  
 
The idea behind ClubFloyd is that each week at a pre-arranged time, a group of people meet online to cooperatively play a game of interactive fiction. Below is a transcript of Glowgrass, written by Nate Cull. Glowgrass was originally released as part of the 1997 IF Competition, where it took third place. It was also a Xyzzy finalist for Best Game and Best Story. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the ifWiki. WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page. |
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| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load glow" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | tadsr - A text-only TADS 2.5.10 Interpreter. Floyd | Copyright (c) 1993, 2006 by Michael J. Roberts. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The dropship sways dangerously as the pilot trys to correct for Floyd | slipstream effects. Clutching the thin monofilament line doesn't do a Floyd | lot for your stability, but at least it helps you concentrate. You Floyd | risk a glance below - stupid thing to do, really, at this height, even Floyd | after taking the anti-vertigo treatment - and you're rewarded with a Floyd | glimpse of the ruins. Tantalisingly close, almost totally preserved. Floyd | After all these years, to finally reach an intact Ancient site - Floyd | Floyd | The line shears in your fingers, and in sudden slow-motion horror you Floyd | watch the buckle, the support harness, your entire equipment pack come Floyd | wrenching up and over your arms. The debris dangles gracefully in Floyd | midair for the longest moment, then slides away out of reach as Floyd | gravity takes over. Floyd | Floyd | Your involuntary scream, drowned in the wind, turns to a jerking gasp Floyd | as you fall through the jungle tree cover, rolling, sliding, and Floyd | finally landing with a thud on solid ground - Floyd | Floyd | The ground of the Ancients! Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | GLOWGRASS Floyd | An Interactive Short Story Floyd | Copyright (C) 1997 by Nate Cull Floyd | Release 1 (3rd Annual IF Contest release) Floyd | Floyd | Courtyard Floyd | This appears to be some kind of courtyard in the centre of an Ancient Floyd | dwelling. The building itself swings around to the north and west, Floyd | terminating in a crumbling retaining wall due south. A smaller domed Floyd | construction opens to the northeast, through a wide metal door Floyd | (closed). To the east is a flat space that could bear further Floyd | exploring. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a high-pitched decelerating whine -- a dropship turbine in Floyd | trouble -- from the northeast, followed by a dull roaring crash. Just Floyd | in time, you duck and cover your eyes. Blue-white light etches across Floyd | the landscape, then the gravity blast wave hits. Every molecule in Floyd | your private universe shudders. Floyd | Floyd | A minute later, you get to your feet, pain gnawing your body. Scratch Floyd | one dropship; nobody could have survived that crash. Scratch your Floyd | equipment. Now it's just you, your wits - and the Ancients. Hope Floyd | you're as good a xenohistorian as you claimed at the Institute. Floyd | Because unless you find some kind of way out of here, it could be Floyd | months before a recovery team locates you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x myself" | ||||
Floyd | You're a world-renowned xenohistorian and student of Ancient Floyd | artifacts. And you're in reasonably good shape, given the mess this Floyd | field trip has turned into. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are empty-handed. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger asks, "Do we need a driver?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I don't think so." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I have no idea." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ah. DW would know." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Lawn Floyd | You're standing in a square area of neatly trimmed green lawn, Floyd | shimmering faintly in the afternoon light. To the west, the lawn Floyd | gives way to courtyard, and beyond it to the west and north are Floyd | buildings. An odd, paved rectangular depression in the ground leads Floyd | down to the southeast; the encroaching jungle vegetation further back Floyd | is kept at bay by a barrier of translucent sheeting. Floyd | Floyd | Something about the scene gives you a sudden tingle of recognition, a Floyd | surge of awe. As if you're walking into a legend. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Great intro." | |||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x ship" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any ship here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Nate is such a damn good writer." | |||
| olethros arrives, full of fun and funk. | Jacqueline says, "I can't believe it took ClubFloyd for me to get around to a lot of his stuff." | |||
| DavidW says, "There might be some finicky stuff later, but even then, I don't think it'd be much of a problem." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Pool Floyd | You're standing in a concrete rectangle set into the ground, paved Floyd | with a grey substance, probably stressed concrete. It's recognisable Floyd | as a swimming pool, a popular Ancient recreation fixture. Whatever Floyd | water was once here has long since drained away, probably through the Floyd | outlet grate set centrally in the pool's floor. Floyd | Floyd | You see a bright orange object here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x object" | ||||
Floyd | It's a bright orange polymer casting, moulded in the shape of a spiral Floyd | disk. A tiny legend on the now faded material reads, in the Ancient Floyd | language, FRISBEE (tm) HELIPTA. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I agree. There's some great writing in this." | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Nate knows we're playing this this week but (as many of you know) he's en route or on the ground vacationing in Brazil just now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Or about to head there, or something. Unavailable, anyway." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a Frisbee Helipta. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "throw frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | The Frisbee Helipta spins furiously as it leaves your hand, hovers Floyd | briefly before shooting straight up into the air, then glides in a Floyd | graceful spiral back into your hand. Reminds you of a a modern Floyd | dropship in flight. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I hope we are a good frisbee thrower for the puzzle later where we have to hit a remote lever that we can't otherwise reach with the frisbee." | |||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I think that's a given." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Hm, maybe we can use it as a weapon." | ||||
| jwalrus arrives, full of fun and funk. | Jacqueline says, "Also, it's like a boomerang frisbee, I guess." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x grate" | ||||
Floyd | In the outlet grate you see a set of cards. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "man, frisbees." | |||
| DavidW says, "Or a few practice throws will improve our aim, if not." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Ooh - or that." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take cards" | ||||
Floyd | With some difficulty, you fish the set of cards out of the outlet Floyd | grate. Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "obviously this game isn't cruel, then" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x cards" | ||||
Floyd | It's a set of card-sized holographic images, in full colour, printed Floyd | on some kind of synthetic backing material which has survived Floyd | immersion in a pool of water for years. Flicking through the holos, Floyd | you see images of an Ancient family seated in an aerial vehicle; a Floyd | young girl, holding what looks like a fabric toy; the same girl, a Floyd | little older, throwing an orange disklike object; the family again, Floyd | together, around the pool; the girl, older yet, examining a blade of Floyd | grass with an optical instrument. Definitely, this is an important Floyd | xenohistorical artifact. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "See, in real life, I am a crappy, crappy frisbee thrower." | |||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I find that hard to believe." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "I, for one, suck at surviving dropship crashes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ha. You have never seen me throw a frisbee, DavidW." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "pull grate" | ||||
Floyd | Pulling the outlet grate doesn't have any effect. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Fortunately, I've never tried that." | |||
| DavidW says, "I know I haven't, but I've seen *me* throw one." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You can only go up to the northwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Lawn Floyd | You're standing in a square area of neatly trimmed green lawn, Floyd | shimmering faintly in the afternoon light. To the west, the lawn Floyd | gives way to courtyard, and beyond it to the west and north are Floyd | buildings. An odd, paved rectangular depression in the ground leads Floyd | down to the southeast; the encroaching jungle vegetation further back Floyd | is kept at bay by a barrier of translucent sheeting. Floyd | Floyd | Something about the scene gives you a sudden tingle of recognition, a Floyd | surge of awe. As if you're walking into a legend. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x barrier" | ||||
Floyd | The barrier is a thin, translucent film, resembling modern polycarbon Floyd | alloys. Possibly an early form of monomolecular diamond; if so, it Floyd | confirms some of your theories about the development of Ancient Floyd | materials handling. It stands nearly three metres high, forming a Floyd | protective wall across the entire south and east edges of the lawn Floyd | area. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "remember" | Jacqueline asks, "Neatly trimmed?" | |||
Floyd | I don't know the word "remember". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "climb barrier" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to climb the translucent barrier. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "touch it" | ||||
Floyd | Touching the translucent barrier doesn't seem to have any effect. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Considering the game's title, there might be something relevant to look at." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x lawn" | ||||
Floyd | The lawn grass radiates a pale green glow. Floyd | Floyd | You suddenly realise what it is that struck you about the lawn. It's Floyd | glowing! And it's _completely untouched._ The chill works deep into Floyd | your spine. This is a find so staggering, you'd never thought it Floyd | possible. Floyd | Floyd | Glowgrass. One of the earliest successes of Ancient genetic Floyd | engineering. A simple enough idea; graft firefly genes into the DNA Floyd | of common lawn grass. Primitive tests on tobacco plants had proved Floyd | the concept worked; the rest was only a matter of commerce. (Ancient Floyd | economic theory was strange in many ways, but you're as well informed Floyd | as any modern scholar can be). Floyd | Floyd | And by the end of the Ancient era, almost every family home had its Floyd | glowgrass lawn. You picture children playing on the soft shining Floyd | green mat, imagine the laughter and music of a vanished age. An age Floyd | of ghosts, legends, heroes. Floyd | Floyd | One small clump of grass, growing alone by the concrete edge, attracts Floyd | your attention; it would make a perfect scientific specimen for the Floyd | Institute. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take clump" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "score" | ||||
Floyd | You're here. And you're alive. That's enough, for now. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Nice," | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x clump" | ||||
Floyd | It's a clump of glowgrass, unchanged since the Ancient era. The tiny Floyd | green blades glow with a pale green light. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Light source!" | |||
| DavidW says, "heh. Perhaps." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I have no idea why I am thinking so old skool today." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "smell clump" | ||||
Floyd | It smells just like a clump of glowgrass. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "Grue-repellent!" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "grue-repellent". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Courtyard Floyd | This appears to be some kind of courtyard in the centre of an Ancient Floyd | dwelling. The building itself swings around to the north and west, Floyd | terminating in a crumbling retaining wall due south. A smaller domed Floyd | construction opens to the northeast, through a wide metal door Floyd | (closed). To the east is a flat space that could bear further Floyd | exploring. Floyd | Floyd | You briefly catch a metallic glimmer from the top of the wall. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "taste clump" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "taste". Floyd | Floyd | > | baf asks, "Ever play Tass Times in Tonetown?" | |||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "x glimmer" | ||||
Floyd | The object looks metallic, and out of place in the vegetation above Floyd | the wall. It could - you hardly dare to hope - could be a piece of Floyd | equipment from your pack, but you can't tell which one from this Floyd | distance. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x ship" | ||||
Floyd | The dropship is gone, crashed somewhere nearby in the jungle. Another Floyd | casualty of these local slipstream winds. The critics at the Floyd | Institute were right; you were lucky to get this far alive. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "climb wall" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to climb the southern wall. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "get glimmer" | ||||
Floyd | The metallic object is too high to reach with your hands alone. Floyd | Perhaps you could find something to help you get it down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw frisbee at glimmer" | ||||
Floyd | The metallic object is too high to reach with your hands alone. Floyd | Perhaps you could find something to help you get it down. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "throw frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | The Frisbee Helipta spins furiously as it leaves your hand, hovers Floyd | briefly before shooting straight up into the air, knocking into the Floyd | vegatation at the top of the retaining wall, and dislodging a metallic Floyd | object, which falls back to the ground with it. Floyd | Floyd | > | baf says, "I'm just thinking of the 'glow burger' in that." | |||
| Fang exclaims, "the critics at the institute are never right!" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x object" | ||||
Floyd | It's a bright orange polymer casting, moulded in the shape of a spiral Floyd | disk. A tiny legend on the now faded material reads, in the Ancient Floyd | language, FRISBEE (tm) HELIPTA. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take glimmer" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "see? You can throw just fine." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x glimmer" | ||||
Floyd | This is definitely a piece of your equipment. It's a magprobe, a Floyd | silvery rod about ten centimetres long and half a centimetre wide. Floyd | The ceramic inductors inside are crude, useless for interfacing with Floyd | any modern technology, but sufficient to manipulate small Floyd | ferromagnetic devices. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, huh. I wouldn't have tried 'throw frisbee' by itself." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I can throw, I just don't know the right command for it, evidently." | ||||
| inky arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | Jacqueline says, "A magprobe? Good grief, given who I'm married to, tsd." | |||
| Taleslinger asks, "Magprobe? Ferromagnetic? Is this just made up?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Magnetic probe. Ferro- means iron." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "aha!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "I suspect it's made up futuristic stuff, yeah. That's not a standard English word, but what DavidW said." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to open the northeast door first. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "open northeast door" | ||||
Floyd | The door appears to be locked, using a simple ferromagnetic latch from Floyd | the middle Ancient period. Perhaps the magprobe might prove useful Floyd | here, after all. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "probe door" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "use probe" | ||||
Floyd | Try unlocking something with it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unlock door with probe" | ||||
Floyd | After a few minutes of careful manipulation with the magprobe, you Floyd | feel the door's magnetic contacts click open. You breath a sigh of Floyd | relief; those hours of studying Ancient artifacts at the Institute Floyd | training finally paid off. Floyd | Floyd | > | baf says, "'Ferromagnetic' is not a made-up word." | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Oh, it's a sonic screwdriver." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No, but magprobe is." | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to open the northeast door first. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | The wide metallic door slides upward, creaking a little, and clangs Floyd | jerkily to a halt. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently closed, leads west to to Floyd | whatever mysteries lie within the main building. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | Glancing around the dome, your spirits rise a little. Your initial Floyd | orbital scan of the site has proved accurate; the building is intact. Floyd | And if the living quarters are as well-preserved as this... then who Floyd | knows what treasures you might find? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Or, at least, I've never seen a magprobe. Cue more jokes about my personal life." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x vehicle" | ||||
Floyd | You recognise the Ancient vehicle from Institute file fragments. If Floyd | this one is anything like the reconstructions you examined, it uses a Floyd | solid-state power cell to jumpstart deuterium-hydrogen fusion, Floyd | ejecting its clean-burning fuel directly as accelerated reaction mass. Floyd | A clumsy system, compared to today's gravitic drives, but possibly Floyd | more reliable in the short term. The skycar's sleek angular lines are Floyd | marred by ugly thermal scars, as if the vehicle was caught in some Floyd | kind of blast before being landed here. An entrance hatch in the Floyd | vehicle's side is closed. Floyd | Floyd | Looking at the skycar, you feel a surge of hope. Despite the Floyd | vehicle's age, it seems intact. Maybe, if you could somehow get it to Floyd | work... Floyd | Floyd | The thought dies as quickly as it came. Stupid idea. You have no Floyd | idea how to fly the thing, and who knows what parts are missing? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "open hatch" | ||||
Floyd | At a touch from your hand, the skycar's entrance hatch swings open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "look in" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to look in? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "enter car" | ||||
Floyd | You step into the vehicle. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "look in skycar" | ||||
Floyd | You're in the skycar; it's all around you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "open panel" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the access panel reveals a power cell, a corroded metal coil, Floyd | and a triangular hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x hole" | ||||
Floyd | It's a triangular hole, with what looks like some kind of one-way Floyd | filter or valve beneath it. It's inscribed with a teardrop symbol. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Ohh, car puzzle." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x coil" | ||||
Floyd | It's a thin coil of some heavily corroded metal, about ten centimetres Floyd | long and three across. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x symbol" | ||||
Floyd | Which symbol do you mean, the green button, or the triangular hole? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "triangular" | ||||
Floyd | It's a triangular hole, with what looks like some kind of one-way Floyd | filter or valve beneath it. It's inscribed with a teardrop symbol. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Water goes in the hole?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | You smell nothing unusual. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I'd say liquid. Maybe water. Maybe something else." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Heavy water, I'm thinking." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Which is a lot trickier to find than water." | ||||
| Fang exclaims, "gasoline!" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to fang), "Don't be ridiculous!" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Fang), "But didn't our PC say deuterium-hydrogen fusion?" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You step out into the vehicle dome. Floyd | Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently closed, leads west to to Floyd | whatever mysteries lie within the main building. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to open the western door first. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Who knows, though?" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "open western door. w." | ||||
Floyd | After a few minutes of careful probing, you locate the door's catch Floyd | mechanism -- some Ancient artifacts require care, because of the Floyd | paranoid security devices which were a feature of the age -- but this Floyd | one yields easily at a touch. The door slides upwards, revealing a Floyd | room to the west. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and an intriguing floor sculpture Floyd | poised opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east Floyd | (open), and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | Dust. That's your first impression. And... emptiness. Somehow Floyd | you'd expected an intact Ancient dwelling to be bright, exotic, Floyd | bulging with secrets and arcane lore. But maybe that was only ever a Floyd | myth; maybe the Ancients just didn't build everything to last. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "how long ago are these ancients supposed to be?" | |||
| Fang says, "everything seems very well preserved" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x dust" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any dust here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Somehow, I am thinking of Fallout. This looks like a 50ish version of the future." | |||
| Fang says, "ooops" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x cube" | ||||
Floyd | The cube is black and nearly featureless, apart from a blue button Floyd | marked with a lightning bolt symbol, a hexagonal socket, and a Floyd | ten-centimetre disk slot. There's a yellow disk in the slot. Black Floyd | words embossed on the cube's polymer face spell out the legend Floyd | "Sonjitsu 2100 Immersive Entertainment System", whatever that means. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "press blue button" | ||||
Floyd | The button clicks, but nothing happens. The device doesn't seem Floyd | damaged; perhaps it requires an external power supply. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x hexagonal" | ||||
Floyd | The socket is hexagonal, about two centimetres across. It's probably Floyd | designed to take some kind of cable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x textile" | ||||
Floyd | The textile floor-coverings are valuable xenohistorical artifacts, but Floyd | they're useless to you right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "look under textile" | ||||
Floyd | The textile floor-coverings are valuable xenohistorical artifacts, but Floyd | they're useless to you right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Otto), "For ease, you can just type >PUSH SAVE (not to Floyd, just in the room) and it'll save automatically with the right save game name." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "inky made a special tool for that. Very neat." | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "x sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | The floor sculpture seems to be formed from some transparent Floyd | semi-plastic polymer, poured into a web of interlocking fractal loops Floyd | and twists. It stands about half a metre high and two metres around, Floyd | and gives softly when you touch it. As a sculpture it's quaintly Floyd | beautiful, in an abstract kind of way; but you sense there's some Floyd | further purpose to it. Perhaps the fact that it's in a direct line of Floyd | sight to the black cube might mean something. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks, "Do you need to reset the autosaver tool thing first?" | |||
| Otto says (to JAcqueline), "ok i'll try to remember" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "I already did." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Before we began." | ||||
| Bert asks, "So if you pushed the button now, would it overwrite Otto's save?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm, just to be safe on the numbering - right" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, now it'll be sequential." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "enter sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to enter the floor sculpture. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unravel sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "unravel". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "move it" | ||||
Floyd | You can't move the floor sculpture. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "push sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | The floor sculpture moves softly at your touch and springs back when Floyd | you remove your hand. It feels as if it could support some weight. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh nice" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take cube" | ||||
Floyd | You can't have the black cube. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "climb sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to climb the floor sculpture. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "jump on sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "sit on sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | Of course! That's what it is - a seating device! Okay, you're now Floyd | sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops sway beneath you, Floyd | distributing your mass until you feel nearly weightless. The black Floyd | cube is now directly centred in your field of vision. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x cube" | ||||
Floyd | The cube is black and nearly featureless, apart from a blue button Floyd | marked with a lightning bolt symbol, a hexagonal socket, and a Floyd | ten-centimetre disk slot. There's a yellow disk in the slot. Black Floyd | words embossed on the cube's polymer face spell out the legend Floyd | "Sonjitsu 2100 Immersive Entertainment System", whatever that means. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x cube" | ||||
Floyd | The cube is black and nearly featureless, apart from a blue button Floyd | marked with a lightning bolt symbol, a hexagonal socket, and a Floyd | ten-centimetre disk slot. There's a yellow disk in the slot. Black Floyd | words embossed on the cube's polymer face spell out the legend Floyd | "Sonjitsu 2100 Immersive Entertainment System", whatever that means. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Nice" | |||
| Otto says, "oh it's a t.v." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, and a magprobe. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "dang, we need a remove" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "We still need a power source, though, right?" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "search couch cushions" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "couch". Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "*remote" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "xyzzy". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Service Area Floyd | Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy Floyd | spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Floyd | Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends Floyd | you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, Floyd | their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and Floyd | southwest. Floyd | Floyd | You see a printout here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "read printout" | ||||
Floyd | San Francisco, USNA. North American President Jarvies Erlmann today Floyd | denied rumours that tactical nuclear devices could be used to fight Floyd | the viral mutagen popularly known as the Green Plague. Floyd | Floyd | "The idea was floated at a strategy briefing," Erlmann's online avatar Floyd | announced during his live press conference at vr.whitehouse.gov, "but Floyd | I can definitely state that it is an unfeasible option and will not be Floyd | applied. The North American government will continue to provide Floyd | financial and scientific assistance to the state of Europe in dealing Floyd | with this threat, but detonating nuclear weapons on foreign soil would Floyd | constitute a breach of the 2012 Geneva Treaty. For God's sake, Floyd | people, we're talking about vaporising whole cities! Let's get a Floyd | perspective!" Floyd | Floyd | Erlmann's position, while predictable from his stance on human rights, Floyd | seems precarious given the overwhelming support in the United Nations Floyd | for drastic measures against the Plague. The spread of the mutagen, Floyd | which has already claimed twelve major cities worldwide including Floyd | London, Athens, Cairo and Geneva, continues to accelerate, according Floyd | to the World Health Organisation Special Incident Committee Floyd | (vr.theplague.med/whosic/hourlystats). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "get printout" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "How can you tell an American wrote this? Europe is gone, America takes a last stance. If he were European, it'd be the other way around." | |||
| Jacqueline | Firefox can't find the server at vr.theplague.med. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Aw" | ||||
| Fang says, "heh" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Hygiene Area Floyd | This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, Floyd | much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social Floyd | mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue Floyd | lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it, and a Floyd | white vat standing opposite it. Round curtained apartures lead Floyd | northeast and southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says (to Jacq), "Better domain squat it" | |||
| Bert says (to Slinger), "I'm sure Nate would be amused." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Bert says (to Slinger), "Considering that he's from New Zealand." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Nate - right." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "That doesn't speak against my theory AT ALL!" | ||||
| baf says, "(Notable exception to Taleslinger's comment: Girl Genius)" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "read placard" | ||||
Floyd | EnviroMaster UV showerhead. For a guaranteed sterile environment. Floyd | WHOSIC Green certified. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "WHOSIC Green?" | |||
| baf says, "(which is written by an American and takes place entirely in Europe, America being unreachable for unknown reasons.)" | ||||
| Bert says (to baf), "I don't think that's quite applicable." | ||||
| Fang says, "wonder if it has something to do with the green plague" | ||||
| baf says, "(following some mad-science-oriented mishap)" | ||||
| Bert asks (of baf), "Since that's set *before* America has become relevant, not after it's been destroyed, no?" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x lens" | ||||
Floyd | The blue lens is embedded into the wall of the chamber. It looks like Floyd | some kind of light based cleansing device, now non-functional. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Fang), "WHOSIC = World Health Organisation Special Incident Committee" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x vat" | ||||
Floyd | The vat is white, about fifty ventimetres high, and sealed, although Floyd | it seems to be filled with liquid. You could probably lift it with Floyd | both hands. There is a label on one side and a small tap near the Floyd | bottom. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks (of Jacq), "oh, really?" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x label" | ||||
Floyd | HydroSource Sterile Water Supplies. Europe's Number One for quality Floyd | and protection. WHOSIC Green certified. Floyd | Floyd | > | baf says (to Bert), "No. America is explicitly mentioned. There's at least one known Spark from America." | |||
| Fang says, "it seems doubtful that a showerhead can defeat something that took out a city though" | ||||
| Bert says, "Ah, huh." | ||||
| Taleslinger asks, "Sorry to interrupt you with the game we're playing - could this be for the car?" | ||||
| Bert says, "I don't remember that." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Taleslinger), "yes. It could be." | ||||
| maga says, "there's the whole Race to the West Pole thing" | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "get all" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to take that one thing at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "Heh." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take vate" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "vate". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take vat" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tap" | ||||
Floyd | It's a mechanical device for controlling the flow of liquid out of the Floyd | vat, with a triangular mouth. You would probably have to put the tap Floyd | into some receptacle, then open it, to get the liquid, otherwise it Floyd | would be wasted. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "I somehow doubt it, though." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x aperture" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "aperture". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I'd say the triangular tap makes it even more likely." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Service Area Floyd | Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy Floyd | spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Floyd | Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends Floyd | you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, Floyd | their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and Floyd | southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Otto says, "there is still the triangular device" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Hygiene Area Floyd | This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, Floyd | much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social Floyd | mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue Floyd | lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it. Round Floyd | curtained apartures lead northeast and southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x placard" | ||||
Floyd | EnviroMaster UV showerhead. For a guaranteed sterile environment. Floyd | WHOSIC Green certified. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Maybe we should take a shower to see if it kills us." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Just for fun." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take shower" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "shower". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | You can only go northeast or southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x west" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any west here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "not sure how" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "It did say nonfunctional in the lens description." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x lens" | ||||
Floyd | The blue lens is embedded into the wall of the chamber. It looks like Floyd | some kind of light based cleansing device, now non-functional. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, did it? Sorry." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Darn." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "use magprobe on lens" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "We shall have to find another way to lose the game." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push lens" | ||||
Floyd | Pushing the blue lens doesn't do anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "repair lens" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "repair". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "wave" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "wave". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "get lens" | ||||
Floyd | You can't have the blue lens. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "You could try bring the Green Plague to the Institute. That might count as losing." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | But the immediate sight that catches your eye - and your breath - is Floyd | what's sprawled on the mattress. A young Ancient skeleton, complete Floyd | and fully preserved. You can barely keep from trembling. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "what is the green plague, though?" | |||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x images" | ||||
Floyd | Which images do you mean, the set of holograms, or the wall glyphs? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | With icy stabs of excitement coursing down your spine, you bend over Floyd | the sad remains to examine them more closely. Floyd | Floyd | The skeleton is moderately sized, but smaller than recent digs and Floyd | salvaged files indicate was normal for an Ancient adult; this was Floyd | almost certainly a young female. She lies on the bed crouched in a Floyd | fetal position, her arms twisted as if shielding her face from intense Floyd | pain. There is no obvious evidence of external injury, but the odd Floyd | displacement of joints in the upper and lower limbs, along with deep Floyd | cracking of the bone structure, suggests violent muscular spasms as Floyd | she died. In her right hand, the woman clutches a small object; Floyd | possibly some kind of electronic device, with leads running from the Floyd | box in her hand to a headset draped across her skull. Floyd | Floyd | A gasp wells in your throat, as vividly you relive how it must have Floyd | been; to suffer such agony, so young. For the first time you regret Floyd | the empathic talent which led you to xenohistory. A moment later, the Floyd | mood passes, leaving you still somehow chilled. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "glyphs" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x device" | ||||
Floyd | The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some Floyd | kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data Floyd | storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Floyd | Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion Floyd | stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. Floyd | There's a green disk in the slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "neural transfer, hmm" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some Floyd | kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data Floyd | storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Floyd | Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion Floyd | stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. Floyd | There's a green disk in the slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x glyphs" | ||||
Floyd | The wall glyphs may well be important artifacts, but they tell you Floyd | nothing of use right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x disk" | ||||
Floyd | It appears to be a thin metallic polymer disk around ten centimetres Floyd | in diameter, with a green tint. You recognise the object from Floyd | Institute files as an Ancient data storage device. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x headset" | ||||
Floyd | The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some Floyd | kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data Floyd | storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Floyd | Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion Floyd | stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. Floyd | The disk slot is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x holograms" | ||||
Floyd | It's a set of card-sized holographic images, in full colour, printed Floyd | on some kind of synthetic backing material which has survived Floyd | immersion in a pool of water for years. Flicking through the holos, Floyd | you see images of an Ancient family seated in an aerial vehicle; a Floyd | young girl, holding what looks like a fabric toy; the same girl, a Floyd | little older, throwing an orange disklike object; the family again, Floyd | together, around the pool; the girl, older yet, examining a blade of Floyd | grass with an optical instrument. Definitely, this is an important Floyd | xenohistorical artifact. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "advancements in CD technology led to the green magic marker being pre-included" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take headset" | ||||
Floyd | The skeleton is clutching the device so tightly, it would be Floyd | impossible to remove without risking severe damage. You'll have to Floyd | find another way of learning more about it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "touch skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | Not likely. This is your most outstanding find yet, and every detail Floyd | of the body's position is vital data. It would take a complete Floyd | archeological forensics team at least a week to study and capture the Floyd | remains before they felt at all comfortable with moving it, and even Floyd | then it would be an emergency operation; you've got no equipment, not Floyd | even a basic quantum chromodynamagraph. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "lie on mattress" | ||||
Floyd | It would be impossible to sit on the mattress without disturbing the Floyd | position of the skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "look under mattress" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing under the mattress. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | Sprawled out on the mattress is a lone Ancient skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "push skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | Not likely. This is your most outstanding find yet, and every detail Floyd | of the body's position is vital data. It would take a complete Floyd | archeological forensics team at least a week to study and capture the Floyd | remains before they felt at all comfortable with moving it, and even Floyd | then it would be an emergency operation; you've got no equipment, not Floyd | even a basic quantum chromodynamagraph. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Quantum Chromodynamagraph would make a good superhero name." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Fang says (to Taleslinger), "heh, the post 9:05 youth" | ||||
| baf says, "No it wouldn't." | ||||
| DavidW says (to baf), "heh" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | Sprawled out on the mattress is a lone Ancient skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says (to fang), "Heh, so much for old-skool." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | The skeleton is moderately sized, but smaller than recent digs and Floyd | salvaged files indicate was normal for an Ancient adult; this was Floyd | almost certainly a young female. She lies on the bed crouched in a Floyd | fetal position, her arms twisted as if shielding her face from intense Floyd | pain. There is no obvious evidence of external injury, but the odd Floyd | displacement of joints in the upper and lower limbs, along with deep Floyd | cracking of the bone structure, suggests violent muscular spasms as Floyd | she died. In her right hand, the woman clutches a small object; Floyd | possibly some kind of electronic device, with leads running from the Floyd | box in her hand to a headset draped across her skull. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x colourful" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "colourful". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x walls" | ||||
Floyd | The wall glyphs may well be important artifacts, but they tell you Floyd | nothing of use right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "'By the power of my quantum chromodynama-- OOOF!!'" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "This disk goes into the black cube, which we still need to get powered." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It would indeed be a mouthful for the small child on the street corner. 'It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Quantum Chromohoweveryousayit Man!'" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Geek Bond: A quantum of Chromodynamagraph" | ||||
| Fang says, "Guess we need to keep exploring" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "And his sidekick Ferromagnetic Magprobe." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "er, I'm lost" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Is that a ferromagnetic magprobe in your pocket or are you just attracted to metal objects?" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Service Area Floyd | Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy Floyd | spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Floyd | Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends Floyd | you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, Floyd | their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and Floyd | southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Taleslinger heh" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | You can only go east or southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Hygiene Area Floyd | This is a soothing, white-walled chamber with soft rounded surfaces, Floyd | much like being inside an egg. From your knowledge of Ancient social Floyd | mores, it's likely to be a personal cleansing area. There is a blue Floyd | lens embedded in the western wall, with a placard above it. Round Floyd | curtained apartures lead northeast and southeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "se" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | Sprawled out on the mattress is a lone Ancient skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Think we seen everything here." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, and a green disk. Floyd | | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | You step into the vehicle. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The access panel is open. In the access panel you see a power cell, a Floyd | corroded metal coil, and a triangular hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x coil" | ||||
Floyd | It's a thin coil of some heavily corroded metal, about ten centimetres Floyd | long and three across. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "fill hole with vat" | ||||
Floyd | I don't recognize that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put tap in hole" | ||||
Floyd | You hold the vat over the access panel and rest the tap inside the Floyd | triangular hole. It fits neatly. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x power cell" | ||||
Floyd | The solid state power cell, easily the most distinctive Ancient Floyd | artifact of all, is a rectangular solid block around thirty Floyd | centimetres tall and half as wide and deep. It's silver in colour, Floyd | completely featureless apart from the logo "Energiser (tm)" and a Floyd | hexagonal socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "open tap" | ||||
Floyd | You open the tap, sending liquid trickling into the triangular hole. Floyd | After a few minutes, the vat is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x socket" | ||||
Floyd | The socket is hexagonal, about two centimetres across. It's probably Floyd | designed to take some kind of cable. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "fang Oh." | |||
| Nitku says, "Now we just need an extension cord." | ||||
| Taleslinger asks, "Why can't we just take it?" | ||||
| Fang asks, "have we checked the service area carefully?" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Or you could take the battery from the radio and put it in the flashlight." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a green disk, and a power cell. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Unless you can fly this thing, you can only go out through the exit Floyd | hatch. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking the white vat's tap out of the triangular hole) Floyd | You step out into the vehicle dome. Floyd | Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in socket" | ||||
Floyd | Which socket do you mean, the power cell's socket, or the cube's Floyd | socket? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cube'S" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "cube's". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put cell in cube's socket" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "cube's". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in cube's socket" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "cube's". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in cubes socket" | ||||
Floyd | The power cell doesn't fit into the cube's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "attach cell to cube" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1026: wrong number of arguments to user function "<NO SYMBOL Floyd | TABLE>.<NO SYMBOL TABLE>"] Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "whooops" | |||
| inky says, "hardcore" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "eep" | ||||
| Fang asks, "the cube runs on tads?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x socket" | ||||
Floyd | Which socket do you mean, the power cell's socket, or the cube's Floyd | socket? Floyd | Floyd | > | Otto asks, "is this tads they're talking about a remain from ancient technology?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "You guys are in this deep." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Also, can we have a very brief intermission?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I need to switch internet codes for the purposes of our transcript." | ||||
| (from Taleslinger) *INTERMISSION* | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hold on a sec." | ||||
| Fang says, "I think we still need a cable" | ||||
| Nitku says, "Everyone is required to play this during the intermission: [LINK]" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, we're good to go." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Service Area Floyd | Judging from the stark utility of this room, compared to the airy Floyd | spaciousness of the living area, it's a service or preparation area. Floyd | Possibly a kitchen for food, though from its role in Ancient legends Floyd | you'd pictured a more warming aura than this. Metal alloy surfaces, Floyd | their function unknown, line the walls; the only exits are east and Floyd | southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Continue to play." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "rummage" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "rummage". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x surfaces" | ||||
Floyd | The metal surfaces could have been used for storage, or perhaps Floyd | manipulation, of food products. Most of them are open and empty, Floyd | their contents gone. But one small vertical panel seems worth more Floyd | investigation. Floyd | Floyd | > | Otto exclaims, "the Monthy Python's intermission is not finished!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "open panel" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to open the vertical panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "What was it, the intermission from Holy Grail?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I didn't go look." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "push panel" | ||||
Floyd | At a touch from your hand, the panel slides out from the wall, Floyd | revealing a storage cupboard. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "It was." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "With the llamas or whatever? Excellent." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "No just the music." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "look in" | ||||
Floyd | (the storage cupboard) Floyd | In the storage cupboard you see a black cable and a white box. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Aha!" | |||
| Jacqueline goes to get yet more coffee. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x cable" | ||||
Floyd | The cable is about two metres long, with hexagonal connectors at each Floyd | ends. From your knowledge of Ancient technology, it seems likely to Floyd | be some kind of data or energy transfer device. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "I don't want to be you when it comes to sleeping tonight." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | It's a small box made from some decay-resistant pressed fibre, Floyd | possibly spun carbon or silicon. A label reads "Surefire palladium Floyd | ignitor coils, contents 6". The white box is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "jackpot" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take box" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take cable" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a green disk, a power cell, a white box, and a Floyd | black cable. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "let's watch some movies?" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Go ahead." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "attach cell to cube" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1026: wrong number of arguments to user function "<NO SYMBOL Floyd | TABLE>.<NO SYMBOL TABLE>"] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "attach cell to cable" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1026: wrong number of arguments to user function "<NO SYMBOL Floyd | TABLE>.<NO SYMBOL TABLE>"] Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Try connect" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "connect cell to cable" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1026: wrong number of arguments to user function "<NO SYMBOL Floyd | TABLE>.<NO SYMBOL TABLE>"] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "connect cable to cell" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable plugs neatly into the power cell's socket. The other Floyd | end of the cable remains free. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Huh." | |||
| Fang says, "ah ha" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "That's worse than my last game!" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "So this is just a bug, but not a terminal bug?" | ||||
| Fang says, "looks like it" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yes. It's just a bug." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "This game is 12 years old, so." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "connect cable to cube" | ||||
Floyd | (first dropping the cable) Floyd | (also dropping the power cell) Floyd | The black cable plugs neatly into the cube's socket, linking the black Floyd | cube to the power cell. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "And fairly standard for TADS games back then." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Ah." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x cube" | ||||
Floyd | The cube is black and nearly featureless, apart from a blue button Floyd | marked with a lightning bolt symbol, a hexagonal socket, and a Floyd | ten-centimetre disk slot. There's a yellow disk in the slot. Black Floyd | words embossed on the cube's polymer face spell out the legend Floyd | "Sonjitsu 2100 Immersive Entertainment System", whatever that means. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "push blue" | ||||
Floyd | The black cube hums. A tiny flicker of light, barely visible in your Floyd | peripheral vision, appears in the room, along with a suggestion of Floyd | muted sound. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "sit on sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops Floyd | sway beneath you, distributing your mass until you feel nearly Floyd | weightless. The black cube is now directly centred in your field of Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | The flicker of light and sound suddenly takes form, merging into an Floyd | experience that swells through your mind. Floyd | Floyd | Rainforest, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Towering forest giants climb towards the green canopy that shades most Floyd | of the sky. A soft trickle of mist falls on your face, as birds Floyd | whistle and laughing monkeys scramble through the branches. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x forest" | ||||
Floyd | The rainforest scene makes you feel calm and tranquil. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "x monkeys" | ||||
Floyd | The rainforest scene makes you feel calm and tranquil. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Martian Sunset, in the sculptured chair Floyd | On the lip of a giant crater, you watch as an ochre sun shimmers over Floyd | a red dust horizon. Below, in a diamond-walled biodome, trees and Floyd | small scrub bushes grow amid atmosphere towers and lidar dishes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I totally need a floaty rainforest chair." | |||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "#belated If the bug happens when trying to connect the end of a cable to a device, then surely that is a 'terminal' bug." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x lidar" | ||||
Floyd | The Martian scene makes you feel both proud and insignificant. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Coral Reef, in the sculptured chair Floyd | You're gliding through an underwater sanctuary, as shoals of brightly Floyd | coloured fish dart away through the wrecks of Spanish galleons. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Oh dear. Oh dear oh dear oh dear." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x fish" | ||||
Floyd | The reef scene makes you feel peaceful and adventurous. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "x galleons" | ||||
Floyd | The reef scene makes you feel peaceful and adventurous. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Antarctic Sunrise, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Mountains of ice crumble with a booming crack as bright sunlight Floyd | shines over blue and purple glaciers. A cold wind sends shivers Floyd | through your padded survival suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Otto says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Antarctic Sunrise, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Mountains of ice crumble with a booming crack as bright sunlight Floyd | shines over blue and purple glaciers. A cold wind sends shivers Floyd | through your padded survival suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "this looks like a screensaver" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "throw snowball" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "snowball". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ice" | ||||
Floyd | The Antarctic scene makes you feel awed and intrigued. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Office Tower, in the sculptured chair Floyd | You're alone in an expensive office suite, looking out over a city Floyd | skyline. White letters hovering in mid-air say, "TransDex Immersive Floyd | Studios presents The Relaxation Trip Volume III. For our full Floyd | executive stress management series, link to Floyd | vr.transdex.immersive.com.eu." Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "haha" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "neat." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Which disk is this?" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x skyline" | ||||
Floyd | The office scene makes you feel tense and stressful. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "The one that was in it, or the girl's?" | |||
| DavidW says, "The yellow disk." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Wheatfield, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Golden waves of grain ripple into the distance across an endless Floyd | prairie. An airship glides overhead, softly, casting a tiny black Floyd | shadow over the ripened wheat. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "(I was away getting coffee.)" | |||
| DavidW says, "The one it started with." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x airship" | ||||
Floyd | The airship glides majestically over the field. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline nods. | |||
| DavidW says, "I don'" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x grain" | ||||
Floyd | The field of grain stretches for miles in all directions. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I'm sort of scared of the other disk. You know how kids were in 2012." | |||
| DavidW says, "I don't think I went past the office." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Beach, in the sculptured chair Floyd | A beach of sparkling white sand stretches across the horizon, lapped Floyd | by crystal blue water. Coconut palm fronds sway lazily in the soft Floyd | warm breeze. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "hmm, that one didn't make us feel foo and bar" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x palm" | ||||
Floyd | The beach scene makes you feel warm and relaxed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "dive" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "dive". Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "So there's additional scenes on this disk? Interesting." | |||
| inky says, "deleted scenes" | ||||
| inky says, "hang around long enough and you get the porn" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "heh" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "how we get out it? stand?" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "how". Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to inky), "double heh" | |||
| Taleslinger asks, "how we get out it? stand?" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Beach, in the sculptured chair Floyd | A beach of sparkling white sand stretches across the horizon, lapped Floyd | by crystal blue water. Coconut palm fronds sway lazily in the soft Floyd | warm breeze. Floyd | Floyd | The scene suddenly changes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "f l" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Rainforest, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Towering forest giants climb towards the green canopy that shades most Floyd | of the sky. A soft trickle of mist falls on your face, as birds Floyd | whistle and laughing monkeys scramble through the branches. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "(the porn might help with that *nudge*)" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "See, this would annoy me with the changing scenes all the time. I'd want to just rest in one setting for awhile." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "stand" | Fang says, "ok, I guess that's it" | |||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. The image evaporates Floyd | from your mind, leaving you slightly dizzy. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell) and a Floyd | power cell here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | You're already standing! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says, "tsd" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take yellow disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a green disk, a white box, and a yellow disk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put green disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sit" | ||||
Floyd | (the sculptured chair) Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops Floyd | sway beneath you, distributing your mass until you feel nearly Floyd | weightless. The black cube is now directly centred in your field of Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | The flicker of light and sound suddenly takes form, merging into an Floyd | experience that swells through your mind. Floyd | Floyd | Twilight Lawn, in the sculptured chair Floyd | The neat square of grass shines with a pale green glow, almost as Floyd | bright now as the last ray of sunset afterglow. Dark shapes of Floyd | buildings loom comfortably all around, while evening stars, mere Floyd | pinpoints of light, appear in the deep blue sky. Floyd | Floyd | A young Ancient girl stands in the middle of the lawn, shivering. Floyd | Floyd | You take a sharp breath. The girl - she must be the same age as you Floyd | judged the skeleton to be. So this is some kind of recording; perhaps Floyd | the first ever complete personal diary of an Ancient! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x girl" | ||||
Floyd | The girl is young, probably in her late teenage years taking into Floyd | account the difference in aging rates between Ancient and modern Floyd | biochemistries. She has deep blue eyes and reddish-brown hair; you're Floyd | struck by such an unusual colour, which is only accentuated by the Floyd | black jumpsuit she wears. Perhaps it was once the colour of mourning, Floyd | which would be appropriate given her manner. She looks up at the Floyd | evening stars, unaware of you. Floyd | Floyd | The girl winces as if controlling a surge of pain, looks up at the Floyd | stars, and starts speaking. Floyd | Floyd | "Tuesday. This'll be... ahh... my last entry. Six weeks since Floyd | Quarantine. I think everyone... uhh... else must be dead. Floyd | Infection's so... nngh... fast." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | "Took the 'car up this afternoon. Last chance to make... uuuhh.. a Floyd | run for it. No sky patrols. Didn't realise, too late. They'd Floyd | evac'ed the area. Sky went white, two suns. Never thought I'd see Floyd | that and live. Dived to miss the firestorm but got... nnnng... Floyd | heaps of rads in the, whatever, flash. Landed back home. No use Floyd | running, I'm dead either way, nuke or plague. Lucky the house Floyd | survived. Valley must've shielded it." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x lawn" | ||||
Floyd | The lawn scene is strangely haunting. Floyd | Floyd | The girl tenses, her whole body shuddering, and paces around the lawn. Floyd | Floyd | "Anyway... no time left... getting the shakes real bad... hope this Floyd | is recording okay. Pulled some 'stricted files off the net... Floyd | crosswired neural inputs. Hyper illegal but that's hardly Floyd | important... if it works maybe... someone will find it and... wish Floyd | Mum and Dad had tried this... couldn't even find the other memory Floyd | pack..." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The girl's image fluctuates, breaking up. Even the background wavers. Floyd | "Losing... it... pulse... overlo... no... don't want to die Floyd | like..." Floyd | Floyd | The image suddenly clears. The girl freezes in mid-frame, jerks, Floyd | collapses to the ground. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "How does she end up on the bed, then?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Twilight Lawn, in the sculptured chair Floyd | The neat square of grass shines with a pale green glow, almost as Floyd | bright now as the last ray of sunset afterglow. Dark shapes of Floyd | buildings loom comfortably all around, while evening stars, mere Floyd | pinpoints of light, appear in the deep blue sky. Floyd | Floyd | The body of a young Ancient girl lies sprawled on the lawn. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "x body" | ||||
Floyd | The paperlike substance appears to be a digital data service printout Floyd | in the standard Ancient language, Ingles-2. Loosely translated, the Floyd | headline reads: UNITED EUROPE NEWSWEB 2068.261.08.35 (the numbers Floyd | could be either a date or location code). NUKES WON'T HALT GREEN Floyd | PLAGUE - ERLMANN. An article, in closely printed body text, follows. Floyd | Floyd | Slowly, as if in a dream, the girl gets to her feet. Her image seems Floyd | more chunky, less detailed than before. Floyd | Floyd | "What..." she manages. "How..." Then she sees you. "Oh God!" she Floyd | whispers. "It... I did it. I'm... Oh, God, no! I can't have been Floyd | that stupid!" Floyd | Floyd | The girl turns to you, shivering for real now. She speaks the Ancient Floyd | syllables so fast you can barely translate. "Who are you? Where am Floyd | I? What have you done to my mind?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "talk to girl" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to talk to it about? Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "oh shit" | |||
| DavidW says, "And now you have an NPC." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "hello" | ||||
Floyd | Nice weather we've been having. Floyd | Floyd | "Who are you?" repeats the girl, plainly terrified. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "girl, hello" | ||||
Floyd | The girl listens wide-eyed while you try to explain who you are; an Floyd | explorer from her future. It sounds strange, even to you. Her eyes Floyd | lose some of their terror, but remains taut and wary. Floyd | Floyd | "Marie", she says. "Marie Hyde. The lost." Floyd | Floyd | A tingling chill seeps deep into your bones, and you dimly realise Floyd | that you're sweating. Neural transfer. A technology only crudely Floyd | developed by the Ancients, but the potential would have been in place. Floyd | Is it possible this girl was desperate enough to risk a full-mind Floyd | simulation? To copy her entire soul to a machine? Floyd | Floyd | If that's true, you've made the most stunning discovery of the Floyd | millenium. This simulation you've awoken could be not just a Floyd | recording - but an Ancient's living replica! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask girl about plaque" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "plaque". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask girl about plague" | ||||
Floyd | "The Green Plague was the worst bio-disaster in history," says Marie, Floyd | shivering. "Worse than XIT or the Carbon Flu. It wiped out whole Floyd | cities. Probably the world, for all I know. I don't know how it Floyd | started. Maybe a geneering accident. Or a weapon that got loose. It Floyd | usually caused death within days." She looks over her shoulder, and Floyd | crosses her arms over her chest. "That's how I died. Funny, I always Floyd | used to pity the survivors." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, this is really cool." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask marie about marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie's eyes flash. "I'm a figment of a computer's imagination, and Floyd | I'm trapped here in a vee-ar sim forever. My parents are dead and my Floyd | world is probably extinct. Otherwise, I'm just fine. Why should you Floyd | care?" Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something," she Floyd | says. "Something from home. To prove it's not just a dream." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "show marie the glowgrass" | ||||
Floyd | Marie looks at the clump of glowgrass, wonder in her eyes. "The Floyd | grass," she says. "You found some. It's still there." Her eyes turn Floyd | pixelised, beyond the capacity of the simulation to render them. "I Floyd | used to dream of this as a child. They were always good dreams." Floyd | Floyd | Marie seems to relax a little, but still remains cautious. Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "show her the holograms" | ||||
Floyd | Marie looks at each of the holograms in turn, tears forming in her Floyd | simulated eyes. "Yes," she says. "That was me. That was my life." Floyd | Floyd | Marie seems to relax a little, but still remains cautious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "show holograms to marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie looks puzzled. "You've already shown me that." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, and a yellow disk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "show printout to her" | ||||
Floyd | "That's old news," says Marie. "Everything's changed a lot since Floyd | then." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "show printout to marie" | ||||
Floyd | "That's old news," says Marie. "Everything's changed a lot since Floyd | then." Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask marie about nukes" | ||||
Floyd | Marie is silent for a moment. "Yeah, they nuked us," she says. "It Floyd | was the only thing they knew that would stop the Plague." She looks Floyd | around the room, and shivers. "I guess it must have worked, in the Floyd | end. But I'm not one of the lucky survivors." Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "ask marie about news" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "news". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask marie about europe" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "europe". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "show vat to marie" | ||||
Floyd | "It's just a vat of sterile water," says Marie. "Might be useful." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "show disk to marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie shrugs, indicating either ignorance or unwillingness to answer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask marie about car" | ||||
Floyd | Marie's eyes cloud with suspicion. "And why would you be interested Floyd | in our family skycar? I'll tell you this much. It won't start Floyd | without a password. But I'd have to trust someone a lot before I let Floyd | them know the code." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask marie about skycar" | ||||
Floyd | Marie's eyes cloud with suspicion. "And why would you be interested Floyd | in our family skycar? I'll tell you this much. It won't start Floyd | without a password. But I'd have to trust someone a lot before I let Floyd | them know the code." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Timing." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask marie about erlmann" | ||||
Floyd | "President Erlmann? He's the American president who authorised the Floyd | use of nukes against the Plague," says Marie. "I don't blame him. I Floyd | guess he had no choice." Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Aha. She's our ticket home." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask marie about frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | "Sounds like a Frisbee Helipta (tm) to me," says Marie. "I'd like to Floyd | see that." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "show box to marie" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, and a yellow disk. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Marie shrugs, indicating either ignorance or unwillingness to answer. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Where's our frisbee?" | |||
| inky says, "she probably wants a doll or something" | ||||
| inky says, "chyx dig that stuff" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "It got us the magprobe." | ||||
| DavidW says, "There's also another object to find." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "That fabric doll?" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "show probe to marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie shrugs, indicating either ignorance or unwillingness to answer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about simulation" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "simulation". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Twilight Lawn, in the sculptured chair Floyd | The neat square of grass shines with a pale green glow, almost as Floyd | bright now as the last ray of sunset afterglow. Dark shapes of Floyd | buildings loom comfortably all around, while evening stars, mere Floyd | pinpoints of light, appear in the deep blue sky. Floyd | Floyd | The young Ancient, Marie, stands facing you, her eyes wary. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about parents" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "parents". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask her about holodeck" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "holodeck". Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of DW), "It got us the probe but then fell on the other side of the wall, and we can't retrieve it?" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "kiss her" | ||||
Floyd | Marie slaps you. "I didn't kiss strangers when I was alive," she Floyd | says. "Why should I start now?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about sculpture" | ||||
Floyd | Marie smiles. "It's a nice chair." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "I don't think so." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about me" | ||||
Floyd | Marie listens as you explain again who you are and how you came to be Floyd | here. Floyd | "I believe you," she says, but her eyes are troubled. "Just leave me Floyd | alone. I need to grieve." Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask her about cube" | ||||
Floyd | [But you don't know anything worth mentioning about any cube yet.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Man, some xenohistorian you are. Show a little professionalism!" | |||
| Jacqueline smiles. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "hug her" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "hug". Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "That's how I learned it!" | |||
| inky says, "he got into xenohistory to make it with dead chyx" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. The image evaporates Floyd | from your mind, leaving you slightly dizzy. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell) and a Floyd | power cell here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nate arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | Jacqueline says, "NATE!" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "... therefore this game totally sucks!" | ||||
| Fang says, "ah, now we can moan to him about all the bugs" | ||||
| Nate says, "me!" | ||||
| Otto says, "we didn't show her the frisbee it seems..." | ||||
| Bert asks, "Which direction is where you lost the frisbee?" | ||||
| Nate says, "mudding from Internet kiosk in Auckland airport" | ||||
| Bert asks, "East?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Sweet." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is a great game, Nate." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "Yes, I love it. I was just teasing earlier." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | You can only go west into the building or out to the southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Courtyard Floyd | This appears to be some kind of courtyard in the centre of an Ancient Floyd | dwelling. The building itself swings around to the north and west, Floyd | terminating in a crumbling retaining wall due south. A smaller domed Floyd | construction opens to the northeast, through a wide metal door (open). Floyd | To the east is a flat space that could bear further exploring. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta here. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I'm sure the frisbee can be found again." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "look under car" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any car here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of Nate), "How long 'til you leave for Brasil?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Glowgrass Lawn Floyd | You're standing in a square area of neatly trimmed green lawn, Floyd | shimmering faintly in the afternoon light. To the west, the lawn Floyd | gives way to courtyard, and beyond it to the west and north are Floyd | buildings. An odd, paved rectangular depression in the ground leads Floyd | down to the southeast; the encroaching jungle vegetation further back Floyd | is kept at bay by a barrier of translucent sheeting. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Courtyard Floyd | This appears to be some kind of courtyard in the centre of an Ancient Floyd | dwelling. The building itself swings around to the north and west, Floyd | terminating in a crumbling retaining wall due south. A smaller domed Floyd | construction opens to the northeast, through a wide metal door (open). Floyd | To the east is a flat space that could bear further exploring. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "lots of ours" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "look under car" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing under the skycar. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "er, hours" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell) and a Floyd | power cell here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "Yours and yours." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sit" | ||||
Floyd | (the sculptured chair) Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops Floyd | sway beneath you, distributing your mass until you feel nearly Floyd | weightless. The black cube is now directly centred in your field of Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | The flicker of light and sound suddenly takes form, merging into an Floyd | experience that swells through your mind. Floyd | Floyd | Twilight Lawn, in the sculptured chair Floyd | The neat square of grass shines with a pale green glow, almost as Floyd | bright now as the last ray of sunset afterglow. Dark shapes of Floyd | buildings loom comfortably all around, while evening stars, mere Floyd | pinpoints of light, appear in the deep blue sky. Floyd | Floyd | The young Ancient, Marie, stands facing you, her eyes wary. Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "show frisbee to marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie looks at the Helipta. "I remember this," she says with a trace Floyd | of a smile. "Throwing it on the lawn. I remember being young and Floyd | alive." Floyd | Floyd | Marie seems to relax a little, but still remains cautious. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie is young, probably in her late teenage years taking into account Floyd | the difference in aging rates between Ancient and modern Floyd | biochemistries. She has deep blue eyes and reddish-brown hair; you're Floyd | struck by such an unusual colour, which is only accentuated by the Floyd | black jumpsuit she wears. The girl's image is chunky and pixellated, Floyd | as if stretching the computational power of the projector system to Floyd | its limit. She looks at you, taut and wary, an arm's reach away. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "throw frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | The Frisbee Helipta spins furiously as it leaves your hand, hovers Floyd | briefly before shooting straight up into the air, then hits the Floyd | ceiling and tumbles awkwardly to the floor. Guess it wasn't designed Floyd | for use indoors. Dropped. The Frisbee Helipta vanishes from the Floyd | illusion. Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks around, cautiously. "I wish I could see something else," Floyd | she says. "Something else from home." Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "silly past-me booked the 7am domestic flight, I can't remember why" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, and a yellow disk. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "We need to explore more." | |||
| Bert asks, "So you're here for sixteen hours?" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. The image evaporates Floyd | from your mind, leaving you slightly dizzy. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell), a Floyd | power cell, and a Frisbee Helipta here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Yes. Didn't she have a fabric toy in one of the holograms?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Taleslinger), "check the bedroom again" | ||||
| Bert says, "Er, sorry, you don't mean Brazil time." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | Sprawled out on the mattress is a lone Ancient skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says (to Jacq), "Yeah." | |||
| Nate says, "hmm... nine I think" | ||||
| Bert says, "There was also stuff with the skeleton." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take images" | ||||
Floyd | Which images do you mean, the set of holograms, or the wall glyphs? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x mattress" | ||||
Floyd | Aside from the Ancient skeleton, there's a fabric animal on the Floyd | mattress. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Let's show her one of her own metacarpals!" | |||
| Bert says (to Nate), "Travelling west will be like going back in time." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take wall images" | ||||
Floyd | The wall glyphs may well be important artifacts, but they tell you Floyd | nothing of use right now. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert exclaims (at Nate), "Just like Glowgrass!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, sorry. I know the game won't let us disturb the skeleton." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x fabric animal" | ||||
Floyd | It appears to be a colourful replica of a koala bear, one of the Floyd | animal species from the Ancient era, extinct until very recently. The Floyd | fabric has remained almost intact, probably made from the same Floyd | resilient material as the mattress. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "I wish now I hadn't used real tradenames like Frisbee. I'd been reading too much Gibson." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x headset" | ||||
Floyd | The device is possibly a recording or playback instrument of some Floyd | kind; it has a slot for a ten-centimetre disk, a common Ancient data Floyd | storage format. Words embossed into its polymer surface read "Kodak Floyd | Synapsit (tm) Neural Transfer System." Judging by the corrosion Floyd | stains seeping from inside the device, it's completely non-functional. Floyd | The disk slot is empty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get headset" | ||||
Floyd | The skeleton is clutching the device so tightly, it would be Floyd | impossible to remove without risking severe damage. You'll have to Floyd | find another way of learning more about it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get animal" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang asks, "hmm, extinct until very recently?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Brought back through the wonders of genetics!" | ||||
| Bert says, "Probably genetic cloning." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Like the dinos in Jurassic Park!" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Maybe space koalas attacked." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; there's more than one direction to Floyd | leave this area. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Sleep Area Floyd | Some things never change over the ages. This looks like a room for Floyd | rest and sleeping - there's a polymer mattress on the floor, moulded Floyd | as a single unit and still intact. The walls are covered with Floyd | colourful images, presumably icons from Ancient culture; there's years Floyd | of work here for a psycholinguistic team alone. Doorways lead Floyd | northeast and northwest. Floyd | Floyd | Sprawled out on the mattress is a lone Ancient skeleton. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "terrifying" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That means there'll be a drop bear that will soon kill us." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "look under bed" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing under the mattress. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell), a Floyd | power cell, and a Frisbee Helipta here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "yay" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "sit" | ||||
Floyd | (the sculptured chair) Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops Floyd | sway beneath you, distributing your mass until you feel nearly Floyd | weightless. The black cube is now directly centred in your field of Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | The flicker of light and sound suddenly takes form, merging into an Floyd | experience that swells through your mind. Floyd | Floyd | Twilight Lawn, in the sculptured chair Floyd | The neat square of grass shines with a pale green glow, almost as Floyd | bright now as the last ray of sunset afterglow. Dark shapes of Floyd | buildings loom comfortably all around, while evening stars, mere Floyd | pinpoints of light, appear in the deep blue sky. Floyd | Floyd | The young Ancient, Marie, stands facing you, her eyes wary. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "show animal to marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie looks at the fabric bear, and a shiver runs down her body. Floyd | "Miss Kelli," she says. "I had her with me. The last thing I saw..." Floyd | She turns away, unable to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Marie pauses, as if she's finally coming to some internal decision. Floyd | Then she steps forward and places one arm on your shoulder. Her touch Floyd | is warm; apparently the simulation includes tactile response. Ancient Floyd | technology must have been more advanced than even the Institute had Floyd | realised. Floyd | Floyd | "I believe you," she says, struggling to keep a tear from appearing Floyd | again. "You're really here. Walking through my home." Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks into your eyes, pain and hope colliding. Floyd | Floyd | "But there's nothing left for me now. Everything I knew is gone." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "hug marie" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "hug". Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "ooh, well done" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about ancients" | ||||
Floyd | "Ancients?" says Marie sadly. "Yes, I suppose we are to you. I'd Floyd | love to tell you everything I know about my world, but I don't think Floyd | we have the time right now." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "touch marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie leans against your arms. "Mmmm," she says softly. "But we Floyd | don't have time to waste like this." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "ask her about car" | ||||
Floyd | Marie gasps. "The skycar! Of course! I don't know if it could still Floyd | work, but it's probably our best chance of getting out of here. Floyd | You'll need a password to start the electrical system - just 'say Floyd | dolphin' when the voice asks you. And there's an onboard VR Floyd | projector, too - you can keep me live." Floyd | Floyd | Marie grips your hand. "Please. Take me with you." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "marie, yes" | ||||
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "okay" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "okay". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "kiss marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie kisses you briefly on the lips. "Mmmm," she says, "But I don't Floyd | have the processor power for this right now. And besides, you don't Floyd | want me. You want a girl who's alive." Floyd | Floyd | Marie grips your hand. "Please. Take me with you." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "take marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie leans against your arms. "Mmmm," she says softly. "But we Floyd | don't have time to waste like this." Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "har, har." | |||
| Bert exclaims, "That's not what I meant!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline giggles. | ||||
| Fang says, "so unprofessional" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, let's go." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Fang), "heh" | ||||
| Nate says, "I think this was most directly influenced by Philip K Dick's short story "Planet for Transients"." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. The image evaporates Floyd | from your mind, leaving you slightly dizzy. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell), a Floyd | power cell, and a Frisbee Helipta here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Nitku says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take all" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to take that one thing at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x cube" | ||||
Floyd | The cube is black and nearly featureless, apart from a blue button Floyd | marked with a lightning bolt symbol, a hexagonal socket, and a Floyd | ten-centimetre disk slot. There's a green disk in the slot. Black Floyd | words embossed on the cube's polymer face spell out the legend Floyd | "Sonjitsu 2100 Immersive Entertainment System", whatever that means. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "also that line I think was a rip from AMFV" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "push blue" | ||||
Floyd | The black cube abruptly stops humming, and the flicker of light and Floyd | sound vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get frisbee and disk" | ||||
Floyd | Which disk do you mean, the Frisbee Helipta, or the green disk? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take disk" | ||||
Floyd | Which disk do you mean, the Frisbee Helipta, or the green disk? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "noth" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "noth". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "green" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| K-Y arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take green disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take discs" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "discs". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get green disk and frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to take that one thing at a time. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to unplug the black cable from the black cube first. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "wonder if there's a bad ending if we leave her" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unplug cable" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to unplug it from? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take green disk" | ||||
Floyd | You already have the green disk! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unplug cable" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to unplug it from? Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says (to Nate), "We've saved and can find out." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, we've saved, so we can find out." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cube" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable unplugs easily from the cube's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "unplug cable from cell" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable unplugs easily from the power cell's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I don't think you can leave her." | |||
| Bert says (to Nate), "You must be flagellated for disabling TAKE X AND Y, though." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | You've already got your hands full. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "trying to deal with objects which you don't recognise until you pick them up, which means they have different names, was and still is a pain." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, a yellow disk, a fabric bear, a Floyd | green disk, and a Frisbee Helipta. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "You guys didn't check out the car all that much." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific; there's more than one direction to Floyd | leave this area. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "look under car" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing under the skycar. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x car" | ||||
Floyd | You recognise the Ancient vehicle from Institute file fragments. If Floyd | this one is anything like the reconstructions you examined, it uses a Floyd | solid-state power cell to jumpstart deuterium-hydrogen fusion, Floyd | ejecting its clean-burning fuel directly as accelerated reaction mass. Floyd | A clumsy system, compared to today's gravitic drives, but possibly Floyd | more reliable in the short term. The skycar's sleek angular lines are Floyd | marred by ugly thermal scars, as if the vehicle was caught in some Floyd | kind of blast before being landed here. An entrance hatch in the Floyd | vehicle's side is open. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "wait" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "open car" | ||||
Floyd | The skycar's entrance hatch is already open. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of Bert), "Was that just twentieth century TADS, or did Nate disable it?" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "we've left the cell" | |||
| Nate says (to bert), "Yes. Mea culpa. I think I did it because I discovered there was a trivial solution to a puzzle using TAKE ALL" | ||||
| Bert says (to Jacq), "I believe the latter." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ah." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, a yellow disk, a fabric bear, a Floyd | green disk, and a Frisbee Helipta. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "so the easiest thing was to flip the TADS 'no multitake' bit" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "IJLTS '20th century TADS'" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "drop yellow" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable and a power cell here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks (of Nate), "Hmm. And no way to disable TAKE ALL without disabling explicit multiple object lists too?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | You see a yellow disk here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | You step into the vehicle. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "(Or at least, no easy way?)" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "let's save again" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "insert cell" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "insert". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cf5" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put green disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | There's already a red disk in the disk slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says, "So we can restart and try and find the bad ending from here." | |||
| DavidW says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "oh wait" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "oh". Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "oh wait" | |||
| Bert asks, "What was the red disk?" | ||||
| Fang says, "red disk" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x red disk" | ||||
Floyd | The red disk is in the disk slot; you'd have to take it out to examine Floyd | it further. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "we should read that" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get it" | ||||
Floyd | You've already got your hands full. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "You guys never looked at the controls." | |||
| Bert says (to Nate), "Oh dear." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in slot" | ||||
Floyd | The power cell won't fit into the disk slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x controls" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "controls". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "drop frisbee" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks (of Nate), "Inventory limits too?" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in socket" | ||||
Floyd | The power cell doesn't fit into the power cell's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take red disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | You're already standing! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Unless you can fly this thing, you can only go out through the exit Floyd | hatch. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You step out into the vehicle dome. Floyd | Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | You see a yellow disk here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Courtyard Floyd | This appears to be some kind of courtyard in the centre of an Ancient Floyd | dwelling. The building itself swings around to the north and west, Floyd | terminating in a crumbling retaining wall due south. A smaller domed Floyd | construction opens to the northeast, through a wide metal door (open). Floyd | To the east is a flat space that could bear further exploring. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "oh, meh. Did I do that? Oops." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | You see a yellow disk here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Which disk do you mean, the green disk, or the red disk? Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "it probably seemed Realistic at the time" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "red" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "connect cable to cell" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking the cable) Floyd | The black cable plugs neatly into the power cell's socket. The other Floyd | end of the cable remains free. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks, "How was the power cell attached?" | |||
| Bert says, "There we go" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "push blue" | ||||
Floyd | The button clicks, but nothing happens. The device doesn't seem Floyd | damaged; perhaps it requires an external power supply. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "connect cable to cube" | ||||
Floyd | (first dropping the cable) Floyd | (also dropping the power cell) Floyd | The black cable plugs neatly into the cube's socket, linking the black Floyd | cube to the power cell. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "push blue" | ||||
Floyd | The black cube hums. A tiny flicker of light, barely visible in your Floyd | peripheral vision, appears in the room, along with a suggestion of Floyd | muted sound. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're now sitting on the sculptured chair. The polymer loops Floyd | sway beneath you, distributing your mass until you feel nearly Floyd | weightless. The black cube is now directly centred in your field of Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | The flicker of light and sound suddenly takes form, merging into an Floyd | experience that swells through your mind. Floyd | Floyd | Stadium, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Crowds of screaming fans stand all around you, reaching out toward the Floyd | rock group playing on the centre stage. Floyd | Floyd | Harsh white spotlights converge on the lead singer, while smoke and Floyd | lasers spell out the band's name: "Fleischman Tokamak." Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "Ah." | |||
| Bert asks, "Someone was listening to music while driving?" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The lead singer steps up to the hovering cam-bot, taps his implant Floyd | mike, and begins. "This one goes out to everyone who has ever logged Floyd | into the cube in the morning, seen their own reflection... and wept. Floyd | Biofeedback." The crowd falls silent. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "sing along" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "sing". Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "notice that they still use disks in the future. There I was in 199x reading Neuromancer and going 'no way will we EVER have ROM-based storage, optical disk will always be cheaper'." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x reflection" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "reflection". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The band kicks up, a grating metallic beat that devours the singer's Floyd | voice. Floyd | Floyd | "Bright annihilation Floyd | Chaos is my nation Floyd | In too far too deep too high Floyd | to ever fly away" Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "hello Mr 4GB SD card.Sigh." | |||
| Bert asks, "Heh. Does it *say* they're optical?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Ha" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x yellow" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any yellow here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You have a set of holograms, a clump of glowgrass, a magprobe, a Floyd | printout, a white vat, a white box, a fabric bear, and a green disk. Floyd | Floyd | "Biofeedback Floyd | Biofeedback Floyd | Take my dreams back Floyd | Give me something new and strange" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x green" | ||||
Floyd | It appears to be a thin metallic polymer disk around ten centimetres Floyd | in diameter, with a green tint. You recognise the object from Floyd | Institute files as an Ancient data storage device. Floyd | Floyd | "Global destination Floyd | A silicon creation Floyd | Who am I are you are we Floyd | are what am I today" Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "oh man bad song lyrics. I guess I'd also just read The Stars My Destination" | |||
| Bert says, "It's just thin metallic polymer. Could be anything." | ||||
| Nitku exclaims (at Nate), "But you did predict the .eu TLD!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I was wondering about that earlier, actually. . o O (Aren't disks a step back from what we use now?)" | ||||
| Fang says, "at least you didn't record a mp3" | ||||
| baf says, "These things tend to go in cycles, though. I can imagine discs coming back." | ||||
| Nate says, "is there really one of those? Wow." | ||||
| Bert asks (of Jacq), "You don't use discs now?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm, yeah. Possibly. I mean, we have smartmedia." | ||||
| Fang says, "well, the green plague is an obvious result of the success of Sony Minidisc" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Not if I can help it." | ||||
| Bert asks (of Jacq), "Huh. No DVD player?" | ||||
| Spinster arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Jacqueline says, "I don't watch too many movies, actually, no." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Stadium, in the sculptured chair Floyd | Crowds of screaming fans stand all around you, reaching out toward the Floyd | rock group playing on the centre stage. Floyd | Floyd | "Biofeedback Floyd | Biofeedback Floyd | Take my dreams back Floyd | Give me something new and strange" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "And am trying to buy all my media online through download to reduce my wastestream." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x stadium" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any stadium here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x crowd" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any crowd here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||||
Floyd | You hear nothing unusual. Floyd | Floyd | The lead musician, playing a stringless virtual electric with chrome Floyd | pickups on his fingertips, launches into an instrumental riff on the Floyd | first two stanzas. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "d'oh" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "It's a concious environmental decision I made a year or so ago. If I do buy, I buy used, usually." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||||
Floyd | You hear nothing unusual. Floyd | Floyd | "Biofeedback Floyd | Biofeedback Floyd | Take my dreams back Floyd | Give me something new and strange" Floyd | Floyd | > | K-Y asks, "You sure you weren't listening to Rush?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Though, sigh, I guess I did buy a disc recently when I couldn't get it online." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||||
Floyd | You hear nothing unusual. Floyd | Floyd | The music blurs into a warped analog acid mix, from a style nearly a Floyd | hundred years old. Floyd | Floyd | "Simplicity conformity Floyd | Reality compelling me Floyd | Illusion me transfusion me Floyd | Electricity my complicity" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "mea culpa" | |||
| Bert says, "Ah. So by 'we' you mean you and maga." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Me specifically, actually." | ||||
| Nate says, "also my music knowledge was crap in 1997, so my idea of Future!Rock was PERPETUAL 80s PARTY YAY!!!" | ||||
| Fang asks, "hmm, so the ancients were a hundred years ago?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Nate), "heehee" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||||
Floyd | You hear nothing unusual. Floyd | Floyd | "Biofeedback Floyd | Biofeedback... Floyd | Something new and strange... Floyd | Something new and strange... Floyd | Something new and strange..." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The musician does another lead break, roaming up and down the scale in Floyd | five different tonal keys. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The singer steps forward, drops his voice to a whisper and speaks Floyd | softly as if reading a nursery rhyme. Floyd | Floyd | "And we will walk on glowgrass lawns Floyd | And we will sing electric storms Floyd | And the mothers and the fathers Floyd | of all our futures will be there Floyd | And we will live without a care..." Floyd | Floyd | > | baf says, "Just like how we went from 'Computers are expensive, what we want is dumb terminals connected to a server' to 'Computers are cheap, let's all have our own computers and run apps on it directly' to 'Who needs everything as local apps when there's a whole web full of server-based software?'" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Heh. True." | ||||
| inky says, "hmm" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The band kicks into a screaming frenzy and ends on a crescendo cry. Floyd | Floyd | "Biofeedback!" Floyd | Floyd | The crowd goes wild, and the sound slowly fades out. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline applauds. | |||
| inky says, "the reason why we get to the last thing there is that maintenance is expensive" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to nate), "We will sing electric storms is an awesome line." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | A soft female voice says "End of licensed tracks on this release. Floyd | Please reset your projector to replay, or link to vvr.audioclub.com.eu Floyd | to decrypt another single. Thank you for purchasing from The Audio Floyd | Club." Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "and I'm not sure that is going to get cheaper without strong AI stuff" | |||
| inky says, "I guess if you set everything to auto-download and -update" | ||||
| Fang says, "god damned DRM" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | A soft female voice says "End of licensed tracks on this release. Floyd | Please reset your projector to replay, or link to vvr.audioclub.com.eu Floyd | to decrypt another single. Thank you for purchasing from The Audio Floyd | Club." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | Okay, you're no longer in the sculptured chair. The image evaporates Floyd | from your mind, leaving you slightly dizzy. Floyd | Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | A tiny flicker of light and sound dances frustratingly around your Floyd | vision. Floyd | Floyd | You see a black cable (linking the black cube to the power cell) and a Floyd | power cell here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to unplug the black cable from the black cube first. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Spinster has had Spinster's fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Nate says, "in the newsin 1997 was the first story about splicing tobacco plants with that jellyfish gene" | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unpluck cable" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "unpluck". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unplug cable" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to unplug it from? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Spinster arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "unplug cable from cube" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable unplugs easily from the cube's socket. The black cube Floyd | abruptly stops humming, and the flicker of light and sound vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take cell" | ||||
Floyd | (also taking the connected cable) Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take red disk" | ||||
Floyd | You've already got your hands full. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | You see a yellow disk here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | You step into the vehicle. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cf6" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Shh! I want to think you made all this up in your own head with no outside influences." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "drop vat" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "drop magprobe" | ||||
Floyd | Dropped. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Unless you can fly this thing, you can only go out through the exit Floyd | hatch. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You step out into the vehicle dome. Floyd | Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | You see a yellow disk here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take yellow" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Living Area Floyd | You're in what seems to be the central space of the dwelling, a wide Floyd | living area that still retains the awe and innocence of the Ancient Floyd | age. The room is now mainly bare, apart from shreds of mouldered Floyd | textile on the decayed timber floor, and a sculptured chair poised Floyd | opposite a two-metre black cube. There is a door to the east (open), Floyd | and hallways leading west and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take red disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | Vehicle Dome Floyd | This domed construction is fairly small compared to the building Floyd | proper, and open to the air at the southwest. Given today's scholarly Floyd | confusion about many Ancient living habits, it could serve any number Floyd | of functions. But the giveaway is the vehicle stationed in the middle Floyd | of the floor. An interior door, currently open, leads west to to the Floyd | living area. Floyd | Floyd | The vehicle, a primitive skycar, rests under the centre of the dome. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | You step into the vehicle. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "ok, sorry, satisfying pack rat instincts" | |||
| Bert says (to inky), "#belated Well, if we'd quite doing so much obnoxious 'maintenance'. Most software doesn't *need* to be upgraded on a weekly basis..." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cell in socket" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable is already plugged into the power cell's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put cable in socket" | ||||
Floyd | The black cable is already plugged into the power cell's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put green disk in slot" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | The access panel is open. In the access panel you see a corroded Floyd | metal coil, a triangular hole, and a rectangular hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x console" | ||||
Floyd | Despite your research, the controls on this model of skycar are quite Floyd | unfamiliar to you. The only ones you can make out at all are a green Floyd | button marked with a sunburst symbol, a mechanical lever (currently Floyd | pushed all the way forward), and a slot to fit a ten-centimetre disk. Floyd | There's a green disk in the slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "hee. Actually I'm fairly frustrated at how conventional the whole universe is. And how basic the puzzles are." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "push sunburst" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing happens. Perhaps replacing the power cell might help. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "connect cell to coil" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | [TADS-1026: wrong number of arguments to user function "<NO SYMBOL Floyd | TABLE>.<NO SYMBOL TABLE>"] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "unplug cable from cell" | inky says (to Bert), "hmm, I'd actually guess we're moving towards more frequent updates, not less" | |||
Floyd | The black cable unplugs easily from the power cell's socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "connect cable to coil" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know how to attach anything to the corroded metal coil. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x cell" | ||||
Floyd | The solid state power cell, easily the most distinctive Ancient Floyd | artifact of all, is a rectangular solid block around thirty Floyd | centimetres tall and half as wide and deep. It's silver in colour, Floyd | completely featureless apart from the logo "Energiser (tm)" and a Floyd | hexagonal socket. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put cell in rectangle" | ||||
Floyd | The power cell slots neatly into the rectangular hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "remoce coil" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "remoce". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "push sunburst" | ||||
Floyd | There's a brief hum from the console, and the green button starts Floyd | glowing. Floyd | Floyd | An electronic voice says (in the Ancient language), "For your added Floyd | peace of mind, the drive system of this car is password protected. Floyd | Please say the password now." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "say dolphin" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "say dolphin" | ||||
Floyd | An electronic voice replies, "Thank you. Your password is accepted." Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | Marie flicks in and out of view for a few moments, then settles into a Floyd | sitting posture beside you. She glances around the vehicle's interior Floyd | - presumably, the skycar has concealed visual pickups to give Floyd | projected images the power of sight - and then nods. Floyd | Floyd | "Okay. You've got the electrics running. Now you need to give the Floyd | drive some power. That lever there is the main throttle - pull it to Floyd | increase power and push to slacken off. Steering could be a problem - Floyd | I'll try to cut past the overrides and do it myself." Floyd | Floyd | Seeing your expression, Marie grins. "Why the surprise? I'm a Floyd | natural with cars. You should have seen me fly this before... when I Floyd | was... whatever. Well, I'm okay now. I'll be fine." Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | The car does not respond. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, let's go!" says Marie. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "wait" | |||
| Fang asks, "save?" | ||||
| Nate says, "oooooops bad event checking there" | ||||
| Bert says, "Hmm. If she appears seated..." | ||||
| Bert asks, "How would the concert appear?" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Or that other disk?" | ||||
| inky says, "you've got a concert in your seat" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks, "ANd everybody's invited?" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "DO NOT QUESTION THE CREATOR WITH SCIENCE FACTS" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "yay" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take disk" | ||||
Floyd | Which disk do you mean, the Frisbee Helipta, or the green disk? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Heehee" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take green disk" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "green" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | "Please say the password," repeats the electronic voice. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hee hee" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put red disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | "Please say the password," repeats the electronic voice. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "say dolphin" | ||||
Floyd | An electronic voice replies, "Thank you. Your password is accepted." Floyd | Floyd | A projected image of an Ancient rock concert appears on the seat Floyd | beside you. Floyd | Floyd | Harsh white spotlights converge on the lead singer, while smoke and Floyd | lasers spell out the band's name: "Fleischman Tokamak." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "say dolphin" | ||||
Floyd | The car does not respond. Floyd | Floyd | Harsh white spotlights converge on the lead singer, while smoke and Floyd | lasers spell out the band's name: "Fleischman Tokamak." Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "she's.... an exceptionally creative hacker who can override the laws of her VR's reality? Yes I bet that's it." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x seat" | ||||
Floyd | The passenger seat isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | Harsh white spotlights converge on the lead singer, while smoke and Floyd | lasers spell out the band's name: "Fleischman Tokamak." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take red disk" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Works for me." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take red disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | The projected image vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says (to Nate), "I wouldn't have realized this was supposed to be inconsistent if you hadn't mentioned it." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "put green disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | Marie flicks in and out of view for a few moments, then settles into a Floyd | sitting posture beside you. She glances around the vehicle's interior Floyd | - presumably, the skycar has concealed visual pickups to give Floyd | projected images the power of sight - and then nods. Floyd | Floyd | "Okay. You've got the electrics running. Now you need to give the Floyd | drive some power. That lever there is the main throttle - pull it to Floyd | increase power and push to slacken off. Steering could be a problem - Floyd | I'll try to cut past the overrides and do it myself." Floyd | Floyd | Seeing your expression, Marie grins. "Why the surprise? I'm a Floyd | natural with cars. You should have seen me fly this before... when I Floyd | was... whatever. Well, I'm okay now. I'll be fine." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | I beg your pardon? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take green" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "(It's mean to yank her out!)" | |||
| Fang says, "man, we are dicks to marie" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put yellow disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | A projected image of a rainforest appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Lucea arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x rainforest" | ||||
Floyd | It's only a projection. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Bert says, "(Undoing someone is fair. Yanking them out isn't.)" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Some girls like it rough!" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | A projected rainforest floats beside you. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome | Taleslinger says, "(I've heard)" | |||
Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | A projected rock concert floats beside you. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | baf exclaims, "Quick, put some dinosaur figurines in the rainforest!" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | A projected rock concert floats beside you. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | A projected rock concert floats beside you. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | A projected rock concert floats beside you. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take red" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | "You did not say the password," says the electronic voice. "For your Floyd | protection, this vehicle is now powering down." Floyd | Floyd | There's a quiet click from the console. The green button stops Floyd | glowing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "hee. Yes, it would have been fun to have her be a bit aware of her surroundings and complain if you do that" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put marie in slot" | ||||
Floyd | I don't see any marie here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline | It's only a projection. | |||
| Jacqueline | I have a mental image of that guy from The Holy Grail saying, "[Camelot?] It's only a model.' | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put green disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "say dolphin" | ||||
Floyd | An electronic voice replies, "Thank you. Your password is accepted." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is open; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently open). Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Except pretend I actually said that second sentence." | |||
| Bert asks, "Huh?" | ||||
| Nitku exclaims (at Jacqueline), "Shh!" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "push sunburst" | ||||
Floyd | There's a brief hum from the console, and the green button starts Floyd | glowing. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | Marie flicks in and out of view for a few moments, then settles into a Floyd | sitting posture beside you. She glances around the vehicle's interior Floyd | - presumably, the skycar has concealed visual pickups to give Floyd | projected images the power of sight - and then nods. Floyd | Floyd | "Okay. You've got the electrics running. Now you need to give the Floyd | drive some power. That lever there is the main throttle - pull it to Floyd | increase power and push to slacken off. Steering could be a problem - Floyd | I'll try to cut past the overrides and do it myself." Floyd | Floyd | Seeing your expression, Marie grins. "Why the surprise? I'm a Floyd | natural with cars. You should have seen me fly this before... when I Floyd | was... whatever. Well, I'm okay now. I'll be fine." Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "Ah." | |||
| Fang says, "Surely we should replace the coil" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "un out of gas somewhere far from home" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "gas". Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks, "What's the coil for?" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x coil" | ||||
Floyd | It's a thin coil of some heavily corroded metal, about ten centimetres Floyd | long and three across. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | It's a small box made from some decay-resistant pressed fibre, Floyd | possibly spun carbon or silicon. A label reads "Surefire palladium Floyd | ignitor coils, contents 6". The white box is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Fang), "oh, I wondered how long someone would think of that." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "ask marie about coil" | ||||
Floyd | Marie shrugs, indicating either ignorance or unwillingness to answer. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, let's go!" says Marie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "open box" | ||||
Floyd | Opening the white box reveals a transparent bag. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, let's go!" says Marie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x baf" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "baf". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x bafg" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "bafg". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x bag" | ||||
Floyd | It's a small bag made from transparent polymer sheeting, about the Floyd | size of your hand. In the transparent bag you see a shiny metal coil. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "open bag" | ||||
Floyd | Opened. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get bad coil" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "bad". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "get old coil" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put new coil in panel" | ||||
Floyd | You'll need to be more specific; there are several places to put Floyd | things in the access panel. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, let's go!" says Marie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The access panel is open. In the access panel you see a triangular Floyd | hole, a power cell, and a round hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "put new coil in round hole" | ||||
Floyd | The shiny metal coil screws neatly into the round hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Marie is pretty impatient." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, we can smell the cheese." | ||||
| baf exclaims, "Well, let's go!" | ||||
| Fang says, "we should swap her for the relaxing disk" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. An electronic voice says "Please Floyd | close the hatch before ignition." The lever clicks forward again. Floyd | Floyd | "Duh," grins Marie. "Better get that." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to baf), "God, not you, too." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "clsoe door" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "clsoe". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. An electronic voice says "Please Floyd | close the hatch before ignition." The lever clicks forward again. Floyd | Floyd | "Duh," grins Marie. "Better get that." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "close door" | ||||
Floyd | The exit hatch swings closed. Floyd | Floyd | "Ready to go yet?" asks Marie. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. An electronic voice says "Please Floyd | close the access panel before ignition." The lever clicks forward Floyd | again. Floyd | Floyd | "Duh," grins Marie. "Better get that." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "close panel" | ||||
Floyd | Closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > | Jacqueline giggles. | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "cf6" | ||||
Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "release parking break" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "release". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The skycar's engine ignites with a Floyd | deep vibrating hum. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar begins to lift into the air. Floyd | Floyd | Marie grins. "Nice liftoff. Now comes the tricky part. Open up the Floyd | throttle some more, and take us out of here - but be ready to hit it Floyd | when I tell you. I can't handle both steering and power at the same Floyd | time. I'm having enough trouble just computing myself as it is." Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says (to Fang), "Use the autosaver, not the save command." | |||
| Bert says, "Or you'll mess stuff up." | ||||
| Fang says, "doh" | ||||
| Nate asks, "ooh, autosaver?" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Here, we need a driver." | |||
| Bert says, "E.g., I think Fang just overwrote our last save." | ||||
| DavidW says, "if I recall" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Like, figuratively or literalyy." | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "pull throttle" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's hum increases to a Floyd | whine. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar accelerates up and out to the southwest, grazing the edge Floyd | of the vehicle dome's ceiling in a shower of sparks. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image flickers. "Sorry about that. Okay, I've got it now. Floyd | Watch out for the turn, I'm going to need full throttle in a moment." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "er, literally." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The skycar skims through the courtyard, heading directly for the Floyd | southern wall. Floyd | Floyd | "This is it!" shouts Marie, her hands flicking across the console. Floyd | "Full throttle, now!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "full throttle" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "full". Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "(That is, the save we'd saved so we could see what the ending would be like without Marie/the coil.)" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "pull throttle" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's whine increases to a Floyd | shriek. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar banks sharply to the south and east, pulling hard into a Floyd | near-vertical turn across the glowgrass lawn. Through the viewshield, Floyd | you see the pool and vehicle dome, tilted at a freakish angle. Floyd | Floyd | "Excellent!" shouts Marie. "I didn't think we were going to make that Floyd | one. Okay, slacken back a bit and I'll try to staighten us up." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Yeah, inky set up an autosaver that keeps track of your saves numerically so you don't have to think about what your last save name was." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "push throttle" | ||||
Floyd | You push the lever forward one notch. The engine's shriek decreases Floyd | to a whine. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar levels out into a gentle climbing arc, rising out of the Floyd | small valley that shelters the ruins of Marie's house. The vehicle Floyd | sways uneasily in the slipstream winds. Floyd | Floyd | "Better slacken up," says Marie, concentrating on the console. "I Floyd | can't get through these crosswinds any faster." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "push throttle" | ||||
Floyd | You push the lever forward one notch. The engine's whine decreases to Floyd | a hum. Floyd | Floyd | "That's fine," says Marie. "Hold it like that." Floyd | Floyd | > | Nitku says, "I guess we can't go anywhere without Marie giving instructions." | |||
| Fang says (to Bert), "I think we have one called take red or something" | ||||
| Bert says, "Well, we've never driven oen of these." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | An electronic voice says, "For your comfort and safety, the hatch will Floyd | not open while the vehicle is in motion." Floyd | Floyd | The skycar continues to follow the valley's curve, gradually heading Floyd | towards a forested ridge. Below, you get a clear view of the jungle: Floyd | tall green palms with leafy fronds, clustering thornbushes, strange Floyd | contorted ferns. All of them glowing, a soft pale green. Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks down at the jungle, wonderingly. "This was a city," she Floyd | breathes. "All this was city. Suburbs, housing estates, skycars, Floyd | towers... all gone. I don't believe it." She turns away, as if Floyd | unwilling to reveal any more emotion. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "perhaps we can try yanking her now" | |||
| Bert says, "Comfort and safety? A feature like that would never be legal today." | ||||
| baf says, "You guys are mean." | ||||
| Nate says, "haha" | ||||
| Nate says, "I don't know if I coded for that" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "push save" | Bert says, "I'm not mean! Just Fang." | |||
Floyd | I don't understand that sentence. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "cf8" | ||||
Floyd | File to save game in > Floyd | Saved. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take yellow" | ||||
Floyd | You already have the yellow disk! Floyd | Floyd | The skycar reaches the end of the valley, approaching the ridge. To Floyd | the west, the sun is sinking behind the mountains; golden light gives Floyd | everything a dreamlike aura, like one single fading moment of Floyd | innocence. Floyd | Floyd | Marie takes one last look back at the valley, as if fixing it in her Floyd | mind. Floyd | Floyd | > | Otto says, "Seems this vehicle is equiped with Microsoft Windows..." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "ask her about city" | ||||
Floyd | [But you don't know anything worth mentioning about any city yet.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "take green" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar falters, losing height. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Otto), "heh" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "Oops." | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in the air Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the jungle below. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, ";hey maybe I did" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "make out" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "make". Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "You must have." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "kiss marie" | ||||
Floyd | Marie kisses you briefly on the lips. "Mmmm," she says, "But I don't Floyd | have the processor power for this right now. And besides, you don't Floyd | want me. You want a girl who's alive." Floyd | Floyd | The skycar tops the ridge and breaks through into a scene of Floyd | devastation. A smouldering crater, carved out of the jungle by the Floyd | doomed dropship's crash. There's no wreckage; a turbine implosion Floyd | never leaves more than scattered plasma. You watch silently as the Floyd | crater passes by beneath. If your team were lucky, they had a few Floyd | seconds to activate the escape wormhole, and make their own way home. Floyd | If not... Floyd | Floyd | Marie looks over at you, her face gentle. "So, it was true. You had Floyd | friends too." She looks back at the console for a moment, then at Floyd | you. "Lost? Or... no. There's still hope, isn't there?" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar leaves the crater, passing over a sheer cliff - recently Floyd | fractured by the dropship's blast wave - into a river valley that Floyd | winds its way out towards more familiar territory. The setting sun Floyd | slowly drops out of sight, leaving a trail of soft green light as the Floyd | glowgrass jungle switches on its full bioluminescence. Bright moving Floyd | dots mark the passage of birds and predators. You hope Marie doesn't Floyd | ask about the taller ones; or notice the drop of greenish, sparkling, Floyd | blood oozing from the tiny cut on your arm. Tommorow will be time Floyd | enough for everything. Floyd | Floyd | "Hope," continues Marie, quietly, watching the jungle swallow the Floyd | night. "Yes. I guess that's all any of us has." Floyd | Floyd | You nod, silently. There doesn't seem anything else to say. Floyd | Floyd | *** The end... for now *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | Nate says, "DUM DUM DUM" | |||
| Nate says, "congratulations" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "sequel!" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in the air Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the jungle below. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You're a world-renowned xenohistorian and student of Ancient Floyd | artifacts. And you're in reasonably good shape, given the mess this Floyd | field trip has turned into. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar leaves the crater, passing over a sheer cliff - recently Floyd | fractured by the dropship's blast wave - into a river valley that Floyd | winds its way out towards more familiar territory. The setting sun Floyd | slowly drops out of sight, leaving a trail of soft green light as the Floyd | glowgrass jungle switches on its full bioluminescence. Bright moving Floyd | dots mark the passage of birds and predators. You hope Marie doesn't Floyd | ask about the taller ones; or notice the drop of greenish, sparkling, Floyd | blood oozing from the tiny cut on your arm. Tommorow will be time Floyd | enough for everything. Floyd | Floyd | "Hope," continues Marie, quietly, watching the jungle swallow the Floyd | night. "Yes. I guess that's all any of us has." Floyd | Floyd | You nod, silently. There doesn't seem anything else to say. Floyd | Floyd | *** The end... for now *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in the air Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the jungle below. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pull green" | ||||
Floyd | Which green do you mean, the green button, or the green disk? Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "I never did really figure out whether the glowgrass was the cause of the plague or what saved humanity from it" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take green disk" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar falters, losing height. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says (to Nate), "yeah, I always wondered that" | |||
| Taleslinger asks, "What the line about taller predators? Did we miss something?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This was really great, Nate." | ||||
| Fang says, "or whether 'we' are the green plague" | ||||
| K-Y says, "I played this twice, I know that much" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put in yellow disk" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to put? Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Probably the glowgrass was a co-cause of the plague. It probably wasn't the only factor." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put yellow disk in slow" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "slow". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put yellow disk in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | A projected image of a rainforest appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | Helplessly out of control, the skycar plunges down into the jungle. Floyd | Floyd | Trapped in the wreckage, you desperately race to free yourself, but Floyd | it's too late. The car's electrics die, sending a last surge of Floyd | unregulated power through the fusion ignitors. Everything within a Floyd | thirty metre radius explodes. Floyd | Floyd | The recovery team, six months later, finds no trace of your body. Had Floyd | you lived, you would have warned them to may more attention to Floyd | instructions. Floyd | Floyd | *** Your expedition has failed *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | Otto says, "great game. I had some hard time figuring out what it was talking about, but nice anyway :)" | |||
| Taleslinger says, "I thought the green plague was the jungle. Supid plants." | ||||
| K-Y says, "But I can't remember most of it" | ||||
| Nate says, "well, you are a descendent of what 'humanity' ended up being after the plague, which was partly plant-based because of having glowgrass in your genes" | ||||
| K-Y says, "oops, typo there" | ||||
| Nate says, "because the glowgrass, being the first mass-produced gene-modified product, was everywhere and so ended up part of the big whoosh" | ||||
| Taleslinger asks (of nate), "Ah, so that's the taller predators?" | ||||
| Otto says, "yes, may => pay" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in the air Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the jungle below. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "I dunno, they're just weird mutant dinosaurs and things" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in the air Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the jungle below. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x blood" | ||||
Floyd | I don't know the word "blood". Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "Ha ha." | |||
| Taleslinger says (to Floyd), "magprobe marie" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "and presumably there's some reason why the super-smart future plant-people have never gone into these old jungles before" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "probe marie" | ||||
Floyd | There's no verb in that sentence! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put green in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar leaves the crater, passing over a sheer cliff - recently Floyd | fractured by the dropship's blast wave - into a river valley that Floyd | winds its way out towards more familiar territory. The setting sun Floyd | slowly drops out of sight, leaving a trail of soft green light as the Floyd | glowgrass jungle switches on its full bioluminescence. Bright moving Floyd | dots mark the passage of birds and predators. You hope Marie doesn't Floyd | ask about the taller ones; or notice the drop of greenish, sparkling, Floyd | blood oozing from the tiny cut on your arm. Tommorow will be time Floyd | enough for everything. Floyd | Floyd | "Hope," continues Marie, quietly, watching the jungle swallow the Floyd | night. "Yes. I guess that's all any of us has." Floyd | Floyd | You nod, silently. There doesn't seem anything else to say. Floyd | Floyd | *** The end... for now *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | DavidW says, "The probe's back in the house." | |||
| Fang says, "nah, everything is in the car" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "sequel!!" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Are the super-smart future plant-people even earth people?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Taleslinger), "Oh yeah, good idea." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "restore cf6" | ||||
Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
Floyd | File to restore > | Nate says, "well, they're post-humans" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Well, we went two hours. I say we table the Spider & Web thing until next week." | |||
| Bert says, "I think when I read it, I wasn't certain if they were even related to humans or not." | ||||
| Nate says, "they might live on the Moon or something, I'm not sure" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "s/2hrs/1:45hrs." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's hum increases to a Floyd | whine. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar accelerates up and out to the southwest, grazing the edge Floyd | of the vehicle dome's ceiling in a shower of sparks. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image flickers. "Sorry about that. Okay, I've got it now. Floyd | Watch out for the turn, I'm going to need full throttle in a moment." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's whine increases to a Floyd | shriek. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar skims through the courtyard, heading directly for the Floyd | southern wall. Floyd | Floyd | "This is it!" shouts Marie, her hands flicking across the console. Floyd | "Full throttle, now!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | Nate says, "anyway, yay for playing." | |||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The skycar banks sharply to the south and east, pulling hard into a Floyd | near-vertical turn across the glowgrass lawn. Through the viewshield, Floyd | you see the pool and vehicle dome, tilted at a freakish angle. Floyd | Floyd | "Excellent!" shouts Marie. "I didn't think we were going to make that Floyd | one. Okay, slacken back a bit and I'll try to staighten us up." Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "But it seems perfectly reasonable to consider that the Earth wasn't practical to live on anymore, and they've been building civilization elsewhere." | |||
| Bert asks, "And who is Nate to claim otherwise?" | ||||
| Bert says, "He doesn't even know what the big dino-things are." | ||||
| Fang says, "I guess not following her instructions works too" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
Floyd | File to restore game from > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | Restored. Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in vehicle dome Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the vehicle dome. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image sits on the seat beside you, watching the Floyd | console. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "take green" | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "Yay for you writing this. Really good stuff." | |||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's image vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar continues to hover a few feet above the ground. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's hum increases to a Floyd | whine. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar accelerates up and out to the southwest, grazing the edge Floyd | of the vehicle dome's ceiling in a shower of sparks. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the lever back one notch. The engine's whine increases to a Floyd | shriek. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar skims through the courtyard, heading directly for the Floyd | southern wall. You wrestle with the controls, but find that you have Floyd | no steering! Floyd | Floyd | A moment later, the skycar collides with the wall, shearing up and Floyd | nearly over before flipping and plunging nose-first into the ground. Floyd | The electrics die; fusion ignitors spark in a final unregulated surge Floyd | of power, and then the vehicle and everything within a thirty metre Floyd | radius explodes. Floyd | Floyd | The recovery team, six months later, finds no trace of your body. But Floyd | had you survived, you would have warned them against flying an unknown Floyd | craft without competent assistance. Floyd | Floyd | *** Your expedition has failed *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | Jacqueline says (to Nate), "We look for a sequel to be released, addressing all these questions we have, on the fifteenth anniversary of the game's release." | |||
| Nate says, "Skycar proudly manufactured by Ford Pinto" | ||||
| Bert says, "Ha." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Fang says, "hah" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | (Undoing one command) Floyd | Floyd | Skycar, in courtyard Floyd | The interior of the skycar is fairly cramped compared to a modern Floyd | altiwing or dropship. There's a control console directly in front of Floyd | you, and a viewshield through which you can see the courtyard. The Floyd | exit hatch to your side is closed; in the rear of the car is an access Floyd | panel (currently closed). A green button on the console is glowing. Floyd | Floyd | You see a Frisbee Helipta, a white vat, and a magprobe here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Taleslinger says (to nate), "Well, this mentioned a civilized mars" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put in green disk" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to put? Floyd | Floyd | > | Nate says, "that wasa 'fuck you for derailing my train-ride' ending" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "put green in slot" | ||||
Floyd | Done. Floyd | Floyd | Marie's projected image appears on the seat beside you. Floyd | Floyd | The skycar skims through the courtyard, heading directly for the Floyd | southern wall. Floyd | Floyd | "This is it!" shouts Marie, her hands flicking across the console. Floyd | "Full throttle, now!" Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "ha" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes... Floyd | Floyd | The skycar banks sharply to the south and east, pulling hard into a Floyd | near-vertical turn across the glowgrass lawn. The engines struggle Floyd | for power, but there isn't enough; the car stalls, spins, and crashes Floyd | out of the sky into the concrete pool. Floyd | Floyd | Trapped in the wreckage, you desperately race to free yourself, but Floyd | it's too late. The car's electrics die, sending a last surge of Floyd | unregulated power through the fusion ignitors. Everything within a Floyd | thirty metre radius explodes. Floyd | Floyd | The recovery team, six months later, finds no trace of your body. Had Floyd | you lived, you would have warned them to may more attention to Floyd | instructions. Floyd | Floyd | *** Your expedition has failed *** Floyd | Floyd | You may RESTORE a saved game, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO the previous Floyd | command. Floyd | Please enter RESTORE, RESTART, QUIT, or UNDO: > | Jacqueline says, "Great game, everyone. Let's discuss next week." | |||
| Nate says, "cheers. I better go now." | ||||
| Nate says, "bye" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Bye, Nate!" | ||||
| Nate goes home. | Taleslinger says, "Bye, Nate." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "There was a request from a reader (not a player, ever, iirc) for us to finish Spider & Web. We could address that request next week on its own, or we could choose a really short game to combine it with." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Ideas?" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Are there any games that have been in the ifComp top 3 that haven't been played on CF yet?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "You mean for any given year?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm sure there probably are." | ||||
| Bert says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We haven't gone through things that systematically." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We've recently been working through the suggested list here." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), ">X CFS" | ||||
| Fang asks, "has everyone here played S&W?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Huh. S&W is still on there." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I have not." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "They started it, didn't finish. It was a week when I was not here." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "I have and didn't care too much for it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I was not terribly sad about that, as I hear it is quite puzzly and difficult, which is not my standard enjoyable experience. I'm in it for story more than puzzles, but maybe I don't know enough about the game." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So there's a partial transcript on the site, which I processed, but have not even looked at." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking rather than 'finish it,' we should play it from scratch if we're going to deal with it at all, unless the people who were there for that play session want to pick it up by themselves, which'd be fine." | ||||
| Bert asks, "We played ACitW, Tooneesia, and Uncle Zebulon's Will, right?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Nitku says, "My vote is on Babel or The Edifice." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'd like TMtSatLGoS, but that's probably not a two hour game." | ||||
| inky says, "I was going to run through the rest of spider & web after we were done here, but I won't do that if you're going to play it again later" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, I'm not hearing a ton of ideas on the S&W request." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Actually, if you're up for doing that today, that'd be fine and great, methinks." | ||||
| Bert asks, "Has Metamorphoses been played yet?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm on a tenuous 'net connection, so if you could maintain Perry's log on your connection and send me a transcript, that'd be better." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Yes." | ||||
| Bert says, "Also, yeah, I'd favor playing S&W from scratch rather than trying to build a partial save." | ||||
| Nitku says, "I don't really like S&W that much and frankly I would be a bit disappointed if another full session would be used for it." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "i'd like TMtSatLGoS, too,but given that it's by GM , a "look" in the wrong place might make it unwinnable." | ||||
| Bert says, "But I've already finished it, so I'm kinda irrelevant to the question." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to T), "Well, that's what >PUSH SAVE is for." | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "I don't care too much about S&W either." | ||||
| Nitku asks, "Maybe there could be an extra session for those who want to play S&W again?" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "I'd like "For a change."" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'll play S&W from scratch if there's other interest, but it sounds like there's not, and that people would be okay with inky's plan outside of CF." | ||||
| Bert says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Is that the consensus?" | ||||
| Taleslinger says, "Yup." | ||||
| Nitku says, "sounds good." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of inky), "You up for that?" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Has CF played All Roads?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Hm, I don't think so, but I'd have to check the list to know for sure." | ||||
| baf says, "Hm. All Roads seems like it would be a good CF game" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, I'll log it" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Earth and Sky and its sequels?" | ||||
| baf says, "because it really supports discussion." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Okay, I'll shut down Perry on my end." | ||||
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