  
 
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 Being Andrew Plotkin, written by J. Robinson Wheeler. Being Andrew Plotkin was originally released as part of the 2000 Interactive Fiction Competition, where it took third place. It went on to be nominated for six Xyzzy Awards, including Best Story, Best Individual PC, Best Individual NPC, and Best Individual Puzzle, ultimately winning the Xyzzies for Best NPCs and Best Game. 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, "I should probably have watched the movie beforehand, but I am sadly unprepared." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, on my watch we still have a minute, but on the ifMUD clock it says that we're past time, so...." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load beingandrewplotkin" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | At last, your troubled fortunes seemed to come to an end. It all Floyd | happened very quickly: the callback from Red Hat, the bizarre interview Floyd | with Human Resources, the handshake, the filling out of W-2 forms, and Floyd | then your first day of work. Floyd | Floyd | You thought maybe your experience writing Interactive Fiction games Floyd | (sixteenth place in the last IF Comp, a good improvement from 33rd Floyd | place the year before that) had finally landed you a programming job. Floyd | But no, you seemed to qualify only for menial clerical work. You took Floyd | it. What else could you do? Sigh. Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling does nothing to Floyd | brighten your morale. Short file cabinets, marked in reverse Floyd | alphabetical order, crawl in a line along the walls like an army of Floyd | stupid robots. One measly window lets in a tiny square of sunlight. Floyd | Floyd | You see a copier machine here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline clears the save counter. | inky says, "that "the bizarre interview with human resources" is probably a ref to human resources stories" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You're Peter Feeney, a bright young guy with a healthy self-image. You Floyd | do feel that life hasn't brought you the success and fame that you Floyd | deserve, but that will come with time, in your humble opinion. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky | [LINK] | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | (the window) Floyd | The window faces out to the north, getting a good view of the Red Hat Floyd | corporate campus and the beautiful Research Triangle Park scenery. The Floyd | window is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "xyzzy" | ||||
Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Gerynar arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | For old time's sake. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling does nothing to Floyd | brighten your morale. Short file cabinets, marked in reverse Floyd | alphabetical order, crawl in a line along the walls like an army of Floyd | stupid robots. One measly window lets in a tiny square of sunlight. Floyd | Floyd | You see a copier machine here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x copier" | ||||
Floyd | The copier has a lid which covers a big pane of glass, and a panel with Floyd | buttons. The big green button makes copies. That's all you've ever Floyd | needed to push on it. In fact, your annoying supervisor, Melvin Floyd | Prufrock, impressed upon you, at stammering length, how temperamental Floyd | the machine is, and how expensive copier repair guys are. Bah. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x cabinets" | ||||
Floyd | The file cabinets are marked in reverse alphabetical order: cabinet Z, Floyd | cabinet Z-Y, cabinet X-Y, etc. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sit on copier" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you can sit down on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sit on glass" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you can sit down on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | (the window) Floyd | The window faces out to the north, getting a good view of the Red Hat Floyd | corporate campus and the beautiful Research Triangle Park scenery. The Floyd | window is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "copy butt" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to Floyd,), "extend ceiling" | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Nice try. Pull your trousers down first - duh." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x z" | ||||
Floyd | File cabinet Z takes documents from Zz-Ze. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x y" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to Floyd), "extend ceiling" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "But Zz-Ze doesn't include Za, which is short for Zarf!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x z-y" | ||||
Floyd | File cabinet Z-Y takes documents from Za-Yi. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up zarf in z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the Z-Y cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Ah, makes sense." | |||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "look in z" | ||||
Floyd | Inside you see filed documents. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read documents" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling does nothing to Floyd | brighten your morale. Short file cabinets, marked in reverse Floyd | alphabetical order, crawl in a line along the walls like an army of Floyd | stupid robots. One measly window lets in a tiny square of sunlight. Floyd | Floyd | You see a copier machine here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open copier" | ||||
Floyd | You open the lid. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | You have to stay on the job. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open window" | ||||
Floyd | (the window) Floyd | You open the window. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky asks, "do we actually know what our job is?" | |||
| RootShell says, "from ZZ to ZE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "work" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I think we are a file clerk." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look out window" | ||||
Floyd | (the window) Floyd | You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | * theclam has joined the channel. | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "exit window" | ||||
Floyd | (the window) Floyd | You have to stay on the job. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sleep" | ||||
Floyd | You aren't feeling especially drowsy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling does nothing to Floyd | brighten your morale. Short file cabinets, marked in reverse Floyd | alphabetical order, crawl in a line along the walls like an army of Floyd | stupid robots. One measly window lets in a tiny square of sunlight. Floyd | Floyd | You see a copier machine here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "file file" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the file cabinets, the Z cabinet, the Z-Y cabinet, Floyd | the Y-X cabinet or the other cabinets? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x y-x" | ||||
Floyd | File cabinet Y-X takes documents from Ye-Xa. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up xyzzy in y-x" | ||||
Floyd | You discover nothing of interest in the Y-X cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open y-x" | ||||
Floyd | You open the Y-X cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | Inside you see filed documents. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get documents" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "#bandname Ye-Xa" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open z-y" | ||||
Floyd | The Z-Y cabinet drawer seems to be stuck. Not locked, just kind of not Floyd | moving very easily. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ok, now we're talkin'" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open z-y" | ||||
Floyd | The Z-Y cabinet drawer seems to be stuck. Not locked, just kind of not Floyd | moving very easily. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Melvin, your supervisor, gangles into the room. With his elongated Floyd | height and pasty, translucent skin, he looks like the big funky alien Floyd | at the end of "Close Encounters," only more puppet-like. He approaches Floyd | you cautiously. Even though he's your boss, he always seems to be Floyd | intimidated by you. Floyd | Floyd | "H-hi, Peter," he says. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Oh, hi Melvin. Floyd | 2: Go away, idiot. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "Trigger: pressed." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Oh, hi Melvin." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin swallows, his dry throat making a thwupping noise that really Floyd | turns your stomach. "Mmm. Making some copies there?" he asks. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: No, I'm hacking into NORAD and launching Global Thermonuclear War. Floyd | 2: Yeah, pictures of Valerie's butt. Wanna see? Floyd | 3: (sigh) Yes, Melvin. I'm making copies. What's up? Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "YAY 1" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, inky, #2 sort of vindicates you." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I want to play it nice and boring this first time." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "(sigh) Yes, Melvin. I'm making copies. What's up?" Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fiddles with a small stack of folders in his sweaty hands. "I Floyd | was wondering, um. Are you busy?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Yes. I'm terribly busy. You'll have to come back later. Floyd | 2: What is it you want, Melvin? Floyd | Floyd | >> | RootShell says, "i suspect inky real name is Valerie :P" | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "What is it you want, Melvin?" Floyd | Floyd | "I was wondering if you could sort these for me," he says, handing you Floyd | the folders. There are sweat stains on them. Stifling the urge to make Floyd | a comment, you adjust your grip to touch only the dry spots. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "um, ew" | |||
| theclam says (to Floyd), "x stains" | ||||
Floyd | They're just sweat stains. Kind of large sweat stains. In fact, they're Floyd | not just everyday sweat stains. They smell kind of funny, too. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x folders" | ||||
Floyd | The folders are a stack of about thirty plain folders, currently Floyd | unsorted. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to Floyd), "lick stains" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read folders" | ||||
Floyd | You flip through the folders, but none of it interests you. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | RootShell asks, "blarghhhh lick?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "smell stains" | ||||
Floyd | They smell funkily sweet, almost like antifreeze. Melvin must have been Floyd | working on his car this morning or something. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I am now trying to picture a clam licking file folders..." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "The idea of a clam licking anything is a pretty amusing mental image, to be fair." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "Melvin, goodbye" | ||||
Floyd | Please use >TALK TO PLAYER to interact in this game. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | theclam says, "it's not that difficult if you have the right tools in advance" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to Melvin" | ||||
Floyd | You can't think of anything in particular to say. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of clam), "Like, a tongue?" | |||
| theclam says, "like a paperclip, or a tongue" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sort folders" | ||||
Floyd | You're actually pretty much of a whiz at sorting, which might be why Floyd | you got the job you did. "Time me," you tell Melvin, and 13 seconds Floyd | later you're done. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x stopwatch" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x watch" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "x clock" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x Melvin" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin Prufrock is a thin, translucent looking individual, with tics Floyd | and other twitchy mannerisms passing for a personality. He is insanely Floyd | tall, approaching six foot eight, but probably only weighs 130 pounds Floyd | with clothes on. You don't even want to consider what he's like without Floyd | clothes on. He also looks like he's about six years younger than you Floyd | are, so about nineteen, and yet he's several rankings above you on the Floyd | ladder. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fidgets, waiting for you to finish. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "give folders to Melvin" | ||||
Floyd | You start to hand them to Melvin, but he starts making a choking noise. Floyd | You realize he's trying to tell you that you've sorted them into the Floyd | wrong order again. For whatever reason, they like to use reverse Floyd | alphabetical order in this company. Go figure. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| zarf arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | Jacqueline says, "Oho - Hello, zarf." | |||
| zarf says, "hi" | ||||
| theclam asks, "so one of you is a robot that can tell time automatically?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Now this'll REALLY be surreal." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sort folders" | ||||
Floyd | You re-sort the folders, taking only 11 seconds this time. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "I forgot until I walked in here" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "give folders to Melvin" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin says, "Excellent. You're really amazing at this. Oh, and could Floyd | you file them now? I guess that's really what I was after." Without Floyd | even giving you a chance to say no, Melvin hustles away. You swear you Floyd | almost hear his bones clacking together when he moves that fast. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar asks, "yeah, how can we BE zarf, when he's standing right there?" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "file folders" | ||||
Floyd | Well, let's see. The Z's are on top. The first one is labeled, Floyd | "Zefferelli," so it should probably go into the Z cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open z cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | You open the Z cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Gerynar), "You are breaking my brane." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put zefferelli in it" | ||||
Floyd | You stick the Zefferelli folder into cabinet Z and close the drawer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "file folders" | ||||
Floyd | (the sorted folders) Floyd | Well, let's see. The Z's are on top. The first one is labeled, "Zarf: Floyd | Classified," so it should probably go into the Z-Y cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says, ""zarf: classified" is also a newsgroup in-joke" | ||||
| inky says (to Alex), "zarf/" | ||||
| Alex exclaims (at inky), "Awwwk! No parse found!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| inky asks (of Alex), "zarf?" | ||||
| Alex says (to inky), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that zarf is Andrew Plotkin of the world public. Also, [LINK] . Furthermore, Andrew Plotkin is zarf." | ||||
| inky says, "dang" | ||||
| zarf asks, "newsgroup joke?" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "read zarf" | ||||
Floyd | (the sorted folders) Floyd | Eagerly, you flip open the "Zarf: Classified" folder, only to find that Floyd | it contains a top secret patent application for the design of a new Floyd | improved type of cup holder. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "open z-y" | ||||
Floyd | The Z-Y cabinet drawer seems to be stuck. Not locked, just kind of not Floyd | moving very easily. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "[LINK] , anyhow" | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "search z-y" | ||||
Floyd | Inside you see filed documents. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "disseminated-via-the-newsgroup, I guess" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | Man, this cabinet is really stuck shut. Better try again. This time, Floyd | with feeling. Floyd | Floyd | You feel a faint cool breath of air. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You give the stuck cabinet drawer the old heave-ho, and instead of Floyd | merely opening, it yanks loose from the wall, revealing a strange, Floyd | small door in the wall! Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "From #Alex... Zarf, you have a British accent?" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Flyd), "x door" | inky says, "the "faint cool breath of air" thing is a So Far ref, I believe" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | The strange secret door is only about three feet high, and painted a Floyd | shade of crimson. Gold flecks in the paint give it a sparkly, almost Floyd | magical appearance. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Not that I've ever tried to imagine your voice, though. Hrm." | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "feel air" | ||||
Floyd | It seems to be coming from the secret door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "take air" | ||||
Floyd | That's hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "storme once said I had a (US) Southern accent." | |||
| inky says, "also, the coffee mug ref before is one of the few things that shows up for zarf in the dictionary" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to z), "Perhaps one day I shall evaluate that." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "put zarf in z-y" | ||||
Floyd | (the sorted folders in the Z-Y cabinet) Floyd | You stick the Zarf folders into cabinet X-Y and close the drawer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | The strange secret door is only about three feet high, and painted a Floyd | shade of crimson. Gold flecks in the paint give it a sparkly, almost Floyd | magical appearance. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, wait, you just did that." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | A hush of ancient air, tinged with organic sweetness, flows out of the Floyd | opened portal. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "the pics I've seen of you, zarf, don't lead me to believe you have a southern accent. (Yes, unlike Jacqueline, I do try to imagine folks voices)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "smell air" | ||||
Floyd | The air smells like old books, soft leather, caramel, and just a hint Floyd | of cinnamon muffins. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "I grew up in New Jersey and then Maryland. Maryland is *techically* the South." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Technically." | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "look through door" | ||||
Floyd | You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says (to Geryner), "well, he doesn't have any up of the ones with him in a bonnet sipping juleps" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Yay. Thank you for that mental picture." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "file folders" | ||||
Floyd | Well, let's see. The Y's are on top. The first one is labeled, "Y2," so Floyd | it should probably go into the Y-X cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says (to inky), "must be why" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "read y2" | ||||
Floyd | You flip open the top folder, but its contents don't interest you. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says (to inky), "yeah, thanks" | |||
| zarf says, "Y'ALL" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "knock on door" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "inky says (to zarf), "Don't mention it, sugah."" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "open y-x" | ||||
Floyd | That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I wonder how many folders Rob implemented" | |||
| inky says, "he's kind of nuts" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put y2 in y-x" | ||||
Floyd | You stick the Y2 folder into cabinet X-Y and close the drawer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "file folders" | ||||
Floyd | [BUG - wrong folder in player ] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says, "that many!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | some folders Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of inky), "You mean that in the nicest way possible, right?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x folders" | ||||
Floyd | The folders are a stack of about thirty plain folders, currently sorted Floyd | intoreversealphabetical order. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "of course" | |||
| inky says, "also, note that he wrote this in some crazy short time" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "read folders" | ||||
Floyd | You flip through the folders, but none of it interests you. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Did he?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Also, enter the door?" | ||||
| inky says, "I think it was a last-minute replacement for some other game idea that got scrapped" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | You pass through the portal into a dark tunnel, which sighs with Floyd | melodic longing as you enter. Floyd | Floyd | Weird Tunnel Floyd | You are on your hands and knees in a claustrophobic tunnel. It leads Floyd | down, as nearly as you can tell, but your equilibrium is distorted in Floyd | here. The curving walls gleam with the semblance of wet rock, but the Floyd | palms of your hands tell a different story. It feels like organic Floyd | tissue, a thick layer of hide, with the elastic strength of muscle. Floyd | Like sharkskin, it is silken and slick in one direction but resists any Floyd | backwards movement with a roughened grain. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by three points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | * JeremyAvalon has joined the channel. | |||
| inky says, "this should be a hunter in darkness ref, but I guess it predates it" | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "fullscore" | ||||
Floyd | You have so far scored 3 out of a possible 12, in 64 turns. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, oops - sorry there, Jeremy. I just assumed you were on this channel!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "back" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "forward" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter tunnel" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | You can't go that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "Sorreh, I didn't realize there WAS a channel. XP" | |||
| theclam asks, "there wouldn't be sharkskin on the inside of a shark, would there?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), " x rock" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "assume a shark rotated through the inverse axis of symmetry" | |||
| Gerynar says, "sure...if he ate another shark" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "in" | ||||
Floyd | You begin to crawl forward, the tunnel floor oozing and pliable under Floyd | your knees and palms. The secret door bangs shut and disappears. The Floyd | tunnel begins to shiver, and from up ahead a roar like a waterfall Floyd | issues from the darkness. Your hands suddenly lose traction as gravity Floyd | begins its quickening pull. You begin to slide down... down... down... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | B E I N G A N D R E W P L O T K I N Floyd | by J. Robinson Wheeler Floyd | Type ABOUT for information about this release.Release 2 / Serial number Floyd | 080423 / Inform v6.31 Library 6/11 Floyd | Floyd | At Zarf's Desk (in Zarf's head) Floyd | Weird! You're inside Zarf's head!You see the opening of Zarf's eyes, Floyd | giving you a sort of bifocal window into the surrounding environment. Floyd | Outside of Zarf, you see a workdesk containing a gigantic computer Floyd | monitor, a keyboard, tidy arrangements of notes, and a collection of Floyd | little toys and knick-knacks. Floyd | Floyd | Inside of Zarf's head, you see weird flashes of light. A number of Floyd | eerie sounds float around. You presume these effects are caused by the Floyd | random firing of synapses in a very active mind. There are no exits Floyd | that you can perceive. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf types some code into his computer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x monitor" | ||||
Floyd | The gigantic computer monitor is displaying a lot of complicated Floyd | programming code. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf types more code into his computer, then saves the file. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read code" | ||||
Floyd | You are suddenly humbled by the awareness that you don't know the first Floyd | thing about professional programming, because you can't tell what this Floyd | code does, even though it looks quite organized, efficient, and Floyd | well-commented. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf compiles his code. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x toys" | ||||
Floyd | There are little colored shapes and game pieces, a couple of metal Floyd | cubes sitting next to each other. There is a larger, third cube, an Floyd | elaborate assemblage of puzzle pieces, plated with gold. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf traces down a typo, saves again, and recompiles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x notes" | ||||
Floyd | Beyond the fact that they're tidy, you can't really read what's written Floyd | on them from here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf takes a drink out of a glass. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I forget how much of this is based on reality" | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You're Peter Feeney, a bright young guy with a healthy self-image. You Floyd | do feel that life hasn't brought you the success and fame that you Floyd | deserve, but that will come with time, in your humble opinion. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "It's in *California*?" His voice echoes, deep and Floyd | resonantly, through his head. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "uh, the setting at zarf's house, I mean, not the inside-his-head thing" | |||
| zarf says, "I'm sure I sent Rob some notes" | ||||
| inky asks, "I *think* this is you working on Shade?" | ||||
| zarf says, "yes" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is sort of like that 'Here is a photo of my desk' blog meme, but textual and taken to a weird extreme." | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "yes" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x light" | ||||
Floyd | Inside of Zarf's head, you see weird flashes of light. A number of Floyd | eerie sounds float around. You presume these effects are caused by the Floyd | random firing of synapses in a very active mind. There are no exits Floyd | that you can perceive. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf types some more code into his computer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "touch light" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing seems to have any real substance here, although it's hard to Floyd | tell if it's your imagination or Zarf's. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf saves his code ag-- Floyd | | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x voice" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, you are falling from a somewhat drastic height at the usual Floyd | 9.8 meters per second squared. Your acceleration and velocity are Floyd | halted when a large hedge on the Red Hat campus grounds rushes up to Floyd | catch you. Floyd | Floyd | Hedge Floyd | Spiny, poky leaves weed their way through your clothing and stab you in Floyd | uncomfortable and sensitive places. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "whoops, I dunno if I did that or if it was a timer" | |||
| zarf says, "Rob didn't contact me until pretty late in development, so I had an alpha of the game right off the bat." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think it's a timer, iirc." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "would fit in with the movie, what with folks only being JM for 15 minutes at a time" | ||||
| zarf says, "no, wait. He sent me a transcript first" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Gerynar), "Right." | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | some folders Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x hedge" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "file folders" | ||||
Floyd | [BUG - wrong folder in player ] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hedge Floyd | Spiny, poky leaves weed their way through your clothing and stab you in Floyd | uncomfortable and sensitive places. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "exit hedge" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | You can't go that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Peter climbs out of the hedge. Meanwhile, back upstairs... Floyd | Floyd | Kitchenette (as Valerie) Floyd | The kitchenette is a bland little room with rose print wallpaper and Floyd | the constant smell of coffee and orange rinds. You do your best to keep Floyd | the place tidy, but of course that's impossible with the 300 pound Floyd | gorillas, also known as "co-workers," who sling their hairy bulk Floyd | through here every day, leaving an unsightly mess. Since it's still Floyd | morning, you can stand to look at the place without getting out the Floyd | sponge and cleaning up. A coffee maker burbles in the corner. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin rotates into your field of view one awkward angle at a time. He Floyd | bangs his akimbo elbows on the sides of the doorframe, making a Floyd | horrible clanking noise on the metal. It doesn't seem to faze him. Floyd | Floyd | "Hey there, beautiful," he says in a syrupy voice. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Hi, Melvin. Floyd | 2: (sigh) Hi, Melvin. Floyd | 3: (groan) Goodbye, Melvin. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Thanks." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh yay - now we'll be able to Xerox our bum." | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "(sigh) Hi, Melvin." Floyd | Floyd | "Hey, don't sound so negative," Melvin says. "I was just saying hello." Floyd | He leans casually against the fridge, and it tilts, causing a clunk and | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "bang akimbo elbows" | ||||
Floyd | a splash noise inside. "Whoops," he says. "Don't worry about it. So, Floyd | busy for lunch?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: (groan) Goodbye, Melvin. Floyd | 2: Yeah, I've got big lunch plans. Sorry. Floyd | 3: If you don't clean up that fridge right now, it's going to cause a Floyd | big problem for someone later. Namely, me. Floyd | Floyd | >> Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: (groan) Goodbye, Melvin. Floyd | 2: Yeah, I've got big lunch plans. Sorry. Floyd | 3: If you don't clean up that fridge right now, it's going to cause a Floyd | big problem for someone later. Namely, me. Floyd | Floyd | >> | djfletch says, "oops" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Be nice, or mean?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I sort of want to be mean this time. Like, #3." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Second the motion." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "If you don't clean up that fridge right now, it's going to Floyd | cause a big problem for someone later. Namely, me." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin says, "Come on, I know you love to clean things up. I just did Floyd | you a favor. I just gave you an excuse for the next time you decide to Floyd | take an extra break from your desk." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: (groan) Goodbye, Melvin. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "(groan) Goodbye, Melvin." Floyd | Floyd | "So I'll seeya later?" Melvin calls out as you leave. Brrr. Serves you Floyd | right for trying to sneak an extra break from work. You steal back to Floyd | your desk, hoping no one besides Melvin saw you so obviously slacking. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie's Desk (as Valerie) Floyd | Your desk looked spiffy when you left it last night. By the time you Floyd | got here this morning, the minions of evil had sneaked in and dropped Floyd | off a messy pile of work. You've ignored it so far, but it's not really Floyd | going to go away on its own. On your computer, though, is email that Floyd | needs to be read. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a messy pile of work here. Floyd | Floyd | By the way, your phone is ringing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to answer), "phone" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "answer phone" | ||||
Floyd | You answer the phone. It's your coworker Debra, wondering if you got Floyd | any of her emails, but telling you never mind, because she figured it Floyd | out by herself. Then she hangs up. Sweet Lord, when will you deliver us Floyd | from idiot coworkers? Floyd | Floyd | Just as you hang up, you hear your name being yelled and see someone Floyd | running up toward you. Floyd | Floyd | That cute young temp who started here a few weeks ago, whatsisname -- Floyd | Peter? -- is red-faced and perspiring slightly. One of his shirtsleeves Floyd | is twisted (you resist the urge to straighten it), and his collar is Floyd | turned up. There are also a number of twigs and hedge leaves clinging Floyd | to him. Floyd | Floyd | "I'm glad you're here!" Peter says brightly. "I really need to talk to Floyd | somebody about what just happened to me!" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: A 'hello' would be nice. Floyd | 2: What did you do, get up on the wrong side of the flower bed this Floyd | morning? Floyd | 3: Funny, I don't even remember buying a ticket for the 'Hear the Floyd | secrets of a crazed Temp' lottery. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "answer phone" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: A 'hello' would be nice. Floyd | 2: What did you do, get up on the wrong side of the flower bed this Floyd | morning? Floyd | 3: Funny, I don't even remember buying a ticket for the 'Hear the Floyd | secrets of a crazed Temp' lottery. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "What did you do, get up on the wrong side of the flower bed Floyd | this morning?" Floyd | Floyd | "Whuh?" Peter asks. Well, it isn't so much of a question as it is a Floyd | grunt. You help pick off a couple of the more prominent leaves. "Well, Floyd | the leaves, right," he says. "That's not what I came to talk about, but Floyd | it's part of it. Indirectly, I mean. I fell in a hedge." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Why don't you go ahead and get to the point? Floyd | 2: You indirectly fell in a hedge? Floyd | Floyd | >> | Gerynar hopes no-one notices that he's slacking at work right now. | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "You indirectly fell in a hedge?" Floyd | Floyd | "Well, I didn't plan on it when I went into the little secret door and Floyd | ended up inside someone else's brain. Only when the second flash of Floyd | light came did I fall into the hedge," Peter says. "But, here's the Floyd | interesting part." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: If that's the dull part, I'm guessing you left out the part about Floyd | evil alien robots from dimension X who plan to take over the world from Floyd | their headquarters at Red Hat. Floyd | 2: Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about dinner tonight? Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline asks (of G), "Seriously?" | |||
| Gerynar says, "yes, but there's absolutely no business" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Hm... 1?" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Same here. Except that for that reason no one cares..." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "If that's the dull part, I'm guessing you left out the part Floyd | about evil alien robots from dimension X who plan to take over the Floyd | world from their headquarters at Red Hat." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "No, the cool part, see, is that it was *Zarf's* head that Floyd | I was inside!" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Yeah, yeah, whatever. How about dinner tonight? Floyd | 2: Who the hell is Zarf? Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "Although, he is cute, and #2 might get us smoochies!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Who the hell is Zarf?" Floyd | Floyd | "You never heard of Zarf?" Peter asks. Then he pauses, thinks a moment, Floyd | and says, "Hmm, I guess you wouldn't have. Never mind. Here's an idea. Floyd | How about we go to dinner tonight, and we can talk more then?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Okay. dinner it is. Floyd | 2: Can't do it tonight. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Now we'll get no smoochies!" | |||
| inky says, "look at all the chances we have" | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Okay. dinner it is." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Excellent! But, first things first. Can you meet me after Floyd | work up in the file room? I really want to show you something." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "It's against my better judgment, but all right." Floyd | Floyd | Little do they suspect that Melvin, nearby, is spying on them and Floyd | making plans of his own.Even littler do they suspect that Melvin is not Floyd | what he seems... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| minghua arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | Jacqueline says, "Wait - now we get dinner with him anyway. Nice." | |||
| inky says, "interesting switch to third person" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon pushes the green 'space' button. | * Jacqueline has added minghua to the channel. | |||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Around the Corner (as "Melvin") Floyd | SCANNING cubicle_space(3,1,15): Floyd | TERRAN_LIFEFORM targets(2): Floyd | Floyd | RECOGNIZE: ID(696095)["Peter Danielson Feeney"] Floyd | dETAIL_LIST New unit underling Floyd | Problem report: DANGEROUS (watchflag) Floyd | Problem report: ATTITUDE Floyd | Resistant to authority. CONVERSE_MODE(shy,servile); Floyd | Floyd | RECOGNIZE: ID(344904)["Valerie Ann Michelle Conrad"] Floyd | dETAIL_LIST Established unit (no connection) Floyd | Problem report: ATTITUDE Floyd | Responds to authority. Floyd | CONVERSE_MODE(extrovert,lecherous); Floyd | Floyd | SOUNDSCAN targets(344904,696095): Process... Process... Floyd | 696095: << Go FileRoom >> << Show 344904 OBJ_ID(0001001)[##Portal] Floyd | >> Floyd | 344904: << accept order Go >> Floyd | Floyd | ANALYSIS: TERMINATE Action << Show >> Floyd | #ifSucc << EXECUTE ORDER_ID(904)[##CoverUp] >> Floyd | #else << TERMINATE ID(696095) >> Floyd | Floyd | NEXTACT: Floyd | [1]FOLLOW Floyd | [2]WAIT Floyd | [3]KILL Floyd | Floyd | >> Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "Whoa." | |||
| inky says, "presumably this is a bad machine joke" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh, I suppose so." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Um, can we save, then choose 3, just for kicks?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | >> Floyd | >> | JeremyAvalon says, "Yes Yes Yes." | |||
| inky says, "we can't do anything at the >> prompts except do dialog" | ||||
| inky says, "but we can always undo" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | *ERROR. Floyd | << EXECUTE ORDER_ID(904)[##CoverUp] >> (inconclusive) Floyd | Floyd | [1]FOLLOW Floyd | [2]WAIT Floyd | [3]ERROR Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "AW" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Dahm." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Okay, follow or wait?" | ||||
| inky says, "(to be honest I don't think any of the dialog menus in this game change anything regardless of what you pick)" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Follow, let's be creepy." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Given the timeframe you were talking about earlier, probably not." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | FOLLOW MODE ACTIVE. --NOMINAL-- Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Later that evening... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Valerie) Floyd | The file room is one of your favorite rooms in the company building. Floyd | One, it's always orderly and clean; and two, it doesn't sport brightly Floyd | colored IKEA furniture. It's businesslike and efficient. There's even a Floyd | window to give the area a sense of openness. Floyd | Floyd | Peter is standing here, pacing, when you arrive. "What took you? Didn't Floyd | we say 6:30?" Peter asks. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Sorry I'm late. Floyd | 2: Okay, so show me this amazing file cabinet of yours. Floyd | Floyd | >> | inky says, "one of the nice things about this game is how room descriptions change based on the person" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Sorry I'm late." Floyd | Floyd | "Sorry I'm late," you say to Peter. "I had to ditch Melvin. He kept Floyd | hanging around the elevators. I finally faked him out and took the Floyd | stairs. It's like he was trying to intercept me." Floyd | Floyd | "Melvin? Really?" Peter says, looking worried. "I was wondering who put Floyd | the file cabinet back." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Okay, so show me this amazing file cabinet of yours. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Okay, so show me this amazing file cabinet of yours." Floyd | Floyd | "Okay, so show me this amazing file cabinet of yours," you tell Peter. Floyd | "I'm starving." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Here's what you do. Go to file cabinet Z-Y and try to open Floyd | it." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "open z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You try to open the cabinet, but it seems to be stuck shut. Floyd | Floyd | "It's stuck," you say. Floyd | Floyd | "Give it a good pull," says Peter. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW arrives, ready to play with the toys. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | You try to open the cabinet, but it seems to be stuck shut. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You yank on the drawer, and it flies clean out of the cabinet, sending Floyd | you spilling backwards. Loose folders slide out in a snaky line Floyd | sideways across the floor, emptying their contents in all directions. Floyd | Floyd | "Egad!" yells Peter. "That didn't happen last time!" Floyd | Floyd | "Well, it did this time," you tell Peter. "Help me clean up the Floyd | papers." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pull harder" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Sorry I'm late, everyone." | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | You should probably clean up the scattered papers first. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says (to dw), "malkovich malkovich" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "clean" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to clean? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "clean papers" | ||||
Floyd | As you both lean down to clean up the papers, you see a pair of shoes Floyd | enter the room from the darkened hallway. Perched in the shoes is a Floyd | pair of stilts. Balanced on the stilts is a kind of potato head with Floyd | Melvin's face on it. In other words, Melvin is standing here. Floyd | Floyd | "Do you two want to tell me what you're doing here?" Melvin asks. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: No. Floyd | 2: Practicing the Lambada. Floyd | 3: Smooching. Floyd | 4: It's none of your business, Melvin. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Fang arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Practicing the Lambada." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin says, "Mmm. The Forbidden Dance. Appropriate, considering this Floyd | is the second time today, Peter, that you've been playing around with Floyd | private company property, against the rules." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Geez, Melvin. What's gotten into you? Suddenly you've Floyd | grown a pair." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin ignores Peter and kicks some of the papers with his toe. "Why Floyd | don't you two put things back where you found them, and I won't have to Floyd | report this?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Okay. Sorry. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline asks, "3?" | |||
| Fang asks, "oh man, zarf is playing Being Andrew Plotkin?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Aw" | ||||
| theclam says, "oh, the motor oil stain make sense now" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | File Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | The cabinet is already out of the way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "clean papers" | ||||
Floyd | As you both lean down to clean up the papers, you see a pair of shoes Floyd | enter the room from the darkened hallway. Perched in the shoes is a Floyd | pair of stilts. Balanced on the stilts is a kind of potato head with Floyd | Melvin's face on it. In other words, Melvin is standing here. Floyd | Floyd | "Do you two want to tell me what you're doing here?" Melvin asks. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: No. Floyd | 2: Practicing the Lambada. Floyd | 3: Smooching. Floyd | 4: It's none of your business, Melvin. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Smooching." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin looks at you with a leer and says, "Tut-tut-tut Valerie. You're Floyd | quite the little flirt today, aren't you? Did she tell you, Peter, how Floyd | she came on to me today in the snack room?" Floyd | Floyd | Peter looks at you. "Eww!" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Buzz off, creep. Floyd | 2: Say that again and I'll bust your fricking head open. Floyd | 3: I demand an apology. Now. Floyd | 4: Okay, Melvin. You just won yourself a sexual harrassment suit. I'll Floyd | see you in court. Floyd | Floyd | >> | JeremyAvalon says, "I vote 4..." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "or possibly undo." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure, why not." | ||||
| Fang says, "4" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "4" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Okay, Melvin. You just won yourself a sexual harrassment Floyd | suit. I'll see you in court." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin isn't fazed. He kicks some of the papers with his toe. "I could Floyd | report this as company espionage. That's what it looks like to me." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Hey, be cool, Melvin. It was just an accident. I spilled a Floyd | cabinet and Valerie offered to help me clean up." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin looks at you. "Just an innocent spill. This is the second time Floyd | today that cabinet has 'innocently' spilled open." Floyd | Floyd | "So I'm clumsy," says Peter, shrugging. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin says, "Why don't you two put things back where you found them, Floyd | and I won't have to report this?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Okay. Sorry. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, same end." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Okay. Sorry." Floyd | Floyd | "Okay, Melvin," says Peter. Floyd | Floyd | "Sorry," you say through gritted teeth. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin folds his clanky arms and waits impatiently for you to finish Floyd | cleaning up the scattered papers, his red little eyes sweeping back and Floyd | forth between you and Peter like a Cylon's. Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "clean papers" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin watches as you pick up the scattered folders and papers and Floyd | shove them into the open cabinet. Peter puts the YZ cabinet back Floyd | against the wall. Floyd | Floyd | "There, Melvin," Peter says. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin says, "Okay, now get out." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x melvin" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin seemed harmless enough at first, but lately he's been giving you Floyd | the definite creeps. For one thing, he doesn't work anywhere near your Floyd | station, yet you seem to meet him two or three times a day. You're Floyd | starting to get the feeling that he's obsessing about you, and you're Floyd | starting to lose your ability to be nice to him. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hm. That meddling bastard." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Whaddowedo now?" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon asks, "'kill melvin'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That's pretty much what I was thinking, yes." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon asks, "or perhaps, 'assimilate'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But that seems a bit harsh." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm betting 'assimilate' isn't implemented." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "assimilate" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "throw water at melvin" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin watches as you exit the building. You leave him behind at the Floyd | entrance and walk a safe distance away. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, that was weird. I've never seen Melvin act like that," Peter Floyd | says. Floyd | Floyd | "Really?" you ask. "He's always seemed a sort of a creep to me." Floyd | Floyd | "Is there any way we can sneak back in, do you think?" Floyd | Floyd | "Really?" asks Peter. Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah. Now I'm curious. If Melvin hadn't showed up like that, I Floyd | wouldn't have believed you really found something. Now I want to see Floyd | what it is." "Won't Melvin be watching?" Floyd | Floyd | "He can't sit there all night," you say. "He has to go home at some Floyd | point, right?" "Should we go to dinner first?" Floyd | Floyd | "Nah. Let's just go for it. Come on. Melvin doesn't really have any Floyd | authority over me, anyway." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Excellent." Floyd | Floyd | And so ... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Fang presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | The file room is one of your favorite rooms in the company building. Floyd | One, it's always orderly and clean; and two, it doesn't sport brightly Floyd | colored IKEA furniture. It's businesslike and efficient. There's even a Floyd | window to give the area a sense of openness. Early moonlight peeks in, Floyd | drawing a long amber trapezoid on the carpet. Floyd | Floyd | Peter is here. Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Okay, I don't see him. Let's be careful this time." He Floyd | moves the Z-Y cabinet quietly aside to reveal a strange little door in Floyd | the wall. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Whoa. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Whoa." Floyd | Floyd | Peter says, "Go on in. It's safe. If all goes well, I'll meet you by Floyd | the hedge in a few minutes." Floyd | Floyd | "Which hedge?" you ask. "How will I find you?" Floyd | Floyd | "Trust me on this one," says Peter. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "He doesn't have to go home because he'll keep following us like the creepy robot he is." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | You can't, since the secret door is in the way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | A hush of ancient air, tinged with organic sweetness, flows out of the Floyd | opened portal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | The strange secret door is only about three feet high, and painted a Floyd | shade of crimson. Gold flecks in the paint give it a sparkly, almost Floyd | magical appearance. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | You pass through the portal into a dark tunnel, which sighs with Floyd | melodic longing as you enter. Floyd | Floyd | Weird Tunnel Floyd | You are on your hands and knees in a claustrophobic tunnel. It leads Floyd | down, as nearly as you can tell, but your equilibrium is distorted in Floyd | here. The curving walls gleam with the semblance of wet rock, but the Floyd | palms of your hands tell a different story. It feels like organic Floyd | tissue, a thick layer of hide, with the elastic strength of muscle. Floyd | Like sharkskin, it is silken and slick in one direction but resists any Floyd | backwards movement with a roughened grain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "pet walls" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "touch walls" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x light source" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | You begin to crawl forward, the tunnel floor oozing and pliable under Floyd | your knees and palms. The secret door bangs shut and disappears. The Floyd | tunnel begins to shiver, and from up ahead a roar like a waterfall Floyd | issues from the darkness. Your hands suddenly lose traction as gravity Floyd | begins its quickening pull. You begin to slide down... down... down... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In Zarf's Kitchen (in Zarf's head) Floyd | Weird! You really are inside someone's head!You see the opening of this Floyd | guy Zarf's eyes, giving you a sort of bifocal window into the Floyd | surrounding environment. Out through his eyes you can see that he's in Floyd | the middle of making dinner. On the stove, a pan of onions has been Floyd | saut?ed golden brown in olive oil. On the countertop you see a bottle Floyd | of white wine, two measuring cups, a small bowl, and a plate of ribbed Floyd | pasta. Floyd | Floyd | Inside of Zarf's head, you see weird flashes of light. A number of Floyd | eerie sounds float around. You presume these effects are caused by the Floyd | random firing of synapses in a very active mind. Floyd | Floyd | Each time there is a flash, you notice a shadow nearby that never seems Floyd | to brighten. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf stirs a cup of white wine into the pan of onions and lets it Floyd | simmer. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang looks at zarf. | |||
| zarf says, "yum" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x shadow" | ||||
Floyd | The shadow falls in a diagonal slant, and a sensation comes from it, Floyd | but you are unable to tell whether it is warmth or cold. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf measures out roughly a cup of really squishy blue cheese. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert arrives, ready to play with the toys. | inky says, "that is presumably a so far ref also" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x wine" | ||||
Floyd | The bottle of white wine is missing a cup, which was added to the pan Floyd | of onions. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf stirs the simmering onions. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "I'm not sure if this is a zarf-accredited recipe or what" | |||
| zarf says, "yes it is" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yay" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to z), "Excellent." | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "talk to zarf" | ||||
Floyd | You are unable to exert any control over Zarf's movements. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf stirs the simmering onions. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x kitchen" | ||||
Floyd | That's not something you need to refer to in the course of this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "squish cheese" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x lights" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | You smell nothing unexpected. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf adds the cheese to the simmering onions and mixes it around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x cheese" | ||||
Floyd | You imagine that the blue cheese is rather potent. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf pours the saut?ed onion mixture over the pasta. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "eat zarf" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking Zarf) Floyd | You are unable to exert any control over Zarf's movements. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf sprinkles crushed walnuts onto the pasta dish. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "We are going to be ejected into the hedge before we discover just how nummy this is going to be." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "noooo" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "salivate" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x synapses" | ||||
Floyd | Inside of Zarf's head, you see weird flashes of light. A number of Floyd | eerie sounds float around. You presume these effects are caused by the Floyd | random firing of synapses in a very active mind. Floyd | Floyd | Each time there is a flash, you notice a shadow nearby that never seems Floyd | to brighten. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf picks up the pasta dish and carries it into another room. Floyd | Floyd | The shadow suddenly darkens and enlarges, swallowing you. You are Floyd | transported deeper within Zarf's brain. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain Floyd | The noise is really loud here, and there is more to see. A visual Floyd | juxtaposition mars your sense of place. The walls are angular but Floyd | smooth, are a warm red, living rock, are cold dead clay and calcite. Floyd | Cave tunnels lead in all directions, but without a compass or a way to Floyd | mark your trail, you sense that you could easily get lost. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a control panel here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x synapses" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "x control panel" | ||||
Floyd | The control panel has the appearance of a music stand, rising from a Floyd | single stalk to about the height of your rib cage. The flat surface has Floyd | but one button and a rectangular plate about four inches by six inches. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Okay, that does indeed sound really nummy." | |||
| inky says, "now we're talkin'" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x plate" | ||||
Floyd | The rectangular plate is made of some sort of smooth, colorless Floyd | ceramic. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "X BUTTON" | ||||
Floyd | The button is a touch-sensitive disk with a one-inch radius. It has one Floyd | simple marking: a vertical line, drawn in white. Floyd | Floyd | Out of the corner of your eye, you notice a curious gentleman casually Floyd | leaning against one of the walls here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "gentleman" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x gentleman" | ||||
Floyd | The thief is a slippery character with beady eyes that flit back and Floyd | forth. He carries, along with an unmistakable arrogance, a large bag Floyd | over his shoulder and a vicious stiletto, whose blade is aimed Floyd | menacingly in your direction. I'd watch out if I were you. | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x gentleman" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | He does not speak, but it is clear from his aspect that the bag will be Floyd | taken only over his dead body. Floyd | Floyd | The thief makes a sudden, swift movement in your direction. You catch a Floyd | glimpse of his stiletto moving, and then -- Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, you are falling, but all you see are slashes of yellow light Floyd | and dark green shapes. One of the largest shapes, with a dimple in the Floyd | center, moves towards you quickly. As it nears, you feel a sense of Floyd | time slowing, and your eyes catch the details. It is a large hedge, and Floyd | the dimple is a crushed spot roughly the size of Peter's body. You hope Floyd | he flattened most of the sharpest branches when he landed... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| JeremyAvalon pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Northwest Campus (as Peter) Floyd | You are at the northwest edge of the corporate campus. A decorated line Floyd | of hedges hidden by a corner of stately trees, with leaves that gently Floyd | whisper in the evening wind. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a large hedge here. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie plummets into the big hedge with an unladylike Floyd | ka-thump-krickle. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Curious gentleman casually leaning against the wall feels like a vague Zork reference." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "And yes, now that I scroll down I see that it was." | ||||
| zarf says, "it is a precise Zork reference" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x valeries" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x valerie" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie is a knockout brunette with almond shaped eyes, a flashing Floyd | smile, a cutting sense of humor, and a real sense of style. She always Floyd | seems to be trying to prove something to the world, like she can dish Floyd | it out as well as she can take it. Also, she has a cute butt. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "give valerie a hedge trimmer" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to give Valerie the large Floyd | hedge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x butt" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "give valerie the hedge" | ||||
Floyd | (first taking the large hedge) Floyd | You help Valerie out of the hedge. "Wow!" she says. "That was really Floyd | intense. So, who is that guy?" Floyd | Floyd | "Zarf. Andrew Plotkin. He works here." Floyd | Floyd | "Oh. Oh! Yeah. I know that guy. I meant the *other* guy." Floyd | Floyd | "What other guy?" Floyd | Floyd | "The one back in the brain." Floyd | Floyd | "Wait, you went farther back in the brain? How'd you do that?" Floyd | Floyd | "Didn't you see the shadow?" Floyd | Floyd | "Um. No." Floyd | Floyd | "You ought to go and try it, then." Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah! No. Yeah. No." Floyd | Floyd | "You need to be more decisive." Floyd | Floyd | "Let's eat first. When I put the file cabinet back and came out here, I Floyd | had the feeling Melvin was watching the back of my head." Floyd | Floyd | "Dinner, then?" Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | Fang asks, "A HEDGE TRIMMER, EH?" | |||
| JeremyAvalon pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Colonel Pho's Restaurant Floyd | She picked a nice place, you have to admit. Reasonable prices, Floyd | delicious, spicy food. The usual Americanized Asian decorations are Floyd | strung liberally about the restaurant, providing a cozy, if slightly Floyd | kitschy, atmosphere. Floyd | Floyd | "So, what do you do?" Valerie asks. Floyd | Floyd | "I write text adventure games." Floyd | Floyd | "Check, please." Floyd | Floyd | "No, really. It's this new medium called Interactive Fiction. It's Floyd | really cool. That guy Zarf? He's the master, man. You should play some Floyd | of his stuff." Floyd | Floyd | "What's so great about interactive fiction?" Floyd | Floyd | "It's kind of hard to explain to someone who's never heard of it Floyd | before. Me, I like writing it. Playing it is kind of dumb. It's always Floyd | too hard. It was originally based on puzzles." Floyd | Floyd | "Puzzles? Like what? Jump the pegs to leave only one left?" Floyd | Floyd | Peter sputters. "Eeeagh! No! Well, yes. But that's a terrible example. Floyd | I mean like: find the gold key, to open the door. Find the magic sword Floyd | to kill the ogre." Floyd | Floyd | "Hmm. How about, find the object to activate the control panel?" Floyd | Floyd | "Could be, yeah." Floyd | Floyd | "What about a sneaky thief guy? How would you get past him?" Floyd | Floyd | "!!" Floyd | Floyd | "I've never seen anyone pronounce an exclamation point before. How'd Floyd | you do that?" Floyd | Floyd | "That's the thief from Zork! He must be some sort of symbolic internal Floyd | defense mechanism. Or something. You didn't see an elvish sword of Floyd | great antiquity in there, maybe glowing blue?" Floyd | Floyd | "No." Floyd | Floyd | "I'm still thinking about that panel," Peter says. "Maybe if we Floyd | activated that, we could control Zarf." Floyd | Floyd | "Is that a responsible thing to do?" Valerie asks. Floyd | Floyd | "No, but it sounds kind of fun, doesn't it?" Floyd | Floyd | "Sure, I guess," she says. "What do you think we'd need to prove to Floyd | Zarf's internal control unit that we were Zarf?" Floyd | Floyd | "A picture of him, maybe?" Floyd | Floyd | "Do you have one?" Floyd | Floyd | "No. Yes! In the file cabinet! There was a photo of him in the file!" Floyd | Floyd | "Well, let's go back and get it." Floyd | Floyd | "Now you're talking." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Fang pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Peter) Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling looks disconcertingly Floyd | eerie at night. The army of stupid file cabinet robots looks ready to Floyd | spring to life at any moment. The one measly window lets in a tiny Floyd | rectangle of moonlight. Floyd | Floyd | A secret door has been revealed in the wall behind the Z-Y cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | "Should we turn the lights on?" Valerie asks. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Probably better not. Floyd | 2: I guess so. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Fang says (to zarf), "surely you can prove that you are zarf" | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "hahaha - This is great." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "But can he prove that he's capital Zarf? Seems like that's what we need..." | ||||
| Fang says, "lights on? We don't want to be eaten by a grue" | ||||
| inky says, "we all live in a capital zarf" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Probably better not." Floyd | Floyd | You tell Valerie, "Probably better not. I don't want to attract any Floyd | attention." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "move cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the other cabinets, the Y-X cabinet, the Z cabinet Floyd | or the Z-Y cabinet? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You are unable to. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "open z-y" | ||||
Floyd | You open the Z-Y cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pull z-y" | ||||
Floyd | The cabinet is already out of the way. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "oops" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Peter) Floyd | This bleak room with its short, slumping ceiling looks disconcertingly Floyd | eerie at night. The army of stupid file cabinet robots looks ready to Floyd | spring to life at any moment. The one measly window lets in a tiny Floyd | rectangle of moonlight. Floyd | Floyd | A secret door has been revealed in the wall behind the Z-Y cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Valerie here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, ah." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "kiss Valerie" | ||||
Floyd | Keep your mind on the game. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "But!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | A hush of ancient air, tinged with organic sweetness, flows out of the Floyd | opened portal. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie asks, "Why don't we both go?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Will that work? Floyd | 2: Sure. Why not? Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Will that work?" Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "Sure. Why not?" Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "Of course." | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "lets make out" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of Fang), "You want to make out with Floyd?" | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x cabinet robots" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "talk to valerie" | ||||
Floyd | You can't think of anything in particular to say. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie stops you. "Wait, we forgot the photo." Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon asks, "Perhaps there's a second set of Floyd's instructions? The AIF ones?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | ||||
| inky says, "heck, who doesn't" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The phot" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get zarf file" | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to get the Zarf:Declassified Floyd | folder. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | some folders Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get zarf" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | In the Zarf:Declassified folder are an employee record and a blurry Floyd | photograph. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read record" | ||||
Floyd | It's an employee record for one Andrew Plotkin. He's been working here Floyd | since the company he used to work for was bought out by Red Hat. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "get photo" | ||||
Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "his photo being blurry is a mud in-joke" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x photo" | ||||
Floyd | The photograph is a blurred likeness, but you can only assume that it's Floyd | a picture of Zarf. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "x photo" | ||||
Floyd | The photograph is a blurred likeness, but you can only assume that it's Floyd | a picture of Zarf. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x photo" | ||||
Floyd | The photograph is a blurred likeness, but you can only assume that it's Floyd | a picture of Zarf. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Him and Graham, yeah." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, and Jota and Emily and man all of those people who are sekrit." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | You pass through the portal into a dark tunnel, which sighs with Floyd | melodic longing as you enter. Floyd | Floyd | Weird Tunnel (as Peter) Floyd | You are on your hands and knees in a claustrophobic tunnel. It leads Floyd | down, as nearly as you can tell, but your equilibrium is distorted in Floyd | here. The curving walls gleam with the semblance of wet rock, but the Floyd | palms of your hands tell a different story. It feels like organic Floyd | tissue, a thick layer of hide, with the elastic strength of muscle. Floyd | Like sharkskin, it is silken and slick in one direction but resists any Floyd | backwards movement with a roughened grain. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie follows you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | The secret door bangs shut and disappears. The tunnel begins to shiver, Floyd | and from up ahead a roar like a waterfall issues from the darkness. Floyd | Your hands suddenly lose traction as gravity begins its quickening Floyd | pull. You begin to slide down... down... down... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Zarf's Apartment (in Zarf's head) (as Peter) Floyd | Zarf seems at first to be in a library, but on second glance, he's just Floyd | at home but owns a *lot* of books. A couple thousand of them, by the Floyd | looks of it. He is holding a bar code scanner and is scanning the ISBN Floyd | numbers of books from a tall stack, one at a time, into his computer. Floyd | Floyd | Inside of Zarf's head, you see weird flashes of light. A number of Floyd | eerie sounds float around. You presume these effects are caused by the Floyd | random firing of synapses in a very active mind. A deep shadow here Floyd | slashes diagonally, refusing the light. Floyd | Floyd | "Okay, I'll stay here," says Valerie. "Try to get that panel activated. Floyd | I'll holler if I see anything happen." Floyd | Floyd | > | inky asks, "hunh, was the cuecat thing that long ago?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x books" | ||||
Floyd | There are hundreds and hundreds of books, too many to describe Floyd | individually. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf scans another book from the stack. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter shadow" | ||||
Floyd | You touch the shadow, and feel a chill go through your bones. Floyd | Floyd | "I think he felt that," yells Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain (as Peter) Floyd | The noise is really loud here, and there is more to see. A visual Floyd | juxtaposition mars your sense of place. The walls are angular but Floyd | smooth, are a warm red, living rock, are cold dead clay and calcite. Floyd | Cave tunnels lead in all directions, but without a compass or a way to Floyd | mark your trail, you sense that you could easily get lost. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a control panel here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The control panel has the appearance of a music stand, rising from a Floyd | single stalk to about the height of your rib cage. The flat surface has Floyd | but one button and a rectangular plate about four inches by six inches. Floyd | Floyd | Out of the corner of your eye, you notice a curious gentleman leaning Floyd | against the wall. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "heehee - Zarf seems at first to be in a library, but on second glance, he's just at home but owns a *lot* of books." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put photo on plate" | ||||
Floyd | You put the blurry photo onto the ceramic plate. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "That sounds like our place." | |||
| zarf says, "it wasn't a cuecat!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, except we only have 1400, not 2000" | ||||
| inky asks, "oh, it wasn't?" | ||||
| zarf says, "I bought a real barcode scanner a few months before the cuecat thing broke." | ||||
| inky says, "aha" | ||||
| inky says, "...sucker" | ||||
| inky presses the large red button on the FREE DONUTS machine. Within seconds, the room is flooded with a thousand tiny, happy donuts, running about your feet in an exuberant dance of freedom. They then disappear as quickly as they had arrived. | inky says, "oops" | |||
| inky says, "not that donuts are bad" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | You touch the button. It pulses once, and then a bright blue glow Floyd | sweeps across the ceramic plate.The disk's color changes to blue and Floyd | pulsates three times. A similar glow issues from the ceramic plate, and Floyd | then a microphone telescopes up from a previously invisible opening. Floyd | The thief moves back into the darkness and vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by three points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "yeah" | |||
| JeremyAvalon is reminded that he doesn't deserve a barcode scanner for his Delicious Library collection, owning maybe 20 books as he does. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in microscope" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x microphone" | ||||
Floyd | It is a slender golden rod with a burnished tip. The tip contains a Floyd | spherical windscreen. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf says, "also, i've had the same blurry photo since 1996, so there" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x windscreen" | ||||
Floyd | It is a slender golden rod with a burnished tip. The tip contains a Floyd | spherical windscreen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "microphone, hello" | ||||
Floyd | Please use >TALK TO PLAYER to interact in this game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "talk to zarf" | ||||
Floyd | (the microphone) Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Test. Test. Testing 1, 2, 3, 4. Hello? Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Test. Test. Testing 1, 2, 3, 4. Hello?" Floyd | Floyd | You feel a sudden sense of pressure and release, and a darkening of the Floyd | environment. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie yells, "Is it working? He's looking around like he knows Floyd | someone is messing with him." Floyd | Floyd | "What should I try?" you ask. Floyd | Floyd | "It's up to you," Valerie yells back. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Umm. Zarf, drop your book. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Umm. Zarf, drop your book." Floyd | Floyd | There is a slight shift in the floor, then a heavy, echoing thud from Floyd | somewhere outside. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie yells, "Yay! He dropped the book! Try something else." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Zarf, stand up. Floyd | 2: Zarf, do the funky chicken. Floyd | 3: Zarf, explain 'So Far'. Floyd | 4: Zarf, give me all your chocolate. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Zarf, stand up." Floyd | Floyd | You feel a sudden shift as the floor seems to tilt underneath you, then Floyd | rights itself. You feel a sense of fast upward motion. Floyd | Floyd | "You must have felt that," Valerie yells. "Okay, he's looking around Floyd | like he can't figure out what's going on. Try something else." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Zarf, do the funky chicken. Floyd | 2: Zarf, explain 'So Far'. Floyd | 3: Zarf, give me all your chocolate. Floyd | Floyd | >> | inky says, "this is our big chance!" | |||
| Fang looks at zarf | ||||
| Fang asks, "2, or 3?" | ||||
| zarf says, "@mit zarf has disconnected" | ||||
| Fang says, "or 1" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Should we save?" | ||||
| zarf says, "dammit" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, I guess we can just undo." | ||||
| Fang exclaims, "yes!" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "2." | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Zarf, explain 'So Far'." Floyd | Floyd | A hollow noise rumbles up from the caves, like gigantic steel doors Floyd | swinging shut and locking. From the shadows, the stranger with the Floyd | rucksack and stiletto speaks in a low voice, saying, "I do not explain Floyd | my work. You, however, have some explaining to do." He steals closer, Floyd | an inch at a time, circling you. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Valerie, help! Floyd | Floyd | >> | Fang says, "noooo" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "nooooo" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, that was scary." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "3" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Zarf, give me all your chocolate." Floyd | Floyd | There is a groan like heavy roof timbers creaking, underscored by a low Floyd | metallic grinding. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie yells, "Hey! What did you tell him to do?" Floyd | Floyd | "I told him to give me all his chocolate," you shout back. "Why, what's Floyd | he doing? It feels like we're moving." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "I don't think he's the kind of guy who easily surrenders Floyd | his chocolate. I think he's starting to catch on that there's someone Floyd | messing with his brain here. Careful what else you try." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Zarf, do the funky chicken. Floyd | 2: Zarf, explain 'So Far'. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "4" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Zarf, do the funky chicken. Floyd | 2: Zarf, explain 'So Far'. Floyd | Floyd | >> | JeremyAvalon exclaims, "No! That's not true! That's impossible!" | |||
| Fang asks, "funky chicken?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Zarf, do the funky chicken." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie yells, "I didn't feel anything. What did you try?" Floyd | Floyd | "I told him to do the funky chicken," you yell back. Floyd | Floyd | You hear Valerie laugh. "Maybe he doesn't know that dance. Try Floyd | something else." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Zarf, explain 'So Far'. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Zarf, explain 'So Far'." Floyd | Floyd | A hollow noise rumbles up from the caves, like gigantic steel doors Floyd | swinging shut and locking. From the shadows, the stranger with the Floyd | rucksack and stiletto speaks in a low voice, saying, "I do not explain Floyd | my work. You, however, have some explaining to do." He steals closer, Floyd | an inch at a time, circling you. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Valerie, help! Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Valerie, help!" Floyd | Floyd | A violent red light pulses through the inside of the brain. Valerie Floyd | enters, looking spooked. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "Uh oh, I think he's pissed." Floyd | Floyd | "Who are you two?" the thief demands, extending his stiletto blade. Floyd | Floyd | You back slowly away from the control panel, your eye on the tunnel Floyd | openings. "What do we do now?" you ask Valerie. "Usually the trip ends Floyd | by this point." Floyd | Floyd | The thief circles closer, his eyes locked on yours, glinting in the Floyd | darkness the same as his blade. Floyd | Floyd | "What if we get stuck here?" Valerie wonders aloud. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "talk to thief" | ||||
Floyd | You can't think of anything to say. Floyd | Floyd | The thief suddenly lunges. Valerie yanks you backwards. Floyd | Floyd | "Run!" she screams. Floyd | Floyd | "Which way?" Floyd | Floyd | "*Any* way!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "run" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to say which compass direction to go in. Floyd | Floyd | The thief quickly dispatches both you and Valerie with quick, upward Floyd | thrusts of his blade into your hearts. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have died *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 6 out of a possible 12, in 137 turns. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "yeep" | |||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "up" | ||||
Floyd | You experience blind panic for the first time in your life, despite the Floyd | absurdity of the setting, and the recognizable fiction of the threat. Floyd | Your life; how small and petty it all seems, and how short. There is Floyd | little light in these twisting tunnels, and the faster you run, the Floyd | more time moves in slow motion, and your thoughts turn inward. Your Floyd | life has been blind and short, you think; appropriate, because down Floyd | this last dark turn of the cave tunnel you have met with an unexpected, Floyd | dead end. Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | It is the classic dead end. More than that, it is the archetypal dead Floyd | end. Nowhere forward, nowhere back. The ceiling shocks with its height, Floyd | the walls oppress with their closeness. There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | A helix of light hangs in the air here, twirling and changing colors. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Valerie here. Floyd | Floyd | "We're trapped!" whispers Valerie, as much color drained from her face Floyd | as there is pulsating in the helix above. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | The thief enters, his stiletto blade extended. "You two don't belong Floyd | here," he says. "And I believe you have something of mine." Floyd | Floyd | "Help!" you yell. "Hel--" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | zarf says, "and *that* is a screen saver reference" | |||
| inky says, "wow" | ||||
| inky says, "ok, I missed that one" | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Hedge Floyd | Spiny, poky leaves weed their way through your clothing and stab you in Floyd | uncomfortable and sensitive places. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "The thief is actually pretty damn scary." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Northwest Campus Floyd | You are at the northwest edge of the corporate campus. A decorated line Floyd | of hedges hidden by a corner of stately trees, with leaves that gently Floyd | whisper in the evening wind. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Valerie and a large hedge here. Floyd | Floyd | "Okay, that was freaky," says Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah, let's call it a night," you say. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh come on. This is getting fun. This is my kind of Interactive Floyd | Fiction!" Floyd | Floyd | "More like interactive reality. Oh, damn. Where is it? I've lost the Floyd | photo." Floyd | Floyd | "Maybe you dropped it when we fell. Look in the hedge." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search hedge" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in the hedge. Floyd | Floyd | "It's not there," you say."I bet the thief took it. That means the Floyd | show's over." Floyd | Floyd | "Do you think we should tell Zarf about this?" Floyd | Floyd | "Hmm. Maybe it's better if he doesn't know." Floyd | Floyd | "I don't know about that. If it were your head, wouldn't you want to Floyd | know that people were hacking into it?" Floyd | Floyd | "Good point. Okay, we'll tell him first thing tomorrow." Floyd | Floyd | "Agreed," says Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | "Agreed," you say. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | "Can I walk you to your car?" you ask Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | "You can limp me there," she says, grimacing. "I think I twisted my Floyd | ankle." Floyd | Floyd | You puff out your chest. "I can carry you, if you want." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie laughs. "Ooh. The last of the gallant gentlemen." She shakes Floyd | her head. "No thanks, I'm tough," she says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "kiss valerie" | ||||
Floyd | Keep your mind on the game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Oh, come on. Take the hint and be gallant. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "hold hand" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "carry floyd" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "carry valerie" | ||||
Floyd | Peter carries Valerie to her car, trying desperately not to huff and Floyd | sweat and collapse. Floyd | Floyd | Early the next morning, Zarf wakes and takes a long walk to work, Floyd | trying to blow off some steam. It doesn't help... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "carry valerie" | ||||
Floyd | ** Library error 10 (0,0) ** Floyd | Floyd | Zarf's Desk Floyd | You are *pissed*. Someone's been messing with you, and you know exactly Floyd | who it was. *How* they did it, you don't know, but that's the first Floyd | thing on your mind this morning. Find evil scum, tell evil scum off. Floyd | Then, get some work done. Floyd | Floyd | On the computer is a MUD window. You are logged onto ifMUD. Floyd | Floyd | > | Fang says, "woo, now we are really meta" | |||
| theclam says, "oops, didn't mean floyd" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You look about the same as always. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "f l" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x desk" | ||||
Floyd | That isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x ifmud" | ||||
Floyd | Sargent says (to Zarf), "Hey." Floyd | inky says, "hi Z" Floyd | Iain says, "Hullo." Floyd | You say, "grnn. Not happy." Floyd | Rob says (to Iain), "that's what I thought until recently" Floyd | Iain says (to Rob), "Oh?" Floyd | Sargent says (to Zarf), "What's up?" Floyd | inky says, "erm?" Floyd | You say, "Details not important. I have a mission to destroy Floyd | evil Floyd | scum." Floyd | Sargent says, "Ugly buildup in the bathtub?" Floyd | inky says, "probably some sort of foaming cleanser is in order" Floyd | Rob says, "bleach and a stiff brush will take care of that" Floyd | Adam says, "You coul-- Damn it." Floyd | Sargent says, "HA ha." Floyd | Emily groans. Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, Evil Scum are here. You recognize one of them only from a Floyd | vivid mental snapshot that appeared yesterday morning. You recognize Floyd | the other from seeing her around once or twice. You are not pleased to Floyd | see either of them, although it saves you the trouble of hunting them Floyd | down. Floyd | Floyd | "Um, hi Mr. Plotkin," says the first. Floyd | Floyd | "I'm Valerie Conrad, and this is Peter Feeney," says the other. Floyd | Floyd | "We came to tell you about -- something weird that we discovered." Floyd | Floyd | "It's a portal into your head," says Valerie, which doesn't make any Floyd | logical sense, but it does explain things, if it's true. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: And you decided to take not just one trip, but three? Thanks a Floyd | *lot*. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "quote rob = ... oops" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: And you decided to take not just one trip, but three? Thanks a Floyd | *lot*. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "And you decided to take not just one trip, but three? Thanks Floyd | a *lot*." Floyd | Floyd | "Sorry about that. It was just ordinary curiosity at first." Floyd | Floyd | "Perfectly natural." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: There's nothing natural or ordinary about it. Where is this portal? Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "There's nothing natural or ordinary about it. Where is this Floyd | portal?" Floyd | Floyd | "In the file room." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Take me there. Now. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Take me there. Now." Floyd | Floyd | "Well, okay." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| JeremyAvalon pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "any key" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room Floyd | The file room is an unimpressive rectangular room full of squat Floyd | cabinets. The file cabinets are a pale yellow, like raw milk, and each Floyd | stands about 38 inches high. There is a maladjusted ceiling tile, and Floyd | scruffy stains on the padded carpeting. In the north wall is a window, Floyd | about two and a half feet square, with a crank latch. A copier machine Floyd | sits near the wall, bearing no make or marking that you recognize, even Floyd | though no company produces generic photocopiers that you know of. Even Floyd | more curiously, the wall socket behind it is empty, meaning that the Floyd | copier is not plugged in, and yet it definitely seems to be turned on. Floyd | Floyd | Peter pulls the second cabinet from the end away from the wall, Floyd | revealing a portal fashioned from slats of aged cedar. Ornate brass Floyd | hinges, possibly hand-crafted, clamp the door securely to the wall. Floyd | Beyond being bizarre, it is curiously anachronistic. The portal itself Floyd | antedates this building by at least a century and a half, in your Floyd | estimation. Floyd | Floyd | "This is it," says Peter. "I don't know what would happen if you went Floyd | through it, though." Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| RootShell www.ifreviews.org | Jacqueline says, "hahaha" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "The room description is awesome." | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x ceiling tile" | ||||
Floyd | The ceiling tile is set slightly askew. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push it" | ||||
Floyd | You are unable to. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "move it" | ||||
Floyd | You are unable to. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look behind it" | ||||
Floyd | The ceiling tile isn't important. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | A portal fashioned from slats of aged cedar, the strange secret door is Floyd | only about three feet high, and painted a shade of crimson. Gold flecks Floyd | in the paint give it a gaudy, child's-idea-of-magical appearance. Floyd | Ornate brass hinges, possibly hand-crafted, clamp the door securely to Floyd | the wall. Beyond being bizarre, it is curiously anachronistic. The Floyd | portal itself antedates this building by at least a century and a half, Floyd | in your estimation. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon asks, "Is that in italics?" | |||
| inky says (to Jeremy), "oh, heh, maybe" | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "x copy machine" | ||||
Floyd | The copier machine sits near the wall, bearing no make or marking that Floyd | you recognize. Even more curiously, the copier is not plugged in, and Floyd | yet it definitely seems to be turned on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "open copier" | ||||
Floyd | You open the lid. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "x copier" | ||||
Floyd | The copier machine sits near the wall, bearing no make or marking that Floyd | you recognize. Even more curiously, the copier is not plugged in, and Floyd | yet it definitely seems to be turned on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "make copy" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "copy files" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | You have no interest in running the copier machine. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "pull copier" | ||||
Floyd | You are unable to. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon asks, "Who's up for the portal?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Me" | ||||
| djfletch says, "yup" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "The question is, is Zarf up for it?" | ||||
| minghua asks, "Should we save first?" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | Jacqueline says, "I don't think this game goes unwinnable like that." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "But sure." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | minghua says, "I have a bad feeling about zarf entering his own brain." | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | You can't, since the secret door is in the way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | The door swings easily on its hinges, which have been recently oiled. Floyd | Someone is evidently its caretaker, but it is beyond your ability to Floyd | guess whom. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "enter portal" | ||||
Floyd | A voice shouts, "STOP!" It is an odd voice, a peculiar sounding shout. Floyd | It sounds less like a voice yelling and more like a normal voice Floyd | mechanically amplified. Floyd | Floyd | "Melvin!" shouts Peter. Floyd | Floyd | This "Melvin" bears no resemblance to any human being, living or dead. Floyd | The ersatz flesh on his disjointed skeleton is a remarkable elastic, Floyd | tinted with some care to mimic caucasian melanin. Under the fluorescent Floyd | light, it reflects slightly too much green, and it wrinkles unnaturally Floyd | at limb joints. More care has been taken in the face, allowing for a Floyd | range of facial expressions. Currently, the expression is one of Floyd | intended menace. Floyd | Floyd | "You leave me no choice but to terminate you," says Melvin. He goes to Floyd | the copier and punches a sequence of numbers on the button panel. A Floyd | strange shuddering vibration pulses through the room, from back to Floyd | front. Floyd | Floyd | "The file cabinets!" yells Peter. "They're moving!" Floyd | Floyd | The file cabinets are growing taller. Beneath each, a small footpad is Floyd | extending, and the cabinet bodies are rising on stalks. A single Floyd | cycloptic ruby eye irises open on the face of each. Floyd | Floyd | Peter rolls his eyes. "Well what the heck. It *is* a stupid robot Floyd | army!" Floyd | Floyd | "Go in, quick!" Valerie orders you. Floyd | Floyd | "Go! We'll hold him off!" Peter shouts, bravely. "I think." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter door" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You pass through the portal into a dark tunnel, which sighs with Floyd | melodic longing as you enter. Floyd | Floyd | Weird Tunnel Floyd | You are on your hands and knees in a claustrophobic tunnel. It leads Floyd | down, as nearly as you can tell, but your equilibrium is distorted in Floyd | here. The curving walls gleam with the semblance of wet rock, but the Floyd | palms of your hands tell a different story. It feels like organic Floyd | tissue, a thick layer of hide, with the elastic strength of muscle. Floyd | Like sharkskin, it is silken and slick in one direction but resists any Floyd | backwards movement with a roughened grain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | You begin to crawl forward, the tunnel floor oozing and pliable under Floyd | your knees and palms. The tunnel begins to shiver, and from up ahead a Floyd | roar like a waterfall issues from the darkness. Your hands suddenly Floyd | lose traction as gravity begins its quickening pull. You begin to slide Floyd | down... down... down... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't hit an escape clause, it will recur until Floyd | the stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "haha" | |||
| inky says, "this puzzle is charming" | ||||
| inky says, "I feel like it might have won an xyzzy, or at least been nominated" | ||||
| Fang says (to zarf), "you should play this bit" | ||||
| zarf says, "bit bit bit bzzzzzzzzz" | ||||
| zarf says, "malkovich malovich" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't hit an escape clause, it will recur until Floyd | the stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself)))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself)))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In Floyd | yourself))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to inky), "It was nominated for Best Story, Best Individual PC, Best Individual NPC, Best Individual Puzzle and won Best NPCs and Best Game." | |||
| inky asks, "yeah, but this specific puzzle?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hm." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Lemme see..." | ||||
| minghua says (to Floyd), "return" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific about how you want to do that. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Floyd | Zarf (In yourself)))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "escape" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific about how you want to do that. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Floyd | Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself))))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, this puzzle." | |||
| inky | Best Individual Puzzle (the recursive room) | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "There is no number Zarf..." | ||||
| minghua says (to Floyd), "return myself" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that number. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 0" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Floyd | Zarf (In yourself)))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| minghua says (to Floyd), "return 1" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In Floyd | yourself))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 9,706,031.2" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself)))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "throw exception" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "escape" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to be more specific about how you want to do that. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In Floyd | yourself))))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 11^2" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that number. Floyd | Floyd | > | minghua says, "So what language is Zarf written in? :-)" | |||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "longjmp" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "Probably the same one as Lighan..." | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 4000" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself)))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "return 0x800ccc0f" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that number. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return -3" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that number. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 0" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself))) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 0" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (Inside Zarf (In yourself)) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| minghua says (to Floyd), "return NULL" | ||||
Floyd | I didn't understand that number. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Keep going." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "return 69105" | ||||
Floyd | You halt the current execution and pop up to the next level. Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf (In yourself) Floyd | Recursion has always been one of your favorite tools, but you know far Floyd | too well that if it doesn't return a value, it will recur until the Floyd | stack overflows and the system crashes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "return 0" | ||||
Floyd | You return the last value, and a shadow falls over you. Touching it, Floyd | you fall inward. Meanwhile, a few turns ago... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Peter) Floyd | The situation has gone from bad to worse, here. The army of mutant Floyd | little file cabinet robots has herded you and Valerie back against the Floyd | north wall. The window is behind you. Melvin is across the room, Floyd | working controls on the copier, which has opened up to reveal some sort Floyd | of pulsating machine innards. Floyd | Floyd | A secret door has been revealed in the wall. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "What do we do?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: We go out the window. Floyd | 2: We attack Melvin. Floyd | 3: We make a break for the portal. Floyd | 4: We do like Captain Kirk, and incapacitate Melvin with logic. Floyd | Floyd | >> | minghua asks, "montage?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "4" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "We do like Captain Kirk, and incapacitate Melvin with logic." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie looks at you like you're the biggest nerd she has ever met, and Floyd | considering you both work at Red Hat, that's saying something. "See Floyd | what you can do, I guess," she says. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "talk to melvin" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Melvin. I submit that your plans are illogical. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Melvin. I submit that your plans are illogical." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin looks up at you. "Illogical?" he asks. "My plans are perfect. Floyd | Not that they're my plans, of course. The Great Brain of Dimension X Floyd | knows all." Melvin begins to fidget, the first time you've seen him Floyd | nervous since things started to get really weird. "Who am I to question Floyd | his perfect logic? I am created in his perfect image. We serve logic. Floyd | We serve the Great Brain." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: I submit that your orders are illogical. Floyd | Floyd | >> | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "I submit that your orders are illogical." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin's left eyelid starts to twitch. "No, no. My orders are perfect. Floyd | The Great Brain is incapable of error. The Great Brain is God! God is | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Logic!" Floyd | Floyd | Valerie whispers, "I think it's working!" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: I submit that *you* are illogical! Floyd | Floyd | >> Floyd | Floyd | You say, "I submit that *you* are illogical!" Floyd | Floyd | "No -- no, it cannot be!" Melvin says. He looks confused, staring at Floyd | the pulsating brain and back to you. "Logic is God. God is Logic. Those Floyd | who do not serve God must be destroyed!" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: I submit that the Great Brain is illogical. You serve a false God, a Floyd | god of illogic! What is the penalty for serving a false God? Floyd | Floyd | >> | inky says, "oops" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "I submit that the Great Brain is illogical. You serve a false Floyd | God, a god of illogic! What is the penalty for serving a false God?" Floyd | Floyd | Melvin begins to quiver and shake. "Illogical... illogical..." Smoke Floyd | starts coming of his ears. "Must -- must -- serve -- groink! Blatt!" He Floyd | makes a few sputtering noises and collapses. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "There's no way that should have worked." Floyd | Floyd | Suddenly, Melvin springs back to his feet, shoots you an evil grin, and Floyd | laughs like an insane android might at a time like this. Floyd | Floyd | "Idiot," Melvin says. "There's no such thing as the Great Brain. I'm Floyd | just here to kill you because I'm an evil android bastard who loves to Floyd | kill. And it'll be a special pleasure killing someone so dweebishly Floyd | gullible." Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: Oh well. It was worth a shot. Floyd | Floyd | >> | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "Oh well. It was worth a shot." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin says, "Hardly." He goes back to fiddling with the pulsating Floyd | machine brain. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie whispers, "So. Any other bright ideas?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? [0 to cancel] Floyd | 1: I'll pick up one of the cabinets and throw it at Melvin. You should Floyd | go for the portal. Then I'll figure out some way of getting in there Floyd | myself. Floyd | Floyd | >> | Jacqueline says, "heehee" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You say, "I'll pick up one of the cabinets and throw it at Melvin. You Floyd | should go for the portal. Then I'll figure out some way of getting in Floyd | there myself." Floyd | Floyd | Valerie gives you a kiss. "For good luck," she says as the heroic music Floyd | swells. Floyd | Floyd | The conversation kind of trails off at that point. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang says (to Floyd), "kiss valerie" | ||||
Floyd | Keep your mind on the game. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | You pick up the nearest file cabinet, which turns out to be the Z-Y Floyd | cabinet. The stupid robot starts making a pathetic squealing noise. Floyd | Floyd | "Hey! Put him down this instant!" shrieks Melvin. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "'throw a cabinet'? Those really heavy things?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "throw cabinet at melvin" | ||||
Floyd | (the army of mutant little file cabinet robots at Melvin) Floyd | Floyd | What heroic catch phrase would you like to utter? Floyd | [1]Here's mud in your eye, sucker! [2]It's clobberin' time! Floyd | [3]Hasta la vista, bubbala! [4]You remember when I said I'd kill you Floyd | last? I lied! Floyd | >> | JeremyAvalon says, "[LINK]" | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "There's our swelling heroic music." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I like 2." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | "It's clobberin' time!" you shout. Floyd | Floyd | "Who do you think this mutant army is, the Yancy Street Gang?" Valerie Floyd | says. Floyd | Floyd | "Don't ruin my moment. Just get moving!" Floyd | Floyd | Valerie makes a gymnastic diving roll over the sinister little cabinets Floyd | and disappears into the portal. You fling the little metallic beast at Floyd | Melvin, but your aim is terrible. Fortunately, you lobbed it so far to Floyd | the side that it goes smashing into the pulsating copier machine brain Floyd | heart organ thingy, which implodes and then explodes, emitting a Floyd | terrific shower of sparks and a sad little dying scream. Floyd | Floyd | As you might expect, Melvin shouts, "Noooooooooooo!" as the little army Floyd | of stupid robots topples over en masse, vomiting their paper folder Floyd | guts all over the place. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by three points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky | The Yancy Street Gang was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, and first appeared in Fantastic Four #15 (June, 1963), though mostly off-panel; as in most of their appearances, only their arms are visible as they throw objects at the Thing and yell insults. | |||
| theclam says (to floyd), "score" | ||||
Floyd | You have so far scored 9 out of a possible 12, in 181 turns. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Vomiting their paper folder guts all over the place is a nice image." | |||
| JeremyAvalon exclaims, "score!" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon asks, "Portal?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x Melvin" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin Prufrock is a thin, translucent looking individual, with tics Floyd | and other twitchy mannerisms passing for a personality. He is insanely Floyd | tall, approaching six foot eight, but probably only weighs 130 pounds Floyd | with clothes on. You don't even want to consider what he's like without Floyd | clothes on. He also looks like he's about six years younger than you Floyd | are, so about nineteen, and yet he's several rankings above you on the Floyd | ladder. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin withdraws some sort of bulbous metal ray gun from one of the Floyd | dead cabinets. "You should have escaped when you had the chance, Floyd | Peter!" he says as he pulls the trigger. For a moment, you feel Floyd | absolutely nothing, and then you realize with some shock that this is Floyd | because your nervous system has been completely vaporized, and the rest Floyd | of you along with it. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have died *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 9 out of a possible 12, in 182 turns. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "GAH" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | File Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "enter portal" | ||||
Floyd | You leap for the portal. Floyd | Floyd | Weird Tunnel (as Peter) Floyd | You are on your hands and knees in a claustrophobic tunnel. It leads Floyd | down, as nearly as you can tell, but your equilibrium is distorted in Floyd | here. The curving walls gleam with the semblance of wet rock, but the Floyd | palms of your hands tell a different story. It feels like organic Floyd | tissue, a thick layer of hide, with the elastic strength of muscle. Floyd | Like sharkskin, it is silken and slick in one direction but resists any Floyd | backwards movement with a roughened grain. Floyd | Floyd | You hear Melvin scream, "You can't get away from *ME*!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | You begin to crawl forward, the tunnel floor oozing and pliable under Floyd | your knees and palms. The tunnel begins to shiver, and from up ahead a Floyd | roar like a waterfall issues from the darkness. Your hands suddenly Floyd | lose traction as gravity begins its quickening pull. You begin to slide Floyd | down... down... down... Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain (as Peter) Floyd | The noise is really loud here, and there is more to see. A visual Floyd | juxtaposition mars your sense of place. The walls are angular but Floyd | smooth, are a warm red, living rock, are cold dead clay and calcite. Floyd | Cave tunnels lead in all directions, but without a compass or a way to Floyd | mark your trail, you sense that you could easily get lost. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a control panel, Valerie and Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | "You made it!" says Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | "Yeah," you say, "But Melvin's right on my tail." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf seems calm and sagelike. "It's okay. I know my way around, and I Floyd | have a plan. Mind you, the timing is apt to be rather ... cruel... from Floyd | now on." Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "GAH." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh no. When Z says cruel..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | zarf pushes the meta button | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon applauds. | JeremyAvalon exclaims, "Be merciful! We beg!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | You touch the button. It pulses once, and then a bright blue glow Floyd | sweeps across the ceramic plate.The disk's color changes to red, and Floyd | the marking becomes a black X. Moments later, it reverts to its Floyd | original appearance. Floyd | Floyd | There is a sound like a vacuum implosion, and a flash of light. Melvin Floyd | tumbles into view, holding some sort of ray gun. Floyd | Floyd | "He's got a gun!" shouts Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Follow me, please." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf leaves to the northwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and a bright Floyd | stripe of electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he Floyd | screams. The two of you narrowly dodge the beam and follow Zarf down Floyd | the tunnel. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, Floyd | and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of Floyd | stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear Floyd | little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of Floyd | the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Floyd | Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "We're going to need a few things. Try to keep up." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks down through the floor. Vivid gold light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the floor, which melts open around you. You Floyd | hear Melvin close behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Canyon Wall (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | Massive buttresses of stone rise all around you, climbing the canyon Floyd | wall, flowing down again in cascades of pale fluorite. A path seems to Floyd | climb up among them; but you don't think you can get to it right now. Floyd | Floyd | The carcass of the Wumpus is heaped before you. Hardened blood trickles Floyd | from its ravaged hide, puddling on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There is a crossbow lying here; near the beast; loaded and cocked. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the crossbow." Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "oh, heh" | |||
| inky says, "ok, I thought this predated hunter in darkness, but obviously not" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "take crossbow" | ||||
Floyd | Peter takes the crossbow. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "Poor thing." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the east wall. Rich crimson light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Wait, should we intentionally lose him just to see what happens?" | |||
| JeremyAvalon asks, "Does it predate Spider though?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin enters from the path above, shouting, "I smell a Wumpus! HA HA Floyd | HA HA HA!" Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "no, since it makes a bunch of refs to that too" | |||
| inky says, "(all the glaring light things)" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through east wall, which melts open around you. You Floyd | hear Melvin close behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Small Cave (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | You are in a dark pocket, a stony crack below the summit of the hill. Floyd | It is not quite high enough to stand in, but surprisingly long, Floyd | narrowing only slowly towards the back. The entrance is a circle of Floyd | blinding crimson to the west, partially obscured by the boulder. Floyd | Floyd | An ancient and filthy blanket is crumpled against one wall of the cave. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the blanket." Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "Oh. Duh." | |||
| zarf says, "it predates Wallpaper and Dreamhold, if you're curious" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "I got so frustrated looking for anything besides the normal ending in Dreamhold... XO" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get blanket" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie takes the blanket. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the south wall. Shimmering grey light flares around Floyd | him. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin squeezes through the cave opening. "It's a good thing I Floyd | remembered to change my batteries!" he puffs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | If you don't follow Zarf, you will surely be killed. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and fills the Floyd | tiny cave with electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" Floyd | he screams. In the tiny confines of the cave, the deadly beams bounce Floyd | more than Melvin expects, and he is caught in the backfire. "Oh, hell," Floyd | he says, as all three of you shred into atoms. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have died *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 9 out of a possible 12, in 191 turns. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "(Just for fun.)" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Small Cave Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Storage Tent (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This is where the party kept all its supplies. However Roboff seems to Floyd | have cleaned everything out that was of any use. Several arrows of Floyd | Da-Glo paint on the wall attract your attention to the empty food and Floyd | water chests. Floyd | Lying on the ground is a brass torch of the "self-igniting" type. The Floyd | ignite button is on the handle. Floyd | There is a shovel lying here. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the shovel." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "take shovel" | ||||
Floyd | Peter takes the shovel. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Okay, we need to take a slight detour." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks up through the ceiling. Pale green light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | Outside the tent, Melvin hollers, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me Floyd | in!" Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "surely indeed" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the ceiling. You feel the heat of Melvin's ray Floyd | gun blast nearly singe your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, Floyd | and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of Floyd | stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear Floyd | little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of Floyd | the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Floyd | Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Fortunately, these tunnels lead everywhere. Come along." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the south wall. Rosy pink light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hmm, I don't recognize the storage tent" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you. Floyd | Floyd | In Roc Nest (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This nest is made from skillfully woven tree trunks, small bushes, and Floyd | large amounts of mud and roc guano for glue. Giant black feathers are Floyd | everywhere. In the center of the nest is an egg the size of a small Floyd | wagon. Nestled beneath the egg is a featureless white cube. Floyd | The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently. Floyd | There is a stained scroll here. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the scroll." Floyd | Floyd | > | inky asks, "is that infidel?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get cube" | ||||
Floyd | The roc, convinced you are threatening its precious egg, drives you Floyd | away before you can snatch the cube. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin materializes through the rock face. "Where the hell are we?" he Floyd | says, staring around. Floyd | Floyd | > | theclam asks, "smash cube?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get scroll" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie takes the stained scroll. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the west wall of the nest. Blinding white light Floyd | flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and a bright Floyd | stripe of electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he Floyd | screams. He manages to take out not just you and Valerie, but the roc, Floyd | the egg, the cube, and the nest as well. Your glittering ashes take Floyd | several slow minutes to settle far below. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have died *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 9 out of a possible 12, in 196 turns. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move or Floyd | QUIT? Floyd | > | inky says, "whoops" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | In Roc Nest Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | In Roc Nest Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get scroll" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie takes the stained scroll. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the west wall of the nest. Blinding white light Floyd | flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin materializes through the rock face. "Where the hell are we?" he Floyd | says, staring around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the west wall. You hear Melvin yelling, "Bad Floyd | bird! Bad!" Floyd | Floyd | Control Room (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This is the control room for all the machinery nearby. The controls are Floyd | all magical, of course. The walls are covered by blinking lights and Floyd | shifting displays, interspersed with arcane dials and glowing buttons. Floyd | It's all very mysterious looking. The exit, to the northwest, leads Floyd | into a room with machinery which would surely crush you if you were to Floyd | attempt to enter it. Floyd | A scroll of old, brittle parchment is here. Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the scroll." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, me pausing back there may have screwed us up." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "But if so, we have a save near to the beginning of it, so." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get scroll" | ||||
Floyd | (the brittle scroll) Floyd | Peter takes the brittle scroll. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "I need to take my own detour. You two, take the northwest Floyd | exit, wait for Melvin, and incapacitate him. Lay a trap if need be. Floyd | I'll rejoin you after." Floyd | Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | "Are you sure we can get through that?" Peter asks. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf touches a shadow and vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh. Great." Floyd | Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin bursts in from the east wall, covered with talon scratches and Floyd | roc feathers. "Note to self: Don't mess with the roc egg," he says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "take scroll" | ||||
Floyd | Which do you mean, the brittle scroll or the stained scroll? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | You make it across the room, but just barely; just as you duck through Floyd | the door, a huge hammer crashes down behind, missing by an inch. Floyd | Something you stepped on along the way clicked as well, and with a Floyd | horrible screeching noise, the machinery speeds up, crashing faster and Floyd | faster until it's twice as fast as before. Floyd | Floyd | From behind, you hear Melvin cry, "Hey! No fair!" That machinery ought Floyd | to slow him down for at least a minute or two. Floyd | Floyd | Dead End (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | It is the classic dead end. More than that, it is the archetypal dead Floyd | end. Nowhere forward, nowhere back. The ceiling shocks with its height, Floyd | the walls oppress with their closeness. There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin will be here at any moment. Floyd | Floyd | "Do we know what to do?" Valerie asks Peter. Floyd | Floyd | "I hope so, or we're dead." Peter says. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hmm, I didn't notice the viewpoint stuff here" | |||
| inky says, "so it says 'you' to refer to the two of you, but then names the people individually as they do individual things" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a brittle scroll Floyd | a stained scroll Floyd | a shovel Floyd | a blanket Floyd | a crossbow Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "The hammer thing sounds like that maze of death thing here on the mud." | |||
| inky says, "(like this inventory is actually for the two of us)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The hammer is from Enchanter." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "brittle" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x brittle" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll reads "kulcad spell: dispel a magic spell". The spell seems Floyd | very long and extremely complicated. Floyd | Floyd | You hear the distant crash of a giant hammer, followed by a small Floyd | shriek from Melvin. It sounded more disappointed than fatal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x stained" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection." Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "I've totally forgotten where the Maze of Death is... I spent half an hour yesterday wandering around trying to find it." | |||
| inky says, "I don't really remember how to make a trap here" | ||||
| inky asks (of alex), "maze of doom?" | ||||
| Alex says (to inky), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that the maze of doom is gone, but it was fun while it lasted. Also, Jota has written a sequel, called the Maze of Doom II." | ||||
| inky asks (of alex), "maze of doom ii?" | ||||
| Alex says (to inky), "Awwwk! Word on the street is that the Maze of Doom II is based on Whizzard's Maze of Doom. Also, a cooperative multi-player game on ifMUD." | ||||
| inky says, "bah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Huh. I figured he'd say where they were." | ||||
| inky says, "he knows, it just got cut off" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, so I see from #Alex." | ||||
| inky says, "ok, we have the shovel, so I believe we dig with it" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "dig" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to dig? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "shovel" | ||||
Floyd | Peter attacks the soft ground with the shovel. It seems to magically Floyd | bite large chunks at a time, like a ravenous rodent burrowing into Floyd | angel food cake. The scooped material seems to vanish like evaporating Floyd | bubbles, leaving only a deep pit behind. Floyd | Floyd | Unfortunately, Peter himself ends up at the bottom of it. Floyd | Floyd | There is a terrific crash and then a fast series of metallic whupping Floyd | noises. Melvin comes limping in through the southeast wall, looking the Floyd | worse for wear. Several spears are skewered in his sides, and one leg Floyd | drags limply behind him. Floyd | Floyd | "My ray gun got smashed by the hammer," he mopes.He looks down in the Floyd | pit and laughs. "What are you doing down there, digging a latrine? Floyd | Don't worry about that. Time to die." Floyd | Floyd | With a steely 'snikt', long metal blades protrude out of his knuckles. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| inky says, "it is conceivable that we are screwed time-wise" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Quite." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, but the last save will get us there." | ||||
| inky says, "I guess I wasted a couple turns examining the scrolls and stuff" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "restore" | Jacqueline says, "Sorry about that. I was curious." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain (as Peter) Floyd | The noise is really loud here, and there is more to see. A visual Floyd | juxtaposition mars your sense of place. The walls are angular but Floyd | smooth, are a warm red, living rock, are cold dead clay and calcite. Floyd | Cave tunnels lead in all directions, but without a compass or a way to Floyd | mark your trail, you sense that you could easily get lost. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a control panel, Valerie and Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | There is a sound like a vacuum implosion, and a flash of light. Melvin Floyd | tumbles into view, holding some sort of ray gun. Floyd | Floyd | "He's got a gun!" shouts Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Follow me, please." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf leaves to the northwest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and a bright Floyd | stripe of electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he Floyd | screams. The two of you narrowly dodge the beam and follow Zarf down Floyd | the tunnel. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, Floyd | and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of Floyd | stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear Floyd | little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of Floyd | the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Floyd | Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "We're going to need a few things. Try to keep up." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks down through the floor. Vivid gold light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | If you don't follow Zarf, you will surely be killed. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin enters from the southeast. "Aha! There you are, my pretties!" he Floyd | cackles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Tunnels Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Inside Zarf's Brain Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says, "sorry, go ahead" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | Melvin fires the ray gun, which emits a sizzling noise and a bright Floyd | stripe of electric blue laser light. "EXTERMINATE! EXTERMINATE!" he Floyd | screams. The two of you narrowly dodge the beam and follow Zarf down Floyd | the tunnel. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, Floyd | and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of Floyd | stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear Floyd | little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of Floyd | the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Floyd | Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "We're going to need a few things. Try to keep up." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks down through the floor. Vivid gold light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon facepalms, grinning. | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "d" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the floor, which melts open around you. You Floyd | hear Melvin close behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Canyon Wall (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | Massive buttresses of stone rise all around you, climbing the canyon Floyd | wall, flowing down again in cascades of pale fluorite. A path seems to Floyd | climb up among them; but you don't think you can get to it right now. Floyd | Floyd | The carcass of the Wumpus is heaped before you. Hardened blood trickles Floyd | from its ravaged hide, puddling on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There is a crossbow lying here; near the beast; loaded and cocked. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the crossbow." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "Take the crossbow" | ||||
Floyd | Peter takes the crossbow. Floyd | Floyd | Valerie says, "Poor thing." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the east wall. Rich crimson light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through east wall, which melts open around you. You Floyd | hear Melvin close behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Small Cave (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | You are in a dark pocket, a stony crack below the summit of the hill. Floyd | It is not quite high enough to stand in, but surprisingly long, Floyd | narrowing only slowly towards the back. The entrance is a circle of Floyd | blinding crimson to the west, partially obscured by the boulder. Floyd | Floyd | An ancient and filthy blanket is crumpled against one wall of the cave. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the blanket." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "Take the blanket" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie takes the blanket. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the south wall. Shimmering grey light flares around Floyd | him. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin squeezes through the cave opening. "It's a good thing I Floyd | remembered to change my batteries!" he puffs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Storage Tent (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This is where the party kept all its supplies. However Roboff seems to Floyd | have cleaned everything out that was of any use. Several arrows of Floyd | Da-Glo paint on the wall attract your attention to the empty food and Floyd | water chests. Floyd | Lying on the ground is a brass torch of the "self-igniting" type. The Floyd | ignite button is on the handle. Floyd | There is a shovel lying here. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the shovel." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "Take the shovel." | ||||
Floyd | Peter takes the shovel. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Okay, we need to take a slight detour." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks up through the ceiling. Pale green light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | Outside the tent, Melvin hollers, "Little pigs, little pigs, let me Floyd | in!" Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the ceiling. You feel the heat of Melvin's ray Floyd | gun blast nearly singe your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnels (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | A huge cavern rises above you. The far reaches are lost in shadow mist, Floyd | and the vaults above fade into a darkness pierced with long columns of Floyd | stone. Chill water drips and pools in broken declivities. You can hear Floyd | little else. A river of smoke-grey travertine flows down one wall of Floyd | the chamber. Pale fungi gleam in phosphorescence somewhere above. Floyd | Gloomy side chambers stretch off in many directions. Floyd | Floyd | You can see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Fortunately, these tunnels lead everywhere. Come along." Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the south wall. Rosy pink light flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the south wall. Melvin is one step behind you. Floyd | Floyd | In Roc Nest (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This nest is made from skillfully woven tree trunks, small bushes, and Floyd | large amounts of mud and roc guano for glue. Giant black feathers are Floyd | everywhere. In the center of the nest is an egg the size of a small Floyd | wagon. Nestled beneath the egg is a featureless white cube. Floyd | The roc perches on the side of the nest, watching you intently. Floyd | There is a stained scroll here. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the scroll." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "Take the scroll." | ||||
Floyd | Valerie takes the stained scroll. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf walks through the west wall of the nest. Blinding white light Floyd | flares around him. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin materializes through the rock face. "Where the hell are we?" he Floyd | says, staring around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | You follow Zarf through the west wall. You hear Melvin yelling, "Bad Floyd | bird! Bad!" Floyd | Floyd | Control Room (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | This is the control room for all the machinery nearby. The controls are Floyd | all magical, of course. The walls are covered by blinking lights and Floyd | shifting displays, interspersed with arcane dials and glowing buttons. Floyd | It's all very mysterious looking. The exit, to the northwest, leads Floyd | into a room with machinery which would surely crush you if you were to Floyd | attempt to enter it. Floyd | A scroll of old, brittle parchment is here. Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "Take the scroll." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "Take the parchment." | ||||
Floyd | Peter takes the brittle scroll. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf says, "I need to take my own detour. You two, take the northwest Floyd | exit, wait for Melvin, and incapacitate him. Lay a trap if need be. Floyd | I'll rejoin you after." Floyd | Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | "Are you sure we can get through that?" Peter asks. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf touches a shadow and vanishes. Floyd | Floyd | "Oh. Great." Floyd | Floyd | "Crash!" A huge hammer smashes against the stone floor outside. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin bursts in from the east wall, covered with talon scratches and Floyd | roc feathers. "Note to self: Don't mess with the roc egg," he says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||||
Floyd | You make it across the room, but just barely; just as you duck through Floyd | the door, a huge hammer crashes down behind, missing by an inch. Floyd | Something you stepped on along the way clicked as well, and with a Floyd | horrible screeching noise, the machinery speeds up, crashing faster and Floyd | faster until it's twice as fast as before. Floyd | Floyd | From behind, you hear Melvin cry, "Hey! No fair!" That machinery ought Floyd | to slow him down for at least a minute or two. Floyd | Floyd | Dead End (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | It is the classic dead end. More than that, it is the archetypal dead Floyd | end. Nowhere forward, nowhere back. The ceiling shocks with its height, Floyd | the walls oppress with their closeness. There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin will be here at any moment. Floyd | Floyd | "Do we know what to do?" Valerie asks Peter. Floyd | Floyd | "I hope so, or we're dead." Peter says. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf5" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Good plan" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "dig with shovel" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Dead End Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "dig shovel" | ||||
Floyd | Peter attacks the soft ground with the shovel. It seems to magically Floyd | bite large chunks at a time, like a ravenous rodent burrowing into Floyd | angel food cake. The scooped material seems to vanish like evaporating Floyd | bubbles, leaving only a deep pit behind. Floyd | Floyd | Unfortunately, Peter himself ends up at the bottom of it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "peter, out" | ||||
Floyd | You seem to want to talk to someone, but I can't see whom. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | You hear the distant crash of a giant hammer, followed by a small Floyd | shriek from Melvin. It sounded more disappointed than fatal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "up" | ||||
Floyd | You can't go that way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Dead End Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Dead End Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert asks, "Was anyone still wondering where the MoD2 was?" | |||
| Bert says, "If so, XYZZY, NE, E." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon exclaims, "Ay ay, skipper!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put blanket on hole" | ||||
Floyd | Putting things on the deep pit would achieve nothing. Floyd | Floyd | You hear the distant crash of a giant hammer, followed by a small Floyd | shriek from Melvin. It sounded more disappointed than fatal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cover pit with blanket" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie throws the blanket across the opening of the pit, covering it Floyd | completely. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "caskly blanket" | ||||
Floyd | The casting feels wrong, and you are momentarily blinded. Floyd | Floyd | There is a terrific crash and then a fast series of metallic whupping Floyd | noises. Melvin comes limping in through the southeast wall, looking the Floyd | worse for wear. Several spears are skewered in his sides, and one leg Floyd | drags limply behind him. Floyd | Floyd | "My ray gun got smashed by the hammer," he mopes."Hey, where's your Floyd | boyfriend? You two get separated? Don't worry, you guys will have a Floyd | touching reunion in Hell." Floyd | Floyd | With a steely 'snikt', long metal blades protrude out of his knuckles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "..undo" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a stained scroll Floyd | Floyd | Melvin takes a limping step forward and, like the idiot he always was, Floyd | falls for the trap and topples into the pit, just barely missing Peter. Floyd | Floyd | In the Pit (as Peter) Floyd | You are down in the bottom of the pit. Crudely carved, spongy walls Floyd | lead up to a narrow opening. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a blanket here. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin looks like he's gotten the wind knocked out of him, if that's Floyd | possible. Probably getting past the crashing machinery trap took more Floyd | out of him than you guessed. He stands up woozily. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Dead End Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | theclam asks, "robowolverine?" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Oh, sorry." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Dead End Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "well, I don't really know what I'm doing" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x stained" | JeremyAvalon says, "Just trying to get the scroll back." | |||
Floyd | The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection." Floyd | Floyd | There is a terrific crash and then a fast series of metallic whupping Floyd | noises. Melvin comes limping in through the southeast wall, looking the Floyd | worse for wear. Several spears are skewered in his sides, and one leg Floyd | drags limply behind him. Floyd | Floyd | "My ray gun got smashed by the hammer," he mopes."Hey, where's your Floyd | boyfriend? You two get separated? Don't worry, you guys will have a Floyd | touching reunion in Hell." Floyd | Floyd | With a steely 'snikt', long metal blades protrude out of his knuckles. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x brittle" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "gnucho caskly" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognize. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to inky), "But... I thought you were doing so well and had a plan and stuff." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x scroll" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection." Floyd | Floyd | Melvin takes a limping step forward and, like the idiot he always was, Floyd | falls for the trap and topples into the pit, just barely missing Peter. Floyd | Floyd | In the Pit (as Peter) Floyd | You are down in the bottom of the pit. Crudely carved, spongy walls Floyd | lead up to a narrow opening. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a blanket here. Floyd | Floyd | Melvin looks like he's gotten the wind knocked out of him, if that's Floyd | possible. Probably getting past the crashing machinery trap took more Floyd | out of him than you guessed. He stands up woozily. Floyd | Floyd | > | JeremyAvalon says, "I think we should put that one on Peter." | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "gnusto caskly" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "shoot melvin with crossbow" | ||||
Floyd | You shoot the crossbow at Melvin, who is too disoriented to deflect the Floyd | bolt. It plunges straight into his gizzard. "EEEAGH!!" he cries his Floyd | last, before exploding into a million shiny pieces. Melvin is no more. Floyd | Floyd | "That was funky," Valerie says from above. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by three points.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "gnusto scroll" | ||||
Floyd | You don't have a spell book. Floyd | Floyd | "Come on up," Valerie calls down to you. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "hunh" | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "u" | ||||
Floyd | Peter climbs out of the pit and rejoins Valerie. Floyd | Floyd | Dead End (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | It is the classic dead end. More than that, it is the archetypal dead Floyd | end. Nowhere forward, nowhere back. The ceiling shocks with its height, Floyd | the walls oppress with their closeness. There are no exits. Floyd | Floyd | A deep pit has been dug here by Peter. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf appears in a cloud of orange smoke, wearing a long blue cloak with Floyd | electroluminescent highlights. He surveys the scene calmly. "Okay," he Floyd | says, retrieving the blanket and the crossbow. Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? Floyd | [1]How do we get out of here? Floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >> | inky says, "ok, I guess that wasn't as hard as I thought" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh heh gizzard" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "But we did still need to dig before Melvin came." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | "Like this," he says, and withdraws a small white cube and a spell book Floyd | from his cloak. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf begins to intone the blorple spell-- Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Peter and Valerie) Floyd | The room is a disaster area. Ruined cabinets lie everywhere, the Floyd | remains of a once mighty (but very silly) army. The exploded pulsating Floyd | copier machine innards are leaking trails of acrid ochre smoke into the Floyd | air. Scorched company documents, flung willy nilly in the battle, Floyd | carpet the floor, hiding only the smallest of the many scuffs and Floyd | scratches. Floyd | Floyd | The secret door lies exposed in the wall. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see Zarf here. Floyd | Floyd | "Now," says Zarf. "Your turn again." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Fang's last breath is also his mintiest. | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "turn. again." | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "caskly" | ||||
Floyd | Zarf says, "Try the other one first." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "gnusto" | ||||
Floyd | What do you want to gnusto? Floyd | Floyd | > | Bert says, "It's got bells on." | |||
| DavidW says, "I think here is where to use the scrolls." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "gnusto caskly" | ||||
Floyd | You don't have a spell book. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "caskly cabinets" | ||||
Floyd | Zarf says, "Try the other one first." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a brittle scroll Floyd | a stained scroll Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x brittle" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll reads "kulcad spell: dispel a magic spell". The spell seems Floyd | very long and extremely complicated. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "x stained" | ||||
Floyd | The scroll reads "caskly spell: cause perfection." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "kulcad door" | ||||
Floyd | Peter intones the Kulcad scroll. It is long and complicated, and he Floyd | stumbles over the unfamiliar language. However, the magic is too Floyd | powerful to be constrained. The more he reads, the clearer his Floyd | pronunciation becomes, as the magic works through him. As he finishes Floyd | the incantation, there is a noise like the rushing of open wind through Floyd | a great tunnel. The secret door ripples and shimmers, trapped in a Floyd | state between reality and mirage. Then, so suddenly that it is missed Floyd | in a blink, the door is gone, leaving only a blank wall. There is no Floyd | trace that it had ever been here. Floyd | Floyd | Zarf nods. "Now the other," he says. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Now I have the voices from Z:GI saying the spell names in my head." | |||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "caskly" | ||||
Floyd | Valerie intones the caskly spell. The room begins to melt; plaster, Floyd | plastic, metal, and glass drip down like wax; loose papers lift and Floyd | twirl in swelling eddies, spinning upwards from all directions. Floyd | Floyd | Then, familiar forms start reasserting themselves. Torn pages mend Floyd | themselves out of the whirlwind, flowing back into place. Cabinet after Floyd | cabinet slots itself into position, drawers agape, eating documents Floyd | that file themselves. All is changed. The copier machine refuses its Floyd | alien origins and becomes happily mudane, humming to life and churning Floyd | out copies of a wonderfully boring document. Floyd | Floyd | "What just happened?" Valerie asks. Floyd | Floyd | "Take a look," says Zarf. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x machine" | ||||
Floyd | The copier has a lid which covers a big pane of glass, and a panel with Floyd | buttons. The big green button makes copies. That's all you've ever Floyd | needed to push on it. In fact, your annoying supervisor, Melvin Floyd | Prufrock, impressed upon you, at stammering length, how temperamental Floyd | the machine is, and how expensive copier repair guys are. Bah. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | File Room (as Peter) Floyd | The file room looks considerably cleaner, perhaps better than before. Floyd | The reassuring familiarity of its short, slumping ceiling seems now to Floyd | brighten your morale. Short file cabinets, marked in reverse Floyd | alphabetical order, stand in a clean line along the walls like a Floyd | perfect set of teeth. A window affords a beautiful view and a kind Floyd | square of sunlight. Floyd | Floyd | "Congratulations, that's the end of the story," says Zarf, pacing back Floyd | and forth. "But, that's not *really* the way it happened, is it?" Floyd | Floyd | What would you like to say? Floyd | [1]Yes.[2]No. Floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >> | djfletch says, "hehe" | |||
| DavidW says, "There's yer Spider ref." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon asks, "1?" | ||||
| Bert says, "You've got an UNDO." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | "Don't be absurd. You have an active imagination; that much is true. Floyd | The rest of it -- a patchwork, a pastiche! Let me refresh your memory Floyd | for you." You see a glint of something shiny in his hand. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | -- glaring light... Floyd | Floyd | [Hit any key.] | ||||
| JeremyAvalon pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | At last, your troubled fortunes seemed to come to an end. It all Floyd | happened very quickly: the callback from Red Hat, the bizarre interview Floyd | with Human Resources, the handshake, the filling out of W-2 forms, and Floyd | then your first day of work. Floyd | Floyd | And then the next day of work, and the next, and the next. Life goes Floyd | on, routinely and normally, happily ever after. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have made a difference *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | In that game you scored 12 out of a possible 12, in 215 turns. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says (to Floyd), "see notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "NOTES" | JeremyAvalon says, "..." | |||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "amusing" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "end notes" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "endnotes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "author" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "NOTES" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| theclam says (to floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | DavidW says, "hmmm" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "hrm" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "oh sure, a customer finally shows up, and when I get back, you guys are done with the game. and seem to have broken it as well." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | | theclam says, "those are some very short notes" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push space" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "endnotes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "end notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "p" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "afterword" | Jacqueline says (to G), "har" | |||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | inky says, "I think we're seeing a status bar type menu" | |||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "amusing" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "amusing" | Gerynar asks, "guess the verb?" | |||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | inky says, "hrm, or maybe not" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Oh. Bah." | ||||
| Bert presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| djfletch says (to Floyd), "1" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "end" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "note" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | inky says, "this walkthrough certainly says to type notes" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "endnote" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "notse" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "2" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "restore" | DavidW says, "I wonder why it's not working." | |||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Restore failed. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "notes" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "That is a bit annoying, yeah." | |||
| DavidW asks, "Maybe the story file is very slightly damaged?" | ||||
| zarf asks, "how would that happen?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of inky), "You don't have some automagical way of taking our save file and inserting it into a runthrough of the game on your own system, finishing, typing NOTES and then pasting the text do you?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "I think floyd is annoyed that you finished the game without me :)" | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | | ||||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Then again, in typing all hat, it seems far too complimicated, so, don't try." | |||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "er, s/hat/that" | |||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "NOTES" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to load: Restore failed. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, UNDO your last move, Floyd | see the author's end NOTES or QUIT? Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "NOTES" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | ||||
| Bert says (to Floyd), "/undo" | ||||
Floyd | | ||||
| Bert pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | inky says (to Jacqueline), "sure, hang on" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I would like to proactively say that I have two things to discuss before folks start to disappear, btw." | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "author's end NOTES" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of inky), "Seriously?" | |||
| Bert asks, "I'm thinking that Rob maybe did something funky with this menu when he implemented it, rather than using the standard one?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Cool." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "Must have." | ||||
| NOTE: Time passes... | ||||
| inky says, "ok, so I'm afraid I can't get it to play either" | ||||
| Bert asks, "Same problem?" | ||||
| inky says, "what I did do is extract the text from the gamefile" | ||||
| NOTE: Text can be found at [LINK] | ||||
| Jacqueline goes to read. | ||||
| inky says, "he mentions first things first coming out before the end of 2000" | ||||
| inky says, "it was nominated in the 2001 xyzzys so I guess he actually was pretty close" | ||||
| Gerynar has disconnected. | ||||
| Gerynar spins around in circles, faster and faster, until he disapears in a brilliant flash of plaid light. | minghua says, "I am surprised that he could contact Activision and got their permission." | |||
| inky says, "wosshisface from activision used to hang out on the newsgroup" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Laird somebody?" | ||||
| zarf says, "laird malamed" | ||||
| inky says, "there we go" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Thank you so much for doing that." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| JeremyAvalon pulls Barbie's cord. | ||||
| IF Barbie says, "Has anyone seen Ken? I want him to test this puzzle." | inky says, "you bet" | |||
| minghua says, "This was my first time to be playing in club Floyd, it was fun." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to minghua), "Very cool. Thanks for joining us!" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Moi aussi." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Jeremy), "Hooray a toi aussi." | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "XD" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon says, "Merci." | ||||
| Bert asks (of Jacq), "Is that a doll with a little string you can pull to make it say 'G'Day'?" | ||||
| theclam says (to minghua), "same here. this was intriguing" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to clam), "Glad you enjoyed it." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Bert), "Hm?" | ||||
| Bert says, "A toi aussi." | ||||
| Bert says, "(Although I was being polite and not commenting on your poor spelling.)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bert), "har" | ||||
| JeremyAvalon kersnicketyers. | ||||
| minghua says (to theclam), "Yeah, more fun than playing by oneself." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to minghua), "Definitely." | ||||
| Bert says, "(Not for children three or under, since the boomerang could be swallowed.)" | ||||
| minghua says, "Although, a slow reader as I am, I could only barely keep up with everyone else's pace." | ||||
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