  
 
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 Fragile Shells, written by Stephen Granade. Fragile Shells was originally released as part of Casual Gameplay Design Competition 7, where it took second place. You can learn more about the game, including how to download it, by visiting the ifWiki.WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing this game, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played this game, and think you might like to at some point, I do not recommend reading any further. Instead, you might want to return to the interactive fiction page. |
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| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load fragileshells" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fragile Shells Floyd | An Interactive Escape by Stephen Granade Floyd | Copyright á 2010 by Stephen Granade. All rights reserved. Floyd | Type ABOUT for more information. Floyd | Release 4 / Serial number 100401 / Inform 7 build 5Z71 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | You don't know how long you've been hammering against the station's Floyd | wall, but you stop as soon as you realize what you've been doing. You Floyd | let your gloved hands fall by your sides and pause, confused. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | You're in full kit, suited up against the vacuum. Your suit's wrist Floyd | readout is flashing. Floyd | Floyd | What happened? Other than someone taking a cricket bat to the back of Floyd | your head? You'd been...piloting? Moving the station? But why wasn't Floyd | Suze doing that? You're the backup pilot, for Crippen's sake! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x readout" | ||||
Floyd | You reflexively check the suit's readout: plenty of oxygen; no Floyd | integrity issues. The health report is rather more worrying, though. Floyd | The suit thinks you've had a concussion. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x readout" | ||||
Floyd | Plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The health report is rather Floyd | more worrying, though. The suit thinks you've had a concussion. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "eep" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "check that eyes are PERL" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You're wearing a flex spacesuit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x suit" | ||||
Floyd | Your suit is a standard-issue flex spacesuit?not a hardshell, Floyd | thankfully, which means no radiation concerns. It has the usual handy Floyd | extras: a pouch for storing small items and D-rings for tethers. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Something took out the fluorescents, so the only light comes from your Floyd | helmet's forward spot. Since you're facing the wall you twist your Floyd | neck and look around frantically, your spotlight dancing across the Floyd | remains of Node 4, before you realize what a bad idea moving your head Floyd | fast is. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Eep - I forgot Perry!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "But keep playing, I'm logging him in." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And can fix it later." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x wall" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You take a more calm survey of your surroundings this time. You're in Floyd | Node 4, the cylindrical science module. Some of the walls and Floyd | bulkheads have buckled and parts of the module are now floating free Floyd | or have otherwise been shoved to where they shouldn't be. You just Floyd | know as soon as the news reaches Earth that the net'll light up with Floyd | cries of how much taxpayer money went out the airlock. Floyd | Floyd | You're pinned near the starboard wall by some wreckage. Since you're Floyd | facing the wall you've got a good view of the supplemental lighting Floyd | switch that's at chest height. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "flip switch" | ||||
Floyd | Oh thank goodness: the supplemental LED lights begin to glow all along Floyd | the station. The lights reveal details like the prise bar jammed into Floyd | a nearby screen and how the entire aft end of Node 4 is gone, ripped Floyd | away like the end of a tube of biscuits? Floyd | Floyd | ?you had strapped yourself into the sleeping rack and closed its door, Floyd | hoping it would provide protection, expecting that it wouldn't, and Floyd | there was a flash of light visible through the edges of the sleeping Floyd | rack's door and your head cracked against the wall? Floyd | Floyd | You pause until a sudden wave of dizziness passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x switch" | ||||
Floyd | The switch turns on and off the Node's supplemental lights. Right now Floyd | the lights are switched on. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x bar" | ||||
Floyd | The prise bar is a completely straight piece of metal the length of Floyd | your arm and made of some light alloy because of the cost to bring Floyd | things into orbit. Both ends are flattened and are the width of three Floyd | of your fingers. The prise bar only sees occasional use thanks to Floyd | Newton's Third. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take bar" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the prise bar free from the screen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "unstrap me" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x screen" | ||||
Floyd | Back when the station had power and the screen hadn't had a prise bar Floyd | rammed through it, you used the touch screen to record your daily Floyd | exercise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | But you aren't in anything at the moment. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "push me" | ||||
Floyd | That would be less than courteous. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mary says (to Floyd), "x wreakage" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "push wall" | ||||
Floyd | Those are fixed in place. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You're still trapped facing the starboard wall, so you can't see Floyd | whether the escape pod is attached to the port side of Node 4 or not. Floyd | Fore you can see the hatch to the station exterior is dogged shut. Floyd | Looking aft you can't see the remaining three-quarters of Node 4, Floyd | since it seems to have gone missing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft" | ||||
Floyd | You push off against the wall only to be pulled up short when one of Floyd | your legs doesn't go with you. It's pinned. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x legs" | ||||
Floyd | Your leg is pinned in some wreckage. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "pry leg" | ||||
Floyd | (with the prise bar) Floyd | You slip one end of the prise bar between the struts holding you in Floyd | place and apply pressure. You feel a vibration through your suit leg Floyd | as the struts move apart until there's enough space that you slip your Floyd | foot free. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "woo" | |||
| DB exclaims, "Freedom!" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "score" | ||||
Floyd | You have 1 points out of 8, in 20 turns. (There's a complete list of Floyd | your accomplishments so far which you can see by typing FULL SCORE.) Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x wreckage" | ||||
Floyd | Some of the struts have bowed out of the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "full" | ||||
Floyd | You have 1 points out of 8. Here is how you got them: Floyd | Floyd | 1 for freeing yourself from the struts Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "Being in the toyroom when everone else isn't trying to kill me is fun" | |||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x struts" | ||||
Floyd | Some of the struts have bowed out of the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "spoken like a true werewolf." | |||
| two-star says (to floyd), "Kill Gerynar" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Is there any way to see the status bar?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Mick), "No, unfortunately." | ||||
| Gerynar says, "unfortunately not" | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "verbose" | ||||
Floyd | Fragile Shells is now in its "verbose" mode, which always gives long Floyd | descriptions of locations (even if you've been there before). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "port" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Starboard Floyd | You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise Floyd | equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no Floyd | one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are Floyd | ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now Floyd | ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | is fore. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | You gently push off from the wall and drift port. Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "xd metal" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Limax arrives, ready to play with the toys. | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x metal" | ||||
Floyd | (the embedded compartment) Floyd | It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged Floyd | metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is Floyd | embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by Floyd | it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a Floyd | featureless door that is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Limax says, "Aroo" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||||
Floyd | You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens. Floyd | The escape pod door is supposed to automatically open in the event Floyd | main power fails, but something's clearly gone wrong. You spend a Floyd | moment cursing stupid turn-of-the-century NASA engineers with their Floyd | hipster sideburns and their iPods, since that's better than giving in Floyd | to panic. Just because NASA's old ISS equipment was available at Floyd | fire-sale prices doesn't mean it was a true bargain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mary goes home. | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "pry metal" | ||||
Floyd | (the embedded compartment) Floyd | (with the prise bar) Floyd | You can't slip the prise bar between the door and the rest of the Floyd | compartment, not enough to get any leverage. The only way to open it Floyd | is electronically. Floyd | Floyd | This compartment used to be with the others next to the experiments Floyd | aft of here. With any luck you'll find the button that opens the Floyd | compartment there. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "what was the 'eyes are PERL' thing about?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Pupils Equal and Responsive to Light" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It's an EMT thing." | ||||
| Doug says, "huh, cool." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "You use it to check for issues after head trauma." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "See if the pupils are equal in size under the same light conditions, cover the eyes or expose them to a small weak flashlight to see if the pupils respond." | ||||
| Doug says, "I'd try to make a perl-the-language joke, but Google says it's now 'PERRLA'" | ||||
| Limax says, "I remember that the pracice dummy we had for CPR had a concussion" | ||||
| Nitku says, "All pupils are equal, but some pupils are more equal than others" | ||||
| Limax says, "Gave me nightmares" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured Floyd | by four screws. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x screen" | ||||
Floyd | The screen should be lit up like a, well, a lit screen, but it isn't. Floyd | Even though the main power's out the screen and door should have Floyd | switched over to auxiliary power. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | You carefully bring yourself to a stop before you reach the open end Floyd | of the station. For one vertiginous moment you feel as if the remains Floyd | of the station are above you and you are falling inexorably to your Floyd | death. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x crack" | ||||
Floyd | Plates in the floor have cracked open, revealing the station's Floyd | underlying structure. Deep down you can see a length of chain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "get chain" | ||||
Floyd | You gingerly reach between the broken floor plates trying to pick up Floyd | the length of chain, but it is about a meter down, and you'd likely Floyd | tear your suit on the edges of the crack trying to get it this way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "pry chain" | ||||
Floyd | (with the prise bar) Floyd | That doesn't truly need prising. Floyd | Floyd | Through the open end of Node 4 you see the Earth roll into view, Floyd | throwing the jagged edge of the station into stark relief and Floyd | revealing an external battery on the outside of the station. While you Floyd | watch the Earth vanish again the very expensive programs in your head Floyd | start estimating orbits and trajectories. You're slowly spiraling away Floyd | from Earth while the cylinder of Node 4 spins about its fore-aft axis. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "get chain with bar" | ||||
Floyd | You're able to reach the chain with the prise bar, but there's no way Floyd | to then hook the chain on the straight flat bar. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "bend bar" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x compartment" | ||||
Floyd | (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod) Floyd | It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged Floyd | metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is Floyd | embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by Floyd | it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a Floyd | featureless door that is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "open compartment door" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny asks, "So?" | |||
| DB says, "Well, let's explore the station a bit." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x battery" | ||||
Floyd | One of the battery modules dotted around the exterior of the station. Floyd | It's slightly larger than a loaf of bread. It's on the exterior skin Floyd | of the station?you can just see it from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | DB asks, "Starboard?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "So, this is one room, but there are different 'parts' to said room? Is that the trick?" | ||||
| Mick says, "I'm guessing four parts." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "starboard" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Starboard Floyd | There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like Floyd | soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now Floyd | there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must Floyd | have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft Floyd | of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny says, "Looks like it." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Clever work around for a ORGcomp." | ||||
| DB says, "I'm a fan of naval directions." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Ala Shade." | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Starboard Floyd | You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise Floyd | equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no Floyd | one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are Floyd | ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now Floyd | ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior Floyd | is fore. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "When I say 'ala Shade,' I mean the parts-of-a-room thing, that is, not the naval directions." | |||
| Mick says, "Let's go open that door" | ||||
| DB says, "Indeed." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft. open door" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Starboard Floyd | There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like Floyd | soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now Floyd | there's just one left. Its door is closed. The other three racks must Floyd | have been ripped away when the accident happened. The station ends aft Floyd | of here in a ring of jagged, twisted metal. Floyd | Floyd | You open the door and a body falls towards you! Floyd | Floyd | Right, deep breaths, it's just an empty spacesuit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x spacesuit" | ||||
Floyd | (the empty spacesuit) Floyd | The empty spacesuit is just like yours, except it has SUZAN HARRISON Floyd | stenciled on it. It also has the screwdriver you've used for EVA Floyd | repair missions strapped to it? Floyd | Floyd | ?wrestling with the empty suit, desperately pushing it into the Floyd | sleeping rack, wishing the lights hadn't gone off after the explosion, Floyd | not sure why but knowing you have to get the damn thing inside? Floyd | Floyd | For a moment you struggle with panic borrowed from a poorly-remembered Floyd | past. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "take screwdriver" | ||||
Floyd | You remove the screwdriver from the spacesuit and hold it in your Floyd | gloved hand. You've spent countless hours on EVAs using screwdrivers Floyd | just like this one, sweating in a spacesuit like the one you're Floyd | wearing for up to eight hours. You had no idea those EVAs would end up Floyd | being good practise for your current situation. Floyd | Floyd | You clip the screwdriver to one of your suit's D-rings to make it Floyd | easier to carry. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x screwdriver" | ||||
Floyd | A low-torque powered screwdriver with a grip that's specially designed Floyd | to be used while you're wearing these ham-hand gloves. It's clipped to Floyd | your spacesuit. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick exclaims, "So.. let's go unscrew stuff!" | |||
| Johnny says, "control panel" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "I think we're gonna need that battery" | ||||
| ParserGirl arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "port." | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is secured Floyd | by four screws. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unscrew panel" | ||||
Floyd | You unclip the screwdriver and in short order have the four screws Floyd | out. You let them drift away to join the rest of the junk while you Floyd | gently pull the panel away from the bulkhead. With any luck you can Floyd | fix what's wrong with the button. Floyd | Floyd | Behind the panel is a mass of wires held in place by a stick pad. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x pad" | ||||
Floyd | It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made Floyd | of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly Floyd | tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface. The pad is stuck Floyd | to the mass of wires. Patricia always used one to secure her pens? Floyd | Floyd | ?dogging the hatch and looking through the porthole to see Patricia on Floyd | the other side snap a salute even though she's never liked your dual Floyd | astronaut and military roles, but she must have felt it was the most Floyd | appropriate goodbye gesture she could make? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "pull pad" | ||||
Floyd | The stick pad isn't very strong?you give a tug and detach the stick Floyd | pad from the mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x wires" | ||||
Floyd | Oh good grief, there are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, Floyd | blue, yellow, orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got Floyd | quick disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily. All of Floyd | the wires are connected to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny asks, "Why is everything the width of three of our fingers?" | |||
| Mick says, "I feel like I'm defusing a bomb" | ||||
| Limax says, "LEt's see 10 wires... that's a lot of combinations" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Johnny), "Maybe it's an attempt to avoid the metric/English/measurements-we-use-in-the-future issue." | ||||
| Mick says, "I don't suppose "pull all wires" would be the best action." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "People used to inches are always jarred by cm, I think, and vice-versa." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Mick), "Well, we can save." | ||||
| Jacqueline clears the save counter. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | Floyd | > | Limax says, "Measuring is hard" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "pull all wires" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the red wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the black wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the white wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the green wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the grey wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the blue wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the yellow wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the orange wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the violet wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You pull the white-and-red striped wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Mick), "Pull away!" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Timing." | ||||
| Mick says, "That was anticlimatic" | ||||
| DB says, "Hm..." | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "put red wire in panel" | ||||
Floyd | There's no real room for the red wire in there. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x red wire" | ||||
Floyd | The red wire is disconnected from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling Floyd | open, revealing the mass of wires, and the stick pad. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "attach red wire to panel" | ||||
Floyd | You re-connect the red wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "ok, so I don't think we can re-arrange the connections" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x stick pad" | ||||
Floyd | It's a square pad about the width of three of your fingers. It's made Floyd | of some super-velcro substance the boffins came up with. It's lightly Floyd | tacky on both sides and sticks to most any surface. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "What else was three fingers wide?" | |||
| Johnny asks (of Jacq), "Well, maybe, but then why use 'boffins'?" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "ah...put the sticky pad on the bar and then get the chain, we can then probably attach the chain to our suit so we can go out and get the battery" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Mick), "Prybar." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "put pad on bar" | ||||
Floyd | You pick up the stick pad and stick the stick pad to the prise bar. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny says, "yay" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "touch chain with bar" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to touch the length of chain. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "get chain with bar" | ||||
Floyd | With the stick pad on the end of the bar, you're able to snag the Floyd | chain and pull it out from under the floor, even though the chain Floyd | doesn't really want to stick to the pad. You coil the chain and attach Floyd | it to one of your suit's D-rings. Floyd | Floyd | The enormity of the task in front of you, the unlikelihood of your Floyd | escaping, nearly paralyzes you. You take a few deep breaths to steady Floyd | yourself. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Johnny), "Hm, point." | |||
| Johnny says, "I'm going to eat quickly." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Johnny), "Careful. Don't aspirate anything." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x chain" | ||||
Floyd | It's several meters long and very similar to a bike chain. Both ends Floyd | sport carabiners, small metal loops with a spring-loaded latch. One Floyd | end of the chain is clipped to your suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "it does seem to be a British space station." | |||
| Mick says, "We need to find something to attach the other end to" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "we need to find something inside to attach the other end to" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "timing" | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x racks" | ||||
Floyd | All of the experiments are in 19-inch racks, complete with protruding Floyd | handles, that are bolted into the wall. The experiments often meant Floyd | one thing: tedious checklists. You had to follow extensive checklists Floyd | and write down the results at every step in a logbook because typing Floyd | information into a computer would be too easy. It was so tedious that Floyd | you made Quintin do it for you whenever possible. The logbooks were Floyd | stored in nearby storage compartments. You got in the habit of writing Floyd | all kinds of notes on the logbooks just because they were handy. Floyd | Floyd | Next to the storage compartments is a button that opens the Floyd | compartment you saw near the escape pod. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | There's a gas line in front of the button, which you brush aside to Floyd | push and hold the button. The compartment near the escape pod swings Floyd | open, so you keep holding the button. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "put chain on handle" | ||||
Floyd | You find a convenient handle on one of the experiments to clip one of Floyd | the chain's carabiners onto. You now have a chain that runs from the Floyd | experiments to your suit, forming a tether. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| ParserGirl goes home. | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "afk" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft" | ||||
Floyd | Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the Floyd | compartment near the escape pod swing closed. Floyd | Floyd | The piloting programs in your head plan your route. You take a deep Floyd | breath and grasp your tether tightly. Ready, steady, go?and you jump, Floyd | trusting your modified instincts to keep you safe. You soar out into Floyd | space before the tether pulls taut and you land flat on the outside of Floyd | the station, your boots grabbing hold. Floyd | Floyd | Outside Node 4 Floyd | You cling carefully to the outside of Node 4. From here you can see Floyd | that this is all there is: a small, ragged cylinder, spinning as it Floyd | tumbles around the Earth. There is no sign of the rest of the station. Floyd | Floyd | You can see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | The chain runs back into the station, tethering you. Floyd | Floyd | For a moment you consider unclipping the chain, kicking off of Node 4 Floyd | and tumbling peacefully away. You giggle before you can stop yourself. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "Floyd steps away from the keyboard..." | |||
| DB says, "Ooh, battery." | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "get battery" | ||||
Floyd | You carefully unclip the screwdriver and remove the screws from around Floyd | the battery. You watch the screws float off into space and wonder if Floyd | they'll eventually embed themselves in some random satellite. You then Floyd | carefully lift the battery and tuck it under one arm. Floyd | Floyd | Your suit's readout flashes. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "Apparently we'll need something to keep that button held down" | |||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x readout" | ||||
Floyd | Plenty of oxygen; no integrity issues. The suit's mini-doc warns you Floyd | that your blood pressure and respiration have spiked. Oh, and you Floyd | probably have a concussion. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x battery" | ||||
Floyd | It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is Floyd | slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where Floyd | wires can be inserted. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | You have a tether, but it's a short one, and you've no interest in Floyd | playing Major Tom. The only place to go is back inside. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "inside" | ||||
Floyd | Getting back inside is a little trickier than leaping outside, but Floyd | it's nothing you and your fancy head full of kinematic equations can't Floyd | handle. Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | One end of the chain is looped around the science experiments; one end Floyd | is clipped to your suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DavidW arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | DB says, "hehe, Major Tom." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unhook chain from experiments" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unattach chain" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "remove chain" | ||||
Floyd | (from the science experiments) Floyd | Unchained. Floyd | Floyd | > | Limax says, "I'm assuming that's referring to Bowie, not Schilling" | |||
| DavidW says (to Mick), "detach might've worked also." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | You brush aside the gas line to push and hold the button. The Floyd | compartment near the escape pod swings open, so you keep holding the Floyd | button. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Who designs buttons to work this way?" | |||
| Gerynar says, "mean implementors" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x button" | ||||
Floyd | A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA Floyd | thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw Floyd | near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and Floyd | compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be Floyd | able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can Floyd | obtain a visa for the NUS. Floyd | Floyd | Dangling in front of the button is a gas line. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "maybe it's a zero-G thing" | |||
| Mick says, "Hahaha" | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x gas line" | ||||
Floyd | A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the Floyd | button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in Floyd | front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line Floyd | pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that Floyd | controls nitrogen flow. The valve is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "attach hose to button" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "wait, NASA, huh. and designer is in his 70s. what year is this?" | |||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "attach line to button" | ||||
Floyd | You would achieve nothing by this. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x valuve" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Limax asks, "1984?" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x valve" | ||||
Floyd | A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the Floyd | button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in Floyd | front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line Floyd | pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that Floyd | controls nitrogen flow. The valve is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Ellison arrives, ready to play with the toys. | Doug asks, "is 'NUS' the 'New United States' or something?" | |||
| Ellison says, "hello hello" | ||||
| DB says, "Maybe it's like USNA or something." | ||||
| Mick says (to Ellison), "Hello" | ||||
| Limax says, "Hey Ellison" | ||||
| DB says, "Hi, Ellison." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x put stick pad on button" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks (of Ellison), "Played this?" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "put stick pad on button" | ||||
Floyd | You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button. Floyd | Floyd | > | Ellison says, "I have not!" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "rotate gas line" | ||||
Floyd | You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out Floyd | of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press Floyd | gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button. Floyd | Floyd | > | Ellison asks, "have we broken any shells yet?" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "press bar" | ||||
Floyd | Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | The prise bar is in your way. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny asks (of Ellison), "would you like to KICK SHELLS?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Just our skull, I think." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "detach stick pad from button" | ||||
Floyd | You peel the stick pad off of the single button. Floyd | Floyd | > | DB says, "Well, the space station thingy is looking pretty fragile right now." | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | It's already pushed down. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "And U.S.S. Omelet, here" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x button" | ||||
Floyd | A simple momentary-contact button that some bright spark at NASA Floyd | thought was an appropriate control to open the compartment you saw Floyd | near the escape pod. Whoever designed that stupid button and Floyd | compartment is probably in his seventies now, which means you might be Floyd | able to look him up and punch him if you get back to Earth and can Floyd | obtain a visa for the NUS. Floyd | Floyd | Dangling in front of the button is a gas line. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "smash button" | ||||
Floyd | Violence isn't the answer to this one. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "rotate gas line" | ||||
Floyd | You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly Floyd | disperses. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "rotate gas line" | ||||
Floyd | You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing slowly out Floyd | of the end of the line, causing the L bend in the gas line to press Floyd | gently against the button but not hard enough to push the button. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "bend gas line" | ||||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x pouch" | ||||
Floyd | A small snap pouch for holding sundries. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "open pouch" | ||||
Floyd | No need. You've long trained to open the pouch only long enough to put Floyd | something in or take something out of it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Where did the pouch come from?" | |||
| Gerynar says, "it's part of our suit" | ||||
| Cathy says, "I got back home a while ago and have been reading to catch up; noticed that in a very early description" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "look in pouch" | ||||
Floyd | There's nothing in the pouch. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "We need to make the gas come out stronger somehow" | |||
| Mick asks, "Or maybe plug it?" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x gas line" | ||||
Floyd | A nitrogen feed line for one of the experiments is in front of the Floyd | button. It's a metal hard line that has an L-shaped bend right in Floyd | front of the compartment button, with the threaded end of the line Floyd | pointing away from the button. Partway up the line is the valve that Floyd | controls nitrogen flow. The valve is open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "close valve" | ||||
Floyd | You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly Floyd | disperses. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You're carrying a backup battery and you're wearing a flex spacesuit. Floyd | Clipped to your suit is a length of chain and a screwdriver. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x battery terminals" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the backup battery. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x terminals" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy asks, "should we try hooking wires to the battery?" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x threaded end" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny asks, "Which two?" | |||
| DB asks, "Trial and error?" | ||||
| Mick says, "That sounds tedious" | ||||
| Cathy says, "red and black are typical power colors" | ||||
| Cathy says, "or we could just try "attach wires to battery"" | ||||
| DB says, "Maybe we can find some other clues elsewhere." | ||||
| Ellison asks, "is there a nozzle or anything else to attach to that line?" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | Before you leave you have to let go of the button, making the Floyd | compartment near the escape pod swing closed. Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x debris" | ||||
Floyd | A whole wodge of twisted metal jammed in front of the escape pod door Floyd | like a ruined column. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect wires to battery" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to specify which wire you want to plug. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect black wire to battery" | ||||
Floyd | You plug the black wire into the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect red wire to battery" | ||||
Floyd | (first unplugging the red wire) Floyd | You pull the red wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x battery" | ||||
Floyd | It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is Floyd | slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where Floyd | wires can be inserted. Floyd | Floyd | The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says, "funky" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x wires" | ||||
Floyd | There are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, Floyd | orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick Floyd | disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily. Floyd | Floyd | The red wire and the black wire are plugged into the battery. The rest Floyd | of the wires are disconnected from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling Floyd | open, revealing the mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens Floyd | even though you've fiddled with the wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "The candy cane wire seems to stand out" | |||
| Cathy says (to nick), "I agree" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | The door to the escape pod is currently closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "think about wires" | ||||
Floyd | You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "unplug red wire" | ||||
Floyd | You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "attach striped wire to panel" | ||||
Floyd | You re-connect the white-and-red striped wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "other the other?" | |||
| Doug says, "meant to be 'only the other', I guess" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect red wire to battery" | ||||
Floyd | You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | DB asks, "What was the name on that empty spacesuit?" | |||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "think about suzan" | ||||
Floyd | Suzan's the mission commander. You've known Captain Harrison for Floyd | years, having served together on three separate missions, one of which Floyd | will remain redacted for a long time to come. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "think about patricia" | ||||
Floyd | Dr. Patricia Morrison has authored numerous definitive papers on the Floyd | effect of long-term space travel and weightlessness in space. You Floyd | haven't had a chance to see what kind of hands-on doctor she is, but Floyd | after today you'll hopefully get your chance. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "There was a woman that was mentioned when we first saw the wires." | |||
| Cathy says, "SUZAN HARRISON" | ||||
| Limax exclaims, "THe black widow!" | ||||
| Cathy says, "Suzan was the answer to space suit" | ||||
| Mick says, "Oh, that was Patricia" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "think about quintin" | ||||
Floyd | Mission Specialist Quintin Davies, Warrant Officer and all-around Floyd | skilled technician. His PhD is in physics, which means everyone made Floyd | him deal with the station's plumbing and constant electrical problems. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling Floyd | open, revealing the mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "press button" | ||||
Floyd | You push the door's button with one gloved finger but nothing happens Floyd | even though you've fiddled with the wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "think about me" | ||||
Floyd | You can mainly think about other the other spacestation crewmembers. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | Since there are wires plugged into the battery, you leave the battery Floyd | floating next to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You can't go fore from here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy asks, "should we reconnect all wires to the panel, then just connect black and red to the battery?" | |||
| Mick says (to Cathy), "can't hurt" | ||||
| Gerynar says, "sounds like a plan" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "attach all wires to panel" | ||||
Floyd | You'll have to specify which wire you want to plug. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny asks, "What about those notebooks?" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "disconnect battery" | ||||
Floyd | You unplug the red wire and the black wire from the battery. Floyd | Floyd | You disconnect the red wire from the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | Ellison says, "I'm catching up to where we are in my own interpreter. looks like we missed something in the exercise room." | |||
| DB asks, "S'pose they were connected for a reason, 'ey?" | ||||
| Cathy asks (of Ellison), "what?" | ||||
| DB asks, "Exercise room?" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "starboard" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Starboard Floyd | You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise Floyd | equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no Floyd | one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are Floyd | ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now Floyd | ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior Floyd | is fore. Floyd | Floyd | > | Ellison says, "yeah, this room" | |||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "ride bike" | ||||
Floyd | Riding the bicycle would be a feat and a half. Even a flex suit Floyd | doesn't give you enough range of motion, and your survival backpack Floyd | would get in the way. You can turn the pedals, though, which you do. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "x bike" | ||||
Floyd | This space bicycle doesn't look that much like a regular bicycle. It's Floyd | a grey trapezoidal box held together by about twenty screws. Pedals Floyd | stick out of it, and attached above it is a seat with very little Floyd | cushioning. Next to the seat is a water line that you've sipped from Floyd | many times before while exercising. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "unscrew box" | ||||
Floyd | You unclip the screwdriver and painstakingly remove all the screws Floyd | holding the bicycle's trapezoidal box together. You let them all float Floyd | away?might as well, given the rest of the debris that fills the Floyd | station?and fold open the bike. Floyd | Floyd | Inside, the bicycle is mainly a single small wheel about the size of Floyd | your gloved hand with fingers stretched wide. The small wheel has Floyd | holes all along its perimeter. The bike's pedals are attached to Floyd | either side of the wheel, and stick out a long distance compared to Floyd | the small wheel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "get wheel" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "x water line" | ||||
Floyd | That's hardly portable. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | A flexible water line. Someone's left their nozzle on the line Floyd | post-exercise, a sanitary no-no. Probably Quintin. You'll have to Floyd | scold him, assuming he's still alive. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "take nozzle" | ||||
Floyd | You twist the nozzle off of the flexible water line and store it in Floyd | your suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "Want to go plug it into the gas line?" | |||
| Cathy says, "yes" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft. port." | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Starboard Floyd | There used to be four sleeping racks here, small coffin-like Floyd | soundproof booths where you could have a little bit of privacy. Now Floyd | there's just one left. Its door is open, revealing an empty spacesuit. Floyd | The other three racks must have been ripped away when the accident Floyd | happened. The station ends aft of here in a ring of jagged, twisted Floyd | metal. Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The stick pad is stuck to the prise bar. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny says, "*kaboom*" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "plug nozzle into gas line" | ||||
Floyd | There's nowhere to plug anything into the gas line. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "Aww" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x nozzle" | ||||
Floyd | A nozzle with clear plastic on one end and hard metal on the other. Floyd | The clear plastic end has a very small opening. Its large metal end is Floyd | threaded and fits all standard tubing on board the station. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x compartment" | ||||
Floyd | (the embedded compartment that is near the escape pod) Floyd | It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged Floyd | metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is Floyd | embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by Floyd | it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a Floyd | featureless door that is closed. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug asks, "why do we think the others are still alive? where would they be?" | |||
| Limax asks, "Ded we die?" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Doug), "The space station." | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "put nozzle on line" | ||||
Floyd | You put the nozzle on the gas line. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "rotate valve" | ||||
Floyd | You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly Floyd | out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to Floyd | press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the Floyd | escape pod. Unfortunately the bend slips off of the button and the Floyd | compartment closes once more. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "I thought this was the space station." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "put stick pad on button" | ||||
Floyd | You stick the stick pad and the prise bar to the single button. Floyd | Floyd | > | Johnny says, "pad" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "remove bar from pad" | ||||
Floyd | You peel the stick pad off of the prise bar. Floyd | Floyd | > | Gerynar says, "we're in a pod, that seems to have blown off the station" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "rotate valve" | ||||
Floyd | You close the valve on the gas line. The cloud of nitrogen quickly Floyd | disperses. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | You open the valve on the gas line. Nitrogen begins flowing quickly Floyd | out of the end of the nozzle, causing the L bend in the gas line to Floyd | press firmly enough on the button to open the compartment near the Floyd | escape pod. The force is also enough to make the stick pad adhere to Floyd | the gas line and the button, holding the gas line in place on the Floyd | button. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "ah, just the science nodule" | |||
| Doug says, "er, module." | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is an open compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x copartment" | ||||
Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x compartment" | ||||
Floyd | It's a box roughly 30 centimeters on a side, with a ruff of jagged Floyd | metal that was ripped from an equipment rack. The whole thing is Floyd | embedded sideways in a wall, which makes you glad you weren't hit by Floyd | it when it came whizzing through the station. The compartment has a Floyd | featureless door that is open. Inside you can see a logbook. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "take logbook" | ||||
Floyd | As you remove the logbook from the compartment, the door swings back Floyd | shut. It looks like you had just enough nitrogen to get the job done. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "yay" | |||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "read logbook" | ||||
Floyd | Like all of them, this logbook has all four of your names on the front Floyd | in order of rank: Suzan Harrison, Simon Mahil, Quintin Davies, and Floyd | Patricia Morrison. It also has obsessive step-by-step instructions for Floyd | running several of the on-station experiments and recording the Floyd | results, because the space program is all about hiring the smartest, Floyd | most capable people it can find, training them exhaustively, and then Floyd | not trusting them to do their job. Floyd | Floyd | There are a lot of notes in the logbook's margins. Several of them are Floyd | notes Quintin wrote when he made on-the-fly repairs to the station. Floyd | One talks about the problems he'd had with the escape pod door Floyd | malfunctioning, and how he had to disconnect the door control and Floyd | computer from backup power to fix the problem. He noted that Floyd | disconnecting only the green and yellow wires and connecting the two Floyd | current-carrying wires?the white-and-red wire and the red Floyd | wire?together would restore backup power. Normally the white-and-red Floyd | wire and the red wire would run to the power source. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "think about simon" | ||||
Floyd | You've been piloting EELV-boosted spacecraft for nearly a decade. As a Floyd | reward for doing such a good job you got stuck onboard the space Floyd | station for months. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "aw, I thought we'd be named R something, to go with P, Q, and S" | |||
| Cathy asks, "shall we rewire the panel?" | ||||
| DB asks, "So, plug in all wires, remove green and yellow... put red and candycane in battery?" | ||||
| Mick says, "I regret yanking those wires." | ||||
| Doug says, "also, yay, a combination lock." | ||||
| Mick says (to DB), "Sounds about right" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "aft" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The stick pad is holding the single button and the gas line together. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a prise bar here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is closed and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by a dark display screen on Floyd | one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says, "sorry, got lost" | |||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling Floyd | open, revealing the mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect all wires" | ||||
Floyd | You re-connect the red wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the white wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the green wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the grey wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the blue wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the yellow wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the orange wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You re-connect the violet wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says, "yay!" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "disconnect yellow" | Mick says, "I thought that didn't work..." | |||
| Doug says, "we need to make a map for this one-room-game :)" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the yellow wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "x battery" | ||||
Floyd | It's not just a battery, it's a space battery. The battery module is Floyd | slightly larger than a loaf of bread, and has two terminal slots where Floyd | wires can be inserted. Floyd | Floyd | The black wire is plugged into the battery. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to Doug), "heh" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "disconnect green" | ||||
Floyd | You pull the green wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "disconnect black wire" | ||||
Floyd | You disconnect the black wire from the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "plug in black wire" | ||||
Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to plug inside. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "connect red wire to battery" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect black wire" | ||||
Floyd | (first unplugging the red wire) Floyd | You pull the red wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You plug the red wire into the battery's terminal slot. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | You re-connect the black wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "connect black wire" | ||||
Floyd | You re-connect the black wire to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | The door is controlled by a button mounted on a panel that is dangling Floyd | open, revealing the mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "Whoops, sorry. Got confused" | |||
| DB says (to Floyd), "x wires" | ||||
Floyd | There are ten wires: Red, black, white, green, grey, blue, yellow, Floyd | orange, violet, and white-and-red striped. They've got quick Floyd | disconnects so you can yank them out of the panel easily. Floyd | Floyd | The red wire is plugged into the battery. The green wire and the Floyd | yellow wire are disconnected from the panel. The rest of the wires are Floyd | connected to the panel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "connect striped to battery" | ||||
Floyd | (first unplugging the white-and-red striped wire) Floyd | You pull the white-and-red striped wire loose from the panel. Floyd | Floyd | You plug the white-and-red striped wire into the battery's terminal Floyd | slot. Floyd | Floyd | The screen next to the door returns to life, though it's so bright Floyd | that you might be able to get a tan from it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says, "woo hoo!" | |||
| Johnny says (to Floyd), "x screen" | ||||
Floyd | The screen's in data-dump mode, which means it's showing?wait, this Floyd | can't be right. The screen claims that Node 4 is following one of the Floyd | really old docking protocols. The transponder beacons are even active, Floyd | the ones that once guided visiting vehicles to the antiquated docking Floyd | port at the other end of Node 4? Floyd | Floyd | ?"Don't you see? The scow's navigation is just a veneer on top of the Floyd | old software! I turn on the beacon, jettison the node with me on it, Floyd | and pilot it away from the station. We send an emergency docking Floyd | command and trip the original failsafes. The shuttle will follow, Floyd | trying desperately to dock with the node instead of ramming the rest Floyd | of the station. That way, if it's rigged to explode, it only takes out Floyd | Node 4."? Floyd | Floyd | You'd been shouting at Quintin, but it was Suzan you had to convince. Floyd | The station was observing radio silence, though when you try to Floyd | remember why you can't. You just can't. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "this must have been a pain to program." | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x screen" | ||||
Floyd | The screen's in data-dump mode, which means it's showing old status Floyd | information about how Node 4 was following antiquated docking Floyd | protocols. Floyd | Floyd | > | inky says, "the wires? yeah, I remember him gnashing some teeth" | |||
| Johnny says, "!" | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The escape pod door slides fully open! Now you just have to get rid of Floyd | that column of debris. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "full" | ||||
Floyd | You have 5 points out of 8. Here is how you got them: Floyd | Floyd | 1 for freeing yourself from the struts Floyd | 1 for snagging the chain from the crack in the floor Floyd | 1 for getting the battery Floyd | 1 for rescuing the logbook from the compartment Floyd | 1 for opening the escape pod door Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "pry debris" | ||||
Floyd | You must supply a second noun. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "huh, didn't know about that command. good to know." | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x pod" | ||||
Floyd | The door to the escape pod is currently wide open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "enter pod" | ||||
Floyd | Not until you get that debris out of the way. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x debris" | ||||
Floyd | A whole wodge of twisted metal jammed in front of the escape pod door Floyd | like a ruined column. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | You're carrying a logbook and you're wearing a flex spacesuit. Clipped Floyd | to your suit is a length of chain and a screwdriver. Floyd | Floyd | > | DB says, "I like the word 'wodge.'" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "aft. get bar." | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Aft, Port Floyd | While some of the station's science experiments are still here, many Floyd | of them vanished along with the rest of Node 4. The port wall is Floyd | filled with racks of equipment and inset storage compartments. The Floyd | damage is extensive near the aft ragged edges where the station now Floyd | ends. From here the escape pod is fore and the sleeping racks are Floyd | starboard. Floyd | Floyd | The stick pad is holding the single button and the gas line together. Floyd | Floyd | The floor underneath you has a large crack in it. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a prise bar here. Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "fore. pry debris" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by an active display screen Floyd | on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | (with the prise bar) Floyd | You try to find a good point to jam the prise bar into and shift the Floyd | debris, but nothing doing. You'll need a lot more lateral force than Floyd | you can bring to bear with the bar. Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick asks, "So... maybe create some type of system with the chain and bar?" | |||
| Doug asks, "can we use the chain with the exercise bike wheel somehow?" | ||||
| Cathy asks, "didn't the bike have a long bar for the pedals?" | ||||
| Mick says (to Doug), "Oooo I didn't think about the bike, I bet that's it" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "star" | DB says, "I like the sound of the bike option." | |||
Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "starboard" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Starboard Floyd | You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise Floyd | equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no Floyd | one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are Floyd | ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now Floyd | ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior Floyd | is fore. Floyd | Floyd | The bicycle is open, revealing a small wheel to which its pedals are Floyd | attached. Floyd | Floyd | > | DB says, "That's pretty clever." | |||
| Mick says, "Wait, let's see if we can attach the chain to the debris first" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x pedals" | ||||
Floyd | The pedals stick out from the bicycle. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says (to mick), "ok, go for it" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x wheel" | ||||
Floyd | The small wheel is about the size of your palm. It has holes all along Floyd | its perimieter. The bike's pedals are attached to either side of the Floyd | wheel by a small axle, and stick out a long distance compared to the Floyd | wheel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "attach chain to axle" | ||||
Floyd | You clip the carabiner to one of the holes in the wheel and turn the Floyd | pedals some to wind the chain on the wheel. You now have a chain that Floyd | runs from the bike's wheel to your suit, forming a tether. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "port" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open and debris is Floyd | wedged in front of it. The door is flanked by an active display screen Floyd | on one side and the door's control panel on the other. The exercise Floyd | equipment is to starboard and the science experiments are aft, closer Floyd | to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | One end of the chain runs starboard; one end is clipped to your suit. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "attach chain to debris" | ||||
Floyd | You loop the chain around the column of debris and clip the carabiner Floyd | to secure it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Cathy says, "oh, I like how this is looking" | |||
| Gerynar says, "smart" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "starboard" | ||||
Floyd | (moving along the chain) Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Starboard Floyd | You're in the fore end of Node 4 by the starboard wall. Exercise Floyd | equipment like the stationary bicycle is stored here, even though no Floyd | one can use it while many of the Node's science experiments are Floyd | ongoing. From here the sleeping racks are aft near where Node 4 now Floyd | ends and the escape pod is to port. The hatch to the station exterior Floyd | is fore. Floyd | Floyd | The bicycle is open, revealing a small wheel to which its pedals are Floyd | attached. Floyd | Floyd | One end of the chain runs port; one end is looped around the bike's Floyd | wheel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "ride bike" | ||||
Floyd | You push on the bicycle pedals, making them and the small wheel turn. Floyd | As you do, the chain begins to wind around the axle. You keep turning Floyd | until the chain pulls taut. Then you turn some more, until the chain Floyd | slackens and the debris that used to be in front of the escape pod Floyd | breaks into fragments and starts tumbling all around you. You bat Floyd | random pieces of it out of the way and it joins the rest of the debris Floyd | filling the station. Floyd | Floyd | Take that, Archimedes. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | DB says, "Raise your hand if you feel like MacGyver right now." | |||
| Cathy raises her hand | ||||
| DB says, "Yeah, that was pretty awesome." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "port" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Node 4: Fore, Port Floyd | Thank goodness the escape pod is still here. The converted Floyd | Predpriyatie craft is port of here; its door is open. The door is Floyd | flanked by an active display screen on one side and the door's control Floyd | panel on the other. The exercise equipment is to starboard and the Floyd | science experiments are aft, closer to the new jagged edge of Node 4. Floyd | Floyd | Embedded sideways in a wall is a closed compartment attached to a Floyd | jagged piece of metal. Floyd | Floyd | The control panel is open, revealing a mass of wires. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a backup battery here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x pod" | ||||
Floyd | The door to the escape pod is currently wide open. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "enter pod" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Onboard the Predpriyatie Floyd | The converted Predpriyatie is boxy, held together by far too many Floyd | bolts, and is one of the best things you've ever seen. You wish you Floyd | could hug it. It's dark, though; no power is running to the pod. Floyd | Floyd | There is a large button labeled ESCAPE. You also wish you could hug Floyd | the nameless engineer who made this so simple to operate. Next to the Floyd | button is the pod's touch screen. Floyd | Floyd | > | Ellison asks, "are we sure we don't want to get some more cardio in before we leave?" | |||
| Cathy says, "heh" | ||||
| DB says (to Floyd), "hug pod" | ||||
Floyd | You can only do that to something animate. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "Google Translate doesn't know "Predpriyatie". but: "Retsiklirashto Predpriyatie AD is a Bulgarian scrap metal recycling company."" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "x screen" | ||||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "x touch screen" | ||||
Floyd | The screen is showing a password prompt and a keyboard. Password Floyd | locked? The station computers are never password locked. Floyd | Floyd | No, wait, Quintin had had to turn on password protection a few hours Floyd | ago. He'd set it to the crew's initials, with the names in reverse Floyd | rank order. It would make your security officer weep hot tears of Floyd | anger if he knew. Floyd | Floyd | Radio silence. Password protection. Oh, oh no, oh no no no, some idiot Floyd | must have decided it was time for a shooting war. Floyd | Floyd | And now you remember: the automated cargo supply shuttle that didn't Floyd | respond to repeated hails. The orbital plot that showed the scow Floyd | headed for the middle of the station. The realization that someone was Floyd | worried about the UK holding the high ground and had decided to blow Floyd | up the station. The desperate gamble that you could divert the supply Floyd | shuttle away from the rest of the station. Floyd | Floyd | You've got to get out of here soon, before there's no one left in Floyd | orbit to pick you up. Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | The screen is showing a password prompt and a keyboard. Quintin set Floyd | the password to the crew's initials, with the names in reverse rank Floyd | order. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||||
| Gerynar says (to Floyd), "read logbook" | ||||
Floyd | On the cover are the names of everyone in order of rank: Suzan Floyd | Harrison, Simon Mahil, Quintin Davies, and Patricia Morrison. One of Floyd | Quintin's notes in the margin describes how to re-connect backup power Floyd | to the escape pod door and computer by disconnecting only the green Floyd | and yellow wires and by connecting the two current-carrying wires, the Floyd | white-and-red wire and the red wire, together. Normally the Floyd | white-and-red wire and the red wire would run to the power source. Floyd | Floyd | > | Limax asks, "Um What?" | |||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "think about suzan" | ||||
Floyd | Suzan's the mission commander. You've known Captain Harrison for Floyd | years, having served together on three separate missions, one of which Floyd | will remain redacted for a long time to come. Floyd | Floyd | > | Doug says, "there's the ESCAPE theme. check!" | |||
| Cathy says (to Floyd), "type PMQDSMSH" | ||||
Floyd | (on the touch screen) Floyd | The screen clears and diagnostic messages start scrolling up the Floyd | display. You scan them, watching as the computer learns what you Floyd | already know about Node 4. It then decides to fully power up the Floyd | escape pod. Floyd | Floyd | [Your score has just gone up by one point.] Floyd | Floyd | > | Mick says, "SH = #1" | |||
| Mick says, "Apparently Cathy is much faster at this than I am." | ||||
| Doug says, "nice" | ||||
| DB exclaims, "Alright!" | ||||
| Mick says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | The pod door closes and the entire craft shakes as it kicks off of the Floyd | ruined station. The pod reorients, and for a moment you see what's Floyd | left of Node 4, looking like the discarded end of a Christmas cracker, Floyd | before it moves out of view. You strap into the seat and close your Floyd | eyes. Is it okay to sleep with a concussion or should you stay awake? Floyd | It's like the old debate about whether you feed a cold or a fever. Floyd | Floyd | You must have been sleeping, because the warble of an alarm jolts you Floyd | awake. The pod's picked up something moving towards you. You'd be more Floyd | frantic, but you appear to have used up your daily supply of Floyd | adrenaline already. Then the IFF module kicks in and identifies the Floyd | craft as a friend. "Simon? That had better be you in there." Floyd | Floyd | Suze. It's Suze. You're saved. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have escaped Node 4 *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You have 8 points out of 8. Here is how you got them: Floyd | Floyd | 1 for freeing yourself from the struts Floyd | 1 for snagging the chain from the crack in the floor Floyd | 1 for getting the battery Floyd | 1 for rescuing the logbook from the compartment Floyd | 1 for opening the escape pod door Floyd | 1 for removing the debris from in front of the escape pod door Floyd | 1 for restoring power to the escape pod Floyd | 1 for escaping! Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | Johnny says, "yay" | |||
| Doug applauds | ||||
| Gerynar says, "yay" | Jacqueline says, "Well done!" | |||
| inky says, "hooray" | ||||
| Mick cheers | ||||
| Cathy says, "yippee" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And only an hour and fifteen minutes - not bad for a Floyd session!" | ||||
| Doug asks, "but wait, is it war or not?" | ||||
| DB says, "That was fun." | ||||
| Doug asks, "is there a sequel in the works?" | ||||
| Doug says (to Floyd), "amusing" | ||||
Floyd | Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Hard to say. Sargent (Stephen) would like to have been here today, but is away visiting family. He's eager to see our transcript, though." | |||
| Ellison says, "it's a sequel to Waystation but a prequel to Undertow" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Johnny says (to Ellison), "But Undertow takes place on a yacht!" | ||||
| Doug asks, "also, why is it Fragile Shells plural? was there another shell besides Node 4?" | ||||
| Mick says, "At least 3 others I persume" | ||||
| Doug says, "or maybe our skull, i.e. the concussion." | ||||
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