ClubFloyd Transcript:
Rogue of the Multiverse by C.E.J. Pacian

As played on ifMUD on November 27, 2010

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 Rogue of the Multiverse, written by C.E.J. Pacian. Rogue of the Multiverse was originally released as part of the 2010 Interactive Fiction Competition, where it took second place. 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.


ToyShop & Floyditorium
#ClubFloyd Discussion
 
Jacqueline says (to floyd), "load roguemultiverse"
Floyd | > Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Rogue of the Multiverse
Floyd | by C.E.J.  Pacian
Floyd |
Floyd | Great towers rise from the desert, beneath a clear blue sky.  Their
Floyd | mirrored sides reflect the afternoon sun through a shimmering heat
Floyd | haze.  Specks hover over the city on veined wings or burning jets.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | [Enter 'about' for more info, 'credits' to see who made the game
Floyd | possible, and 'hint' if you get stuck.]
Floyd |
Floyd | The klaxon sounds briefly, and your cell door rattles open.
Floyd |
Floyd | You've only been in this prison a few days, and you're not confident
Floyd | that you'll make it through too many more.
Floyd |
Floyd | Cell
Floyd | The cracked tiles of your small cell have been defaced by decades of
Floyd | graffiti.  The metal door out stands open.
Floyd |
Floyd | Springs protrude from your decrepit old bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Jizaboz), "I found a bug, but I imagine it's not whatever you found."
ParserGirl asks, "Open cell?"
riggzy asks, "It's already open, isn't it?"
ParserGirl says, "Yeah, that's what I meant."
DavidW says (to PG), "Sometimes they let prisoners out to feed or exercise them."
Jacqueline says (to Binder), "[LINK]"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "about"
Floyd | Welcome to the Imbroglio, human.  Enter simple imperative commands, or
Floyd | click on hyperlinks to perform actions.  Type directions to move
Floyd | between locations.  You can attempt to interact with any object in your
Floyd | current location.
Floyd |
Floyd | To read a brief list of the most common commands in this game, enter
Floyd | INSTRUCTIONS.  Even experienced players might like to take a quick look
Floyd | at the parts about movement and disambiguation.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says, "Perhaps we are in jail for being a rogue."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me"
Floyd | It's definitely you.  How exactly you wound up in this jail is an
Floyd | interesting question.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing an orange uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x uniform"
Floyd | It identifies you as convict #76954, albeit not in human numerals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison arrives, full of fun and funk.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bed"
Floyd | A big, slightly springy mattress suitable for a wide variety of
Floyd | species.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "x graffiti"
Floyd | A lot of it's in languages you've never even seen before.  You
Floyd | recognise some apian gang symbols, some vulgar saurian poetry, and some
Floyd | crude drawings of octopodes in coitu.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says, "4 a good time call cthulhu"
riggzy says, "Huh. Multi-species jail."
Ellison says, "perhaps we are in jail for being rogue-ishly good-handsomed"
DavidW says, "I propose 'out'. Whenever we're ready to leave the cell."
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "x tiles"
Floyd | They might have looked nice once, in an institutional kind of way.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "look under mattress"
Floyd | You see nothing unusual under the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Ellison), "That makes sense. The universe is probably very jealous."
ParserGirl says, "Yeah, seems so"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove uniform"
Floyd | It's a cold and uncaring Multiverse out there to be running around
Floyd | naked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy Haha.
DavidW asks, "out?"
ParserGirl says, "Sure"
riggzy nods.
olethros says, "the door _is_ open afterall"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Cell Block X
Floyd | Rotating fan vents light this wide corridor with harsh, flickering
Floyd | sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Orange suited prisoners drift listlessly forwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saurian guards keep a close eye on the inmates.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x guards"
Floyd | Burly, reptilian bipeds in thick body armour.  From experience you know
Floyd | they're just looking for an excuse to use their shock sticks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x prisoners"
Floyd | Organics and androids, bipeds and octopodes...  Humans are conspicuous
Floyd | by their absence.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "exits"
Floyd | Obvious exits lead in, back to the cell; and forwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | (You can control the exit listings with the EXITS command.  EXITS
Floyd | STATUS shows the exit list in the status line, EXITS LOOK shows a full
Floyd | exit list in each room description, EXITS ON shows both, and EXITS OFF
Floyd | turns off both kinds of exit lists.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I suppose an 'EXITS LOOK' wouldn't hurt us."
riggzy nods, "Quite useful."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "exits look"
Floyd | The list of exits will not be shown in the status line, and will be
Floyd | included in room descriptions.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Cell Block X
Floyd | Rotating fan vents light this wide corridor with harsh, flickering
Floyd | sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | Orange suited prisoners drift listlessly forwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | Saurian guards keep a close eye on the inmates.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: In, Forwards
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "x shock sticks"
Floyd | Capable of doling out agonising pain and leaving no perceptible marks.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy exclaims, "Don't taze me bro!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x androids"
Floyd | Many of them lethal killing machines to varying degrees of literalness.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "Forwards seems the only progress possible"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x organics"
Floyd | Generally squishy and full of fluid, just like you, although many have
Floyd | exoskeletons.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "for people unaware of their existence, a .jpg and .pdf feelie were included with the comp release of this game"
DavidW says, "oh? I think I skipped over those."
Jacqueline steps away to work on her other puter.
DavidW says, "I suppose we ought to go forwards, yes. Otherwise, examine the sunlight, vents, octopodes."
riggzy says (to floyd), "x vents"
Floyd | A cheap solution to both lighting and ventilation.  That's saurians for
Floyd | you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says, "Yeah, seems like forward is good"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | Skyway
Floyd | A raised skyway between Cell Block X and the rest of the prison tower.
Floyd | It provides a view of the endless wasteland you'd have to traverse if
Floyd | you even managed to escape.  Wire mesh prevents inmates from throwing
Floyd | themselves over the side.
Floyd |
Floyd | A burly guard stands watch by the way forwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | Two inmates - one saurian, one apian - are dawdling on the skyway.  The
Floyd | apian nudges her companion and points at you.  "What's that?"
Floyd |
Floyd | He guffaws.  "Ain't you never seen a human before?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "we could talk to the apian perhaps"
DavidW says, "feel free"
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "x apian"
Floyd | Her black and yellow exoskeleton has been scrimshawed with elaborate
Floyd | gang carvings.
Floyd |
Floyd | She looks back at you.  "Oh honey, what juicy eyes you have."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Isn't human," the apian says, "like, the other other white meat?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "No fur," the saurian muses, looking you up and down, "no exoskeleton
Floyd | or scales.  Like a walking buffet."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "I think the prison survival rule is that we should take down the biggest guy we see"
ParserGirl says, "Or the boniest female."
Ellison says, "heh"
olethros says, "uga uga"
DavidW says, "Looks like this prison is mixed genders as well as mixed species."
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "x saurian"
Floyd | Razor sharp teeth, hungry eyes and green-scaled skin that's stretched
Floyd | taut over his muscles.
Floyd |
Floyd | He stares back at you.  "What are you looking at, chimp?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The guard draws his shock stick.  "Break it up you three.  This isn't a
Floyd | social club."
Floyd |
Floyd | Your two new friends walk away laughing, the saurian pausing to thump
Floyd | you on the back.  "We'll catch you for a bite later, hey pal?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "tentacle rape ahoy"
olethros says, "hey, this is nicely done"
ParserGirl says, "Yay we made friends."
Ellison says, "ha ha"
olethros says, "so far this is great"
Binder says, "with friends like these..."
riggzy says, "Wow, we might actually have ongoing NPCs."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "forward?"
Floyd | The story doesn't understand that command.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "er, forward?"
Binder says, "yeah, might as well get moving"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | Checkpoint
Floyd | A number of scanners and drone turrets are arrayed around a low
Floyd | platform, overseen by a smiley face on a computer screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The smiley-faced computer assembles a sentence out of painfully
Floyd | cheerful soundbites.  "Greetings!  Convict 76954!  Please!  Stand on
Floyd | the!  Scanning platform!"
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "I like how it's letting us explore if we choose to."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x computer"
Floyd | A simple cartoon face that corresponds to the eye and mouth placements
Floyd | of most saurians, apians and lesser octopodes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "stand on platform"
Floyd | You stand on the platform.  The scanners begin to whir around you,
Floyd | beams tingling over your skin.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Thank you!" the computer chirps, "For your!  Co-operation!  Please
Floyd | wait...  For the scan to complete..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x platform"
Floyd | Scuffed by countless feet.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are standing on the scanning platform.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Scanning..." the computer drones.  "Scanning..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl says, "Convist! You hear shiv! From the north!"
DavidW says, "Cafeteria! Needs! More! Ingredients!"
Binder goes semi-idle to play Forbidden Island IRL
DavidW says, "I suppose we die if we leave the platform too soon."
olethros says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Checkpoint (standing on the scanning platform)
Floyd | A number of scanners and drone turrets are arrayed around a low
Floyd | platform, overseen by a smiley face on a computer screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | "Scan complete!" the computer announces.  "The scan found!  No!
Floyd | Contraband!  Congratulations!  You have also been selected for!
Floyd | Scientific experimentation!  Please go!  Forward!  And collect your
Floyd | prize..."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "aieeeee"
olethros asks, "any other options ?"
DavidW says, "There's backwards."
olethros says, "ok then!"
olethros says (to Floyd), "back"
Floyd | (first getting off of the scanning platform)
Floyd | "Please!" the computer sings.  "Proceed!  Forward!  To!  Participate in
Floyd | a scientific experiment!"
Floyd |
Floyd | The drone turrets swivel to aim multi-barrelled machineguns at you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
djfletch arrives, full of fun, but no funk. riggzy says, "Ooh, a prize! And guns, gah."
olethros says (to Floyd), "ohm."
Floyd | The word "ohm" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "erm, let's tip-toe forwards then"
DavidW clears the save counter.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "(the bug I found was in the next room)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x guns"
Floyd | The word "guns" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x turrets"
Floyd | They look like they could put a real dent in your day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "evolve exoskeleton" DavidW asks, "fore?"
Floyd | The word "evolve" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "sure let us proceed to probing"
olethros says, "(probably better than tentacle rape?)"
DavidW says, "It might be a sponge bath."
olethros asks, "they have sponge convicts?"
DavidW says, "Maybe."
olethros says (to Floyd), "fore"
Floyd | The word "fore" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "forward"
Floyd | Interview Room
Floyd | Cosily lit, with a messy noticeboard on one wall.  A narrow desk takes
Floyd | up the centre of the room, strewn with notes.  An empty chair is turned
Floyd | slightly towards you.
Floyd |
Floyd | A saurian in a labcoat sits on the opposite side of the desk.
Floyd |
Floyd | A muscular guard blocks the exit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Out
Floyd |
Floyd | The saurian smiles, baring her pointed teeth.  "Well, hello!  I'm Dr.
Floyd | Sliss.  Are those appendages prehensile?  How wonderful!  Why don't you
Floyd | take a seat and we'll begin?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "oh, it is psychology research. That is not science at all!"
riggzy says (to floyd), "x sliss"
Floyd | Her skin consists of shimmering green scales, and her golden,
Floyd | slit-pupil eyes hold a calculating beauty.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is wearing a labcoat, a white blouse, a grey skirt, and red
Floyd | shoes.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Don't be shy," Dr. Sliss says.  "I won't bite."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "(this makes me think of that dr. lizard in marvel comics)"
riggzy asks, "Red shoes and a lab coat?"
DavidW says, "The lab coat, at least."
DavidW says, "Dr. Connors, iirc."
DavidW says, "We should sit."
olethros says (to Floyd), "sit"
Floyd | (on the chair)
Floyd | Intended for saurian backsides, the chair is less than comfortable.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now," Dr. Sliss says, "let's get down to business.  Would you start by
Floyd | confirming your name?"
Floyd |
Floyd | Enter your name:>>
olethros says (to Floyd), "Hunkomeat"
Floyd | "Hunkomeat!" the doctor repeats cheerfully.  "How barely pronounceable!
Floyd | And do you identify as male or female, Hunkomeat?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say male, or female.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "I was going to suggest Floyd."
olethros asks, "is that important? or the gender?"
DavidW says, "I don't know."
olethros says, "we can undo if there are objections to the name."
DavidW says, "I saved the game before we entered this room."
Pacian says, "No objections on my part. Just a comment."
Ellison says, "maybe we just object to being objectified. I suggest 'Slabby'"
DavidW says, "I prefer to be male in these situations."
DavidW says, "I don't object to the current name."
olethros says (to Floyd), "male"
Floyd | "But of course," the doctor says.  "Now, some questions about your
Floyd | medical history.  Please be honest."
Floyd |
Floyd | She turns to the first page of her notes.  "Have you ever been exposed
Floyd | to more than 200 yegs of radiation?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Here's where I fouled up the game."
DavidW says, "I tried 'ask sliss about yegs', and it threw the game off its track."
olethros says, "I was thinking of giving a random answer"
Pacian says, "Yeah. A really simple mistake on my part, with big ramifications."
olethros asks, "should I go with the random answer?"
DavidW says, "I asked 'no' to everything, but maybe randomness would be enlightening."
Pacian says, "You can undo afterwards if it all goes pear shaped."
DavidW says, "er answered, I mean."
EmacsUser arrives, ready to play with the toys.
olethros says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "I see. Has your head ever been
Floyd | detached from its current body?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "If you say so. Have you ever
Floyd | had any form of unprotected sex with an entity that exists in more than
Floyd | four macroscopic spatial dimensions?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "Really?  You should try it
Floyd | sometime. Have your actions ever been controlled by hive-linked cortex
Floyd | worms?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "The fact you can admit it
Floyd | proves you've recovered. Now, the following questions attempt to gauge
Floyd | your personality.  There are no right or wrong answers, so just relax
Floyd | and answer truthfully.  Are you now or have you ever been a member of
Floyd | the Apian Individualist Coalition, or AIC?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "interesting"
Binder says, "terrifying"
olethros says, "perhaps the questions are more important than the answers"
Binder looks fruitlessly for clues in the Dryzandia Sun
olethros says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "That should please the
Floyd | bean-counters. Have you ever consumed your own offspring?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "I certainly don't judge you
Floyd | for it. Finally, I see you're serving a life sentence.  Well...  Did
Floyd | you do it?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | The doctor scribbles down your answer.  "And I believe you, even though
Floyd | there's absolutely nothing I can do about it. Well, I'm pleased to say
Floyd | that you meet all of the requirements of my research - especially the
Floyd | parts that prohibit experiments on fellow saurians."
Floyd |
Floyd | She nods to the guard.  "You may shock him now."
Floyd |
Floyd | Something cold and metallic touches the back of your neck - and then
Floyd | you taste burning and everything goes white.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | You're awoken by an unfamiliar beeping sound.  You sit bolt upright and
Floyd | look around.
Floyd |
Floyd | Holding Cell (sitting on the bed)
Floyd | A bare room of white walls.  Strip lights glare down from the ceiling,
Floyd | and there's an intercom next to the way out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A white, saurian-style bed occupies the middle of the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something in the room seems to be beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Out
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x bed"
Floyd | Raised up off the floor, with a gap in the middle for your tail to go
Floyd | through when you're lying on your back.
Floyd |
Floyd | You are sitting on the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something in the room seems to be beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says, "there, I did my unthinking duty. Now for some puzzle solving"
riggzy asks, "Huh, tail?"
riggzy says (to floyd), "x me"
Floyd | How do you get in these predicaments?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder if we were saurian. which we are not. Binder says, "d'oh"
olethros says, "for saurians. We are not saurians."
olethros says (to Floyd), "listen"
Floyd | Something in the room seems to be beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy ahs.
Itax arrives, full of funk, but no fun.
olethros says (to Floyd), "l under bed"
Floyd | You see nothing unusual under the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "find beep"
Floyd | What do you want to look that up in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x intercom"
Floyd | A simple grille in the wall.  There's a big red button beneath it.  The
Floyd | beeping seems to be coming from the intercom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "x intercom"
Floyd | A simple grille in the wall.  There's a big red button beneath it.  The
Floyd | beeping seems to be coming from the intercom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "x lights"
Floyd | The kind of cosy lighting that might be at home in a morgue.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing a collar and an orange
Floyd | uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something in the room seems to be beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "x collar"
Floyd | A leather collar with a small metal box at the throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "x box"
Floyd | It's slightly warm to the touch.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something in the room seems to be beeping.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Feel free to push the button."
olethros says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss' voice crackles through the speaker.  "Rise and shine!
Floyd | Welcome to the Long Range Matter Transmission Complex!  Isn't this much
Floyd | nicer than that nasty prison?  Nobody here is carving makeshift blades
Floyd | to stab you with.  As far as I know."
Floyd |
Floyd | The door unlocks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
olethros says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | (first standing up, then opening the door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss leans over the catwalk railing.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the antechamber, or back to the holding cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | The Doctor waves down at you.  "Do you like your new fashion accessory?
Floyd | With that collar, I can always keep tabs on my favourite chimp.  No,
Floyd | don't try to remove it - the explosive charge will blow your head off."
Floyd |
Floyd | After a moment, she adds, "Also, you might want to keep your distance
Floyd | from microwave ovens."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Ha."
Ellison says, "heading to the coffee shop. back in a jiffy."
ParserGirl says (to Floyd), "x me"
Ellison goes back to Squeamhurst..
Ellison has disconnected.
Floyd | How do you get in these predicaments?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Now," Dr. Sliss says with a grin, "why don't you step into the
Floyd | antechamber.  There may be a banana in it for you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "x collar"
Floyd | A leather collar with a small metal box at the throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy asks, "Do we have much of a choice?"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x cyborgs"
Floyd | Members of various sapient species, all wearing black armour.  Their
Floyd | brains seem to have been replaced with an exposed mass of wiring and
Floyd | tubes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "We've had very little choice so far, really."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x catwalk"
Floyd | A narrow catwalk, utilitarian and sturdy.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is standing on the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cyborgs are standing on the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "forward"
Floyd | Antechamber
Floyd | A long, narrow room, the walls bulging with strange pipes and
Floyd | machinery.  The most notable feature is the thickly armoured airlock
Floyd | door leading further in.  Either side of the airlock are an equipment
Floyd | rack and a glass tube.  A more conventional exit leads back out.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the equipment rack are a launcher, a scanner, and a retrieval
Floyd | beacon.  The glass tube contains an environment suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: In, Out
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the transmission chamber, or back to the complex
Floyd | lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | A wall-mounted monitor flickers to life, displaying Dr Sliss' face.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Through that airlock is the matter transmission chamber.  You're going
Floyd | to be performing a routine, uh, salvage detail on a non-Treaty world.
Floyd | Which world?  Who knows, there are millions."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "it's good to know that alien scientists can be trusted to use heavy duty hardware for the most mundane of executions^Wtasks. I'm getting a Paranoia vibe."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x tube"
Floyd | It's closed, and contains an environment suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr Sliss peers around the room from the monitor.  "You'll need all this
Floyd | equipment if you want to return in one piece.  Which is not to say that
Floyd | our advanced medical facility is unable to cope with multiple pieces,
Floyd | but bio-glue doesn't come cheap."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x rack"
Floyd | On the equipment rack are a launcher, a scanner, and a retrieval
Floyd | beacon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I suggest examining all the equipment and taking it all. Plus, wear the suit."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x launcher"
Floyd | It looks kind of like a gun, only weirder.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen is blank.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x beacon"
Floyd | An orange cylinder with RETRIEVAL BEACON stencilled on it.  A thin cord
Floyd | protrudes from it with a ring on the end, begging to be pulled.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "get all"
Floyd | launcher: You sling the launcher over your shoulder.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You can use the launcher to tag valuables," Dr. Sliss tells you.  "At
Floyd | the end of the mission, anything you've tagged will be matter
Floyd | transmitted into one of our five retrieval tanks for salvage."
Floyd |
Floyd | After a moment's thought, she adds, "Please note that the Complex has
Floyd | an ample supply of bananas.  Do not tag bananas."
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit locks with a chunky click.
Floyd |
Floyd | scanner: The scanner fits neatly in your palm.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The scanner is able to detect points of interest within five
Floyd | kitrecks," Dr. Sliss says.  "Go to these points of interest and tag
Floyd | anything valuable with the launcher."
Floyd |
Floyd | retrieval beacon: You find the beacon adheres somehow to the front of
Floyd | your outfit.
Floyd |
Floyd | "The beacon is your way home," Dr. Sliss says.  "If everything goes
Floyd | wrong, or if you've tagged everything valuable in sight, just pull the
Floyd | cord on the beacon and we'll retrieve you whether the mission clock has
Floyd | run out or not.  And don't worry if you're too wounded or dismembered
Floyd | to pull the cord: the lifesign monitors on your collar will fulfil the
Floyd | same function when you're near death."
Floyd |
Floyd | environment suit:
Floyd | (first opening the glass tube)
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "We don't exactly want you running around the complex with a blast
Floyd | launcher," Dr. Sliss adds, "so you'll have to return all the equipment
Floyd | before you can leave."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "wear suit"
Floyd | You step into the suit and fasten the seals.  Your ears pop slightly as
Floyd | it pressurises.
Floyd |
Floyd | "If something should happen to you," Dr. Sliss explains, "the bright
Floyd | yellow colour of the suit will make it easier to retrieve your - uh,
Floyd | yourself."
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's it," Dr. Sliss says, "you're ready.  Enter the airlock and it's
Floyd | nothing but open skies and banana trees from here on."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "No one's told Sliss about pizza, I assume."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "status"
Floyd | You're Hunkomeat, the male human.
Floyd |
Floyd | Now you've scored a job as a lab rat.  Keep it up!
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "in"
Floyd | (first opening the airlock door)
Floyd |
Floyd | Transmission Chamber
Floyd | An enormous metal dome lit by the distant floodlights that surround an
Floyd | armoured observation window.  A huge antenna aims directly down at you
Floyd | from above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal chair is bolted to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | An armoured airlock door leads out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Out Dr. Sliss appears at the observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Her voice booms over a loudspeaker.  "When you're ready to begin the-"
Floyd | she clears her throat, "salvage mission, please take a seat.  We'll
Floyd | retrieve you when 50 seegols have elapsed, when you activate your
Floyd | beacon, or when you're about to die.  Whichever happens first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "And away we go~"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x chair"
Floyd | You see nothing unusual about it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I can all but hear the quotes around "salvage mission"."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x antenna"
Floyd | It looks like it has a lot of zap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "phew, that's a relief. I'd hate to run out of zap."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x door"
Floyd | It's open.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Antennae can wilt a bit when they get older."
DavidW says, "(psst. We need to sit again.)"
riggzy says (to floyd), "sit"
Floyd | (on the metal chair)
Floyd | You sit on the metal chair.  Restraints clunk into place around your
Floyd | wrists and ankles.  "Just relax," Dr. Sliss says.  "I've transmitted
Floyd | several warm-blooded organisms and very few experienced anatomical
Floyd | inversion."
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything begins to glow.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss continues, "You may feel a sensation like every molecule in
Floyd | your body being forced through a microscopic wormhole like so much
Floyd | toothpaste.  Don't be alarmed.  It's merely that this is exactly what's
Floyd | happening."
Floyd |
Floyd | Everything seems to be growing extremely elongated and distant.  Before
Floyd | the whole world disappears with a snap, you hear Dr. Sliss say,
Floyd | "Remember!  Tag valuable objects!  Bananas aren't valuable!"
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | With the sound of billions of molecules snapping into place, you pop
Floyd | back into existence - falling some distance to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | City 0 E 0 N (lying on the ground)
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see an automated news stand here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "huh. I never saw a news stand in my first mission."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x news stand"
Floyd | A coin-operated newspaper stand with a pair of robot arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, -3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 4 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -4 E, -1 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, -3 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Something interesting here then? Unless we're not at 0,0."
DavidW says, "We are at 0,0. The interesting thing is the news stand."
DavidW says, "We could tag it, for example."
riggzy says (to floyd), "tag newspaper stand"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the automated news stand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Yuck."
riggzy says (to floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, -3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 4 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -4 E, -1 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, -3 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Someone better at juggling x,y coords in their heads than me should drive."
riggzy says, "Let's head east and get the stationary whatchamacallits."
DavidW says, "I guess going east twice is simplest, yeah."
riggzy says (to floyd), "e"
Floyd | (first standing up)
Floyd | City 1 E 0 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Oh right, the room name shows our co-ords. Helpful."
riggzy says (to floyd), "e"
Floyd | City 2 E 0 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a hovercar here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "x hovercar"
Floyd | Sleek and curvaceous.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "tag hovercar"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the hovercar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Just hope the owner in the diner doesn't notice you tagging his precious car."
riggzy says (to floyd), "x buildings"
Floyd | Lavish, curvaceous and streamlined, all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "The key word here is, 'curvaceous'. I guess we should just get on with it."
DavidW says, "mmhm"
riggzy says (to floyd), "se. s."
Floyd | City 3 E -1 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 3 E -2 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a hovercar here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "tag hovercar"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the hovercar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 6 E, -5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, -3 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy asks, "The new stationary one next?"
Binder says, "sure"
DavidW says, "I guess. Unless you want to chase down a moving one."
riggzy says (to floyd), "g"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 6 E, -5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, -3 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "That last one seems closest."
Idd arrives, full of fun and funk.
riggzy says (to floyd), "e. e. se. se."
Floyd | City 4 E -2 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 5 E -2 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 6 E -3 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 7 E -4 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
ParserGirl goes home. DavidW says, "Methinks you wandered too far."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 5 E, -5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Guh. Co-ordinates. Apologies."
Idd goes home.
EmacsUser disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again.
riggzy says (to floyd), "w. sw."
Floyd | City 6 E -4 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 5 E -5 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | A smiling android cop patrols the streets.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "x cop"
Floyd | She's wearing a smart blue uniform and a peaked hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cop leaves to the east.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "hm. Might want to pass this one by. He'd probably not like being tagged."
DavidW says, "er, She."
riggzy says (to floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 6 E, -5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy asks, "Time to head off west?"
Binder asks, "that moving blip is perhaps the same cop. Return to origin?"
inky arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. DavidW says, "I get easily lost with these coords. I have no objection getting closer to 0,0, though."
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | City 4 E -4 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 6 E, -5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw. x scanner."
Floyd | City 3 E -3 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 6 E, -5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, -3 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder asks, "how about that other large stationary?"
DavidW says, "Sure."
riggzy says, "Sure, drive us there."
Binder says, "ok"
Binder says (to Floyd), "ne"
Floyd | City 4 E -2 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 7 E, -5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "ne.n."
Floyd | City 5 E -1 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | City 5 E 0 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "n."
Floyd | City 5 E 1 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see an automated hotdog stand here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x hotdog"
Floyd | A coin-operated hotdog stand with a pair of robot arms.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "tag hotdog" DavidW says, "mm, hotdogs."
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the automated hotdog stand.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "I'm not totally sure why the newspaper and hot-dog venders need *two* arms, but I guess it makes for twice the business. Should anyone actually turn up."
Pacian says, "One to give out the paper/dog, one to take your change."
riggzy ahs!
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | City 4 E 2 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 6 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | City 3 E 3 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 3 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 6 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw. x scanner."
Floyd | City 2 E 4 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 1 E, 5 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 1 E, 6 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 0 E, 8 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | City 1 E 5 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | An android housewife is window-shopping here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "tag housewife"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the housewife.  The housewife grabs the tag and pulls it off.
Floyd |
Floyd | The housewife flees to the south.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder shakes a tiny fist
Binder says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | City 1 E 5 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "oh, you're in trouble if she finds a cop."
Binder says (to Floyd), "s" inky says, "does it really work like that? that would be cute"
Floyd | City 1 E 4 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | An android housewife is window-shopping here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x housewife"
Floyd | She's wearing a modest dress and a pair of horn-rimmed glasses.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder. o O (why would an android need corrective lenses?)
DavidW says, "Style."
Ellison arrives, ready to play with the toys.
Ellison scores 1638773448 points, bringing his score to 1638773448.
riggzy says (to floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at 0 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 5 E, 1 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at 2 E, 0 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at 1 E, 4 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, 3 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 2 E, 6 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at -1 E, 8 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying a launcher, a scanner, and a retrieval beacon, and
Floyd | you're wearing a collar, an environment suit, and an orange uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | The housewife leaves to the north.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Johnny arrives, ready to play with the toys.
riggzy says (to floyd), "ne"
Floyd | City 2 E 5 N
Floyd | Elegant art deco buildings line the streets, futurist skyscrapers
Floyd | pierce the skyline and the pavements are all clean.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: North, South, East, West, Northeast, Northwest,
Floyd | Southeast, Southwest
Floyd |
Floyd | Your watch starts vibrating.  Everything begins to glow.  You feel a
Floyd | sensation like being pulled backwards down your own throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | You materialise in the matter transmission chamber with a pop, and fall
Floyd | flailing to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Transmission Chamber (lying on the floor)
Floyd | An enormous metal dome lit by the distant floodlights that surround an
Floyd | armoured observation window.  A huge antenna aims directly down at you
Floyd | from above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal chair is bolted to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | An armoured airlock door leads out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks down at you from the observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Out
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Hunkomeat," the doctor booms over the tannoy.  "It looks
Floyd | like 4 of our retrieval tanks received salvage.  Let's see what you
Floyd | tagged..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss touches her chin thoughtfully.  "Hey, chimpy-boy, what do you
Floyd | say we incentivise you?  I'll give you 10% of the value of everything
Floyd | you, ahem, salvage.  It's only fair - you do take at least part of the
Floyd | risk."
Floyd |
Floyd | "A cheap robot and a load of news articles about another timeline.  I
Floyd | don't see the market for it, to be honest."
Floyd | [Cash +100]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An actual hovercar.  On the one hand: supersonic jet engine.  On the
Floyd | other: no seatbelts."
Floyd | [Cash +400]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An actual hovercar.  On the one hand: supersonic jet engine.  On the
Floyd | other: no seatbelts."
Floyd | [Cash +400]
Floyd |
Floyd | "A robot that sells elongated packets of cooked offal.  I smell a new
Floyd | fast food craze in the offing."
Floyd | [Cash +250]
Floyd |
Floyd | Then she looks down at you and grins.  "You know, a lot of my subjects
Floyd | are gibbering wrecks by this point.  I knew you were a good candidate.
Floyd | Why don't you take some time to relax before coming back for your next
Floyd | mission?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Ah yes, the timer."
riggzy says (to floyd), "out"
Floyd | (first standing up)
Floyd |
Floyd | Antechamber
Floyd | A long, narrow room, the walls bulging with strange pipes and
Floyd | machinery.  The most notable feature is the thickly armoured airlock
Floyd | door leading further in.  Either side of the airlock are an equipment
Floyd | rack and a glass tube.  A more conventional exit leads back out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: In, Out, Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the complex lower level, or back to the
Floyd | transmission chamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | You change out of your environment suit and return your equipment to
Floyd | the racks.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit unlocks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "This was as far as I played."
riggzy exclaims, "Time to chill!"
riggzy says (to floyd), "forward"
Floyd | (first opening the exit)
Floyd |
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the holding cell, left to the infirmary, right to
Floyd | a long corridor, or back to the antechamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss walks out onto the catwalk overhead.  "I've given you access
Floyd | to some of the other areas of the complex," she says.  "Have a look
Floyd | around.  Just don't forget to go on missions or I may have to turn you
Floyd | into one of these lobotomised cyborgs!"
Floyd |
Floyd | She laughs playfully, her pointed teeth glinting in the sunlight.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Or explore."
Binder says, "hm infirmary"
riggzy says, "Let's take a look..."
DavidW says, "If we'd gotten injured, we'd probably wake up there."
riggzy says (to floyd), "left"
Floyd | Infirmary
Floyd | A single white bed stands in the centre of the room, overlooked by an
Floyd | expansive observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A long mechanical arm hangs from the ceiling, ending in the torso of a
Floyd | white auto-doc.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Out
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x auto-doc"
Floyd | An androgynous android with numerous arms ending in advanced medical
Floyd | instruments.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Wonder if..." the auto-doc begins, trailing off thoughtfully.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "lie on bed"
Floyd | Okay, you're now lying on the bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | The auto-doc orbits the infirmary anti-clockwise.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | "Singular airway and oesophagus," the auto-doc notes.  "Choking
Floyd | hazard."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "stand"
Floyd | Okay, you're now standing.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Unnecessary organs noted," the auto-doc announces.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ok I guess not"
riggzy says, "Oh, a Mr. Handy! Heh."
riggzy says (to floyd), "out"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Obvious exits: Left, Right, Forwards, Backwards
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to a long corridor, left to the holding cell, right
Floyd | to the antechamber, or back to the infirmary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "I think you can turn off the automatic exit listing at this point, since you're doubling up..."
riggzy says (to floyd), "exit"
Floyd | What do you want to get out of?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "exits"
Floyd | Obvious exits lead left; right, to the antechamber; forwards; and
Floyd | backwards, back to the infirmary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy asks, "Huh, what was the command again?"
Pacian says, ""Exits off", I think."
riggzy says (to floyd), "exits off"
Floyd | The list of exits will no longer be shown in either the status line or
Floyd | room description.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "I probably should have subsumed the automatic TADS behaviour into my own listing..."
riggzy says (to floyd), "right"
Floyd | Antechamber
Floyd | A long, narrow room, the walls bulging with strange pipes and
Floyd | machinery.  The most notable feature is the thickly armoured airlock
Floyd | door leading further in.  Either side of the airlock are an equipment
Floyd | rack and a glass tube.  A more conventional exit leads back out.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the equipment rack are a scanner, a retrieval beacon, and a
Floyd | launcher.  The glass tube contains an environment suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the transmission chamber, or back to the complex
Floyd | lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | You don the environment suit and grab your equipment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit slides shut and locks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "er, are you starting a new mission?"
riggzy says, "Oops, wrong way."
riggzy says (to floyd), "back"
Floyd | (first opening the exit)
Floyd |
Floyd | You change out of your environment suit and return your equipment to
Floyd | the racks.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit unlocks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the holding cell, left to the infirmary, right to
Floyd | a long corridor, or back to the antechamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "right"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x terminal"
Floyd | The screen is blank.  There's a tempting button beneath it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
EmacsUser arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. DavidW says, ">x tempting button | It quivers, awaiting your caress."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | To your surprise, the screen fills with text.  Seems kind of lo-fi.
Floyd |
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW asks, "huh. We can spend our money on stuff?"
riggzy gasps!
inky says, "can you ever"
riggzy says, "To dress up our drab holding cell, most likely."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd | 6 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW asks, "hmm. Matter Transmission, eh?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "5"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd |
Floyd | Aimed at undergraduates, this entertaining and informative textbook
Floyd | provides illumination for all levels.  Worked examples unravel the
Floyd | tough mathematics of intra-planar matter transmission and inter-planar
Floyd | information transmission, before bringing the two together in a final
Floyd | argument for the simple elegance of travel throughout the Multiverse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 100 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
riggzy says, "Written by a Dr. Sliss, no doubt."
DavidW says, "We might want to look at other options before making a purchase."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd | 6 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
inky says, "(you can't make this game unwinnable, fwiw)"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd |
Floyd | A classic novel of love, betrayal and jealousy across alternate
Floyd | histories.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 100 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd | 6 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "6"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Looking for some culture, but just not able to get a handle on those
Floyd | four dimensional holograms?  Worried you might not be able to see the
Floyd | same colour spectrum as a lesser octopode?  Trying to maintain a
Floyd | standard holo-gallery in the arid heat of a desert?  Find out
Floyd | everything you need to know in this layman's guide to avant garde
Floyd | octopode art, using only plain Gondwanan.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 100 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd | 6 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Clothes--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - LRMT uniform
Floyd | 2 - Pyjamas
Floyd | 3 - Swimsuit
Floyd | 4 - Tuxedo
Floyd | 5 - Evening dress
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | LRMT uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | On special order from the Long Range Matter Transmitter project, this
Floyd | futuristic uniform will let everyone know that you're a dashing
Floyd | explorer of space and time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 200 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says, "That looks promising also."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Clothes--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - LRMT uniform
Floyd | 2 - Pyjamas
Floyd | 3 - Swimsuit
Floyd | 4 - Tuxedo
Floyd | 5 - Evening dress
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Swimsuit
Floyd |
Floyd | The latest saurian style will keep you cool in roasting heat while you
Floyd | dip your toes in the sand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 200 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
riggzy says, "Very fetching."
DavidW says, "Saurian style probably includes a hole in the back for their tails."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Clothes--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - LRMT uniform
Floyd | 2 - Pyjamas
Floyd | 3 - Swimsuit
Floyd | 4 - Tuxedo
Floyd | 5 - Evening dress
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Octopode holo-gallery
Floyd | 2 - Double bed
Floyd | 3 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 4 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 5 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Octopode holo-gallery
Floyd |
Floyd | Bring some tentacular culture to your living room with this
Floyd | holo-gallery of works by famous octopode artists.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 1000 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Octopode holo-gallery
Floyd | 2 - Double bed
Floyd | 3 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 4 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 5 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says, "pricey"
DavidW says, "I think we ought to check out the rest of the place: bathroom, food, emerg exit."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
riggzy says, "Hopefully the grub at the canteen is more reasonable."
DavidW says, "ah, I couldn't remember the word 'canteen'."
DavidW says, "I bet they stocked only bananas for us."
DavidW says, "But we should check."
Ellison says, "I should have bought everything you can buy in this game like it was a Rockstar game"
riggzy says (to floyd), "0"
Floyd | Have a nice day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "and then go beat up a Saurian prostitute"
olethros has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge.
riggzy says (to floyd), "l"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "left"
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | A utilitarian shower and a saurian toilet, all lit harshly by
Floyd | fluorescent lights that emit a sickly hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | A voice whispers from the toilet bowl.  "Hey!  Over here!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy exclaims, "Oh no, Timmy's in the well!"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x toilet"
Floyd | You peer cautiously into the toilet bowl.  An enormous, seemingly
Floyd | eyeless white worm, easily the size of your whole arm, looks back at
Floyd | you from within.  "Finally!" the worm says.  "Look, you're not alone in
Floyd | this mess.  The name's Sola.  Also known as Test Subject 13, the one
Floyd | that got away."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "pee"
Floyd | The word "pee" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "flush toilet"
Floyd | You flush the toilet.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola gurgles, "Blub!  You're not getting rid of me that easily."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Look," Sola says, "I'm an undercover agent from the Core Alliance.  I
Floyd | escaped into the sewer system when that damn saurian scientist started
Floyd | to twig, but I need your help."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sola"
Floyd | A massive white worm, vaguely transparent.  Hir only real features are
Floyd | a surprisingly dextrous mouth and the silhouette of hir elongated
Floyd | brain.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Hey, what's your name, anyway?"  Sola asks.  "Hunkomeat?  I guess you
Floyd | need teeth to pronounce that properly."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "tell sola about name"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about sliss"
Floyd | Sola sighs.  "I'm sure Dr. Sliss means well, in her own way.  And
Floyd | ultimately it's the government of Dryzandia that should be held
Floyd | responsible.  Still, she's a complete whackjob."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about dryzandia"
Floyd | "You're standing on it," Sola says.  "Almost uninhabitable, no valuable
Floyd | exports, but they've made a fortune incarcerating prisoners from other
Floyd | Treaty worlds.  Not exactly the route to power and prestige though,
Floyd | which is probably why they've started pillaging non-Treaty worlds."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "I hope we don't end up like them..."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about treaty"
Floyd | "The Mutual Defence and Non-Aggression Treaty," Sola says.  "The most
Floyd | advanced worlds in the Imbroglio sign up to it to get protection from
Floyd | interdimensional bandits and rogue states.  Of course, to remain a
Floyd | member there's a minimum standard of conduct."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder asks, "is it weird that this blind toilet worm is the first character I've found sympathetic in this?"
inky asks, "what about the hotdog vendor?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about conduct"
Floyd | "Treaty worlds have two main obligations," Sola says.  "They have to
Floyd | contibute to the military and police forces that protect all Treaty
Floyd | worlds - you know, schmucks like me.  And they have to refrain from
Floyd | violating the sovereignty of other civilised or pristine worlds,
Floyd | whether those worlds are a part of the Treaty or not."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "consider its tragic tale"
Binder says, "A little standoffish for my tastes"
Binder says, "so, wait, WE are doing things which motivate more worlds to sign up with the Treaty? So what's the problem? We're the stick to the Treaty's carrot"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about rogue states"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about cyborgs"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about complex"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about me"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about sola"
Floyd | "What's there to know?"  Sola says.  "Pretty typical nematode.  I was a
Floyd | cop in the Squirm for a couple of decades, but I got sick of the
Floyd | corruption.  I joined the Core Alliance out of some misplaced sense of
Floyd | duty, got assigned to the worst undercover job in history, wriggled out
Floyd | of my exploding collar and now live down the shitter.  No family back
Floyd | home, but thinking of having kids through autogamy - if I ever get out
Floyd | of here."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "ask sola about Imbruglio"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sola about collar"
Floyd | "Easy enough to slip out of it if you don't have any bones," Sola says.
Floyd | "Although it did explode shortly after."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "ask sola about Imbroglio"
Floyd | "That's where you are right now," Sola explains, "and every place
Floyd | you've ever been.  The Imbroglio consists of countless worlds, all
Floyd | inter-connected across time, space and alternate realities.  The most
Floyd | habitable, most interconnected worlds form the Core Alliance.  Most
Floyd | other worlds worth a damn are part of the MDANA treaty."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I suppose we can't really escape without somehow ditching the collar."
inky says (to Floyd), "ask sola about help"
Floyd | Sola looks around furtively.  "The Core Alliance knows that Dryzandia
Floyd | has an unlicensed matter transmitter, but they don't know where, and
Floyd | they don't know what it's being used for.  Dr. Sliss is giving you an
Floyd | incentive, right?  There's a shopping terminal right next to the exit.
Floyd | I need you to buy some common household items for me, so I can assemble
Floyd | a makeshift cross-planar quantum packet modulator."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "AHA"
DavidW says, "hooray!"
Binder says (to Floyd), "ask sola about items"
Floyd | "Okay, listen up," Sola says.  "With a cross-planar quantum packet
Floyd | modulator I can contact my superiors without anyone on Dryzandia
Floyd | noticing.  I should be able to make one with parts from a holo-gallery
Floyd | and a lava lamp.  But I'll need to read up on the theory first."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "I guess we need a book after all."
Binder nods
DavidW says, "uh-huh"
Binder says, "I hope it's written in nematode"
Binder says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | A utilitarian shower and a saurian toilet, all lit harshly by
Floyd | fluorescent lights that emit a sickly hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola looks up at you from the toilet bowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Though I'm unsure of how a 'seemingly eyeless' worm would read it, yes. :P"
Binder says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the canteen, left to the emergency exit, right to
Floyd | the complex: lower level, or back to the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder asks, "explore more or shop our way to victory?"
DavidW says, "I wonder where the items are delivered."
DavidW says, "I'd explore a bit more, myself."
riggzy asks, "Our holding cell?"
Binder says (to Floyd), "forward"
Floyd | Canteen
Floyd | Decorated in a homely style - for saurians.  The cactus-print wallpaper
Floyd | is peeling and torn.
Floyd |
Floyd | Various chairs are scattered around a single long table.
Floyd |
Floyd | A brightly coloured food dispenser stands against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "And yes, the canteen is still unexplored."
Binder says (to Floyd), "x dispenser"
Floyd | The gaudy advertising copy claims it will combine whatever nutrients
Floyd | your biology requires into "palatable" food.  The saurian on the logo
Floyd | certainly seems to be enjoying his snake kebab.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a big button smack in the middle of the thing.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dispenser"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | The gaudy advertising copy claims it will combine whatever nutrients
Floyd | your biology requires into "palatable" food.  The saurian on the logo
Floyd | certainly seems to be enjoying his snake kebab.
Floyd |
Floyd | There's a big button smack in the middle of the thing.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Bet you donuts it spits out a banana."
inky says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | You press the button.  A bowl and spoon plop out onto the dispenser's
Floyd | tray.  With a sound like someone farting in the bath, the bowl is
Floyd | quickly filled with gruel.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a couple of seconds, a banana drops into the gruel with a splat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "you win donuts!"
inky says, "by which I mean a banana"
DavidW says, "hooray!"
Binder says, "half donuts"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take banana"
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gruel"
Floyd | Capable of sustaining orphans, at least.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "ha"
riggzy says, "Don't forget the delicious gruel."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x spoon"
Floyd | Not likely to be much help tunnelling out of here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "eat gruel"
Floyd | You eat the gruel.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bowl"
Floyd | "Property of the Long Range Matter Transmission Complex.  Please return
Floyd | to dispenser tray after use."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "status"
Floyd | You're Hunkomeat, the male human.
Floyd |
Floyd | You've earned 1150 credits after 1 mission.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says (to floyd), "eat grue"
Floyd | The word "grue" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
EmacsUser says, "I'm pretty sure that works the other way."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tray"
Floyd | On the dispenser tray are a bowl and a spoon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x banana"
Floyd | Yellowest of all fruit, save perhaps the lemon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Also, creator of antimatter."
Ellison has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. DavidW says, "I suppose check the exit, then buy a book."
riggzy says (to floyd), "look"
Floyd | Canteen
Floyd | Decorated in a homely style - for saurians.  The cactus-print wallpaper
Floyd | is peeling and torn.
Floyd |
Floyd | Various chairs are scattered around a single long table.
Floyd |
Floyd | A brightly coloured food dispenser stands against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the dispenser tray are a bowl and a spoon.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I think we'll need to go on another mission to have enough cash to buy everything."
riggzy says (to floyd), "out"
Floyd | Before leaving, you return your leftovers to the dispenser.
Floyd |
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the bathroom, left to the complex: lower level,
Floyd | right to the emergency exit, or back to the canteen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "er, leftovers?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x banana"
Floyd | You see no distinct banana here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "leftover gruel"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing a collar and an orange
Floyd | uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "We left our banana behind!"
riggzy says, "Oh banana, we hardly knew ye."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right" inky says, "NO BANANA LEFT BEHIND"
Floyd | (first trying to open the exit)
Floyd | The exit seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x exit"
Floyd | You suspect the only way this thing moving is with Dr. Sliss' consent.
Floyd | It's closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I'm not used to this left/right/forward/back arrangement of movement. I suppose if IF did this all along, I would be."
DavidW says, "I suggest buying the Matter Transport book next."
riggzy says, "I don't seem to be terribly fit for driving tonight, I'm getting ~10 second lag."
Binder says (to Floyd), "exits"
Floyd | Obvious exits lead left; right; forwards, to the bathroom; and
Floyd | backwards, back to the canteen.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I just don't want to dominate the session like I usually seem to do."
Binder says, "I'm happy to drive whenever I notice us idling."
DavidW says, "Please"
Binder says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "back"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x terminal"
Floyd | The screen is blank.  There's a tempting button beneath it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | The screen fills with text.
Floyd |
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "3"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd | 6 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "5"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Matter Transmission Made Easy
Floyd |
Floyd | Aimed at undergraduates, this entertaining and informative textbook
Floyd | provides illumination for all levels.  Worked examples unravel the
Floyd | tough mathematics of intra-planar matter transmission and inter-planar
Floyd | information transmission, before bringing the two together in a final
Floyd | argument for the simple elegance of travel throughout the Multiverse.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 100 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1150 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "YES"
Floyd | Purchase successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your purchase has been matter transmitted to your billing address.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you wish to make another transaction?>>
Binder asks, "we have a billing address?"
Binder says, "I hope it's here in prison with us."
Ellison arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. DavidW says, "I suppose we must do."
Binder says (to Floyd), "YES"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1050 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1050 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "2"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 1050 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Octopode holo-gallery
Floyd | 2 - Double bed
Floyd | 3 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 4 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 5 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Octopode holo-gallery
Floyd |
Floyd | Bring some tentacular culture to your living room with this
Floyd | holo-gallery of works by famous octopode artists.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 1000 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1050 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "YES"
Floyd | Purchase successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your purchase has been matter transmitted to your billing address.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you wish to make another transaction?>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "YES"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 50 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Double bed
Floyd | 2 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 3 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 4 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "2"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Lava lamp
Floyd |
Floyd | This unique product of saurian culture can add a real talking point to
Floyd | your room.  Are its ever-moving blobs representative of the ceaseless
Floyd | drive of saurians for progress, or our vibrant, party-loving nature?
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 250 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 50 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says, "The lamp will cost 200. We can't afford it."
DavidW says, "er 250"
Binder says, "yes indeedy"
Binder says (to Floyd), "heckno"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 50 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Double bed
Floyd | 2 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 3 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 4 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 50 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
Binder says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | Have a nice day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "exits"
Floyd | Obvious exits lead left, to the bathroom; right, to the canteen;
Floyd | forwards; and backwards, back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "forward"
Floyd | (first trying to open the exit)
Floyd | The exit seems to be locked.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | A utilitarian shower and a saurian toilet, all lit harshly by
Floyd | fluorescent lights that emit a sickly hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola looks up at you from the toilet bowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing a collar and an orange
Floyd | uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "hm"
DavidW says, "Go to our cell."
Binder says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the canteen, left to the emergency exit, right to
Floyd | the complex: lower level, or back to the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "The book might be there."
Binder says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | Holding Cell
Floyd | A bare room of white walls.  Strip lights glare down from the ceiling,
Floyd | and there's an intercom next to the way out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A white, saurian-style bed occupies the middle of the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bookshelf is affixed to one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | Pleasing shapes float in the air over an octopode holo-projector.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the bookshelf is Matter Transmission Made Easy.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "I'm going to re-connect and join the channel again. This lag is silly."
Binder says, "aha"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x holo-projector"
Floyd | A silver widget a bit like a desk lamp.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I wonder if the cyborgs will object to us walking past them with this stuff."
riggzy goes home. Binder says, "I'm up for finding out"
Binder says (to Floyd), "get all"
Floyd | bed: The bed is too heavy.
Floyd |
Floyd | Matter Transmission Made Easy: Taken.
Floyd | Octopode holo-gallery: Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the antechamber, left to a long corridor, right
Floyd | to the infirmary, or back to the holding cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | A utilitarian shower and a saurian toilet, all lit harshly by
Floyd | fluorescent lights that emit a sickly hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola looks up at you from the toilet bowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying Matter Transmission Made Easy and an Octopode
Floyd | holo-gallery, and you're wearing a collar and an orange uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. DavidW says, "give book to sola"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read book"
Floyd | There are those, of course, who say, "Why meddle?  Why pick apart the
Floyd | vague beauty of the Multiverse?  Why try to expose mysteries and unlock
Floyd | power we are unlikely to use wisely?"
Floyd |
Floyd | It is worth noting how many of these naysayers are in their thirties or
Floyd | forties.  How many are in their fifties, sixties or even older.
Floyd | Because it is precisely the drive of intelligent, questioning minds to
Floyd | find out what is true, how things work, to try to unravel the secrets
Floyd | of even something as sacred as the living body - it is precisely that
Floyd | drive which has enabled them to live to such a ripe old age that they
Floyd | can preach nostalgically about more ignorant times.
Floyd |
Floyd | Some would suggest that to see a flower as an inscrutable object of
Floyd | bright colours is more romantic, more inspiring, than to appreciate its
Floyd | inner workings as a complex structure of intricate cells, nourished by
Floyd | waves of energy from its nearest stars, part of a complex, changing
Floyd | ecosystem and an ancient, unspoken symbiosis.
Floyd |
Floyd | As someone with a more thorough grounding in science than art, I cannot
Floyd | dispute this view, much as I may feel quite the opposite.  But however
Floyd | unromantic the scientist's flower may be, even less appealing is the
Floyd | plague; the child who dies in infancy; the cry for help that travels
Floyd | too slow.
Floyd |
Floyd | If the role of dispelling mystery, crushing fancy and profaning the
Floyd | sacred is one to be shunned, I still embrace it, as the alternative is
Floyd | far worse still.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "that's pretty deep, hold on while I top off my coffee cup"
DavidW says, "okay"
DavidW says, "we might be able to read more, but I imagine it gets too technical for us really quick."
Pacian says, "(It just repeats. Maybe examine it instead.)"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x book"
Floyd | The cover shows a swirl of tesselating shapes that give you a slight
Floyd | headache.  The author's picture on the back is disturbingly familiar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x picture"
Floyd | "ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Lisella Sliss is a graduate of Srrisni
Floyd | University with as many widely accepted theories to her name as
Floyd | controversial hypotheses.  She is currently working for the Dryzandian
Floyd | government on an undisclosed project."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "aie"
DavidW says, "oh dear"
Binder exclaims, "I can disclose her project! Pick me! Pick me!"
Binder says (to Floyd), "show book to sola"
Floyd | You chat to Sola for a while, but don't learn anything important.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "Shall we give the book to sola?"
Binder says, "hm"
Binder says, "sure"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give book to sola"
Floyd | "Wait," Sola says, "she wrote this?  Ah well, it'll do."
Floyd |
Floyd | Zie swallows the book whole.  "I still need an Octopode holo-gallery,
Floyd | and a lava lamp."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder BLINKS
riggzy says, "I knew it."
Binder says, "well. that, uh, that answers how she absorbs the material in the book, I guess."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x holo"
Floyd | A silver widget a bit like a desk lamp.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "... re: the athor, not the book-eating, but alright."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give holo to sola"
Floyd | "Excellent," Sola says.  "Now I just need to strip out the
Floyd | hyperdimensional EM-threader and unplug the magnetic tape heads."
Floyd |
Floyd | Zie swallows the projector whole.  "Now all I need is a lava lamp."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "We'll have to earn the money in a 2nd mission."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "go to antechamber"
Floyd | The word "antechamber" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the canteen, left to the emergency exit, right to
Floyd | the complex: lower level, or back to the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Antechamber
Floyd | A long, narrow room, the walls bulging with strange pipes and
Floyd | machinery.  The most notable feature is the thickly armoured airlock
Floyd | door leading further in.  Either side of the airlock are an equipment
Floyd | rack and a glass tube.  A more conventional exit leads back out.
Floyd |
Floyd | On the equipment rack are a scanner, a retrieval beacon, and a
Floyd | launcher.  The glass tube contains an environment suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the transmission chamber, or back to the complex
Floyd | lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | You don the environment suit and grab your equipment.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit slides shut and locks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
EmacsUser implodes into a quickly fading blip of stardust. DavidW asks, "I assume this is our next step...?"
Binder says, "I'm for it."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "in"
Floyd | Transmission Chamber
Floyd | An enormous metal dome lit by the distant floodlights that surround an
Floyd | armoured observation window.  A huge antenna aims directly down at you
Floyd | from above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal chair is bolted to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | An armoured airlock door leads out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss appears at the observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit"
Floyd | (on the metal chair)
Floyd | You sit on the metal chair.  Restraints clunk into place around your
Floyd | wrists and ankles.  As the transmission machinery hums to life, the
Floyd | world elongates into a one-dimensional line - which then disappears.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | With the sound of billions of molecules snapping into place, you pop
Floyd | back into existence - falling some distance to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Asteroid 0 E 0 N (lying on the ground)
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 2 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne"
Floyd | (first standing up)
Floyd | Asteroid 1 E 1 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne"
Floyd | Asteroid 2 E 2 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e"
Floyd | Asteroid 3 E 2 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | A mining drone drills into the rock here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag drone"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the mining drone.
Floyd |
Floyd | The mining drone lifts its drill from the ground and turns to face you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | The mining drone drills your right arm.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "oops"
Binder says, "aaaaa"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw"
Floyd | Asteroid 2 E 1 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You've escaped the mining drone.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x arm"
Floyd | Which arm do you mean, your right arm, or your left arm?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | Your right arm is injured.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Hm."
Binder says, "well, that would explain the need for an infirmary"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | Asteroid 1 E 2 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | Asteroid 0 E 3 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -2 E, 6 N.
Floyd |    A moving blip at 3 E, 2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | Asteroid -1 E 4 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw"
Floyd | Asteroid -2 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "n"
Floyd | Asteroid -2 E 6 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a gold vein here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag gold"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the gold vein.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -2 E, 6 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at -5 E, 5 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw"
Floyd | Asteroid -3 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w"
Floyd | Asteroid -4 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w"
Floyd | Asteroid -5 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a meteorite here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x meteorite"
Floyd | What other kind of rock would be sitting in the middle of a crater like
Floyd | that?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag it"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the meteorite.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -2 E, 6 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at -5 E, 5 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "Go home?"
Binder says (to Floyd), "x stars"
Floyd | The word "stars" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "says you, you glib little parser"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w"
Floyd | Asteroid -6 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w"
Floyd | Asteroid -7 E 5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -5 E, 5 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -6 E 4 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -5 E 3 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -4 E 2 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -2 E, 6 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A large blip at -6 E, -2 N.
Floyd |    A large blip at -5 E, 5 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw"
Floyd | Asteroid -5 E 1 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw"
Floyd | Asteroid -6 E 0 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s"
Floyd | Asteroid -6 E -1 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s"
Floyd | Asteroid -6 E -2 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a meteorite here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag meteorite"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the meteorite.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Binder says (to floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -6 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -6 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -5 E -3 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -4 E -4 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A large blip at -6 E, -2 N.  (Tagged.)
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, -6 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sw"
Floyd | Asteroid -5 E -5 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "se"
Floyd | Asteroid -4 E -6 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e"
Floyd | Asteroid -3 E -6 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "e"
Floyd | Asteroid -2 E -6 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at -2 E, -7 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "s"
Floyd | Asteroid -2 E -7 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | An insectoid sea skater glides over the water.
Floyd |
Floyd | The science rover leaves to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "ooo"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag skater"
Floyd | You see no distinct skater here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x skater"
Floyd | You see no distinct skater here.
Pacian says, "D'oh."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says (to Floyd), "x insectoid"
Floyd | The word "insectoid" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, -7 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky asks, "maybe that was its leaving message?"
Pacian says, "Wrong text for the rover."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "w"
Floyd | Asteroid -3 E -7 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | An insectoid sea skater glides over the water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag skater"
Floyd | You see no distinct skater here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x scanner"
Floyd | A small, ergonomic gizmo with a bright LCD screen.
Floyd |
Floyd | The screen shows:
Floyd |    A moving blip at -3 E, -7 N.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your watch starts vibrating.  Everything begins to glow.  You feel a
Floyd | sensation like being pulled backwards down your own throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | You materialise in the matter transmission chamber with a pop, and fall
Floyd | flailing to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Transmission Chamber (lying on the floor)
Floyd | An enormous metal dome lit by the distant floodlights that surround an
Floyd | armoured observation window.  A huge antenna aims directly down at you
Floyd | from above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal chair is bolted to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | An armoured airlock door leads out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks down at you from the observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Hunkomeat," the doctor booms over the tannoy.  "It looks
Floyd | like 4 of our retrieval tanks received salvage.  Let's see what you
Floyd | tagged..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | "A mining drone full of valuable space rocks.  Don't mind if I do
Floyd | thanks."
Floyd | [Cash +500]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh ho ho, some bona fide gold.  You're one sharp prospector,
Floyd | Hunkomeat."
Floyd | [Cash +500]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An asteroid full of valuable space metals."
Floyd | [Cash +300]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An asteroid full of valuable space metals."
Floyd | [Cash +300]
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss literally jumps for joy.  "Hoo boy, what a treasure trove!  I
Floyd | could kiss you, Hunkomeat - you know, if you weren't a monkey."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Nice."
Binder asks, "i guess we wanted to 'tag rover' there?"
inky says, "hmm"
Ellison says, "that doesn't stop the man in the yellow suit!"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "x scanner".
Floyd |
Floyd | Asteroid -3 E -7 N
Floyd | Warped dunes and craters curve dramatically towards the near horizon,
Floyd | beneath a starry, airless sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | An insectoid sea skater glides over the water.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "tag rover"
Floyd | You aim the launcher, squeeze its trigger, and splatter a sticky homing
Floyd | tag onto the science rover.
Floyd |
Floyd | The science rover flees to the west.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your watch starts vibrating.  Everything begins to glow.  You feel a
Floyd | sensation like being pulled backwards down your own throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | You materialise in the matter transmission chamber with a pop, and fall
Floyd | flailing to the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Transmission Chamber (lying on the floor)
Floyd | An enormous metal dome lit by the distant floodlights that surround an
Floyd | armoured observation window.  A huge antenna aims directly down at you
Floyd | from above.
Floyd |
Floyd | A metal chair is bolted to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | An armoured airlock door leads out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks down at you from the observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Welcome home, Hunkomeat," the doctor booms over the tannoy.  "All five
Floyd | retrieval tanks received salvage!  Let's see what you tagged..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | "A mining drone full of valuable space rocks.  Don't mind if I do
Floyd | thanks."
Floyd | [Cash +500]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Oh ho ho, some bona fide gold.  You're one sharp prospector,
Floyd | Hunkomeat."
Floyd | [Cash +500]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An asteroid full of valuable space metals."
Floyd | [Cash +300]
Floyd |
Floyd | "An asteroid full of valuable space metals."
Floyd | [Cash +300]
Floyd |
Floyd | "Someone else's robotic probe, and all their lovely research data.  The
Floyd | very best kind of theft, in my experience."
Floyd | [Cash +250]
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss literally jumps for joy.  "Hoo boy, what a treasure trove!  I
Floyd | could kiss you, Hunkomeat - you know, if you weren't a monkey."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "hooray"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf5"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Let's visit the infirmary"
Binder says, "agreed"
Binder says (to floyd), "out"
Floyd | (first standing up)
Floyd |
Floyd | Antechamber
Floyd | A long, narrow room, the walls bulging with strange pipes and
Floyd | machinery.  The most notable feature is the thickly armoured airlock
Floyd | door leading further in.  Either side of the airlock are an equipment
Floyd | rack and a glass tube.  A more conventional exit leads back out.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the complex lower level, or back to the
Floyd | transmission chamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | You change out of your environment suit and return your equipment to
Floyd | the racks.
Floyd |
Floyd | The exit unlocks with a click.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | (first opening the exit)
Floyd |
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the holding cell, left to the infirmary, right to
Floyd | a long corridor, or back to the antechamber.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Infirmary
Floyd | A single white bed stands in the centre of the room, overlooked by an
Floyd | expansive observation window.
Floyd |
Floyd | A long mechanical arm hangs from the ceiling, ending in the torso of a
Floyd | white auto-doc.
Floyd |
Floyd | The auto-doc tends to your injuries.  "Be sure to get a check-up before
Floyd | you shed your next exoskeleton."
Floyd |
Floyd | You feel much better now.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "Buy the lamp next?"
Binder nods agreeably
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to a long corridor, left to the holding cell, right
Floyd | to the antechamber, or back to the infirmary.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | The screen fills with text.
Floyd |
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1900 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "3"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Books--
Floyd | Your balance: 1900 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - A Tale of Two Timelines
Floyd | 2 - Dryzandia Drift
Floyd | 3 - Drone Fantasies Illustrated
Floyd | 4 - Lord Jim
Floyd | 5 - Introduction to Octopode Art
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "0"
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1900 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Furniture--
Floyd | Your balance: 1900 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Double bed
Floyd | 2 - Lava lamp
Floyd | 3 - Saurian sculpture
Floyd | 4 - Apian glowlamp
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "2"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Lava lamp
Floyd |
Floyd | This unique product of saurian culture can add a real talking point to
Floyd | your room.  Are its ever-moving blobs representative of the ceaseless
Floyd | drive of saurians for progress, or our vibrant, party-loving nature?
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 250 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1900 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | Purchase successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your purchase has been matter transmitted to your billing address.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you wish to make another transaction?>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | Have a nice day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "b"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "r"
Floyd | Holding Cell
Floyd | A bare room of white walls.  Strip lights glare down from the ceiling,
Floyd | and there's an intercom next to the way out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A white, saurian-style bed occupies the middle of the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bookshelf is affixed to one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | A lava lamp throws strange patterns against the wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lamp"
Floyd | A cheap plastic tube full of glowing, slowly undulating fluid.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it"
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the antechamber, left to a long corridor, right
Floyd | to the infirmary, or back to the holding cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the antechamber, left to a long corridor, right
Floyd | to the infirmary, or back to the holding cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Bathroom
Floyd | A utilitarian shower and a saurian toilet, all lit harshly by
Floyd | fluorescent lights that emit a sickly hum.
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola looks up at you from the toilet bowl.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "give lamp to sola"
Floyd | "Okay," Sola says.  "This should have the isotopes I need."
Floyd |
Floyd | Zie swallows the lamp whole.  "That's it!  It'll take some time to get
Floyd | this thing assembled and transmitting, so you might like to get some
Floyd | sleep or take a mission or something.  After that, the cavalry should
Floyd | be here in an instant..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Sola disappears down the U-bend.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf6"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Getting somewhere! I wonder if we'll see our saurian friend again? No, not the Dr."
DavidW says, "I'd like to buy that uniform."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the canteen, left to the emergency exit, right to
Floyd | the complex: lower level, or back to the bathroom.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | The screen fills with text.
Floyd |
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1650 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Clothes--
Floyd | Your balance: 1650 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - LRMT uniform
Floyd | 2 - Pyjamas
Floyd | 3 - Swimsuit
Floyd | 4 - Tuxedo
Floyd | 5 - Evening dress
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | LRMT uniform
Floyd |
Floyd | On special order from the Long Range Matter Transmitter project, this
Floyd | futuristic uniform will let everyone know that you're a dashing
Floyd | explorer of space and time.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 200 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1650 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW asks, "May I?"
riggzy says, "We seem to have plenty to spare."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | Purchase successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your purchase has been matter transmitted to your billing address.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you wish to make another transaction?>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | Have a nice day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "r"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "r"
Floyd | Holding Cell
Floyd | A bare room of white walls.  Strip lights glare down from the ceiling,
Floyd | and there's an intercom next to the way out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A white, saurian-style bed occupies the middle of the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small wardrobe stands beside your bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bookshelf is affixed to one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wardrobe"
Floyd | It's closed.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it"
Floyd | Opening the wardrobe reveals an LRMT uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x uniform"
Floyd | (the orange uniform)
Floyd | It identifies you as convict #76954, albeit not in human numerals.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lrmt"
Floyd | (the LRMT icon)
Floyd | A small image of Dryzandia with a beam shooting out of it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it"
Floyd | You can't have that; it's part of the LRMT uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lrmt uniform"
Floyd | A practical blue uniform with a flashy icon on one shoulder and your
Floyd | rank ("Test Subject") on the other.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it"
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear it"
Floyd | You remove your orange uniform.  You put on the LRMT uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put orange uniform in wardrobe"
Floyd | (first taking the orange uniform)
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me"
Floyd | How do you get in these predicaments?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing an LRMT uniform and a collar.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x collar"
Floyd | A leather collar with a small metal box at the throat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I suppose our options are sleep or go on mission #3."
riggzy asks, "Sleep in our nice new garb?"
DavidW asks, "what, you want pajamas?"
inky asks, "were there pajamas for sale?"
DavidW says, "yes"
inky says, "awesome"
inky says, "well, buy them, man"
Ellison says, "I believe they were pyjamas"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the antechamber, left to a long corridor, right
Floyd | to the infirmary, or back to the holding cell.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is leaning over the catwalk, smoking a cigarette.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "piejamas"
Ellison says, "mmm"
DavidW says, "oh, Sliss is on the catwalk, mmm"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sliss"
Floyd | Her skin consists of shimmering green scales, and her golden,
Floyd | slit-pupil eyes hold a calculating beauty.  She is standing on the
Floyd | catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is carrying a cigarette, and she's wearing a labcoat, a white
Floyd | blouse, a grey skirt, and red shoes.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x skirt"
Floyd | Rather smart and elegant.  At least as much as it can be with her tail
Floyd | poking out the back.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sliss about cigarette"
Floyd | She either doesn't hear you, or doesn't want to hear you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "wearing that on a catwalk? scandalous!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up skirt"
Floyd | What do you want to look that up in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha"
inky says, "good point"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | Corridor
Floyd | This functional corridor ends in a thick steel door marked "Exit".  The
Floyd | bare concrete floor has been scratched and scored by heavy machinery,
Floyd | the breezeblock walls dented and stained.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small terminal is fixed to the wall beside the door.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the emergency exit, left to the bathroom, right
Floyd | to the canteen, or back to the complex: lower level.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button"
Floyd | The screen fills with text.
Floyd |
Floyd | --WELCOME TO--
Floyd | --VALU-NET SHOPPING DIRECTORY--
Floyd | Your balance: 1450 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Clothes
Floyd | 2 - Furniture
Floyd | 3 - Books
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | --Clothes--
Floyd | Your balance: 1450 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | 1 - Pyjamas
Floyd | 2 - Swimsuit
Floyd | 3 - Tuxedo
Floyd | 4 - Evening dress
Floyd |
Floyd | Input selection or 0 to exit:>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "1"
Floyd | --Please wait...  OK.--
Floyd |
Floyd | Pyjamas
Floyd |
Floyd | Relax in comfort and style in these simple flannel pyjamas.
Floyd |
Floyd | Price: 200 credits.
Floyd | Your balance: 1450 credits.
Floyd |
Floyd | YES to confirm purchase, any other to return:>>
DavidW asks, "we want these?"
inky says, "absolutely"
DavidW says, "They'll probably be neon pink with bananas all over them."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | Purchase successful.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your purchase has been matter transmitted to your billing address.
Floyd |
Floyd | Do you wish to make another transaction?>>
DavidW says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | Have a nice day.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "stylish!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "b"
Floyd | Complex: Lower Level
Floyd | An expansive, drab space.  Perhaps a factory floor after the machinery
Floyd | has been cleared out.  A catwalk crosses the room above, beneath the
Floyd | dusty rays of grubby skylights.
Floyd |
Floyd | A number of armed cyborgs look down from the catwalk.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can go forward to the infirmary, left to the antechamber, right to
Floyd | the holding cell, or back to a long corridor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "r"
Floyd | Holding Cell
Floyd | A bare room of white walls.  Strip lights glare down from the ceiling,
Floyd | and there's an intercom next to the way out.
Floyd |
Floyd | A white, saurian-style bed occupies the middle of the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | A small wardrobe stands beside your bed.
Floyd |
Floyd | A bookshelf is affixed to one wall.
Floyd |
Floyd | The wardrobe contains some pyjamas and an orange uniform.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pyjamas"
Floyd | Warm and comfortable flannel pyjamas, with a flap in the back for a
Floyd | saurian's tail.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear pyjamas"
Floyd | (first taking the pyjamas)
Floyd | You remove your LRMT uniform.  You put on the pyjamas.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sleep"
Floyd | You never learned to sleep standing up.  Or if you did, you've
Floyd | unlearned it.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "lie on bed"
Floyd | You lie down awkwardly on the bed.  It's not very comfortable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "sleep"
Floyd | You manage to get slightly comfortable and doze for a while.  You're
Floyd | woken by a bright flash.  When you open your eyes, there are several
Floyd | soldiers in desert camouflage in the room.  Before you can do or say
Floyd | anything, several of the soldiers jump on you.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | Prison Van (standing in the restraints)
Floyd | Cramped; windowless; the thickly armoured walls are painted regulation
Floyd | grey.  Steel chains dangle from the ceiling and tantalisingly open
Floyd | doors lead out.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is chained up next to you.  She looks really, really angry.
Floyd |
Floyd | An officious looking apian stands before you in desert camouflage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "Oh dear."
inky says (to Floyd), "x apian"
Floyd | A burly apian worker with a battle-scarred exoskeleton and one antenna
Floyd | missing.
Floyd |
Floyd | The commander is carrying a clipboard and a shock stick.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Dr. Sliss," the apian says, "this Core Alliance Enforcement Team is
Floyd | arresting you on behalf of the Dryzandian government."
Floyd |
Floyd | "I work for the Dryzandian government," Dr. Sliss hisses.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Your project is being shut down," the apian continues, "and you are
Floyd | being remanded to prison."
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could defend Sliss, repudiate her, or say nothing.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy exclaims, "Oh, maybe not!"
DavidW says, "repudiate is a big word."
inky says, "yeah, it should be 'refudiate'"
DavidW asks, "What should our response be?"
DavidW says, "(I imagine it doesn't matter what we choose.)"
inky says (to Floyd), "repudiate sliss"
Floyd | You tell the enforcer everything terrible you have to say about Dr.
Floyd | Sliss.
Floyd |
Floyd | Eventually the apian cuts you off.  "Yeah, yeah, she's a mean lady.  I
Floyd | get it."
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks hurt.  "Didn't I treat you well?  I gave you credits,
Floyd | bananas, verbal encouragement...  Should I have left you in that
Floyd | prison?"
Floyd |
Floyd | "Convict 76954," the apian goes on.  "Your participation in this
Floyd | illegal project has been noted, and Dryzandia has agreed to commute
Floyd | your life sentence.  You will finish serving your other consecutive
Floyd | sentences at your previous institution."
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could defend yourself, or say nothing.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "defend myself"
Floyd | You try to argue, but the apian cuts you off.  "I don't wanna hear it."
Floyd |
Floyd | "It's not his fault!"  Dr. Sliss shouts.  "Didn't you hear him?  I'm
Floyd | the bad guy!  When I get out of these restraints, I'm gonna-"
Floyd |
Floyd | The apian touches her shock stick to the doctor's throat.  The saurian
Floyd | yelps and then slumps forward.
Floyd |
Floyd | The apian sighs.  "Much better."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clipboard"
Floyd | You can't read it from here, but there are photos of you and Dr. Sliss
Floyd | on it.
Floyd |
Floyd | The apian is about to leave when Sola squirms into the van.  "Commander
Floyd | Zrzh!  Wait!  What are you doing?  Didn't you get my report?  Give
Floyd | these two immunity, let them testify against the Dryzandian-"
Floyd |
Floyd | The apian shakes her head.  "It's politics, agent Sola.  Do you have
Floyd | any idea how many prisoners the Core has sent to Dryzandia over the
Floyd | years?  You want them to start sending them back?"
Floyd |
Floyd | The commander stomps off.  Sola looks at you sadly for a second, and
Floyd | then follows after her.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "cry"
Floyd | There there.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss sobs quietly to herself.  Or is she laughing?  Her tail
Floyd | appears with a keyring dangling from its tip, and she stretches lazily.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Very few saurians have prehensile tails," the doctor explains as she
Floyd | unlocks her chains.  "Which is why cops from other species rarely know
Floyd | to restrain them.  Not that I've ever been arrested before.  Much."
Floyd |
Floyd | As her restraints fall to the floor, she puts her hands on her hips.
Floyd | "Come on: who's the greatest?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could tell her she's the greatest, or say nothing.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "laughs."
Binder says, "that's a hilarious sequence of double crosses"
DavidW says, "oh-kay. Butter her up and go join her on purpose, or go back to being the next meal at the prison camp."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tell her she's the greatest"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss listens to your compliment with pride.  "Don't I know it."
Floyd |
Floyd | She unlocks your restraints.  "Naturally, I have an escape plan.  You
Floyd | can tag along if you want.  It should halve my chances of getting
Floyd | shot."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "tag along"
Floyd | The word "along" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "out"
Floyd | The two of you burst out of the prison van.
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the Complex
Floyd | Desert sand stretches as far as you can see, mercilessly reflecting the
Floyd | harsh sunlight.  The complex itself is a low dome sunken into
Floyd | wind-blasted rock.
Floyd |
Floyd | The prison van stands beside a road that curves off into the distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is standing here in brazen defiance of the Core Alliance.
Floyd |
Floyd | An octopode in desert camouflage stands guard beside an apian with a
Floyd | plasma blaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tail-whips the apian, who collapses into an unconscious heap.
Floyd |
Floyd | The octopode charges you with tentacles outstretched!
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kick octopode"
Floyd | You dodge the octopode's tentacles and punch him in his boneless head.
Floyd | Concussed, he falls to the ground unconscious.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss picks up the plasma blaster.  "You know, I once paid good
Floyd | money to see a human wrestle an octopode, and here you are giving it
Floyd | away for free."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "she wants us"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search octopode"
Floyd | There's nothing unusual in the octopode guard.
Floyd |
Floyd | Somewhere nearby, you hear alarmed shouts.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss kicks off her heels and sprints forwards towards the complex.
Floyd | "Follow me if you wanna live!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "follow sliss"
Floyd | You chase after the doctor.  The voices draw nearer.  A few bolts of
Floyd | plasma flash overhead.
Floyd |
Floyd | Basement Garage
Floyd | A dimly lit maze of concrete pillars.  White lines divide the floor
Floyd | into empty parking spaces.
Floyd |
Floyd | Something sits in one of the spaces, covered in tarpaulin.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is taking cover behind one of the columns.
Floyd |
Floyd | She waves you over.  "Get that tarp off!  I'll cover you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "remove tarp"
Floyd | You grab the edge of the tarpaulin and pull... unveiling a sleek red
Floyd | vehicle that looks like a jet engine mounted between two huge wheels.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss shrugs.  "Yeah, I don't look the type.  But I've always been
Floyd | an impulse buyer.  I mean, I bought you, didn't I?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | "My dearest, favourite human," the doctor says, "let's talk when we're
Floyd | not being shot at."
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay," the doctor says, "you drive, I'll shoot."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter vehicle"
Floyd | You climb onto the jet bike's leather saddle and take a firm hold of
Floyd | the handlebars.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gets on behind you, wrapping an arm around your waist.
Floyd | "Punch it, Hunkomeat!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You fire up the bike's jet engine and roar unsteadily out of the
Floyd | garage, plasma bolts flying past you in every direction.
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | Wasteland Throughway 13 (left lane)
Floyd | Black tarmac bisects the sun-bright glare of the desert sand, a thin
Floyd | line of darkness that stops only at the boundary to the clear blue sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're in the saddle of a sleek red jet bike, hurtling forward at
Floyd | breakneck speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is behind you, one arm tight around your waist, the other
Floyd | wielding a plasma blaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | "You have ridden a jet bike before, right?"  Dr. Sliss shouts out from
Floyd | behind you.  "Accelerate, brake, left, right...  A chimp could do it.
Floyd | Which is fortunate."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "I imagine we're still in our jammies instead of that cool outfit I picked out earlier."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf7"
Floyd | Please select a file in which to save the current position >
Floyd | Saved.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "true, but at least it has that hole in back in case we get some tale"
Binder says, "that'll teach you to choose comfort over fashion"
Ellison says, "er, tail"
DavidW says (to Binder), "hey, it was inky's idea, not mine."
inky says (to Floyd), "x me"
Floyd | How do you get in these predicaments?
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nobody's following us?"  Dr. Sliss says.  "I'm almost disappointed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing some pyjamas and a collar.
Floyd |
Floyd | With the throaty roar of a personal rocket pack, an Alliance Enforcer
Floyd | appears behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr Sliss readies her plasma blaster.  "Me and my big mouth."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss yells into your ear.  "Hit the gas!  We've gotta lose our new
Floyd | friend!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss aims the plasma blaster and squeezes off a shot at the
Floyd | enforcer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss fires another shot at the enforcer.  "Hold still, damn you!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss yells into your ear.  "She's gaining on us!  Can't you go any
Floyd | faster?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss fires wildly at the enforcer, bolts of plasma churning up the
Floyd | tarmac behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | The doctor finally gets off a lucky shot, hitting the enforcer's rocket
Floyd | pack.  Straining her wings, the enforcer manages to land in a roll.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss whoops and punches the air.  "In your face!"
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a familiar sound - another rocket pack!  This time a saurian
Floyd | enforcer is approaching you from behind.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer hits the brakes too, narrowly avoiding running into your
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Watch out!"  Dr. Sliss shouts.  "He's trying to get alongside us!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer hits the brakes too, narrowly avoiding running into your
Floyd | back.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss yells into your ear.  "Get us out of here!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "darn, I was hoping they would rear-end us"
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss turns to fire several shots at the enforcer.  "Back off!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "then we could sue"
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss keep shooting.  "You know, I've never really fired one of
Floyd | these before today."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | You steer into the right lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer sees his chance to accelerate up alongside of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Eat this!" the doctor screams firing at the enforcer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "right".
Floyd |
Floyd | Wasteland Throughway 13 (left lane)
Floyd | Black tarmac bisects the sun-bright glare of the desert sand, a thin
Floyd | line of darkness that stops only at the boundary to the clear blue sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're in the saddle of a sleek red jet bike, hurtling forward at
Floyd | breakneck speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | An alliance enforcer riding a rocket pack follows you in the left lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is behind you, one arm tight around your waist, the other
Floyd | wielding a plasma blaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
riggzy says, "This is working strangely well. I never thought a chase would work in IF."
Ellison says, "yeah, I thought it was done well"
DavidW asks, "hm. *Should* we switch lanes, brake, then accelerate and ram him?"
inky says, "give it a shot!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "right" Binder says, "I approve this plan"
Floyd | You steer into the right lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer sees his chance to accelerate up alongside of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Eat this!" the doctor screams firing at the enforcer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer slows to keep pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | A shot from the doctor's plasma blaster hits the enforcer's rocket
Floyd | pack, and he suddenly launches up into the sky, exploding at his apex
Floyd | like a firework full of jet fuel.
Floyd |
Floyd | "I'm sure he'll be fine," Dr. Sliss says.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's it!"  Dr. Sliss says triumphantly.  "They can't have more than
Floyd | two rocket packs.  We're home free."
Floyd |
Floyd | Along the horizon ahead you can see a row of blinking blue lights.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay," Dr. Sliss says, grabbing your shoulders painfully tight.
Floyd | "Don't panic!  We can punch through.  Give it all you've got!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "It is possible to take out both enforcers yourself. But the Dr. picks up the slack if you take too long."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "g"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | You ram through between two police cars, saurian cops scattering out of
Floyd | your way as the vehicles are tossed to the side.  A few of the cops get
Floyd | off shots at you, but you're out of range in seconds.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can I open my eyes now?"  Dr. Sliss asks.  "Alright!  I knew you could
Floyd | do it.  Look out!"
Floyd |
Floyd | As you thunder down the road at incredible speed, you're hurtling
Floyd | towards a billboard on a sharp bend.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x billboard"
Floyd | The bilboard advertises Eggulax, helping saurian women pass
Floyd | unfertilised eggs when it's "that time of the year".
Floyd |
Floyd | The few seconds you spend reading the advertisement is all that's
Floyd | needed to hit it.  Your bike erupts into a bright red explosion,
Floyd | incinerating its two passengers in the process.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** YOU ARE DEAD ***
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha"
DavidW says, "hey!"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "x billboard".
Floyd |
Floyd | Wasteland Throughway 13 (right lane)
Floyd | Black tarmac bisects the sun-bright glare of the desert sand, a thin
Floyd | line of darkness that stops only at the boundary to the clear blue sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're in the saddle of a sleek red jet bike, hurtling forward at
Floyd | breakneck speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is behind you, one arm tight around your waist, the other
Floyd | wielding a plasma blaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.  You slam on the brakes.  The bike's huge
Floyd | tyres lock tight, but you keep going, leaving twin streaks of molten
Floyd | rubber on the road.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss screams and grabs you so tight you can barely breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then suddenly you're clear.  You've made it safely around the
Floyd | corner and you're racing off down the open road once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss collapses limply against your back.  "Holy shit, I don't
Floyd | think I can take any more of this."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | Ahead of you, great towers rise from the desert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss leans over your shoulder to point at a small and shabby tower
Floyd | block.  "I don't like our chances of getting far into the city, but we
Floyd | should be able to reach my apartment.  From there, well..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment 4b
Floyd | It's... a mess.  Clothes and books are thrown haphazardly on every
Floyd | surface, along with circuitboards, tools and spare parts.  Beneath all
Floyd | the clutter you can just make out a sofa and an aquarium.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the centre of the room is a small platform beneath a
Floyd | familiar-looking antenna.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss spins around, hands outstretched.  "Of course you're not
Floyd | surprised I built one in my spare time, are you?  It should be able to
Floyd | safely fire a couple of times.  Before blowing out power across the
Floyd | city."
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could ask her about the exploding collar, or her plans.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sliss about collar"
Floyd | "I suppose I owe it to you not to let your head explode," Dr. Sliss
Floyd | says, grabbing a screwdriver from a nearby surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a little poking and prodding, the collar drops to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "PHEW"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sliss about plans"
Floyd | She winks.  "Oh, don't worry about me.  I've got somewhere nice lined
Floyd | up.  You can come if you want.  I mean, I kind of like you as a test
Floyd | subject - maybe even a friend.  Or I can send you off somewhere by
Floyd | yourself and you'll never see me again."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask sliss about platform"
Floyd | "It's nice to finally talk to you as if we were equals," Dr. Sliss
Floyd | says, "but any second now the cops are going to be bashing down that
Floyd | door."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "follow sliss"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is right here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The doctor looks at her aquarium.  "Let me just get my..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Her shoulders slump.  "Great.  I forgot to fucking feed them."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "ha ha"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x aquarium"
Floyd | Full of dead fish floating belly-side up.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks around nervously.  "When you're ready, get on the
Floyd | platform."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take collar"
Floyd | Taken.
Floyd |
Floyd | "By the way," Dr. Sliss says, "call me Lisella.  No, wait, I changed my
Floyd | mind.  Keep calling me Dr. Sliss."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand on platform"
Floyd | Okay, you're now standing on the platform.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks around her apartment and sighs.  "Well, this is it
Floyd | then.  Do you want to go where I'm going?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes"
Floyd | She tries not to smile too widely as she works the controls to her
Floyd | homemade matter transmitter.  "Oh really?  Well, for what I have in
Floyd | store next, I think we should be equal partners.  Almost equal
Floyd | partners.  Sixty-forty my way.  Seventy-thirty.  We'll negotiate."
Floyd |
Floyd | With a hop and a skip, Dr. Sliss jumps onto the platform with you, and
Floyd | you feel the familiar sensation of being beamed through time, space and
Floyd | alternate realities.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | Today's the day of the big demonstration.  Of course you'll turn up.
Floyd | What you'll do once you get there is another question.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dirigible Station
Floyd | A raised platform surrounded by a precarious railing.  From here you
Floyd | can look out across smoking chimneys and slate tiled roofs, or watch
Floyd | airships churn stubbornly into the rain-shrouded sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | A cable car can take you down to the streets.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing a top hat and a three-piece
Floyd | suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hat"
Floyd | You'd think a world with headwear like this would have taller doorways.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x suit"
Floyd | It actually has a lot more than three pieces.  You think you've
Floyd | remembered them all.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x airships"
Floyd | From luxury liners to ragtag cutters.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x roofs"
Floyd | Once black, now coloured into smeary spectra of soot, mould and bird
Floyd | crap.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cable car"
Floyd | Rusted and well used, but otherwise mostly stable.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "d"
Floyd | You ride the cable car down to street level.
Floyd |
Floyd | Bustling Street
Floyd | The city's streets are crowded and narrow - horse-drawn carriages
Floyd | competing for space with steam-powered automobiles, and human
Floyd | pedestrians flooding the gaps in between.
Floyd |
Floyd | The neoclassical face of the Royal Academy rises above the red-brick
Floyd | offices either side, its open doors leading in.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x academy"
Floyd | Big marble pillars trying to look much older than they are.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "duck under doorway"
Floyd | The word "duck" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "in"
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cages"
Floyd | cage: The wide gaps between the bars suggest a purpose other than
Floyd | imprisonment.
Floyd |
Floyd | cage: The wide gaps between the bars suggest a purpose other than
Floyd | imprisonment.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "get on stage"
Floyd | Okay, you're now standing on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss sighs with relief and shoots you a grateful smile.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My loyal assistant," Dr. Sliss yells at the disinterested crowd, "will
Floyd | now demonstrate the practical application of the theory I've
Floyd | discussed."
Floyd |
Floyd | She hustles you quickly into one of the cages and works the controls of
Floyd | her machinery.  The cages begin to pop and ripple.  You experience a
Floyd | familiar sensation, and then a blinding flash.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | You appear in the opposite cage with a resounding pop.  The audience
Floyd | stares at the stage open-mouthed.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gentlemen," Dr. Sliss says, with a predatory smile, "I know that in
Floyd | your eyes I am a mere reptile - and worse still: a woman.  But what
Floyd | would you say if I offered you the untold riches of alternate worlds?"
Floyd |
Floyd | *** THE END ***
Floyd |
Floyd | At least this time you're almost equal partners.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "full score"
Floyd | You're Hunkomeat, the male human.
Floyd |
Floyd | You've earned 1250 credits after 2 missions.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "There are a few other endings."
inky says, "ha ha"
DavidW says, "I can imagine."
inky says, "I guess you can hang out in the audience and irritate her"
inky says, "or get teleported somewhere else"
murphy_slaw collapses!! - You die... DavidW says, "Going elsewhere seemed awfully risky. Could end up on an ice asteroid or a planet with ammonia instead of air."
inky says, "well, that's what undo is for"
inky says, "but let me see what happens if you don't go up on stage"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "get on stage".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-even universal
Floyd | suffrage-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "hmm, I guess nothing"
inky says (to Floyd), "leave"
Floyd | With one last look at Dr. Sliss, you turn and leave her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Never again.  Perhaps somewhere in this world you can find a way to
Floyd | live a normal life.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** THE END ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You turn your back on Dr. Sliss.  For now.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "hmm"
Pacian says, "There is one other ending in that location."
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "leave".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-distant worlds-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "sliss, get in cage"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is too busy trying to hold the audience's attention.  She
Floyd | just gestures for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "remove hat"
Floyd | Be seen out hatless?!  Ladies would faint to see such brazen nudity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-matter and energy
Floyd | become interchangeable-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "Jump from the dirigible?"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "boo" inky says, "hee hee"
Floyd | The word "boo" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "turn off machinery"
Floyd | That isn't something you can turn off.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x machinery"
Floyd | A bizarre mishmash of primitive technology hammered into something that
Floyd | throbbs and crackles with Dr. Sliss' otherworldly knowledge.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-considerable power
Floyd | drain-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "talk to gentlemen"
Floyd | You can't get a word in edgewise.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss sliss"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss probably wouldn't like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-alternate timelines-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "kill sliss"
Floyd | You cannot attack her.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take cages"
Floyd | cage: You can't take that.
Floyd |
Floyd | cage: You can't take that.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-curved spacetime-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder asks, "destroy the machinery?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "break machinery"
Floyd | Breaking that would serve no purpose.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "hmph"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "clap"
Floyd | The word "clap" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "What was our last save point?"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing a top hat and a three-piece
Floyd | suit.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-asteroid-"
inky says, "I think when we got to her house"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW asks, "did we save then?"
DavidW says, "I think I saved just before the chase scene, but not after."
Ellison says, "this scene kind of reminds me of The Prestige. I'd fear to look under the stage."
DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under stage"
Floyd | You see nothing unusual under the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter cage"
Floyd | (first standing on the stage)
Floyd | Okay, you're now standing in the cage.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss sighs with relief and shoots you a grateful smile.
Floyd |
Floyd | "My loyal assistant," Dr. Sliss yells at the disinterested crowd, "will
Floyd | now demonstrate the practical application of the theory I've
Floyd | discussed."
Floyd |
Floyd | She works the controls of her machinery.  The cages begin to pop and
Floyd | ripple.  You experience a familiar sensation, and then a blinding
Floyd | flash.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | You appear in the opposite cage with a resounding pop.  The audience
Floyd | stares at the stage open-mouthed.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Gentlemen," Dr. Sliss says, with a predatory smile, "I know that in
Floyd | your eyes I am a mere reptile - and worse still: a woman.  But what
Floyd | would you say if I offered you the untold riches of alternate worlds?"
Floyd |
Floyd | *** THE END ***
Floyd |
Floyd | At least this time you're almost equal partners.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "enter cage".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "kiss sliss"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss probably wouldn't like that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Tried that."
Ellison says, "ah, ok"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "look"
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-more advanced
Floyd | civilisations-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Jacqueline says, "Just saw this - w00t"
Jacqueline says, "Sorry I have been mostly distracted by computer repair."
Jacqueline says, "Oh wait, that's not the ending you wanted."
Jacqueline says, "Also, wowzalag."
Ellison says (to Floyd), "throw hat"
Floyd | What do you want to throw it at?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "sliss"
Floyd | (first taking off the top hat)
Floyd | You miss.  The top hat hits the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "throw suit at sliss"
Floyd | (first trying to take off the three-piece suit)
Floyd | It's a cold and uncaring Multiverse out there to be running around
Floyd | naked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-wormholes-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "x hat"
Floyd | You'd think a world with headwear like this would have taller doorways.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "put hat in cage"
Floyd | (first taking the top hat)
Floyd | Done.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss tries to be heard over the hubbub.  "-unexpected
Floyd | opportunities-"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "gasp"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "put suit in cage"
Floyd | (first trying to take off the three-piece suit)
Floyd | It's a cold and uncaring Multiverse out there to be running around
Floyd | naked.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss gestures frantically for you to get on the stage.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "WHAT"
Ellison says, "ha ha"
DavidW says (to inky), "Naughty monkey."
Binder says, "beam those pesky clothes away"
DavidW says (to Binder), "oh, like I haven't thought of that."
Binder says, "I saw, I'm just composing a jingle for a future laundry service based on matter transmission"
inky asks (of Pacian), "ok, I give up, what's the other ending here?"
Pacian says, "You kind of had the right idea to start with."
Pacian says, "But the way about it maybe isn't obvious."
Johnny says (to Binder), "The future is all about sonic washing machines!"
Pacian says, "Sit in the audience."
inky says (to Floyd), "wave at sliss"
Floyd | The word "wave" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "sit"
Floyd | What do you want to sit on?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "chair"
Floyd | You see no distinct chair here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "sit on chairs"
Floyd | You take a seat in the audience and watch Dr. Sliss flounder.
Floyd | Gradually, the gentlemen of the Royal Academy leave to follow pursuits
Floyd | they consider more worthy of their time.
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | When the theatre is empty but for you two, Dr. Sliss comes down to sit
Floyd | beside you.  "Okay," she says.  "I get it.  No more matter
Floyd | transmission.  I'll try and eke out a life on this barren rock."
Floyd |
Floyd | She points a scaly green finger at you.  "But we're entering a marriage
Floyd | of convenience.  Getting anything done on this world as a single woman
Floyd | is impossible."
Floyd |
Floyd | *** THE END ***
Floyd |
Floyd | You live happily ever after?
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha ha"
DavidW says, "ha ha"
Binder LAUGHS
Ellison says, "ha ha"
DavidW says, "That was worth it."
inky says, "totally" inky says, "er"
Ellison says, "fun times. thanks, everybody."
Binder says, "I would say as a first time ClubFloyd experience for me this has definitely motivated me to come back again."
DavidW says, "yay"
riggzy says, "Similarly, even if I lagged out halfway through."
Jacqueline says, "I'm disappearing for a couple, but Perry will remain, so do not fear."
Jacqueline waves and makes an isquiesque departure for home. inky says, "I am going to restore and see what happens if you don't go with her"
inky says, "or hrm, maybe we can just undo"
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "sit on chairs".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cage contains a top hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "sit".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | The cage contains a top hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "put suit in cage".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd |
Floyd | The cage contains a top hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "put hat in cage".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a top hat here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "x hat".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a top hat here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "throw suit at sliss".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | You see a top hat here.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "throw hat".
Floyd |
Floyd | Royal Academy Lecture Theatre
Floyd | Rows of seats descend towards a raised stage.  A pair of cages stand on
Floyd | the stage, surrounded by machinery that crackles with electricity.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss stands on the stage, trying to lecture on matter transmission
Floyd | theory.
Floyd |
Floyd | An audience of gentlemen in top hats chatter loudly amongst themselves,
Floyd | mostly about "the lizard woman".
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | No more undo information is available.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "oops"
inky says (to Floyd), "RESTORE"
inky says (to Floyd), "cf7"
Floyd | Please select the saved position file to restore >
Floyd | Restored.
Floyd |
Floyd | Wasteland Throughway 13 (left lane)
Floyd | Black tarmac bisects the sun-bright glare of the desert sand, a thin
Floyd | line of darkness that stops only at the boundary to the clear blue sky.
Floyd |
Floyd | You're in the saddle of a sleek red jet bike, hurtling forward at
Floyd | breakneck speed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss is behind you, one arm tight around your waist, the other
Floyd | wielding a plasma blaster.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Nobody's following us?"  Dr. Sliss says.  "I'm almost disappointed."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | With the throaty roar of a personal rocket pack, an Alliance Enforcer
Floyd | appears behind you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr Sliss readies her plasma blaster.  "Me and my big mouth."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | You drive briefly off-road, but the bike begins to judder
Floyd | uncontrollably as it lurches over uneven rocks and slippery sand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss yells into your ear.  "Hit the gas!  We've gotta lose our new
Floyd | friend!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss aims the plasma blaster and squeezes off a shot at the
Floyd | enforcer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer, unable to slow down in time, smacks into the back of your
Floyd | jet bike and tumbles down onto the road in a roll.
Floyd |
Ellison asks, "do your actions right after the arrest have much of an impact on the ending?"
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks back for a few seconds, and then reassures you, "She's
Floyd | all right.  That arm will regrow by itself."
Floyd |
Floyd | You hear a familiar sound - another rocket pack!  This time a saurian
Floyd | enforcer is approaching you from behind.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer seems to have no trouble keeping pace with you.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Watch out!"  Dr. Sliss shouts.  "He's trying to get alongside us!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian exclaims, "Yay!"
inky says (to Floyd), "right"
Floyd | You steer into the right lane.
Floyd |
Floyd | The enforcer sees his chance to accelerate up alongside of you.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss yells into your ear.  "Get us out of here!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "hee"
inky says (to Floyd), "left"
Floyd | You ram the enforcer from the side, sending him tumbling into the sand.
Floyd |
Floyd | Glancing over your shoulder you see him getting up, dusting himself off
Floyd | and kicking his mangled rocket pack.
Floyd |
Floyd | "That's it!"  Dr. Sliss says triumphantly.  "They can't have more than
Floyd | two rocket packs.  We're home free."
Floyd |
Floyd | Along the horizon ahead you can see a row of blinking blue lights.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Okay," Dr. Sliss says, grabbing your shoulders painfully tight.
Floyd | "Don't panic!  We can punch through.  Give it all you've got!"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | You ram through between two police cars, saurian cops scattering out of
Floyd | your way as the vehicles are tossed to the side.  A few of the cops get
Floyd | off shots at you, but you're out of range in seconds.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Can I open my eyes now?"  Dr. Sliss asks.  "Alright!  I knew you could
Floyd | do it.  Look out!"
Floyd |
Floyd | As you thunder down the road at incredible speed, you're hurtling
Floyd | towards a billboard on a sharp bend.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "brake"
Floyd | The jet engine winds down.  You slam on the brakes.  The bike's huge
Floyd | tyres lock tight, but you keep going, leaving twin streaks of molten
Floyd | rubber on the road.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss screams and grabs you so tight you can barely breathe.
Floyd |
Floyd | And then suddenly you're clear.  You've made it safely around the
Floyd | corner and you're racing off down the open road once more.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss collapses limply against your back.  "Holy shit, I don't
Floyd | think I can take any more of this."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "accelerate"
Floyd | With a thunderous roar, the afterburner kicks in.  You cling to the
Floyd | handlebars with all your strength.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ahead of you, great towers rise from the desert.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss leans over your shoulder to point at a small and shabby tower
Floyd | block.  "I don't like our chances of getting far into the city, but we
Floyd | should be able to reach my apartment.  From there, well..."
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd | Apartment 4b
Floyd | It's... a mess.  Clothes and books are thrown haphazardly on every
Floyd | surface, along with circuitboards, tools and spare parts.  Beneath all
Floyd | the clutter you can just make out a sofa and an aquarium.
Floyd |
Floyd | In the centre of the room is a small platform beneath a
Floyd | familiar-looking antenna.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss spins around, hands outstretched.  "Of course you're not
Floyd | surprised I built one in my spare time, are you?  It should be able to
Floyd | safely fire a couple of times.  Before blowing out power across the
Floyd | city."
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could ask her about the exploding collar, or her plans.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "ask sliss about her plans"
Floyd | She winks.  "Oh, don't worry about me.  I've got somewhere nice lined
Floyd | up.  You can come if you want.  I mean, I kind of like you as a test
Floyd | subject - maybe even a friend.  Or I can send you off somewhere by
Floyd | yourself and you'll never see me again."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x sofa"
Floyd | Something about its disarray suggests that it's often slept on.
Floyd |
Floyd | The doctor looks at her aquarium.  "Let me just get my..."
Floyd |
Floyd | Her shoulders slump.  "Great.  I forgot to fucking feed them."
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x books"
Floyd | Mostly about matter transmission theory, unsurprisingly.
Floyd |
Floyd | "Let me get that collar off you," she says, grabbing a screwdriver from
Floyd | a nearby surface.
Floyd |
Floyd | After a little poking and prodding, the collar drops to the floor.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "ah, I guess it's impossible to get out without getting your collar removed"
inky says (to Floyd), "stand on platform"
Floyd | Okay, you're now standing on the platform.
Floyd |
Floyd | Dr. Sliss looks around her apartment and sighs.  "Well, this is it
Floyd | then.  Do you want to go where I'm going?"
Floyd |
Floyd | (You could say yes or no.)
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "no"
Floyd | She looks sad, but unsurprised.  "Sure thing.  I know a nice place to
Floyd | send you an' all.  Goodbye, Hunkomeat.  And good luck."
Floyd |
Floyd | She flicks a switch, and you feel the familiar sensation of being
Floyd | beamed through time, space and alternate realities.  "Consider being
Floyd | someone else's test subject," you hear Dr. Sliss call out, her voice
Floyd | fading into the distance, "you're good at it!"
Floyd |
Floyd | (Press space...)
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd |
Floyd | It's been quiet, this past year, but after what you've been through you
Floyd | don't mind so much.  It's spring once again now, and time to plough
Floyd | your fields.
Floyd |
Floyd | Road to the Farm
Floyd | The morning sun is low in the sky.  Along the horizon are the shattered
Floyd | domes and broken skyscrapers of a ruined civilisation.  Fertile forests
Floyd | spill over, through and around the ruins, divulging a broken road in
Floyd | the direction of the fields beyond.
Floyd |
Floyd | You can follow the road forwards.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
Floyd | You are carrying nothing, and are wearing some straw hat and some
Floyd | dungarees.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "throw hat at road" Pacian says, "Eek. Some straw hat."
Floyd | (first taking off the straw hat)
Floyd | You miss.  The straw hat hits the ground.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "wear hat"
Floyd | (first taking the straw hat)
Floyd | Okay, you're now wearing the straw hat.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "sorry, I'm just in a hat-throwing mood"
inky says, "ha ha"
inky says (to Floyd), "x road" Binder says, "what an odd job"
Floyd | Newer stones laid over the broken remnants of old tarmac.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x skyscrapers"
Floyd | Some of them apparently snapped in half by some terrible force.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says, "Watch us be tagged by convict #208471."
inky says (to Floyd), "forward"
Floyd | Farm Border
Floyd | A rickety wooden fence denotes the edge of the farmland.  The fields
Floyd | lie a short way ahead.
Floyd |
Floyd | A massive industrial farmbot waits here.
Floyd |
Floyd | The farmbot activates with a brief warning klaxon, and stands
Floyd | unsteadily on four hydraulic legs.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x farmbot"
Floyd | Badly rusted, its paint almost entirely peeled off, but careful
Floyd | maintenance has kept it running well.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "z"
Floyd | Time passes...
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "ride farmbot"
Floyd | That's not a vehicle.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "climb on farmbot"
Floyd | You can't stand on that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | Field
Floyd | A large square of exposed earth, the fertile soil interrupted in one
Floyd | corner by the huge rusting skull of a fallen warbot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ahead is the small dome of the farmhouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | The farmbot lowers its plough, and tries to get its bearings with
Floyd | long-broken proximity sensors.  You carefully guide it around the field
Floyd | until the ground has been neatly tilled.  By the time you're done, the
Floyd | noon sun beats down on you mercilessly.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "x skull"
Floyd | Whether it was decapitated, or the rest of it is buried underground,
Floyd | you may never know.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | Outside the Farmhouse
Floyd | A small, broken dome, the largest cracks thatched over.  Ivy clings
Floyd | valiantly to its smooth sides.  Cheerful voices emerge from further in.
Floyd |
Floyd | The farmbot stomps after you.
Floyd |
Floyd | You catch Old Man Cadan on his way out.  "Alright my ansum," he says.
Floyd | "Best I warn thee the schoolmarm's on the warpath.  Scarin' the
Floyd | chillurn wi' your stories o' bee people an' nasty Dr. Stick, she
Floyd | reckons."
Floyd |
Floyd | He starts to leave, and then pauses.  "Now me, I be rememberin' you
Floyd | turnin' up near a year ago in your strange clothes, with those comical
Floyd | stories 'bout you fallin' out the sky.  You've settled in quite
Floyd | nice-like, but I reckon there's something different 'bout you, and that
Floyd | ain't no bad thing."
Floyd |
Floyd | He strolls off, whistling to himself.  "Don't go losin' that
Floyd | specialness, y'hear?"
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Binder says, "I'm especially glad these little children could be here to witness this authentic frontier gibberish"
inky says (to Floyd), "f"
Floyd | You head inside the dome to face up to the schoolmarm's scorn, and
Floyd | partake of Mama Gwen's freshly made lunch; to tell stories of
Floyd | high-speed jet bike chases to fascinated children, while your
Floyd | wide-eyed, eavesdropping sweetheart pretends to be doubtful or
Floyd | unimpressed.
Floyd |
Floyd | Your days of hopping from world to world are over.  You'll never again
Floyd | find strange treasures or be torn limb from limb by strange monsters
Floyd | only to be glued back together.  Like almost everyone in the Imbroglio,
Floyd | you're stuck on just one world, with people you've grown to love and
Floyd | hate.
Floyd |
Floyd | Yours is the wistful happiness of the adventurer who lived to tell the
Floyd | tale.
Floyd |
Floyd | *** THE END ***
Floyd |
Floyd | Welcome back to human civilisation.
Floyd |
Floyd | Would you like to RESTORE a saved position, RESTART the story, UNDO the
Floyd | last move, see your FULL SCORE, or QUIT?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
inky says, "interesting"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "f".
Floyd |
Floyd | Outside the Farmhouse
Floyd | A small, broken dome, the largest cracks thatched over.  Ivy clings
Floyd | valiantly to its smooth sides.  Cheerful voices emerge from further in.
Floyd |
Floyd | A massive industrial farmbot waits here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "undo"
Floyd | Taking back one turn: "f".
Floyd |
Floyd | Field
Floyd | A large square of exposed earth, the fertile soil interrupted in one
Floyd | corner by the huge rusting skull of a fallen warbot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ahead is the small dome of the farmhouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | A massive industrial farmbot waits here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "dig"
Floyd | What do you want to dig in?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "soil"
Floyd | What do you want to dig in it with?
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "farmbot"
Floyd | You have no reason to dig in that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Jacqueline arrives, ready to play with the toys.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "search skull"
Floyd | There's nothing unusual in the skull.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take skull"
Floyd | You can't take that.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says, "not sure if anything is possible there but I thought I'd try"
Ellison says (to Floyd), "x farmbot"
Floyd | Badly rusted, its paint almost entirely peeled off, but careful
Floyd | maintenance has kept it running well.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Ellison says (to Floyd), "till ground"
Floyd | The word "till" is not necessary in this story.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
Pacian says, "The farmbot does all the farming around here."
Binder says, "truly a cyberpastoral"
Ellison says, "yeah, I was trying to get him to do some more. good for nothing!"
Pacian says, "He's earned a nap."
Ellison says, "I'm trying to start a second robot apocalypse"
Pacian asks, "Incite skully to rise up in defence of rusty?"
Ellison says, "or to keep fighting the war he never realized was over. whichever!"
DavidW says, "Obviously, with the schoolmarm on the warpath, she must be a cyborg."
Ellison says, "ha"
Ellison says, "ok, I have to head out for a bit. later all!"
Ellison goes back to Squeamhurst..
Ellison has disconnected. Binder says, "skynet sends a terminator schoolmarm back to eliminate John Connor's ancestors"
riggzy goes home. DavidW asks, "It seems like we're winding down. Do we have any new ideas to try or should we call it here?"
inky says, "I am all done"
DavidW says, "I think I'm done too."
DavidW says, "good game."
DavidW says, "Love the little touches like Sliss forgetting to feed the fish."
Johnny tips some straw hat to Pacian.
Pacian says, "Heh. Thanks."
Binder says (to Pacian), "Good game"
inky says, "huzzah"
Pacian says, "emote's watch starts vibrating."
Jizaboz goes home. Pacian says, "IFMUD is too hard."
Pacian says, "Anyway, I'm going to be matter transmitted back where I came from. Stay cool, guys."
DavidW says, "see you. Thanks for coming!"
Pacian goes home.
inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge.
DavidW says (to Floyd), "l"
Floyd | Field
Floyd | A large square of exposed earth, the fertile soil interrupted in one
Floyd | corner by the huge rusting skull of a fallen warbot.
Floyd |
Floyd | Ahead is the small dome of the farmhouse.
Floyd |
Floyd | A massive industrial farmbot waits here.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit"
Floyd | Do you really want to quit? (Y is affirmative) >
DavidW says (to Floyd), "y"
Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "ne"
Floyd says (to DavidW), "Floyd doesn't know that trick."
DavidW says, "ack"
DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. DavidW says, "After a ClubFloyd session, I have to relearn not to type 'f' in front of everything."
inky says, "ha ha"



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