its
Floyd | stinking flesh with an audible 'snicker-snack!'  Its eyes convulse and
Floyd | burn away as it settles into a heap of seared entrails besides a
Floyd | gawking maw.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Booyah."
		Zach says, "Hooray"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Although I wonder if there was a way to get past the point where we lose the sword. Get small and run away maybe?"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Too small to block?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Anyway."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Terrace
Floyd |    This platform looks over the study below.  Before you, to the west,
Floyd | is a black door.
Floyd |    The last of the great beasts, the jabberwock, lies slain upon the
Floyd | floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "The potion has WORN OFF."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Where did ti say that?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "It was just working a few seconds ago."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Oh you're right."
		DavidW says, "Floyd | The purple potion has worn off."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Ok."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x jabberwock" 		

Floyd | A formerly grotesque beastie with jaws that bit and claws that caught.
Floyd | It leaks sickly pus and fluid from every possible pore, but especially
Floyd | from the severe gash you inflicted upon it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x gash" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "gash".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "again, eww"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x pus" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "pus".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar says "bloop" and shrinks down into a little dot, then winks out...just like those old-fashioned B&w televisions. 		
Gerynar has disconnected. 		genericgeekgirl asks, "There has to be a reason to this room, besides just the jabberwock. But what?"
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "look at study" 		

Floyd | It's a long, open drawing room evidently used for study and soft
Floyd | research.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | You alone enter the fog and clouds, your possessions are shunted behind
Floyd | you...
Floyd |
Floyd | Forest path
Floyd |    The Hare witnesses your emergence and blitzes down the path, three
Floyd | steps for every one of yours.  Sufficiently in the lead, he pauses for
Floyd | a moment and produces a shiny timepiece from one of the pockets of his
Floyd | leather vest.  Wiping its brow (and streaking crusts of haemoglobin
Floyd | everywhere!) the Hare does a backflip and gives you a wave.  Though a
Floyd | vial drops from its half-jacket, it fails to notice and immediately
Floyd | continues its sprint until the path meets with the horizon.  You are
Floyd | centered within a dark forest path.  The lit, full moon provides more
Floyd | than ample light with which to comport yourself in your usual angelic
Floyd | sway.
Floyd |
Floyd | The plant-life and vegetation all carry a healthy glow around them,
Floyd | they grow thick amongst each other, intertwining to prevent passage in
Floyd | all directions except those that please them.  You spot a vial at the
Floyd | edge of the forest path.
Floyd |
Floyd | The path seems to lead in all directions, yet none appear inviting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "OH."
TheCustodian goes home. 		genericgeekgirl says, "We weren't in there."
		genericgeekgirl says, "I thought we and the jabberwock were in the west room."
		genericgeekgirl says, "And trapped in there."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take vial" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "x vial" 		

Floyd | Inside the vial is fermented pickle juice and a half-kidney.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "YUM."
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "drink vial" 		

Floyd | The vial doesn't appear appetizing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Eewhy"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd | You don't hear anything unusual.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x plant" 		

Floyd | It's thick and uninviting.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb plant" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to climb the vegetation and plant life.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Maybe it doesn't matter yet which direction we go?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You follow the forest path a ways, it winds about, and eventually leads
Floyd | to a clearing...
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Fine, powdery dust and shards make up a solid foundation for this
Floyd | out-of-the-way little vortex in the forest.  The clearing is in the
Floyd | shape of an oval, and twenty yards across.  Two creatures bicker back
Floyd | and forth.  They are little more than giant heads with distended, ugly
Floyd | feet attached to them.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'll devour you, Oaf!" says one.  "I'll munch upon that ugly face,
Floyd | bite by tantalizing bite and you shall witness it all, for the last
Floyd | morsel will be that pinched, sickly eye!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Not before I, Roaf!" exclaims the other one.  "You may bark and wheeze
Floyd | in your misguided, pathetic attempts to frighten, but I shall skewer
Floyd | you into meaty, tasty strips and use that ridiculous eyewear to magnify
Floyd | the light and heat them!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "so, ghoulish Tweedledum and -dee?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x Oaf" 		

Floyd | He is a flighty, wavy head, bright in tone, with wavy auburn hair and a
Floyd | lone, suspicious eyeball.  Two mangled, twisted feet poke out from
Floyd | neath his chin.  He possesses no torso, arms or legs.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh, why look, Roaf!" exclaims Oaf.  "A little girl has wandered into
Floyd | our little stead!  Why hello there, little one!  Would you care to stay
Floyd | for a meal?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "You're ruining it, you great, stupid Oaf!" screeches Roaf.  "A
Floyd | mindless, blue-skinned deafened mute could see through your terrible
Floyd | ruse!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "eyewear?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x eyeball" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "eyeball".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x Roaf" 		

Floyd | He is a darkened, malformed head, shadowed in tint, with fuzzy black
Floyd | hair and oversized eyewear.  Two mangled, twisted feet poke out from
Floyd | neath his chin.  He possesses no torso, arms, or legs.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Why surely her daddy has yet to inform her of the seductive stylings
Floyd | of strangers," says Oaf.  "Besides, she has a nasty little pusher
Floyd | around her neck. Her time runs negative toward forward!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh no, praytell," states Roaf.  "I have it on positively smashing
Floyd | authority that her daddy knows all about you and I, my witless and
Floyd | quite stupid chum!  He truckles up to them like a suckling leech,
Floyd | pulling away their spirit and cares!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "talk to roaf" 		

Floyd | "It is a difficult path at first," says Roaf, "but I will make it all
Floyd | worthwhile."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Are your fatted lobes growing larger, Roafie old boy?" asks Oaf.
Floyd | "They look positively delectable.  I think I would enjoy chewing them
Floyd | like flavoured rubber for the better part of the upcoming fortnight.
Floyd | Or perhaps basted in a rich creme sauce!"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mind your manners, you," mutters Roaf, while staring you up and down.
Floyd | Saliva glistens and drips off his teeth, and he grins a positively...
Floyd | Cheshire grin!  "I think it would be best if we let the hopeless little
Floyd | venger choose."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Choose what, Roaf?" asks Oaf.  "Surely you mustn't let fair play get
Floyd | in the way.  Not now, not ever!  What ever do you mean?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "All I mean is that I ache for the completed set," says Roaf.  "Don't
Floyd | you see?  It is this way in which I may have it all."  He refuses to
Floyd | look at anyone or anything but you.  "Go ahead, my light-hearted
Floyd | friend," whispers Roaf.  "Choose the loser of the game."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Mwuahaha"
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Ok. So Oaf wants to eat Roaf. Roaf wants to eat us. Clearly we want Oaf to win?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "So we pick Roaf."
		genericgeekgirl asks, "Maybe they want to eat the vial instead?"
		DavidW says, "I think they want to eat each other."
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Roaf is staring at us and drooling."
		pollux says, "They want to eat one another - as stated in their first appearance - but, I think, also anything else."
		genericgeekgirl says, "That was before they noticed us, though. I think Roaf would prefer to eat us, at least first."
		DavidW says, "well, we can undo if we die, I hope"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x vial" 		

Floyd | Inside the vial is fermented pickle juice and a half-kidney.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe if they try to eat us the snake will do something?"
		DavidW asks, "we still have the snake?"
		Zach says, "I guess we can experiment. The game seems largely linear."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Anyway, we need to choose."
Zach says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a snake (wrapped around your neck) and a vial.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf looks at you in anticipation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Roaf?"
		genericgeekgirl says, "Yeah"
		DavidW says, "ok"
Zach says (to Floyd), "roaf" 		

Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "choose roa" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "roa".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "choose roaf" 		

Floyd | Roaf gasps!
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf pounces, with quickness like a cobra, onto Roaf and begins savagely
Floyd | tearing away his features.  Roaf kicks, flails, rolls...  anything to
Floyd | scatter and free himself.  Oaf snares the eyewear with his teeth and
Floyd | crunches them into powdered dust.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf's horrible howls cause you to drop to your knees and cover your
Floyd | ears.  Rather than watch the consumption, you bury your head until the
Floyd | wailing and screaming stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | With the return of the forest's eerie silence, you look up again.  Oaf
Floyd | chews on something with excessive pantomime, before meeting eyes with
Floyd | you and spitting a wad of flesh onto the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf wanders off the way you came before finally disappearing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Works for me."
		DavidW says, "hmmm. I think we wanted that eyewear."
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Fine, powdery dust and shards make up a solid foundation for this
Floyd | out-of-the-way little vortex in the forest.  The clearing is in the
Floyd | shape of an oval, and twenty yards across.
Floyd |    Roaf and Oaf are waddling about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "choose oaf" 		

Floyd | "Delightful," muses Roaf.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf thrusts himself over toward Oaf and knocks him into the ground.
Floyd | He strikes, quick as a cobra, and sits atop him, his teeth gnawing and
Floyd | biting away chunks of Oaf's face.  He rips shredded specks of skin and
Floyd | flesh and spits them out to one side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf howls, a cry more of defeated agony than that of rage or directed
Floyd | anger.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf finishes his meal.  Ultimately, not a scrap of Oaf remains.
Floyd |
Floyd | His hunger unsatiated, he then jumps on you and continues to enjoy his
Floyd | repast.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		DavidW says, "hm"
		Zach asks, "Maybe we choose Raof and then enter the vortex?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Fine, powdery dust and shards make up a solid foundation for this
Floyd | out-of-the-way little vortex in the forest.  The clearing is in the
Floyd | shape of an oval, and twenty yards across.
Floyd |    Roaf and Oaf are waddling about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "vortex?"
		DavidW says, "oh. The clearing."
		Zach says, "Oh, maybe I took imagery literally"
Zach says (to Floyd), "choose roaf" 		

Floyd | Roaf gasps!
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf pounces, with quickness like a cobra, onto Roaf and begins savagely
Floyd | tearing away his features.  Roaf kicks, flails, rolls...  anything to
Floyd | scatter and free himself.  Oaf snares the eyewear with his teeth and
Floyd | crunches them into powdered dust.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf's horrible howls cause you to drop to your knees and cover your
Floyd | ears.  Rather than watch the consumption, you bury your head until the
Floyd | wailing and screaming stops.
Floyd |
Floyd | With the return of the forest's eerie silence, you look up again.  Oaf
Floyd | chews on something with excessive pantomime, before meeting eyes with
Floyd | you and spitting a wad of flesh onto the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf wanders off the way you came before finally disappearing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Fine, powdery dust and shards make up a solid foundation for this
Floyd | out-of-the-way little vortex in the forest.  The clearing is in the
Floyd | shape of an oval, and twenty yards across.
Floyd |    You see a wad here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x wad" 		

Floyd | It is an earlobe.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take wad" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "put wad in vial" 		

Floyd | You can't put anything into the vial.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "so weird"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x dust" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "dust".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Though 'restart' seems to be the way to progress in the game, so it might not be a bad thing"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You make your way into the vegetation and come to a clearing...
Floyd |
Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Before you is a brick wall that extends into perilous overgrowth.
Floyd | The wall is several times your height and quite impassable.  There is a
Floyd | small table set before the wall itself.
Floyd |
Floyd | You notice a single meter-high creature swinging back and forth on a
Floyd | brass bell that emerges from the top two layers of the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd | On the table are numerous stones, with single-digit numbers upon most
Floyd | of them.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x creature" 		

Floyd | It is an animate, swinging egg.  A completely blank face, it has four
Floyd | impossible limbs arranged like that of a person's, and is clad in fuzzy
Floyd | jams.
Floyd |
Floyd | The egg speaks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought I saw a little girl
Floyd | Free from the black murder:
Floyd | I looked again and found it was
Floyd | Covered in filthy burr.
Floyd | Have we have met once before my child?
Floyd | How old ja say joo were?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The creature holds out one of its hands.  The other holds tightly to
Floyd | the bell, and it continues to swing back and forth.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take seven" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I think," says the snake, "that I'd like to play a quick game.  I'll
Floyd | swallow my own tail!"  The snake gets tighter around your neck, but
Floyd | makes a show of failing to bite its end.  "Oh, sorry, my lovely.  I'll
Floyd | just have to get closer, later!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The snake returns to its sleep once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give seven to creature" 		

Floyd | "I thought I saw a little girl,
Floyd | Upon her final day.
Floyd | Eager to play my riddles and
Floyd | Friendly all the way.
Floyd | And though we'd never met, your age
Floyd | Is what you'll never say!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The egg releases its handhold on the bell!
Floyd |
Floyd | The egg tumbles toward you, and knocks you down!
Floyd |
Floyd | The egg hops back up into the air and with a somersault and twist,
Floyd | grabs the bell once again.
Floyd |
Floyd | He then promptly eats the seven stone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Other than it's Humpty Dumpty, I have no idea what's going on."
Zach says (to Floyd), "ring bell" 		

Floyd | It's out of reach!  It is too tall for you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd | It looks like the purple potion has worn off.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x stones" 		

Floyd | Which stones do you mean, the one stone, the nine stone, the two stone,
Floyd | the eight stone, the three stone, the four stone, the blank stone, the
Floyd | five stone, or the six stone?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x blank stone" 		

Floyd | It is a tiny, rounded stone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give nine to creature" 		

Floyd | You're not carrying the nine stone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take nine" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give nine to creature" 		

Floyd | The egg speaks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "I thought I saw a little girl
Floyd | Who understood my ruse.
Floyd | She liked to play and listen to
Floyd | Her helpful, dimwit muse.
Floyd | Joo wish to pick just one more time?
Floyd | 'Cos as of now, you lose!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The egg drops the stone and it lands on the small table.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take blank" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give blank to creature" 		

Floyd | The egg speaks:
Floyd |
Floyd | "My heart, my heart, oh hateful day!
Floyd | You've never said before!
Floyd | Your age is quite foreign to me,
Floyd | Quite clever, mi amour.
Floyd | And though we've never met, my heart
Floyd | Just leaps upon the floor!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The creature shifts violently to one side and rings the bell.  The
Floyd | sounding of it sends a audial wave that knocks you back into tumbles
Floyd | for several meters.
Floyd |
Floyd | As you slowly right yourself you see the egg cracked open with a
Floyd | beating heart left behind, and that the wall has been broken into
Floyd | crumbly bits, allowing passage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "What's the rules of this situation? I don't get it."
		Zach says, "We had to pick a stone with our age on it, but we haven't been born yet."
		Zach says, "So the blank stone"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x heart" 		

Floyd | The heart is about the size of two of your fists.  It beats slowly, to
Floyd | a steady, hollow beat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take heart" 		

Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "That wasn't clear at all."
		DavidW says, "Sometimes I really hate poetry for it's impenetrability."
		DavidW says, "er its"
		Zach says, "Yeah"
		Zach | How old ja say joo were?"
		DavidW says, "We seem to be collecting body parts."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x wall" 		

Floyd | I don't see any wall here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You climb passed the fallen bricks and enter the plains beyond it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Close Edge of the Plane
Floyd |    The forest ends on this side of the wall.  Grassy, lushy plains,
Floyd | spread from feathered jade slip beneath your toes.  Once more, a
Floyd | brilliant fog cuts off your view of the horizon.  Fifteen meters east
Floyd | of the ruins of the once-brick wall (and in the middle of the plains)
Floyd | is a sandy circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see and hear the Hare here, he mumbles and meeps in spastic
Floyd | seizures, tossing a killing knife from hand to hand.  He is far away
Floyd | from you, however, and shows no signs of getting closer.  The snake
Floyd | becomes animate once again.  It buzzes in your ear.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Oooh, there's a knife"
		DavidW says, "The 'ja' and 'joo' threw me as not English."
Zach says (to Floyd), "x circle" 		

Floyd | It appears to be a flattened sphere of sand.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing in the circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The snake whispers into your ear:
Floyd |
Floyd | "Do you see him, little one?  I think he wants to make a trade.  There
Floyd | are three fleshy artifacts that you have encountered, and no I am not
Floyd | one.  But do not feel inclined to play his game, all you have to do is
Floyd | take me to him, together.  For together we can stop this charade!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Right, snake, I'm going to trust you"
Zach says (to Floyd), "x hare" 		

Floyd | He is wearing a glossy top hat, a mirrored monocle over his left eye,
Floyd | and a swashbuckler's vest.  His nose twitches irregularly, as if a
Floyd | symptom of a spastic, involuntary syndrome.  His white fur is stained
Floyd | crimson in splashes, where the woman's blood and flesh has splattered
Floyd | and soaked into it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "enter circle" 		

Floyd | "You're not going to make this trade, are you?" meekly queries the
Floyd | hateful snake.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sandy Circle
Floyd |    This is naught but a flattened sphere of sand, free from foul
Floyd | contaminates.
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing in the circle.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf3" 		

Floyd | File to save game in >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "give heart to hare" 		

Floyd | It's too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
genericgeekgirl says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a snake (wrapped around your neck), a vial, an earlobe, a nine
Floyd | stone, and a heart.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "wad, heart, kidney order."
Zach says (to Floyd), "give wad to hare" 		

Floyd | It's too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The Hare won't let you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "throw wad to hare" 		

Floyd | It's too far away.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and tugs upon its ear!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl asks, "Maybe we drop the items here?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "drop wad" 		

Floyd | Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and beats upon its chest!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spies you and chortles while holding its sides!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "If we go to him "together", I think the snake gets what it wants."
Zach says (to Floyd), "drop heart and vial" 		

Floyd | heart:  Dropped.
Floyd | vial:  Dropped.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare leaps from the other side of the plains, and into the circle
Floyd | with you!
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare sniffs and collects the items in the circle.  It holds them
Floyd | within its hands, and regards you with a cruel, guttural sounding.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I laughed myself into fits over that foul juwess.  The last job, well,
Floyd | was nice and clean but not this one (I love it, so.)  Where to find a
Floyd | Christmas box, then?  I suppose I will have to give you a running start
Floyd | as I fit myself the box instead."
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare drops the killing knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | The snake twists its head until it is in your vision.  It does not look
Floyd | very content.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "take knife" 		

Floyd | As you pick up the knife, the snake coils in fear.
Floyd |
Floyd | "No!"  hisses the snake, "Together we can be so much stronger!"  The
Floyd | snake tightens itself around you.  "Besides, fat lot of good that will
Floyd | do!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare rips apart the earlobe and sets each piece within his furry
Floyd | ears.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		genericgeekgirl says, "Ew."
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill snake" 		

Floyd | (with the killing knife)
Floyd | The snake squeals in an icy indelight!
Floyd |
Floyd | You cut the snake to pieces with the killing knife.  You find your
Floyd | breathing to be much less constricted.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare rips open a bit of its flesh, right above the hip, and inserts
Floyd | the kidney.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "x snake" 		

Floyd | I don't see any snake here.
Floyd |

		DavidW asks, "Is the snake an umbilical cord?"

Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Yeah"
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Sandy Circle
Floyd |    This is naught but a flattened sphere of sand, free from foul
Floyd | contaminates.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare swallows the heart!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare catches up to you, finally, and holds you within its grasp.
Floyd |
Floyd | Without turning you around, he speaks softly into your ear...
Floyd |
Floyd | "Was not that jolly a scare, eh?  I laughed myself into fits over that
Floyd | woman, for I have got a jolly lot of false whiskers and fur in my own
Floyd | black bag.  The last job was nice and clean -- I carried away three
Floyd | parts of her (conundrum try to find what parts, lo I guess you did).
Floyd |
Floyd | I am going to do another on Friday & shall give the johnnies and dons a
Floyd | running on and about once more..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Its break is hot, it reeks of salted iron, of strong scented sweat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Struggles result in only further pressing, and you pass out... and that
Floyd | is for the best, for now.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Sandy Circle
Floyd |    This is naught but a flattened sphere of sand, free from foul
Floyd | contaminates.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You run, far away from the Hare!
Floyd |
Floyd | The eyes of the Hare contract, then immediately bug out in ecstasy.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Run, run, run!" it says!  "For now I'm going... to feast on you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The Far End of the Plane
Floyd |    Twisting through fog, you come to the beginnings of a cavern -- an
Floyd | approachable Portal through a rocky hill.  You can enter the cavern to
Floyd | the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look back to see the Hare spin round, as if looking for you.  He
Floyd | then freezes; shocked that you are no longer here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare is chasing you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You enter the Portal and walk through a very slight, open chasm.  After
Floyd | a few feet of this, the Portal opens up and you find yourself within a
Floyd | gaping, endlessly high, foul cavern.  Stalagmites rise from the cave's
Floyd | floor, but you can see no corresponding rocky growths from above --
Floyd | whatever ceiling that is available is shrouded in shimmering light and
Floyd | silky vapour.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit is to the north, on the other side of the Portal, that you can
Floyd | plainly see.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sixty-four squares, arranged in a flat 8 by 8 grid with an alternating
Floyd | black and white color scheme are in your way, covering the ground
Floyd | between entrance and exit.  You see that a fair number of them -- at
Floyd | least a dozen -- are occupied by unmoving figures before more fog
Floyd | descends upon you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You pause for just a moment and hear echoes of the Hare's voice.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare is begging you -- desperately pleading with you -- from far
Floyd | away to please, please share a square.
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare rushes at you, from far away, but is knocked down by something
Floyd | in the fog!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ye olde chessboard"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Footsman's Square
Floyd |
Floyd | There does not seem to be enough space for both you and the footsman on
Floyd | the square.  The footsman moves in flashes -- you see static images in
Floyd | a strobe effect of it attempting to move backwards, and to the side,
Floyd | but it cannot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Out of desperation for its own self, the footsman buries its pike into
Floyd | your chest.  You fall into a crumpled, broken heap upon the slick tile.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You are standing in the middle of a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "paths are east and west, not north"
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | You spot the Hare, for just a moment, but he is far behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare twitches loudly -- you pinpoint his location, and he is far
Floyd | away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Fog concealing the Portal to the far side shifts for a moment.
Floyd | Fragments of images play upon the revealed backdrop.  A timeslash of
Floyd | your father arriving home, removing his tie -- up only for a moment.
Floyd | It cuts away to your mother mixing paint.  Your parents meet, embrace.
Floyd | Your father paints a red clown's nose upon your mother, she letters,
Floyd | slowly, 'MINE' upon your father's body, a clever smirk upon her lips...
Floyd | you see them laugh, you see them simply enjoying the company of one
Floyd | another and play before the fog returns anew and all images fade.
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, east and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the west is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare mewls just for a bit, but long enough for you to place his
Floyd | position... and it is not very close.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Hunh, clown fetish"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You see a static scene in the swirling fog -- your father striking a
Floyd | small projectile straight on.  The fog morphs to a second, animated,
Floyd | scene: a ball ripping through the heart of a foul beast.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear the Hare yell in pain to the south, and turn to look
Floyd | briefly back.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are unable to find the Hare, and returning your view to the north,
Floyd | you see that the fog is no longer forming moving pictures.
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, south, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare brushes away fog in an attempt to find you.  He is several
Floyd | squares away.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "wish I knew the overview of the chessboard. How are we supposed to know which way to go?"
		Zach | The exit is to the north
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Appearing directly before you is a phantom of your mother, no more than
Floyd | a shimmering curtain of light.  Her eyes are cast downwards to her
Floyd | belly, where you still grow.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can't possibly want another one," she says softly.
Floyd |
Floyd | BUT MOTHER I CAN!
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene resets, it plays again.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can't possibly want another one," she says softly.
Floyd |
Floyd | I'M NOT A BUTCHER!
Floyd |
Floyd | The scene resets one final time, and again it plays.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can't possibly want another one," she says softly.
Floyd |
Floyd | CUT, IN HARE TOMB!  CUT, IN HARE TOMB!
Floyd |
Floyd | The words struggle to find audience, none seems apparent.
Floyd |
Floyd | The phantom of light switches quickly into the ether, the nothingness.
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead west and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | A towering, foreboding castle is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare pops up from the fog for a moment, luckily he is nowhere near
Floyd | you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Anagrams"
		Zach says, "Hmm, castle"
		DavidW asks, "Are we supposed to anagram BUTMOTHERICAN into a useful command?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | The Castle's Square
Floyd |
Floyd | The castle topples!
Floyd |
Floyd | The castle falls upon you, crushing you underneath tons of thick,
Floyd | horrible stone!
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You are standing in the middle of a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead west and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | A towering, foreboding castle is to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "Reaction Thumb" 		

Floyd | I don't know the word "reaction".
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, south, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear nothing, now, out of the ordinary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The white squares (all but yours) rise up from the floor.  Fog smears
Floyd | upon the tiles to form depth, and you see a the slight outline of a
Floyd | snowing man.  The tiles shift to form the symbol for a 'heart' before
Floyd | violently falling back where they were, upon the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, west and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare has apparently lost your trail.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | A pretty, spectacled nurse, seemingly whole and real, arrives from
Floyd | behind and places two fingers against the pulse in your neck.  Alarmed,
Floyd | she runs away to the north, rapidly shunting herself into and out of
Floyd | your reality...
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, east and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shimmering, majestic light sprays outwards in a rainbow of colors from
Floyd | the statue of the cruel overlord to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything seems still.  Not too still... no, simply a perfect,
Floyd | tranquil still.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | King's Square
Floyd |
Floyd | The lion comes to life.
Floyd |
Floyd | He gently picks you up and places you ontop of his broad shoulders.
Floyd | With a powerful, musical keen he shakes away the exterior to the
Floyd | cavern.  Various other statues crumble into dust.  He begins a slight
Floyd | trot -- on air itself! -- and carries you up, into the air, through
Floyd | swirling, purple clouds, into a kingdom only of love, free from any
Floyd | kind of want.
Floyd |
Floyd | And it is all you ever know.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You are standing in the middle of a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, east and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shimmering, majestic light sprays outwards in a rainbow of colors from
Floyd | the statue of the cruel overlord to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach says, "Wait, I want a kingdom of love!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | The fog is brighter, now.  It forms grayscaled sights of a man, a
Floyd | healer, at least a decade older than your own father, bringing down a
Floyd | terrible demon with a wave of his hands... he fells wave after wave of
Floyd | similar horrors in what seems no time at all before dropping dead as he
Floyd | first locks eyes with a biting, clawing, fatted jabberwocky...
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead south, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is a mild statue, depicting a sneering, bookish,
Floyd | fundamentalist.
Floyd |
Floyd | You sniff the air, for just a trace of the Hare... but detect nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Overlord's Square
Floyd |
Floyd | You attempt to enter the square that the overlord has already claimed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The statue makes no sound.  It does not engage in motion.  Nothing
Floyd | supernatural happens in the least.
Floyd |
Floyd | ... which does nothing to alleviate the shock of your death.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd | (Undoing one command)
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You are standing in the middle of a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead south, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is a mild statue, depicting a sneering, bookish,
Floyd | fundamentalist.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead west and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is a knight on horseback, frozen in time.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare cannot quite stop his stomach from rumbling.  You hear it, but
Floyd | it is off into the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You are standing in the middle of a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead south, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the north is a mild statue, depicting a sneering, bookish,
Floyd | fundamentalist.
Floyd |
Floyd | The scent of congealed blood and damp fur is still present, but quite
Floyd | faint.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "w" 		

Floyd | Black Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is black.

		jenrexrode says, "butt come chair"

Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, east and west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Shimmering, majestic light sprays outwards in a rainbow of colors from
Floyd | the statue of the cruel overlord to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | You cannot see the Hare, but you can detect his scent -- he is not
Floyd | particularly far away, of course, but he did just seem to get closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | And you feel so close!  And your body feels so warm, your blood so full
Floyd | of vibrant life!  And the fog draws back like a commanded curtain;
Floyd | seven and six men are revealed!  And they wave their hands in menacing
Floyd | manner, so aloof of this world.
Floyd |
Floyd | Three earthly organs make up their sacrifice -- a scanned ultrasound in
Floyd | the center of their circle.  One holds a gleaming, leathered sphere of
Floyd | his own, scratching notes upon it, as a chanting jack builds from the
Floyd | others into a gushing crescendo.
Floyd |
Floyd | The orb is cast from their circle, and the fog is gone forever.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Portal is now before you, one step to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | White Square
Floyd |    You have moved onto a square.  It is white.
Floyd |
Floyd | Paths lead north, west and south.
Floyd |
Floyd | To the east is an inanimate render of a warrior footsman.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare spots you!  He's coming closer!
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		jenrexrode says, "nope"
		Zach says, "Bwah!"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | Far Side of the Portal
Floyd |    You take the final step off the layer of tiles and onto the far
Floyd | Portal side.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Hare begins to wail:  a shivering, desperate keen fueled by its
Floyd | horrible capacity for the hunt.  It has failed, it has lost.  It begins
Floyd | tearing fur from its body in thick clumps and patches, throwing them
Floyd | helter-skelter around the tiles, until the craggy flesh beneath is
Floyd | revealed.
Floyd |
Floyd | With a moaning sound of 'o' it hunches over, falls to one knee, and
Floyd | sets a sliding hand out in a vain attempt to keep itself from knocking
Floyd | against the polished tile... it collapses and makes no further
Floyd | movement.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Portal continues here, into nothingness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "north again>"
Zach says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd | You float about in that direction for a little bit, but are drawn
Floyd | against your will to this very spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Far Side of the Portal
Floyd |    The Portal continues here, into nothingness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "e" 		

Floyd | You float about in that direction for a little bit, but are drawn
Floyd | against your will to this very spot.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd | Far Side of the Portal
Floyd |    The Portal continues here, into nothingness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd | You have a nine stone and a killing knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake" 		

Floyd | What do you want to wake?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Zach asks, "Maybe we were supposed to restart?"
Zach says (to Floyd), "use knife" 		

Floyd | Please be more specific on how you want to use the killing knife.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "kill me" 		

Floyd | I don't know how to hit yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "sleep" 		

Floyd | You're not tired.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Why on earth do you suggest restart?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter portal" 		

Floyd | You take leave and jump yourself into the Portal.  You feel a light
Floyd | sensation of freefall through complete darkness before the tears
Floyd | overtake you... everything shifts to warmth, to light...
Floyd |
Floyd | Operating Room
Floyd |
Floyd | "She's going to -- I think that, yes..." says the Doctor.
Floyd |
Floyd | The nurse adjusts her frames and peers onto the operating table.  "Oh,
Floyd | my, look at her neck -- "
Floyd |
Floyd | "It just split, I barely touched it with the scalpel," whispers the
Floyd | Doctor.  "Never quite... well, fortunate, nonetheless."  He gently
Floyd | brings the baby up and lifts away the umbilical cord.  He motions over
Floyd | to you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You break out of your stunned stupor and shamble over to the operating
Floyd | table.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Mr. Scott," says the Doctor, "I think that both your wife and the baby
Floyd | are going to be alright after all..."  He seems temporarily distant to
Floyd | you, what with his deep sweating and cool demeanor.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Everything is... everything is okay?" you ask.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Kieron -- it's Kieron, correct?"  You nod.  "I have to say it was
Floyd | touch and go there for a while, I wasn't particularly optimistic..."
Floyd | his voice softens to a near mumble, as he studies one edge of the
Floyd | umbilical cord.  "And it certainly wasn't a break, I don't think, it
Floyd | was so smooth if so, and..." the doctor sees you fretting again and
Floyd | displays a hearty, genuine smile.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Congratulations," he says.  "It's a girl."
Floyd |
Floyd | You cradle your still-unconscious wife in your arms with your little
Floyd | baby girl by her side for just a moment before the nurse begs you away
Floyd | so that Charlise can get her stitches.  Charlise is going to be so
Floyd | happy when she recovers, you think.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look upon your daughter, Tessa Elizabeth Scott, seven pounds six
Floyd | ounces.  Has her mother's eyes alright, and a few stringy wisps of
Floyd | yellow hair.  And right before she, too, is whisked away so they can
Floyd | ensure that she is going to be alright, you swear to yourself that in
Floyd | between catches of newfound tears you see her sigh contentedly for what
Floyd | seems like ever, smile knowingly and let out a tiny, ecstatic squeal.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have saved the life of a newborn baby girl ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		Zach says, "I mean, after dying. We've done it a number of times now."
		Zach says, "Or that!"
		Zach says, "Yay!"
		DavidW says, "What a very strange game."
		Zach asks, "Do you mind if I restore and try something?"
		Zach says, "It makes a little more sense having played the earlier parts."
		DavidW asks, "oh, there was more game prior to the fog and salesman?"
		pollux says, "Quite a bit."
		Zach says, "Yeah, we played as the mother, father, nurse, doctor"
Zach says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | File to restore >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | Clearing
Floyd |    Fine, powdery dust and shards make up a solid foundation for this
Floyd | out-of-the-way little vortex in the forest.  The clearing is in the
Floyd | shape of an oval, and twenty yards across.
Floyd |    Roaf and Oaf are waddling about.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "choose oaf" 		

Floyd | "Delightful," muses Roaf.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf thrusts himself over toward Oaf and knocks him into the ground.
Floyd | He strikes, quick as a cobra, and sits atop him, his teeth gnawing and
Floyd | biting away chunks of Oaf's face.  He rips shredded specks of skin and
Floyd | flesh and spits them out to one side.
Floyd |
Floyd | Oaf howls, a cry more of defeated agony than that of rage or directed
Floyd | anger.
Floyd |
Floyd | Roaf finishes his meal.  Ultimately, not a scrap of Oaf remains.
Floyd |
Floyd | His hunger unsatiated, he then jumps on you and continues to enjoy his
Floyd | repast.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** You have failed to save the life of a newborn ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You may restore a saved game, start over, undo or quit.
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, UNDO or QUIT:  >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Where did all this fog come from?
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | No Time To Squeal
Floyd | Interactive Fiction
Floyd | Copyright (c) 2001.  Written and programmed by Mike Sousa and Robb
Floyd | Sherwin
Floyd | (First-time players should type HELP)
Floyd | Release 1.0 / Serial number 092801 / TADS 2.55
Floyd |
Floyd | Alley
Floyd |    A filthy place, mongrels and predators scurry and skulk about the
Floyd | edges of your vision, seemingly self-satisfied in their hidden snark
Floyd | just beyond your focus.
Floyd |
Floyd | The alley wall behind you rises until it seems that you shall never
Floyd | grow tall enough to surpass it.  It melts away in its own acclivity,
Floyd | merging into a starless night.  Walls to both sides reflect a build of
Floyd | age and accompanying deterioration.  Your skin crawls with the
Floyd | sensations of spying from some things, some group of denizens choosing
Floyd | themselves to be, as of yet, unrevealed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Fogging spoils your far sight to the west, while it reveals your sole
Floyd | path for this continued evening venture.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "ok, that makes some of the commentary a bit less bizarre."
		Ellison asks, "did you guys look at the painting in the living room?"
		Zach says, "Ah, so, when we lost and restarted before, it moved on to a new character."
		Zach says, "But not here because it's the final part."
		Zach says (to Ellison), "I don't think so"
		Ellison says, "there's a 'death to my enemies' reference there"
		pollux says, "'Night."
Zach says (to Floyd), "quit" 		

Floyd | Do you really want to quit?  (YES or NO) >

		
Zach says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Bye, thanks for playing!

		
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" 		Ellison says, "wow, that game has an exit message. lots of games don't! I added them to Roodylib Hugo games to emulate the Infocom games that did that."
		genericgeekgirl says, "Neat. My current I7 game has one :D"
		Ellison says, "cool"
		Zach says, "Thanks for playing everyone. I needed some good IF fun."



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ClubFloyd Transcript:
Gideon's Kitchen Quest! (Beta) by Jenny Brennan
As played on ifMUD on April 13, 2014

The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction.

Below is a transcript of Gideon's Kitchen Quest! written by Jenny Brennan. This version of Gideon's Kitchen Quest! is a beta which was released independently by Jenny K. Brennan on her website, which can be found here.

WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page.
ToyShop & Floyditorium
		
#ClubFloyd Discussion
		

Jacqueline hollers, "ClubFloyd resumes this morning after a two week hiatus. We'll be playing a Jenny K Brennan beta entitled Gideon's Kitchen Quest. See you in the Toyshop in ten minutes." 		inky says, "whosoever pulls this spatula from the sink is the rightful king of england and also has to do the dishes"
		Jacqueline says, "I hope so."
		Jacqueline asks, "But I suspect with Jenny it'll be more original than that. It does sound quirky, though, by the title, doesn't it?"
		Jacqueline says, "It occurs to me that I offered to help Jenny get the latest version of Crystal and Stone Beetle and Bone up in the Archive and do the IFDB update. I'll do that when I catch up on other CF stuff this afternoon."
		DavidW says, "I'm expecting a game like either A Good Breakfast or Delicious Breakfast."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, I can definitely get on board if the game is about breakfast."
		Jacqueline says, "Speaking of which, biscuits and good ol' Southern apple butter."
		Jacqueline says, "mmmmmmm"
Gerynar arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Jacqueline says, "I have about two hours only this morning, unfortunately. Hopefully it's short. If not, I guess you all can keep playing without me or we can resume it next week."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "It is time. Let us play!"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask gideonbeta" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to restore a saved game?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother's voice weighs you down like a bag of sand. You grasp Teddy
Floyd | harder as you stare hypnotized at the huge finger stabbing the air not
Floyd | more than half an inch from your nose. You shrink back.
Floyd | "Behave now you damned little devil. You little beast! If I hear a
Floyd | single word from out here when I talk to your dear aunt, a single
Floyd | word...
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no need for her to finish as the tightness of her puffy lips
Floyd | and the steel in her eyes tells you all you need to know.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your enormous and absolutely terrifying mother stares intently at you
Floyd | for an excruciatingly long moment before she turns around. She stomps
Floyd | away towards the next room, and then she stops. Just when you think
Floyd | that she is going to move on, she turns and comes back. Your heart
Floyd | nearly escapes your body when she smiles.
Floyd |
Floyd | convinced now that your mother is an alien, or something unimaginably
Floyd | worse, you try to back away from her. There is no way out though. In
Floyd | one smooth move, she rips Teddy from your grasp and you can barely
Floyd | stop a shriek of horror as his warm fur looses contact with you. She
Floyd | starts to walk away again but changes her mind. She places Teddy on
Floyd | the counter, brings a chair over, steps up on the chair herself and
Floyd | places Teddy on top of the cabinet. It's the scary place, alldarkness,
Floyd | dust and eight-legged creatures. Without mercy, she shoves him into
Floyd | the corner up there. The dark corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look for Teddy up there in the scary place, longing for him.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother brings the chair with her, grabs the second chair in passing
Floyd | the table, and carries them off with her. She doesn't give you another
Floyd | glance. After a few more moments, you can hear the clinking of cups
Floyd | and the creaking from living room furniture under strain.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look at the darkness where Teddy is, although all you see is a
Floyd | vague brown and red shape, and you know in your heart that Teddy is
Floyd | reaching for you. Teddy is afraid of high places, high and dark places
Floyd | in particular. Does she not know?
Floyd |
Floyd | A quest fit a kid!
Floyd |
Floyd | Gideon's Kitchen Quest!
Floyd |
Floyd | By Jenny Brennan 2008.
Floyd |
Floyd | You sit quietly in the corner. Singing a tuneless song under your
Floyd | breath, afraid of being heard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Type "About" for more information.
Floyd |
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 090323 / Inform v6.31 Library 6/11 S
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen (in the dark corner)
Floyd | This is the kitchen. Here, you spend most of your time, mostly sitting
Floyd | quietly in the corner. There is a stove, a monster of a stove, in one
Floyd | corner. A giant pot of pea soup is puttering away on top of it. A
Floyd | solid wooden table takes pride of place in the middle of the kitchen,
Floyd | although it looks strange without the chairs. A huge cabinet with
Floyd | glass doors stands in the corner opposite to the dark corner. It's
Floyd | full of that yucky china that Mother seems to like so much. Above the
Floyd | cabinet, it is dark. Too dark for a poor Teddy.
Floyd | There is a lot of counter too, with two big drawers and a bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a dark hole behind a loose board (which is empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW says, "I don't this is about breakfast."
		Jacqueline says, "No."
		Jacqueline says, "We're led to believe that we have a horrible mother, and that this is about child abuse, when in fact we really are a damned little devil and Satan is our father. It gets weird after that."
		DavidW asks, "Let's examine the stove. Is it really a 'monster'?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stove" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X STOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | One of the boards in the dark corner is loose. There is a dark hole
Floyd | behind it. It is big enough to hide something valuable in there. You
Floyd | don't think that Mother knows.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The dark hole behind a loose board is empty.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Roger arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		DavidW asks, "Is that where we can hide Teddy later, then?"
		Jacqueline says, "That's my guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x board" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "oh right, forgot we were doing this betatest."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You are Gideon. Four years old and an only child. Teddy is your best,
Floyd | your only, friend in the whole wide world.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | The huge table stands in the middle of the kitchen. It is a big and
Floyd | heavy wooden table with many years of grease and grime as varnish.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x counter" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can do nothing from where you are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd | "Well well, isn't that something...}
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "That was interesting."
		DavidW says, "That was weird."
		Jacqueline asks, "Is that conversation from the next room?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Or commentary on what I tried to do?"
		DavidW says, "No idea."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb counter" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | You can do nothing from where you are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You are Gideon. Four years old and an only child. Teddy is your best,
Floyd | your only, friend in the whole wide world.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x china" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X CHINA
Floyd |
Floyd | (the china cabinet)
Floyd | The huge cabinet stands in the northwest corner of the kitchen. It is
Floyd | full of all the old ugly china that your mother won't let you touch,
Floyd | not that you would ever want to. You really don't see the point in
Floyd | those old ugly things anyway. The dusty glass doors are always locked
Floyd | and the top rises higher than the other cabinets in the kitchen.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Taleslinger arrives, full of fun and funk. 		Jacqueline says, "Oh, right. You just did that."
		Jacqueline asks, "Did we take inventory, though?"
		DavidW says, "no"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "hopefully we can smash lots of china later on"
		Jacqueline says, "hee"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pray" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PRAY
Floyd |
Floyd | Nothing practical results from your prayer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "China can be smashed in Briar."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x soup" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SOUP
Floyd |
Floyd | Eeew! is all you have to say about that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the first drawer or the second drawer?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to leave the dark corner. You can't do anything as long
Floyd | as you're sitting there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "stand up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Taleslinger has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. 		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks and a bundle
Floyd | of rags.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky asks, "did somebody mention the last bit of the intro is "a quest fit a kid!" which is presumably missing "for"?"
inky says (to Floyd), "x rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | A bundle of rags that Mother uses when she polishes the furniture.
Floyd | That doesn't happen very often. They are brown and if squished
Floyd | together a bit, it could be mistaken for a certain little bear. As
Floyd | long as the look is quick and very cursory that is.
Floyd | You throw a glance towards the hallway. Time is short.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "No, and you're right, given it's a beta, we should probably mention stuff."
		DavidW asks, "Decoy bear, eh?"
		Jacqueline says, "There is also an apostrophe missing in the word ain't."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Probably."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, time is short. huh"
		djfletch says, "maybe we can examine more stuff now we're standing up"
		DavidW says, "But we've barely started."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x stove" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X STOVE
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		inky says, "it's possible that the mom comes in at intervals and everything has to look normal when she comes in"
		Jacqueline says, "I know, but it said 'time is short' and there's a clock in the status bar, so..."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb counter" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | The counter is not a place where you want to go. It is so clean and
Floyd | perfect that mother would see a spot of dirt a mile away. You climbed
Floyd | up there once so you could look out the window. The horror of it is
Floyd | still fresh in your mind. You shudder and shake your head.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer are a meat tenderizer and a red
Floyd | kitchen towel.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd | You hear Mothers voice. To your horror, she is calling your name.
Floyd | "GIDEON? Are you behaving?" All you can manage is a frantic not of the
Floyd | head towards the hallway. You know that she expects no answer from
Floyd | you. "We will eat at four and your fingernails better not be dirty"
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare at your blackened nails and even though you know Mother
Floyd | can't see you, you quickly hide your hands behind your back. Finally,
Floyd | your mother turns to her sister in the other room and the chitchat
Floyd | starts again. Aunt Evelyn giggles. You would hate to know what was so
Floyd | terribly funny.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Another hour without being checked on? Possibly, but that sounds too good to be true."
		Jacqueline says, "Now that I am playing a second game about a child by this author I'm seriously beginning to get curious about the author's childhood."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x fingernails" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FINGERNAILS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | It seems to be locked.
Floyd | You grind your teeth. Time is running out.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "listen" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LISTEN
Floyd |
Floyd | You can hear spoons clinking in their cups, chit chatter and crunching
Floyd | on cookies from the living room.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "meep"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You throw a glance towards the hallway. Time is short.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the first drawer or the second drawer?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close first" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there with an iron grip on the scruff of your
Floyd | neck.
Floyd | "STOP SQUIRMING! I believe I told you to behave. What do you do? You
Floyd | ungrateful beast! I believe you are sleeping in the cellar tonight.
Floyd | Without Teddy!"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Teddy was washed. He will never be the same again. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100, in 22 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "ACK"
		Jacqueline says, "She sure finished that tea in a hurry."
		inky says, "sluurrrrrp"
		Jacqueline says, "Twenty turns to get stuff, shut the drawer, and probably go sit in the corner."
		DavidW says, "I'm not overly fond of timed puzzles where we're basically penalized just for finding out what exists and where."
		Jacqueline asks, "Well, but that's reality, isn't it?"
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, agreed, but if we were a little kid figuring this out for real it'd be the same thing."
		Doug says, "I'm not fond of reality either."
		Jacqueline says, "True. Thank the gods you live in a magical fantasy land."
		DavidW says, "This particular slice of 'reality' in unpleasant too."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, I'm betting inky's right. Maybe, like, every twenty turns she comes to check on us."
Claw arrives, full of funk, but no fun. 		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah."
		Jacqueline asks, "So, restart then?"
		DavidW says, "yeah, restart. Undoing won't help us much."
		Jacqueline says, "I would undo, but I think... right."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to restore a saved game?

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > N
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother's voice weighs you down like a bag of sand. You grasp Teddy
Floyd | harder as you stare hypnotized at the huge finger stabbing the air not
Floyd | more than half an inch from your nose. You shrink back.
Floyd | "Behave now you damned little devil. You little beast! If I hear a
Floyd | single word from out here when I talk to your dear aunt, a single
Floyd | word...
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no need for her to finish as the tightness of her puffy lips
Floyd | and the steel in her eyes tells you all you need to know.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your enormous and absolutely terrifying mother stares intently at you
Floyd | for an excruciatingly long moment before she turns around. She stomps
Floyd | away towards the next room, and then she stops. Just when you think
Floyd | that she is going to move on, she turns and comes back. Your heart
Floyd | nearly escapes your body when she smiles.
Floyd |
Floyd | convinced now that your mother is an alien, or something unimaginably
Floyd | worse, you try to back away from her. There is no way out though. In
Floyd | one smooth move, she rips Teddy from your grasp and you can barely
Floyd | stop a shriek of horror as his warm fur looses contact with you. She
Floyd | starts to walk away again but changes her mind. She places Teddy on
Floyd | the counter, brings a chair over, steps up on the chair herself and
Floyd | places Teddy on top of the cabinet. It's the scary place, alldarkness,
Floyd | dust and eight-legged creatures. Without mercy, she shoves him into
Floyd | the corner up there. The dark corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look for Teddy up there in the scary place, longing for him.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother brings the chair with her, grabs the second chair in passing
Floyd | the table, and carries them off with her. She doesn't give you another
Floyd | glance. After a few more moments, you can hear the clinking of cups
Floyd | and the creaking from living room furniture under strain.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look at the darkness where Teddy is, although all you see is a
Floyd | vague brown and red shape, and you know in your heart that Teddy is
Floyd | reaching for you. Teddy is afraid of high places, high and dark places
Floyd | in particular. Does she not know?
Floyd |
Floyd | A quest fit a kid!
Floyd |
Floyd | Gideon's Kitchen Quest!
Floyd |
Floyd | By Jenny Brennan 2008.
Floyd |
Floyd | You sit quietly in the corner. Singing a tuneless song under your
Floyd | breath, afraid of being heard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Type "About" for more information.
Floyd |
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 090323 / Inform v6.31 Library 6/11 S
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen (in the dark corner)
Floyd | This is the kitchen. Here, you spend most of your time, mostly sitting
Floyd | quietly in the corner. There is a stove, a monster of a stove, in one
Floyd | corner. A giant pot of pea soup is puttering away on top of it. A
Floyd | solid wooden table takes pride of place in the middle of the kitchen,
Floyd | although it looks strange without the chairs. A huge cabinet with
Floyd | glass doors stands in the corner opposite to the dark corner. It's
Floyd | full of that yucky china that Mother seems to like so much. Above the
Floyd | cabinet, it is dark. Too dark for a poor Teddy.
Floyd | There is a lot of counter too, with two big drawers and a bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a dark hole behind a loose board (which is empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open top drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:30 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN TOP DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to leave the dark corner. You can't do anything as long
Floyd | as you're sitting there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "get out of the corner first, remember?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Right."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stand up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Have I literally just taken up two minutes??"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x bread box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BREAD BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks and a bundle
Floyd | of rags.
Floyd | You throw a glance towards the hallway. Time is short.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You try to be silent, but it is so hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Claw says (to Jacqueline), "Sorry I'mlate. I had to do the dish washer and make sure my computer was plugged in and make sure my tape player was plugged in and say hi to the people in the lounge"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Put the rags in the hole?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put rags in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to get back in the corner to reach the secret hole.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sit" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SIT
Floyd |
Floyd | (on top of the dark hole behind a loose board)
Floyd | That's not something you can sit down on.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Wonder what the syntax is?"
inky says (to Floyd), "enter corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "put rags in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the bundle of rags into the dark hole behind a loose board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "squish rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUISH RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "squeeze rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SQUEEZE RAGS

		Jacqueline says, "Oh."

Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline clears the save counter. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:40 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm wondering if we need to make the rags look more bear-like at some point."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get bread box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BREAD BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "I was hoping we could stand on the bread box"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to get out of the corner first.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I'm thinking we could put the towel on the counter than stand on the towel."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we wash our hands?"
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "ooh"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing but glass on the cabinet door. There is nothing to
Floyd | climb. You will have to get the door opened first and then try.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "s/than/then/"
		djfletch asks, "ok, where would a key be?"
		DavidW says, "In the teapot."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "We shall see!"
		DavidW says, "well, if there was a teapot"
		DavidW asks, "Also, are we confined to just this room?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nowhere to go. You will have to be back in the dark corner
Floyd | when Mother comes to check on the soup. If you're not, everything will
Floyd | be lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "apparently yes"
		Jacqueline says, "She comes in at 2:52..."
pollux arrives, full of fun, but no funk. 		Jacqueline asks, "So, get the red towel?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Put it in the hole, and wait for her to check the soup?"
		DavidW says, "If we have time for it."
		Roger says, "I bet this kid is just very melodramatic"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I'll bet they are just fabricating the bit about how we are made to sleep in the cellar."
		inky says, "I liked the earlier theory that we actually were a devil"
		Jacqueline says, "That would be a cool twist, yeah."
		inky says, "I guess it'd be pretty hard to tastefully cover that kind of material given that child abuse is a real thing, though"
		Claw says, "Sorry guys. I lost you due toan update on my computer."
		Roger exclaims, "I sleep in the cellar! I like it down there!"
		djfletch says, "ok, I'll try getting the towel and see if it works"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf2" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:44 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer are a meat tenderizer and a red
Floyd | kitchen towel.
Floyd | You grind your teeth. Time is running out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get in corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IN CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd | You hear Mothers voice. To your horror, she is calling your name.
Floyd | "GIDEON? Are you behaving?" All you can manage is a frantic not of the
Floyd | head towards the hallway. You know that she expects no answer from
Floyd | you. "We will eat at four and your fingernails better not be dirty"
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare at your blackened nails and even though you know Mother
Floyd | can't see you, you quickly hide your hands behind your back. Finally,
Floyd | your mother turns to her sister in the other room and the chitchat
Floyd | starts again. Aunt Evelyn giggles. You would hate to know what was so
Floyd | terribly funny.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "put towel in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the red kitchen towel into the dark hole behind a loose board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "What do you suppose she means by 'a frantic not of the head towards the hallway?' Nod?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf3" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:49 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Gerynar says "bloop" and shrinks down into a little dot, then winks out...just like those old-fashioned B&w televisions. 		
Gerynar has disconnected. 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there. She keeps glancing at you as she goes
Floyd | to stir her soup, eyes cold and suspicious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | Mother stirs her soup.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother mutters something, puts the big wooden spoon away, and glances
Floyd | at you. After a moment, she is back drinking her tea in the other
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "yeah, I suppose it should be nod"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" 		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:
Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "Okay. Towel on the counter?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd | You stop to listen. Aunt Evelyn giggles.
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "put towel on counter" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL ON COUNTER
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the counter would achieve nothing.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "maybe we should say yes when she asks us if we are behaving"
		djfletch says, "oh well"
		Jacqueline says (to djf), "You think? The game kind of makes it sound like we're not supposed to speak, even when spoken to."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put towel on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the red kitchen towel on the kitchen table.
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "could be"
		Jacqueline says, "There are some capitalization issues and paragraph line break stuff going on in that last bit."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm sure it's stuff that's probably hard to pick up unless you have your screen reader on the annoying level of detail setting."
		Jacqueline asks, "You don't reckon auntie is going to pay us a visit, do you?"
		djfletch says, "maybe if our mother is evil our aunt will be nice"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen table you can see a red kitchen towel.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "oho"
		Jacqueline says, "Nice and slurpy."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen (on the kitchen table)
Floyd | This is the kitchen. Here, you spend most of your time, mostly sitting
Floyd | quietly in the corner. There is a stove, a monster of a stove, in one
Floyd | corner. A giant pot of pea soup is puttering away on top of it. A
Floyd | solid wooden table takes pride of place in the middle of the kitchen,
Floyd | although it looks strange without the chairs. A huge cabinet with
Floyd | glass doors stands in the corner opposite to the dark corner. It's
Floyd | full of that yucky china that Mother seems to like so much. Above the
Floyd | cabinet, it is dark. Too dark for a poor Teddy.
Floyd | There is a lot of counter too, with two big drawers and a bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a dark hole behind a loose board (in which is a bundle of
Floyd | rags) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the kitchen table you can see a red kitchen towel.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "The bread box doesn't actually exist?"
		DavidW says, "No more than the stove."
		djfletch says, "it didn't seem to. Unless we have to be on the counter to touch it."
		djfletch asks, "can we climb anywhere else from here?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get on cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't even reach the cabinet from where you are. You'll have to
Floyd | move the table closer to the cabinet first.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Well, I was hoping we'd get a new room description up here and that the new vantage point would reveal a clue."
		djfletch says, "there you are, a clue"
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm. I was wondering if we could move the table, but it sounded too big and we sounded too small."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		DavidW asks, "oh, we have to push the table, eh?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put both hands on the edge of the table and push as hard as you
Floyd | can. The table legs studder and grind against the floor, making a
Floyd | horrible sound. You stop immediately, heart thumping.
Floyd | "Did you hear something Dear sister?" everything is dead quiet. You
Floyd | hold your breath.
Floyd | "Oh, No dear" your aunt says with a high-pitched giggle. "I believe
Floyd | that might have been me. You know about my little problems don't you
Floyd | dear? Now give me some more of that wonderful tea. Apple cinnamon is
Floyd | it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd | "Oh, my! Is that so?}
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There is that weirdness again."
		Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Should I have gotten the rags as well, do you think?"
		DavidW says, "We're still exploring possibilities, I think"
		DavidW asks, "Can we climb the cabinet now?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't even reach the cabinet from where you are. You'll have to
Floyd | move the table closer to the cabinet first.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "I don't think the table actually moved."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | No, the table makes too much noise. Mother will hear you and Teddy
Floyd | will be lost forever. You will have to wait for the right time to move
Floyd | the table. Perhaps when Mother is in the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I was wondering about that."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | In the other room, Mother seems to be talking about compost.
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "ah"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your tiny hands against the edge of the table and for a moment
Floyd | your courage falters. Then you shut your eyes hard and push. The table
Floyd | legs grind and studder against the floor and it moves. Grunting,
Floyd | straining, you manage to push the table against the big china cabinet,
Floyd | careful not to push it so far that it might break something.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "There should be a comma before dear sister."
		Jacqueline asks, "Also, how wrong is it to hope that something horrible happens in the bathroom, like an aneurysm?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get on cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing but glass on the cabinet door. There is nothing to
Floyd | climb. You will have to get the door opened first and then try.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't reach the cabinet door from where you are.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "The table is against the cabinet and we're on the table, but the cabinet is out of reach? Huh?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't reach Teddy. He is still too far away.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "It's sounding like we need the cabinet door unlocked first before moving the table."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Let's explore from here before we restore so we know more about the predicted patterns of our lovely mum."
		DavidW says, "So we need to find the key or a suitable lockpick."
		djfletch says, "there were knives and forks"
		DavidW asks, "I'm wondering if we searched the cutlery, maybe the key is hiding there?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get knives and forks" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KNIVES AND FORKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get knives" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET KNIVES
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get forks" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET FORKS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > SEARCH FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | In the first drawer are some knives and forks.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | The nasty soup putters away on the stove.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I really like pea soup, for what it's worth."
		DavidW says, "me too"
		djfletch says, "you'll just need to try and get into character as a pea-soup hater"
		Roger says, "Whiny kid, I'm telling ya"
		DavidW says, ">put towel in soup"
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "Yeah, I was thinking to myself, 'I am not sure I trust a kid who doesn't like pea soup.'"
		djfletch says, "let's smash the glass with the meat tenderizer"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer is a meat tenderizer.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get meat tenderizer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET MEAT TENDERIZER
Floyd |
Floyd | You shouldn't be touching that. Mother keeps track of everything in
Floyd | her domain. If she catches you with the meat tenderizer, she might use
Floyd | it on you instead of the meat.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "break glass" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > BREAK GLASS
Floyd |
Floyd | The china cabinet isn't open.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "hit cabinet with tenderizer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > HIT CABINET WITH TENDERIZER
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to hit the china cabinet.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "hit cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > HIT CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You shudder and shake your head.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "open first drawer. get knife" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER. GET KNIFE
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "get fork" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET FORK
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
inky says (to Floyd), "close first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Have we tried climbing the open drawers, if you know what I mean?"
		DavidW says, "no, we haven't tried that."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get on second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb drawers" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB DRAWERS
Floyd |
Floyd | Which do you mean, the first drawer or the second drawer?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "oh dear, mother is going to check the soup again"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying nothing.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We can't fix everything. The table is moved."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean, it's fine. We just restore to CF4."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd | You try to be silent, but it is so hard.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there with an iron grip on the scruff of your
Floyd | neck.
Floyd | "STOP SQUIRMING! I believe I told you to behave. What do you do? You
Floyd | ungrateful beast! I believe you are sleeping in the cellar tonight.
Floyd | Without Teddy!"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Teddy was washed. He will never be the same again. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100, in 45 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hm. The key could be UNDER an open drawer."
		djfletch asks, "you mean like taped to the bottom of one?"
		DavidW says, "yeah"
		Jacqueline says, "Golly."
		Jacqueline says, "Go for it..."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline makes an 'after you' gesture to DW.
		DavidW says, "Although, if the bread box is only available when standing on the counter, ..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to leave the dark corner. You can't do anything as long
Floyd | as you're sitting there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under it" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER IT
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer is a meat tenderizer.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under it" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER IT
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger asks, "Break the glass door with the tenderizer?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask aunt about mother" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ASK AUNT ABOUT MOTHER
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "We can't touch the tenderizer."
		DavidW says, "Well, we *won't* touch it, is more accurate."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x keyhole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X KEYHOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open door" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN DOOR
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNLOCK CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | (with the dark hole behind a loose board)
Floyd | (first taking the dark hole behind a loose board)
Floyd | That's fixed in place.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, ">give stomach-upsetting thing to the furry thing."
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		Jacqueline says, "I am probably the only person who gets that, so I appreciate the joke even more."
		inky says, "the thing your aunt gave you that you don't know what it is in your stomach"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get board" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BOARD
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "That is a different thing altogether, inky."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | That's not something you can enter.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "look in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | In the dark hole behind a loose board are a red kitchen towel and a
Floyd | bundle of rags.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x pot" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X POT
Floyd |
Floyd | Eeew! is all you have to say about that.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "look under cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK UNDER CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "purloin key" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PURLOIN KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "eat soup" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > EAT SOUP
Floyd |
Floyd | (first taking the big pot of bubbling pea soup)
Floyd | That's hardly portable.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "look in pot" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN POT
Floyd |
Floyd | You find nothing of interest.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Purloining? tsk, tsk"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "put towel in pot" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL IN POT
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to be holding the red kitchen towel before you can put it
Floyd | into something else.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "put towel in pot" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL IN POT
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline asks, "We couldn't get the tenderizer or a fork, how's about a soup spoon?"
		DavidW says, "I don't know where the spoon went."
		Jacqueline says, "Also, wow. Bathroom humor galore."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get spoon" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET SPOON
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Perhaps Mummy Dearest put the spoon behind her ear."
		Jacqueline says, "Wait, was there a ... oh, you mean that spoon she uses to stir her pot."
		DavidW says, "yeah, a spoon was mentioned."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The bread box is an old metal thing with a squeaky lid and a cracked
Floyd | picture of one of those things you make butter with. There is never
Floyd | anything edible in there.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "oh"
		DavidW says, "oh. 'box' works. 'bread box' does not."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x breadbox" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X BREADBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The bread box is an old metal thing with a squeaky lid and a cracked
Floyd | picture of one of those things you make butter with. There is never
Floyd | anything edible in there.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the bread box, revealing a crusty loaf of bread.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You gingerly push the loaf of bread until it flips over. That's where
Floyd | Mother hides the key for the cabinet. You quickly take the key.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock cabinet with key" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNLOCK CABINET WITH KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the china cabinet.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there with an iron grip on the scruff of your
Floyd | neck.
Floyd | "STOP SQUIRMING! I believe I told you to behave. What do you do? You
Floyd | ungrateful beast! I believe you are sleeping in the cellar tonight.
Floyd | Without Teddy!"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Teddy was washed. He will never be the same again. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100, in 45 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "anyway, found the key!"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf4" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You will have to leave the dark corner. You can't do anything as long
Floyd | as you're sitting there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get up" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET UP
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd | "Well well, isn't that something...}
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the bread box, revealing a crusty loaf of bread.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You take the crusty loaf of bread. Unfortunately, you're also
Floyd | spreading breadcrumbs all over the place. You will have to clean up
Floyd | the kitchen when you're done with the bread.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a key lying in the breadbox among crumbs and dead flies. So,
Floyd | that's where Mother hides the key to the china cabinet. You quickly
Floyd | take the key.
Floyd | You listen. Aunt Evelyn seems to be talking about her poor dead cat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Wait, I thought we couldn't see the breadbox? huh."
		Jacqueline says, "But yay key"
		DavidW says, "tsk. I just moved the bread. I didn't *take* it."
		djfletch says, "hmm, I don't know if we want the bread or not"
		DavidW says, "The phrase 'bread box' isn't supported."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "oh"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "move bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You gingerly push the loaf of bread until it flips over. That's where
Floyd | Mother hides the key for the cabinet. You quickly take the key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "unlock cabinet with key" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNLOCK CABINET WITH KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the china cabinet.
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Interesting distinction there. One I wouldn't have thought of."
		Jacqueline says, "(Move vs take)"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the bread box.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing but glass on the cabinet door. There is nothing to
Floyd | climb. You will have to get the door opened first and then try.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "no, don't close the box. We need to return the key later, don't we?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Informal, unscientific poll: Who here has ever apologized to a guest for needing to hit the loo during their visit?"
		DavidW says, "And you didn't open the cabinet."
		djfletch says, "yeah, I thought it was open but it was only unlocked"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the china cabinet.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Well, apologized for leaving their presence, anyway"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your foot on the bottom shelf of the cabinet. There is a soft
Floyd | clink, then another. You hold your breath as you very slowly step back
Floyd | from the shelf.
Floyd |
Floyd | There are too many breakable things stacked on the lower shelves ,
Floyd | there is no way you can step on them without breaking something. The
Floyd | shelves higher up seem like they have more room though. The only thing
Floyd | that might be a problem is a big crystal vase on a high shelf. That
Floyd | one might be possible to push to a safe position though.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "I've almost never had guests. The situation hasn't come up, that I can recall."
		djfletch says, "ok, so we do need the table too"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "push table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your tiny hands against the edge of the table and for a moment
Floyd | your courage falters. Then you shut your eyes hard and push. The table
Floyd | legs grind and studder against the floor and it moves. Grunting,
Floyd | straining, you manage to push the table against the big china cabinet,
Floyd | careful not to push it so far that it might break something.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | On one of the higher shelves stands the biggest, and most sparkling,
Floyd | vase you've ever seen. Mother says it's far too fine to keep anywhere
Floyd | other than in the cabinet. You wonder about that sometimes. If it's so
Floyd | fine, then you'd want to show everybody wouldn't you?
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
vimes arrives, full of fun and funk. 		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "push vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the vase deeper into the cabinet. Now there is space on the
Floyd | shelf and the vase is safe.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your foot on the shelf, grab the edge, and put your weight on
Floyd | the shelf. There is a slight creaking from it but finally your eyes
Floyd | are above the edge. Teddy is there. He reaches for you.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, "hehe, "He reaches for you""
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach for Teddy. He is tucked all the way into the corner and you
Floyd | stretch your arm as much as you can. You feel him, you reach harder,
Floyd | and you have him. Teddy is saved!
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "Do we have the rags?"
		djfletch says, "I don't think so"
		djfletch says, "also only eight minutes so we probably don't have time to fix everything"
		DavidW says, "geez"
		djfletch says, "let's see what happens from here anyway"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You drop down on the table with a thud that is a bit too loud for
Floyd | comfort.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Another note for the beta: 'alright' should be two words."
		Roger says, "My childhood was tough, I tell ya. I was doing tight timing puzzles when I was only four years old, uphill both ways."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You get back down on the floor.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open breadbox" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BREADBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the bread box, revealing a crusty loaf of bread.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "put key under bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KEY UNDER BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "put key in breadbox" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KEY IN BREADBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the fancy looking key into the bread box.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "close breadbox" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BREADBOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the bread box.
Floyd | You throw a glance towards the hallway. Time is short.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "push table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put both hands on the edge of the table and push as hard as you
Floyd | can. The table legs studder and grind against the floor, making a
Floyd | horrible sound. You stop immediately, heart thumping.
Floyd | "Did you hear something Dear sister?" everything is dead quiet. You
Floyd | hold your breath.
Floyd | "Oh, No dear" your aunt says with a high-pitched giggle. "I believe
Floyd | that might have been me. You know about my little problems don't you
Floyd | dear? Now give me some more of that wonderful tea. Apple cinnamon is
Floyd | it?"
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "get in corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET IN CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd | You grind your teeth. Time is running out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there. She keeps glancing at you as she goes
Floyd | to stir her soup, eyes cold and suspicious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "uh, don't you want to relock the cabinet before putting the key away?"
		djfletch says, "good point"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "mother, hello" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOTHER, HELLO
Floyd |
Floyd | You can't talk to Mother.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Also, I'm sorry to have to do this to you dears during ClubFloyd, but I need to use the little girl's room."
		DavidW asks, "except mother's here now?"
		djfletch pushes Jacqueline's furniture around
		DavidW asks, "we surely haven't put everything back, have we?"
		djfletch says, "she comes in at 3:15"
		djfletch says, "we're getting away with it so far"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x mother" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MOTHER
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother is enormous. She stirs her soup with the same energy as when
Floyd | she mixes cement or turns the compost.
Floyd | Suddenly she stares at you, eyes narrowing to dangerous slits between
Floyd | fat eye-lids.
Floyd | "What is that in your hand you little devil?" In a second she has an
Floyd | iron grip on your arm. "DON'T SQUIRM! Do you want to go in the cellar
Floyd | again? Without Teddy?"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Teddy is forever lost in a dump somewhere. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100, in 46 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "You were saying?"
		djfletch says, "nothing, nothing"
		Jacqueline asks, "What was in our hand?"
		Jacqueline asks, "The key?"
		DavidW says, "Teddy"
		Roger says, "The shrunken head of Teddy Rooseveldt"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, hrm. Seems like we can do this at this point."
		Jacqueline asks, "Restart from the beginning?"
		DavidW says, "Sure. But with one driver, I think."
		Roger says, "In addition to the rags we'll need to towel for crumb cleanup I think"
		DavidW asks, "We didn't use the towel at all, did we?"
		DavidW says, "We shouldn't need crumb cleanup if we move the bread instead of taking it."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Agreed. One driver, and no, we didn't use the towel."
		djfletch says, "I wonder if we can get away with having the cabinet unlocked but not open, when our mother checks the first time."
		Jacqueline says, "We may need to leave the rags up there as a decoy, though."
		DavidW says, "yes"
		DavidW says, "And I wonder if the vase movement will be noticed too."
		Jacqueline says, "That seems like it'd be pushing it."
		DavidW says, "Also, I wonder if we can put a dead fly in the soup. Probably we can't, since the soup doesn't seem to be a container."
		Jacqueline says, "No pun intended."
		Jacqueline says, "You are an evil little devil child, David."
		Jacqueline nominates David to be the driver. "Do I have a second for the nomination?"
		djfletch says, "seconded"
		DavidW asks, "Which drawer are the rags in?"
		Jacqueline says, "The top, I believe."
		Jacqueline says, "Er, first."
		Jacqueline says, "I think"
		Jacqueline says, "I think 'top' and 'first' should be synonyms."
		Roger says, "Rags were in hole I thought"
		DavidW asks, "Are you sure they're not side-by-side drawers?"
		DavidW says (to Roger), "The hole is our hiding spot for things."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restart" 		

Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to restore a saved game?

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" 		

Floyd | Would you like to restore a saved game?
Floyd | > YES
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
DavidW presses the yellow enter button. 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:30 pm
Floyd | Restore failed.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother's voice weighs you down like a bag of sand. You grasp Teddy
Floyd | harder as you stare hypnotized at the huge finger stabbing the air not
Floyd | more than half an inch from your nose. You shrink back.
Floyd | "Behave now you damned little devil. You little beast! If I hear a
Floyd | single word from out here when I talk to your dear aunt, a single
Floyd | word...
Floyd |
Floyd | There is no need for her to finish as the tightness of her puffy lips
Floyd | and the steel in her eyes tells you all you need to know.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your enormous and absolutely terrifying mother stares intently at you
Floyd | for an excruciatingly long moment before she turns around. She stomps
Floyd | away towards the next room, and then she stops. Just when you think
Floyd | that she is going to move on, she turns and comes back. Your heart
Floyd | nearly escapes your body when she smiles.
Floyd |
Floyd | convinced now that your mother is an alien, or something unimaginably
Floyd | worse, you try to back away from her. There is no way out though. In
Floyd | one smooth move, she rips Teddy from your grasp and you can barely
Floyd | stop a shriek of horror as his warm fur looses contact with you. She
Floyd | starts to walk away again but changes her mind. She places Teddy on
Floyd | the counter, brings a chair over, steps up on the chair herself and
Floyd | places Teddy on top of the cabinet. It's the scary place, alldarkness,
Floyd | dust and eight-legged creatures. Without mercy, she shoves him into
Floyd | the corner up there. The dark corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look for Teddy up there in the scary place, longing for him.
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother brings the chair with her, grabs the second chair in passing
Floyd | the table, and carries them off with her. She doesn't give you another
Floyd | glance. After a few more moments, you can hear the clinking of cups
Floyd | and the creaking from living room furniture under strain.
Floyd |
Floyd | You look at the darkness where Teddy is, although all you see is a
Floyd | vague brown and red shape, and you know in your heart that Teddy is
Floyd | reaching for you. Teddy is afraid of high places, high and dark places
Floyd | in particular. Does she not know?
Floyd |
Floyd | A quest fit a kid!
Floyd |
Floyd | Gideon's Kitchen Quest!
Floyd |
Floyd | By Jenny Brennan 2008.
Floyd |
Floyd | You sit quietly in the corner. Singing a tuneless song under your
Floyd | breath, afraid of being heard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Type "About" for more information.
Floyd |
Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 090323 / Inform v6.31 Library 6/11 S
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen (in the dark corner)
Floyd | This is the kitchen. Here, you spend most of your time, mostly sitting
Floyd | quietly in the corner. There is a stove, a monster of a stove, in one
Floyd | corner. A giant pot of pea soup is puttering away on top of it. A
Floyd | solid wooden table takes pride of place in the middle of the kitchen,
Floyd | although it looks strange without the chairs. A huge cabinet with
Floyd | glass doors stands in the corner opposite to the dark corner. It's
Floyd | full of that yucky china that Mother seems to like so much. Above the
Floyd | cabinet, it is dark. Too dark for a poor Teddy.
Floyd | There is a lot of counter too, with two big drawers and a bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a dark hole behind a loose board (which is empty) here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:31 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:32 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the first drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the first drawer are some knives and forks and a bundle
Floyd | of rags.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:33 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | You grind your teeth. Time is running out.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close first drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:34 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE FIRST DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | Very slowly, you close the noisy drawer again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:35 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the bread box, revealing a crusty loaf of bread.
Floyd | You stop to listen. Aunt Evelyn giggles.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:36 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | You gingerly push the loaf of bread until it flips over. That's where
Floyd | Mother hides the key for the cabinet. You quickly take the key.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:37 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNLOCK CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | What do you want to unlock the china cabinet with?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "key" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:38 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You unlock the china cabinet.
Floyd | "...well dear sister, don't you think that.."
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:39 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags and key in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:40 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS AND KEY IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | bundle of rags: Done.
Floyd | fancy looking key: Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:41 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:42 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:43 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:44 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:45 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:46 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:47 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | You hear Mothers voice. To your horror, she is calling your name.
Floyd | "GIDEON? Are you behaving?" All you can manage is a frantic not of the
Floyd | head towards the hallway. You know that she expects no answer from
Floyd | you. "We will eat at four and your fingernails better not be dirty"
Floyd |
Floyd | You stare at your blackened nails and even though you know Mother
Floyd | can't see you, you quickly hide your hands behind your back. Finally,
Floyd | your mother turns to her sister in the other room and the chitchat
Floyd | starts again. Aunt Evelyn giggles. You would hate to know what was so
Floyd | terribly funny.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean fingernails" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN FINGERNAILS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean hands" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN HANDS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean nails" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:48 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN NAILS
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "was there more I should do before soup check?"
		DavidW asks, "when is soup check?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:49 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "2:52, I think."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:50 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:51 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:52 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > Z
Floyd |
Floyd | Four o'clock is coming up fast.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there. She keeps glancing at you as she goes
Floyd | to stir her soup, eyes cold and suspicious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mother" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:53 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X MOTHER
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother is enormous. She stirs her soup with the same energy as when
Floyd | she mixes cement or turns the compost.
Floyd | Mother stirs her soup.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother mutters something, puts the big wooden spoon away, and glances
Floyd | at you. After a moment, she is back drinking her tea in the other
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		djfletch says, ">WHISTLE INNOCENTLY"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take key and rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:54 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE KEY AND RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | fancy looking key: Taken.
Floyd | bundle of rags: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:55 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STAND
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline | Mother mutters something, puts the big wooden spoon away in her pocketses, and glances at you.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:56 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the china cabinet.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:57 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOOK IN CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | In the china cabinet is a crystal vase.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your tiny hands against the edge of the table and for a moment
Floyd | your courage falters. Then you shut your eyes hard and push. The table
Floyd | legs grind and studder against the floor and it moves. Grunting,
Floyd | straining, you manage to push the table against the big china cabinet,
Floyd | careful not to push it so far that it might break something.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Well she is Gollumesque"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:58 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "It is a mystery where that spoon gets put, that's all I am saying."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  2:59 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |

		Doug says, "she seems more Dursleyesque"

Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:00 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUSH VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You push the vase deeper into the cabinet. Now there is space on the
Floyd | shelf and the vase is safe.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:01 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLIMB CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your foot on the shelf, grab the edge, and put your weight on
Floyd | the shelf. There is a slight creaking from it but finally your eyes
Floyd | are above the edge. Teddy is there. He reaches for you.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:02 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | You reach for Teddy. He is tucked all the way into the corner and you
Floyd | stretch your arm as much as you can. You feel him, you reach harder,
Floyd | and you have him. Teddy is saved!
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags in corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:03 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You shove the little imposter Teddy into the scary dark space on top
Floyd | of the cabinet. It doesn't really look like Teddy. Maybe Mother won't
Floyd | notice.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "hm. Have I made a mistake there?"
		Jacqueline says, "Hrm."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You drop down on the table with a thud that is a bit too loud for
Floyd | comfort.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | No, you can't push the vase any more. There is enough room on the
Floyd | shelf now.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "You tried squishing them and stuff, though, and it didn't work if memory serves."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:04 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "I think you should have saved there."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PULL VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the heavy vase and pull it bak towards the edge. As long as
Floyd | she doesn't notice the sticky finger-prints on the crystal, she won't
Floyd | know it's ever been moved.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, ""bak""
		DavidW says, "eep. fingerprints on the crystal"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "The rag!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "er, the towel!"
		DavidW says, "yes, the towel"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > SAVE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fingerprints" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You get back down on the floor.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer are a meat tenderizer and a red
Floyd | kitchen towel.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get on table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET ON TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You get onto the kitchen table.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean vase with towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN VASE WITH TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to clean the crystal vase.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "huh"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "wipe vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > WIPE VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wipe vase" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > WIPE VASE
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Roger says, "Pre-emptively clean hands, maybe"
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. The nails dialog may have been a clue for that, yeah."
		DavidW says, "Except our hands aren't modeled."
		DavidW says, "I tried to clean my hands earlier."
		Roger asks, "clean me?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "clean me" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLEAN ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You achieve nothing by this.
Floyd | You grind your teeth. Time is running out.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Claw says, "I've got to go."
		Roger says, "Or maybe she just doesn't notice after all. Can't be worse than a pile of rags."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fingerprints" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Claw goes home. 		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You get back down on the floor.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move table" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE TABLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put your hands against the edge of the table. You take a deep
Floyd | breath and push hard. The table legs grind and studder against the
Floyd | floor. Grunting, straining, you manage to move the table back. It is
Floyd | back in place.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close cabinet" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE CABINET
Floyd |
Floyd | You silently close the cabinet door.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "lock cabinet with key" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > LOCK CABINET WITH KEY
Floyd |
Floyd | You lock the china cabinet.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put key in box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KEY IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | The bread box is closed.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You open the bread box, revealing a crusty loaf of bread.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put key in box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT KEY IN BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the fancy looking key into the bread box.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the bread box.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "move bread" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MOVE BREAD
Floyd |
Floyd | There is nothing more hiding under the bread.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > UNDO
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "close box" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOSE BOX
Floyd |
Floyd | You close the bread box.
Floyd | "...well dear sister, don't you think that.."
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd | The old clock in the other room ticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put teddy in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TEDDY IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put Teddy into the dark hole behind a loose board.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   a bundle of rags
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there. She keeps glancing at you as she goes
Floyd | to stir her soup, eyes cold and suspicious.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW asks, "We still have the rags???"
		Doug asks, "uhh, shouldn't the rags be on top of the fridge?"
		Roger says, "That's a bug I should think"
		DavidW says, "put rags in hole"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:16 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put the bundle of rags into the dark hole behind a loose board.
Floyd | Mother stirs her soup.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Mother mutters something, puts the big wooden spoon away, and glances
Floyd | at you. After a moment, she is back drinking her tea in the other
Floyd | room.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "so now what?"
		DavidW says, "I'm .. not sure."
Doug says (to Floyd), "get teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:17 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:18 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's your Teddy. Teddy has been with you for many years. Well, forever
Floyd | if you consider your age. You're not more than four and Teddy has been
Floyd | in existence for quite a few years more than that. He is a bit worn
Floyd | but still soft and very shy. He still has all of his sown on parts and
Floyd | a t-shirt that says "Cuddle Me!".
Floyd | "oh dear. I hate to disturb your visits this way darling sister, but I
Floyd | really need to visit the little girl's room. You don't mind do you
Floyd | dear?"
Floyd | You can hear Mother's heavy steps hurrying across the hallway floor.
Floyd | Fortunately, they disappear into the bathroom. The door closes, the
Floyd | lock clicks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "hey. Why did you change drivers"
Doug says (to Floyd), "cuddle teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CUDDLE TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "oops sorry"
		Doug says, "feel free to undo"
		Doug says, "I'll watch"
		DavidW says, "But I'm unsure what the status of things are."
		Jacqueline says, "Teddy needs to be in the hole."
		Jacqueline says, "Or we'll both spend a night in the box."
		djfletch asks, "what was supposed to happen at 4 o'clock? Do we have to wait until then?"
		DavidW says, "well, he was in the hole but someone took him out for reasons unknown."
		Doug says, "that was me, sorry."
		Doug says, "I thought maybe we just needed to do something to teddy to win"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Right."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fridge" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:19 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X FRIDGE
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "feel free to put him back"
		DavidW asks, "How can we check if there's a fake teddy up there?"
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. This is kind of like finishing a big IF project. You just sit there, wondering what you should do next."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter corner" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:20 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > ENTER CORNER
Floyd |
Floyd | You get into the dark corner.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put teddy in hole" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:21 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TEDDY IN HOLE
Floyd |
Floyd | You put Teddy into the dark hole behind a loose board.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:22 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OUT
Floyd |
Floyd | You get out of the corner.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		DavidW says, "Something is seriously wrong."
		Doug asks, "???"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:23 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > L
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | The Kitchen
Floyd | This is the kitchen. Here, you spend most of your time, mostly sitting
Floyd | quietly in the corner. There is a stove, a monster of a stove, in one
Floyd | corner. A giant pot of pea soup is puttering away on top of it. A
Floyd | solid wooden table takes pride of place in the middle of the kitchen,
Floyd | although it looks strange without the chairs. A huge cabinet with
Floyd | glass doors stands in the corner opposite to the dark corner. It's
Floyd | full of that yucky china that Mother seems to like so much. Above the
Floyd | cabinet, it is dark. Too dark for a poor Teddy.
Floyd | There is a lot of counter too, with two big drawers and a bread box.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can see a dark hole behind a loose board (in which are Teddy and a
Floyd | bundle of rags) here.
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "I think maybe you restored a save game in which we hadn't yet put the rags atop the fridge?"
		Jacqueline says, "Or, y'know, it's that this is a beta."
		Jacqueline says, "But we should strongly consider that it might be us."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fingerprints" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags in dark" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN DARK
Floyd |
Floyd | You shove the little imposter Teddy into the scary dark space on top
Floyd | of the cabinet. It doesn't really look like Teddy. Maybe Mother won't
Floyd | notice.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "hm, nevermind, it looks like we restarted from the beginning and only saved/restored once"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > I
Floyd |
Floyd | You are carrying:
Floyd |   Teddy
Floyd |     a T-shirt
Floyd |   a bundle of rags
Floyd |   a fancy looking key
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline exclaims, "oh!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take t-shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE T-SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Teddy is wearing a --- yeah"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x t-shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X T-SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | Sorry, aint nothing like that here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | It's your Teddy. Teddy has been with you for many years. Well, forever
Floyd | if you consider your age. You're not more than four and Teddy has been
Floyd | in existence for quite a few years more than that. He is a bit worn
Floyd | but still soft and very shy. He still has all of his sown on parts and
Floyd | a t-shirt that says "Cuddle Me!".
Floyd | Mother checks the bathroom door just to be sure it's locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "take teddy's t-shirt? or strip teddy?"
		Roger says, "typo: 'sown on' -> 'sewn-on'"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "strip teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > STRIP TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put shirt on rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT SHIRT ON RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the bundle of rags would achieve nothing.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn gets up from her chair. After a moment she sits back down
Floyd | with a sigh.
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags in shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | The T-shirt is bright red and big white letters exclaim "Cuddle Me!"
Floyd | on the front.
Floyd | You've got to set everything straight before Mother comes.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd | There's a sound from the hallway but there is no one there.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug asks, "dress? clothe? combine?"
		DavidW says, "maybe we're meant to combine the towel and rags."
		Jacqueline says, "Somehow, I think. Yeah."
		Doug asks, "oh, because the shirt is red?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read:

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "fingerprints" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:05 pm
Floyd | Ok.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:06 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > D
Floyd |
Floyd | You get back down on the floor.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open second drawer" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:07 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > OPEN SECOND DRAWER
Floyd |
Floyd | You grab the handle on the second drawer and pull on it. There is a
Floyd | grinding noise and you glance at the hallway. Very carefully, you open
Floyd | the drawer. In the second drawer are a meat tenderizer and a red
Floyd | kitchen towel.
Floyd | Strange noises emerge from behind the bathroom door. You try not to
Floyd | think about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > TAKE TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "combine towel and rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:08 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > COMBINE TOWEL AND RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put rags in towel" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT RAGS IN TOWEL
Floyd |
Floyd | That can't contain things.
Floyd | "Are you alright in there dear sister?" No answer from the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put towel around rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL AROUND RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "make fake teddy" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:09 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > MAKE FAKE TEDDY
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put towel on rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT TOWEL ON RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the bundle of rags would achieve nothing.
Floyd | Water is running in the bathroom. Surely, mother isn't done yet?
Floyd | A rumbling seems to shake the floors and you stop breathing for a
Floyd | moment. Then the cloud rolls in over the floor towards you and now it
Floyd | is necessary to hold your breath.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your aunt Evelyn mutters something apologetic as you expect to either
Floyd | get sick or start to laugh uncontrollably. Luckily for you, the air
Floyd | clears and you get control of yourself.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		Doug says, "I suspect we have to use the real shirt"
		Jacqueline says (weakly), "...maybe just lay the tshirt on the rags after you put it down?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, you mean because the shirt is red and the towel is red. Hm, maybe."
		DavidW says, "feel free to figure this out. I'm stopping driving."
		DavidW says, "We can restart a new attempt once this is worked out."
Doug says (to Floyd), "dress rags in shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > DRESS RAGS IN SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "clothe rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > CLOTHE RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "combine rags and shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:10 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > COMBINE RAGS AND SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | What's that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "x rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:11 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | A bundle of rags that Mother uses when she polishes the furniture.
Floyd | That doesn't happen very often. They are brown and if squished
Floyd | together a bit, it could be mistaken for a certain little bear. As
Floyd | long as the look is quick and very cursory that is.
Floyd | Aunt Evelyn slurps loudly.
Floyd | The toilet flushes, the bathroom door opens, heavy steps over the
Floyd | hallway into the living room.
Floyd | "Sorry dear, now what were we talking about?"
Floyd | Your tummy growls.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "put shirt on rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:12 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT SHIRT ON RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | You need to be holding the T-shirt before you can put it on top of
Floyd | something else.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd | You hear your mother's voice.
Floyd | "Oh, dear me. I had better check on my soup soon. I'll just finish
Floyd | this cup of tea first."
Floyd | There's a sudden creak from the old chair in the other room and you
Floyd | freeze.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:13 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > X ME
Floyd |
Floyd | You are Gideon. Four years old and an only child. Teddy is your best,
Floyd | your only, friend in the whole wide world.
Floyd | You throw a glance towards the hallway. Time is short.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "get shirt" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:14 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > GET SHIRT
Floyd |
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd | Your tummy is in a knot. You stare at the hallway again.
Floyd |
Floyd | >

		
Doug says (to Floyd), "put shirt on rags" 		

Floyd ]  The Kitchen                               Time:  3:15 pm
Floyd |
Floyd | > PUT SHIRT ON RAGS
Floyd |
Floyd | Putting things on the bundle of rags would achieve nothing.
Floyd | You look around. This is not good.
Floyd | Suddenly, Mother stands there with an iron grip on the scruff of your
Floyd | neck.
Floyd | "STOP SQUIRMING! I believe I told you to behave. What do you do? You
Floyd | ungrateful beast! I believe you are sleeping in the cellar tonight.
Floyd | Without Teddy!"
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |     *** Teddy was washed. He will never be the same again. ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 100, in 45 turns.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move
Floyd | or QUIT?
Floyd | >

		Jacqueline says, "Sorry, you might want to undo since I ... oh."
		Doug says, "time's up."
		DavidW says, "sorry, I think we have an intruder in our house."
		Jacqueline says, "I was just checking our age. We have a great vocab for a four year old."
Doug says (to Floyd), "restore fingerprints" 		

Floyd | >
Floyd | > RESTORE FINGERPRINTS
Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to read: