Foreign Soil
by Olaf Nowacki (2020)
Genres: Science Fiction

How does it feel to be the only one on a lonely planet?

action: %
response: Are you sure you want to quit? ]  Undefinable blurry brown

Puffing and roaring, the ship slowly touched down on the orange sand. Then the engines died, it became quiet again and only the sand under the engines, which had melted into glass, still bubbled and smoked. Inside the caravel were cool dark passages with small lights here and there, and the ship's distributed processors eventually found the conditions were met to wake a pilgrim.

The displays on the pilgrim's sarcophagus began to light up and showed measured values ������from the sensors inside. Nobody was there to read them anyway. The cervix at the bottom of the sarcophagus opened and
the escaping liquid disappeared bubbling and gurgling in the drain below. The cervix opened further and further, the body of the pilgrim behind it slowly sank down and finally sliped out on the floor in
front of the sarcophagus, feet first. The limp, wet body seemed lifeless, but then it began to twitch, choke and cough. The pilgrim gasped and eventually she raised her torso and leaned on her shaky arms.



You are coughing and gasping for breath, struggling to keep your torso upright. Your mind is foggy and your sense of balance is so confused that it feels like you are falling all the time.

You can hardly see anything around you, everything just looks blurry brown.
action: About yourself
response: You feel dizzy, cold and naked.

You feel the nausea rise in you and without being able to do anything about it you vomit your stomach contents onto the floor. In addition
to all the unpleasant sensations, there is now the bitter and sour taste in your mouth. But at least your sense of balance is gradually normalizing.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: You are carrying nothing.

Slowly, really, very slowly, your vision improves a little. In the brown mass in front of you there appears to be a bright, pulsating spot.
action: You examine the spot
response: Your hand gropes for the shining spot and feels a smooth, firm
surface. With the touch of your fingers, a pale, seemingly old memory comes back: Under the pulsating spot there must be something good, important.

Another sensation suddenly comes to your mind: cold. Your wet skin, goose bumps and the shivering fit that runs through your body in recurring waves.
action: You look under the spot
response: Your hand moves to the edge and pushes it up. The pulsating light
folds up and your hand gropes down into the hollow below. There is something in it, something that is rough and soft at the same time ...
action: You take the spot
response: Taken.
action: You examine rough
response: towards you. Your mind is still sluggish and cannot grasp what it is, but your body already seems to know and is pressing it against you.

With both hands you press the thing into your face, against your nose and the thing exudes a familiar smell. It smells good, it smells
fresh, it smells fresh ... fresh ... fresh laundry! It is a terry towel.
action: You clean yourself
response: You rub yourself.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: You wear towel
response: You wrap yourself in the towel and feel less unprotected and naked. At the same time you realize how exhausted you are. And even if your mind comes back gradually, your senses still work only to a limited extent.
action: You look
response: You can hardly see anything around you, everything just looks blurry brown.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
a terry towel (being worn)
a pulsating spot (open)
a small slim rod

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: You look at the rod
response: A short slim rod with a smooth surface and a button on one side.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: You take the rod
response: important.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: Examine container
response: (the pulsating spot)
You feel nothing unexpected.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
an empty autoinjector
a terry towel (being worn)
a pulsating spot (open but empty)
action: You examine the autoinjector
response: A short slim rod with a smooth surface and a button on one side.
action: Drop spot
response: (the pulsating spot)
Dropped.
action: You examine the sarcophagus
response: More than two dozen sarcophagi are lined up here. Most of them are still closed, they contain the other pilgrims. Their bodies float in carrier fluid, neither dead nor alive nor aging. They wait for you to create the right conditions so they can be woken up and start a
colony. Only the one you traveled in is open. How long you traveled
and how far? You don't know it, just that it must have been very long.
action: You look around
response: This is an elongated flat room with sparse lighting. At least two
dozen sarcophagi are lined up on the two long walls.

There is a hole in the floor and an integrated ladder leads downwards.

Next to the open sarcophagus there is a small container on the floor.

You can also see a pulsating spot (empty) here.
action: Go downwards
response: This is a flat, round room. A ladder leads up and there is a massive metal hatch in the south wall.

You can see a protective suit here.
action: You look at the suit
response: This lightweight safety suit protects you from high UV radiation and provides you with breathing air for a while.
action: You wear the suit
response: (first taking the protective suit)
You put on the protective suit.
action: You remove towel
response: You take off the terry towel.
action: Look around
response: This is a flat, round room. A ladder leads up and there is a massive metal hatch in the south wall.
action: You open hatch
response: You open the inner airlock hatch.
action: You go south
response: This claustrophobic small room is an airlock. It has solid, airtight closable hatches in the north and south walls.
action: Close hatch
response: Which do you mean, the inner airlock hatch or the outer airlock hatch?
action: Inner
response: You close the inner airlock hatch.
action: You open outer
response: You open the outer airlock hatch.
action: Go south
response: You climb through the hatch and take your first step on this planet.
In fact, it's not just your first step here, it's the first of any human being.

The ship lies in the middle of a crater, probably 400 meters in diameter. As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered with orange sand and it doesn't look like anything has ever lived here, not in a billion years.

You are next to the hatch of the airlock in the north.
action: You look at the sand
response: The rough orange sand is simply omnipresent on the surface of this planet. There is sand here and there is nothing but sand here.
action: You examine the crater
response: The crater has a diameter of approximately 400 meters. He will be your home for the foreseeable future.
action: You look at the ship
response: The ship is a simple little caravel. Fortunately, it survived the long journey without any damages.
action: Go south
response: the north.
action: Go south
response: You can see the entire crater from up here. The edge runs from east to west. To the south is a monotonous orange desert that is sprinkled
here and there by larger and smaller craters. The ship is in the
middle of the crater in the north.
action: Go south
response: You don't dare to leave the crater. The oxygen supply in your suit certainly will not last long enaugh to move that far away from the spaceship.
action: Go west
response: You can see the entire crater from up here. The edge runs from north
to south. To the west is a monotonous orange desert that is sprinkled here and there by larger and smaller craters. The ship is in the
middle of the crater in the east.
action: You go to the north
response: You can see the entire crater from up here. The edge runs from east to west. To the north is a monotonous orange desert that is sprinkled
here and there by larger and smaller craters. The ship is in the
middle of the crater in the south.
action: Go east
response: You can see the entire crater from up here. The edge runs from north
to south. To the east is a monotonous orange desert that is sprinkled here and there by larger and smaller craters. The ship is in the
middle of the crater in the west.
action: Go west
response: You are halfway between the crater rim in the west and the ship in the east.
action: Go north
response: the south.
action: Go east
response: You stand next to the ship. A lever is embedded in the hull.
action: You pull lever
response: You have to make a real effort to pull the lever down, but finally you can do it. The lever opened a sliding door in the side of the ship and started the robot that was hidden behind it.
action: You go south
response: You are halfway between the crater rim in the east and the ship in the west.
action: Go north
response: The ship lies in the middle of a crater, probably 400 meters in diameter. As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered with orange sand and it doesn't look like anything has ever lived here, not in a billion years.

You are next to the hatch of the airlock in the north.
action: You climb the ship
response: Little is to be achieved by that.
action: You take the sand
response: It has been observed that some people may experience these types of ideas after hypersleep.
action: Go north
response: (first opening the inner airlock hatch)
The inner hatch may only be opened when the outer hatch is closed - otherwise valuable breathing air would escape.
action: Close outer
response: You close the outer airlock hatch.
action: You open the inner
response: You open the inner airlock hatch.
action: Go north
response: This is a flat, round room. A ladder leads up and there is a massive metal hatch in the south wall.
action: Go upward
response: This is an elongated flat room with sparse lighting. At least two
dozen sarcophagi are lined up on the two long walls.

There is a hole in the floor and an integrated ladder leads downwards.

Next to the open sarcophagus there is a small container on the floor.

You can also see a pulsating spot (empty) here.
action: You examine the sarcophagi
response: More than two dozen sarcophagi are lined up here. Most of them are still closed, they contain the other pilgrims. Their bodies float in carrier fluid, neither dead nor alive nor aging. They wait for you to create the right conditions so they can be woken up and start a
colony. Only the one you traveled in is open. How long you traveled
and how far? You don't know it, just that it must have been very long.
action: You examine the small container
response: A small container with rounded edges and a soft surface whose lid alternately lights up and darkens like a pulse.
action: You take the container
response: Which do you mean, the pulsating spot or the small box?
action: Box
response: It has been observed that some people may experience these types of ideas after hypersleep.
action: You open the box
response: That's already open.
action: Close box
response: You close the small box.
action: Go downwards
response: This is a flat, round room. A ladder leads up and there is a massive metal hatch in the south wall.
action: You pull the lever
response: It is fixed in place.
action: Inventory
response: You are carrying:
a protective suit (being worn)
an empty autoinjector
a terry towel
action: You jump
response: You jump on the spot.
action: You dry yourself
response: What do you want to dry yourself with?
action: You dry yourself with the towel
response: and supplied with blood. You feel the warmth returning and the shivering goes away.
action: About yourself
response: As good-looking as ever.
action: You take the spot
response: Which do you mean, the pulsating spot or the small box?
action: Yes
response: Puffing and roaring, the ship slowly touched down on the orange sand. Then the engines died, it became quiet again and only the sand under the engines, which had melted into glass, still bubbled and smoked. Inside the caravel were cool dark passages with small lights here and there, and the ship's distributed processors eventually found the conditions were met to wake a pilgrim.

The displays on the pilgrim's sarcophagus began to light up and showed measured values ������from the sensors inside. Nobody was there to read them anyway. The cervix at the bottom of the sarcophagus opened and
the escaping liquid disappeared bubbling and gurgling in the drain below. The cervix opened further and further, the body of the pilgrim behind it slowly sank down and finally sliped out on the floor in
front of the sarcophagus, feet first. The limp, wet body seemed lifeless, but then it began to twitch, choke and cough. The pilgrim gasped and eventually she raised her torso and leaned on her shaky arms.



You are coughing and gasping for breath, struggling to keep your torso upright. Your mind is foggy and your sense of balance is so confused that it feels like you are falling all the time.

You can hardly see anything around you, everything just looks blurry brown.
action: You wait for a while
response: Time passes.

You feel the nausea rise in you and without being able to do anything about it you vomit your stomach contents onto the floor. In addition
to all the unpleasant sensations, there is now the bitter and sour taste in your mouth. But at least your sense of balance is gradually normalizing.
action: You look
response: You can hardly see anything around you, everything just looks blurry brown.

Slowly, really, very slowly, your vision improves a little. In the brown mass in front of you there appears to be a bright, pulsating spot.
action: Touch spot
response: Your hand gropes for the shining spot and feels a smooth, firm
surface. With the touch of your fingers, a pale, seemingly old memory comes back: Under the pulsating spot there must be something good, important.

Another sensation suddenly comes to your mind: cold. Your wet skin, goose bumps and the shivering fit that runs through your body in recurring waves.
action: Open spot
response: Your hand moves to the edge and pushes it up. The pulsating light
folds up and your hand gropes down into the hollow below. There is something in it, something that is rough and soft at the same time ...
action: You take rough
response: towards you. Your mind is still sluggish and cannot grasp what it is, but your body already seems to know and is pressing it against you.
action: You look at what you're carrying with you
response: You are carrying:
a rough and soft thing
action: You touch rough
response: You feel nothing unexpected.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: You examine rough
response: With both hands you press the thing into your face, against your nose and the thing exudes a familiar smell. It smells good, it smells
fresh, it smells fresh ... fresh ... fresh laundry! It is a terry towel.

Your body is wet and shivering with cold.
action: You dry yourself with the towel
response: and supplied with blood. You feel the warmth returning and the shivering goes away.
action: You wear towel
response: You wrap yourself in the towel and feel less unprotected and naked. At the same time you realize how exhausted you are. And even if your mind comes back gradually, your senses still work only to a limited extent.
action: You look
response: You can hardly see anything around you, everything just looks blurry brown.

Nevertheless, there is a bright, pulsating spot inside the brown that surrounds you.
action: You look in the spot
response: In the pulsating spot is a small slim rod.
action: You take the rod
response: important.
action: You check your inventory
response: You are carrying:
an empty autoinjector
a terry towel (being worn)
action: You go south
response: (first opening the inner airlock hatch)

This claustrophobic small room is an airlock. It has solid, airtight closable hatches in the north and south walls.
action: Close inner
response: You close the inner airlock hatch.
action: You go south
response: You climb through the hatch and take your first step on this planet.
In fact, it's not just your first step here, it's the first of any human being.

(first opening the outer airlock hatch)

The ship lies in the middle of a crater, probably 400 meters in diameter. As far as the eye can see, the ground is covered with orange sand and it doesn't look like anything has ever lived here, not in a billion years.

You are next to the hatch of the airlock in the north.
action: Go north
response: (first opening the inner airlock hatch)

This is a flat, round room. A ladder leads up and there is a massive metal hatch in the south wall.
action: Go upward
response: This is an elongated flat room with sparse lighting. At least two
dozen sarcophagi are lined up on the two long walls.

There is a hole in the floor and an integrated ladder leads downwards.

Next to the open sarcophagus there is a small container on the floor.
action: Y.
response: cheapglulxe quit with exit status: 0