AllThingsJacq.com - Interactive Fiction | ClubFloyd - May 23, 2021


ToyShop & Floyditorium		#ClubFloyd Discussion


Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "load sleepmask photopia"
CF ] Photopia by Adam Cadre
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Would you like color?
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Photopia by Adam Cadre
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Would you like instructions?
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "y"
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Okay, so I've finished reading the opening paragraphs. What am I
CF \| supposed to do with this > thingy?"
CF \|
CF \| Good question. The > prompt appears whenever it is your turn to tell
CF \| the game what you want to do. Simply type in an imperative statement,
CF \| like OPEN THE DOOR, or EAT THE SANDWICH, and press the Enter key.
CF \| Also, articles aren't necessary: OPEN DOOR or EAT SANDWICH will work
CF \| just as well. Occasionally, the game will ask you to clarify a command
CF \| you've typed. For instance, if you type EAT SANDWICH, and there is
CF \| more than one sandwich in your immediate vicinity, the game may
CF \| respond, "Which sandwich do you mean, the ham sandwich or the bologna
CF \| sandwich?" It is not usually necessary to retype your command --
CF \| simply answering the question is fine (HAM is a sufficient reply, for
CF \| example.) Of course, you don't have to answer the question if you
CF \| don't want to; if you're a vegetarian and don't want to eat either
CF \| sandwich, you can type OPEN DOOR and the game will treat it as an
CF \| all-new command.
CF \|
CF \| No matter how enthralling your initial location is, chances are you'll
CF \| eventually want to go somewhere else. To do so, simply type the
CF \| direction you want to go: WALK NORTH is a perfectly acceptable
CF \| command, but N will do the same thing, and is much easier to type. If
CF \| you're not carrying a compass, you can still navigate with commands
CF \| such as ENTER KITCHEN or EXIT.
CF \|
CF \| Sometimes you will encounter people and other animate creatures with
CF \| whom you'll wish to converse. In PHOTOPIA, the verbs ASK and TELL have
CF \| been replaced with the command TALK TO (for example, TALK TO THE
CF \| PIRATE.) Even such commands as YES and NO are subsumed under the aegis
CF \| of TALK TO. TALK TO is your friend.
CF \|
CF \| Like most interactive fiction these days, PHOTOPIA has a reasonably
CF \| impressive vocabulary; some words you might want to try are:
CF \|
CF \| BUY KILL PUSH SMELL
CF \| CLOSE KISS PUT TASTE
CF \| DRINK KNOCK READ THROW
CF \| DROP LICK REMOVE TIE
CF \| EAT LISTEN SEARCH TOUCH
CF \| EXAMINE LOOK SHOW TURN
CF \| GIVE OPEN SIT UNTIE
CF \| JUMP PULL SLEEP WEAR
CF \|
CF \| You can also combine many of these verbs with prepositions: in
CF \| addition to LOOK, you can LOOK AT, LOOK INSIDE, LOOK UNDER, LOOK
CF \| THROUGH, and so forth.
CF \|
CF \| There are also a number of special commands and abbreviations you
CF \| should be aware of. In addition to the compass directions mentioned
CF \| above, they include:
CF \|
CF \| G: short for AGAIN, this repeats the last command.
CF \|
CF \| I: short for INVENTORY, this produces a list of what you're carrying.
CF \|
CF \| L: short for LOOK, this describes your surroundings.
CF \|
CF \| X: short for EXAMINE, this provides a description of an object.
CF \|
CF \| Z: short for WAIT, this causes a turn to pass without an action being
CF \| performed.
CF \|
CF \| QUIT: ends the game.
CF \|
CF \| RESTART: restarts the game from the beginning.
CF \|
CF \| RESTORE: restores a saved game (not available online.)
CF \|
CF \| SAVE: saves your position in the game (not available online.)
CF \|
CF \| The main rule of thumb here is to keep your commands as simple as you
CF \| can while still getting the meaning across. The parser has come along
CF \| way from when two words were the maximum allowed: you can enter
CF \| commands such as GIVE THE BANANA TO THE RHESUS MONKEY THEN TAKE ALL
CF \| FROM THE CAGE EXCEPT THE BANANA PEEL and be understood perfectly. But
CF \| the parser will not understand things like WALK UP TO THE SIGN or GO
CF \| BACK TO WHERE I WAS A FEW MINUTES AGO. Once you get the hang of it,
CF \| the correct way to enter commands becomes second nature. So feel your
CF \| way around, try things as they occur to you, and most of all, have
CF \| fun!
CF \|
CF \| [Press SPACE to begin.]		DavidW says, "I only remember one 'puzzle' in Photopia and it's pretty easy."
		MoyTravis asks, "Did we somehow load up in the middle of HELP or does it display this by default on start?"
		MoyTravis says, "Oh wait. "Would you like instructions." I am read good."
		Jacqueline says, "It's kind of neat to see the help menu from the era of 'we only recently got rid of a restrictive two word parser'"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "press space"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "press space"		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "press enter"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
DavidW pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] "Will you read me a story?"
CF ]
CF ] "Read you a story? What fun would that be? I've
CF ] got a better idea: let's tell a story together."
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "OH"
		Jacqueline says, "wait."
		Jacqueline says, "Wow. My brain. Sorry about that."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Speeding down Montgomery Boulevard
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Photopia
CF \| by Adam Cadre
CF \|
CF \| Speeding down Montgomery Boulevard
CF \| The streetlights are bright. Unbearably bright. You have to squint as
CF \| hard as you can to keep your retinas from bursting into flame.
CF \|
CF \| "Welcome back to the land of the fucking LIVING, bud," Rob says. "You
CF \| planning to stick around for a while or you gonna pass out again?
CF \| Cause one thing I've learned about chicks is that they actually DON'T
CF \| LIKE IT when you pass out on them in the middle of gettin' it on. You
CF \| hear me? So if that's, like, your PLAN, then I'm droppin' you off and
CF \| showin' up solo."
CF \|
CF \| You don't exactly remember where the day went, but as you listen to
CF \| Rob rant on, bits of it start to float back to you: a day on the
CF \| slopes, the brisk February wind against your face; polishing off a keg
CF \| back at the lodge; those two girls you and Rob had hit it off with,
CF \| the ones who'd given you their address in town. "We all should get
CF \| together sometime!" they'd said. Of course, Rob insisted that by
CF \| "sometime" they'd meant "later tonight." You hadn't been so sure, but
CF \| then you'd blacked out before you could argue the point.
CF \|
CF \| How Rob came to be driving your car you're not exactly sure.
CF \| Apparently he couldn't wait till you were sober enough to drive it
CF \| yourself. From the way he's weaving all over the road, he also
CF \| apparently couldn't wait till HE was sober enough to drive it, either.
CF \|
CF \| Rob changes the radio station a few times, eventually settling on the
CF \| station you were listening to in the first place.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] Speeding down Montgomery Boulevard
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You're as good-looking as ever. Which is a hell of a lot
CF \| better-looking than Rob.
CF \|
CF \| Rob looks at the scrap of paper with the address on it as the two of
CF \| you go screaming through an empty intersection. "Bartlett Hill Road,"
CF \| he mutters. "Where the fuck is Bartlett Hill Road?"
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "He should just use Google Maps-- oh wait."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x Rob"
CF ] Speeding down Montgomery Boulevard
CF \|
CF \| > X ROB
CF \|
CF \| Rob's face is flushed, as you might expect from someone fresh off the
CF \| slopes. Except you're NOT fresh off the slopes. You came in at maybe
CF \| three or three-thirty, and now it's past midnight.
CF \|
CF \| You look up. "Hey, it's red," you say.
CF \|
CF \| "Huh what?" Rob says.
CF \|
CF \| "The light," you say. "You know, red? As in STOP?"
CF \|
CF \| But you don't stop. You don't even slow down as you fly into the
CF \| intersection, and the light stays an unmistakable red...
CF \| [ -> ]		DavidW says, "This might predate Google Maps."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yes, it does. That... was my (not funny) joke."
		DavidW says, "You'll need to push space again to continue."
		Jacqueline says, "Right now I'm busy looking up history."
		lkcampbell says, "I've played this so I will just lurk :)"
		Jacqueline says, "This predates Good Maps by 7 years."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] RED
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]		DavidW says, "Gosh. That long ago."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| You are Wendy Mackaye, first girl on the red planet.
CF \|
CF \| When you signed up for this mission, you thought that you were going
CF \| to be coming to a habitable colony. ("Habitable" means you can live
CF \| there.) See, the orbiter was supposed to drop all the pieces of the
CF \| colony -- the power plant, the living quarters, the greenhouse, things
CF \| like that -- onto the planet's surface, packed in airbags which would
CF \| bounce around and then open up once they were safely on the ground.
CF \| Some of the airbags were supposed to hold big trucks which would be
CF \| operated by remote control, dragging the pieces of the colony into
CF \| their proper places; your job was going to be to take a tour of the
CF \| place and verify that everything was up and running. ("Verify" means
CF \| to make sure.)
CF \|
CF \| Instead, something went wrong on the orbiter, and it blew up before it
CF \| had a chance to drop off its payload. Pieces of the orbiter and the
CF \| colony rained all over the landscape. So this has become a salvage
CF \| mission. Your instruments indicate that there's at least one piece
CF \| that's still functioning. ("Functioning" means it's not broken.) Your
CF \| job is to find that piece, or pieces if there's more than one.
CF \|
CF \| So you climb down the ladder of your ship and step onto the surface of
CF \| an alien world.
CF \|
CF \| Landing site
CF \| You are standing at the base of your ship. The onboard computers
CF \| selected this general area as the most likely place to find
CF \| salvageable remains of what would have been the colony. ("Salvageable"
CF \| means you can save it.) The battered rust-red landscape stretches out
CF \| before you in every direction, pitted and pockmarked and littered with
CF \| boulders. A ladder leads up to the hatch of your ship.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "It's weird that there's IF that's over 20 years old now."
		DavidW says, "btw, this game uses color-coded sections. The colors are optional, but it's obvious this Mars section is 'red'."
		Knight_Otu says, "Weird."
		Jacqueline says, "We've had 25 IFComps."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "i"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > I
CF \|
CF \| You are carrying nothing. You are wearing your spacesuit.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You hardly need to be reminded what YOU look like, Wendy -- even if
CF \| you didn't see yourself in the mirror every morning, the countless
CF \| newspaper pictures and magazine covers would remind you.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Oho. We are very famous."
		DavidW says, "IFComp needs a bigger T-shirt."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x spacesuit"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > X SPACESUIT
CF \|
CF \| Your spacesuit, custom-made to fit someone your size, is much less
CF \| cumbersome and bulky than the spacesuits of the past; this one is
CF \| actually quite stylish. It says "W. MACKAYE" on the front.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "We're the Martian before the Martian."
		MoyTravis says, "Do you have IFComp merch? You should have IFComp merch."
		Jacqueline says, "We do."
		DavidW says, "There used to be T-shirts. Maybe there still is? I don't know."
		Jacqueline says, "I personally have multiple coffee cups, t-shirts, and magnets."
		lkcampbell says, "Jacq got me my shirt :)"
		DavidW says, "ooh, I should get a shirt then. I need new shirts. I need new everything, really."
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "Ha! That's true."
		Jacqueline \| [LINK]
		Jacqueline says, "But we digress."
		DavidW says, "Thanks"
		Jacqueline says, "Seems a bit weird that they'd send someone who requires a spacesuit to salvage stuff on a planet where the habit was never put together and is in fact destroyed."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Landing site
CF \| You are standing at the base of your ship. The battered rust-red
CF \| landscape stretches out before you in every direction, pitted and
CF \| pockmarked and littered with boulders. A ladder leads up to the hatch
CF \| of your ship.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "u"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > U
CF \|
CF \| You really shouldn't return to the ship until you've completed your
CF \| mission.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Near the huge tread
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You take a few steps to the north, amazed at how the light gravity
CF \| turns each step into a great bounding leap.
CF \|
CF \| Near the huge tread
CF \| You are standing next to what seems to be a piece of a bulldozer or
CF \| some other sort of construction equipment. It is a set of wheels, each
CF \| one bigger across than you are tall, wrapped in a tread like on an
CF \| army tank. You can tell it landed with some force from the ring of
CF \| debris that surrounds it in a perfect circle.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "I was under the impression we were supposed to be, like, dropped with the habitat, but it just dropped wrong."
Karona sings out of key, the fish jumps out of the jug and slaps her in the face, and she shuffles home looking ashamed.		MoyTravis exclaims, "Let's drive the bulldozer!"
		Jacqueline says, "Well, perhaps. That too seems a bit ill-advised. Though I guess it does take a hot second to get to Mars."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "drive bulldozer"
CF ] Near the huge tread
CF \|
CF \| > DRIVE BULLDOZER
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "enter bulldozer"
CF ] Near the huge tread
CF \|
CF \| > ENTER BULLDOZER
CF \|
CF \| The bulldozer that this tread used to be attached to doesn't seem to
CF \| be in the immediate area.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "Oh. It's just a piece."
		Knight_Otu says, "A hot second sounds like it should go by fast, and yet..."
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \| As you walk, you find first one geodesic panel, then another. (When
CF \| people make a dome out of simple polygons like triangles or hexagons,
CF \| that's called "geodesic.") Soon the clear plastic panels are as
CF \| plentiful as the rust-red boulders -- this must be where the dome for
CF \| the living quarters landed.
CF \|
CF \| Soon you find you're right. Scattered around you are the remains of
CF \| what would have been home to the first wave of colonists. Most of the
CF \| housing units have been reduced to unidentifiable splintered heaps,
CF \| but there's one that seems to be intact. ("Intact" means that it isn't
CF \| so damaged that it's unusable.) The entrance is partially obstructed
CF \| -- "obstructed" means blocked -- by debris, but you're small enough
CF \| that you could probably squeeze through. That's part of what makes you
CF \| the perfect person for this job, aside from your astronautical
CF \| expertise. ("Astronautical" doesn't really mean anything. I just made
CF \| it up.)
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "If I remmber correctly, the Mars geography builds itself in whichever order you visit it. So it didn't matter which compass direction you went the first time, it would always be this place."
		Jacqueline says, "yeah"
		MoyTravis says, "Oh that's cool."
		Jacqueline says, "That's why I'm just planning on n.n.n.n.n.n.n.n."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm basic like that."
		DavidW says, "yeah, that's the best plan."
		lkcampbell says, "All of Jacq's hand drawn maps are vertical lines"
		DavidW says, "Now we just have to translate 'From Here To There' into Latin for the coat of arms."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "enter unit"
CF ] Inside the housing unit
CF \|
CF \| > ENTER UNIT
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Inside the housing unit
CF \| Since no one ever moved into this unit, it's really nothing but an
CF \| empty gray box, no bigger than your bedroom back home. These quarters
CF \| weren't designed with anything but sleeping in mind: the first
CF \| colonists were expected to take their meals in a central dining
CF \| commons, and bathrooms were to be in a separate structure, with each
CF \| one shared by a number of people. Still, you can't help but feel a
CF \| twinge. This was going to be someone's HOME. The first thing they saw
CF \| when they woke up, the place they looked forward to retreating to
CF \| after a hard day doing research or exploring the planet's surface or
CF \| helping to maintain the colony. There were going to be pictures on
CF \| these walls, footprints on the floor. Now the only footprints left
CF \| here will be yours.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "I think that's what I remember, too, the map is somewhat arbitrary"
		lkcampbell says, "on mars anyway"
		Jacqueline asks, "Nothing to do here, right? Just leave?"
		DavidW says, "I think so. I don't remember what we actually do on Mars."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "out"
CF ] Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \|
CF \| > OUT
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \| Scattered around you are the remains of what would have been home to
CF \| the first wave of colonists. Most of the housing units have been
CF \| reduced to unidentifiable splintered heaps, but there's one that seems
CF \| to be intact. The entrance is partially obstructed by debris, but that
CF \| doesn't pose a problem: you're small enough to squeeze through.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Among the ruins of the power plant
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the power plant
CF \| The power plant is in substantially worse shape than the living
CF \| quarters, and considering that those were completely wrecked, that's
CF \| saying something. Though the fissionable materials were specially
CF \| packaged to prevent them from exploding, the Geiger counter in your
CF \| suit indicates that this area is still very radioactive. (I'll explain
CF \| that part later. For now let's just say it's very dangerous and you
CF \| should probably be moving along.)
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell asks, "I forgot does it say what the goal is in the mars intro?"
		DavidW says, "I suppose we find some macguffin and pick it up."
		MoyTravis says, "Salvage the Thing."
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "Salvage what we can, it hink."
		Jacqueline says, "I think, rather."
		lkcampbell says, "ah...in that case, I suggest we salvage :)"
		lkcampbell says, "the thing"
		DavidW says, "Go north again."
		Jacqueline says, "Nah. This sounds cozy. Let's stay here for a bit. Maybe take a nap."
		Jacqueline says, "Kidding."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Near the wrecked bulldozer
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Near the wrecked bulldozer
CF \| You're standing near what appears to be most of a bulldozer -- maybe
CF \| the one that the tread you saw used to be attached to. Aside from
CF \| that, this area is fairly desolate.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "enter bulldozer"
CF ] Near the wrecked bulldozer
CF \|
CF \| > ENTER BULLDOZER
CF \|
CF \| As you attempt to climb up into the bulldozer, the remaining tread
CF \| gives way and the cab of the bulldozer comes crashing down on top of
CF \| you. Only your lightning-quick reflexes save you from being crushed
CF \| and killed.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Goldilocks and the three bariums."
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| The clicking in your helmet grows steadily louder -- you must be
CF \| getting closer to what you're looking for. Soon you find yourself...
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \| The colonization plans called for a central dome where plants designed
CF \| to thrive in the harsh, lifeless soil of the red planet would be grown
CF \| and used for food. Everywhere you look are broken containers that once
CF \| held seed pods and now contain nothing but cinders and ash.
CF \|
CF \| Among the shattered seed pod containers you see one single undamaged
CF \| one.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis exclaims, "Whee the Thing!"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take container"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE CONTAINER
CF \|
CF \| (the seed pod container)
CF \| The moment you touch the seed pod container, the clicking in your
CF \| helmet stops. This is the only item you will be able to save.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "that's a thing alright"
lkcampbell says (to ClubFloyd), "lick pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > LICK POD
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "just to get it out of the way"
		Jacqueline says, "IRTA 'this is the only time you'll be able to save'"
		DavidW says, "Maybe examine it."
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "I think we're wearing a helmet, man."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > X POD
CF \|
CF \| The seed pod container is a red globe about the size of a canteloupe,
CF \| which is designed to withstand an awful lot of damage but can be
CF \| opened with a simple twist.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "oh yeah lol"
		DavidW says, "Take it back south to the ship, I guess."
		Jacqueline asks, "Should we open it?"
Jacqueline clears the save counter.
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "SAVE"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "cf1"
CF \| >
CF \| > SAVE
CF \| %% Enter a save filename to write:
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \| Ok.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open pd"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN PD
CF \|
CF \| Nothing like that seems to be around.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN POD
CF \|
CF \| You open the seed pod container, revealing a seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x seed pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > X SEED POD
CF \|
CF \| The seed pod, designed for rapid growth even in a hostile environment,
CF \| looks sort of like a cross between a pine cone and a small pineapple.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed pod'"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED POD'
CF \|
CF \| I only understood you as far as wanting to plant the seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED POD
CF \|
CF \| You don't have any digging equipment.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "darn"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "close pod"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \|
CF \| > CLOSE POD
CF \|
CF \| That's not something you can close.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "now we know why it was called a seed pod container"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "restore"
CF \| >
CF \| > RESTORE
CF \| %% Enter a save filename to read:
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "cf1"
CF ] Among the ruins of the greenhouse
CF \| Ok.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] Near the wrecked bulldozer
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Near the wrecked bulldozer
CF \| You're standing near what appears to be most of a bulldozer -- maybe
CF \| the one that the tread you saw used to be attached to. Aside from
CF \| that, this area is fairly desolate.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] Among the ruins of the power plant
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the power plant
CF \| The power plant is in substantially worse shape than the living
CF \| quarters, and considering that those were completely wrecked, that's
CF \| saying something. You probably shouldn't linger in this area too long.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Among the ruins of the living quarters
CF \| Scattered around you are the remains of what would have been home to
CF \| the first wave of colonists. Most of the housing units have been
CF \| reduced to unidentifiable splintered heaps, but there's one that seems
CF \| to be intact. The entrance is partially obstructed by debris, but that
CF \| doesn't pose a problem: you're small enough to squeeze through.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] Near the huge tread
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Near the huge tread
CF \| You are standing next to what seems to be a piece of a bulldozer or
CF \| some other sort of construction equipment. It is a set of wheels, each
CF \| one bigger across than you are tall, wrapped in a tread like on an
CF \| army tank. You can tell it landed with some force from the ring of
CF \| debris that surrounds it in a perfect circle.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Landing site
CF \| You are standing at the base of your ship. The battered rust-red
CF \| landscape stretches out before you in every direction, pitted and
CF \| pockmarked and littered with boulders. A ladder leads up to the hatch
CF \| of your ship.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "u"
CF ] Landing site
CF \|
CF \| > U
CF \|
CF \| Gently placing the seed pod on the seat next to you, you rocket back
CF \| into space, leaving the red planet in your wake. Soon a familiar
CF \| cloud-streaked blue ball appears on your monitors. You are home again
CF \| at last.
CF \|
CF \| But something goes terribly wrong. The heat shields hold up fine
CF \| during re-entry, but the parachutes fail to open as you head for
CF \| splashdown. And so you plummet at an incredible rate, the ocean
CF \| growing closer and closer...
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "Oh. That did not take a hot second."
		MoyTravis says, "This Mars trip's really not going great."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "scream"
CF ] Landing site
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] In your home office
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| You hear a splash.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] In your home office
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You are Mary Dawson, and you're still getting used to not having to
CF \| get in your car and drive to the office every morning. While it's
CF \| wonderful to be able to spend more time with Alley, there have been
CF \| times that you've been so busy keeping her fed and entertained on the
CF \| one hand, and trying to get some work done on the other, than Sam has
CF \| come home at six in the evening and you STILL haven't showered.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "So many Mars missions haven't done great, so is it a surprise?"
		DavidW says, "You better investigate that splash."
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha - this game thinks we still shower daily."
		MoyTravis says, "Haven't all our rovers landed properly? (I don't know much about Mars missions)"
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "Yeah, they have. Though we lost Opportunity eventually."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "i"
CF ] In your home office
CF \|
CF \| > I
CF \|
CF \| You are carrying nothing.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "nothing worse than a lost opportunity"
		MoyTravis asks, "x alley?"
		Knight_Otu says, "I suppose more missions succeeded than failed, but there's still some failures."
		Jacqueline plays her drums: ba-dum-TISH
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] In your home office
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In your home office
CF \| When you and Sam put that down payment on this house five years ago,
CF \| you were expecting that you were going to need all four bedrooms
CF \| eventually; but after the complications with Alison, you found
CF \| yourself with a couple of extras on your hands. This one came in very
CF \| handy when you started telecommuting. You can't say you're exactly
CF \| glad that this room became an office instead of a bedroom for a
CF \| brother or sister of Alley's, but you ARE glad that you and Sam
CF \| decided not to move into that smaller house you were considering.
CF \|
CF \| Your computer screen is, as usual, cluttered with the details of the
CF \| Peterson account.
CF \|
CF \| That splash you heard is beginning to worry you.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Assume you have a backyard pool and Alley is not in the room with you."
		MoyTravis says, "Well that's an ominous tip."
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, is Alley drowning in the tub?"
		Jacqueline says, "Timing"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In your home office
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You're not carrying a compass.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says (to Game), "C'mon."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "out"
CF ] In the hall
CF \|
CF \| > OUT
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the hall
CF \| You're standing in the hallway just outside your office. Your guest
CF \| Gabriel's room lies just ahead of you, the door wide open; a flight of
CF \| stairs leads down to the ground floor.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "d"
CF ] In the back yard
CF \|
CF \| > D
CF \|
CF \| As you reach the bottom of the stairs, you look through the sliding
CF \| glass door leading to the back yard, and feel a bayonet slice through
CF \| your heart. Gabriel is fishing Alley out of the pool. It takes all the
CF \| willpower you possess to open the door as you dash outside instead of
CF \| simply throwing yourself through the glass.
CF \|
CF \| In the back yard
CF \| Your back yard isn't exactly sprawling, but it was more than big
CF \| enough to accomodate the small swimming pool which Alison was never
CF \| supposed to be allowed near. At least not until she learned to swim.
CF \|
CF \| As you throw open the sliding glass door, Gabriel gently lays Alley
CF \| down on the cement bank of the pool. "Have you called the emergency?"
CF \| he asks. "No? I will call!" He runs, dripping wet, back into the
CF \| house.
CF \|
CF \| Gabriel comes dashing back outside, telephone in hand. "The ambulances
CF \| are coming and at the same time I have the instructions for the CPR!"
CF \| he declares. "First you must tilt her head back!"
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "do cpr"
CF ] In the back yard
CF \|
CF \| > DO CPR
CF \|
CF \| [That verb is not recognized.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "tilt head"
CF ] In the back yard
CF \|
CF \| > TILT HEAD
CF \|
CF \| You tilt her head back.
CF \|
CF \| "Good!" Gabriel says. "Now you must breathe into her mouth."
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "breathe into mouth"
CF ] In the back yard
CF \|
CF \| > BREATHE INTO MOUTH
CF \|
CF \| You breathe into Alley's mouth.
CF \|
CF \| "Good!" Gabriel says. "Now you must press her chest."
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "press chest"
CF ] In the back yard
CF \|
CF \| > PRESS CHEST
CF \|
CF \| You apply pressure to Alley's chest and suddenly she coughs up a
CF \| mouthful of water. A minute later she is sitting up and looking around
CF \| bewilderedly.
CF \|
CF \| "Alison!" you cry. "Alison, baby, how many times have we told you NOT
CF \| to go near the pool, another minute and we would've lost you, you KNOW
CF \| you're not supposed to go near--"
CF \|
CF \| "I wanted to see," she says.
CF \|
CF \| "What?" you say.
CF \|
CF \| "I wanted to see," she says, "if the world looked the same UNDER the
CF \| water as it does OVER it."
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] SEA-BLUE
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Airlock
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Your spaceship was able to survive the impact with the ocean easily --
CF \| you barely even felt the jolt. ("Impact" is what it's called when
CF \| things smack into each other.) There wasn't even any damage, unless
CF \| you count the flotation devices bursting. But you should definitely
CF \| count that. Because without your floats, your ship sinks like a stone,
CF \| down down down into the murky depths.
CF \|
CF \| You're still not worried, since you can always just fly the ship right
CF \| back up to the surface. Except that when you hit bottom, the engines
CF \| go dead. You try to restart them, with no success. Fortunately, your
CF \| spacesuit is watertight and more than capable of protecting you from
CF \| the water pressure that would otherwise crush you like a soda can. It
CF \| will have to. You're going to have to swim for it.
CF \|
CF \| You gather up your seed pod, head to the airlock, turn on the lights
CF \| in your suit, and hope for the best.
CF \|
CF \| Airlock
CF \| Well, this is a first. You're standing on the door of the airlock.
CF \| Usually you're firmly rooted to the floor and the door is just as
CF \| firmly set in the wall, or else you're floating weightlessly and there
CF \| is no real "up" or "down." But the ship landed at an odd angle, and
CF \| you're not quite sure what to expect when you open the doors. If there
CF \| isn't enough room for you to crawl out between the door and the ocean
CF \| bottom, you're in some serious trouble.
CF \|
CF \| The wall -- or, now, floor -- is festooned with a big blue button,
CF \| which opens the door. ("Festooned" means adorned. Hmm? Oh, "adorned"
CF \| means decorated.)
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "This seed pod is Very Important, apparently."
		Jacqueline says, "I would probably not have remembered the seed pod."
		MoyTravis says, "Oh wow apparently our Mars capsule is some sort of mutant technological marvel, capable of both reentry and being a submarine."
		MoyTravis says, "Also...our spacesuit is also a mutant technological marvel, apparently."
		Jacqueline asks, "I would think that anything airtight is also watertight?"
		MoyTravis asks, "Anyways open the doors?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open door"
CF ] In the great hall
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN DOOR
CF \|
CF \| You've had a couple of experiences with explosive decompression, where
CF \| you open up the airlock door and the rush of escaping air blows you
CF \| out into space. This time the rush of water flooding into the airlock
CF \| smashes you up into the ceiling -- or at least now it's the ceiling;
CF \| it used to be the back wall. Luckily, your suit is able to cushion the
CF \| blow. Soon the airlock is full of water and you are able to swim out
CF \| the door, which closes behind you.
CF \|
CF \| In the great hall
CF \| At first you're confused. You'd expected the ocean bottom to be
CF \| centimeters from the open door; instead, you drift down, down, ever
CF \| down, and when your feet do finally touch something solid, it isn't
CF \| the silt of the bottom of the sea, but a stone floor. You look up,
CF \| hoping to see a glimmer of the surface. Instead you find a stone
CF \| ceiling, far too high above your head to reach, and right where you
CF \| might expect to find a chandelier, you see the blinking blue lights
CF \| around the outside of your ship's airlock through the hole it made
CF \| upon impact.
CF \|
CF \| You have crashed into an undersea castle.
CF \|
CF \| Moldy stone walls stand all around you, dimly visible through the
CF \| murk: you feel them more than see them. Chunks of fallen stone from
CF \| the ceiling lie scattered about at your feet. You can barely make out
CF \| arched doorways leading north and south.
CF \|
CF \| Also at your feet is the seed pod -- you lost track of it in the rush
CF \| of water. You scoop it up.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Wendy has a compass, at least."
		MoyTravis says, "Negative pressure has a different set of considerations than positive pressure though. Not that that's important in the context of exploring an undersea castle."
		MoyTravis asks, "A moldy (?) undersea castle?"
		DavidW says, "There should be more undersea castles."
		Jacqueline asks, "Whose to say there aren't?"
		lkcampbell says, "there should be more daily use of the word "festooned""
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "True"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] In the great hall
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the great hall
CF \| Moldy stone walls stand all around you, dimly visible through the
CF \| murk: you feel them more than see them. Chunks of fallen stone from
CF \| the ceiling lie scattered about at your feet. You can barely make out
CF \| arched doorways leading north and south.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the keep
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the keep
CF \| You are standing in the keep, a fortified tower inside the castle
CF \| walls. ("Fortified" means strengthened.) A stone spiral staircase
CF \| leads upward, but stops abruptly when it reaches the ceiling.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "u"
CF ] In the keep
CF \|
CF \| > U
CF \|
CF \| You take a few steps up the staircase, but decide not to hit your head
CF \| on the ceiling.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] In the great hall
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the great hall
CF \| Moldy stone walls stand all around you, dimly visible through the
CF \| murk: you feel them more than see them. Chunks of fallen stone from
CF \| the ceiling lie scattered about at your feet. You can barely make out
CF \| arched doorways leading north and south.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] In the dining hall
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the dining hall
CF \| This is a great empty chamber just like the one you landed in, except
CF \| for a long stone slab that you decide must be a dining table. You
CF \| don't have any evidence for this: you don't know how this castle got
CF \| here, or who might've lived in it... for all you know, they might have
CF \| been incredibly tall, skinny, water-breathing creatures, and this was
CF \| one of their beds. But for the time being we'll call it a dining
CF \| table.
CF \|
CF \| Exits once again lead north and south.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "My pantaloons are festooned with bric-a-brac"
		Jacqueline says, "Absolutely stonking, Lance."
		DavidW asks, "Not with doubloons?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "s"
CF ] In the throne room
CF \|
CF \| > S
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the throne room
CF \| This room is just as big as the others you've seen, but unlike the
CF \| others, this one contains a barnacle-encrusted object in the
CF \| unmistakable shape of a chair; given the place you've found it and the
CF \| fact that it's built into the floor, you can only conclude that it
CF \| must be a throne. The far wall features a carved-out alcove that looks
CF \| like it must have been a fireplace, though how one might go about
CF \| lighting a fire underwater is anyone's guess. Mounted on the wall
CF \| above the fireplace in an "X" shape are a pickaxe and a shovel.
CF \|
CF \| An arched doorway leads east, but is completely blocked by debris. You
CF \| can also go back the way you came.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "oh yeah, hah, even better"
		DavidW says, "Grab those tools."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take all"
CF ] In the throne room
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE ALL
CF \|
CF \| (the shovel)
CF \| You are unable to take the shovel: it's wedged behind the pickaxe.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take pickaxe"
CF ] In the throne room
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE PICKAXE
CF \|
CF \| The pickaxe clings firmly to the wall. You tug on it again and this
CF \| time the handle moves a few centimeters; then you feel a distinct
CF \| click. The castle begins to rumble, with the shaking most pronounced
CF \| in the direction of the keep. The shovel which was wedged behind the
CF \| pickaxe clatters to the ground, and the rumbling stops. After that,
CF \| the pickaxe swings back into place.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take shovel"
CF ] In the throne room
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE SHOVEL
CF \|
CF \| Taken.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "dig debris"
CF ] In the throne room
CF \|
CF \| > DIG DEBRIS
CF \|
CF \| Difficult to do underwater. Especially through stone.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says (to Game), "C'mon."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the dining hall
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the dining hall
CF \| This is a great empty chamber just like the one you landed in, except
CF \| for a long stone slab that you decide must be a dining table. You
CF \| don't have any evidence for this: you don't know how this castle got
CF \| here, or who might've lived in it... for all you know, they might have
CF \| been incredibly tall, skinny, water-breathing creatures, and this was
CF \| one of their beds. But for the time being we'll call it a dining
CF \| table.
CF \|
CF \| Exits once again lead north and south.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Perhaps the north stairs aren't blocked any more."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the great hall
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the great hall
CF \| Moldy stone walls stand all around you, dimly visible through the
CF \| murk: you feel them more than see them. Chunks of fallen stone from
CF \| the ceiling lie scattered about at your feet. You can barely make out
CF \| arched doorways leading north and south.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah. I was just annoyed by the game's tone."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the keep
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the keep
CF \| You are standing in the keep, a fortified tower inside the castle
CF \| walls. A stone spiral staircase leads upward to the ocean's surface.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "u"
CF ] In the keep
CF \|
CF \| > U
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Approaching the surface
CF \| You start up the stairs, the murk gradually diminishing as you come
CF \| closer and closer to the surface. But just as the sun starts to
CF \| resolve from a general glow into a specific bright blob above you, a
CF \| vicious rip current pulls you off the staircase and drags you further
CF \| out to sea.
CF \|
CF \| The sheer power of the current throws you for a loop. You thrash in
CF \| vain against it, crying out in frustration as your muscles begin to
CF \| cramp from the effort while you continue to be dragged further and
CF \| further out to sea. Finally you try swimming parallel to shore, and
CF \| that frees you from the current's grip. For several long moments you
CF \| drift aimlessly in the ocean, exhausted. When you do at last get your
CF \| wind back and take your bearings, you find yourself kilometers from
CF \| the nearest hint of land. Sighing, you start for shore. Your suit
CF \| feels unexpectedly cumbersome, but you dare not take it off: even if
CF \| it does make you tire that much faster, at least you don't risk
CF \| drowning.
CF \|
CF \| Or, rather, you don't risk drowning until your oxygen supply runs out.
CF \| Luckily, this doesn't happen until your feet at long last touch the
CF \| shore. You drag yourself onto the beach, blinding spots dancing before
CF \| your eyes; your knees give even as you tear off your helmet, and
CF \| everything goes dark.
CF \| [ -> ]		MoyTravis says, "Hooray we have survived our disaster of a Mars trip."
		Jacqueline says, "Damn. It wants us to hit space."
		DavidW says, "I'm guess we go back to Alley's story now."
		Jacqueline says, "But now we have our helmet off, so I was going to lick that pod for Lance."
		DavidW says, "er guessing"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Everything is dark -- no matter how much you strain your eyes, you
CF \| can't see the faintest hint of light. But whispering voices tickle the
CF \| edge of your hearing.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "listen"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > LISTEN
CF \|
CF \| "...level of point fifteen..."
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open eyes"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN EYES
CF \|
CF \| [That is either not in the area, or does not need to be referred to.]
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell says, "don't do it for me...do it for yourself"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		DavidW says, "I think when we return to Wendy, we'll use that shovel to dig a hole for the pod."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You can't move a muscle.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "listen"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > LISTEN
CF \|
CF \| "...fratboys completely uninjured..."
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Oh. We're the first guy."
		Jacqueline says, "IRTA 'fratboys completely unhinged'"
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "Yeah"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "yell"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > YELL
CF \|
CF \| [That verb is not recognized.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "pray"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > PRAY
CF \|
CF \| [That verb is not recognized.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "listen"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > LISTEN
CF \|
CF \| "...husband has an excellent..."
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "smell?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "smell"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > SMELL
CF \|
CF \| You can't move a muscle.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "You can't wiggle your nose to smell, David."
		Jacqueline says, "Just keep listening, I guess? Suggestions welcomed."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "listen"
CF ] Darkness
CF \|
CF \| > LISTEN
CF \|
CF \| "...vending machine ate my dollar..."
CF \|
CF \| No longer in darkness
CF \| Light flickers before your eyes. At first you don't see anything
CF \| familiar. And then suddenly Linda is there at your side.
CF \|
CF \| You are in a hospital bed.
CF \|
CF \| "What... what...?" you start to ask.
CF \|
CF \| "Shhh," Linda says. "You need to save your strength. The doctors say
CF \| you'll be fine, but it'll take some time."
CF \|
CF \| "Is she-- how--?" The effort to speak become too much and you have to
CF \| rest for a moment. "How...?"
CF \|
CF \| For a moment Linda seems confused. Then she realizes what you're
CF \| asking, and shakes her head sadly.
CF \|
CF \| And suddenly the room seems colder...
CF \| [ -> ]		MoyTravis says, "Just keep listening."
		DavidW asks, "I suppose xyzzy crashes the game?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "SAVE"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "cf2"
CF ] Darkness
CF ] Darkness
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "xyzzy"
CF ] Darkness		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Space time."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] GOLD
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| The sand is curiously cold against your face as you wake up, the waves
CF \| licking at the soles of your boots. Cold and hard, more like gravel or
CF \| even cobblestone than sand. As you lift your head and look around, you
CF \| notice something else wrong. The sand is the wrong color. It's darker,
CF \| more metallic...
CF \|
CF \| It's gold.
CF \|
CF \| On the golden beach
CF \| You are at the south end of the beach, a glittering crescent nestled
CF \| between the crashing ocean to the east and towering cliffs to the
CF \| west, ankle-deep in gold. You run your hands through it: rings, coins,
CF \| nuggets... and gold dust. Drifting down from the sky, collecting in
CF \| dunes, the dust is everywhere. You run your hands through your hair
CF \| and your gloves come out looking like they belong to a statuette.
CF \|
CF \| To your relief, your seed pod has washed up onto the beach in
CF \| excellent condition, though the container it was in is nowhere to be
CF \| found. And though you thought you'd lost it a long way from shore,
CF \| your shovel is here too.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "SAVE"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "cf3"
CF \| >
CF \| > SAVE
CF \| %% Enter a save filename to write:
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \| Ok.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "xyzzy"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > XYZZY
CF \|
CF \| Your head swims for a moment -- you still haven't fully recovered from
CF \| your struggle against the ocean.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "oigufioguj"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > OIGUFIOGUJ
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plover"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > PLOVER
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "I don't remember a lot of this. Maybe we're dead."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "dig"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > DIG
CF \|
CF \| You're not holding the shovel.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take shovel"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE SHOVEL
CF \|
CF \| Taken.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "dig"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > DIG
CF \|
CF \| Digging would achieve nothing here.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "I suppose take the pod, shovel, and as much gold as you can carry?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take pod"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE POD
CF \|
CF \| Taken.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take gold"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE GOLD
CF \|
CF \| Which do you mean, the dunes, the dust, the nuggets, the coins or the
CF \| rings?
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take all"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE ALL
CF \|
CF \| Nothing seems to be available.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take coins"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE COINS
CF \|
CF \| You pick up a coin.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take ring"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE RING
CF \|
CF \| You've already got one souvenir -- no need to start collecting golden
CF \| rings like it was the Fifth Day of Christmas.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "There's that tone again."
		Jacqueline says, "It's very Adam."
		DavidW says, "mmhm"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| On the golden beach
CF \| You are at the south end of the beach, a glittering crescent nestled
CF \| between the crashing ocean to the east and towering cliffs to the
CF \| west, ankle-deep in gold.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "I guess find a non-golden beach area?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| On the golden beach
CF \| You are right in the middle of the golden beach, which stretches off
CF \| to the north and south.
CF \|
CF \| Something wooden is buried in the "sand" at your feet, but it's buried
CF \| so deeply that only a corner of it is visible.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "dig"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > DIG
CF \|
CF \| You dig for a few minutes, and seem to be making good progress when
CF \| suddenly the handle of the shovel snaps off: apparently all that time
CF \| underwater weakened it after all. Luckily, you no longer need it --
CF \| you've done enough digging that you're able to grab the wooden object
CF \| and pull it loose. It's a treasure chest! A tiny one. What's more, it
CF \| doesn't seem to be locked!
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Oh that's what the shovel's for, I guess."
		DavidW says, "ah. I guessed wrong."
		DavidW asks, "Any guessing what's in the chest?"
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "That and the fact that the act of taking the shovel triggered us getting out of the castle."
		DavidW says, "er guesses"
		Jacqueline asks, "Another seed pod?"
		MoyTravis asks, "More gold?"
		Jacqueline asks, "Alley's head?"
		Jacqueline asks, "WHAT'S IN THE BOX?"
		lkcampbell asks, "bric-a-brac?"
		DavidW says, "Maybe it's a giant goldfish! And we're in a goldfish bowl!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Dubloons!"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN CHEST
CF \|
CF \| Opening the container reveals... dirt! Someone must have found this
CF \| very precious. Which makes sense: it was buried in a place where gold
CF \| was everywhere and so wasn't especially valuable. Dirt, on the other
CF \| hand, seems to be quite rare around here. Since it's so scarce, it's
CF \| worth keeping safe.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED
CF \|
CF \| There doesn't seem to be any soil on the ground in which to plant the
CF \| seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Well that makes sense."
		Jacqueline says, "DUDE"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed in dirt"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED IN DIRT
CF \|
CF \| I only understood you as far as wanting to plant the seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "Plant seed in chest...?"
		lkcampbell says, "Dirty booty"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed in chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED IN CHEST
CF \|
CF \| I only understood you as far as wanting to plant the seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "Nope"
		Jacqueline says, "Apparently not."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "SAVE"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "cf4"
CF \| >
CF \| > SAVE
CF \| %% Enter a save filename to write:
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \| Ok.
CF \|
CF \| >
DavidW says (to ClubFloyd), "put seed in chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > PUT SEED IN CHEST
CF \|
CF \| You'd have to empty out the chest first to make room.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "Conveniently, that's what I'm about to do."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "dump chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > DUMP CHEST
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "empty chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > EMPTY CHEST
CF \|
CF \| If you took the dirt out now, you wouldn't be able to get it all back
CF \| in. That's not a risk worth taking, at least not right now.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "take chest?"
		Jacqueline grumbles.
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take chest"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE CHEST
CF \|
CF \| Taken.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| On the golden beach
CF \| You are at the north end of the golden beach, which stretches off to
CF \| the south. Though the cliffs to the north butt right up against the
CF \| ocean, there is a pass to the northwest, with something shiny visible
CF \| through the gap in the cliffs.
CF \|
CF \| A platinum seashell rests near the water's edge.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take shall"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE SHALL
CF \|
CF \| Nothing like that seems to be around.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take shell"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE SHELL
CF \|
CF \| As you reach out to take the shell, a crab emerges from inside it and
CF \| skitters off into the sea, dragging the shell along with it!
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline exclaims, "Come back here, natrue!"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Come back here, nature!"
		Knight_Otu asks, "Is a platinum shall truly nature?"
		Jacqueline says, "The typing today I cannot do, apparently."
		Knight_Otu says, "*shell."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "follow crab"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > FOLLOW CRAB
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "follow crab irresponsibly into the sea and drown"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > FOLLOW CRAB IRRESPONSIBLY INTO THE SEA AND DROWN
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "she shalls seashells on the seashore"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x shell"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > X SHELL
CF \|
CF \| Nothing like that seems to be around.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "oh"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "e"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > E
CF \|
CF \| After your last adventure in the ocean, you're not too keen on taking
CF \| a dip right this second.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "ne"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > NE
CF \|
CF \| After your last adventure in the ocean, you're not too keen on taking
CF \| a dip right this second.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| On the golden beach
CF \| You are at the north end of the golden beach, which stretches off to
CF \| the south. Though the cliffs to the north butt right up against the
CF \| ocean, there is a pass to the northwest, with something shiny visible
CF \| through the gap in the cliffs.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "nw"
CF ] On the golden beach
CF \|
CF \| > NW
CF \|
CF \| You take one last look at the golden beach and stride off through the
CF \| pass.
CF \| [ -> ]		DavidW asks, "There's a gap ne or nw?"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| You take one last look at the hockey game on TV and stride through the
CF \| garage door to tell Alley it's time to come in.
CF \|
CF \| Garage
CF \| This was supposed to be a two-car garage, but with the trash cans,
CF \| your workbench, Alley's bike and all the rest of the junk that's taken
CF \| up residence in this place, you're lucky to be able to even squeeze
CF \| just the Volvo in here.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x trash"
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \| > X TRASH
CF \|
CF \| One's for trash, the other's for recyclables.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x bike"
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \| > X BIKE
CF \|
CF \| It's a boys' model, blue with a horizontal crossbar. Alley was pretty
CF \| insistent about that.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x volvo"
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \| > X VOLVO
CF \|
CF \| Mary was the one who wanted the Volvo. She said it was more practical
CF \| than what you wanted, which was a Porsche. So you compromised and got
CF \| a Volvo with racing stripes on it.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "Why the hell did I read "This was supposed to be a two-garage game"?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x alley"
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \| > X ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| [That is either not in the area, or does not need to be referred to.]
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "Okay wait are bikes gendered in...wherever the author lived 20 years ago?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] Garage
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Garage
CF \| This was supposed to be a two-car garage, but with the trash cans,
CF \| your workbench, Alley's bike and all the rest of the junk that's taken
CF \| up residence in this place, you're lucky to be able to even squeeze
CF \| just the Volvo in here.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "bikes have always been gendered."
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "Yes. They still are, I believe. Weirdly so, but yes."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "out"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > OUT
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the front yard
CF \| One of the advantages of living on the outskirts of town is that you
CF \| were able to get a house with a little bit of land around it. Which
CF \| isn't to say that you have to walk a kilometer to get to your
CF \| neighbor's house, just that you can actually take a few steps outside
CF \| your door and not be on anyone else's property.
CF \|
CF \| Alley is sprawled on the front lawn, gazing up at the stars. "Hi,
CF \| Daddy," she says. "Hey, how come the night sky is dark? I mean, with
CF \| all the stars in the universe, if you look in any direction wouldn't
CF \| you eventually see a star?"
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "What. Wait. Really? Well. Okay."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT INVERSE SQUARE LAW
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT CRYSTALLINE SPHERES
CF \| (3) >ALLEY, COME INSIDE
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		MoyTravis says, "Well, kid, let me tell you about light pollution, and rant about the corrupting influence of modernity and electric power."
		DavidW says, "1 please"
		Jacqueline says, "What do people want me to say? All for 1? (And 1 for 1, as of right now...)"
		MoyTravis says, "1 works."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Mary thinks it's a little strange that you've started choosing
CF \| introductory astrophysics texts as your bedtime reading material, but
CF \| it really pays off at moments like this. "Well," you say, lying down
CF \| on the grass next to Alley, "it has to do with the inverse square law.
CF \| Think of a star, and imagine putting up an enormous sheet of paper
CF \| about one astronomical unit away. The star'll light up a certain area
CF \| of the sheet of paper. Now take that paper and put it two astronomical
CF \| units away. The area that the star lights up will be twice as tall and
CF \| twice as wide, but it's the same amount of light hitting it -- the
CF \| same number of photons, only spread out over an area four times as
CF \| big. That means if you look at a small area of the sheet of paper,
CF \| only one-fourth as many photons are hitting it, so it looks one-fourth
CF \| as bright. If you look at it from ten times as far away, it looks one
CF \| one-hundredth as bright.
CF \|
CF \| "That means that the further away you get, the fewer photons have a
CF \| chance of reaching your eyes. Now, you may think that you'd have the
CF \| number of stars in your visual field increasing just as fast as their
CF \| intensity decreases. But the universe is finite: you could write the
CF \| number of stars in the universe on a single piece of notebook paper.
CF \| And the observable universe is even more finite -- the universe
CF \| expanding fast enough that the photons from a lot of stars haven't had
CF \| a chance to reach us yet and maybe never will. So eventually you run
CF \| out. And if you factor in all the things that can block the photons
CF \| that do have a chance to get here -- clouds of hydrogen gas, for
CF \| instance -- only the photons from the closest and brightest stars make
CF \| it to your eyes. The rest of the sky looks dark."
CF \|
CF \| "Cool," Alley says. "Is that true about everything a star sends out,
CF \| or just light?"
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "I am immensely amused by this exchange."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT SOLAR RADIATION
CF \| (2) >ALLEY, COME INSIDE
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		DavidW says, "It's a favourite part of this game for many."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah"
		Jacqueline asks, "So, 1?"
		MoyTravis says, "Yeah, 1."
		DavidW says, "yes"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Well," you say, "a star doesn't emit a whole lot EXCEPT light, if by
CF \| light you mean photons, which can range anywhere from radio waves to
CF \| X-rays and beyond. Then there's the solar wind, which is mostly
CF \| protons. And then there are neutrinos, which go through pretty much
CF \| everything. People have collected huge pools of gallium, put them deep
CF \| underground, and it turns out that thirty tons of the stuff -- thirty
CF \| TONS -- will catch ONE neutrino a day. The neutrino will turn ONE atom
CF \| of gallium into germanium. All the other billions and billions of
CF \| neutrinos just go streaming right through the earth. But you can't see
CF \| them, because they go right through your eyes."
CF \|
CF \| "Awesome," Alley says. "Where does the gallium come from?"
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "yeah, where? Other stars, amirite?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT GALLIUM PRODUCTION
CF \| (2) >ALLEY, COME INSIDE
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Good question," you say. "The easy answer is that it's mined. But
CF \| here's the more interesting answer. You know what a star is, right?"
CF \|
CF \| "Sure," Alley says. "It's a big ball of hydrogen being fused into
CF \| helium."
CF \|
CF \| "Bing," you say. "Right as usual. Now, eventually the hydrogen runs
CF \| out. What happens to the helium left over? Some of it gets expelled
CF \| out into space, and the rest of it contracts even tighter, till the
CF \| HELIUM starts to fuse. So the star lights up again, turning helium
CF \| into carbon, and then into oxygen. And the process keeps going -- some
CF \| of the matter is expelled into space, the rest keeps contracting,
CF \| fusing, into neon, magnesium, silicon, and eventually, into iron. Iron
CF \| is pretty much the most stable thing there is. Right now hydrogen is
CF \| the most common substance there is, but if you wait long enough, it'll
CF \| be iron.
CF \|
CF \| "Now, iron is element #26, and gallium is #31, so you'll never get to
CF \| gallium that way. Heavy elements like gallium, or gold, are produced
CF \| in supernovae -- they're formed when stars explode, and fly out into
CF \| space."
CF \|
CF \| "Really? Gold?" Alley says. "It just comes raining down out of space?"
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT PLANETARY ACCRETION
CF \| (2) >ALLEY, COME INSIDE
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Maybe indirectly," you say. "See, the newly-formed heavy elements fly
CF \| out into space, and collect in gravity wells, start clumping
CF \| together... some end up inside new second- or third-generation stars,
CF \| while others get locked up in planets only to get dug up a few billion
CF \| years later and used for neutrino detection, or jewelry, or coins. Of
CF \| course gold is used in coins because it's valuable, and it's valuable
CF \| because it's rare, and it's rare because... well, to a certain extent,
CF \| it's the luck of the draw. If you look at a chart of the elements in
CF \| the earth's crust, it turns out that iridium and the elements around
CF \| it are rarer than you might expect. Right after iridium is platinum,
CF \| which is very precious, and after that is gold, which is just slightly
CF \| more common and just slightly less precious. But if you look at
CF \| meteorites, you find that they're not lacking in iridium the way the
CF \| earth is -- meteorites are loaded with the stuff. And they've got even
CF \| more platinum. So it's easy to imagine that there are planets out
CF \| there where there just so happened to be a lot of gold and platinum in
CF \| the area of space where the planet was formed, and so they're
CF \| considered common while something else -- zirconium, maybe -- is
CF \| considered really valuable."
CF \|
CF \| "I've heard of iridium before," Alley says. "Isn't there a lot of it
CF \| in the layer of the earth's crust that comes from right when all the
CF \| dinosaurs died out? I remember reading something like that."
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "Is Alley going to yell fake news at us at some point?"
		DavidW says, "Fake news wasn't invented yet."
		Knight_Otu says, "I mean, it probably was, just not named as such."
		DavidW says, "back then there was hogswaddle and fiddle-faddle and somesuch."
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe the astronaut didn't land on Earth."
		MoyTravis asks, "Continue?"
		DavidW says, "TELL ALLEY ABOUT DINOSAURS"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT DINOSAUR EXTINCTION
CF \| (2) >ALLEY, COME INSIDE
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		Knight_Otu says, "It seemed the astronaut bits are a story being told."
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "Sorry, I'm having some trouble with my eyes this morning and am having to go slower."
		MoyTravis says, "Presumably to a younger Alley."
		MoyTravis says, "Oh! Sorry, 'course."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] In the front yard
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "That's right," you say. "That's usually counted as evidence that it
CF \| was a meteorite impact that led to them all dying off -- not that the
CF \| iridium killed them, but that iridium is a sign that there was a big
CF \| meteorite around that time, and it's easy to see how a big impact
CF \| could lead to massive die-offs. But that's also an important thing to
CF \| keep in mind when you think about this stuff. One bit of pure gold is
CF \| exactly the same as any other bit of pure gold -- the substance
CF \| behaves the same way. So from one point of view, any particular piece
CF \| of gold isn't valuable at all, since you can always get another. You
CF \| can even replace your iridium. But Michael Crichton notwithstanding,
CF \| you can't get back any of the dinosaurs.
CF \|
CF \| "You're not made of a whole lot that's particularly exotic -- the only
CF \| stuff heavier than iron, the only things you'd need a supernova for,
CF \| are trace elements: a little iodine to keep the goiter away, that kind
CF \| of thing. You're made mainly of the most common star stuff: carbon,
CF \| oxygen, hydrogen. But you can't just trade yourself in for a sack of
CF \| carbon and oxygen and hydrogen the way you can trade gold for gold.
CF \| What makes you you is the way that star stuff is arranged, and that's
CF \| totally unique. Which makes you more valuable than all the gold from
CF \| all the stars in the sky."
CF \|
CF \| "And what am I, chopped liver?" Mary asks, emerging from the garage.
CF \| "'All the stars in the sky'? Really, Sam. When you start trying to wax
CF \| poetic it's a pretty good sign that it's past your bedtime. Let alone
CF \| Alley's. Time to come in, kids."
CF \|
CF \| "Okay, mom," Alley says. She stands up and stretches. "Night, Daddy."
CF \|
CF \| "Good night, honey," you say. "Sweet dreams."
CF \|
CF \| As you follow her inside, you pause to take a quick look at the sky
CF \| yourself. It's certainly pretty, but it's been a long time since you
CF \| were as enraptured by it as Alley seems to be. You can't help but feel
CF \| a little sad about that.
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "I like talking to kids and casually mentioning goiters as I do so."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] SKY-BLUE
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Before the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| As you walk through the pass, you encounter first one shard of glass
CF \| on the ground, then another. But it isn't until you crest the final
CF \| hill that you see what you've discovered.
CF \|
CF \| Before the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are standing on a ridge above the entrance to a vast crystal
CF \| labyrinth. You'd be tempted to call it a city, with its haphazard
CF \| collection of iridescent towers and spires and arches -- "iridescent"
CF \| means shimmering with rainbow colors -- but from what you can see from
CF \| your vantage point, there is barely enough space between the crystal
CF \| walls to permit one person to pass between them. The labyrinth is
CF \| ringed by steep mountains, so going around it is impossible: your only
CF \| choices are to enter it to the west, or to head back the way you came.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "This dad talks very unlike most dads I have historically known, but I have not known all the dads in the universe."
		Jacqueline says, "My grandfather talked to us like that."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| You step into the crystal labyrinth and immediately get lost.
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| north, south, and west.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline asks, "I'm assuming that this is a fake maze?"
		Knight_Otu exclaims, "MMAAZZEE!"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You wander around the maze of glass until you find yourself at another
CF \| intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| west, east, and south.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "please be fake game"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| You wander through the maze of glass until you find yourself at
CF \| another intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| north, south, and east. Two of the nearby walls intersect to form the
CF \| base of an immense spire.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Don't worry."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x spire"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > X SPIRE
CF \|
CF \| Though the crystal sparkles in every color, the dominant note seems to
CF \| be a beautiful light blue, refracted from the sky above. ("Refraction"
CF \| is what happens when light passes through a medium that bends it, like
CF \| water or a prism.)
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline asks, "Is anyone else annoyed by her defining things?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You wander around the maze of glass until you find yourself at another
CF \| intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| west, east, and south.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| You wander through the maze of glass until you find yourself at
CF \| another intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| north, south, and west. An enormous arch looms overhead.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "I mean, it defines it as a story in the game world..."
		DavidW says, "She's obviously telling the story to someone else."
		MoyTravis says, "Oh I assumed this was the dad. Stopping to define things spontaneously seems in character for the Dad Lecturer."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x arch"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > X ARCH
CF \|
CF \| Though the crystal sparkles in every color, the dominant note seems to
CF \| be a beautiful light blue, refracted from the sky above.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "It could be the dad, yeah."
		Jacqueline says, "I feel like if we're telling the story to a kid they should buck up and learn words from context. (Kidding. Sorta.)"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You wander around the maze of glass until you find yourself at another
CF \| intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| west, east, and south.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| You wander through the maze of glass until you find yourself at
CF \| another intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| north, south, and west.
CF \|
CF \| With an audible sputter, the cooling unit of your spacesuit finally
CF \| gives out.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "Uh oh."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take off suit"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE OFF SUIT
CF \|
CF \| You take off your spacesuit and drop it on the ground.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You wander around the maze of glass until you find yourself at another
CF \| intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| north, south, and east.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| Solid crystal blocks your path.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x crystal"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > X CRYSTAL
CF \|
CF \| Though the crystal sparkles in every color, the dominant note seems to
CF \| be a beautiful light blue, refracted from the sky above.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "e"
CF ] In the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > E
CF \|
CF \| You wander around the maze of glass until you find yourself at another
CF \| intersection...
CF \|
CF \| In the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are in a dazzling crystal maze, with passages leading out to the
CF \| west, east, and south.
CF \|
CF \| The cool breeze ruffles the feathers of your wings.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "u"
CF ] Flying above the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > U
CF \|
CF \| You stretch your wings and soar into the sky.
CF \|
CF \| Flying above the crystal labyrinth
CF \| You are hovering above the crystal labyrinth; from this perspective,
CF \| it looks like a mind-bogglingly complex mandala. (A "mandala" is a
CF \| pattern that some people use in prayer.) There is no way your could
CF \| have possibly navigated it on the ground -- in fact, it almost gives
CF \| you a headache. Much more relaxing is the cloudless, sparkling blue
CF \| sky all around you.
CF \|
CF \| A bird flies by, disappearing through the gap in the mountains to the
CF \| west.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "We're a bird now, huh."
		Jacqueline says, "Apparently."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "w"
CF ] Flying above the crystal labyrinth
CF \|
CF \| > W
CF \|
CF \| You fly through the pass, reveling in the rush of the wind against
CF \| your white feathered wings.
CF \| [ -> ]		DavidW says, "We're still Wendy. Wendy has wings."
		MoyTravis says, "x me! Though it looks like we hit the swap point."
		Jacqueline says, "[Insert joke about Red Bull here.]"
		DavidW says, "You could've looked at yourself after you took the suit off."
		Jacqueline asks, "It is the swap point, sorry. Maybe I can try to undo?"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| She's an angel. She's an absolute angel.
CF \|
CF \| No. No. Can't think like that. She's just a kid like any other kid.
CF \| Completely approachable. Puts her pants on one leg at a time like
CF \| anyone else.
CF \|
CF \| Oops. Bad move. Should not have thought about her putting on pants.
CF \|
CF \| Concentrate. Concentrate. Focus power. Eye of the tiger. Wax on, wax
CF \| off. Wait, that's not right. C'mon, don't overthink this. Just go in
CF \| and ask her. "Hey, Alley, what's up? Want to go to the dance with me?"
CF \| Easy as that. What's the worst that could happen?
CF \|
CF \| Well, you could wet your pants. Funny how it always comes back to
CF \| pants.
CF \|
CF \| You walk into the gym.
CF \|
CF \| Queensport Middle School gym
CF \| Usually rather damp and dingy, the gym is currently festooned with
CF \| colorful balloons and streamers in preparation for the big dance
CF \| Friday night. The first ones went up at lunch, so when you went in for
CF \| your fifth-period PE class, the coach looked around, shrieked, and
CF \| declared that there was a change in plans and that the class would be
CF \| playing soccer for the rest of the week.
CF \|
CF \| You look around and there, far above your head, is Alley, glowing like
CF \| a star -- or maybe that's just from standing in front of the spotlight
CF \| rigged to the ceiling. She's balanced on a tall ladder, draping
CF \| streamers from the rafters.
CF \|
CF \| Her colleagues on the Student Activities Committee, Joyce and
CF \| Sherrill, are standing around a helium tank, filling balloons and
CF \| letting them float up to the ceiling.
CF \|
CF \| Alley looks down at you as you come in. "Hey, Jon," she says. "Can you
CF \| turn off that light for me? It's burning kind of hot." She points at
CF \| the switch.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "Do we come back to Wendy? I'll look then."
		Jacqueline says, "I spy a 'festooned'"
		MoyTravis says, "I assume. Let's just keep goin'."
		DavidW says, "I don't remember. But I assume we do. We never used the pod."
		Jacqueline says, "festooned with balloon, even"
		lkcampbell says, "indeed"
		lkcampbell says, "now you will see it everywhere"
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "Heh. Yeah."
		Jacqueline pulls a festooned out from behind Lance's ear.
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "turn off light"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TURN OFF LIGHT
CF \|
CF \| [Which do you mean, the spotlight or the light switch?]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "switch"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > SWITCH
CF \|
CF \| [What do you want to switch?]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "turn off light switch"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TURN OFF LIGHT SWITCH
CF \|
CF \| You turn the light off. "Thanks," Alley says. "That about does it for
CF \| the streamers." She climbs back down the ladder, digs around in her
CF \| backpack, and pulls out an orange. "Want one?" she asks.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "yes"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > YES
CF \|
CF \| [To converse with someone, please use the TALK TO command.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY FOR AN ORANGE
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT OUR LACK OF ANIMOSITY
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT POSSIBLE PARAMOURS
CF \| (4) >ASK ALLEY TO THE DANCE ON FRIDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		MoyTravis says, "...what. Okay pick 2."
		MoyTravis says, "That is such a weird prompt, I must see it."
		Knight_Otu asks, "Where did 2 come from?"
		Jacqueline says, "Aw. I was going to break the ice by accepting an orange."
		Jacqueline says, "But yeah, those are odd prompts."
		MoyTravis says, "I mean we can undo but, like, #2 is so strange."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "2"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > 2
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "So, uh, we get along okay, huh?" you ask. "Like, uh, remember in
CF \| kindergarten when I traded you my juice box for your Pudding Snak?
CF \| That was pretty cool, huh?"
CF \|
CF \| Joyce and Sherrill snicker, but Alley seems not at all put off by the
CF \| stupidity of what you've just said. "Sure," she says.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "I mean, I'm all for option 1. But 2 seems so out of nowhere."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "undo"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > UNDO
CF \|
CF \| Queensport Middle School gym
CF \| [Previous turn undone.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \| [That verb is not recognized.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY FOR AN ORANGE
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT OUR LACK OF ANIMOSITY
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT POSSIBLE PARAMOURS
CF \| (4) >ASK ALLEY TO THE DANCE ON FRIDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "3"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > 3
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "So, um, are you, like, seeing anyone, or not, or...?" Your voice dies
CF \| away.
CF \|
CF \| "Not so as you'd notice," Alley says cheerfully.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY FOR AN ORANGE
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT OUR LACK OF ANIMOSITY
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY TO THE DANCE ON FRIDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Alley digs around in her backpack. "Oops, looks like that was the last
CF \| one," she says. "I've got an apple left, though." She tosses it to
CF \| you.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "Is that English. "Not so as you'd notice"?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh wow. Dang. An apple is not an orange, Alley."
		Jacqueline says (to Travis), "It's kinda awkward, yeah."
		MoyTravis asks, "Didn't you JUST pull out an orange and offer it?"
		lkcampbell says, "bait and switch"
		lkcampbell says, "I don't mean to compare apples and oranges...but..."
		MoyTravis says, "This is a betrayal of the highest order. Why do we even still have #2, after this."
		Jacqueline says, "Indeed"
		DavidW asks, "What if she agrees to go to the dance on Friday and sends Joyce instead?"
		Knight_Otu says, "Apples, oranges, they're basically made from the same star stuff."
		Jacqueline says, "I was going to make a joke about how she's not a giving human and maybe we shouldn't like her and want to go to the dance with her... but honestly it just makes her an independent woman who knows what fruit she likes."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to Alley"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT OUR LACK OF ANIMOSITY
CF \| (2) >ASK ALLEY TO THE DANCE ON FRIDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "2"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym
CF \|
CF \| > 2
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| You take a deep breath. It doesn't take, so you try it again. "Well,"
CF \| you say. "Um. So. I was just kind of wondering whether maybe if you
CF \| weren't doing anything and weren't already going whether you might
CF \| want to go to the dance with me if you want I mean it's no big deal or
CF \| anything it's up to you I just thought you know why not." There, you
CF \| think. That was pretty smooth.
CF \|
CF \| But Alley shakes her head. "Sorry," she says. "I'm babysitting that
CF \| evening."
CF \|
CF \| Your heart plummets into your stomach with what you're sure is an
CF \| audible splash. You're trying to decide whether to throw yourself in
CF \| front of the nearest bus or if you should just go home and slash your
CF \| wrists when you realize Alley isn't finished talking.
CF \|
CF \| "...so it'll have to be Saturday," she concludes.
CF \|
CF \| "Satur-- wait, so that's a yes?" you ask, gaping.
CF \|
CF \| "Sure," she says. "It won't be a dance, but I'm sure we can find
CF \| something fun to do. Can you come by around seven?"
CF \|
CF \| Saturday. Seven o'clock. Seventy-five hours, forty-three minutes,
CF \| seventeen seconds from now. Suddenly, it seems like a lifetime.
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "Ugh - that is ... yeah, not healthy to insert suicidal thoughts in response to a girl turning you down for a date."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x alley"
CF ] Queensport Middle School gym		Jacqueline says, "oh"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \| As you pass Alley's school, you can't help but notice that the message
CF \| board outside says "DANCE FRIDAY GYM 6-10 PM". "There was a dance
CF \| tonight?" you ask. "You should have told us. We could've found another
CF \| sitter."
CF \|
CF \| "That's okay," Alley says drowsily. "You and Ms. Mackaye asked before
CF \| any boys did."
CF \|
CF \| "Still," you say. "Next time you just call us and give us the old
CF \| heave-ho, okay? I'm sure there must be a legion of boys out there who
CF \| cried themselves to sleep thanks to us."
CF \|
CF \| Alley smiles sleepily. "You sound like my dad," she says.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Yeah that seems very dramatic."
		DavidW says, "uh-oh"
		Jacqueline asks, "uh-oh?"
		MoyTravis says, "Cars have historically been a bad sign, in this story."
		DavidW says, "1) Bartlett Hill Road was mentioned in the very first scene. 2) Mackaye is Wendy's surname."
		Knight_Otu says, "Any vehicle has, really."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Right."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "wait for my death"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > WAIT FOR MY DEATH
CF \|
CF \| [That was only understood as far as wanting to wait.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You are Jim Mackaye, an accounts manager at the First Queensport Bank,
CF \| husband to a lovely ex-teller named Linda and father to a beautiful
CF \| little girl named Wendy who is still much too young to be left home
CF \| alone without a sitter. The sitter in question is Alison Dawson,
CF \| currently sitting in the passenger seat.
CF \|
CF \| You cruise through the Polk Boulevard intersection.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x wendy"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > X WENDY
CF \|
CF \| [That is either not in the area, or does not need to be referred to.]
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x alley"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > X ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Alley and your daughter Wendy struck up a friendship a couple summers
CF \| back, when the teacher of Wendy's swimming class brought in some of
CF \| the kids from her youth league team to help out. Since then Alley's
CF \| been your regular babysitter. She's bright, polite, doesn't charge
CF \| very much, and Wendy likes her enough that her first question whenever
CF \| you and Linda get home from an outing is when you'll be going out
CF \| again.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "I assume Wendy is with her mother, Linda."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. That was just a mistype on my part."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm trying to eat breakfast while driving."
		Jacqueline says, "I hope I don't run a red light."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "z"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > Z
CF \|
CF \| Time passes.
CF \|
CF \| You go over the train tracks and through the O'Brien Boulevard
CF \| intersection.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT HOW I SOUND LIKE HER DAD
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT WENDY'S UNDYING ADORATION
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY IF SHE CAN BABYSIT ON THURSDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		Jacqueline asks, "1?"
		DavidW says, "sure"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Hmm?" Alley says. "Oh, it's just that when you were talking about
CF \| 'legions of boys crying themselves to sleep' it reminded me of how my
CF \| dad's always telling me that 'you're at the age now where you're going
CF \| to have to deal with droves of grubby little boys vying for your
CF \| affections, and I just wanted to warn you that I'm bound to show an
CF \| inordinate amount of glee with every heart you break. So go to it!'"
CF \| She smiles.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "...what the heck is up with all these folks."
		Jacqueline says, "They're written by Adam."
		Jacqueline says, "That is what is up with them."
		Jacqueline says, "Not sayin' it's a bad thing."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT INORDINATE GLEE
CF \| (2) >TELL ALLEY ABOUT WENDY'S UNDYING ADORATION
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY IF SHE CAN BABYSIT ON THURSDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		Jacqueline asks, "2?"
		DavidW says, "sure"
		MoyTravis asks, "You know I'm not super familiar with his other works but if you asked me, I would have said it's a very strong take on "Specifically 1950s American Families" or something?"
		Knight_Otu says, "Sure."
		Jacqueline says, "I am assuming I wasted a couple of turns and we won't get through all the dialogue."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "2"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > 2
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "You know, Wendy's crazy about you," you say. "We take her to buy
CF \| clothes, she wants to dress like you. We take her to get her hair cut,
CF \| she wants it done like yours. And every time you come over she spends
CF \| the next couple of days throwing around words like 'conquistador' and
CF \| 'geosynchronous'. When she gets an 800 on her verbal SAT we'll know
CF \| who to thank."
CF \|
CF \| "Well, when I was her age I hated it when people talked down to me,"
CF \| Alley shrugs. "So it'd be hypocritical of me to talk down to her."
CF \|
CF \| You cruise through the Nelson Boulevard intersection. Wow -- all of
CF \| the lights seem to be green this evening.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "#1?"
		Jacqueline says, "All those green lights. Lucky us."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT INORDINATE GLEE
CF \| (2) >ASK ALLEY IF SHE CAN BABYSIT ON THURSDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "Well," Alley says, "when I asked him about that, he said, 'You see,
CF \| it's just like Freud said: the parent of the powerless sex always
CF \| longs to have a child of the powerful sex. And sure enough, after
CF \| years of having to deal with being on the receiving end of possible
CF \| rejection every time I was interested in someone, it's going to be a
CF \| thrill to see my very own kid dishing it out. It's a clear-cut case of
CF \| Venus envy.'"
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "For now."
		Jacqueline says, "Ugh."
		lkcampbell says, "ew"
		Jacqueline says, "UGH UGH UGH"
		Knight_Otu says, "..."
		Jacqueline says, "WTF"
		MoyTravis says, "I maintain my "what the heck is up with these folks""
		Jacqueline says, "Your dad is messed up, Alley."
		Jacqueline rage quits and goes back to the Lounge.
		DavidW says, "noooo"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY IF SHE CAN BABYSIT ON THURSDAY
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "1"
CF ] Driving down Bartlett Hill Road
CF \|
CF \| > 1
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "I hate to ask you to come over twice in less than a week," you say,
CF \| "but are you free to look after Wendy on Thursday? If not, please,
CF \| just say the word and we can find someone else. I don't want to keep
CF \| you from hanging out with kids your own age."
CF \|
CF \| "Sure, no problem," Alley says. "I don't mind, really. I like spending
CF \| time with Wendy. Most of my friends are either significantly younger
CF \| or significantly older than me anyhow."
CF \|
CF \| You enter the Montgomery Boulevard intersection...
CF \|
CF \| ...and are blindsided by a car screaming down the road with its lights
CF \| off at a hundred kilometers an hour, maybe more. The impact caves in
CF \| the passenger-side door and sends the car spinning wildly, the air
CF \| thick with smoke and the acrid smell of burnt rubber, Alley's blood
CF \| hot against your face, and as you black out, you catch a glimpse of
CF \| the light, and it was green, it was green, it was green...
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] GREEN
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| On the other side of the pass, you find yourself flying over a vast
CF \| forest that stretches as far as you can see. The mere sight of it is
CF \| enough to make your wings ache -- there's no way you can fly that far
CF \| under your own power. Besides, the idea of strolling through a shady
CF \| forest seems awfully appealing right about now. You touch down and
CF \| wander through the woods.
CF \|
CF \| In the forest
CF \| After a few minutes, you reach a small clearing, and pause to take a
CF \| look around. Something is wrong. In fact, everything is just slightly
CF \| off. The leaves of the trees don't sway enough in the breeze; the
CF \| subtle sounds of the forest are conspicuously absent; everything
CF \| smells sterile and dead. But you can't quite put your finger on why
CF \| this is.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You hardly need to be reminded what YOU look like, Wendy -- even if
CF \| you didn't see yourself in the mirror every morning, the countless
CF \| newspaper pictures and magazine covers would remind you.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x wings"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X WINGS
CF \|
CF \| Your wings are a little sore from having been bound up in your
CF \| spacesuit for so long.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "oh."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "i"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > I
CF \|
CF \| You are carrying a coin, your seed pod and a treasure chest (which is
CF \| closed).
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline asks, "Wait. Where is my shovel?"
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. It broke."
		DavidW says, "It broke digging out the chest."
		Jacqueline asks, "So I guess we discarded it?"
		DavidW says, "Yes."
		Knight_Otu says, "Yeah."
		Jacqueline asks, "Fine. How will I plant this damn seed, though?"
		DavidW says, "I'm not worried."
		MoyTravis says, "Like, with your hands? I assume the chest dirt is loose enough."
		DavidW says, "There'll be a shovelfish or something."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the forest
CF \| You're standing in a small clearing, trying to figure out what's
CF \| wrong. It's something about the trees -- they just don't HUM the way
CF \| that trees are supposed to.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "I'm sure an opportunity will present itself."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x trees"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X TREES
CF \|
CF \| As you look more closely at the trees, you suddenly realize what's
CF \| wrong with them: they're not alive. The trunks and branches of the
CF \| trees are solid stone: petrified wood, the organic material replaced
CF \| with silica from the groundwater over the course of millions of years.
CF \| ("Silica" is silicon dioxide, which makes up sand, quartz, and all
CF \| kinds of things.) But these are not mere stone pillars: they're still
CF \| trees, complete with leaves made of malachite, a green marbled stone
CF \| derived from copper and as arresting in its own way as emerald.
CF \| ("Arresting" means it makes you stop and look.)
CF \|
CF \| You don't have much time to ponder this mystery, however: suddenly you
CF \| hear a growling in the distance, and turn to see a wolf charging right
CF \| at you!
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Pet the wolf. And then possibly get torn in half and eaten."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "fight wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > FIGHT WOLF
CF \|
CF \| Not only are you a top-notch astronaut, you're a master of the martial
CF \| arts. So the wolf is taken by surprise when, before it can jump at
CF \| you, you jump at it and pummel it with a lightning-quick series of
CF \| kicks and punches. Soon it is whimpering and lying wounded on the
CF \| ground, while you bask in your triumph.
CF \|
CF \| As you gather up your possessions, though, you can't help but wonder
CF \| -- you don't KNOW that the wolf had any hostile intentions. Even if it
CF \| did, even if this was a matter of being better off safe than sorry,
CF \| hurting any living thing is never something to feel proud of. The wolf
CF \| is certainly no threat now. Maybe you can get it back on its feet
CF \| again.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell asks, "is it a vegan wolf?"
		Jacqueline says, "I ... did not expect that to work."
		MoyTravis says, "Or I guess we 1v1 the wolf with our mad ninja skills. That works too."
		Knight_Otu says, "Astronaut 20/Martial Artist 20/Celebrity 20"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "pet wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PET WOLF
CF \|
CF \| You run your fingers through the wolf's fur. If only wolves could
CF \| purr.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X WOLF
CF \|
CF \| The wolf looks rather emaciated. ("Emaciated" means scrawny from lack
CF \| of food.) It's also wounded, thanks to your unfortunate violent
CF \| streak. Someone needs to feed it and heal it, and it looks like you're
CF \| elected.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "Who cast the votes?"
		Jacqueline says, "I will feed it a coin."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "heal wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > HEAL WOLF
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Grow it a beefsteak tomato."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED
CF \|
CF \| There doesn't seem to be any soil on the ground in which to plant the
CF \| seed pod.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Put your hand in the wolf's mouth so your friends can trap it, and it can bite your hand off in revenge."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE WOLF
CF \|
CF \| The wolf is too heavy for you to carry.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "feed wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > FEED WOLF
CF \|
CF \| Whom do you want to feed the wolf to?
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "me"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > ME
CF \|
CF \| (first taking the wolf)
CF \| The wolf is too heavy for you to carry.
CF \|
CF \| >		lkcampbell asks, "anyone have a dead possum?"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha - YES. I was just about to ask for suggestions."
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Thank you, Lance!"
		DavidW says, "I left it in my other shovel."
		Jacqueline says, "I think we're out of roadkill, yeah."
		Knight_Otu says, "And the armadillo in our other spatula."
		DavidW asks, "Perhaps there's something helpful nearby?"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "l"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > L
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| In the forest
CF \| You're standing in a small clearing, surrounded by trees of petrified
CF \| wood and malachite.
CF \|
CF \| The wolf you injured is lying on the ground, whimpering softly.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take all"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE ALL
CF \|
CF \| (the wolf)
CF \| The wolf is too heavy for you to carry.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "n"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > N
CF \|
CF \| You start to leave, but the wolf you injured starts whimpering and you
CF \| decide you can't just abandon it after what you've done.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "I'm a monster."
		DavidW says, "okay, we can't leave. We gotta do it all here."
		DavidW says, "Empty the chest, I guess."
		Jacqueline says, "I guess the only thing for it is to take a piece of petrified wood and put the wolf out of its misery with a bonk on the skull."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "empty chest"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > EMPTY CHEST
CF \|
CF \| The treasure chest is closed.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "open chest"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > OPEN CHEST
CF \|
CF \| You open the treasure chest, revealing some dirt.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "empty chest"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > EMPTY CHEST
CF \|
CF \| dirt: Dropped.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "plant seed"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PLANT SEED
CF \|
CF \| You plant the seed pod, step back, and wait for it to grow.
CF \|
CF \| Nothing happens.
CF \|
CF \| You hear a soft chuckling behind you. "Well, well," says a voice. "If
CF \| it ain't pirate-turned-astronaut Wendy Mackaye. What're YOU doing in
CF \| the Queen's realms?"
CF \|
CF \| You turn around to find a diminutive man with a bushy white beard,
CF \| pushing along a white cart almost as big as he is. ("Diminutive" is
CF \| another word for "small".) "Who are you?" you ask.
CF \|
CF \| "I'm the local weather salesman," he says. "And I'd say that you're
CF \| not going to have much success growing things without some rain
CF \| handy." He rummages through his cart. "You're in luck," he says. "I
CF \| just happen t'have some in stock."
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Oh sweet let's buy some rain."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "buy rain"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > BUY RAIN
CF \|
CF \| "That'll be one gold piece," the salesman says. "The one you're
CF \| carrying will do nicely."
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "Ah. this is what the coin is for, I bet."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "put rain on dirt"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PUT RAIN ON DIRT
CF \|
CF \| You can't do that, since there is no rain here yet.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "i"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > I
CF \|
CF \| You are carrying a coin and a treasure chest (which is open but
CF \| empty).
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "I hope the rain isn't snake oil."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "pay coin"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PAY COIN
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "buy rain"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > BUY RAIN
CF \|
CF \| "That'll be one gold piece," the salesman says. "The one you're
CF \| carrying will do nicely."
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW says, "give coin to man"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "give coin to man"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > GIVE COIN TO MAN
CF \|
CF \| The weather salesman pockets the gold piece and snaps his fingers; a
CF \| moment later, a tiny cloud appears at knee level, raining a trickle of
CF \| water onto the planted pod. You start to complain, but suddenly
CF \| there's no one to complain to -- the salesman is gone without a trace.
CF \|
CF \| And in the end, it doesn't matter: even this tiny rainstorm does its
CF \| job. Shortly after the cloud dissipates, the pod shudders, and a
CF \| full-grown shrubbery erupts from inside, loaded with deep red berries
CF \| and bright green leaves. The wolf starts nibbling at the berries,
CF \| first tentatively, then with relish.
CF \|
CF \| Now all that remains is to heal its wounds. The leaves on the shrub
CF \| look promising.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "Give gold piece to salesman?"
		Jacqueline says, "Painful. yes."
		Jacqueline says, "It turns out the berries are poison. The End."
		Knight_Otu exclaims, "It is a vegan wolf!"
		Jacqueline says, "hahaha"
		lkcampbell exclaims, "that was lucky!"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "tend wounds"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > TEND WOUNDS
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "i"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > I
CF \|
CF \| You are carrying a treasure chest (which is open but empty).
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "clean wounds"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > CLEAN WOUNDS
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW) Alley asks, "where did the wolf get relish from?"
		MoyTravis asks, "Bandage it with the leaves...?"
		DavidW says, "Take leaves. Put leaves on wolf."
		Jacqueline says (to DW), "Relish is a thing you put on food-- wait."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh, the leaves."
		Jacqueline says, "Sure."
		Jacqueline says, "Take them. Put them on the wolf. Bury the wolf in leaves."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "take leaf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > TAKE LEAF
CF \|
CF \| You pick some of the leaves.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "put leaf on wound"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PUT LEAF ON WOUND
CF \|
CF \| Putting things on the wolf would achieve nothing.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "put leaf on wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > PUT LEAF ON WOLF
CF \|
CF \| Putting things on the wolf would achieve nothing.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "apply leaves to wounds"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > APPLY LEAVES TO WOUNDS
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "heh"
		MoyTravis says, "Maybe the wolf could do with a nice salad."
DavidW says (to ClubFloyd), "heal wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > HEAL WOLF
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "BANDAGE?"
DavidW says (to ClubFloyd), "bandage wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > BANDAGE WOLF
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "heal wolf with leaves"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > HEAL WOLF WITH LEAVES
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "bandage wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > BANDAGE WOLF
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
DavidW says (to ClubFloyd), "x wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X WOLF
CF \|
CF \| The wolf looks rather emaciated. Eating the berries should take care
CF \| of that; now all you have to do is heal its wounds. Maybe those leaves
CF \| will do the trick.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "use leaves"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > USE LEAVES
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "heal wound"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > HEAL WOUND
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >
DavidW says (to ClubFloyd), "x leaf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > X LEAF
CF \|
CF \| They're an almost unnatural shade of green.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu says, "Hrm."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "heal wound with leaf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > HEAL WOUND WITH LEAF
CF \|
CF \| That's not a verb you need to use.
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "GIVE LEAVES TO WOLF?"
		lkcampbell exclaims, "your punishment for beating up an innocent wolf: Guess the Verb!"
		DavidW says, "sure, it's probably give."
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "haha"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "give leaves to wolf"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > GIVE LEAVES TO WOLF
CF \|
CF \| The wolf nibbles at the leaves, but then draws back and whimpers.
CF \| Maybe if you were to rub them on its wounds it might be more
CF \| effective.
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "RUB"
		MoyTravis says, "Crush the leaves in a mortar and pestle, mix with one part water and two parts honey, boil for five minutes, and apply the poultice to the wounds, wrapping tightly."
		DavidW says, "oh"
		Jacqueline says, "OF COURSE"
		Jacqueline says (to Game), "C'mon."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "rub leaves on wound"
CF ] In the forest
CF \|
CF \| > RUB LEAVES ON WOUND
CF \|
CF \| You rub the leaves on the wolf's wounds, and it immediately starts to
CF \| look more sprightly and alert. ("Sprightly" means energetic and
CF \| spirited.) So while it looks as though you won't have anything from
CF \| the red planet to hand over to headquarters once you get home, you
CF \| have saved a life.
CF \| [ -> ]		lkcampbell says, "festoon wolf with leaves"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] In your bedroom
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "And that's the end of our story for tonight," Alley says.
CF \|
CF \| What? But that can't be the END -- there's still so much you don't
CF \| know! Like, how do you get home? Are you even on the right planet? Do
CF \| you get in trouble for not having the pod anymore? Who's this queen
CF \| the weather salesman talked about? "But wait," you begin, "what
CF \| about--"
CF \|
CF \| "Come on, Wendy," Alley says. "You know the rules. It's way past your
CF \| bedtime. Your parents'll be home soon and if you're still up it won't
CF \| look too good for either of us. I'll be right here if you need
CF \| anything." She pulls a book out of her backpack and starts in on her
CF \| homework.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "Wow rubbing leaves on a wound sounds real rough."
		MoyTravis says, "Oh, so it was Alley telling the story."
		Knight_Otu nods.
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. Hence the definitions of long words"
		Jacqueline says, "But now Alley is dead. The End."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] In your bedroom
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You are Wendy Mackaye. By day, you are a student at Queensport
CF \| Elementary School; by night, or at least on those nights that Alley
CF \| comes over to babysit, you are a pirate, or an astronaut, or the
CF \| democratically elected leader of the planet, or whatever it is that
CF \| the two of you make up. (Though, you have to admit, even though she
CF \| SAYS you're making up the stories together, Alley does most of the
CF \| work.)
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x alley"
CF ] In your bedroom
CF \|
CF \| > X ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Alley is your regular babysitter, but she doesn't just throw a TV
CF \| dinner at you and make you go to bed at six: she tells you stories,
CF \| and helps you with your homework, and lets you help cook, and tells
CF \| you which boys she likes, and all in all acts like a friend: a friend
CF \| who's older and smarter and more beautiful than you could ever be, but
CF \| still, a friend.
CF \|
CF \| >		DavidW asks, "So.... sleep or talk to Alley?"
		MoyTravis says, "Talk to everybody, all the time."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "talk to alley"
CF ] In your bedroom
CF \|
CF \| > TALK TO ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT HER HOMEWORK
CF \| (2) >ASK ALLEY FOR A GLASS OF WATER
CF \| (3) >ASK ALLEY WHERE SHE GETS HER IDEAS
CF \| (4) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT HOW I GET HOME
CF \| (5) >ASK ALLEY ABOUT THE QUEEN
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>		Jacqueline asks, "3?"
		Knight_Otu says, "Yeah."
		DavidW says, "sure"
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "3"
CF ] In your bedroom
CF \|
CF \| > 3
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Alley puts down her pencil. "That's not a question people are supposed
CF \| to be able to answer," she says. "But I can. All that stuff, every bit
CF \| of it, came straight from these weird dreams I've been having. And
CF \| they're not the only ones. There's another... are you sure you want to
CF \| hear about this?"
CF \|
CF \| "Yeah!" you say.
CF \|
CF \| "Okay," Alley says. "It starts like this..."
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "Oh dear. Here we go again."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ]
CF ] PURPLE
CF ]
CF ]
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.		Knight_Otu says, "Oh, my. Straight to another story."
CF ]
CF \|
CF \| In a dark place
CF \| I open my eyes, and I am in a cold, dim, lonely place. I blink,
CF \| thinking my eyes are still closed, but then I realize that it is not
CF \| pitch black: there is a dark purple fog billowing all around me, so
CF \| close to black as to make nearly no difference. There is a faint
CF \| purple glow to the stone floor, too, though I might not even notice it
CF \| if it weren't holding me up.
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \|
CF \| >EXIT
CF \|
CF \| I try to find my way out of this place, but no matter which direction
CF \| I try, or however far I go, it's all the same. Eventually -- and maybe
CF \| it's minutes, maybe it's days -- I can suddenly make out a vague shape
CF \| in the fog.
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "Welcome to your medically-induced coma, Alley."
		lkcampbell says, "It's Prince"
		DavidW asks, "David Bowie?"
		Jacqueline says, "heh"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \| [ -> ]
CF \| >LOOK AT SHAPE
CF \|
CF \| It's strange, because parts of it look distinctly human, but others
CF \| are just as clearly not. I come closer, and I discover the answer:
CF \| it's a person sitting in a huge throne made of rock. No, that's not
CF \| right. It's not MADE of rock -- it IS a rock, one single stone in the
CF \| rough shape of a high-backed chair.
CF \| [ -> ]		lkcampbell says, "and he's making us pancakes"
		Jacqueline says, "mmm... pancakes."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \| [ -> ]
CF \| >LOOK AT PERSON
CF \|
CF \| Her face is turned away from me, but I can tell that it's a young
CF \| woman, dressed in long flowing purple garments. Dressed in royal
CF \| purple, sitting in a throne, I can only assume that she's a queen or
CF \| princess of some sort, but since I don't believe in monarchy, and
CF \| certainly am not one of her subjects, I don't feel the need to bow or
CF \| scrape or call her "Your Majesty". "Hello?" I say.
CF \| [ -> ]		lkcampbell says, "oh, princess...close enough"
		Jacqueline says, "Yep. I don't believe in monarchy either. They simply do not exist."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \| [ -> ]
CF \| >WAIT
CF \|
CF \| After a moment, she turns to face me. And that's when I start to get
CF \| really scared.
CF \|
CF \| She has my face.
CF \|
CF \| She's a lot older -- she's got to be at least twenty -- but there can
CF \| be no mistake: I'm talking to myself. Normally this would be a sign of
CF \| impending mental collapse, but luckily it's already a dream. "Well?"
CF \| she says. "Aren't you going to flee in terror? Can't you feel the life
CF \| seeping out of you already just by being near me? Can't you?"
CF \| [ -> ]		Knight_Otu says, "I'm not sure monarchs believe in not believing in monarchy."
		Jacqueline says, "Oh. Nice nod to Zork there, Adam."
		MoyTravis says, "Man, "a lot older -- she's got to be at least twenty" - I remember thinking everybody older than 16 was ancient."
		Jacqueline asks, "Was it Zork or all Infocom games that did that 'talking to yourself is a sign of impending mental collapse'?"
		Jacqueline says, "I talk to myself a lot, and that phrase scarred me a bit as a kid."
		DavidW says, "One of those."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \| [ -> ]
CF \| >TALK TO QUEEN
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) ASK QUEEN ABOUT HERSELF
CF \| (2) ASK QUEEN WHY I SHOULD BE SCARED
CF \| (3) ASK QUEEN HOW TO GET OUT
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >> 2
CF \|
CF \| "Why should you be scared?" she asks. "No, I suppose you wouldn't
CF \| know. Not yet. You're new here. But I suppose I might as well confess.
CF \| See, I'm one of those girls with a rep. Everything I look at is
CF \| supposed to die. And it's true -- I am the queen of all I survey, and
CF \| all I survey is long dead. But here's the part that no one believes:
CF \| it was like that when I got here."
CF \|
CF \| I start to ask her another question, but then she starts talking
CF \| again. "When I arrived here I was given proprietorship over all the
CF \| realms I had dreamt of as a child," she says. "But those were all
CF \| places from which life had long since fled. Barren planets and
CF \| crumbling castles, forests of stone and vacant crystal cities, worlds
CF \| upon worlds that were mine, all mine, and not a bit of it populated by
CF \| any living thing. Sure, the occasional fish or fowl might wander
CF \| through, but any creature that enters my domain either dies or leaves
CF \| me. Nothing ever stays."
CF \| [ -> ]		Jacqueline says, "What does pro-pri-etor-shiiip mean? I feel like she should tell us."
		MoyTravis says, "That's rough, buddy."
		DavidW says, "Early IF was filled with uninhabited realms."
		Jacqueline says, "The occasional fish or fowl or ... fishbowl."
		Jacqueline says, "I'm still sad about the crab and the platinum seashell, yeah."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \| [ -> ]
CF \| >TALK TO QUEEN
CF \|
CF \| Please select one:
CF \|
CF \| (1) ASK QUEEN HOW TO GET OUT
CF \|
CF \| Select an option or 0 to say nothing >> 0
CF \|
CF \| I decide to say nothing after all. The last thing she needs after what
CF \| she just said is me asking the way to the nearest exit.
CF \|
CF \| "No," the queen says. "By all means, go. Go. You'll be back soon
CF \| enough."
CF \|
CF \| She pauses. "You see," she says, "I remember this conversation. From
CF \| the other direction."
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] In Wendy's bedroom
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| "We're home," you announce. "Wendy! What are YOU still doing up?"
CF \|
CF \| "Sorry, Ms. Mackaye," says Alley, the sitter. "It's my fault -- our
CF \| bedtime story sort of segued into a conversation about these dreams
CF \| I've been having... I shouldn't have kept her up this late."
CF \|
CF \| "Well, at least it's not a school night," you say. "No harm done, I
CF \| guess. Jim's waiting in the car, so you probably ought to get out
CF \| there. As for YOU, Miss Wendy, you need to get to sleep, pronto."
CF \|
CF \| "Kiss!" Wendy cries.
CF \|
CF \| "Very well--" you begin, but Wendy shakes her head. "I mean Alley,"
CF \| she says.
CF \|
CF \| "Hmmf," you say, as Alley flashes you an embarrassed smile and kisses
CF \| Wendy on the cheek. "Good night, kiddo," she says. "Hope your dreams
CF \| are sweeter than mine."
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "And then they died."
		MoyTravis says, "Well, she did, not him."
		Jacqueline says, "This is reminding me of that horrible Super Bowl commercial from a few years ago, now that you say that, Travis."
		Jacqueline \| [LINK]
		Jacqueline says, "Maybe that person played Photopia."
		Jacqueline says, "The person who made that ad, I mean."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] In Wendy's bedroom
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You are Linda Mackaye, freshly returned from the most excruciatingly
CF \| boring party you've ever attended. The slides were out of focus, the
CF \| small talk necessitated the use of a magnifying glass, and if you had
CF \| to hear your hosts share another tidbit of conversational Japanese,
CF \| you were ready to disembowel yourself with your shrimp fork.
CF \|
CF \| Alley finishes stuffing her books in her backpack and puts it on.
CF \| "Okay, see you soon," she says. You follow her out to the garage door;
CF \| Jim's car is waiting in the driveway, and as she walks toward it, she
CF \| is swallowed up in the glare of the headlights.
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| Pure white light blazes down on Alley's crib as Sam plugs in the huge
CF \| screen he ordered through the mail and mounted on the ceiling. Alley
CF \| rubs her eyes.
CF \|
CF \| "What is that thing, anyway?" you ask. "Just a fluorescent light?"
CF \|
CF \| "Not at all," Sam says. "The Photopia is a low-energy, high-intensity
CF \| LCD screen with a bunch of different settings." He tosses you the
CF \| remote. "Just push the white button to cycle through them."
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "push button"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > PUSH BUTTON
CF \|
CF \| You push the white button, and the Photopia suddenly goes dark -- but
CF \| not, you realize after a moment, completely dark. Instead, it displays
CF \| a field of stars, as if it were a skylight. Alley blinks and regards
CF \| it curiously.
CF \|
CF \| "There's more," Sam says. "Hit the button again and there's another
CF \| mode that's even better."
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "push button"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > PUSH BUTTON
CF \|
CF \| The screen changes once again. This time it shows a black field, over
CF \| which three large circles -- one red, one blue, one green -- slowly
CF \| drift. They bounce off the sides of the screen, but when they collide,
CF \| they blend to form other colors: magenta, cyan, yellow, white.
CF \|
CF \| Alley claps with delight. "I think we have a winner," Sam grins.
CF \| "Money well spent, sez I. Okay, I know one little kid who's up way
CF \| past her bedtime. Can you get the lights, hon?"
CF \|
CF \| >		Jacqueline says, "He bought her a screen saver. Neat."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "push button"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > PUSH BUTTON
CF \|
CF \| Alley's so enraptured by the interplay of the colors that you can't
CF \| bring yourself to switch it off.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis says, "It was, presumably, more impressive back in the day."
		Jacqueline nods.
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x alley"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > X ALLEY
CF \|
CF \| Alley is your daughter -- still just a baby, really, though luckily
CF \| she's well out of the reptilian newborn stage and instead looks like a
CF \| perfectly adorable little girl.
CF \|
CF \| >
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x me"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > X ME
CF \|
CF \| You are Mary Dawson, mother of a beautiful baby girl named Alison who
CF \| you're sure is going to have the world at her feet when she grows up.
CF \| "C'mon, hon, we've had our fun," Sam says. "Time to turn off the
CF \| lights."
CF \|
CF \| >		Knight_Otu asks, "...reptilian newborn stage?"
		MoyTravis says, "...what. "reptilian newborn" hahaha these people are all a little strange."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "x sam"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > X SAM
CF \|
CF \| Sam is your husband, who has lately taken to ordering all kinds of
CF \| strange things through the mail: today it was the Photopia; the day
CF \| before that it was some kind of "baby-safe" blender; tomorrow it'll be
CF \| a bag of llama feed or something.
CF \|
CF \| >		MoyTravis asks, "Okay that superbowl ad seems actually fine, like, as a PSA-style thing?"
		Jacqueline says, "I guess Amazon was a thing back then."
		MoyTravis exclaims, "Sears did mail delivery!"
		Roger exclaims, "You could order an entire house!"
		Jacqueline says, "Though I just looked and I didn't place my first Amazon order until 1999."
		Jacqueline says (to Roger), "True. Also, hello. I'm glad that you've finally weighed in. I see that you are passionate about mail order."
		DavidW says, "I've never used Amazon, and likely never will."
		lkcampbell asks, "was it llama feed?"
		Knight_Otu says, "There was a time where you could order things from paper catalogs."
		Jacqueline says (to Lance), "No. It was a book about Appalachian Cherokee archaeology."
Jacqueline says (to ClubFloyd), "turn off light"
CF ] Alley's nursery
CF \|
CF \| > TURN OFF LIGHT
CF \|
CF \| You glance into the crib as you reach the light switch. "Good night,
CF \| Alley," you say. "Sleep well."
CF \|
CF \| You turn out the light.
CF \| [ -> ]		lkcampbell says, "that was my second guess"
		Jacqueline chuckles.
		Jacqueline says, "Also, haha - I just noticed that Amazon says I can no longer return that book."
		Jacqueline \| Return window closed on Aug 22, 1999
		Jacqueline says, "Thanks, Amazon."
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \|
CF \| [ -> ]
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
CF \|
CF \| debugcheapnitfol quit with exit status: 0
CF asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?"		Knight_Otu asks, "Of course, we're calling these people weird - but have you seen Germany's ESC entry this year?"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "!"
		Knight_Otu says, "And Alley's gone."
		MoyTravis says, "Uh, did it just bug out there or -"
		Jacqueline says, "She actually is."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah. It crashed."
		Jacqueline says, "I mean... hrm. I'm assuming it will do it again, but let me see..."
		DavidW says, "Some games just close the program at the end. I think this is one of them."
		DavidW says, "It's not a 'crash'."
		lkcampbell says, "yeah that"
		Jacqueline says, "God. My last save was a while ago."
		lkcampbell says, "that's probablyt eh end"
		Jacqueline asks, "Oh, so that's the end?"
		DavidW says, "Yes."
		Jacqueline says, "That... felt abrupt."
		MoyTravis says, "Ah. Yeah, makes sense. "You turn out the light." is a good line to go out on."
		Jacqueline says, "Hm. Okay."
		Knight_Otu says, "It's rather abrupt, but then, so is her death. It fits."
		Jacqueline says, "Well, anyway, there. Now we have a Photopia transcript."
		Jacqueline says (to KO), "True"
		Knight_Otu says, "True, but sad."
		MoyTravis says, "Hooray! That was nice, even if all the characters in it were a tad strange."
		lkcampbell says, "IF trivia, Ectocomp 2019 featured a drawing of the purple queen from this game..."
		lkcampbell says, "[LINK]"
		Knight_Otu says, "I repeat, Germany's ESC entry with its dancing hand was stranger."
		Jacqueline says, "gah"
		DavidW says, "huh."
		Jacqueline says, "But yeah, good drawing. 'Art by Wingless Little People'"
		DavidW says, "I think the purple queen had Wendy's face, though, since she was Wendy in the future."
		MoyTravis asks, "Germany ESC?"
		Knight_Otu says, "Alley, but yes."
		Knight_Otu says (to Moy), "Eurovision Song Contest."
		Jacqueline says, "Yeah, but the purple queen in this iteraction is even scarier, David."
		lkcampbell says, "There is no future Alley"
		lkcampbell says, "the future Alley is a lie"
		Jacqueline \| After a moment, [the purple queen] turns to face you. And that’s when you should start to get really scared. She says: "Come here, come here! Join in! Join the ECTOCOMP 2019!"
		Knight_Otu says, "Ow."
		Jacqueline says, "The future Alley is made of cake."
		lkcampbell says, "yup"
		Jacqueline exclaims, "Thanks, everyone!"
		Jacqueline says, "See you next week, and all that."
		DavidW says, "Thanks all"
		MoyTravis says, "Same, thanks for driving, too."
		lkcampbell says, "cya"