  
 
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 Primrose Path, written by Nolan Bonvouloir. The Primrose Path was originally released as part of the 2006 IF Competition, where it took 2nd place. It also garnered Xyzzy nominations for Best Game and Best Individual PC. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the ifWiki.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. |
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| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load primrose" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | * * * Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | It's been a bad night. I think I finally struggled into sleep at Floyd | something like half-past two, and since then it's been more or less a Floyd | continuous string of nightmares. Time and again I dream of Leo, Floyd | standing at the end of a distant cliff, peering down over the edge. I Floyd | run towards him, shouting at random, trying to warn him---willing to Floyd | say anything, so long as it reaches his ears. But inevitably, just as Floyd | I am near enough for him to hear my voice, a bell sounds from Floyd | somewhere above us, and he doesn't turn. And then suddenly he is gone Floyd | over the cliff's edge, and the entire world is going white, nothing Floyd | remaining but me, the cliff, and the sound of the bell ringing, and Floyd | ringing, and ringing . . . Floyd | | ||||
| maga pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | T h e P r i m r o s e P a t h Floyd | By Nolan Bonvouloir Floyd | (First-time players might type ABOUT.) Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 080322 / Inform 7 build 3T38 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/10N) Floyd | Floyd | Bedroom (on the bed) Floyd | I awake with a start, and after a half-second of pure "Where the hell Floyd | am I," place myself in my bedroom. I've no idea what time it is---at Floyd | least the sun's up---but the pounding in my head suggests that it's Floyd | several hours earlier than anyone with any sense ought to rise. The Floyd | door to the hallway lies to the south, and windows border the other Floyd | three sides of the room. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell is ringing downstairs. Bloody hell. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | But I can't see you. Do you even have a body? Or were you trying to Floyd | get me to examine myself? Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell chimes again. I'm torn between ignoring it and going down Floyd | to give whoever it is the what-for. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x you" | ||||
Floyd | I'm the same as I've always been. With more age spots and less Floyd | colourful hair than in times past, I suppose. The purple nightgown I'm Floyd | wearing perhaps can't be said to flatter, but in any case I've found | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x yourself" | ||||
Floyd | people give me more and more leeway with my appearance as the years go Floyd | by. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell rings again, several times in succession. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | (myself) Floyd | I'm the same as I've always been. With more age spots and less Floyd | colourful hair than in times past, I suppose. The purple nightgown I'm Floyd | wearing perhaps can't be said to flatter, but in any case I've found Floyd | people give me more and more leeway with my appearance as the years go Floyd | by. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell rapidly sounds a dozen times more. I fight a rising Floyd | murderous urge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | I get off the bed. Floyd | Floyd | Bedroom Floyd | Everything is in perfectly in order here---white and austere, as I Floyd | like it. The door to the hallway lies to the south, and windows border Floyd | the other three sides of the room. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell falls momentarily silent. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hm. Should we answer? I guess we should." | |||
| Jacqueline clears the save counter. | Gerynar says, "answer what, it stopped ringing" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess looking out the window to see who's at the door might be too complex. Not sure we're even on the right side of the house for that." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We have 3 windows" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Gerynar), "Well, for now. Possibly the person isn't rude enough to just lay on the doorbell..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||||
Floyd | Just woods, plus the oak and the pond. Floyd | Floyd | Someone has begun pounding on the front door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Stumbling blearily forward, I collide with the closed door. It just Floyd | isn't shaping up to be my day. Floyd | Floyd | I open the door, the noises from downstairs seeming to redouble in Floyd | volume. Floyd | Floyd | The drumming on the door gets louder. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I remember the beginning of this." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | It's an unfortunate truth that the most boring spaces in one's home Floyd | tend to be among the most frequently visited, and this discouragingly Floyd | tiny space is no exception. Leo's painting on the west wall is just Floyd | sufficiently distracting so that one might not notice the total lack Floyd | of windows, at least. The stairs down lie to the east, my bedroom is Floyd | north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | "Matilda! Are you in there? Please open the door!" Floyd | Floyd | Dear God---it's Leo. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "x leo" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Ooops" | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "x leo" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "I've never been a matilda" | |||
| DavidW says, "Leo's outside." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "dance" | ||||
Floyd | Much as I enjoy a good gambol, this is hardly the time. Besides, I Floyd | think dancing is widely held to be disgraceful for those over a Floyd | certain age. Floyd | Floyd | "Matilda!" The doorbell starts up again. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | ||||
Floyd | What utter nonsense. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Heh" | |||
| maga says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | The knocking is loud enough now to make me fear for the continued Floyd | integrity of the front door. Floyd | Floyd | > | * Lucea has joined the channel. | |||
| maga says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way down the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that Floyd | creaks. Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. Floyd | Currently the only thing I've put back up is another of Leo's Floyd | paintings, on the west wall. The front door, the source of all the Floyd | cacophony, lies to the southwest, the key in the lock. The stairs up Floyd | to the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | A muffled thumping sound comes from behind the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | It was a present from Leo a few years ago. He usually paints from Floyd | life---he gets up before dawn every day and paints in all sorts of Floyd | strange places---but I asked him to do one for me from his mind, and Floyd | as far as I know it's the only imaginary landscape he's ever done. It Floyd | depicts a waterfall so wide that it completely fills the sky, as seen Floyd | from a promontory in the foreground that juts out over the water's Floyd | edge. Floyd | Floyd | The nail that's holding this painting up appears to be coming loose. I Floyd | make a mental note to fix that at some point. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell chimes one final time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "take key" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Silence. The visitor is gone. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | I open the door and step through. Floyd | Floyd | On the other side lies Leo, prostrate on the ground. I cry out Floyd | involuntarily, and kneel down to take his pulse. No, not dead, but Floyd | unconscious and still bleeding heavily from a wound in his hip. I rush Floyd | back into the flat to call an ambulance, but somewhere in the back of Floyd | my mind I feel an overwhelming sense of guilt, knowing with strange Floyd | certainty that he will not wake up again. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** I will never learn what happened *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | zarf says, "um" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "yikes" | ||||
| maga asks, "can we have a driver now?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "er" | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "We commited murder by negligence" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | zarf says, "that's not encouragement" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Woot woot" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Um, perhaps we should open the door before looking at scenery and stuff." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I would prefer not to be the driver for this one." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Anyway" | ||||
| Lucea says, "sorry" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'll drive, I guess." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Jacq the driver, then?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Ah" | ||||
| Lucea says, "I didn't know it'd be that timed" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Lucea), "How were you to know?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restart" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | * * * Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | It's been a bad night. I think I finally struggled into sleep at Floyd | something like half-past two, and since then it's been more or less a Floyd | continuous string of nightmares. Time and again I dream of Leo, Floyd | standing at the end of a distant cliff, peering down over the edge. I Floyd | run towards him, shouting at random, trying to warn him---willing to Floyd | say anything, so long as it reaches his ears. But inevitably, just as Floyd | I am near enough for him to hear my voice, a bell sounds from Floyd | somewhere above us, and he doesn't turn. And then suddenly he is gone Floyd | over the cliff's edge, and the entire world is going white, nothing Floyd | remaining but me, the cliff, and the sound of the bell ringing, and Floyd | ringing, and ringing . . . Floyd | | zarf says, "I am going to be in and out of this window, sorry" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Um" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | T h e P r i m r o s e P a t h Floyd | By Nolan Bonvouloir Floyd | (First-time players might type ABOUT.) Floyd | Release 3 / Serial number 080322 / Inform 7 build 3T38 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/10N) Floyd | Floyd | Bedroom (on the bed) Floyd | I awake with a start, and after a half-second of pure "Where the hell Floyd | am I," place myself in my bedroom. I've no idea what time it is---at Floyd | least the sun's up---but the pounding in my head suggests that it's Floyd | several hours earlier than anyone with any sense ought to rise. The Floyd | door to the hallway lies to the south, and windows border the other Floyd | three sides of the room. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell is ringing downstairs. Bloody hell. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Let's try to get a weapon" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get up" | ||||
Floyd | I get off the bed. Floyd | Floyd | Bedroom Floyd | Everything is in perfectly in order here---white and austere, as I Floyd | like it. The door to the hallway lies to the south, and windows border Floyd | the other three sides of the room. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell chimes again. I'm torn between ignoring it and going down Floyd | to give whoever it is the what-for. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | I open my door. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell rings again, several times in succession. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Someone killed Leo, he could kill us too" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Or she" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Or them" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Cheddarius), "Well, let's try saving Leo first." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Okay" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | It's an unfortunate truth that the most boring spaces in one's home Floyd | tend to be among the most frequently visited, and this discouragingly Floyd | tiny space is no exception. Leo's painting on the west wall is just Floyd | sufficiently distracting so that one might not notice the total lack Floyd | of windows, at least. The stairs down lie to the east, my bedroom is Floyd | north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell rapidly sounds a dozen times more. I fight a rising Floyd | murderous urge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | The doorbell falls momentarily silent. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "Oh man. Murderous urge?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "We killed Leo" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Holy smokes we're time travelers/clones" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Spoilers" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way down the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that Floyd | creaks. Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. Floyd | Currently the only thing I've put back up is another of Leo's Floyd | paintings, on the west wall. The front door, the source of all the Floyd | cacophony, lies to the southwest, the key in the lock. The stairs up Floyd | to the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | Someone has begun pounding on the front door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | Taking my key out of the lock, I flip the latch and throw the deadbolt Floyd | back. Floyd | Floyd | I open the door and step through. Floyd | Floyd | On the other side is Leo, who nearly faints with relief. "Matilda. Floyd | Thank God you're here." He moves, almost falls, toward me, almost Floyd | stumbling into my arms. But he doesn't support his weight, and we end Floyd | up on the floor of the foyer in an awkward embrace. I release him, Floyd | then realise my hands are sticky with something warm and wet. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, my God." I find myself saying. "Oh, my God. Oh, my God." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, ""lick hands"." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "dooo eeeet" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "ew" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "lick hands" | ||||
Floyd | What? No! Floyd | Floyd | "Leo, what happened?" I ask. Floyd | Floyd | "My mother. Shot me," he whispers. Floyd | Floyd | This is so obscenely unexpected I can't even respond. "Shot you? Leo, Floyd | I don't . . ." But even as I speak my eye lights on the blood soaking Floyd | through his jeans. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea asks, "is it a bad idea to ask him about what's going on?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "HA!" | ||||
| Lucea says, "well, never mind that" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It knew that1" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Even better: "Lick Leo"" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "apply pressure" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Or get some bandages or something" | |||
| DavidW asks, "How about 'x leo'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "remove jeans" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, ""staunch wound"?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x leo" | ||||
Floyd | Leo is perhaps a decade younger then me, and at least a foot taller. Floyd | At the moment he appears to be on the point of collapse. His favourite Floyd | affectation, a gold pocketwatch, is hanging from his belt loop. Floyd | Floyd | "How did this happen, Leo?" I've always imagined myself as the type to Floyd | remain level-headed in situations like this, but my voice is cracking. Floyd | Floyd | "My fault," he says. "I'd hidden my grandfather's pistol so she Floyd | wouldn't find it, but this morning she did. And then she saw me about Floyd | to go into the painting in the garden . . ." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Man, the EMT in me is screaming." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Take his watch" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Then run for it" | ||||
| Lucea says, "go into the painting? that's promising" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Cheddarius), "What?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "in the sense of plot, not in the sense of saving Leo" | ||||
| DavidW asks (of Lucea), "'the'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about painting" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo, I don't understand. Into the painting?" Floyd | Floyd | He grimaces in pain. "It's my fault that I sound delirious, you know. Floyd | I should have told you about the paintings years ago. Now you'll have Floyd | to go it alone." He reaches into his pocket, fishing for something. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "Do you have any first aid kits on you?" | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "Can we try i?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | "Leo, please. I don't understand. Irene is your mother. Why would Floyd | she---?" Floyd | Floyd | But he doesn't seem to hear. "Here. You'll never get into the studio Floyd | without this." He presses something small and metallic into my palm. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Hmmm" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think we're meant to save him." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Yeah, that was my feeling too" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "He's getting into death-spiel mode" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about studio" | ||||
Floyd | "But I thought you didn't let anyone see your studio." Floyd | Floyd | He shakes his head. "Doesn't matter now. Listen. You can use the Floyd | paintings. Fix it so that this didn't happen. And you might also need Floyd | the ring. It's upstairs in my room. I know you hate that thing, but Floyd | otherwise you won't be able to move anywhere." Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "just like the dream where we couldn't save him" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh my god, we really ARE time travelers" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kiss leo" | ||||
Floyd | This is patently not the time. Floyd | Floyd | With difficulty, I force myself to think rationally. "All right, Leo. Floyd | Stop talking as if you're going to die. I'm going to call an ambulance Floyd | and they'll get you help." Floyd | Floyd | "No!" he gasps. He grabs my arm, and even in the state he's in, his Floyd | grip nearly pulls me back to the floor. "You can't tell the police. Floyd | Trust me, for your own sake. Now go!" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "WHAT?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He's dying. Give the man some love!" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Try "swoon"" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "meh" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Panic? Don't panic?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "call ambulance" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Frig" | |||
| Lucea asks, "was there a phone anywhere?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "save leo" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting me to save. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "I didn't see one, no." | |||
| Lucea says, "something tells me, though, that we can't save him" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Lucea), "There's rarely a phone in IF when you need one." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "What should we ask him before he kicks the bucket?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "heehee" | ||||
| maga asks, "his mother?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Ask about Irene" | ||||
| zarf says, "'why don't you have a cellphone, you moron'" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "You make an excellent point, David." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about Irene" | ||||
Floyd | "Focus, Leo. Where did Irene go?" I ask. Floyd | Floyd | He makes a hopeless gesture. "Gone. She'll probably have forgotten the Floyd | whole thing by the time anyone finds her." Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea asks, "ask about painting?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask about painting" | ||||
Floyd | I can't think of anything that hasn't already been said. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius exclaims, "Freud powers, activate!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask about Irene" | ||||
Floyd | I can't think of anything that hasn't already been said. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hm. Ask about the ring." | |||
| zarf says, "ring" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask about me" | ||||
Floyd | I don't talk about you out in the open like that . . . surely you can Floyd | understand. They'd think me insane. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "er" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Oooh, very nice" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee - weird perspective" | ||||
| zarf says, "also, that's a big heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask about ring" | ||||
Floyd | "Oh, no, Leo, not the ring again . . ." Floyd | Floyd | "It's not what you think, Matilda. It's the setting of the diamond . . Floyd | . on the shelf. You'll see what I mean." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about you" | ||||
Floyd | "Dear God, Leo. And to think that I was sleeping that whole time, Floyd | while you were . . ." But I can't finish the thought. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell leo about dream" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, and Matilda." Floyd | Floyd | "What?" Our faces are very close now. Floyd | Floyd | "The key to my gallery's outside the studio. If you find it . . . you Floyd | can have it. As a bequest." Floyd | Floyd | I pull my arm free, revolted. "For God's sake, Leo! Don't talk like Floyd | that. You're scaring me." Floyd | Floyd | Leo's eyes close. He's fading fast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "That wasn't a question, you, that was a statement." | |||
| maga asks, "the gun?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about gun" | ||||
Floyd | No response. He seems to be unconscious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give CPR" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Man, EMTs should not play this intro." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Hide the body" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "What now, brown cows?" | ||||
| zarf asks, "does cpr work on somebody who's bleeding out?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "No. Bring the body with you, and when you change the timeline so this never happened, introduce Leo to his own corpse." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to zarf), "No." | ||||
| maga asks, "check the wound?" | ||||
| DavidW asks (of Cheddarius), "Worried that Mrs Cravits in 4G will see?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It just... pushed more blood out." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Hilarity ensues" | ||||
| maga says (to zarf), "*squirt* *squirt* *squirt*" | ||||
| RonN says, "Blue Lacuna totally should've opened like this." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wound" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x leg" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I don't think we're meant to be EMTs." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Not getting that Mrs. Cravits reference. Nor the Blue Lacuna one" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, he's dead, Jim." | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "Talk in channel, please." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Was that Star Trek?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "Mrs Kravitz, from Bewitched" | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "take leo" | ||||
Floyd | No response. He seems to be unconscious. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Gerynar), "thanks." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Cheddarius), "Yeah" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Ah" | ||||
| RonN says, "test" | ||||
| RonN says, "ah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to RonN), "There you go." | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is lying on the floor, barely conscious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "who is leo" | ||||
Floyd | Leo's my next-door neighbour; he moved into the building perhaps a Floyd | dozen years ago. What a frightening thought---I'm pretty sure that Floyd | when we met, I was younger than he is now. Our relationship has been Floyd | everywhere from icy hostility to unabashed longing (on both of our Floyd | parts, at different times, naturally), and every emotion in between. Floyd | It stabilised at "good friends" around the time his mother moved in Floyd | with us, and has remained steadfast since. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oho - so we're in an apartment building." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Swoon" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "who is leo's mother" | ||||
Floyd | Irene is Leo's mother; she's only been my neighbour for the last three Floyd | or four years, since she ceased to be capable of living on her own. Floyd | It's hard to deny she's rather senile at this point, and perhaps a bit Floyd | paranoid . . . but a murderess? Surely not. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "who are you" | ||||
Floyd | Me? What's to say? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "carry leo" | ||||
Floyd | No response. He seems to be unconscious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "who am i" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius goes home. | Cheddarius says, "Oops" | |||
| Lucea asks, "are we still using a driver?" | ||||
| RonN says, "oh, this would be the stuff we needed to know earlier." | ||||
| Cheddarius arrives, ready to play with the toys. | Jacqueline says, "I say we treat this like the IF game it is and leave his body in the hallway where it will be of little consequence and go unnoticed by NPCs." | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "Did anything happen since I quit?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "Well, I guess not, since he's dead." | ||||
| RonN says, "here I thoughT leo was our lover." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "he died" | |||
| maga says (to Floyd), "who is me" | ||||
Floyd | I think you've been around since I was . . . fifteen? Sixteen, Floyd | perhaps? As I recall it was the same day I had my first kiss. Your Floyd | idea, of course. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to RonN), "So did I." | |||
| Lucea says, "good use of who is, though" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh man" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I suspect that we can go driverless until we 'enter a painting'." | ||||
| Jacqueline nods. | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Can we try to make her interact with us?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "What did Leo give us, anyway?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "who am i" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | an old bronze key Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "so are 'we' Leo, then?" | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "e.g. punch me, lick me, take me, hit me, throw me?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search leo" | ||||
Floyd | That would be a fabulous idea if I were some kind of criminal. Instead Floyd | of, you know, his friend. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Darn, was hoping 'who am i' would work for 'who is me'" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | It's an attractive open-faced gold fobwatch, equipped with a long, Floyd | thin loop of chain and a small black button just below six o'clock. Floyd | The clock face suggests that it's twenty-five to eight---how time Floyd | flies and all that. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says (to RonN), "no, we're some other thing" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "No, "we" are voices in her head" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "I think" | ||||
| zarf asks, "okat, who typed "KISS ME" thirty-forty years ago?" | ||||
| zarf says, "sorry, KISS HIM" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| inky says, ", YOU FOOL" | ||||
| maga says (to zarf), "yeah, I think that's intentional" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to PC), "Stop being all 'I can't search him he's my friend', we have a game to play1" | ||||
| RonN says, "but she addressed us directly earlier..." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take watch" | ||||
Floyd | That seems to belong to Leo. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | It's an attractive open-faced gold fobwatch, equipped with a long, Floyd | thin loop of chain and a small black button just below six o'clock. Floyd | The clock face suggests that it's twenty-five to eight---how time Floyd | flies and all that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "wuuuuuuuuuuut" | |||
| Lucea says, "hm, ok, time doesn't pass" | ||||
| maga says, "the poor woman has been stuck with an IF player in her head for *decades*" | ||||
| Lucea says, "or the watch is dead" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock leo's door with leo's key" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Or the watch isn't implemented" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "take watch from leo" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is lying on the floor, barely conscious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | There is a dull snapping sound from the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Wait, so he's alive?" | |||
| RonN LOLs at Maga | Lucea asks, "snapping?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Maybe decades of "xyzzy xyzzy xyzzy" in her head have made her insane" | ||||
| maga says, "urk" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I guess he's still alive, yes." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "barely" | ||||
| maga says, "let's go back" | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is gone. Floyd | Floyd | An enormous crash from the direction of my living room shakes the Floyd | foundations of the house. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yes, what was that dull snapping sound" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "You mean to the save?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Heh. I wonder if we could finish him off and get exp or something" | ||||
| Lucea says, "something is up." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Dang, too late" | ||||
| zarf asks, "house? with seven floors?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Apartment" | ||||
| RonN says, "it was the hyenas." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies on the floor, the frame shattered. Floyd | Floyd | Lying on the floor amongst the fragments is a golden pocketwatch. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius exclaims, "Yes!" | |||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "Loot!" | ||||
| Lucea says, "so I assume once we enter the painting we can't get out immediately" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Wait, we don't have a driver anymore?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, not right now." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take watch" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "sell watch" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Drat." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | This was a landscape Leo painted for me, of a cliff with a gigantic Floyd | waterfall completely filling the sky behind it. He usually paints from Floyd | life---he gets up before dawn every day to paint in all kinds of Floyd | strange places---but I asked him to do one for me from his mind, and Floyd | as far as I know it was the only one he's ever done. Now the frame is Floyd | shattered and the canvas torn nearly in half. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "lick watch" | ||||
Floyd | I taste nothing unexpected. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "lick you" | ||||
Floyd | Please. What a revolting idea. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Hrmmm" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x frame" | ||||
Floyd | This was a landscape Leo painted for me, of a cliff with a gigantic Floyd | waterfall completely filling the sky behind it. He usually paints from Floyd | life---he gets up before dawn every day to paint in all kinds of Floyd | strange places---but I asked him to do one for me from his mind, and Floyd | as far as I know it was the only one he's ever done. Now the frame is Floyd | shattered and the canvas torn nearly in half. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "search furniture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Go back to Leo's?" | |||
| maga says (to Floyd), "cry" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo!" I shriek. No response. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Though I think... well, it could just be me, but given the tone of this piece, I'd rather we keep the commands sort on in line with the game rather than goofing off (despite my attempts to save Leo, which were serious, even if they didn't appear to be)." | |||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "sob" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "that makes sense" | |||
| Lucea says, "I agree." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Okay" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "I'm just trying to make sure we don't miss anything before we enter the painting" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "No more licking Leo I guess" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "Sure." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ched), "Right." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Lucea), "Painting is torn." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "x irene" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Drat" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x furniture" | ||||
Floyd | I think there's enough going on at the moment that I can safely say Floyd | the state of the furniture is immaterial. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on irene's door" | ||||
Floyd | I shove my shoulder hard against the door, and a previously unseen Floyd | panel swings open below the doorknob, revealing a small brass keyhole. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "right, but there's got to be some way to get in there; it's the most logical next step" | |||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "What!" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "we need to get to his studio" | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "Don't we?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "maybe tearing it opened up some kind of port - hey" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "The state of your furniture is NEVER immaterial" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Wait. What did he give us, again? A key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | an old bronze key Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "or the ring lets us enter the paintings" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bronze key" | ||||
Floyd | An old-fashioned double-sided bronze key. It's slightly tarnished, but Floyd | probably still serviceable. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "I think if you enter the painting without the ring you can't move" | |||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "unlock door with bronze" | ||||
Floyd | The old bronze key doesn't fit the door to Irene's Room. Floyd | Floyd | > | maga says, "naturally, a brass keyhole cannot possibly be opened by a bronze key" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "The ring was up in some studio or soemthing" | ||||
| zarf says, "the key to was the workshop. the ring was what cheddarius said." | ||||
| Lucea says, "worth a shot" | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | maga says, "to do so would violate every law of IF physics" | |||
| DavidW says, "The ring was in 'his room', bedroom, I assume." | ||||
| inky says, "L is for Leo, who was Licked by a Llama" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Stairs up? West?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Ched), "You going to go up to his room?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "If people are okay with it" | ||||
| Lucea says, "There's something here. There's got to be." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I'm thinking up. You go, Ched." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "up" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and what I presume is Leo's Floyd | bedroom to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "I'm thinking we'll come back, but let's go get the ring." | |||
| maga says (to inky), "L is for Leo, shot dead by his mom / M for Mathilda, whose mind is half gone" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh, wait, when we go there we should look at the rooftops" | ||||
| Lucea says, "I just meant here in the general vicinity, not in this room" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "As it's our lead, right now." | ||||
| inky says (to maga), "yay!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to maga), "YAY" | ||||
| Lucea says, "N is for Neighbours, plagued by deceit" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "ah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's bedroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | The door to this room has always been closed whenever I popped up to Floyd | use his loo, and I've always been curious as to what he was hiding in Floyd | here. It is therefore with great chagrin that I note that the room is Floyd | completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still painted, and the Floyd | windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made use of this room Floyd | at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare except for one of his Floyd | canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of the eastern wall. The Floyd | hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "ok, that must be it" | |||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "open curtains" | ||||
Floyd | Oddly, they don't seem designed to be openable. Someone wanted privacy Floyd | in here, evidently. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | An unholy mess of pure colour swirls over the canvas. I'm no artist, Floyd | but somehow Leo's made the brushstrokes seem completely chaotic up Floyd | close, but allowed them to resolve into a unified, swirling mass as I Floyd | step back from the painting. I've never seen this one before, and I Floyd | would never guess it were Leo's if that weren't obviously his Floyd | signature in the corner. I mean, it's lovely, but an abstract seems Floyd | rather out of character for Leo when he's always telling me he only Floyd | paints from life. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "touch painting" | ||||
Floyd | Hardened paint. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Darn" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "touch key to paintig" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" | ||||
Floyd | Just dust. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar asks, "enter painting?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "touch key to painting" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says (to floyd), "enter paintingf" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "touch painting with key" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting me to touch the abstract Floyd | painting. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says (to floyd), "enter painting" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | It's not as if I can just waltz right into it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea asks, "you can't?" | |||
| DavidW says, "It's still a painting right now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We still need that ring" | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline scrolls back to see what Leo said... | |||
| Gerynar asks, "x curtains?" | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "x curtains" | ||||
Floyd | Weirdly out-of-character for Leo, in fact---they're dark velvet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shelf" | ||||
Floyd | Well, yes, there's a wooden shelf here, along the far wall, but Floyd | honestly, I see nothing important on it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "they're just for privacy, I think" | |||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "move shelf" | ||||
Floyd | It is fixed in place. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look on shelf" | ||||
Floyd | No, really, I don't see anything I want to take. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | Why do you keep asking me this? I don't want to take anything take Floyd | might be on that shelf. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | Let me put it this way, then: I don't want to touch that thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | I nearly scream with frustration. Despite what Leo and Irene say, I Floyd | think some parts of the past are better forgotten. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | I nearly scream with frustration. Despite what Leo and Irene say, I Floyd | think some parts of the past are better forgotten. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ring" | Lucea says, "poor matilda" | |||
Floyd | Damn it. All right, so the ring is on the shelf. But is it really Floyd | necessary this really that I cart it about with me? I turned it down Floyd | years ago; there's really no need to go into all that again. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "why do i get the feeling this painting is the entrance to the Final Dungeon?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | Taken, damn you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "thank you" | ||||
Floyd | Thanking myself would be gratuitous at best. Floyd | Floyd | The jewel flashes at me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "thank me" | ||||
Floyd | Thanking you is at the top of my list of thing I will probably never, Floyd | ever do. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Heh" | |||
| Gerynar says, "heh" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ring" | ||||
Floyd | It's an engagement ring: a narrow band of white gold, set with a Floyd | small, glittering diamond. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Yeah" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diamond" | ||||
Floyd | A small, diamond in a round, white setting. The setting seems to be Floyd | slightly loose, as if it were built to rotate on its axis. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Leo tried to marry us" | |||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "wear it" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking the setting) Floyd | That seems to be a part of the diamond ring. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "wear ring" | ||||
Floyd | No. What are you, some kind of sadist? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "wear ring" | ||||
Floyd | Please, just stop it. We've gone over and over this. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "wear ring" | ||||
Floyd | All right, all right, I'll wear your goddamned diamond. Please don't Floyd | harass me anymore. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Ahahahahahah" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Bow before the mighty IF gods" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn diamond" | Lucea says, "this is getting genuinely uncomfortable" | |||
Floyd | Pushing the button produces an irritatingly loud snapping sound, and Floyd | then . . . Floyd | Floyd | I take a step backward. Except for the abstract painting, everything Floyd | in the room has gone black and white. All is still and completely Floyd | motionless, the distant sounds of traffic have stopped, and the room Floyd | is entirely drained of colour. I fight an unaccustomed urge to panic. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, paste incoming, with a summary of important-sounding stuff..." | |||
| RonN asks, "'our' ring?" | ||||
| Jacqueline | The key to my gallery's outside the studio. If you find it . . . you can have it. As a bequest." | ||||
| Jacqueline | Doesn't matter now. Listen. You can use the paintings. Fix it so that this didn't happen. And you might also need the ring. It's upstairs in my room. I know you hate that thing, but otherwise you won't be able to move anywhere." | ||||
| Jacqueline | "It's not what you think, Matilda. It's the setting of the diamond . . . on the shelf. You'll see what I mean." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "panic" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "That's how I knew there WAS a shelf." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "This doesn't sound like his room, really." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "Drat" | ||||
Floyd | 'Fuck' might be more cathartic. Floyd | Floyd | A noise comes from the mess of colour---utterly incongruous and Floyd | completely unmistakable, a duck quacking. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "I think we can enter the painting now" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "...whoa." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Oh wait, there is a shelf here, it's just not described?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "grr" | ||||
| Lucea says (to Jacqueline), "The narrator's being unreliable" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Right. We're in denial about it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I was in scrollback when that happened." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Isn't unreliable narrator a story device?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It would have been nice were it included in the room description..." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch painting" | ||||
Floyd | My finger glides straight through where the paint ought to be. Floyd | Floyd | The abstract fills the room with the sound of water, sloshing busily Floyd | about. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Cheddarius), "Something artistic like that, I guess, perhaps." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Hrm" | ||||
| Lucea says, "well, yes, but the same thing's going on here" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | It appears to be stopped at eight o'clock. Floyd | Floyd | The colours continue to merge and divide in rhythm with the sounds of Floyd | the ocean. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "PC isn't being completely honest with us" | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "How so?" | ||||
| Lucea asks, "leaving out a very important detail?" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "What's she lying to us about?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh, the shelf" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "the ring" | ||||
| Lucea says, "also the ring" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Ah" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Vacant Room (in monochrome) Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Curiously, the abstract painting has failed to go black and white. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open curtains" | ||||
Floyd | Oddly, they don't seem designed to be openable. Someone wanted privacy Floyd | in here, evidently. Floyd | Floyd | The abstract fills the room with the sound of water, sloshing busily Floyd | about. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Make her lick the ring" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "WE WILL BREAK HER" | ||||
| Lucea says, "I don't want to break her." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Maybe she'll tell the truth if we do?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "she already did, though. we have the ring" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Or I mean she could go into shock and die." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am really liking the 'we are in her head' thing." | ||||
| RonN says, "I want to marry her. Assuming I'm NOT a voice in her head. That would be weird." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "But telling the truth about other things" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "As well as the unreliable protagonist thing." | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "marry me" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "Me too" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Dang" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's enter the painting." | ||||
| RonN says, "I'm under the impression that we are Leo in her head. Like _Violet_" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Or do we want something else first?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "I think it's time to enter the painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "If we make her love Big Brother, perhaps she'll tell the truth about stuff, like the ring, except other stuff we don't know about" | |||
| Lucea says, "I don't think we're Leo." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I say we go in." | ||||
| Lucea says, "If we were Leo we'd know why he died" | ||||
| maga says (to RonN), "no, we already established that the head-voice has been around since she was fifteen or sixteen, and Leo is a much more recent development" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Just be all 'lick ring' and 'marry leo' until she goes 'do it to julia/leo/whatever!'" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think we're Leo, I think we're just a voice in her head." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Ched), "How about no?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| RonN says, "i guess i missed that maga. But she said she's wear our ring..." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Okay" | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "l" | maga says, "tone, people, please" | |||
Floyd | Vacant Room (in monochrome) Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Curiously, the abstract painting has failed to go black and white. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea says (to floyd), "x curtains" | ||||
Floyd | Weirdly out-of-character for Leo, in fact---they're dark velvet. Floyd | Floyd | A noise comes from the mess of colour---utterly incongruous and Floyd | completely unmistakable, a duck quacking. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | An unholy mess of pure colour swirls over the canvas. It's lovely, but Floyd | an abstract seems rather out of character for Leo when he's always Floyd | telling me he only paints from life. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Anyone want me to *not* go in?" | |||
| Lucea says, "ok, that lead's out" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Hmmmmm" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Unholy mess, eh?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "I don't see any compelling reason not to" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Is that just a description?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think that's just a turn of phrase, Ched." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Ah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | I walk up, closer to the painting. I feel a light breeze on my face; Floyd | there doesn't seem to be any kind of boundary at all between here and Floyd | there. I put my hand against it, and sure enough, it goes clean Floyd | through. Floyd | Floyd | I contemplate this for a moment, and, then, at last, get up my courage Floyd | and walk straight into it. There is a flash of pure, blinding white, Floyd | and a noisy snap as the pocketwatch begins ticking again . . . Floyd | Floyd | Dock's End Floyd | The ocean. The sun is setting, hanging just over the mountains to the Floyd | north. I'm standing on a rickety wooden dock, somewhat discoloured Floyd | with mildew and encrusted with barnacles along the edges. Water Floyd | surrounds me in all directions, but the dock continues to the east. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "when is a duck not a duck? when it's a painting" | |||
| DavidW says, "I have a ... never mind" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Bee arr bee" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "O-ho the watch." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | It's an attractive open-faced gold fobwatch, equipped with a long, Floyd | thin loop of chain and a small black button just below six o'clock. Floyd | The clock face suggests that it's twenty past six---how time flies and Floyd | all that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea asks, "wasn't it around 8 before?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | It's an attractive open-faced gold fobwatch, equipped with a long, Floyd | thin loop of chain and a small black button just below six o'clock. Floyd | The clock face suggests that it's twenty past six---how time flies and Floyd | all that. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Lucea), "yes" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I think it was." | ||||
| RonN says, "yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Wonder how many turns makes time progress." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We may be backward or forward in time." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Default is usually a turn a minute, but who knows." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "This reminds me of a thing... Marco's Millions, I think. A book where this guy, in one bit, starts walking toward a giant monolith, only it warps time so that as he gets closer, he sees the world around him going faster and faster" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | RonN asks, "what happens if he moonwalks?" | |||
Floyd | Pushing the button produces an irritatingly loud snapping sound, and Floyd | then . . . Floyd | Floyd | I take a step backward. Everything in the room has gone black and Floyd | white. All is still and completely motionless, the distant sounds of Floyd | traffic have stopped, and the room is entirely drained of colour. I Floyd | fight an unaccustomed urge to panic. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Dock's End (in monochrome) Floyd | I'm standing on a rickety wooden dock, somewhat discoloured with Floyd | mildew and encrusted with barnacles along the edges. Water surrounds Floyd | me in all directions, but the dock continues to the east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x water" | ||||
Floyd | Not like any ocean I've ever seen. Up close the water looks as clear Floyd | as glass, but in the light of the setting sun it seems to gradually Floyd | twist and shift with a hundred different pulsing shades. At first I Floyd | think this must be some kind of monstrous oil slick, or else a trick Floyd | of the light, but on closer inspection is appears to be a property of Floyd | the water itself. Floyd | Floyd | I shudder. Where is this place? Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Hmmmm" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch water" | ||||
Floyd | Completely unyielding, and cold as stone. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Drink water. Heh." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Guess we can't move." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand on water" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something I can stand on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | I touch the water experimentally. It moves slowly in response to my Floyd | touch, like thick syrup, but won't support my weight. No walking on Floyd | water for me, apparently. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And possibly we can't turn the ring again." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, we can move." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull button" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | Holding my breath, I click the button. The world suddenly sets itself Floyd | in motion again, returning to its rainbow normality. I breathe. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius exclaims, "It's quicksand!" | |||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "Or that cornstarch and water mixture!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ring" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "This is pretty freaky cool." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "It is hard only in response to massive force" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diamond" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | an old bronze key Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | The diamond ring, apparently, has vanished. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Vanished?" | |||
| RonN asks, "maybe it stayed in the other world?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "maybe" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Must have." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Just trying to figure out the rules of this system." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Monochrome might mean time has stopped." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x you" | ||||
Floyd | I'm the same as I've always been. With more age spots and less Floyd | colourful hair than in times past, I suppose. The purple nightgown I'm Floyd | wearing perhaps can't be said to flatter, but in any case I've found Floyd | people give me more and more leeway with my appearance as the years go Floyd | by. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "That was my thought." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And we're still us and in our nightgown." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "The water is a colloid hydrogel" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Explore?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "We might be able to explore in monochrome and not use up any game time?" | ||||
| RonN says, "well arthur hitchhiked around the galaxy in his bathrobe." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Possibly, yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | That absurdly loud snap, and my stomach twists as everything goes Floyd | greyscale. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Also, if time is stoppped, we'd be effectively invisible, I assume." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "One would think." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x easel" | ||||
Floyd | A somewhat rickety elmwood easel, positioned so as to give the artist Floyd | a good view over the bay. It doesn't seem to have been used for quite Floyd | some time, though---it's soaked through with recent rain, and appears Floyd | to be rotting away in places. Floyd | Floyd | In fact . . . following the easel's line of sight over the ocean, I Floyd | realise with a shock that the painting I've just come through isn't an Floyd | abstract at all: Leo has simply painted the reflection of the setting Floyd | sun on the bay, exactly as it is---the water in the light is throwing Floyd | up dozens of colours, slowly shifting with the current, flowing out Floyd | with the tide. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "If time's stopped, wouldn't we set ourselves on fire by the very act of moving at an infinite speed?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Ched), "heh" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "We'd explode with the slightest movement. Even being non-absolute-zero would be a death sentence" | ||||
| RonN asks, "but how's the fire to burn with no time, he?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Stop breaking our branes." | ||||
| RonN asks, "eh?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x mountains" | ||||
Floyd | Extraordinarily steep---far too much so for this to be anywhere close Floyd | to home. Though its difficult to tell at this angle, the peaks appear Floyd | to be heavily forested, receding into the distance farther than my eye Floyd | can follow. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Fire requires time, I assume." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabin" | ||||
Floyd | This roughshod wooden shack would be rustic and charming, say, in the Floyd | middle of the forest, but dropped into the middle of the beach like Floyd | this it's simply jarring. The door appears to be padlocked shut. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "That's the weird thing about time stopping" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Clearly time passes around *you*, but not the environment" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock padlock with bronze key" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Press the button first." | |||
| DavidW says, "Probably have to be ... yeah" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "So what happens when you, say, punch someone in stopped time? Will they move? Will they not?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock padlock with bronze key" | ||||
Floyd | The old bronze key doesn't fit the padlock. Floyd | Floyd | > | maga says, "dude, we stopped time by pressing a magic ring. overanalysis is a little futile" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| RonN says, "um, no. it'd be like punching a statue. Ouch." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | There are no windows here, a fact which I regret every time I come Floyd | through here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Presumably the magic ring is a communication device of some sort" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Every time we come through here?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "climb cabin" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I thought this was our first time." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search cabin" | ||||
Floyd | I lean down to peer through the keyhole, but nothing is readily Floyd | apparent on the other side. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Which sends a signal to a massive time-stopping facility miles away" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | That absurdly loud snap, and my stomach twists as everything goes Floyd | greyscale. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "wait, the ring stopped time? i thought the watch did that?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Hmmmm..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, it's the watch." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "maga stepped away." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Wouldn't stopping time make you blind?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Perhaps the ring does it too." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Because no light would be able to reach your eyes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The ring did turn the Vacant Room monochrome." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to maga), "The ring has disappeared, probably back in the real world, and the button we're pressing is on the watch." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Eeenteresting." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So. Explore more, methinks." | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "the ring activated the watch & painting?" | ||||
| RonN says, "leo said we needed the ring 'to be able to move' or somesuch" | ||||
| RonN shrug | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "move in the paintings" | |||
| DavidW says, "I think the monochrome activated the painting. Perhaps the watch would've worked too." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Maybe the ring turns into the watch?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | On the Cape (in monochrome) Floyd | The beach swivels out over the water here, creating this little Floyd | headland surrounded by rocky, shallow water on three sides. The beach Floyd | arcs back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Sunning herself in a lawn chair nearby, entirely improbably, is Irene, Floyd | Leo's mother. At the moment, she appears to be frozen in place, gazing Floyd | off into the middle distance. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "oop" | |||
| DavidW says, "No, we had both at the same time." | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Like that other game a bit ago?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Irene." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "PUNCH HER AT INFINITE SPEED" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "touch Irene" | ||||
Floyd | Completely unyielding, and cold as stone. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I think we'll need a driver, yeah." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "At least, when the watch is activated." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "nominates Jaqueline" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Perhaps Irene will explain stuff." | ||||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "Einstein-defying infinite-energy punch go!" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "I'll drive, sure. Should we talk to her?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf5" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "see, aren't you glad we didn't punch her?" | |||
| Jacqueline presses the large red button on the FREE DONUTS machine. Within seconds, the room is flooded with a thousand tiny, happy donuts, running about your feet in an exuberant dance of freedom. They then disappear as quickly as they had arrived. | Cheddarius says, "She's a murderer, she'd rather kill you" | |||
| DavidW says, "I think we should try." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to RonN), "Ha" | ||||
| RonN exclaims, "yay donuts!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ched), "This might be from before she was a murderer, or not really her at all." | ||||
| Lucea says, "I know what happened, I think" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "wrong button" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Maybe just Leo's vision of her." | ||||
| Lucea says, "Leo went into the painting and encountered her here and provoked her somehow" | ||||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "You mean... she's Agent Smith?!?!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "Heh. So it was." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh noes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | Gerynar says, "or we're in the past" | |||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh," she says. Then, quieter, "Oh." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius exclaims, "Knife her!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask irene about leo" | ||||
Floyd | "Irene . . . what happened to Leo, earlier?" Floyd | Floyd | A sudden look of pain look crosses her face. Floyd | Floyd | "Irene. What did you do?" Floyd | Floyd | She pauses, and when she speaks her voice is a whisper. "He was going Floyd | to break our rule," she says. "I had no other choice. Perhaps you can Floyd | fix it, though, now that you can go back yourself." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "See she's a murderer]" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about rule" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | "Your rule," I repeat derisively. Floyd | Floyd | "My father's rule. No duplicating oneself. He was trying to go into a Floyd | painting he'd just finished. I'd just found the pistol---it was in my Floyd | hand---I was furious---I had no other way to stop him before he used Floyd | the pocketwatch." Floyd | Her eyes are unfocused. "I'm not making excuses," she says, "but I'd Floyd | warned him. And, you know, life is a much less fragile thing when you Floyd | can play tricks with time with those paintings---I've thought he was Floyd | dead before, and then he would waltz out of a canvas cheerful as you Floyd | please. I know you'll find a way." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Kniiiiiife heeeer" | |||
| Lucea says, "someone is lying." | ||||
| RonN says, "rock beats scissors, ched" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Knife her in real time" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ched), "I'm not going to knife her. I don't think that's the majority desire." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Everyone), "Is it?" | ||||
| Lucea says, "no" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "nope...no knifing" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Man she murdered our possible-husband" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, no knife." | ||||
| Lucea says, "If you want to knife her, download it and knife her to your heart's content" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Slap her around with the watch?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But we need to figure out what happened, and killing her will not help things." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Ask more questions. Ask about watch, time, paintings, gun, padlock" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Okay then" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, retribution is a base human instinct, and we're better than that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about the watch" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | "I found that pocketwatch of Leo's in my living room. . . that's how I Floyd | was able to get here." Floyd | Floyd | Her eyes widen. "How on earth did he lose that? Leo will want to . . . Floyd | well, never mind. It won't be much good to you, actually, if you can't Floyd | get into the cabin. You'd need the padlock key." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Ask about Leo" | |||
| RonN says, "she murdered our wannabe-husband" | ||||
| Lucea asks, "Right, but what if Leo's the one who didn't tell the whole truth?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about leo" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | I think that topic's more or less been exhausted. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "he was breaking the rule" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Lucea), "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about watch" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | I think that topic's more or less been exhausted. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "there's still that unfinished business about the ring" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, so one go per topic." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about ring." | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | "So," says Irene. "Things are going well for you?" Floyd | Floyd | Irene's conversation, I've noticed, tends to be the polar opposite of Floyd | her son's: whereas Leo is so intensely present that I feel slightly on Floyd | edge whenever I speak to him, Irene is so vague that you start to Floyd | wonder whether she's there at all. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "Ask about me or you or something?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about ring" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | Floyd | "I found a diamond ring upstairs in yours and Leo's flat," I remark. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | "And by your presence here I gather that you took it? Now there's Floyd | fodder for speculation," Irene says. "Does this mean you've accepted Floyd | him at last? Or are you only using his ring for your own ends?" She Floyd | shakes her head. "Not that I'm in a position to judge." Floyd | > | RonN asks, "i think Irene made a mistake about there being extras Leos running around?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about duplication" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | "It's lovely here, isn't it?" she remarks. Floyd | Floyd | "I thought so," I say. Floyd | Floyd | "Ah. We're agreed, then. Besides," she adds enigmatically, "the music Floyd | is best here." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "I don't understand this" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about music" | ||||
Floyd | "Music?" I ask. Floyd | Floyd | She smiles. "I gather you haven't seen the music box yet, then." Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "Is this a parallel world?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about time." | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | "Yes, indeed . . . yes, indeed," Irene murmurs. Her eyes drift closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We don't know yet." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about paintings" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | "All this is . . . amazing," I say. "Have you and Leo always been able Floyd | to use paintings like this? You were coming to these places all these Floyd | years and never once thought to tell me?" Floyd | Floyd | "Well, we thought to, of course, many times," she says vaguely. "But I Floyd | think Leo was waiting for the right moment. Besides, not all the Floyd | paintings are really so special." She turns to me suddenly. "Like that Floyd | one that connects to here. The sloppy one, of the ocean. He dashed Floyd | that thing off in about half an hour when he realised we had no easy Floyd | way back to the flat. It's not really such a special thing. More of a Floyd | family trade." Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i don't think she knows she killed the only Leo? I dunno..." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask her about padlock" | ||||
Floyd | (Irene about that) Floyd | "Is that your cabin down there on the beach, Irene?" I ask. Floyd | Floyd | "In a manner of speaking. It's Leo's studio." Then, seeing the look on Floyd | my face, she adds, "Not too impressive, is it? That's Leo's version of Floyd | 'authentically naturalist.'" Floyd | Floyd | There's something resembling bitterness in her voice. "Is that why Floyd | it's padlocked shut, then?" Floyd | Floyd | "Oh, no," she smiles. "I locked it." She reaches into her collar and Floyd | pulls out something tiny and glittering. I experience an odd sense of Floyd | d?j? vu. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "ask her if she knows a girl named Rume. :)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x glitter" | ||||
Floyd | Possibly the smallest key I've ever seen. There's no way this would Floyd | fit in any door unless it were something out of Lewis Carroll. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hm. We need that." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | That absurdly loud snap, and my stomach twists as everything goes Floyd | greyscale. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take key" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the tiny copper key, the old bronze key or the Floyd | house key? Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Yes" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Woooot" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take the tiny copper key" | ||||
Floyd | "Irene, could I have the key to the padlock?" Floyd | Floyd | She sighs, then leans forward, extending her hand. "I thought to put Floyd | you through a grand song and dance to get it," she says as she hands Floyd | it over, "but I find I don't really have the heart." Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea asks, "if we ask nicely, can we have it?" | |||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "Wut!" | ||||
| Lucea says, "...guess so" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Aw man, she isn't affected." | ||||
| Cheddarius exclaims, "But we froze time!" | ||||
| DavidW says, "bug" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think that's a bug." | ||||
| Lucea asks, "how is it a bug?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "I think it is - before, she was made of stone" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "And she's not now" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "she was't frozen when we stopped time" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x irene" | ||||
Floyd | I readily admit that in the age hierarchy, I probably qualify as Floyd | "getting on," perhaps even as "over the hill." Irene, by contrast, is Floyd | fast approaching senile with a side of decrepit. She's currently Floyd | reclining in a lawn chair, one hand clutching her cane. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I think it just means humans - oh wait, you're right, she was stone earlier." | |||
| Lucea says, "maybe she unfreezes when we talk to her" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cane" | ||||
Floyd | A long, elegant bamboo affair with a gold handle. She probably Floyd | oughtn't to be doing much walking---in fact, she has a wheelchair Floyd | lying around somewhere, as I recall, but she rejected it in favor of Floyd | this because the wheelchair motor wouldn't do twenty kilometres an Floyd | hour. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Loot everything she's got and run" | |||
| RonN asks, "maybe the watch has an area effect?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, she gave us the key for some weird reason." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a tiny copper key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | an old bronze key Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about my painting" | ||||
Floyd | It's unlikely to be an enlightening conversation with Irene in that Floyd | petrified state. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Yeah" | |||
| RonN says, "I applaud her not-making-the-PC-sing-and-dance." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Definitely a bug then" | ||||
| RonN exclaims, "Other NPCs take note!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I nod farewell to Irene and set off back down the beach. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "We should find a pencil and draw a handlebar moustache on her" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock padlock" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | |||
| Jacqueline presses the large red button on the FREE DONUTS machine. Within seconds, the room is flooded with a thousand tiny, happy donuts, running about your feet in an exuberant dance of freedom. They then disappear as quickly as they had arrived. | RonN laughs at Ched | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock padlock with copper key" | ||||
Floyd | The padlock springs open, falling off the door and into the bay. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open cabin" | RonN says, "laughs at donuts" | |||
Floyd | Using the old bronze key, I unlock the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | I open the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius asks, "Wut?" | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "How did the padlock fly off into the ocean?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The donut machine is an object in the Toyshop. I forgot to speak to Floyd." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | After all these years, on finally getting to see Leo's studio, I find Floyd | my only reaction is "No wonder he never let me see this place." Leo's Floyd | studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is a stack of papers impaled Floyd | on a spindle, and across from it stands a tranquilly ticking Floyd | grandfather clock. The door back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "I know, Jacq. It's only funny when a veteran does that."" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | Solid ash. I have no idea how Leo got this in here---it's taller than Floyd | the door---but it does do rather a lot for the room's ambiance. The Floyd | face, for some reason, is at the bottom of the clock, and the exposed Floyd | pendulum swings freely at eye level. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Heh. Well, it's annoying to me when I do it, trust me." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I didn't mean to." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read clock" | ||||
Floyd | Solid ash. I have no idea how Leo got this in here---it's taller than Floyd | the door---but it does do rather a lot for the room's ambiance. The Floyd | face, for some reason, is at the bottom of the clock, and the exposed Floyd | pendulum swings freely at eye level. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "Irene forgot to welcome us to her lacuna." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x face" | ||||
Floyd | (myself) Floyd | I'm the same as I've always been. With more age spots and less Floyd | colourful hair than in times past, I suppose. The purple nightgown I'm Floyd | wearing perhaps can't be said to flatter, but in any case I've found Floyd | people give me more and more leeway with my appearance as the years go Floyd | by. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x hammock" | ||||
Floyd | It does look cosy, if a bit claustrophobic, strung practically from Floyd | corner to corner as it is. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x desk" | ||||
Floyd | It might be cherrywood; it's been covered with dozens of swatches of Floyd | paint of every shade so that it's difficult to imagine what it used to Floyd | look like. Off to one side are a stack of papers piled on a spindle, Floyd | and on the other side sits a large, hinged-lidded wooden box. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x papers" | ||||
Floyd | The sheets are covered in Leo's spidery handwriting, and the make of Floyd | paper seems familiar; it looks like they've been torn from the pad Floyd | that I gave Leo for his last birthday, when he was making noises about Floyd | wanting to keep a journal. Floyd | Floyd | It looks like there are monthly entries, dating from last November up Floyd | until this month. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "x pendulum?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read entries" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want me to read in? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read papers" | ||||
Floyd | It looks like the entries are monthly, dating from last November up Floyd | until this month. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | It's of the long, ponderous variety, and fashioned of some kind of Floyd | faux gold, and is swinging in a slow, hypnotic arc. The end of it is Floyd | tarnished by fingerprints, which gleam, iridescent, as it moves. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read november" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking the papers) Floyd | Floyd | Happy birthday to me. Celebrated by springing for doors with locks for Floyd | every room in the flat---an enormous pain to install, but I console Floyd | myself thinking of how much easier it'll be to go back and forth with Floyd | the master key when I'm working. Floyd | Floyd | Along with this journal, an amazing new sable paintbrush from Matilda. Floyd | Perhaps Irene told her I was looking for a new one, but I would never Floyd | have thought to get anything of this quality for myself. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "The box is probably the music box." | |||
| Cheddarius asks, "Wait, who was Matilda again?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Us" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "yeah...what DW said" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Oh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read december" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Finally finished Matilda's "not-from-life" painting, just in time for Floyd | Christmas. Would be sorely tempted to go in if I could think of a way Floyd | to get back once there. Otherwise busy. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Let me read the journal entries, then we'll look at the box. Will that work?" | |||
| DavidW says, "sure" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read january" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Should write this down for reference: have been messing about with Floyd | some of the paintings in the gallery. I realise this ought to be Floyd | dangerous, but as far as I can tell, there's no potential for things Floyd | to go really wrong. If I go back and change something, time proceeds Floyd | forward from that moment without regard to how the future was supposed Floyd | to play out. Was looking forward to causing paradoxes galore, but Floyd | apparently not. Floyd | Floyd | Frankly, would rather be painting than dabbling in metaphysics, but Floyd | there's really no other way to spend the time when it's too cold to Floyd | paint. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "er, Matilda is our body. We're a voice. In Matilda. Just so we're clear." | |||
| RonN says, "it's complicated." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read february" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I hate not being able to paint outdoors. Inevitably I find myself Floyd | trudging through the gallery, wondering which paintings I might be Floyd | able to get away with entering. But if every painting that hasn't been Floyd | entered before will take me to the time and place it was painted, it Floyd | means that unless I were especially stealthy I'd end up running into Floyd | my former self as he was finishing up the work in question. But it's Floyd | frustrating looking back on a particularly happy work and knowing Floyd | that, however much I long to go in, I'll always be too cautious to Floyd | actually attempt it. Floyd | Floyd | Irene calling. Another night commiserating by candlelight. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius exclaims, "Leo is his own father!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read march" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I've lost the master key. Was in the city finishing up with the garden Floyd | painting this morning . . . I thought I heard a guard coming; grabbed Floyd | the painting and ran, only to realise I'd dropped the key somewhere. Floyd | By the time I got back, the gardens were open and the key was long Floyd | gone. Had to walk home with the painting. Should probably be more Floyd | philosophical about it, but in fact I don't think I've ever been Floyd | angrier. Floyd | Floyd | Can't believe the entire gallery is lost. All the paintings are Floyd | inaccessible now except the one in my flat, the one I gave to Matilda, Floyd | and the one I was working on this morning. Thank God I never got Floyd | around to putting that one back in the gallery! Floyd | Floyd | All I can think, over and over, is Life's work. Inaccessible forever. Floyd | Life's work. Forever. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Whoaaaaa. Leo tried to enter one of the old paintings" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "And then Irene shot him" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "This is my interpretation of these events" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read april" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Quarantined in the house; they estimate we'll be able to leave the Floyd | neighbourhood next week. Heard on the wireless this morning that the Floyd | gardens have gone up in flames: arson, they're saying, or looters. Floyd | Floyd | I spent all day today staring at the painting I finished in the Floyd | gardens, but I'm afraid of what could happen if I actually used it. I Floyd | could have lost the key anytime that morning, and if I couldn't find Floyd | it I'd have no way to get back here. Floyd | Floyd | Damn it. Will give the painting to Matilda---she'll appreciate it and Floyd | I won't have to think about it anymore. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Whoa" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Curiouser and curiouser" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read may" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I think Irene knows where I've hidden the gun; I caught her sneaking Floyd | around in Matilda's flat very early this morning. I haven't told Floyd | either of them that I saw her, but Matilda might do well to lock her Floyd | front door at night. Floyd | Floyd | At this point it serves me right even if she does find it. Helped Floyd | Matilda hang the peace gardens painting upstairs in her flat, then Floyd | gave the gallery key to Irene and told her to keep it safe somewhere Floyd | where I'd never have to look at it again---it's useless now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read june" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I can't take this anymore. I've almost finished a new painting in the Floyd | garden behind the house; tomorrow morning, as soon as it's done, I'm Floyd | going in. If Irene catches me, so much the better, because I can't Floyd | stand to wait any longer. Floyd | Floyd | That's the last entry. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hrm." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Music box?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | A sizable rosewood affair, large enough to stand in, and lovingly Floyd | handpainted with little music notes floating around a building---a Floyd | building that looks a lot like our flat, in fact. There's a dark Floyd | scrawl on the side of the box, which, strangely, doesn't seem to have Floyd | a bottom; under the closed lid I can see the paint drawing towards a Floyd | single point, leading down farther and farther, into darkness. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Leo is his own father AND mother" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x scrawl" | ||||
Floyd | A series of totally illegible thin lines, but they're definitely Leo's Floyd | initials. Floyd | Floyd | > | Lucea says, "back" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Back?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "She was afk" | ||||
| RonN asks, "OT: if a game has or requires bold and italic, we won't be able to see it in ClubFloyd, will we?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh. heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I thought you were telling me to go back." | ||||
| Gerynar says (to RonN), "nope" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to RonN), "No." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open lid" | ||||
Floyd | The box springs open, revealing a ring of keys, and a familiar, sweet Floyd | little tune fills the air around me: Pachelbel's Canon, perhaps? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cheddarius says (to Floyd), "x keys" | ||||
Floyd | An entirely unremarkable little circle of steel. On it are an amber Floyd | key, a ruby key, a sapphire key, a jade key, and the other brass key. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cheddarius says, "Oooh. Swanky." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take keys" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x amber key" | ||||
Floyd | The stone is slightly flawed near the handle, but otherwise it's such Floyd | a beautiful piece of work I'd be reluctant to actually unlock Floyd | something with it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x ruby key" | ||||
Floyd | I'm no jeweler, but I'm pretty certain this is genuine ruby. Where in Floyd | hell did Leo get this? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x sapphire key" | ||||
Floyd | Well, perhaps it isn't real sapphire, but I've never seen any metal Floyd | dyed such a striking shade of blue. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x jade key" | ||||
Floyd | A dusky green key, polished enough so that it shines in the light. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x other brass ey" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting me to examine the other brass Floyd | key. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x other brass key" | ||||
Floyd | A nondescript, standard-sized key. Except for the pattern of ridges, Floyd | it is nearly identical to my house key. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i want a set. I want feelies." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Seems odd that the gallery key would be in here." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "So. What is the desire of the group now?" | ||||
| inky says, "surely we'll have to teleport via painting to the garden to get the gallery key" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "er, Wasn't the gallery key the tiny copper one?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Hm, yeah." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Or is the gallery someplace other than here?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to David), "That's the studio key, methinks." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "the tiny copper was for the padlock, the big key unlocked the shack door" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "The studio and gallery aren't the same place?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think so, no." | ||||
| RonN is thoroughly confused. | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So what is the 'gallery' then?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Or, at least, I think of a gallery as where you display paintings, and a studio is where you actually work on them." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "There were guards in the gallery that he was afraid of" | ||||
| RonN says, "yeah, that, Jacq" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "Maybe the country's at war?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Cheddarius), "Garden, I thought that said." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open desk" | ||||
Floyd | No drawers. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close door" | ||||
Floyd | I close the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x holes" | ||||
Floyd | A football-sized opening where the ceiling of the cabin has rotted Floyd | away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | This roughshod wooden shack would be rustic and charming, say, in the Floyd | middle of the forest, but dropped into the middle of the beach like Floyd | this it's simply jarring. Floyd | Floyd | The last sliver of sun dips below the horizon. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look in hole" | ||||
Floyd | Craning upward, I reach through the hole and feel around on the roof. Floyd | Nothing immediately apparent, and a cursory glance doesn't reveal very Floyd | much. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search hole" | ||||
Floyd | Craning upward, I reach through the hole and feel around on the roof. Floyd | Nothing immediately apparent, and a cursory glance doesn't reveal very Floyd | much. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "hm. Up?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Hrm. Okay. Red herring?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt I could even get my head through that hole, let alone my body Floyd | entire. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "this part is one of my favorite puzzles" | |||
| inky says, "(in the game)" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of inky), "Oh, you dog. You've played this, huh?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "he was in the garden before it was open" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I wonder..." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, though not since it came out" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Maybe we adjust time and find something in this hole then?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "What happens if we stand in the music box?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in box" | ||||
Floyd | It's a promising prospect, but I think it works like the paintings; it Floyd | won't let me in unless I've stopped time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for nothingthe music box, which glimmers like the only thing Floyd | that matters in the world. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in box" | ||||
Floyd | Going into a painting---well, that's one thing; it's like stepping Floyd | through a window. But a little box? I place my hand inside, not really Floyd | expecting anything to happen . . . Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | The pocketwatch has reappeared in my hand. Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | (from Jacqueline) Jacqueline says, "Weird." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Undo, or proceed from here?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "So the music box is the way home." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So it would seem." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I say we either undo, or head to our apartment and find our painting." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Or search his apartment more." | ||||
| RonN asks, "wasn't the music box *painted*, though?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to RonN), "Yes." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "yes it was" | ||||
| RonN says, "ok, so it makes sense we can use it to teleport" | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "Yes. So was the hall outside this room." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We haven't checked the bathroom yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf6" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "touch wall" | ||||
Floyd | (the swatches) Floyd | I don't feel anything unexpected. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Upstairs (in monochrome) Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching spectrums of subtly graduated grey, and the walls are covered Floyd | with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the west, Floyd | the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, ";enter wall/fllor/ceiling?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x swatches" | ||||
Floyd | It continually amazes me that Leo can simply splatter paint at random Floyd | on his walls and create something attractive. One could spill Floyd | spaghetti sauce on the floor and he could simply extend the line of Floyd | the stain and make you think it's part of the existing design. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Okay, so those are just home decor and don't count?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "touch floor" | ||||
Floyd | Completely unyielding, and cold as stone. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | Snap: colours. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I am suspicious about this room." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Using the sapphire key, I unlock Leo's toilet door. Floyd | Floyd | I open Leo's toilet door. Floyd | Floyd | Water Closet Floyd | I'm more or less used to it by now, but by far the most awkward part Floyd | of my living arrangement continues to be the sharing of this toilet Floyd | with Leo. The house wasn't built to be a duplex, but luckily we got to Floyd | be friends quickly and have long since learned to pretend we don't Floyd | have occasional graceless encounters. The door back to my flat is Floyd | northeast, Leo's northwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "well apparently the paing must be *of* something." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Aha. The keys." | ||||
| RonN says, "painting*" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Huh." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I want to go find our painting." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "May I?" | ||||
| RonN says (to jacq), "knowck ourselves out." | RonN says, "knock*" | |||
| DavidW says, "sure, but it's curious indeed that a sapphire key was needed to enter the community bathroom." | ||||
| RonN cannot spel tooday | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to David), "Well, no, not exactly curious." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "I mean, it's to keep us from entering his side of the house, isn't it?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Since we share a common bath?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "but sapphire?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "oh. I see. There's two exits?" | ||||
| Jacqueline shrugs. "He's an artist." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah. One exit to our side, the other to his." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | The door rattles irritatingly---the latch on the other side must be Floyd | locked. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "oh, re-reading, it isn't a real sapphire. the ruby was real" | |||
| DavidW says, "ah. And of course, we locked our side from him." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He locked his side for the same reason we've locked ours." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing. Yes." | ||||
| RonN says, "yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says, "well, we can go around and unlatch it." | ||||
| RonN says, "but there's no adventure in our apartment." | ||||
| RonN asks, "oh wait, he gave us a painting, didn't he?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Yes, there maybe is." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I believe there's a painting Jacq would like to look at." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He gave us a- right." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Hm. Look around in here first?" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Like the kitchen?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Leo's Kitchen Floyd | This room, too, was once a sort of miniature exhibition of Leo's Floyd | paintings, but they, too, have vanished since last I was here. The Floyd | setup here is even more minimalist than in the front room---no table, Floyd | even. The door out to his back porch is northwest, and the front room Floyd | is south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Someone who likes to implement didn't want to implement inconsequential stuff. heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Though in reality it's probably an intentional part of the plot." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Given the rest of what we've seen." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Bizarrely, the door is locked from the outside. There's even a little Floyd | green keyhole next to the door handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "of course. all artists are dirt-poor and can't afford material furniture." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with emerald key" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, Leo's back door or Leo's kitchen door? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Unlock it with the jade key?" | |||
| RonN says, "it's a union rule. or something" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "leo's back door" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, was it jade? That's right." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock back door with jade key" | ||||
Floyd | I stick Leo's key in the lock; it turns normally, but the door doesn't Floyd | budge. I guess the lock mechanism must be broken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Let's keep it in mind for later." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | I have a number of keys, and it takes me a moment to go through them Floyd | all, but I am immensely disturbed when the key that slips in the lock Floyd | and turns ends up being the key to my own front door. I hope Irene Floyd | isn't aware that she can go in and out of my flat at her leisure, but, Floyd | I realise with a sinking feeling, she almost certainly is, and does. Floyd | Floyd | I open the door to Irene's Room. Floyd | Floyd | Casually, I lean over and peek through the door; no one seems to be Floyd | about. I step cautiously through the doorway. Floyd | Floyd | Irene's Room Floyd | This bedroom seems like a room from another flat completely; at any Floyd | rate it's free of Leo's cavalier paint-it-all approach to decor. The Floyd | furniture is spartan to the point of ruthlessness, arranged to frame Floyd | the gigantic four-poster waterbed. The overall effect is one of rather Floyd | severe cleanliness. The front room is back to the southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Aha." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And Leo didn't realize." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Nice touch." | ||||
| RonN? | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x bed" | ||||
Floyd | A luxurious and horribly inviting waterbed that I can only imagine Floyd | must be murder upon the spinal cord. With the exception of a large Floyd | quilt that seems to have been banished to the far side of the room, Floyd | the linens are tasteful and colourless; the cumulative effect is to Floyd | make one almost overwhelmingly sleepy just looking at it. Floyd | Floyd | On its edge lies a single sheet of notebook paper. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "I missed the significance here.." | |||
| Jacqueline asks (of RonN), "Of what? The 'nice touch' I mentioned?" | ||||
| RonN says, "the aha" | ||||
| RonN asks, "what didn't leo realize?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The journal said that Leo had seen Irene wandering about in our flat, and that we should lock our door. We *did* lock our door, but it didn't matter." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Q: If Leo makes paintings, does Irene make quilts?" | ||||
| RonN says, "ah, i see." | ||||
| RonN says, "david, good question" | ||||
| RonN asks, "maybe she retired?" | ||||
| RonN says, "from painting i mean" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We should read the paper first, though." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read paper" | ||||
Floyd | (the papers) Floyd | It looks like the entries are monthly, dating from last November up Floyd | until this month. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to RonN), "I'm suggesting that the magic or whatever is not necessarily restricted to paint." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sheet" | ||||
Floyd | A calligraphy pen on unlined paper, and a trembling, angular hand that Floyd | I recognise as Irene's. It reads: Floyd | Floyd | Dear, dear Ivy, I looked up today and realised I'd been gazing at you Floyd | for hours . . . I was thinking, my father used to say you looked just Floyd | like your mother, but he never said the same about me . . . do you Floyd | suppose that's why he painted you right after his wife died, but Floyd | simply sat and cried when I lost mine? But whom do you think he loved Floyd | better, then, mine or yours? Floyd | Floyd | Ivy, do you know how many times I've pushed the button on the Floyd | pocketwatch, just to watch you watch me? and twice I came within Floyd | seconds of leaping into the painting, just to be with you again? I Floyd | miss you . . . I miss you . . . Floyd | Floyd | The rest of the page trails off into ellipsis-laden indecipherability. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says (to yeah), "i know" | |||
| RonN sighs. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, the 'paper' is the papers of Leos? We must have taken them." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "For a moment I thought it was just a weird coincidence." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also... wow." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is both creepy and not making sense." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm unclear how Ivy is related to Irene." | ||||
| RonN says, "i should've read _the time-traveler's wife_ to get a clue here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| RonN asks, "sister?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, hooray for 'ellipsis-laden indecipherability.'" | ||||
| RonN asks, "half-sister?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "My e-mails are often littered with 'ellipsis-laden indecipherability.' It's something I've been trying to work on." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x quilt" | ||||
Floyd | It seems to be hand-crocheted, woven in a spiral of clashing colours Floyd | working their way slowly out from the centre. Ornate and well-crafted, Floyd | but an eyesore, really. It seems to have been thrown over some large, Floyd | awkwardly-shaped object in the corner here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "move quilt" | ||||
Floyd | I pull the blanket to one side of the room, revealing a large painting Floyd | perched on an easel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yes. Half-sister, I think." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That makes sense." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | A young girl, perhaps four years old and decked out in a polka-dotted Floyd | dress, gazes directly at me with a frankness that manages to be Floyd | completely disconcerting. I want to say that this is Irene herself, Floyd | eighty years ago, but it's impossible to say for sure. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | The subject of the painting sighs, making me jump. She doesn't turn, Floyd | though. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "yikes" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Irene's Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Can we talk to Ivy?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "Whoa" | ||||
| Cheddarius asks, "What happened?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to ivy" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the painting of the young girl or Ivy? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| RonN says (to floyd), "x ivy" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the painting of the young girl or Ivy? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | A young girl, perhaps four years old and decked out in a polka-dotted Floyd | dress, gazes directly at me with a frankness that manages to be Floyd | completely disconcerting. I want to say that this is Irene herself, Floyd | eighty years ago, but it's impossible to say for sure. Floyd | Floyd | The subject of the painting sighs, making me jump. She doesn't turn, Floyd | though. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to ivy" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the painting of the young girl or Ivy? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | A little less hesitantly this time, I clamber into the painting, Floyd | relieved to be surrounded by colour once more. When I turn around, Floyd | Irene's Room has vanished. Floyd | Floyd | Drawing Room Floyd | A somewhat fussily decorated sitting room, all high-flung Queen Anne Floyd | arches and artfully aged brick. Not far in front of me is Irene's Floyd | older sister---Ivy, was it?---perhaps four years old, looking Floyd | unnaturally posed in an uncomfortable-looking white gown and elaborate Floyd | hat. Her father is some distance away, putting the last strokes on the Floyd | painting. Outside, the snow falls. Floyd | Floyd | Ivy has turned and is looking directly at me. She says nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "er, it's like those paintings in Hogwarts?" | |||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask ivy about irene" | ||||
Floyd | Before I can move, Ivy speaks. "Da? Look!" Floyd | Floyd | He does. Then he removes his pince-nez and watches me silently for a Floyd | moment. He has Leo's eyes, I notice. Floyd | Floyd | Unwilling to say anything, I stand up and hand him the stone key (the Floyd | same one that Leo took away from me before, surely? but there's no Floyd | time for such thoughts now). Then I lean over to steal a glance at the Floyd | painting---it is complete, exactly as it will be in seventy years but Floyd | for the colours, which are slightly brighter. The real Ivy watches me Floyd | intensely. Her father, meanwhile, is turning the ankh over and over in Floyd | his hands. At last he looks up to stare at me bemusedly. "An Floyd | interesting contraption, I must say. You are to be commended on your Floyd | stealth. I do, however, insist on knowing how you came to be in my Floyd | sitting room without the servants' knowledge. You shall have to Floyd | explain yourself, madam." Floyd | Floyd | In spite of myself, I find myself smiling up at him inanely. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** He has won *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Um." | |||
| DavidW says, "bug" | ||||
| Lucea is completely lost | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Whaaaaaat" | ||||
| RonN is more lost that Lucea | ||||
| DavidW says, "We haven't seen a stone key yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Bug because we never had the stone key." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Right." | ||||
| RonN than* | Jacqueline says, "hrm." | |||
| Cheddarius says, "I'm the most lost. I've been away for the last 30 minutes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ched), "You'll need to read scrollback, then." | ||||
| RonN says, "ched is lostest." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm starving." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Very well. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Fifteen minute break?" | |||
| Cheddarius says, "This only saves a few pages" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Maybe 5 or 6 commands" | ||||
| RonN says, "I think i felt the bug coming on with those disambig questions..." | ||||
| Jacqueline doesn't understand why people use clients that don't have lots of scrollback. | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Need food, or should we continue?" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "It's the first one I found" | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "The java one on the ifmud website" | ||||
| RonN doesn't understand why he's using telnet instead of a real client. | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh, I can hold on a bit longer." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Cheddarius), "Well, there are ones you can download that give you a lot more versatility." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Okay." | ||||
| Cheddarius says, "Ah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So. Not talking to Ivy again. Creeped out enough and she's buggy." | ||||
| RonN says, "ditto that ah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's go back to our apartment." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Irene's Room Floyd | This bedroom seems like a room from another flat completely; at any Floyd | rate it's free of Leo's cavalier paint-it-all approach to decor. The Floyd | furniture is spartan to the point of ruthlessness, arranged to frame Floyd | the gigantic four-poster waterbed. The overall effect is one of rather Floyd | severe cleanliness; the painting of the young girl in the corner Floyd | seeming to constitute the only exception to the rule. The front room Floyd | is back to the southwest. Floyd | Floyd | On the waterbed is a page of looseleaf. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "It's not locked anymore." | |||
| RonN asks, "looseleaf? i thought it was a 'sheet'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "You're right about bugs, but overall I'm trying to overlook them because the game is otherwise pretty stunning and awesome." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I guess it changed." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy arrives, ready to play with the toys. | Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Looseleaf is a type of sheet." | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Are you still playing?" | ||||
| RonN says, "yeah, good game, I like it." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Why are you a Sergeant again?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I seem to remember the sapphire key not working from the inside of the bathroom." | ||||
| Doe arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Jacqueline asks, "Or wait, weren't you a Captain?" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy goes home. | RonN says, "wow, touchy" | |||
| RonN says, "heh" | ||||
| Doe asks, "whatca playing?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hello, Doe." | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy arrives, ready to play with the toys. | DavidW says, "Primrose Path" | |||
| Doe says, "hi" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "Primrose Path" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We're two hours in, though." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "gna...kmuddy crashed" | ||||
| Doe asks, "how long you been going?" | ||||
| RonN says, "hi Doe. good timing. we're on a bug break" | ||||
| Doe says, "heh" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says (to Jacq), "I was going to say I'm on a different ocmputer." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Close to 2 hours now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x waterfall" | ||||
Floyd | This was a landscape Leo painted for me, of a cliff with a gigantic Floyd | waterfall completely filling the sky behind it. He usually paints from Floyd | life---he gets up before dawn every day to paint in all kinds of Floyd | strange places---but I asked him to do one for me from his mind, and Floyd | as far as I know it was the only one he's ever done. Now the frame is Floyd | shattered and the canvas torn nearly in half. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I doubt this painting is usable while torn." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hrm. Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Damn" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Try it, of course" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf8" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | RonN asks, "can anyone with a better idea of what's going on than me fill-in the new people?" | |||
Floyd | Maybe I could have a few hours ago, but these fragments are dead as Floyd | dead now. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Try moving the painting. Is there anything behind it?" | |||
| RonN says, "i could use the summary myself, i think" | ||||
| Doe says, "I'm looking up in ifwiki, thanks" | ||||
| RonN says, "'k" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move painting" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | |||
| Doe says, "course that doesn't tell me much" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | Snap: colours. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Doe), "not yet. Sorry." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move painting" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "fix painting" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want me to fix the remains of the painting to? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look behind painting" | ||||
Floyd | No behind to speak of. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take painting" | ||||
Floyd | I'll miss the painting, but not so much that I feel compelled to carry Floyd | its fragments around with me. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "doe, we have a ring that allows us to teleport through painting a la Blue Lacuna" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search painting" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe asks (of DavidW), "well, you don't put the whole game plotline online, right?" | |||
| RonN says, "and a stopwatch that stops time (the world goes monochrome)" | ||||
| Doe says, "okay" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Doe), "We haven't done spoiler pages on ifwiki yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess I'll look around our apartment a bit, even though there's probably nothing here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But we were in a hurry last time we were here, so." | ||||
| Doe says (to DavidW), "aha, well, this will help with that ;-)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe asks, "plastic good for anything?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "How was the painting ruined, again?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take plastic" | ||||
Floyd | That's hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | This room also has windows on three sides, and features splendid views Floyd | of the garden and the pond. Aside from the usual kitchen accessories, Floyd | I've got a little table here, and some cabinets. The exit to the Floyd | garden is northeast, and the rest of the house back south. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "finally, our neighbor Leo knocked on our front door before bleeding to death, his mother shot him, and we have to alter the timeline." | |||
| Doe says (to floyd), "look under plastic" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "It happened when we left Leo." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I missed that bit." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I assume *another Leo* grabbed the shot one." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pond" | ||||
Floyd | Dark and cold all year, and looking particularly tranquil this Floyd | morning---closer to blue than the usual brown. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "i did too. Leo did that in anguish?" | |||
| Doe says (to floyd), "mend painting" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I thought Leo just bled all over our floor." | |||
| Doe says, "need some duct tape" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we're not in that room anymore." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Don't even get me started on the damn slider. It's been swollen shut Floyd | because of the heat for three days now, and I have to sit here and Floyd | watch the garden wither until the weather improves. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think we might explore the back yard from *our* kitchen. Or go out the front door. Or check the windows in our bedroom." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x slider" | ||||
Floyd | A simple single-paned sliding glass door, more or less unusable now. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I guess we can't go out." | |||
| RonN asks, "why are we looking around the house again?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "We've never looked here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is our house, not his." | ||||
| RonN says, "oh" | ||||
| Doe says, "well, it might be possible to mend painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "Yes. Though 'fix' was misunderstood as 'affix.'" | ||||
| RonN says, "yeah, it threw a message, 'fix it with what?'" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Why do we want to mend the painting?" | ||||
| RonN says, "to teleport through it, seargeat" | ||||
| RonN says, "sergeant*" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy goes home. | Doe says, "teleport stop time or stop time and teleport" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy arrives, ready to play with the toys. | RonN says, "touchy. :)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to RonN), "It did not say that... it said:" | ||||
| Jacqueline | DavidW says (to Floyd), "fix painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open cabinets" | ||||
Floyd | You'll pardon my French if I say it's awful bloody early to be hungry. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "OK, apparently kmuddy crashes when you use the" | |||
| Jacqueline | | ||||
| Jacqueline | | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "grr" | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | This room also has windows on three sides, and features splendid views Floyd | of the garden and the pond. Aside from the usual kitchen accessories, Floyd | I've got a little table here, and some cabinets. The exit to the Floyd | garden is northeast, and the rest of the house back south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline | | |||
| RonN asks, "lag much, Jacq?" | ||||
| Jacqueline | | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, something weird is up." | ||||
| Doe asks, "trying to do a summary?" | ||||
| RonN is glad to know it isn't just his net connection. | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "look under table" | ||||
Floyd | Crumbs. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And I'm not sure what, but anyway, when we tried to fix the painting it replied 'What do you want me to fix the remains of the painting to?'" | |||
| Doe says (to floyd), "x crumbs" | ||||
Floyd | Looks like last night's dinner: French toast and potato chips. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And I just figured out what the issue was. Sorry for the mispastes." | |||
| Doe says, "okay maybe painting has served its purpose" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Eeww. We need a better diet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But anyway, yeah, I don't think we can fix the painting." | ||||
| RonN says, "ah. So it said fix but meant affix. I only read the first half of the sentence. thx." | ||||
| DavidW says, "not a healthy dinner. Even I eat better than Matilda." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Kitchen Floyd | This room also has windows on three sides, and features splendid views Floyd | of the garden and the pond. Aside from the usual kitchen accessories, Floyd | I've got a little table here, and some cabinets. The exit to the Floyd | garden is northeast, and the rest of the house back south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe asks, "any other paintings around?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x garden" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims, "um, having finished the Chips Ahoy, i don't!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search cabinets" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "There was the painting outside the cabin." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | I wind my way up to the landing. Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | The pond dominates the view. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | I'm hardly one for sentimentality, but frankly this window, with its Floyd | panoramic view of the pond, is the reason I bought the flat. It's a Floyd | nuisance in the summer, though; it's so huge it makes the building Floyd | into a bloody greenhouse. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Er. This being a landing, the up and down staircases both lie to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | A tiny, dank space beyond my decorative abilities to remedy. Leo's Floyd | painting on the west wall is just sufficiently distracting so that one Floyd | might not notice the total lack of windows, at least. The stairs down Floyd | lie to the east, my bedroom is north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "So the idea is to fix the painting to something different and then teleport there? Like in that weird dream game a couple of weeks ago?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "No." | ||||
| Doe asks, "ring work on other paintings?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "Yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Just not this one." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Perhaps the window in Leo's stairway opens?" | ||||
| Doe says, "okay leo's painting to save leo" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let me finish exploring our flat, then we'll go back." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Also, check south from Foyer." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Oh, outside, you mean?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Sure. Might be a mailbox." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x leo's painting" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting me to examine the other brass Floyd | key. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "painting" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "heh" | |||
| Doe says, "now that's weird" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | This is some of Leo's most recent work; he only finished it a few Floyd | months ago, and gave it to me for my birthday last May. It depicts a Floyd | garden path winding through a field of yellow flowers, receding into a Floyd | predawn sky. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oho" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf9" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "primrose path" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Shall we?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Anyone opposed?" | ||||
| RonN says, "i'm glad somebody knew that primroses were yellow" | ||||
| Doe asks, "explored whole area?" | ||||
| RonN says, "let's enter" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We haven't used this painting yet." | ||||
| Doe says, "k, go ahead" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we could finish that first, the exploring, or we could enter this painting." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Which?" | ||||
| RonN says, "enter painting. I want plot not puzzles." | ||||
| Doe says, "I'd get everything here first" | ||||
| Doe says, "unless you're pretty sure you got it" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "By 'here,' where? The painting or the house?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "sergeant? inky? maga?" | ||||
| Alex says (to RonN), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that maga is maga_dogg, which is "Mr Prime Minister! What is happenin in de country is not right! People are suffering!"." | ||||
| Cheddarius goes home. | Jacqueline says, "maga's not playing anymore, methinks. He was called away." | |||
| RonN says, "doh. and ched felt left out. I fail." | ||||
| Doe says, "house" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, Ched didn't feel left out." | ||||
| DavidW says, "afk to get laundry. Decide people." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He'd been away for so long I think he couldn't keep up." | ||||
| RonN says, "we can do doe's suggestion" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "I'll explore the rest of the house while you're getting laundry." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Then go in." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Bedroom Floyd | Everything is in perfectly in order here---white and austere, as I Floyd | like it. The door to the hallway lies to the south, and windows border Floyd | the other three sides of the room. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "good idea, this painting might explode too" | |||
| RonN says, "sounds good" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||||
Floyd | Just woods, plus the oak and the pond. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "brb" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pond" | ||||
Floyd | Dark and cold all year, and looking particularly tranquil this Floyd | morning---closer to blue than the usual brown. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x oak" | ||||
Floyd | Far, far older even than I, the oak towers over the building in a way Floyd | that makes human efforts at architecture seem rather pitiful. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x wood" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x woods" | ||||
Floyd | I rather like our house's situation in the middle of the forest, Floyd | although this particular one isn't exactly a thriving natural Floyd | specimen---most of these trees are less than a century old, having Floyd | only gone to seed after this area ceased to be profitable farmland. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | A tiny, dank space beyond my decorative abilities to remedy. Leo's Floyd | painting on the west wall is just sufficiently distracting so that one Floyd | might not notice the total lack of windows, at least. The stairs down Floyd | lie to the east, my bedroom is north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Now to go downstairs and outside, then we'll come back." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way down the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that Floyd | creaks. Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I open the screen door and head out. Floyd | Floyd | Driveway Floyd | Here we have what feels like about two metres of clearance in front of Floyd | the house before the driveway abruptly terminates in the motorway. Floyd | They widened the road about three years ago, and the cars tear by in Floyd | alarming numbers at thoroughly disconcerting speeds. I sigh, reminded Floyd | of the days when I actually possessed a licence, and this proximity Floyd | was a convenience rather than a headache. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x road" | ||||
Floyd | It's one of the thoroughfares into the city, although this last is Floyd | still many miles off. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x front garden" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks (of Jacq), "Sorry for missing the beginning but what's up with the creaking stairs? Is there something under it or was it used earlier?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x driveway" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Creaking stairs?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open the screen door and head in. Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | An eardrum-wrenching screech as I ascend: I wince and pull my foot off Floyd | the creaky step. Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | A tiny, dank space beyond my decorative abilities to remedy. Leo's Floyd | painting on the west wall is just sufficiently distracting so that one Floyd | might not notice the total lack of windows, at least. The stairs down Floyd | lie to the east, my bedroom is north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, THAT creaking stair." | |||
| DavidW says, "yes, the creaking stair is suspicious." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Yes, that one." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Um, I'm not sure. We could investigate." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way down the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that Floyd | creaks. Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x creaking stair" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | I wind my way up to the landing. Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x creaking stair" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stair" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stair" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "'step' maybe?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way down the stairs, carefully stepping over the one that Floyd | creaks. Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. The Floyd | walls are now entirely bare, the waterfall painting scattered over the Floyd | floor as it is. The front door lies to the southwest. The stairs up to Floyd | the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | My waterfall painting lies ruined on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x step" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stair" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Ambiance?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x steps" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x stairs" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "It must be a plot point. Irene or Leo will step on it later." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And we'll HEAR THEM COMING" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | An eardrum-wrenching screech as I ascend: I wince and pull my foot off Floyd | the creaky step. Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This is the landing of the stairwell, which makes a broad 180-degree Floyd | turn between upstairs and downstairs. A wide shaft of morning Floyd | sunlight streams in through the picture window which makes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall, and the staircases lie to the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hallway Floyd | A tiny, dank space beyond my decorative abilities to remedy. Leo's Floyd | painting on the west wall is just sufficiently distracting so that one Floyd | might not notice the total lack of windows, at least. The stairs down Floyd | lie to the east, my bedroom is north, and the toilet is southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "bak" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, about to enter the painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf10" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | A little less hesitantly this time, I clamber into the painting, Floyd | relieved to be surrounded by colour once more. When I turn around, the Floyd | Hallway has vanished. | DavidW asks, "Was the window in Leo's stair opened?" | |||
Floyd | Floyd | Sky Pavilion Floyd | Impossible. Floyd | Floyd | This is one of the exhibits in the Peace Gardens downtown, just Floyd | outside of the city . . . but it doesn't exist anymore. They tore the Floyd | entire neighbourhood down four or five months ago, after it burned to Floyd | the ground. Someone's cigarette, right in this pavilion, I think, or Floyd | maybe it turned out to be arson after all; either way, it was big news Floyd | at the time. Floyd | Floyd | And yet, here it is, much colder here than back home. There's a sheer Floyd | precipice just north of this pavilion, and the panoramic view of the Floyd | city and the river has always been---always used to be---to our city Floyd | what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. No tourists here today, though; the Floyd | garden must not be open yet. The pavilion, its entrance formed by two Floyd | towering redwoods, arcs over my head, and the path down to the main Floyd | part of the gardens is south. Floyd | Floyd | A sudden noise behind me, and I turn and see Leo, painting in the main Floyd | garden to the south. I am about to call out when he suddenly snatches Floyd | his still-dripping painting off the easel and darts away out of sight. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "so this is the past" | |||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "the guards are going to be coming" | ||||
| DavidW says, "He dropped his master key here somewhere." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes, yes, and yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | My hand hovers over the button, but hesitates at the last second. If Floyd | I'm in the past, any motion I take to detain Leo could change history, Floyd | surely? I want him to stay behind, to see me, more than anything, but Floyd | prudence---or perhaps cowardice---stops me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "climb tree" | ||||
Floyd | Pardon me, but the idea is ridiculous. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "We need to prevent them showing up and search for the key" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "This seems like a cool game. Pity I missed the beginning." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, Doe, inside the painting let's just have one person enter commands." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "As we're sort of on a timer." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But let me know what you want to do." | ||||
| Doe says, "oh, sure, didn't realize" | ||||
| Doe asks, "do you get yanked back?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "didn't leo just dart away? can't we SEARCH now?" | ||||
| Doe says, "yeah, search" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm up for searching, but I feel as if we should stop time. Wonder why it won't let us." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | My hand hovers over the button, but hesitates at the last second. If Floyd | I'm in the past, any motion I take to detain Leo could change history, Floyd | surely? I want him to stay behind, to see me, more than anything, but Floyd | prudence---or perhaps cowardice---stops me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search grass" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "go n" | |||
| DavidW says, "we probably have to watch what Leo does." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "check the easel" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | The circular wall of enormous hedges is impassable to anyone of my Floyd | meagre athletic talents. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "or Wait" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Centre Garden Floyd | Many of the branches here are covered in a crystal-fine layer of ice, Floyd | the drops are rolling off them as the sunlight hits the upper Floyd | branches---probably the last ice this garden will ever see, in fact. Floyd | Walkways lead off to the north, southeast, and southwest, and the Floyd | garden entrance is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is clambering over the hedge wall at the far end of the pavilion Floyd | to the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "x ground?" | |||
| RonN says, "heh" | ||||
| Doe says, "hmmm" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Follow him, or search?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We can always restore." | ||||
| RonN says, "search. that key..." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "search" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search ground" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search grass" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "follow" | |||
| RonN asks, "search hedge he clambered over?" | ||||
| Doe asks, "but isn't it too late to follow?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search hedge" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "go s" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | I rush toward Leo, calling his name as he dallies atop the thickest Floyd | part of the hedge, but just as I reach the pavilion he nimbly leaps Floyd | down to the other side. Floyd | Floyd | Earth Pavilion Floyd | This area is the only one that's received any sunlight yet this Floyd | morning. The ice has mostly melted here, and the petals on the rose Floyd | trees, perhaps encouraged by the frost, are cascading down in a Floyd | continuous shower. The rest of the pavilion is covered by all manner Floyd | of overgrown early spring blooms, and trees that have somehow managed Floyd | to be in flower this early in the year. The only exit is back to the Floyd | northwest. Floyd | Floyd | The only evidence of Leo's presence is a large stone key, already Floyd | half-obscured by the falling petals. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "go to hedge" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "The hedge is southeast." | ||||
| DavidW says, "here's the stone key" | ||||
| Doe says, "get key" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take key" | ||||
Floyd | (an ankh-shaped key) Floyd | Chips of mica glimmer as I pick the key up. It's oddly warm, whether Floyd | from someone's body heat or something more mysterious I couldn't say. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "a _stone_ key?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "Yes." | ||||
| Doe asks, "is that the master key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It makes sense, trust us." | ||||
| RonN says, "he's an artist." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Sorry." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "It's sort of a master key, yes." | ||||
| Doe says, "so maybe that is all we can do here" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Irene's father had it, didn't he?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm guessing we can't follow." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "It's the one he took from us when it was buggy and we shouldn't have had it." | ||||
| RonN asks, "per the Bug, but, what are we supposed to know right now?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "We'd know that this is the key to the gallery." | ||||
| RonN asks, "its the key to the gallery where he lost all his paintings, yes?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He lost it, and then could never access the other paintings." | ||||
| RonN says, "heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "and he was sad about being kept from all his life's work." | ||||
| DavidW says, "climb the hedge too, I guess. Or climb .... *something*" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb hedge" | ||||
Floyd | Really, really not feasible by any stretch of the imagination. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb tree" | ||||
Floyd | Pardon me, but the idea is ridiculous. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i guess we just leave" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I think we got what we needed." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'll tell you ridiculous" | ||||
| RonN says, "i guess we make like a tree, and leaf" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Now we need to change time, somehow." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "heehee" | ||||
| DavidW says, "x petals" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x petals" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x petals" | ||||
Floyd | The breeze is sending the rose petals down so thickly that it's Floyd | difficult to see ahead too far, and they blanket the ground here Floyd | completely. Nearly every colour is represented---a disproportionate Floyd | amount of yellow, perhaps, but lots of pink, red, purple, and even a Floyd | few bright blue. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | The breeze is sending the rose petals down so thickly that it's Floyd | difficult to see ahead too far, and they blanket the ground here Floyd | completely. Nearly every colour is represented---a disproportionate Floyd | amount of yellow, perhaps, but lots of pink, red, purple, and even a Floyd | few bright blue. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "climb *those*" | |||
| RonN says, "pretty" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Seriously?" | ||||
| RonN says, "well, our watch can allow us to evade any guards" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb petals" | ||||
Floyd | How? By flapping my arms? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Stop time. They'll be frozen in mid-air, no?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb petals" | ||||
Floyd | Carefully, I put my hand around one of the petals, then clamber my way Floyd | up, slowly but surely. Floyd | Floyd | Up a Tree (in monochrome) Floyd | I pause in the middle of the sea of petals, resting on a branch. The Floyd | petals thin out here, deep among the branches, and the spring blooms Floyd | of a hundred species of plants surround me. Floyd | Floyd | I can see a bird's nest here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I got what you meant, just took me a second." | ||||
| Doe says, "cute" | ||||
| Doe says, "really cute" | ||||
| RonN says, "awesome" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nest" | ||||
Floyd | I see nothing special about the bird's nest. Floyd | Floyd | I blink, disoriented. But no, the nest is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nest" | ||||
Floyd | I see nothing special about the bird's nest. Floyd | Floyd | It's definitely empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nest" | ||||
Floyd | I see nothing special about the bird's nest. Floyd | Floyd | It's definitely empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "No jewel-encrusted egg?" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "This is weird." | ||||
| RonN says, "i feel we're in _House of Flying Daggers_" | ||||
| Doe asks, "seen any birds in this game?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "nO" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm. Matilda was weird about the ring." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "er, no" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take ring" | ||||
Floyd | I already have that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "hmmm" | |||
| RonN says, "ok, turn on time again./" | ||||
| Doe asks, "get in nest?" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can we go higher?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Maybe... something ought to be put into the nest?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Wait. I'll turn on the time when we are down to one driver. But there may be more to explore first." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Hm, possibly." | ||||
| Doe says (to Davidw), "or someting shows up to settle in nest" | ||||
| RonN asks, "i think the nest is just scenery?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | The circular wall of enormous hedges is impassable to anyone of my Floyd | meagre athletic talents. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "or do we put the stone key in it now, and retrieve it at a later time?" | |||
| DavidW says, "The nest message vaguely reminded me of those bits in Back to the Future when the time stream changes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb petals" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb tree" | ||||
Floyd | Pardon me, but the idea is ridiculous. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, I'm headed down and going to try to find a way out." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Earth Pavilion (in monochrome) Floyd | This area is the only one that's received any sunlight yet this Floyd | morning. The ice has mostly melted here, and the petals on the rose Floyd | trees are frozen in midair, forming a labryrinth of petals. The rest Floyd | of the pavilion is covered by all manner of overgrown early spring Floyd | blooms, and trees that have somehow managed to be in flower this early Floyd | in the year. The only exit is back to the northwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Centre Garden (in monochrome) Floyd | Many of the branches here are covered in a crystal-fine layer of ice, Floyd | the drops frozen in mid-fall as the sunlight hits the upper branches. Floyd | Walkways lead off to the north, southeast, and southwest, and the Floyd | garden entrance is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "climb ice" | |||
| DavidW says, "frozen drops" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb ice" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb drops" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Which way/" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "er ?" | ||||
| Doe says, "okay only time the climbing thing works is petals" | ||||
| RonN asks, "can we return tothe apartment now?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "what's down the other path?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "or do we need to rescue some paintings before the arson?" | ||||
| Doe says, "we came in from the south" | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "We have no exit from here yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Ron), "Were there paintings here?" | ||||
| Doe says, "so se or sw would lead elsewhere" | ||||
| RonN says, "oh i guess not Jacq" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Leo took his with him." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Right. Was just asking which way we wanted to explore. I'll just pick." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Sea Pavilion (in monochrome) Floyd | The river runs immediately outside the hedge here, which is cut into a Floyd | window to reveal it roaring past. The main feature of this area is of Floyd | course the fountains, which rise from everywhere, their waters tinted Floyd | by the plants living in each. It's all very self-consciously Floyd | beautiful, of course, but I can't deny that it pleases even me. The Floyd | path itself winds slowly between them, meandering back around to the Floyd | northeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "also, might try to find out where the fire started." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Very good idea." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search hedge" | ||||
Floyd | City and river, entwined. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x river" | ||||
Floyd | A wide, stately, slow-flowing body of water, the sort songs are Floyd | written about. From here one sees the river before it flows into the Floyd | city; a blessing, since it's usually some shade of brown when it comes Floyd | out the other side Floyd | Floyd | At the moment, of course, it isn't flowing at all. I turn away, Floyd | discomfited. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "but the gardens aren't burned until next month, per Leo's diary, correct?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hrm, true. Something like that." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "We still have the papers. What did they say?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read april" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Quarantined in the house; they estimate we'll be able to leave the Floyd | neighbourhood next week. Heard on the wireless this morning that the Floyd | gardens have gone up in flames: arson, they're saying, or looters. Floyd | Floyd | I spent all day today staring at the painting I finished in the Floyd | gardens, but I'm afraid of what could happen if I actually used it. I Floyd | could have lost the key anytime that morning, and if I couldn't find Floyd | it I'd have no way to get back here. Floyd | Floyd | Damn it. Will give the painting to Matilda---she'll appreciate it and Floyd | I won't have to think about it anymore. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read march" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | I've lost the master key. Was in the city finishing up with the garden Floyd | painting this morning . . . I thought I heard a guard coming; grabbed Floyd | the painting and ran, only to realise I'd dropped the key somewhere. Floyd | By the time I got back, the gardens were open and the key was long Floyd | gone. Had to walk home with the painting. Should probably be more Floyd | philosophical about it, but in fact I don't think I've ever been Floyd | angrier. Floyd | Floyd | Can't believe the entire gallery is lost. All the paintings are Floyd | inaccessible now except the one in my flat, the one I gave to Matilda, Floyd | and the one I was working on this morning. Thank God I never got Floyd | around to putting that one back in the gallery! Floyd | Floyd | All I can think, over and over, is Life's work. Inaccessible forever. Floyd | Life's work. Forever. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, a month went by." | |||
| RonN says, "i think we've done all we need to do here, and is time to return to aparment." | ||||
| RonN says, "or, WAIT ONE MONTH or something." | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh. He *walked* home from here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Centre Garden (in monochrome) Floyd | Many of the branches here are covered in a crystal-fine layer of ice, Floyd | the drops frozen in mid-fall as the sunlight hits the upper branches. Floyd | Walkways lead off to the north, southeast, and southwest, and the Floyd | garden entrance is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i'm just unclear on how we save his life." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Wonder if we can just leave via the exit." | ||||
| Doe asks, "this is a month ahead?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "I think we'll do that in a different painting." | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "well, if we get the gun before Irene does..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Which we'll now be able to find because we have this key he lost." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can't we just leave across the stopped river?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But we need to find our way out of here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "We can't walk on water, no." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Tried to walk on water earlier, yeah." | ||||
| RonN says, "ok, it's all starting to make sense now. Yes, let's explore til we find the exit." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We determined that earlier in another painting." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Sky Pavilion (in monochrome) Floyd | There's a sheer precipice just north of this pavilion, and the Floyd | panoramic view of the city and the river has always been to our city Floyd | what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris. No tourists here today, though; the Floyd | garden must not be open yet. The pavilion, its entrance formed by two Floyd | towering redwoods, arcs over my head, and the path down to the main Floyd | part of the gardens is south. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We're actually *not* in a painting, y'know. This is just another part of the same city, in the past." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "So, S, S?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Centre Garden (in monochrome) Floyd | Many of the branches here are covered in a crystal-fine layer of ice, Floyd | the drops frozen in mid-fall as the sunlight hits the upper branches. Floyd | Walkways lead off to the north, southeast, and southwest, and the Floyd | garden entrance is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Right." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Pagoda (in monochrome) Floyd | This entrance pavilion is the only man-made thing within the walls of Floyd | the Peace Gardens, but it blends well enough so that it's difficult to Floyd | notice. From a zenith straight overhead, the structure arches down to Floyd | the hedge, terminating in the iron entrance gate to the south. To the Floyd | north is the path leading back into the gardens proper. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Oddly enough, I lack the key to the public gardens. There is a large Floyd | keyhole, however, through which I can stare longingly at the outside Floyd | world. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look through keyhole" | ||||
Floyd | Through the bars and keyhole lies a pathway leading aover the river Floyd | and, eventually, back to the city. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Could the 'master key' unlock this anyway?" | |||
| RonN asks, "how did leo get in?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door" | ||||
Floyd | Ought I to try unlocking it with something specific? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Through a painting" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Same way we got here" | |||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Oh?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "And how is that to be reversed?" | ||||
| Jacqueline gives the helm to DW. | ||||
| RonN says (to david), "er, he would have to be here honestly before painting it and returning via painting" | RonN says, "also, unfreeze time" | |||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "oh right. We saw him create the painting we came in through." | DavidW says, "Somehow I thought it was another painting." | |||
| RonN says, "(was my msg to you David in the channel?)" | ||||
| Doe says, "heheh, door just opened and people came through" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "No." | ||||
| Doe says, "supposed to call first, and didn't" | ||||
| Doe says, "bit startling" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So. Hm." | ||||
| RonN says (to david), "er, he would have to be here honestly before painting it and returning via painting"" | ||||
| RonN says, "also, unfreeze time" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can we unlock the door after unstopping time?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Before, we got out via something else that was painted." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Touchy), "maybe." | ||||
| Doe asks, "does it fast forward time too?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The guards might catch *us* though." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "Maybe, but this isn't the key for that, I don't think. Then again, we have a lot of keys." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Also, maybe somebody is coming and that's why he ran..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf11" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "well, i'm sure the guards would kick us out. :)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Possibly, yeah." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door" | ||||
Floyd | Ought I to try unlocking it with something specific? Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says (to RonN), "Yeah, sounds reasonable." | |||
| DavidW says, "Unlock door with stone key" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | A disconcertingly endless expanse of nothing. Indeed, the only feature Floyd | of this place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "HUH" | |||
| DavidW says, "oops" | ||||
| RonN asks, "wha?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And there we are." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "So the key is magic, too?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ker-azy." | ||||
| Doe asks, "is this the gallery?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "or we're off the edge of the painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Must be." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think this is nothingness." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I walk away from the door a short distance, but it soon becomes Floyd | abundantly clear that there is nothing else here. Conscious of how Floyd | easy it would be to get lost, I return to the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "hey, interesting, gerynar" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Could just be nothing, yeah." | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key Floyd | a ruby key Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | The diamond ring is gone. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "step through door" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | A little desperately, I yank at the knob, but the door refuses to Floyd | budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe asks, "what happens if you go in and stop time?" | |||
| RonN says, "i love the author who inserts what each key is for in the inventory" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Shows you how immersed I was... forgot the proper commands." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "uh, north?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | A little desperately, I yank at the knob, but the door refuses to Floyd | budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Well, I could, but I'd be going nowhere. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "No, I just mean that I tried 'step through door'" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing happens. The watch hands spin absently. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "probably need to use the stone key to unlock the door" | |||
| RonN asks, "south?" | ||||
| Alex says (to RonN), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that the South is the greatest region in the whole world." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I thought the door was north?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, it's stuck." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x door" | Doe says, "or stop time and go through door" | |||
Floyd | A plain, white door with a shiny white doorknob and accompanying Floyd | keyhole. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Can't stop time. Tried." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through keyhole" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door" | ||||
Floyd | I've got quite a little collection of keys going here; you'll have to Floyd | specify which I ought to try. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "okay" | |||
| Gerynar says, "stone" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with brass key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "stone key" | |||
| DavidW says, "oh. If the sapphire key was used..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Aha." | ||||
| RonN says, "er? ok..." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Interesting.." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The key determined the destination." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We could undo and try a different key." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking they all work." | ||||
| RonN asks, "and the ring tells us... we're in realtime?" | ||||
| Doe says, "sounds right" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Want to try another..." | ||||
| Doe says (to Jac), "yes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Yes. When we have the ring, it's real time." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "sure" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Knock yourself out." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "If we used the jade key, we might find the backyard. And who knows where the ruby one goes." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with jade key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Very sexy." | |||
| RonN says, "ooooh." | ||||
| Doe says, "wonder if the paintings are still there" | ||||
| RonN asks, "undo, ruby?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pond" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "This rocks." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Wait" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unod" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | [Can't "undo" twice in succession. Sorry!] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I guess the pond is east." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/und" | ||||
Floyd | Ambiguous command. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | Porch Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims, "yay!" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "I need to save there. Or did I?" | ||||
| RonN says, "dunno" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf12" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "save anyway" | |||
| DavidW says, "I don't remember" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Anyway, saved. Green again and explore, or a different key?" | ||||
| RonN now understands the 'driver' etiquette of clubfloyd. | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm trying to pay attention and not starve." | ||||
| Doe says, "this game has interesting imagery and magic anyway" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Yep" | ||||
| RonN asks, "ruby key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "How long do you need to get food?" | ||||
| Doe asks, "where does the ruby key go?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I could use a quick break myself." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Doe), "We have no idea yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "We don't know yet." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "break sounds good to me" | ||||
| Doe says, "k, break is fine" | ||||
| RonN says, "DW needs food badly." | ||||
| DavidW says, "That's why we want to use it." | ||||
| Doe says, "I need to clean my kitchen" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Heh. Yes." | ||||
| Doe asks, "how long?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Eat, man." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "How long do you need?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "two weeks :)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Roommate made a pizza. He said I could try some." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Okay. Let's take... ten?" | ||||
| RonN says, "cannot you eat and read at the same time? I just did." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Meet back here at ten 'til the hour." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "He needs to go *get* the food." | ||||
| Doe says, "sounds good" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "k." | ||||
| RonN says, "ok, ten miinute break" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "See you all at ten 'til. No one play until then." | ||||
| RonN says, "ah" | ||||
| RonN twiddles thumbs. | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "can we play the version we downloaded?" | ||||
| RonN says, "the paradox will make both universes explode." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "fine, I'll keep the universes safe :)" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "What are we playing?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "Primrose Path" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Touchy, weren't you here already?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Do you have amnesia?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Are you an IF cliche?" | ||||
| RonN says, "he's an IF PC" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing. heh" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "I wasn't aware that he name was mentioned." | ||||
| RonN says, "well, DW fell prey to a hunger puzzle..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "We're on a break." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Also, I don't know anything about that." | ||||
| Fang arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | DavidW says, "I'm back" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, Primrose Path." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Wow, with 5 seconds to spare." | ||||
| RonN is now dressed. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's give it a minute to make sure everyone is back." | ||||
| DavidW says, "His pizza was extremely tasty and spicy and more suitable as a lasagna." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "yay" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "time" | ||||
| DavidW says, "He said it was vegeterian but I wouldn't've been able to tell." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, let's start again." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Which key?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Did you guys explore the backyard?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "ruby. where's Doe?" | ||||
| Alex says (to RonN), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that Doe is the Disco Deer." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Nope. We did nothing while you were pizza-ing." | ||||
| RonN asks, "and why do I have a parrot named Alex hounding me?" | ||||
| Doe says, "bak, kitchen cleaned and got food" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Doesn't not back, but she will be soon enough (also, as she wasn't here until recently, I'm okay with moving along without her)." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And there she is" | ||||
| RonN tries to parse, "doesn't not back" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Doe's not back" | ||||
| Doe says, "doe's not back" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, s/Doesn't/Doe's - silly auto fingers." | ||||
| Doe says, "although I am really, sort of" | ||||
| RonN says, "ok, ruby key" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We didn't do anything yet, Doe." | ||||
| Doe says (to Jac), "I know :-)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, Alex is our bot parrot, who tries to be helpful and often is." | ||||
| Doe asks, "ruby key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we can do ruby, but let's remember to go back and explore the jade at some point." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But yeah, I'm curious where they all go." | ||||
| RonN says, "...and often isn't not" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with ruby key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Sapphire and bronze we already know." | |||
| Doe says, "another painting" | ||||
| Doe says, "x painting" | ||||
| RonN says, "well that was anticlimactic" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, we've been here." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "this is the first painting we entered" | ||||
| DavidW says, "There's an amber key" | ||||
| RonN says (to floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "What was Sapphire?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh right" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Toilet" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So that's all of them, then." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Back to the yard, then?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Explore the back yard, I guess." | ||||
| RonN asks, "how did we miss the porch when exploring the house?" | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "did we do the amber key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing, yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "We couldn't get out the door from that side." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We didn't miss the porch. It's locked." | ||||
| Doe asks, "haven't explored porch yet?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "ah" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with jade key" | ||||
Floyd | That doesn't seem to fit the lock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Somehoe jade isn't as sexy as ruby to this crowd." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "ok, then, now that we have full control of our own duplex, what do we do next plot or puzzle -wise?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with jade key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "well, stop leo's mom" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "We want to explore the back yard first." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "and you guys haven't done amber yet, have you?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "don't think so" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh no, I guess my eyes skimmed over that." | ||||
| Doe says, "no" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh well, we're here now, let's do the yard, then amber." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | A garden, co-grown by Leo and me, although it generally seems like I Floyd | end up doing most of the work. Currently the centrepiece of the garden Floyd | is an easel of Leo's, which at the moment is ruthlessly engaged in Floyd | crushing my violets, a very recent-looking painting of the pond to the Floyd | east perched upon it. His porch is to the west, mine to the east. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, ""Jacq wants to do Amber." *giggle*" | |||
| Doe asks, "seen this painting before?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "Man, grow up." | ||||
| Jacqueline rolls her eyes. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | It's of the pond due east of here, and it looks to be complete, or Floyd | nearly so. Leo's done it up to be rather nicer than it really is, all Floyd | shimmers and ripples as the sun rises over it, and even a small fox in Floyd | the lower right hand corner, sipping the water. It doesn't seem like Floyd | the paint is even completely dry. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar catches Jacq's eyes and puts them in a jar | |||
| Jacqueline sighs. | ||||
| Doe says, "hmmm, pond" | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "is going into an unfinished painting safe?" | ||||
| Doe says, "window over looking pond" | ||||
| DavidW says, "So this painting will take us back to *here* in the recent past. I doubt we're ready for that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf13" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Enter, or restore to 12 and check out the amber key?" | |||
| DavidW says, "We'll almost either find Leo or Irene." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "I say painting" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking this pond painting might be critical." | ||||
| RonN says, "i agree w/David. I think this is the thing we need for Happy Ending." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Would the gun be hiding here somewhere?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search garden" | ||||
Floyd | I don't find anything of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says (to jacq), "timing. :)" | |||
| Doe says, "x violets" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x violets" | ||||
Floyd | I really ought to have a word with Leo about painting in the garden. Floyd | These violets' sacrifice for artistic beauty is obscurely poetic, I Floyd | suppose, but still constitutes an insenstive move on Leo's part. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "explore porch" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | RonN exclaims, "tyop!" | |||
Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x porch" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Using the jade key, I unlock Leo's back door. Floyd | Floyd | I open Leo's back door. Floyd | Floyd | Leo's Kitchen Floyd | The setup here is even more minimalist than in the front room---no Floyd | table, even. The door out to his back porch is northwest, and the Floyd | front room is south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, I guess we can come and go via that now." | |||
| Doe asks (of DavidW), "you think that's it?" | ||||
| Doe asks, "find gun so Mom doesn't get it?" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can we explore our own porch?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Should we leave this open, go back through the pavilion to the whiteness and use the amber key?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "ok gang, if you were a gun in the recent past, where would you be hiding?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "We don't have a porch." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We don't have a porch. We have a garden instead." | ||||
| Doe says, "look under porch" | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "Under the squeaky step. :)" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, ""His porch is to the west, mine to the east."" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "No, it says he built a porch on his side and made the place asymmetrical." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "May be a bug though." | ||||
| Doe says (to floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh. I thought of something. If the garden painting goes into the past, that might be before the framed painting is broken." | |||
| Doe says (to floyd), "look under porch" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "Oh, yeah." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Except... hm. yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key Floyd | a ruby key Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Still, we should see amber first. Also the painting outside the cabin." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "So we have no ring, and we're in the past." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "both amber and ruby have no description" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" | RonN says (to doe), "that's cause we keep undoing" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf12" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Very well. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay. Amber." | |||
| Doe says, "oh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with amber key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Leo's Kitchen Floyd | The setup here is even more minimalist than in the front room---no Floyd | table, even. The door out to his back porch is northwest, and the Floyd | front room is south. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And we're in the present." | |||
| Doe asks, "but present before shot or after?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I suppose there's also the 'other key'." | ||||
| RonN asks, "are there other places of whiteness we could use to teleport around at will?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'll just waltz upstairs and go back to the cabin." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "I thinkt that's the only one we've found." | ||||
| RonN says (to Doe), "if we have the ring, it's after the murder" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says (to RonN), "thanks" | |||
| Doe says, "so we really don't want to be here" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can't we just get to the whiteness by unlocking any door with the ankh key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "You mean 'another brass key'?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "I was just thinking that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | RonN says, "interesting, ST" | |||
Floyd | Leo's Kitchen Floyd | The setup here is even more minimalist than in the front room---no Floyd | table, even. The door out to his back porch is northwest, and the Floyd | front room is south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlcok door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "or, by walking off the 'canvas' whenever we're in 'the past'." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hooray." | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh ho" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with brass key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x another brass key" | ||||
Floyd | A nondescript, standard-sized key. Except for the pattern of ridges, Floyd | it is nearly identical to my house key. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN wants to fill in the whole inventory. Just because he's autistic that way. | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the door to Irene's Room, Leo's kitchen door or Floyd | Leo's front door? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "irene's room" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock kitchen door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "gotta go upstairs" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with ruby key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims (at Doe), "Take your keys with you!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "I'm with you on filling out the inventory now that we know how." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with another brass key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe asks, "so nothing unlocks irene's door?" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "When did we get another brass key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Doe), "Oddly enough, our house key unlock's Irene's door." | ||||
| DavidW says, "It was in the music box, I think." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "Back near the beginning - yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says (to Jac), "I take it going into her room does nothing" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Actually, there's a creepy ending in that room." | ||||
| Doe asks (of Jac), "in what time frame?" | ||||
| Doe says, "I mean earlier it might not" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Irene's dad." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess we could go do it again, since there are newcomers, and it's quick." | ||||
| RonN says (to Doe), "In programming-bug time." | ||||
| Doe says, "oh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But yeah, it's a buggy ending." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the door to Irene's Room, Leo's kitchen door or Floyd | Leo's front door? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock irene's room" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "just go ne" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Irene's Room Floyd | This bedroom seems like a room from another flat completely; at any Floyd | rate it's free of Leo's cavalier paint-it-all approach to decor. The Floyd | furniture is spartan to the point of ruthlessness, arranged to frame Floyd | the gigantic four-poster waterbed. The overall effect is one of rather Floyd | severe cleanliness; the painting of the young girl in the corner Floyd | seeming to constitute the only exception to the rule. The front room Floyd | is back to the southwest. Floyd | Floyd | On the waterbed is a page of looseleaf. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, was looking for it." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read looselead" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want me to read in? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read looseleaf" | ||||
Floyd | A calligraphy pen on unlined paper, and a trembling, angular hand that Floyd | I recognise as Irene's. It reads: Floyd | Floyd | Dear, dear Ivy, I looked up today and realised I'd been gazing at you Floyd | for hours . . . I was thinking, my father used to say you looked just Floyd | like your mother, but he never said the same about me . . . do you Floyd | suppose that's why he painted you right after his wife died, but Floyd | simply sat and cried when I lost mine? But whom do you think he loved Floyd | better, then, mine or yours? Floyd | Floyd | Ivy, do you know how many times I've pushed the button on the Floyd | pocketwatch, just to watch you watch me? and twice I came within Floyd | seconds of leaping into the painting, just to be with you again? I Floyd | miss you . . . I miss you . . . Floyd | Floyd | The rest of the page trails off into ellipsis-laden indecipherability. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Man, can't type to day." | |||
| RonN asks, "take it?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "okay, so that's the first creepy part." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "We could, though I'm not sure what good it does." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take looseleaf" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x painting" | ||||
Floyd | A young girl, perhaps four years old and decked out in a polka-dotted Floyd | dress, gazes directly at me with a frankness that manages to be Floyd | completely disconcerting. I want to say that this is Irene herself, Floyd | eighty years ago, but it's impossible to say for sure. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims, "it's IF. Take it all! Damn the consequences!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf15" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I was going to say that that's the only reason to take all." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for the painting of the young girl. Floyd | Floyd | The painting's subject taps her foot impatiently. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, pay attention to the buggy ending which won't seem buggy because we have the stone key..." | |||
| RonN asks, "maybe Irene's dad made the pocketwatch?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | I step gingerly into the art, closing my eyes just in time to avoid Floyd | the blinding flash of light . . . Floyd | Floyd | Drawing Room Floyd | A somewhat fussily decorated sitting room, all high-flung Queen Anne Floyd | arches and artfully aged brick. Not far in front of me is Irene's Floyd | older sister---Ivy, was it?---perhaps four years old, looking Floyd | unnaturally posed in an uncomfortable-looking white gown and elaborate Floyd | hat. Her father is some distance away, putting the last strokes on the Floyd | painting. Outside, the snow falls. Floyd | Floyd | Ivy has turned and is looking directly at me. She says nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x ivy" | ||||
Floyd | I try to mentally add three quarter-centuries to her face to see if I Floyd | can come up with Irene, but it's a futile effort. Her Sunday best is Floyd | looking a little wrinkled, the end result of an afternoon's squirming, Floyd | and her hands-clasped-head-cocked "I'm adorable" pose is perhaps a bit Floyd | contrived, but overall she looks eminently paintable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea is gonna get back baby bad balls to you, love, cretin. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask ivy about irene" | ||||
Floyd | Before I can move, Ivy speaks. "Da? Look!" Floyd | Floyd | He does. Then he removes his pince-nez and watches me silently for a Floyd | moment. He has Leo's eyes, I notice. Floyd | Floyd | Unwilling to say anything, I stand up and hand him the stone key (the Floyd | same one that Leo took away from me before, surely? but there's no Floyd | time for such thoughts now). Then I lean over to steal a glance at the Floyd | painting---it is complete, exactly as it will be in seventy years but Floyd | for the colours, which are slightly brighter. The real Ivy watches me Floyd | intensely. Her father, meanwhile, is turning the ankh over and over in Floyd | his hands. At last he looks up to stare at me bemusedly. "An Floyd | interesting contraption, I must say. You are to be commended on your Floyd | stealth. I do, however, insist on knowing how you came to be in my Floyd | sitting room without the servants' knowledge. You shall have to Floyd | explain yourself, madam." Floyd | Floyd | In spite of myself, I find myself smiling up at him inanely. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** He has won *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "So, this same ending happened earlier, except that time we hadn't found the key yet, so it was a bug." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf15" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Very well. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "and it still makes no sense." | |||
| Doe says, "hmmmm" | ||||
| DavidW says, "And Leo still hasn't taken it from us yet either." | ||||
| Doe asks, "why does irene kill leo?" | ||||
| RonN says, "on account of being dead and all." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Okay. So. Painting in the garden, or painting outside the cabin?" | ||||
| RonN says (to Doe), "Irene says Leo broke 'the rules' of.. magic or whatever." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Irene shoot Leo (not quite dead) to stop him from duplicating himself." | ||||
| DavidW says, "er shot" | ||||
| Doe says (to RonN), "thanks" | ||||
| RonN says (to David), "oh, so he's only *mostly* dead." | ||||
| Doe says (to DavidW), "aha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But we need to make him entirely not dead because we lurve him." | ||||
| RonN says, "even though we won't marry him... (?)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We don't always marry people we love." | ||||
| Doe says, "okay, on my own I could not solve this game without a hint" | ||||
| DavidW says, "He wanted to go into the painting that is (currently) broken to ... I think ... get the stone key back that he lost." | ||||
| Doe says, "too many time lines, I don't know what we want irene to do" | ||||
| Jacqueline makes an executive decision to go look at the first painting, near the cabin. | ||||
| RonN thinks women are confusing. | ||||
| Gerynar knows that women are confusing | ||||
| DavidW says, "(or do I have it wrong, since the broken painting isn't the one that goes to the gardens)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think we should look at that one first because I think the one in the garden might be an end game thing and we found it later in the game." | ||||
| RonN says, "the broken one is of a waterfall" | ||||
| Doe says (to RonN,), "Gerynar no more confusing then men" | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "if we don't have the ring, how can we enter the painting by the shack?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "He was worried that if he went in, but didn't have access to the Room of Whiteness, he'd be lost forever." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I also think that the upstairs hall of Leo's is a painting that he painted over top." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Anyone care if I go back to the cabin?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "go for it" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Irene's Room Floyd | This bedroom seems like a room from another flat completely; at any Floyd | rate it's free of Leo's cavalier paint-it-all approach to decor. The Floyd | furniture is spartan to the point of ruthlessness, arranged to frame Floyd | the gigantic four-poster waterbed. The overall effect is one of rather Floyd | severe cleanliness; the painting of the young girl in the corner Floyd | seeming to constitute the only exception to the rule. The front room Floyd | is back to the southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "no, I've lost interest, because I am not getting it" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | I carefully rearrange the sheet of paper on the bed before going. Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | We've been neighbours for at least a decade, but I can count the Floyd | number of times I've been in this room on one hand. It's attractively Floyd | done up, though a bit austere in the furniture department. The walls Floyd | here used to be completely covered in his paintings, but apparently Floyd | he's removed them all since last I was here, and the room looks oddly Floyd | bare. Floyd | Floyd | The stairs up are to the west, the kitchen north, and a locked door Floyd | which I assume leads to Irene's room northeast. The foyer lies back to Floyd | the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "The copper key would take you to the cabin, no?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for the abstract painting. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Probably, but I'm here now." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Unless you want me to try that. It should work." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Except that padlock is gone." | |||
| DavidW asks, "so?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "The old bronze key?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "the padlock fell into the bay" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | DavidW asks, "so?" | |||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone key" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I'll try it." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with tiny copper key" | ||||
Floyd | Discouragingly, the copper key is too small for the keyhole. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hmph" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with old bronze key" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | There is now just enough light to see by, with more light coming from Floyd | the moon than from the glimmer of purple in the west. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Moon? Time has progressed." | |||
| RonN says, "oh nice" | ||||
| DavidW says, "It was a sunset earlier." | ||||
| RonN says, "x the clock" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | Solid ash. I have no idea how Leo got this in here---it's taller than Floyd | the door---but it does do rather a lot for the room's ambiance. The Floyd | face, for some reason, is at the bottom of the clock, and the exposed Floyd | pendulum swings freely at eye level. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh right. This weird clock." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | It's an attractive open-faced gold fobwatch, equipped with a long, Floyd | thin loop of chain and a small black button just below six o'clock. Floyd | The clock face suggests that it's ten to eight---how time flies and Floyd | all that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "A couple of hours have gone by." | |||
| RonN says, "stop time then x the clock" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Where was this painting? Outside?" | ||||
| RonN says, "i bet there's a message" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for nothingthe music box, which glimmers like the only thing Floyd | that matters in the world. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | Solid ash. I have no idea how Leo got this in here---it's taller than Floyd | the door---but it does do rather a lot for the room's ambiance. The Floyd | face, for some reason, is at the bottom of the clock, and the exposed Floyd | pendulum waits tranquilly inside at eye level. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Nope." | |||
| DavidW says, "yes, but it'd be the same painting as in Vacant Room." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "well sorta" | |||
| Doe says, "okay, reviews say it's hard to solve" | ||||
| RonN says, "the pendulum 'waits tranquilly'" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Where was the painting, outside?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | It's of the long, ponderous variety, and fashioned of some kind of Floyd | faux gold, and is swinging in a slow, hypnotic arc. The end of it is Floyd | tarnished by fingerprints, which gleam, iridescent, as it moves. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| RootShell arrives, full of fun and funk. | RonN asks, "which painting?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hi, RootShell. We're hours in on a very complex game." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Might those fingerprints be of significance?" | ||||
| RonN wondered that earlier. | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm. I think we need to manipulate the pendulum. Pull, push, turn." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I thought you all said there was a painting nearby. Perhaps I'd heard you wrong." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x fingerprints" | ||||
Floyd | They're big enough to be Leo's, but it's unlike him to treat his Floyd | furniture so callously. Floyd | Floyd | > | RootShell ( I couldn't make it in the past weeks, and today i almost didn't get here too | |||
| DavidW says, "There is a painting outside, but this clock (and the hole in the roof) is more interesting." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "maybe they signify that grabbing the pendulum is important" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for nothingthe music box, which glimmers like the only thing Floyd | that matters in the world. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| RootShell says (to Jacqueline), "Hi :)" | RonN says, "i presume he needed to rewind the clock or something" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | It's of the long, ponderous variety, and fashioned of some kind of Floyd | faux gold, and is currently not in motion. The end of it is tarnished Floyd | by fingerprints, which gleam, iridescent, as I move. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "yeah, gerynar" | |||
| DavidW says, "This is no ordinary clock." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That might be it, Ron, yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | I draw the very top of the pendulum to the side and release. There is Floyd | a snapping sound as it resumes its slow ticking, and the world returns Floyd | to normal. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims, "whoa!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "mmkay" | ||||
| Doe says, "most couldn't solve it without hints because it got confusing what was going on" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stop pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | I grab the pendulum by the bulb on the end, arresting its motion. A Floyd | now-familiar snapping sound assaults my ears, and I turn to find my Floyd | surroundings reverted once more to black and white, with only the Floyd | music box and the pendulum remaining unchanged. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Also, I'm down with David driving for awhile. Fingers are tired." | |||
| RonN says, "so, it's a non-portable version of our fobwatch" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah." | ||||
| RonN asks, "how is this puzzle-useful?" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "OK, so this clock can stop time, too. Not sure what we could use this for since we already have a mobile version." | ||||
| Doe says, "well, good luck" | ||||
| Doe has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | DavidW says, "Let's see outside. Maybe now that it's moonlight time, things are different." | |||
| RonN says, "well gang, perhaps we should return to the duplex's garden with the fresh paint painting, and try to steal the gun" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Irene is probably not sunning herself still." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "that worries me, David" | |||
| RonN says, "she's probably in our house by now. :)" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | I open the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stop pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | I grab the pendulum by the bulb on the end, arresting its motion. A Floyd | now-familiar snapping sound assaults my ears, and I turn to find my Floyd | surroundings reverted once more to black and white, with only the Floyd | music box and the pendulum remaining unchanged. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | Jacqueline asks, "Well, see, will that matter? So long as we can go back in time?" | |||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x easel" | ||||
Floyd | A somewhat rickety elmwood easel, positioned so as to give the artist Floyd | a good view over the bay. It doesn't seem to have been used for quite Floyd | some time, though---it's soaked through with recent rain, and appears Floyd | to be rotting away in places. Floyd | Floyd | In fact . . . following the easel's line of sight over the ocean, I Floyd | realise with a shock that the painting I've just come through isn't an Floyd | abstract at all: Leo has simply painted the reflection of the setting Floyd | sun on the bay, exactly as it is---the water in the light is throwing Floyd | up dozens of colours, slowly shifting with the current, flowing out Floyd | with the tide. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x moon" | ||||
Floyd | Large cumulus clouds fronting a darkening grey. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rain" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | On the Cape (in monochrome) Floyd | The beach swivels out over the water here, creating this little Floyd | headland surrounded by rocky, shallow water on three sides. The beach Floyd | arcs back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Irene is frozen in place, looking out over the water. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh. She's still here." | |||
| RonN is having more Blue Lacuna flashbacks. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I nod farewell to Irene and set off back down the beach. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bay" | ||||
Floyd | Not like any ocean I've ever seen. Up close the water looks as clear Floyd | as glass, but in the light of the setting sun it seems to gradually Floyd | twist and shift, as if the entire surface is covered with a fine layer Floyd | of oil. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabin" | ||||
Floyd | This roughshod wooden shack would be rustic and charming, say, in the Floyd | middle of the forest, but dropped into the middle of the beach like Floyd | this it's simply jarring. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "ok, i think there's nothing else to do here. Garden?" | |||
| DavidW says, "There's that hole in the roof still." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hole" | ||||
Floyd | A football-sized opening where the ceiling of the cabin has rotted Floyd | away. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Sure, check out the hold in the roof." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hole" | ||||
Floyd | A football-sized opening where the ceiling of the cabin has rotted Floyd | away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break ceiling" | ||||
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN misses the significance of one of the ramshackle details of the hut. | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "reach in hole" | ||||
Floyd | Craning upward, I reach through the hole and feel around on the roof. Floyd | Nothing immediately apparent, and a cursory glance doesn't reveal very Floyd | much. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think there's something on the roof." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Can we wind the clock backward?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "maybe in an earlier timeline?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm." | ||||
| Doe says (to DavidW), "yes, on the roof" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wind clock" | ||||
Floyd | It doesn't seem to be possible. In fact, the clock doesn't have any Floyd | counterweights at all, leaving me to wonder what's powering it. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "maybe that's where the gun was earlier?" | |||
| DavidW says, "or where it is now." | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "try pushing the hands on the clock?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hands" | ||||
Floyd | I'm the same as I've always been. With more age spots and less Floyd | colourful hair than in times past, I suppose. The purple nightgown I'm Floyd | wearing perhaps can't be said to flatter, but in any case I've found Floyd | people give me more and more leeway with my appearance as the years go Floyd | by. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clock's hands" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "set clock" | ||||
Floyd | (to) Floyd | No, I can't set that to anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think we're missing something." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand on desk" | ||||
Floyd | In my physical condition? In the desk's physical condition? Not bloody Floyd | likely. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x spindle" | ||||
Floyd | Long, sharp, and irrelevant. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN lols | |||
| RonN asks, "may i drive?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We could talk to Irene. Show her the ankh. Ask about Ivy." | ||||
| RonN says, "sure" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | On the Cape Floyd | The beach swivels out over the water here, creating this little Floyd | headland surrounded by rocky, shallow water on three sides. The beach Floyd | arcs back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Irene dozes in her lawn chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf16" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wake irene" | ||||
Floyd | Probably just talking to her would do the trick. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "heh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about ankh" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Where does this key come from?" I ask, pulling out the metal ankh. Floyd | Floyd | She takes it from me, turning it over in her hands. "This was my Floyd | father's. He never did tell us where he got it---it took him long Floyd | enough to even tell us it existed." She turns toward me, Floyd | conspiratorially. "Taking a chip off the side, though---that was all Floyd | my idea. He never noticed that. Truth be told, I don't know that he Floyd | actually invented it---I think it might have been given to him as some Floyd | kind of favor; I don't recall the details." Floyd | Floyd | She pauses, an idea seeming to occur to her. "Leo thinks that's Floyd | missing, you know. I should show it to him if I were you; things would Floyd | have turned out quite differently this morning if he'd had it." Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "what an odd antagonist." | |||
| DavidW says, "ask irene about father" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, they did say she was senile." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about father" | ||||
Floyd | "Who was your father? Would I have known him?" I ask. Floyd | Floyd | "Not likely," she says. "He died before you met us. Stroke. Probably Floyd | going to get me, too, one of these days." Her eyes light up suddenly. Floyd | "He used to make us call him Thomas." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about mother" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about brass key" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "ivy" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about ivy" | ||||
Floyd | "Tell me about your sister," I say. Floyd | Floyd | She looks irritated. "What's with all these questions? I'm not some Floyd | sort of machine you can simply pump for information on cue, you know. Floyd | Leave my bloody sister alone. Floyd | > | DavidW says, "yeah, knew that would be a sore point." | |||
| RonN says, "now I'm even more curious" | ||||
| DavidW says, "we could persist" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about ivy" | ||||
Floyd | I think that topic's more or less been exhausted. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "show her the looseleaf" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "show looseleaf to irene" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| RootShell www.ifreviews.org | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about looseleaf" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "eh? Jacq took it." | |||
| Gerynar asks, "journal?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "maybe she undid it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | RonN asks, "inventory?" | |||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i guess. Papers are the diary" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I did take it, I thought, but maybe it got untook." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about diary" | ||||
Floyd | I can't think of anything worth saying about it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about hole" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says (to Jacq), "Garden gnomes, no doubt." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Show the papers to her?" | ||||
| RonN says, "sure, we can undo" | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "ask about the grandfather clock?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about clock" | ||||
Floyd | "So, is there a story behind the grandfather clock in the cabin?" Floyd | Floyd | She leans back. "A long one. Leo had no easy way to get back and forth Floyd | between here and home, so he stuck a piece of the stone key into the Floyd | pendulum, and now he can use the music box without having to bring the Floyd | pocketwatch along." Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "huh" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "so the ring, pocketwatch, clock ... all have bits of the ankh in them? Maybe?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "so does he mix powdered stone key into his paint? I mean, what's magic and what's mundane in this fiction?" | ||||
| RonN exclaims, "timing!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about gardens" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "fire?" | |||
| Alex says (to Jacqueline), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that fire is what's for topic." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about fire" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt Irene would know much about that. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "i still wanna do into the garden's painting which leads to the pond, and see if we can move the plot along." | |||
| RonN says, "do -> go" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah. I think we could go back in time at the pond, find Leo, give him the ankh." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's try that." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I nod farewell to Irene and set off back down the beach. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with ankh" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock door with jade" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | A garden, co-grown by Leo and me, although it generally seems like I Floyd | end up doing most of the work. Currently the centrepiece of the garden Floyd | is an easel of Leo's, which at the moment is ruthlessly engaged in Floyd | crushing my violets, a very recent-looking painting of the pond to the Floyd | east perched upon it. His porch is to the west, mine to the east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn diamond" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | I step gingerly into the art, closing my eyes just in time to avoid Floyd | the blinding flash of light . . . Floyd | Floyd | By the Pond Floyd | The pond is a much more mysterious place at sunrise, all grays and Floyd | ripples and dappled twilight---I find myself wishing I had the time to Floyd | simply stand and look. I can access the garden to the west, and the Floyd | fence marking the edge of the property stretches along the southern Floyd | perimeter of the pond. My kitchen lies to the southwest, inaccessible Floyd | behind the sliding door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf17" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | I'd forgotten how different the garden looks in the early morning, all Floyd | the trees leaning and the droplets all bedewed and whatnot. The canvas Floyd | I recently came through is still here, so fresh the paint is still Floyd | dripping in places. The porch lies west, the pond east. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "hey, can we recurse?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | Jacqueline says, "Porch, methinks." | |||
Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo's porch is decidedly less congenial in the dark. There's not Floyd | enough light inside to make out what's happening in Leo's kitchen, to Floyd | the southeast, and even the gardens just east of here are shrouded in Floyd | shadow. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | I try to peek inside, but even this early the light is bright enough Floyd | to make that impractical. I cautiously squeak the slider open. I take Floyd | a single step inside . . . Floyd | Floyd | . . . and abruptly find myself face to face with an astonished Leo. Floyd | Floyd | I can't go that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "excellent" | |||
| DavidW asks, "er?" | RonN says, "oh, i guess not cause we'd need the diamond ring." | |||
| RonN exclaims, "Leo! You're not dead yet!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Leo's Kitchen Floyd | The setup here is even more minimalist than in the front room---no Floyd | table, even. The door out to his back porch is northwest, and the Floyd | front room is south. Floyd | Floyd | Leo stands here, looking healthy but frazzled. Floyd | Floyd | "Wait a moment," says Leo, his voice suddenly strained. I follow his Floyd | line of vision, realising that he has fixated on the pocketwatch I Floyd | found in the living room. I watch interestedly as his face attempts to Floyd | resolve itself into a single emotion. He seems to be about to say Floyd | something when suddenly his gaze shifts to the stone key in my hand. Floyd | "Dear God, Matilda. Where did you find this? Do you---wait, never Floyd | mind." Floyd | Floyd | Before I realise what's happening he has seized the key from my hand. Floyd | I let out a shocked exclamation, but before I can object he has blazed Floyd | off to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, I'm note sure what happened there, David, with the going and the you can't go, but whatever." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | In the early-morning darkness this room isn't quite as inviting as it Floyd | was earlier. The major geography, however, is unchanged: kitchen to Floyd | the north, Irene's room to the northeast, stairs to the west, and the Floyd | foyer to the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | From nearby comes the sound of someone pounding up the stairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | A piercingly loud snapping sound comes from upstairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "where did he just 'port from?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn diamond" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "i guess we wait til he returns?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Upstairs (in monochrome) Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching spectrums of subtly graduated grey, and the walls are covered Floyd | with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the west, Floyd | the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's bedroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | On the shelf is a diamond ring. Floyd | Floyd | A familiar snapping sound comes from the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN exclaims, "he's back!" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is waiting here for me, waving the pocketwatch cord about Floyd | violently. He looks desperate, more frightened than I can ever recall Floyd | seeing him. Floyd | Floyd | "Matilda, where's the glass key gone? It should be in the music box, Floyd | with the other keys, but it isn't there. Without it I can't get into Floyd | the gallery." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Glass key." | |||
| RonN blames those meddling kids. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, ";IRENE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask leo about glass key" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo, tell me about your gallery. Where would I find the key?" Floyd | Floyd | "All my work is in there; I've been gradually moving them there for Floyd | years. I have to get it back---I got over it the first time, but now Floyd | that I have this key again I don't think I could go through this a Floyd | second time." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Answer 'Irene'" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Did she have a glass key?" | ||||
| RonN asks, "Can we tell Leo that that isn't *our* puzzle to solve?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "answer 'irene'" | ||||
Floyd | Whom do you want me to answer that to? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "leo" | ||||
Floyd | (,) Floyd | Fortunately for Leo, you can't order him around the way you do me. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "answer irene to leo" | ||||
Floyd | I honestly think extensive discourse is beyond me this morning . . . Floyd | I'd probably be better off just restricting myself to asking and Floyd | telling. Floyd | Floyd | "What I really don't understand," Leo continues, "and you don't have Floyd | to explain if you'd rather not---is how you got the pocketwatch. I'd Floyd | recognise it anywhere, but it can't be mine, because I've got it right Floyd | here." He waves his own, snapping it on and off a few times for good Floyd | measure. "I can only imagine Irene must have given it to you, but I Floyd | can't imagine why." Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN lols | |||
| RonN says, "tell him about the murder and irene" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell leo about rule" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | He sinks slowly to the floor. "Christ, Matilda, I don't know what to Floyd | do. I find my key after thinking it was lost forever, but my gallery Floyd | is gone unless I can find that damn key. And now I can't find Irene Floyd | anywhere." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, we need to do some tell rather than ask." | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "I understand how people might find this confusing." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask leo about gun" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo, where do you keep your grandfather's pistol?" Floyd | Floyd | He opens his mouth. "Don't lie to me," I add. "I know you didn't get Floyd | rid of it. Tell me where it's hidden." Floyd | Floyd | His mouth opens, closes again. Then he says quietly, "I don't know Floyd | what you're talking about, Matilda." Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I'm actually not confused." | |||
| RonN says, "even the NPC finds it confusing." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell leo about irene" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo," I say breathlessly, "You have to be careful. Irene's going to Floyd | have the gun and see you going into the painting and shoot you." Floyd | Floyd | He simply stares. Floyd | > | RonN says, "I was earlier" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "I probably wouldn't be if I hadn't missed half of the game so far." | ||||
| RonN says, "True" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "But I can _see_ how people might be..." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask leo about my painting" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | Leo murmurs something incomprehensible under his breath. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask leo about painting" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo, why in hell didn't you tell me about all this? About the Floyd | paintings, and the keys? How couldn't you tell me about this whole Floyd | world?" Floyd | Floyd | He goes pale. "How could I? You refused to marry me." Floyd | > | RonN says, "ouch, point for Leo." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask leo about what marriage has to do with anything" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | "All right," Leo says finally. "I'm going to keep searching. I Floyd | couldn't find the key on the beach, but if you think you can find it Floyd | you might look there. God knows, if I haven't found it by the time you Floyd | get back I'll have to do something desperate." Floyd | Floyd | And with this, he walks to the bedroom door and turns his stone key in Floyd | the lock. It flies open, and he steps into the complete whiteness Floyd | beyond just before the door snaps shut behind him, leaving me alone. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "ACK" | |||
| RonN says, "Grrr" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "NO NO NO" | ||||
| RonN asks, "undo?" | ||||
| Alex says (to RonN), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that Undo is a command that lusers use." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "LEO?!" | ||||
| Alex says (to Jacqueline), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that LEO is low Earth orbit." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "So if you don't mind...what is up with this glass key?" | ||||
| RonN says, "it's new." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The glass key is for his gallery. A location we've never seen, I guess." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "So we've not seen it before in the game?" | ||||
| RonN says, "i was expecting a cutscene and a happily-ever-after here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am now beginning to appreciate how DavidW is annoyed when I ask questions that I should know because I haven't been paying full attention or have been in another window too much." | ||||
| RonN says, "but no, one more puzzle, one more key." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And I will try to never do that again." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "OK, sorry. I'll shut up." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Heh." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It's just... complicated... except not, if you'be been here. It's hours of game to explain." | ||||
| RonN notices ST is confused after all. ~heh~ | ||||
| DavidW says, "Sorry, roommate distracted me" | ||||
| RonN says, "anyway, we gotta find another key" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Right, but what about ... hm." | ||||
| RonN asks, "anywhere we haven't been?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I want to go to the not broken yet painting." | ||||
| RonN asks, "the roof?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess we have to have Leo go away like this, because without the confrontation with him we wouldn't know to even look for the glass key." | ||||
| RonN says, "oh" | ||||
| RonN says, "yes," | ||||
| RonN says, "yes david" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Matilda's still asleep, of course, so we have to be careful." | ||||
| RonN says, "let's explore the waterfall" | ||||
| RonN exclaims, "oho!" | ||||
| RonN says, "let's SAVE and experiment..." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf18" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Sure." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | In the early-morning darkness this room isn't quite as inviting as it Floyd | was earlier. The major geography, however, is unchanged: kitchen to Floyd | the north, Irene's room to the northeast, stairs to the west, and the Floyd | foyer to the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "maybe we'll find the reason behind the RULE" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's front door. Floyd | Floyd | Foyer Floyd | This is the hallway between my flat and Leo's. Leo's inhabits 717A, Floyd | to the northwest, while mine, 717B, is to the northeast. The door Floyd | outside is to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Somewhat alarmingly, my front door stands wide open. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "uh-oh. Irene's there already." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Living Room Floyd | What until last week was my main living space is at the moment a Floyd | complete disaster. The walls are painted a sickly turquoise, new as of Floyd | two days ago, and all the furniture is still covered with plastic. Floyd | Currently the only thing I've put back up is another of Leo's Floyd | paintings, on the west wall. The front door lies to the southwest. The Floyd | stairs up to the bedroom are to the east, the kitchen north. Floyd | Floyd | I hear a soft sound from the corner. Turning, I nearly jump out of my Floyd | skin to see Irene standing at the bottom of the staircase, holding her Floyd | hands clasped behind her back and staring at me in a peculiar way. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, hello, Matilda," she says. "I didn't think you were up yet." Floyd | Her eyes flip back and forth from me to the staircase, confused. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN says, "we'll, we're not dead yet." | |||
| RonN takes that back. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | Hang on; I'm intrigued by what Irene's saying. Floyd | Floyd | "Listen," Irene says. Her voice is quick, intense, nothing like during Floyd | our conversation on the bay. "I'm sorry to trespass on you like this. Floyd | I came to see if Leo's been using you to hide things from me, and it Floyd | turns out that he has." She gestures to the end table by the sofa. Floyd | "Open the drawer there. I want you to see." Floyd | Floyd | A sick feeling develops in the pit of my stomach. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "She has the gun behind her back, doesn't she?" | |||
| RonN says, "ask her" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "the gun's in the drawer" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask irene about gun" | ||||
Floyd | "Irene, where is Leo's gun?" I ask. My voice has become strangely Floyd | uneven. Floyd | Floyd | "Right here, of course. He was trying to keep it from me by hiding it Floyd | in your flat. It's illegal for him to have it at all, of course, but Floyd | apparently he had no compunction about endangering you as well. Go on Floyd | and open the drawer." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer" | ||||
Floyd | Foreboding like nothing I have ever experienced, descending like a Floyd | certain apocalypse. My hand shakes as I pull open the drawer . . . Floyd | Floyd | Oh, God. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in drawer" | ||||
Floyd | My head turns to peer into the drawer, and I squeeze my eyes shut only Floyd | just in time. Floyd | Floyd | Irene's voice: "I know you know it's there, Matilda. You can't hide it Floyd | from yourself forever." Floyd | Floyd | "Well?" she asks. "No reaction? This isn't some benign happening we Floyd | can just ignore, you know. He's concealing it from me for a reason. I Floyd | won't let you pretend it isn't there." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "OH GOD WHAT" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | Stop saying that! I will not tell you what is in that drawer. Floyd | Floyd | "Just take it!" she cries, gesturing to the drawer. "Why does it gall Floyd | you to pay attention to commands from a human being instead of some Floyd | figment of your imagination?" Floyd | Floyd | And yet, I am unable to do anything. I simply stand there, on the Floyd | verge of panic, torn between two forces, either of which would easily Floyd | be strong enough to control me on its own. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Except wait we still don't know." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "TIMING AGAIN" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | What, and leave Irene alone with . . . wait, no, maybe you're right. Floyd | Floyd | While I dither, I look up to see that an expression of horror has Floyd | appeared on Irene's face---directed not at me, I suddenly realise, but Floyd | behind me. Floyd | Floyd | "Leo," she gasps. Grabbing her cane from beside her, she twists Floyd | something on her bracelet and vanishes. I blink, and suddenly Irene is Floyd | on the other side of the kitchen window. Floyd | Floyd | My gaze moves to the drawer, then out the window. My stomach sinks. Floyd | Floyd | > | RonN asks, "wtffff?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I'm just as confused." | ||||
| RonN asks, "what's in the drawer?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in drawer" | ||||
Floyd | Empty, now. Floyd | Floyd | I hurry to look out the kitchen window, just in time to see Leo is Floyd | standing in front of the painting in the garden, pocketwatch in hand. Floyd | Irene is standing on the porch and has raised the gun on him; she Floyd | seems to be speaking quietly. The window mutes their conversation, but Floyd | I know enough about what's going to happen to realise that I can't be Floyd | here when it finishes. Floyd | Floyd | I barely hear the gunshot. By the time my former self comes innocently Floyd | down the stairs, about to answer her doorbell, I am already deep into Floyd | the woods. Perhaps without my interference she'll be able to sort all Floyd | this out better than I have. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** I have lost *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline tries to come up with what all those Fs stand for in wtffff | |||
| inky says, "fweep fweep fweep" | ||||
| RonN says (to jacq), "Volume." | ||||
| inky arrives, full of fun and funk. | RonN says, "well UNDO this thing" | |||
| RonN asks, "can we simply overpower Irene?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "frickiti-frackity-frockity-" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "I was thinking more like What The Fweepity Fweeping Fweepin' Fweep." | ||||
| RonN says, "i gotta go in a few minutes. I want to see the real ending." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Restore from when we used the pondside painting?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to RonN), "I have no idea how close we are." | ||||
| RonN says, "(the new montthly Seattle I-F meeting starts very soon!)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "(cool!)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ron), "Sorry, we probably won't be done in a few minutes, I suspect." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think someone else should drive for the next attempt." | ||||
| RonN says, "in that case, I'm just going to walk away and leave my computer up. I'll read it when I get back." | ||||
| inky asks (of RonW), "wait, there's a seattle monthly IF meeting??" | ||||
| RonN says, "Ciao." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "What are we going to redo?" | ||||
| DavidW asks (of inky), "You're in Seattle and don't know?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "From the meeting with Leo in kitchen?" | ||||
| inky says, "nobody tells me anything!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Aw." | ||||
| inky says, "I guess I could have done my part by reading the newsgroup or something" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And... RonN of Seattle is gone to the meeting that inky is not attending." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Maybe they're all at PAX." | ||||
| RonN says, "inky, it's at Bauhaus on capitol hill right now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So." | ||||
| inky says, "I am totally coming" | ||||
| RonN says, "email me pscion@yahoo.com" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Bye, inky." | ||||
| RonN says, "i'll rope you in" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Inky lives near there, if memory serves." | ||||
| inky asks, "how will I recognize you guys?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "He'll be wearing a pink corsage." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And a feathered hat." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I have an idea for the game." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So." | ||||
| RonN says, "totally. we'll be the sexy group" | ||||
| inky says, "hee hee" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Can we not go back to an earlier point and look for the gun?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I want a >XYZZY t-shirt *just* in case there's an IF meeting near me." | ||||
| Doe says (to inky), "they'll be wearing pirate eye patches" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We all know how sexy a group of mudders are." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Look for the geekfest." | ||||
| inky asks, "no, seriously, I am going to walk over -- how will I recognize you?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "I have one of those." | ||||
| Doe says, "I hate it when inky gets serious" | ||||
| inky says, "RRRRR" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Just go in and start asking people." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "seriously? neato keen" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I suspect you'll figure it out pretty easily." | ||||
| inky says, "I may have to!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to David), "Yeah, it says JUST GRUE IT across the back." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says (to Jacq), "Go ahead and try." | ||||
| DavidW says, "ha ha ha. Love it" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf18" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Very well. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, so. Guess we restore to right after we get the stone key." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And then go to our house." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "You want to drive, or shall I?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "This restore is just after using the pondside painting." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Won't it already be too late?" | |||
| DavidW says, "or not. Must be after Leo popped out." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "As that painting hasn't even dried yet?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's bedroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | On the shelf is a diamond ring. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "I think we need to get the ring, then maybe we can go to the beach to look for the glass key" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "mmkay" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "If we take the ring now, how will future Matilda get it?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "This is kinda why I want someone else to drive for attempt two." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I wanna see one of you swim upstream." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is totally off topic, but as if this game isn't weirding me out enough, maga is eating a peanut butter-bamboo-feta sammich." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "bamboo?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes. I evidently was fed some bamboo at lunch and didn't even realize." | ||||
| Doe says, "bamboo is okay, but feta and peanut butter, ugh" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Didn't know that was edible." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I didn't think you could eat bamboo, but I guess you can." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "that is one wierd sandwich" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Bamboo shoots are edible, I think. Not the hard stuff." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to G), "He likes experimenting with food. I'm glad he mostly uses himself as an initial test subject on the more outlandish hypotheses." | ||||
| Doe says, "yeah, they're soft" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Anyway, enough about weird sammiches. Back to the game." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, you want another driver." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I bet the universe ends if we take the ring." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess I could." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf19" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Or the narrator will forbid it." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I don't think it will." | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "as to how is the future us getting the ring, didn't leo write about trying to make paradoxes, but not being able to?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "As per his journal entry earlier, I think we can take the ring." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Just like there were two pocketwatches." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to G), "Right." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Leo did write about it, but I dunno..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take ring" | ||||
Floyd | Taken, damn you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | The jewel flashes at me. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Which time are we in?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Like, post meeting Leo in the kitchen?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Morning, pre-shooting." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Is it too late for the gun?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "After meeting Leo in kitchen, yes." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Probably.." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I thinkm we need to go back further." | ||||
| DavidW says, "If the gun is in our own living room, we won't be able to get it earlier." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'd rather go back, but if we want to stay in this time, maybe Gerynar should drive." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Why not?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We just have to beat Irene to it." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Fine, drive. I shut up." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And the paint on this painting is wet... it's so recent she's already there." | ||||
| Gerynar is a poor driver, he's embarassed himself enough when playing SF with Touchy | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't think it is possible but this is why someone else must drive." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Then again, my theory involves learning by death, and I don't think this game requires that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So you may well be right." | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "why is the jewel flashing?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think the instant we arrived in this time period, Irene is already waiting for us in our home." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "What was your plan?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yes, I agree with you." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't have a plan yet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, let me try something if no one else has a plan, though I'm not sure it'll work." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I wanted to enter the unbroken painting but Irene interfered with that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf20" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "Ah, right." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf16" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Very well. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | On the Cape Floyd | The beach swivels out over the water here, creating this little Floyd | headland surrounded by rocky, shallow water on three sides. The beach Floyd | arcs back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Irene dozes in her lawn chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I nod farewell to Irene and set off back down the beach. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "We could, I suppose, ask Irene about her cane, bracelet, or glass key." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, I can go do that if you want before I walk away, sure." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | On the Cape Floyd | The beach swivels out over the water here, creating this little Floyd | headland surrounded by rocky, shallow water on three sides. The beach Floyd | arcs back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | Irene dozes in her lawn chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask irene about cane" | ||||
Floyd | "Irene," I say, voicing something I've been thinking for a long time, Floyd | "are you sure that cane is quite sufficient? I worry that one of these Floyd | days you're going to fall over when we aren't there." Floyd | Floyd | "I'd rather break myself than have you catch me dead in a wheelchair," Floyd | she replies. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Leo suggested that the glass key might be lost on the beach." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask irene about glass key" | DavidW says, "Try searching the sand." | |||
Floyd | "Irene, do you know where the key to Leo's gallery is?" Floyd | Floyd | She grins and points down the beach. "I threw it up on the roof of the Floyd | cabin down there when he asked me to hide it somewhere safe. But that Floyd | must have been a month ago. Are you and Leo only just noticing it's Floyd | gone?" Floyd | Floyd | "Mind you," she adds after a pause, "I'm only telling you because I Floyd | know you'll never get up there. No ladders hereabouts, you know." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "aha" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask irene about bracelet" | ||||
Floyd | "Irene, about that bracelet---" Floyd | Floyd | "Ah," she smiles. "You like my jewellery? I invented it myself." She Floyd | twists the setting of one of the charms on the end, and vanishes. I Floyd | hear a chuckle, and spin around to see her sitting immediately behind Floyd | me. Floyd | Floyd | "Very useful indeed." Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "Hm...so learning by death is intended it seems" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "No, I don't think so." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think it's just coincidence." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I nod farewell to Irene and set off back down the beach. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | I crane my neck. Yes, there is definitely something on top of the Floyd | cabin---squarish and gleaming---but there's no earthly way for me to Floyd | get up there. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Let's try reaching again, shall we?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Through the hole?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I was hoping it'd rain, so we could climb the raindrops." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh - yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push clock" | ||||
Floyd | It is fixed in place. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Like, you have one good trick, use it again." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "aw" | ||||
| Doe says, "I mut admit I am real tempted to use that in a game, myself" | ||||
| DavidW says, "pendulum" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "search hole" | ||||
Floyd | Craning upward, I reach through the hole and feel around on the roof. Floyd | Nothing immediately apparent, and a cursory glance doesn't reveal very Floyd | much. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb clock" | ||||
Floyd | I place my foot in the clock hopefully, but the position is awkward Floyd | and there's no way for me to get more than a foot off the ground. In Floyd | any case, the hole at the top of the clock is too small for me to Floyd | climb through. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "What about the pendulum?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Push it?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Doe), "I remember it used in a game called Frozen, I think it was. You could climb a briefcase frozen in time." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | I grab the pendulum by the bulb on the end, arresting its motion. A Floyd | now-familiar snapping sound assaults my ears, and I turn to find my Floyd | surroundings reverted once more to black and white, with only the Floyd | music box and the pendulum remaining unchanged. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "The easel is rickety, if memory serves, and probably too short." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb cabin" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x object" | ||||
Floyd | It looks like it might be some kind of box; my vision isn't clear Floyd | enough to see anything more specific. At some point I'll have to find Floyd | a way up there. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "could you throw the pages and climb those?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw pages" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw papers" | ||||
Floyd | That would be littering. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "LAME" | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy chuckles. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "inky did say he loved this puzzle" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "drop paper" | ||||
Floyd | That would be littering. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "well, maybe sand?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take sand" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Or leaves or whatever?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take sand" | ||||
Floyd | They're hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Or petals from the other location -- except we have no stone key anymore." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure we do." | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "No, we still have it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I went back to 16." | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh. I thought he took it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We're back before that." | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Can we climb the easel when time is stopped? Maybe it can't break then." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Possibly. It's the closest idea I've had. I think it's too short, but who knows." | ||||
| DavidW says, "worth a try" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take easel" | ||||
Floyd | That's hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb easel" | ||||
Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline shakes her fist at the easel. | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sky" | ||||
Floyd | Large cumulus clouds fronting a darkening grey. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar asks, "did we look in the hole since talking about the glass key?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm. Rain does seem like it's coming. Perhaps it won't come until Leo spills the beans." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That may be." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I want to try something else." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Though it may be pointless." | ||||
| Dave arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin (in monochrome) Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a silent grandfather clock. The door back Floyd | outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | Everything in the room has been bleached of colour except the music Floyd | box and grandfather clock, whose pendulum shines like burnished gold. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "throw something at the key, hoping it'll fall down the hole (and not break, being glass)?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, we could try that, yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) | Gerynar asks, "what about the hammock?" | |||
Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh, heh. The hammock" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we can't fit *through* the hole, as it's too small, but maybe it'll catch the key or something." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The hammock was tangled, I think, but maybe something could be done with it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw house key at object" | ||||
Floyd | Futile. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | an ankh-shaped key Floyd | a pocketwatch Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin (in monochrome) Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a silent grandfather clock. The door back Floyd | outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | Everything in the room has been bleached of colour except the music Floyd | box and grandfather clock, whose pendulum shines like burnished gold. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x hammock" | ||||
Floyd | It does look cosy, if a bit claustrophobic, strung practically from Floyd | corner to corner as it is. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take hammock" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take hammock" | ||||
Floyd | That's hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "untangle hammock" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter hammock" | ||||
Floyd | I recline back on the hammock, but it turns out to be much less Floyd | comfortable than it looks. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "Too bad, it would have made a nice ladder used vertically." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get up" | ||||
Floyd | I get out of the hammock. Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | The shore here is little more than an abbreviated stretch of sand, Floyd | with the oncoming darkness and the height of the cliffs opposite Floyd | combine to produce an oddly desolate effect. The tide itself is quite Floyd | high up: water is beginning to engulf the trees, as well as the legs Floyd | of a small easel planted in the sand. I can continue up the beach to Floyd | the north, the dock extends over the water to the west, and to the Floyd | south, situated dangerously close to the water, is a small cabin built Floyd | perpendicular to the beach. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw house key at object" | ||||
Floyd | Futile. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "What debris is on the desk?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay. Was wondering if having time enabled helped." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | Gerynar says, "if the shack is so ramshackle, can it be pushed over? :)" | |||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | Leo's studio is an utter shambles. The ceiling is alarmingly low and Floyd | pockmarked with holes, the hammock strung across the rear of the room Floyd | is all tangled up in itself, and the writing-desk beside it is Floyd | completely covered in debris. On the desk is an empty spindle, and Floyd | across from it stands a tranquilly ticking grandfather clock. The door Floyd | back outside lies to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "f debris" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x debris" | ||||
Floyd | Most of it is entirely useless, and all of it has seen better Floyd | days---pencils without points, dried-up palettes, smudged sketches, Floyd | discarded remnants of still-lifes. A painted wooden box and a spike Floyd | are the only items in reasonably good condition. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | A sizable rosewood affair, large enough to stand in, and lovingly Floyd | handpainted with little music notes floating around a building---a Floyd | building that looks a lot like our flat, in fact. There's a dark Floyd | scrawl on the side of the box, which, strangely, doesn't seem to have Floyd | a bottom; under the open lid I can see the paint drawing towards a Floyd | single point, leading down farther and farther, into darkness. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, right, it's the music box. Duh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x spike" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take spike" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Dave asks, "can't you climb onto the roof from inside?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "No." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I guess the spike is the spindle." | ||||
| Dave says, "it does say it's really low with holes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Dave, we can't fit through them." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "hm. Freeze time, stand on hammock, reach through another hole?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for nothingthe music box, which glimmers like the only thing Floyd | that matters in the world. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stand on hammock" | ||||
Floyd | Ugh, no. The first time was bad enough. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can we climb on the box when it's closed?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "close box" | ||||
Floyd | Gently, I lower the lid. The music fades to nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stand on box" | ||||
Floyd | (first opening the music box) Floyd | The box springs open and a familiar, sweet little tune fills the air Floyd | around me: Pachelbel's Canon, perhaps? Floyd | Floyd | I carefully slip my hand into the box and try not to cry out at the Floyd | sudden sensation of being forcibly pulled into an entirely different Floyd | world. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | The pocketwatch has reappeared in my hand. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "ACK" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "intent: fail" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "stand on desk" | ||||
Floyd | In my physical condition? In the desk's physical condition? Not bloody Floyd | likely. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take box" | ||||
Floyd | Bizarrely enough, it refuses to budge from the desk. Instead, the box Floyd | springs open as an enormous clunking sound reverberates through the Floyd | room, and in place of the light glockenspiel sound I was expecting, Floyd | the music rises into a full orchestra that seems to resonate from Floyd | everywhere at once. Floyd | Floyd | The violins ascend higher still, expressiveness revealing itself as Floyd | naked yearning. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x spindle" | ||||
Floyd | Long, sharp, and irrelevant. Floyd | Floyd | The drums suddenly die away, leaving the violins suspended on a Floyd | wavering high note. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take spindle" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | An oboe enters, gently intoning the same melody the strings just left Floyd | off. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "freeze time and climb the music .. heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I click the button. Normality resumes. Floyd | Floyd | A clarinet joins, floating a countermelody against the oboe's ascent. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take spindle" | ||||
Floyd | That seems to be a part of the desk. Floyd | Floyd | The oboe solo suddenly leaps the octave as the strings rise still Floyd | farther, until I feel I'm about to weep with longing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doe says, "heh" | |||
| DavidW says, "I dunno. Do a rain dance outside." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, let's try what David said." | ||||
| DavidW says, "(hee. Great timing)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf21" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm thinking of what you said about triggering the rain by talking to Leo." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with stone" | ||||
Floyd | Confidently, I slip the key into the lock and stride forward into pure Floyd | alabaster. Floyd | Floyd | Whiteness Floyd | Again, the endless white in every direction. The only feature of this Floyd | place seems to be the door I came in through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "unlock door with jade" | ||||
Floyd | There is a satisfying snap as the key turns in the lock, and as soon Floyd | as I withdraw the key the door flies open with an ostentatious flash Floyd | of light. Feeling profoundly nervous, I walk through to the other Floyd | side. Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo built this porch himself, five or six years ago, ruining the Floyd | building's symmetricality and making me quite rabidly jealous. His Floyd | kitchen is accessible to the southeast, and our garden is east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | A garden, co-grown by Leo and me, although it generally seems like I Floyd | end up doing most of the work. Currently the centrepiece of the garden Floyd | is an easel of Leo's, which at the moment is ruthlessly engaged in Floyd | crushing my violets, a very recent-looking painting of the pond to the Floyd | east perched upon it. His porch is to the west, mine to the east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | It's not as if I can just waltz right into it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The familiar snapping sound, and the world goes black and white, Floyd | except for the pond painting. Floyd | Floyd | The pond tranquilly waits in the twilight of the painting. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | I step gingerly into the art, closing my eyes just in time to avoid Floyd | the blinding flash of light . . . Floyd | Floyd | By the Pond Floyd | The pond is a much more mysterious place at sunrise, all grays and Floyd | ripples and dappled twilight---I find myself wishing I had the time to Floyd | simply stand and look. I can access the garden to the west, and the Floyd | fence marking the edge of the property stretches along the southern Floyd | perimeter of the pond. My kitchen lies to the southwest, inaccessible Floyd | behind the sliding door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam arrives, ready to play with the toys. | ||||
| Dave has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Garden Floyd | I'd forgotten how different the garden looks in the early morning, all Floyd | the trees leaning and the droplets all bedewed and whatnot. The canvas Floyd | I recently came through is still here, so fresh the paint is still Floyd | dripping in places. The porch lies west, the pond east. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Porch Floyd | Leo's porch is decidedly less congenial in the dark. There's not Floyd | enough light inside to make out what's happening in Leo's kitchen, to Floyd | the southeast, and even the gardens just east of here are shrouded in Floyd | shadow. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | I try to peek inside, but even this early the light is bright enough Floyd | to make that impractical. I cautiously squeak the slider open. I take Floyd | a single step inside . . . Floyd | Floyd | . . . and abruptly find myself face to face with an astonished Leo. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf22" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about stone key" | ||||
Floyd | I hold up the Ankh for Leo's inspection. Floyd | Floyd | "Wait a moment," says Leo, his voice suddenly strained. I follow his Floyd | line of vision, realising that he has fixated on the diamond ring I Floyd | found in his room. I watch interestedly as his face attempts to Floyd | resolve itself into a single emotion. He seems to be about to say Floyd | something when suddenly his gaze shifts to the stone key in my hand. Floyd | "Dear God, Matilda. Where did you find this? Do you---wait, never Floyd | mind." Floyd | Floyd | Before I realise what's happening he has seized the key from my hand. Floyd | I let out a shocked exclamation, but before I can object he has blazed Floyd | off to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Front Room Floyd | In the early-morning darkness this room isn't quite as inviting as it Floyd | was earlier. The major geography, however, is unchanged: kitchen to Floyd | the north, Irene's room to the northeast, stairs to the west, and the Floyd | foyer to the southeast. Floyd | Floyd | From nearby comes the sound of someone pounding up the stairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Staircase Floyd | This staircase is the mirror of mine except that his picture window Floyd | looks out on the neighbours' rooftops. I can continue up or down. Floyd | Floyd | A piercingly loud snapping sound comes from upstairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's bedroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | A familiar snapping sound comes from the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Wait, did I run past him?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Upstairs Floyd | Unlike me, Leo has managed to fashion his shady little passageway into Floyd | an attractive space. The floor and ceiling have been painted in Floyd | matching rainbows of subtly graduated colour, and the walls are Floyd | covered with a riot of paint swatches. The stairs back down lie to the Floyd | west, the community toilet southeast, and the empty room to the north. Floyd | Floyd | Leo is waiting here for me, waving the pocketwatch cord about Floyd | violently. He looks desperate, more frightened than I can ever recall Floyd | seeing him. Floyd | Floyd | "Matilda, where's the glass key gone? It should be in the music box, Floyd | with the other keys, but it isn't there. Without it I can't get into Floyd | the gallery." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tell Leo about glass key" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo, tell me about your gallery. Where would I find the key?" Floyd | Floyd | "All my work is in there; I've been gradually moving them there for Floyd | years. I have to get it back---I got over it the first time, but now Floyd | that I have this key again I don't think I could go through this a Floyd | second time." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take stone key" | ||||
Floyd | That seems to belong to Leo. Floyd | Floyd | "What I really don't understand," Leo continues, "and you don't have Floyd | to explain if you'd rather not---is how you got the diamond ring. I'd Floyd | recognise it anywhere, but it can't be mine, because I've got it right Floyd | here." He waves his own, snapping it on and off a few times for good Floyd | measure. "I can only imagine Irene must have given it to you, but I Floyd | can't imagine why." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "He ported back. Probably via the bathroom." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tell Leo about murder" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | He sinks slowly to the floor. "Christ, Matilda, I don't know what to Floyd | do. I find my key after thinking it was lost forever, but my gallery Floyd | is gone unless I can find that damn key. And now I can't find Irene Floyd | anywhere." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tell Leo about Irene" | ||||
Floyd | "Leo," I say breathlessly, "You have to be careful. Irene's going to Floyd | have the gun and see you going into the painting and shoot you." Floyd | Floyd | He simply stares. Floyd | > | DavidW says, "This might mean Irene is no longer at the beach." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Right." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm hoping we'll go back and it will be raining." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Though that seems a little too good to be true." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But climbing the petals earlier did nothing." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm hoping it was just a hint of things to come." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask leo about gallery" | ||||
Floyd | I can't think of anything that hasn't already been said. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Climbing the petals did do something. It took us to the mysterious bird nest." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "tell Leo about murder" | ||||
Floyd | No words come. Floyd | Floyd | Leo murmurs something incomprehensible under his breath. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DavidW), "Right. With nothing in it." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm not sure we can accomplish anything substantive with Leo. I'm going to z through it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Half a minute or so goes by. Floyd | Floyd | "All right," Leo says finally. "I'm going to keep searching. I Floyd | couldn't find the key on the beach, but if you think you can find it Floyd | you might look there. God knows, if I haven't found it by the time you Floyd | get back I'll have to do something desperate." Floyd | Floyd | And with this, he walks to the bedroom door and turns his stone key in Floyd | the lock. It flies open, and he steps into the complete whiteness Floyd | beyond just before the door snaps shut behind him, leaving me alone. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "It occurs to me that we didn't ask Leo or Irene about the nest. I strongly suspect something was to go in it." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I open Leo's bedroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a diamond ring (being worn) Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "He took it?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "It won't matter, of course." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn ring" | ||||
Floyd | I twist the diamond, which produces a familiar snapping sound, and the Floyd | surroundings again turn chromatically inside out. Floyd | Floyd | The colours in the painting suddenly sparkle brilliantly---daylight in Floyd | this dingy room---then fade just as quickly. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "he took the ankh, yes" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter painting" | ||||
Floyd | Bizarre, how casually I can do this. I walk clean into another world, Floyd | not even pausing to look behind me after I arrive. Floyd | Floyd | Dock's End Floyd | It's much brighter here than last time---evening, rather than Floyd | twilight, but nothing is moving, even the raindrops, and a bolt of Floyd | lightning far off to the west gives a continuous eerie light to the Floyd | horizon. The beach lies to the east, and the drops of water ascend Floyd | into the sky as far as I can see. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | I shiver as a raindrop slips into my eye. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "No, I meant that he took the watch, too? I knew he took the ankh." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach Floyd | A thoroughly miserable spot, the tide gradually rising and threatening Floyd | to engulf what little sand remains. A soaked-looking cabin lies to the Floyd | south---padlocked shut again, of course--- and the beach continues to Floyd | the north. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy says, "Good call on the rain, though." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I think you're right, David, about the rain." | ||||
| DavidW says, "You don't have the watch because you used the ring. Or something like that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | Using the old bronze key, I unlock the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | Once more, the padlock springs open, executing a graceful parabola and Floyd | landing in the water. Floyd | Floyd | I open the cabin door. Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | An even worse mess than last time I was here. The music box stands Floyd | open, playing a familiar lilting tune, and a fat stream of water is Floyd | gushing into the cabin through the hole in the roof, then soaking out Floyd | through the floor. All in all, a fairly miserable studio. On the Floyd | opposite side of the room, placed, I now realise, as far as possible Floyd | from the corner with the hole, are the desk and hammock, and the exit Floyd | is to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | Sergeant_Touchy asks, "How did the padlock come back?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | I grab the pendulum by the bulb on the end, arresting its motion. A Floyd | now-familiar snapping sound assaults my ears, and I turn to find my Floyd | surroundings reverted once more to black and white, with only the Floyd | music box and the pendulum remaining unchanged. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Touchy), "This is BEFORE." | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy shuts up again. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The padlock - right" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We're apparantly before our visit here too." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "leave" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to say which compass direction to go in. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "exit cabin" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting me to exit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | I stop. Floyd | Floyd | The beach has been completely enveloped by a web of raindrops Floyd | suspended in midair, so closely spaced that to get to the water's edge Floyd | I have to pick my way slowly through them, one step at a time. I grasp Floyd | a nearby droplet, trying to push it out of my way, but it doesn't Floyd | budge, and even supports my weight as I strain against it. The cabin Floyd | is back to the south, the dock to the west, and the beach continues to Floyd | the north. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb rain" | ||||
Floyd | Cautiously, I grasp onto a raindrop at eye level, then lift myself up, Floyd | finding a foothold on one of the drops below. It ends up being less Floyd | dangerous than it looks---there's not much chance of falling since a Floyd | mass of riveted-in-place droplets keeps me in caged into a sort of Floyd | column. Eventually my heart rate subsides and I am able to reach roof Floyd | level. Floyd | Floyd | In Midair (in monochrome) Floyd | I pause a moment, slightly dazzled by the sheer distance to the Floyd | ground, and the illusion of being suspended with absolutely nothing Floyd | beneath my feet. The roof of the cabin is right at my feet, due south Floyd | from here. Floyd | Floyd | The reflective object glimmers enticingly from the roof of the cabin. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | I step lightly onto the roof of the cabin, working my way through the Floyd | web of rain. Floyd | Floyd | On the Roof (in monochrome) Floyd | The summit of the cabin is completely flat, which is unfortunate for Floyd | the cabin on days with weather like this---I can see the grandfather Floyd | clock through one particularly rotten hole in the roof---but I Floyd | appreciate it now, and the roughness of the surface makes it easy to Floyd | gain purchase. I can (reluctantly) step back into the rain to the Floyd | north or west---everything else is rock and water. Floyd | Floyd | A small marble box waits quietly in the shadow of the chimney. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take box" | ||||
Floyd | It won't move. It's like trying to manipulate solid rock. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh damn, right." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | It seems that I'm carrying: Floyd | a key ring Floyd | an amber key (which opens Leo's kitchen door) Floyd | a ruby key (which opens Leo's bedroom door) Floyd | a sapphire key (which opens Leo's toilet door) Floyd | a jade key (which opens Leo's back door) Floyd | another brass key Floyd | some papers Floyd | a tiny copper key (which opens the padlock) Floyd | an old bronze key (which opens Leo's bayside cabin) Floyd | my house key Floyd | Floyd | The diamond ring is gone. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Damnity damning damn." | |||
| Sergeant_Touchy says, "Hm..." | ||||
| Gerynar asks, "examine the roof?" | ||||
| Sergeant_Touchy asks, "Can you reach down to the pendulum?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x roof" | ||||
Floyd | Ancient tiles that barely do their job anymore. In many places they Floyd | have rotted away entirely, and in one spot there's a hole nearly large Floyd | enough to fall through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | A polished marble container, perhaps built to hold pencils or Floyd | paintbrushes, still shining but a little warped by several months of Floyd | exposure. No keyhole, God be praised. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter hold" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter hole" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt I could even get my head through that hole, let alone my body Floyd | entire. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Touchy), "Good thinking!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "hm" | ||||
| DavidW says, "That's an excellent idea." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "What's the wording." | ||||
| DavidW says, "push pendulum" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "reach through hole" | ||||
Floyd | Lying down awkwardly, I reach into the hole---soaking my front Floyd | completely in the process---and feel about in the cabin. My hand Floyd | lights on the top of the grandfather clock. If I stretched I could Floyd | probably reach the pendulum from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | Lying down and reaching deep into the hole, I draw the very top of the Floyd | pendulum to the side and release. There is a snapping sound as it Floyd | resumes its slow ticking, and the world returns to normal. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Brilliant, Touchy." | |||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take box" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "ysy" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "ITYM YAY" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "yay even" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open box" | ||||
Floyd | I open the polished marble box, revealing a glass key. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Don't drop it in the bay on the way down. :)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf23" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Guess we need to stop it again to get down?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I doubt I could even get my head through that hole, let alone my body Floyd | entire. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "push pendulum" | ||||
Floyd | Reaching through the hole, I just manage to poke the topmost point of Floyd | the pendulum, arresting its motion. A now-familiar snapping sound Floyd | assaults my ears, and I turn to find my surroundings reverted once Floyd | more to black and white, with only the music box and the pendulum Floyd | remaining unchanged. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb down" | ||||
Floyd | (the floor) Floyd | I don't think much is to be achieved by that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I make my way to the edge, and, after a ghastly moment of vertigo, Floyd | step off the roof and into the web of rain. Floyd | Floyd | In Midair (in monochrome) Floyd | I pause a moment, slightly dazzled by the sheer distance to the Floyd | ground, and the illusion of being suspended with absolutely nothing Floyd | beneath my feet. The roof of the cabin is right at my feet, due south Floyd | from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | I pick my way carefully through a web of frozen raindrops. Floyd | Floyd | Along the Beach (in monochrome) Floyd | The sea and rain, arrested, wait silently. The cabin is back to the Floyd | south, the dock to the west, and the beach continues to the north. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter cabin" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | In the Cabin (in monochrome) Floyd | An unsettling glittery light pervades this room, reflected through the Floyd | doorway by the sea of raindrops outside. A cascade of water is stopped Floyd | in midair, gushing through a gaping hole in the cabin's low ceiling, Floyd | just above the grandfather clock. The desk with its music box sits Floyd | opposite, and the exit is back to the north. Floyd | Floyd | Everything in the room has been bleached of colour except the music Floyd | box and grandfather clock, whose pendulum shines like burnished gold. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open box" | ||||
Floyd | That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get in box" | ||||
Floyd | I carefully slip my hand into the box and try not to cry out at the Floyd | sudden sensation of being forcibly pulled into an entirely different Floyd | world. Floyd | Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | This room is completely empty. The floor and ceiling are still Floyd | painted, and the windows still becurtained, suggesting that Leo made Floyd | use of this room at some point, but the walls are absolutely bare Floyd | except for one of his canvases---an abstract---which takes up most of Floyd | the eastern wall. The hallway lies back to the south. Floyd | Floyd | The ring has reappeared on my ringer. Floyd | Floyd | Hearing the loud snap that accompanies my entrance, Leo hurries into Floyd | the room. "Did you find the key?" Floyd | Floyd | When I hold up the box, his face morphs into the happiest expression I Floyd | have ever seen on a human face. "Irene!" he cries. "I . . . you . . . Floyd | " and he pulls me into a fierce hug. After a few moments of this, I Floyd | pull back, and his expression turns solemn. "And there's something I Floyd | need to ask---" Floyd | Floyd | He is interrupted by a distant scream. In the background I can hear Floyd | Irene's voice floating up the stairs. "Leo?" Floyd | Floyd | He rolls his eyes, then shouts back, "Coming!" Then, turning to me: Floyd | "We'll talk in a second. Wait for me." He gently takes the box from my Floyd | hands and zips out to the south. Floyd | Floyd | I simply stand there for a moment, basking in the warm glow of my own Floyd | accomplishment, when I realise with a surge of horror that both Irene Floyd | and whatever weapon she used are still unaccounted for---in fact, she Floyd | probably has the gun already. I have only a few minutes to act. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Might want to check on beach." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "I think she's gone, but want me to go back?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "it might not matter. Leo did say she was gone." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I wondered if she left anything behind." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf24" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: All right. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar asks, "like her cane?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Vacant Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "/undo" | DavidW says, "dunno. maybe." | |||
Floyd | In the Cabin Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | I pic | ||||