  
 
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 One Eye Open, written by Colin Sandel and Carolyn VanEseltine. One Eye Open was originally released as part of the 2010 Interactive Fiction Competition, where it took third 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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| djfletch asks, "what game is it today?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "One Eye Open." | ||||
| maga asks (of Jacq), "did you play this?" | ||||
| Doug arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | * Doug has joined the channel. | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Not yet, no." | ||||
| DavidW says, "One Eye, Two Cups" | ||||
| maga says, "it was one of the ones I was hoping you'd get to" | ||||
| Doug says, "oh, I missed Rogue last week, oh well." | ||||
| inky says, "you can read the transcript to relive the experience" | ||||
| Doug says, "maybe" | ||||
| Doug says, "or I'll just play it myself some day." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, I guess it's time." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load oneeyeopen" | ||||
Floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Please be advised that One Eye Open is a horror game. It contains Floyd | mature content (including blood, gore, human injury and death, mild Floyd | language, tobacco reference, violence, and violent references.) Floyd | Floyd | We do not recommend this game for a younger audience. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Goodness." | |||
| Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button. | DavidW asks, "tobacco?" | |||
| Jacqueline presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | maga says, "lots of people snarked at the 'mild language and tobacco reference' bit, yes" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | Jacqueline asks, "um... what am I doing that is not right?" | |||
| riggzy says, "Maybe we're too young? *grin*" | ||||
| Doug says, "tobacco is a horror, yes" | ||||
| Wastrel arrives, ready to play with the toys. | Jacqueline says (to riggzy), "heh" | |||
| * Wastrel has joined the channel. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, this looks like it might be a pretty quick CF." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | Jacqueline says (to Wastrel), "Hi." | |||
| DavidW presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Would you like to proceed? (y/n) >Please answer yes or no.> Please Floyd | answer yes or no.> Please answer yes or no.> Please answer yes or no.> Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | One Eye Open Floyd | An Interactive Nightmare by Colin Sandel and Carolyn VanEseltine Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 100929 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | After only ten days, you're becoming surprisingly comfortable with Floyd | life as a Corona Corporation guinea pig. It helps that your routine Floyd | is so reliable - meals, exercise, rest, and sleep are clearly arranged Floyd | on a schedule hanging beside the white clock in your room. As for the Floyd | tests - well, you've grown used to the sight of your blood in a sample Floyd | vial, and the rest is mostly paperwork. Personality tests, aptitude Floyd | tests, intelligence tests, psychological tests, Rorschach and the MMPI Floyd | and even kinetic family drawing... you're starting to worry that Floyd | they'll run out of tests by the end of the month. Floyd | Floyd | Although 7:30 PM is always the day's last test, you never leave your Floyd | room alone, so you were still watching American Beauty when Dr. Marnie Floyd | Ephart knocked at the door. "Oh, you're almost to the end!" she said Floyd | brightly, seeing the screen. "I can wait until you're through." Floyd | Floyd | "No, that's fine." You hit PAUSE to freeze Angela in mid-motion as Floyd | you got up from the couch. "I've seen it before." Last Monday, Floyd | actually. The video collection isn't that good, and, considering what Floyd | they're paying you, it's a pity Corona couldn't invest in a few more Floyd | options. It's hard to complain, though; the staff is friendly, the Floyd | tests aren't hard, and the salary is great. Floyd | Floyd | During the day, Raymond, Best, or one of the scientists might be Floyd | around, but at night, it's usually just the two of you, and the hall Floyd | you cross now is deserted. You accompany her through the antechamber Floyd | and into the main testing chamber. By now, you're used to being Floyd | watched from behind one-way glass, but the observational room is fully Floyd | lit today, and you can easily see inside. Floyd | Floyd | "Back in a moment," Dr. Ephart says cheerfully. "See you on the other Floyd | side!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Corona Labs Floyd | In the center of the room, a single black office chair sits in front Floyd | of a broad, heavy desk. The desk and chair are familiar, but the Floyd | wireless keypad sitting on the desk is new. There are five large Floyd | white buttons on the keypad, each displaying a different symbol in Floyd | broad black strokes. The symbols are a circle, a cross, a set of Floyd | three wavy lines, a square, and a five-pointed star. As always, you Floyd | are quite aware of the cameras watching you from above. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | The familiar black office chair sits invitingly nearby. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the curved desk in the Floyd | observational room. Floyd | Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "whoa" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "(and hooray)" | ||||
| inky says, "this game might be super-slow, by the way" | ||||
| inky says, "I had to run it with git instead of the regular glulxe" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "huh. Those yes/no queries got mangled by Floyd, eh?" | ||||
| inky says, "there is some issue with floyd not flushing partial lines to the mud" | ||||
| inky says, "so a query like "Yes or no?" that isn't followed by a newline doesn't show up, I think" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "sit in chair" | ||||
Floyd | >You sit down on the office chair. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you see Dr. Ephart come into the Floyd | observational room carrying a stack of cards and a notebook. She Floyd | waves to you in friendly fashion, sets her notebook on the desk, and Floyd | sits down before pressing the intercom button. Floyd | Floyd | "This is a different kind of test," Dr. Ephart explains. "I have Floyd | twenty-five cards here, each of which shows one of the symbols on your Floyd | keypad." She holds up five cards and fans them so you can see the Floyd | circle, cross, wavy lines, square, and five-pointed star. "I'm going Floyd | to draw one of these cards and concentrate on the shape. I want you Floyd | to concentrate, to really focus your mind, and try to pick the same Floyd | symbol that I do. After you've decided on your symbol, press it on Floyd | the keypad. We'll do five of these." Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the first card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on card" | ||||
Floyd | >Dr. Ephart is holding up one of the cards. The back shows several Floyd | blue loops and a line drawing of a building. Floyd | Floyd | As you concentrate on the deck of cards, you get a dull headache. For Floyd | a moment, you think you see the cross superimposed on the back of the Floyd | card, but then it is gone. Floyd | | inky says, "hmm, ok, it's a little slow but probably playable" | |||
| DavidW says, "Y'see, I never realized 'concentrate' was a verb until **much** later in the game." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I completely missed the hint here." | ||||
| inky says, "they do prompt you immediately after this is over (I think the verb is bolded)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I had to do 'hint' to learn it." | ||||
| inky says, "I don't think you actually need it to win, though" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "press cross" | DavidW says, "Somehow I missed all the in-game hinting." | |||
Floyd | >The keypad chimes, and the cross button glows briefly. Dr. Ephart Floyd | nods unconsciously as she tucks her card back in the deck. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the second card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on card" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the deck of cards, you feel a peculiar twinge Floyd | behind one eye. The back of the card distorts until it's like looking Floyd | at the front of the card. You see the five-pointed star on the card. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "press star" | ||||
Floyd | >The keypad chimes, and the five-pointed star button glows briefly. Floyd | Dr. Ephart tilts her head to one side as she takes note of your Floyd | response. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the third card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on card" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the deck of cards, small spots of light glitter Floyd | through your vision. You close your eyes for a moment, then open them Floyd | and look at the card. You clearly see the wavy lines on the back of Floyd | the card before it swims out of sight. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "press lines" | ||||
Floyd | >The keypad chimes, and the wavy lines button glows briefly. Dr. Floyd | Ephart's lips curve slightly up as she writes something in her Floyd | notebook. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the fourth card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on card" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the deck of cards, your headache increases. Floyd | Staring at the card, you sense that Dr. Ephart's card is the cross. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "press cross" | ||||
Floyd | >The keypad chimes, and the cross button glows briefly. Dr. Ephart Floyd | glances at your response and looks impressed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the last card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on card" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the deck of cards, you feel briefly Floyd | lightheaded. The five-pointed star jolts sharply and painfully into Floyd | your brain. There's no doubt: that's her card. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "press star" | ||||
Floyd | >The keypad chimes, and the five-pointed star button glows briefly. Floyd | Dr. Ephart breaks into a broad smile. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart picks up the deck of cards again. She smiles at you and Floyd | presses the intercom switch. "You did great - thank you! I'll be Floyd | back in just a moment." Floyd | | djfletch says, ">leave lab. go to casino" | |||
| inky says, "hee hee" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "haha" | ||||
| DavidW says, "ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Test Chamber, Corona Labs (on the black office chair) Floyd | Two cameras watch the heavy desk from above with unwinking red eyes. Floyd | The desk currently has a wireless keypad on it. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the blue notebook and the Floyd | curved desk in the observational room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blue notebook" | ||||
Floyd | >Dr. Ephart reliably documents everything in her dark blue notebook. Floyd | Unsurprisingly, you've never gotten even a peek at the inside. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying nothing. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the testing chamber rattles briefly before Dr. Ephart Floyd | enters. The doctor gives you her warm, customary smile as she sets a Floyd | manila folder in front of you. "I've placed a photograph in this Floyd | folder," she says, tapping the folder. "Please study it closely and Floyd | learn as much as you can about the scene. I'll be back shortly, and Floyd | I'll have some questions for you when I return." Floyd | Floyd | Taking the keypad, Dr. Ephart departs, leaving you alone with the Floyd | closed folder. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take folder" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the manila folder. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the manila folder, revealing a glossy photograph. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take photo" | ||||
Floyd | >Your fingertips tingle slightly as you pick up the photograph. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fingers" | inky says, "contact poison!" | |||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photograph" | ||||
Floyd | >The glossy 4x5 photograph shows the side view of a teenage student. Floyd | A falling wave of shoulder-length russet hair obscures her face as she Floyd | leans over an open book, leaving only the slight frown on her pale Floyd | lips visible. Her left cheek is propped against the curled fingers of Floyd | her left hand, and her right rests lightly against the beige wood of Floyd | the desk. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hair" | ||||
Floyd | >The student's russet-colored hair is pretty and well-brushed, falling Floyd | barely past her shoulders. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x book" | ||||
Floyd | >The photo's detail is good, but not so good that you can read the Floyd | tiny print of the large book. By its heft, it could easily be a Floyd | medical textbook. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x desk" | ||||
Floyd | >(the photoed desk) Floyd | A desk made of finished beige wood. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x frown" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on hair" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x face" | ||||
Floyd | >The slightly warped 4x5 photograph shows the side view of a teenage Floyd | student. A straggling wave of rust-red hair falls to shoulder length, Floyd | half-hiding her face as she leans over an open book. She's frowning Floyd | slightly, and her lips are very pale. Her left cheek is propped Floyd | against the fisted fingers of her left hand, and her right tenses Floyd | against the beige wood of the desk. Floyd | Floyd | >The student's face is obscured, but her skin and lips are visibly Floyd | pale, like someone about to faint. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x book" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x left hand" | ||||
Floyd | >The photo's detail is good, but not so good that you can read the Floyd | small print of the book. By its heft, it could easily be a college Floyd | textbook. Floyd | Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hands" | ||||
Floyd | >The student's hands are very pale, their veins standing in sharp blue Floyd | against white skin. Both hands are clenched in tight fists, the left Floyd | under her chin and the right pressed against the desk. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hair" | ||||
Floyd | >The student's hair is rust-red, but of a duller hue than you swear it Floyd | was a moment ago. The hair is somewhat straggled, as though not quite Floyd | dry and unbrushed. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photo" | ||||
Floyd | >The slightly warped 4x5 photograph shows the side view of a teenage Floyd | student. A straggling wave of rust-red hair falls to shoulder length, Floyd | half-hiding her face as she leans over an open book. She's frowning Floyd | slightly, and her lips are very pale. Her left cheek is propped Floyd | against the fisted fingers of her left hand, and her right tenses Floyd | against the beige wood of the desk. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lips" | ||||
Floyd | >The student's face is obscured, but her skin and lips are visibly Floyd | pale, like someone about to faint. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on photograph" | ||||
Floyd | >The photograph blurs before your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | The warped 4x5 photograph shows the three-quarter profile of a teenage Floyd | student. Lines of blood straggle down from the broad cut on her Floyd | forehead, and she cradles her left eye behind her bloodied left hand, Floyd | hiding it from view. Her lips are bloodsmeared as well, and blood Floyd | spots the book she leans over. The fingers of her right hand are Floyd | crooked into claws, tearing at the beige wood of the desk. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x book" | ||||
Floyd | >The composition notebook-sized volume is spattered lightly in the Floyd | student's blood, and is otherwise covered with a scrawling font that Floyd | is too fine for you to read. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ew. I never got this far." | |||
| riggzy says, "Oo-er." | ||||
| Wastrel asks, "Whoa. Anything on the back of the photo?" | ||||
| inky says, "it has a slight connection with the main game if you keep pushing it" | ||||
| inky says, "I guess this scene does already" | ||||
| DavidW says, "When I realized the photo was changing, I thought, okay, I can't trust my senses, I need help: leave." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn photograph over" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to turn the warped Floyd | photograph. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x back" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "touch blood" | ||||
Floyd | >The photoed face is smooth to the touch. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn over photograph" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | Doug asks (of inky), "have you played this before?" | |||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| riggzy asks, "Look under photo?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | inky says, "if someone who hasn't played wants to take over I am happy to step aside" | |||
| DavidW asks, "I thought there's a window in this room?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Test Chamber, Corona Labs (on the black office chair) Floyd | Two cameras watch the heavy desk from above with unwinking red eyes. Floyd | The desk currently has nothing on it. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the blue notebook and the Floyd | curved desk in the observational room. Floyd | | inky says, "it's more that it's got a pane of glass, I think" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wave to cameras" | ||||
Floyd | >You wave at the security cameras. Floyd | Floyd | A distinct *click* sounds from the door to the antechamber. Floyd | | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I haven't played, but I'm enjoying you driving and me just kicking back." | ||||
| Wastrel says, "Hee." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Especially as it has just occurred to me that I haven't made breakfast." | ||||
| inky says, "this actually is a pretty good game for watching someone play it because it has a lot of secret-ish bits" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x antechamber" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a plain aluminum door with a straight handle. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wave to cameras" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on photo" | ||||
Floyd | >You wave at the security cameras. Floyd | Floyd | >The photograph blurs before your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | The extremely warped 4x5 photograph shows the image of someone, face Floyd | buried in both hands, about ready to collapse across a damaged, Floyd | bloodsoaked book. Cruelly tight braids bind the student's hair back Floyd | so sharply that you can see the skin stretching. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x student" | ||||
Floyd | >Only the edges of the person's face can be seen, but the skin Floyd | stretches like a rubber mask at the very edges. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on photo" | ||||
Floyd | >The photograph blurs before your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | The damaged 4x5 photograph shows the image of a young man dragging his Floyd | fingernails down his face. Long furrows run down his cheeks, and Floyd | blood drips from those furrows onto the savaged book in front of him. Floyd | His green eyes are open but unfocused, and his lips are parted in a Floyd | soundless scream. Floyd | | DavidW says, "dude" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x man" | ||||
Floyd | >He's definitely not the same person that you first saw in the Floyd | photograph. His features are not just refined, but gaunt, and the Floyd | hollow bruises under his eyes suggest he hasn't slept well for a very Floyd | long time. Floyd | | inky says, "I think this is where it stops" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on photo" | ||||
Floyd | >The photograph blurs before your eyes. Floyd | Floyd | Something's happened to the photograph - there are dull yellow spots Floyd | marring its surface, like it's been damaged with some kind of Floyd | chemical. Past those spots, you can make out the image of a young man Floyd | screaming. Hands shielded with surgical gloves restrain his arms and Floyd | head as he struggles. He clutches two handfuls of torn, bloodstained Floyd | pages, but one gloved hand is prying the fingers of his right hand Floyd | open. Floyd | | inky says, "oops, guess not" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Have we >X ME'd? Given that we're psychic and they're giving us crime photos, I'll bet we're totally hott, just like in all the tv shows." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||||
Floyd | >Even without a mirror, you know you're not looking your best. You Floyd | haven't been sleeping well for a few nights now, leaving dark circles Floyd | beneath your eyes, and your appetite's been off as well. Not that Floyd | it's been Corona's fault - the food's been surprisingly good - but Floyd | you're just not feeling so hot. Floyd | | Wastrel asks, "I wonder what the extent of our super powers are? Can we maybe open the notebook telekinectly?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open notebook" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't reach into the observational room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open notebook telekinetically" | Jacqueline says, "I'll bet we look rumpled strung-out hott." | |||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to open the blue notebook. Floyd | | inky says, "heroin chic" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Exactly." | ||||
| inky says, "anyway, I dunno who the girl is, but the guy is important later, I think" | ||||
| riggzy says, ">use the force" | ||||
| inky says, "(also I am not sure what the deal is with the photograph in the greater context of the game's story)" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on photograph" | ||||
Floyd | >The glossy 4x5 photograph shows the side view of a teenage student. Floyd | A falling wave of shoulder-length russet hair obscures her face as she Floyd | leans over an open book, leaving only the slight frown on her pale Floyd | lips visible. Her left cheek is propped against the curled fingers of Floyd | her left hand, and her right rests lightly against the beige wood of Floyd | the desk. Floyd | | inky says, "yeah ok" | |||
| inky says, "I think c might be an abbreviation, also" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c photograph" | ||||
Floyd | >The glossy 4x5 photograph shows the side view of a teenage student. Floyd | A falling wave of shoulder-length russet hair obscures her face as she Floyd | leans over an open book, leaving only the slight frown on her pale Floyd | lips visible. Her left cheek is propped against the curled fingers of Floyd | her left hand, and her right rests lightly against the beige wood of Floyd | the desk. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Did the photo 'reset' then?" | |||
| inky says, "yeah, I think so" | ||||
| DavidW says, "huh" | ||||
| djfletch says, "I missed all that photo stuff when I played" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I left the room long before this." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, this is all not really vital" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "so, is there more here? Or should we go find help?" | ||||
| inky says, "I think we can move on, yeah" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >The unlocked door opens readily under your hand. Floyd | Floyd | (first getting off the black office chair) Floyd | You stand up from the office chair. Floyd | Floyd | Antechamber, Corona Labs Floyd | There are no hangings on the dull off-white walls, but a fake palm Floyd | tree in one corner attempts to add some cheer. In the other corner, Floyd | there's a simple chair, which looks like a refugee from some Floyd | grade-school classroom. There's absolutely nothing else in this Floyd | spartan antechamber. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door separates the antechamber from the testing room Floyd | further in. Floyd | Floyd | A matching door, also windowless, leads from the antechamber to the Floyd | hallway outside. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x palm" | ||||
Floyd | >The palm tree looks strikingly realistic, and it wasn't until you Floyd | examined it closely one day that you realized it was fake. Sadly, its Floyd | realism provides an unpleasantly discordant accent to the sterile Floyd | room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search palm" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read palm" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing written on the fake palm tree. Floyd | | inky says, "I figured we could tell its fortune" | |||
| DavidW says, "hm. I think this palm pulls a Shade later." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Test Chamber, Corona Labs Floyd | Two cameras watch the heavy desk from above with unwinking red eyes. Floyd | The desk currently has nothing on it. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | The familiar black office chair sits invitingly nearby. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the blue notebook and the Floyd | curved desk in the observational room. Floyd | | inky says, "er, whoops" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Antechamber, Corona Labs Floyd | There are no hangings on the dull off-white walls, but a fake palm Floyd | tree in one corner attempts to add some cheer. In the other corner, Floyd | there's a simple chair, which looks like a refugee from some Floyd | grade-school classroom. There's absolutely nothing else in this Floyd | spartan antechamber. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door separates the antechamber from the testing room Floyd | further in. Floyd | Floyd | A matching door, also windowless, leads from the antechamber to the Floyd | hallway outside. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You take a step toward the hall door, but your movement is arrested Floyd | suddenly by a wrenching sensation. Your gorge leaps toward your throat Floyd | abruptly, giving you the unsettling sensation of having been dropped a Floyd | foot down. The sensation is gone quickly, but your throat remains Floyd | thick with unease. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | >Antechamber, Corona Labs Floyd | The antechamber is nearly as spartan as the test chamber itself. The Floyd | walls, painted a dull off-white, are bare of hangings. A simple chair Floyd | squats in the corner like a grade-school refugee. The only decoration Floyd | in the room is a straggly ficus tree, which sprawls in the opposite Floyd | corner from the chair. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads west from the antechamber to the hallway Floyd | outside. Floyd | Floyd | A matching door, also windowless, separates the antechamber from the Floyd | testing room further to the east. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ficus" | ||||
Floyd | >(the ficus tree) Floyd | A real, living ficus tree sprawls outward from its pot in the corner Floyd | of the room. While you can't imagine how it can survive in a Floyd | windowless room, it looks healthy enough. Sadly, its realism provides Floyd | an unpleasantly discordant accent to the sterile room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search ficus" | ||||
Floyd | >(the ficus tree) Floyd | The ficus tree's untrimmed branches obscure but do not conceal its Floyd | staid black pot. Floyd | Floyd | In the ficus pot is a small piece of unlined paper. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >You reach through the shrouding branches and fish the small piece of Floyd | unlined paper out of the ficus pot. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 4/30/78 Floyd | Floyd | He screams at night. Floyd | Ian says that he's had these nightmares as long as he can remember, Floyd | that it's fine and everything is normal. I really want to believe him, Floyd | but the last few days have been different. I've seen him tossing and Floyd | turning, but now he screams. Says things. His eyes are open, but he Floyd | can't see or hear me. Floyd | Are they doing something to him? I'm not supposed to ask about why Floyd | he's here. I've been sort of hoping that he would tell me something, Floyd | but he doesn't even like to talk about the nightmares. All I can hear Floyd | are the things he says when he's asleep, strangled bits of words. Floyd | "Teeth. Dark. Coming for me." Floyd | I wish I could do something for him. Anything. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >This door was open just a moment ago, but it's closed now. You can't Floyd | recall hearing it close. Floyd | | DavidW says, "And locked too, I think." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "unlock door" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the hall door or the test chamber door? Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "test chamber" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't have a key for the test chamber door. Floyd | | ||||
| maga says (to Floyd), "focus on ficus" | ||||
Floyd | >(the ficus tree) Floyd | You try to concentrate on the ficus tree, but you don't sense anything Floyd | out of the ordinary. Floyd | | Wastrel says, "I wonder what time period we're in? The cameras seem fancy enough for modern day, but that doesn't seem like enough to go on." | |||
| inky says, "when I first played I thought we were kind of a firestarter" | ||||
| DavidW says, "It's 1978." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, the diary entry we just read says 1978" | ||||
| Ellison arrives, ready to play with the toys. | DavidW says, "Assuming the diary entry is recent, which is probably is." | |||
| Wastrel says, "Thought maybe it was an old entry, thanks" | ||||
| DavidW says, "well, we'll find other dated stuff." | ||||
| inky says, "but the palm tree changed to a ficus, so" | ||||
| djfletch says, "I suppose the "wrenching sensation" bit is when everything changed" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yes" | ||||
| Ellison asks, "is it just me or was the sinister-ness of the first scene slightly watered down by the fact that one gets Ghostbuster flashbacks?" | ||||
| inky says, "hee hee" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I was thinking it's more like the Inferno arc in Marvel Comics." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the hall door. Floyd | Floyd | Hall End Floyd | This is not the hallway you expected. The far wall is the correct Floyd | distance away, and the ceiling is the correct height, but the walls Floyd | are painted a dull, sterile white instead of the light blue-green that Floyd | you associate with Corona Labs, and long banks of fluorescent lights Floyd | cast everything into an unexpectedly harsh light. Your room should be Floyd | through the metal door across the hall to the west, but in light of Floyd | the other changes, it's easy to doubt that it's yours. A small brass Floyd | sign identifies it as Room 320. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads east into the testing room's antechamber. Floyd | Floyd | A piece of unlined paper leans face-down against the west wall, just Floyd | slightly to the left of the door. Floyd | | Doug says, "'focus on ficus' is one of the better commands ever" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the piece of unlined paper) Floyd | You pick up the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the pages you are carrying together and classify them all Floyd | inwardly as your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 5/12/78 Floyd | Oh god, want to write better but so sick. Floyd | I don't know what happened. Floyd | A psychic spike - has to be. Nauseating. Floyd | What happened? Echoes of ... Cross. Dr. Yehuda. Floyd | Is Theo hurt? Dead? Did he hurt Ian? Floyd | Something has pushed Ian over the edge. I think we've all made a Floyd | terrible mistake. Floyd | I've got to get it together. Theo left a bottle of pills on his desk Floyd | -- the label says "Sandepam". I'm going to carry it with me. I don't Floyd | know what it does, but if I have to face Ian, I need whatever edge Floyd | Theo might have found. Floyd | I can't believe it's come to this. Something awful is about to happen. Floyd | EGB Floyd | | maga says, "it should really have been 'focus ficus', though" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door. Floyd | Floyd | As you step across the threshold, you freeze at the grisly sight Floyd | beyond. Floyd | Floyd | Room 320 Floyd | A broad ivory spike protrudes from the floor and pierces the ceiling, Floyd | transfixing the corpse of a slender, dark-haired woman on the way. Floyd | Her blood stands starkly red against the dull white tile and walls. Floyd | The room's furnishings - a hospital bed, a bookshelf, a dresser - have Floyd | been smashed into a still-recognizable pile of twisted metal and wood Floyd | on the west side of the room. Thousands of pieces of shredded paper, Floyd | none much larger than a fingernail, cover the floor near the wreckage Floyd | and shiver in the slight breath from the broken window. The only exit Floyd | is to the east. Floyd | | Ellison reads the recap. "huh!" (to the photo stuff). "I missed that, too" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search shredded paper" | ||||
Floyd | >Looking through the confetti, you come across a single page of Floyd | mostly-intact paper that doesn't seem to match the others. It's a Floyd | small piece of unlined paper with a ragged edge. You fish it out of Floyd | the pile of shredded paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small piece of unlined paper to your existing collection Floyd | of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 5/12/78 Floyd | Floyd | I just saw a man die. He was standing in a shadow and a mouth came Floyd | out and bit him in half. Floyd | I feel numb and awful and I'm so scared. I don't know where Ian is Floyd | and I'm afraid that he's going to be hurt or killed. I don't know why Floyd | he isn't in his room. Floyd | I have to help him and protect him. I'll wait for him here and he'll Floyd | come back, and we can be together and I'll stop the awful things from Floyd | hurting him. Floyd | Please Ian come back. I will be here waiting until you come back. Floyd | I love you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >The woman impaled on the white spike is dressed as you imagine a Floyd | nurse might have been in the seventies, with a button-down skirt that Floyd | must once have been clean white. Her face, frozen in a look of Floyd | wide-eyed shock, indicates asian-american heritage and youth. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x spike" | ||||
Floyd | >The gleaming, slightly curved spike broadens near the base and comes Floyd | to a sharp tip just as it pierces the ceiling. It resembles nothing Floyd | quite so much as a cat's fang, though one of mammoth proportions. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||||
Floyd | >A small window looks out of the room. Some glass is still present in Floyd | the windowframe in jagged shards, and you're loath to touch them. The Floyd | wood frame of the window is very badly warped. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x frame" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | inky says, "anyway, we can pick up general psychic emanations too" | |||
| DavidW says, "I kinda wanted to escape via the window, but I think we're too high up." | ||||
| inky says, "let's see how slow this is" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c" | inky says, "...ok, it's pretty slow" | |||
| Ellison says, "going to ask a question on #cfspoilers" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate, the room seems to spin for a moment. You are Floyd | strangely drawn to the broad ivory spike, the broken window, and the Floyd | broken bookshelf. Floyd | | DavidW says, "huh" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Is it?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "That 'concentrate' verb is useful. Wish I'd known at the time." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, I was lagged. Sorry." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bookshelf" | ||||
Floyd | >A nearby bookshelf likely held most of the books that now lay in Floyd | scraps. Its frame is mostly intact, but all of the internal shelves Floyd | are smashed, rendering it useless. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search it" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | inky says, "those are things you can concentrate on" | |||
| DavidW says, "oh" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c bookshelf" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the broken bookshelf, the room washes briefly Floyd | away in a surge of nauseating vertigo. Floyd | Floyd | She touched not the books, but the bookshelf. She was embarrassed - Floyd | she hadn't read even one of them. But he didn't judge her for it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't sense anything from the broken bookshelf right now. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c window" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the broken window, you feel a tic stutter Floyd | briefly through your cheek before you manage to suppress it. Floyd | Floyd | She opened the window for him - it was a small kindness. She wanted Floyd | to let the breeze in, though there wasn't much of one with the Floyd | courtyard so small. She wanted him to smell the air... but it wasn't Floyd | worth smelling, after all. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c spike" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the broad ivory spike, you feel distinctly Floyd | unwell for a moment. For an instant, you are drenched in terrible Floyd | emotion - confusion, dismay, gut-wrenching pain, grief - but then the Floyd | impression flashes away as quickly as it came. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search nurse" | ||||
Floyd | >You go briefly and quickly through the dead nurse's pockets, but you Floyd | find nothing of interest. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I think that's it for this room." | |||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End Floyd | Long banks of fluorescent lights cast sharp shadows along the Floyd | half-familiar, half-unfamiliar hallway, which continues off to the Floyd | north. The tiled floor is only a shade darker than the dull off-white Floyd | walls. A strange, unpleasant odor hangs in the air and stings your Floyd | nostrils. The door to Room 320 is across the hall to the west. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads east into the testing room's antechamber. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| inky says, "I wonder what the map will do" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x map" | ||||
Floyd | >The legend identifies this map as "Mt. Airy Hospital - Third Floor". Floyd | Three-quarters of the map is obscured with a large bloodsmear, but the Floyd | lower right quadrant is mostly visible. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | View the lower right quadrant? (y/n) >Okay. Floyd | | DavidW says, "well, we won't be able to see the map via Floyd, of course." | |||
| inky clears the save counter. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x map" | ||||
Floyd | >The legend identifies this map as "Mt. Airy Hospital - Third Floor". Floyd | Three-quarters of the map is obscured with a large bloodsmear, but the Floyd | lower right quadrant is mostly visible. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | View the lower right quadrant? (y/n) > Floyd | [Picture number 3 here.] Floyd | Floyd | | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky says, "(it doesn't help that much so I'm not going to bother putting it up)" | ||||
| Ellison says, "imagine, if you will, a room not covered by a bloodsmear" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push elevator button" | ||||
Floyd | >The call button lights under your finger. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator call button stops glowing. Nothing else happens. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a swinging panel to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor indicator" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | inky says, "whoops, sorry" | |||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the tiled floor. Floyd | Floyd | >Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor indicator" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the tiled floor. Floyd | | inky says, "er, wait, I did that wrong" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor indicator" | ||||
Floyd | >The twelve-character split-flap display currently reads "BASEMENT". Floyd | | inky says, "now we're talkin'" | |||
| DavidW says, "That at least tells us where we need to go." | ||||
| inky says, "I wonder if anyone who is an expert on historical elevator technology is getting all huffy because that isn't period for 1978" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a swinging panel to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the bathroom door. Floyd | Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The single fluorescent light in the bathroom flickers rapidly like a Floyd | strobe. On the other side of the room, a bloodied corpse seems to be Floyd | partially buried in the toilet, folded in half. Near the toilet is a Floyd | sink, above which is a mirror marred by a spiderweb crack. The light's Floyd | strobe effect gives the room a surreal, filmlike quality. Behind you, Floyd | to the west, a door leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | inky says, "how nice, another corpse" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x mirror" | ||||
Floyd | >You peer into the mirror. The spiderwebbing cracks divide your face Floyd | into strange angles, and the strobing light gives a strange, jerky Floyd | cast to your movements. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >Upon closer inspection, you can see that the corpse was male, and is Floyd | dressed in the scrubs of a hospital orderly or nurse. The blood Floyd | strewn on his uniform seems to have come from his mouth, likely Floyd | vomited out when he was folded violently in half. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c mirror" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You peer into the mirror. The spiderwebbing cracks divide your face Floyd | into strange angles, and the strobing light gives a strange, jerky Floyd | cast to your movements. Floyd | Floyd | You try to concentrate on the cracked mirror, but you don't sense Floyd | anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | Floyd | >The dead man's scrubs are completely contaminated with blood and more Floyd | unpleasant fluids. You don't see anything worth taking on the corpse, Floyd | and going through his pockets is impossible, since they're folded into Floyd | the toilet. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hit mirror" | ||||
Floyd | >The mirror is already badly damaged. You'd risk injury trying to Floyd | break it further. Floyd | | Ellison says, "ha ha" | |||
| Ellison says, "oh, I misread that" | ||||
| inky says, "plus bad luck" | ||||
| Gerynar arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | Ellison says, "but the way I misread it was hilarious" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
Floyd | >A small hand-washing sink is attached to the wall near the toilet, Floyd | made of white porcelain and a metal faucet and handles. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on sink" | inky says, "hmm, I thought there was something here" | |||
Floyd | >You turn the handle. The sink rattles and coughs, but no water comes Floyd | out. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks (of Ellison), "That we *looked at ourselves* in the mirror?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off sink" | ||||
Floyd | >The faucet is already off. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "flush toilet" | ||||
Floyd | >The toilet doesn't look like it's functioning very well. Floyd | | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lights" | ||||
Floyd | >There's only one light here, positioned above the mirror, and its Floyd | strobelike flickering makes everything jerky and strange. Floyd | | Ellison says (to Jacqueline), "indeed" | |||
| DavidW says, "I don't think there's anything useful here." | ||||
| inky says, "oh well" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. There's a long, slow rush Floyd | of bad-smelling air coming from that direction. Before the light Floyd | fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull white wall to the east and Floyd | a swinging panel to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | >Upon closer examination, the swinging panel appears to be a laundry Floyd | chute. Pushing open the chute, you take a look down. There's enough Floyd | light to see, strangely but unmistakably, rows of oversized shark's Floyd | teeth set into the sides of the chute partway down its length. Going Floyd | this way seems like a particularly bad idea. Floyd | Floyd | There's also a white object visible in the shadows of the laundry Floyd | chute. It looks as if something white fell partway down and got Floyd | caught on the protruding teeth. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x teeth" | ||||
Floyd | >Upon closer examination, the swinging panel appears to be a laundry Floyd | chute. Pushing open the chute, you take a look down. There's enough Floyd | light to see, strangely but unmistakably, rows of oversized shark's Floyd | teeth set into the sides of the chute partway down its length. Going Floyd | this way seems like a particularly bad idea. Floyd | Floyd | There's also a white object visible in the shadows of the laundry Floyd | chute. It looks as if something white fell partway down and got Floyd | caught on the protruding teeth. Floyd | | DavidW says, "'something white' = probably more lined paper with a ragged edge on one side." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter chute" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Are you sure you want to go into the laundry chute? (y/n) >With Floyd | trepidation, you stick your head partway into the laundry chute and Floyd | are met by a gust of fetid breath-like wind. You clench your teeth, Floyd | hold your breath and dive headfirst into the chute. You think, for a Floyd | moment, that the teeth are gone; as you begin the high-speed slide Floyd | into the darkness nothing impedes your progress. Floyd | Floyd | Your relief is short-lived. You feel an all-consuming, wrenching pain Floyd | in your stomach and back, like being caught in free-fall by a dozen Floyd | knives. Your hands reach out blindly, but the smooth metal you expect Floyd | to find is gone, replaced by what feels like wet, spongy flesh. The Floyd | fangs release you briefly, only to close even harder. The sickening Floyd | crunch reverberates through your body. Floyd | Floyd | The teeth release and bite you once more, and you feel the sudden Floyd | numbness of a severed spine. Everything goes black. Floyd | Floyd | | DavidW says, "dude! teeth!" | |||
| Ellison says, "shark teeth? we're going to need a bigger boat!" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | inky says, "whoops, huge text dump" | |||
| maga says, "it serves them right for taking that beer sponsorship deal" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "tastes great / more reality-destroying" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | > Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | DavidW asks, "What's that 'the past repeats itself' bit?" | |||
| Ellison says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Wastrel says, "So we've got cat teeth in the nurse-lady and shark teeth in the laundry? Weird." | ||||
| inky says, "I think it is not a huge spoiler to say that the first part of the game is set in modern times and then we travel back in time" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Is that implying we're foreseeing the future, then?" | ||||
| inky says, "and then the very end text is "back in the present ..."" | ||||
| Ellison says, "kind of like future Bill & Ted going back in the past to hide the keys in the bushes to save the present" | ||||
| Ellison says, "except with more teeth and tentacles" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm a bit confused, but okay. I didn't know there was any time-finickness in this game." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "finickiness?" | ||||
| inky says, "the time in this game is pretty confusing" | ||||
| inky says, "and (I think) mostly unintentionally" | ||||
| djfletch says, "it took me a long time to work out. We are watching American Beauty at the start so that tells you it isn't the 70s then." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So, when we were doing the Zener cards ... that *wasn't* 1978?" | ||||
| inky says, "like I think the authors expected you to assume the first part of the game was set in the present, and then it would quickly become clear that you had gone back to the 70s" | ||||
| inky says (to djfletch), "oh yeah, good point" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I've never heard of American Beauty. Is that a current show?" | ||||
| inky says, "and then if you die, you travel back to the present, and then it says "and six days after you travelled back to the present, all hell breaks loose"" | ||||
| inky asks, "it's a movie from, I dunno, early 2000s?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm. ok" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "anyway, can we restore or whatever and continue?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | Ellison says, "it's a movie about Kevin Spacey recapturing his youthful spirit from the 70s" | |||
Floyd | >Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | inky says, "hmm, this game is going to be a little irritating to play with the yes/no prompts" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You start north into the darkness, moving cautiously. The halitosis Floyd | smell gets increasingly strong as you proceed. Floyd | Floyd | A gleam alerts you to halt in the darkness. As your vision adjusts to Floyd | the low light, you see a row of long, sharp, curving shapes projecting Floyd | both from the floor and the ceiling. Careful examination convinces Floyd | you that the hallway has grown a mouthful of fangs. Proceeding north Floyd | seems like an incredibly bad idea. Floyd | Floyd | You back away until you have returned to the relative safety of the Floyd | lit hallway by the bathroom door. Floyd | | DavidW says, "There's a hall east of the elevator, if I recall." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x darkness" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fangs" | ||||
Floyd | >Hidden in the shadows to the north, the jaws of the hallway sit Floyd | silently, waiting like an anglerfish for some foolish morsel to make a Floyd | fatal mistake. Floyd | | inky says, "these fangs are even worse than the other fangs!" | |||
| DavidW says, "Lots o' teeth in this game." | ||||
| inky says, "one mouth open" | ||||
| Ellison says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s. e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | djfletch says, "the experiments in psychic dentistry went horribly wrong" | |||
| inky says, "we don't have keys for these doors yet" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Maga thought this would end up in my Squicky IF Hall of Fame, but thus far it is kind of too well written to merit inclusion." | |||
| Ellison says, "also, before it was sharks and now it's anglerfish. the authors must hate aquariums." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "haha" | ||||
| inky says, "or for the north door, or a keycard for the east door" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door to room 323. Floyd | Floyd | The glimmer of glass greets your eye as you enter this shadowed room. Floyd | Running through the layout of the facility in your mind, you realize Floyd | that you're now standing in the observational room, though the Floyd | furnishings have changed from your memory. For instance, the gutted Floyd | corpse is definitely new. Floyd | Floyd | Observational Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A broad pane of one-way glass separates this room from the testing Floyd | chamber beyond. The lights are off in this room, cloaking everything Floyd | in shadow, but you can still see enough to navigate past the Floyd | rectangular table, the chairs, and the filing cabinet tucked into one Floyd | corner. Your view of the observational room is somewhat blocked by Floyd | the gutted corpse sprawled across the table. Floyd | Floyd | A door to your north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see a gaunt young man huddled Floyd | in the far corner of the test chamber. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I remember finding a keycard, but didn't play long enough to use it." | |||
| Wastrel exclaims, "A not dead person!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" | ||||
Floyd | >(the gaunt young man) Floyd | A gaunt young man huddles on an office chair in the far corner of the Floyd | room, clothed only in a pair of navy sweatpants. He is slumped Floyd | forward in a hunch, the outline of his spine standing sharply against Floyd | the skin of his emaciated back. His face is obscured by a mass of Floyd | messy, tangled brown hair. Floyd | Floyd | You feel drawn to the young man. The feeling vibrates between empathy Floyd | and sympathy. You can all-too-easily imagine the slight chill of the Floyd | air against his bare back, the way his elbows dig into his knees, and Floyd | the slight ache of his spine from the unnatural posture. You can Floyd | imagine how he sits, alone, listening to the emptiness which is not | inky says, "unsurprisingly the keycard is important" | |||
Floyd | empty enough - the emptiness that is filled with too many thoughts, Floyd | fears, dreams. He shifts position slightly and raises a hand to his Floyd | hidden face. You feel the way he drags his fingernails down his Floyd | forehead - not breaking the skin, not quite, but toying with the idea. Floyd | Flirting with the idea of blindness, as his nails trail over his Floyd | closed eyelid, or disfigurement, as they trail over his cheek. Floyd | Floyd | He has the answers you seek. The knowledge thumps home like a bullet Floyd | thumping into flesh - not hurting, not yet - only a solid impact like Floyd | nothing else in the world. Floyd | Floyd | You shake yourself out of the bizarre reverie to see the young man Floyd | hunched and still. You're not sure whether he ever moved at all. Floyd | | inky says, "and leads somewhere gross" | |||
| inky says, "whoah dang" | ||||
| inky says, "also, check this out:" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c man" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the gutted corpse or the gaunt young man? Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "young man" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to c the gaunt young man. Floyd | | inky says, "hmm, I coulda sworn that worked" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "concentrate on young man" | ||||
Floyd | >You focus your thoughts on the young man huddled in the corner of the Floyd | test chamber. For a moment, nothing happens. Floyd | Floyd | Then, suddenly, you think you see the young man's head snap up, but Floyd | your vision immediately bursts with a nausea-inducing green light that Floyd | blots everything else out. You are overcome with dizziness. Images Floyd | of death, terror and madness fill your brain, swelling it, pressing Floyd | against your skull. Reaching out to destroy everything around you, Floyd | you are a whirlwind of insane destructive force. You see images of Floyd | teeth, mouths, throats, closing in to devour you, and you fight Floyd | against them with everything you are.... Floyd | Floyd | You fall back into yourself with an involuntary scream. Your skin is Floyd | covered in cold sweat. After a few moments, your heart rate and Floyd | breathing return to normal, though it takes some time before you stop Floyd | shaking. You have been Ian McMoneagle, and his mind is a hell. Floyd | Floyd | The gaunt young man still sits, huddled into himself, immobile. Floyd | You're still not sure whether he ever moved at all. Floyd | | Ellison says, "interesting" | |||
| Ellison says, "(that 'c gaunt young man' didn't work)" | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah, I figured that was Ian." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ian" | ||||
Floyd | >A gaunt young man huddles on an office chair in the far corner of the Floyd | room, clothed only in a pair of navy sweatpants. He is slumped Floyd | forward in a hunch, the outline of his spine standing sharply against Floyd | the skin of his emaciated back. His face is obscured by a mass of Floyd | messy, tangled brown hair. Floyd | | DavidW says, "and confirmed." | |||
| inky says (to Ellison), "I guess they were doing something clever with the parser and it got screwed up doing it in two parts" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >A broad rip across the man's shirt and stomach reveal the shredded Floyd | ruin of his abdominal cavity. The remains of the ruined organs and Floyd | flesh within have jagged edges that you cannot help but equate to Floyd | small toothmarks. There's a sheet of paper pinned under the corpse's Floyd | shoulder. Floyd | | Ellison asks, "who's Ian again? did he write some diary entries?" | |||
| inky says, "also, "Ian McMoneagle" is a better name for a romance hero than a horror one" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the bloodstained sheet of paper) Floyd | You push the corpse sideways, releasing the bloodstained sheet of Floyd | paper from beneath its shoulder so that you can pick it up. Floyd | Floyd | The table is small, and the blood on the table is still fairly slick. Floyd | Unbalanced, the corpse suddenly starts to slide off the edge, and you Floyd | fail to arrest its movement in time. With a startlingly loud thump, Floyd | the corpse hits the ground. Floyd | Floyd | You add the bloodstained sheet of paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | Wastrel says, "He's the lad Alice, our diary writer, liked" | |||
Floyd | >The bloodstained sheet of paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Raymond Pearce, M.D. Floyd | Assistant Director, Mt. Airy Hospital Floyd | April 16, 1978 Floyd | Floyd | I am upset with the Director. Floyd | While I am well aware that our hospital is under-funded and that we Floyd | should take sources of revenue wherever we can find them, renting out Floyd | our space to private companies performing procedures that we cannot Floyd | oversee makes me feel rather like a hotel manager. Moreover, I have Floyd | enough duties to see to without having to carry out the blind and deaf Floyd | duty of being the Corona Corporation's liaison. Couldn't we have one Floyd | of our administrators do that? A secretary, perhaps? My medical Floyd | expertise certainly does not come into play, as I am not allowed to Floyd | see the experimentation, nor interview the patient. If he is indeed a | inky says, "the diary was *about* Ian and the experiments they were doing on him" | |||
Floyd | patient. Floyd | The lead researcher is friendly enough, but I've not been able to Floyd | get a private word with him since the corporate auditor showed up. I Floyd | swear, he looks more like a Secret Service agent than a medical Floyd | professional, and he seems to be everywhere. Floyd | I only want to know what's going on. And barring that, I'd frankly Floyd | rather not have anything to do with the Corona Corporation. This is Floyd | not what I signed on for. Floyd | | Lionheart says, "Well whatever this ism it sounds interesting" | |||
| Ellison says, "Ian Moneagle, with teeth like a beagle" | ||||
| inky says (to Lionheart), "come sw and watch!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You search the gutted corpse, but you find nothing of interest on the Floyd | body. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Also, I guess the time switch explains why the table in this room is completely different. I didn't understand why that changed with everything else." | |||
| inky says, "these corpses have a distinct absence of awesome stuff" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "indeed" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "They ought to have ID of some sort, eh?" | ||||
| inky says, "totally" | ||||
| inky says, "now, here is something else gross" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You fold your notes, tuck them under your arm, and heave the gutted Floyd | corpse onto your shoulder. Floyd | | DavidW says, "oh, I thought you meant the cabinet contents." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a fairly small filing cabinet, squatting at about waist height. Floyd | There seems to be some kind of strange liquid leaking down to the Floyd | floor from the edges of each drawer. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open cabinet" | DavidW says, "I wanted to feed the slime to the chute." | |||
Floyd | >Opening the bottom drawer of the filing cabinet, you are instantly Floyd | greeted with a foul biological scent, like stomach acid. The inside Floyd | of the drawer is completely empty, but covered with some kind of Floyd | slime. You open the top drawer as well, only to see (and smell) the Floyd | same results. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get slime" | ||||
Floyd | >It's too awkward to pick anything up while you're carrying the gutted Floyd | corpse around. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "drop corpse. get slime" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave the gutted corpse off your shoulder and lower it carefully Floyd | to the ground. Then, you untuck your notes from your armpit with Floyd | minimal damage done. Floyd | Floyd | You consider scraping some of the stuff off to carry it with you, but Floyd | the idea of having it under your fingernails is a dreadful one. Floyd | | DavidW says, ">get gloves. get dreadful slime." | |||
| Ellison says, "if only we had a thing that our aunt gave us that we don't know what it is to carry our corpses" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You fold your notes, tuck them under your arm, and heave the gutted Floyd | corpse onto your shoulder. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Our aunt gave us a body bag?" | |||
| inky says, "aunts help you move, real aunts help you move bodies" | ||||
| DavidW says, "There have been games with body bags but I can't remember which, exactly." | ||||
| Ellison says, "hee" | ||||
| DavidW says (to inky), "HA" | ||||
| inky asks, "did that game where you're the food inspector with the vampire have a body bag?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "YAY" | ||||
| Ellison says, "one of Tale's New Year's games had a body bag" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Ellison), "oh yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "anyway, since we can pick this corpse up, it is useful for something" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a laundry chute to the west. Floyd | | DavidW says, "put corpse in keycard reader" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Also, I think "You fold your notes, tuck them under your arm, and heave the gutted corpse onto your shoulder" just won this a spot in my Squicky IF Hall of Fame." | ||||
| inky says, "the new corpsecard 2000" | ||||
| inky says, "just scan your corpse for instant admission" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It has to be both squicky *and* make me grin." | ||||
| Ellison says (to Jacqueline), "I would like to see that list" | ||||
| inky asks, "ok, then how about this?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put corpse in chute" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | Ellison says, "FEED ME SEYMORE" | |||
| maga says (to Jacq), "you should really compile 'em, yes" | ||||
Floyd | >If you put the gutted corpse in there, it's a good bet you'll never Floyd | see it again. Are you sure you want to do this? (y/n) >You heave the Floyd | gutted corpse feetfirst into the laundry chute. It falls partway down Floyd | before the laundry chute's teeth snap closed. There's a hideous Floyd | crunching sound, accompanied by the flash of bloodstained teeth in the Floyd | gloom. Floyd | Floyd | The gutted corpse is gone. The teeth slowly curve in an unmistakable Floyd | smile. Then, they melt into the sides of the laundry chute and vanish Floyd | from view, leaving only smeared blood on the stainless steel tunnel to Floyd | document the carnage. Floyd | Floyd | There's no sign of the piece of paper any more, either. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "It's unofficial an just in my head, but I should probably start making it official on IFDB at some point." | |||
| DavidW says, "okay, now we can go down the chute." | ||||
| maga says, "except then people would start writing silly squick just to get on the list, like with Emily's cheese games" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter chute" | Ellison says (to Jacqueline), "it'd be best if you quote lines like that one just now" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Are you sure you want to go into the laundry chute? (y/n) >After Floyd | some awkward experimentation, you realize that you'll have to go in Floyd | headfirst. You put both arms in, shield your face with your arms, and Floyd | wriggle into the chute. You slide rapidly down through the narrow Floyd | darkness until the chute abruptly ends. For one heartstopping moment, Floyd | you plummet through space, but you land safely in something soft. A Floyd | quiet, papery crunch accompanies your landing. Floyd | Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital (in the laundry bin) Floyd | Crumpled white sheets fill an enormous laundry bin underneath the Floyd | chute's entrance - a great relief, since those sheets were dense Floyd | enough to competently break your fall. You're currently inside the Floyd | laundry bin, but you can see the rest of the room well enough. There Floyd | is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers and Floyd | dryers line the walls of this room. The room stinks of offal, blood Floyd | and bleach all at the same time. On the east wall, a large sink made Floyd | of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet is bent at a peculiar Floyd | angle and it is missing both handles. A particularly large laundry Floyd | machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | The giant laundry machine is running, filling the room with ominous Floyd | sound and vibration. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of typewriter paper is lying on the sheets, looking only a bit Floyd | worse for its misadventures (including having you land on it). It Floyd | looks like the one that you knocked free from the laundry chute. Floyd | | djfletch says, "if we feed the building maybe it will be our friend" | |||
| inky says, "yeah, but we're all out of corpses" | ||||
| inky says, "actually I guess there is another corpse of note" | ||||
| Wastrel says (to djfletch), "Yeah! We can teach it tricks" | ||||
| inky says, "hmm, two" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get paper. read notes" | Ellison says, "we can get our own tv show as the Building Whisperer" | |||
Floyd | >(your notes) Floyd | You already have that. Floyd | Floyd | The bloodstained sheet of paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Raymond Pearce, M.D. Floyd | Assistant Director, Mt. Airy Hospital Floyd | April 16, 1978 Floyd | Floyd | I am upset with the Director. Floyd | While I am well aware that our hospital is under-funded and that we Floyd | should take sources of revenue wherever we can find them, renting out Floyd | our space to private companies performing procedures that we cannot Floyd | oversee makes me feel rather like a hotel manager. Moreover, I have Floyd | enough duties to see to without having to carry out the blind and deaf Floyd | duty of being the Corona Corporation's liaison. Couldn't we have one Floyd | of our administrators do that? A secretary, perhaps? My medical Floyd | expertise certainly does not come into play, as I am not allowed to Floyd | see the experimentation, nor interview the patient. If he is indeed a Floyd | patient. Floyd | The lead researcher is friendly enough, but I've not been able to Floyd | get a private word with him since the corporate auditor showed up. I Floyd | swear, he looks more like a Secret Service agent than a medical Floyd | professional, and he seems to be everywhere. Floyd | I only want to know what's going on. And barring that, I'd frankly Floyd | rather not have anything to do with the Corona Corporation. This is Floyd | not what I signed on for. Floyd | Floyd | You nearly jump out of your skin as a buzzer sounds loudly from the Floyd | huge laundry machine. Its motor gradually slows to a halt. Floyd | | inky says, "grr parser" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get typewritten" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the somewhat crumpled sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the somewhat crumpled sheet of typewriter paper to your Floyd | existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The somewhat crumpled sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, April 2, 3:10 pm Floyd | Day one with the Corona Corporation! The intrepid doctor embarks on Floyd | a real adventure; hardly the first of his career but certainly the Floyd | most extraordinary. Floyd | I always considered my interest in the paranormal purely academic. Floyd | No matter what a man has seen or believes, bringing such beliefs and Floyd | experiences into the professional arena is a dangerous prospect. Being Floyd | approached to pursue such things -- for a very tidy sum, no less! -- Floyd | is not something I ever expected to see in my resume ... but here I Floyd | am. Floyd | My team is eclectic, which I suppose is to be expected. Dr. Floyd | Atwater, slated to be my assistant overseer (and the previous man who Floyd | held my current title), has a closed-minded cynicism matched only by Floyd | his impressive credentials. Miss Elaine Buchanan, on the other hand, Floyd | is not only a believer but actually considers herself a psychic. The Floyd | company evidently agrees, since she is effectively our lead Floyd | subject-seeker, spending her days poring over newspaper articles, Floyd | tabloids and television programs. Floyd | It is difficult not to find the entire outfit somewhat difficult to Floyd | take seriously, but this is my chance to see what is really behind the Floyd | closed door of the human mind. I find myself very nervous and excited. Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | | inky says, "so to recap this note, the psychic researcher team at Corona consists of Theo (who is the head), Dr Atwater (who is cynical and stuck up and is the previous head), and Elaine Buchanan (who is a psychic herself and signs her notes EB)" | |||
| inky says, "it took me a while to work out who EB was on the notes" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x laundry machine" | ||||
Floyd | >This laundry machine is positively monolithic, reaching chest-height Floyd | on you and almost as wide as your full armspan. It lacks controls of Floyd | any kind; its only feature is the hinged metal door on its top. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open machine" | Ellison says, "and together, they fight crime" | |||
Floyd | >You lift the lid of the large laundry machine. Floyd | Floyd | The inside of the machine is not, as you expected, a metal cylinder, Floyd | but a fleshy tube with a sphincter-like hole in the bottom. Stubby, Floyd | glistening cilia, like the ones lining the inside of an intestine from Floyd | a biology textbook, line the curved walls of the tube, each one Floyd | wriggling with life. Sitting in the tube is a skeleton, complete but Floyd | with its flesh eaten cleanly away. The skeleton is wearing a clean, Floyd | white lab coat. Floyd | | Ellison says, "(but mostly just die)" | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "this is my favorite item in the game" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take lab coat" | Jacqueline says, "That is super awesome, yes." | |||
Floyd | >You're not sure that you can take the lab coat off the skeleton Floyd | without having the skeleton come apart. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search coat" | inky says, "the parsing here is dumb" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | >In the clean lab coat is a Corona Labs keycard. Floyd | Floyd | >You gingerly reach inside the laundry machine, cringing away as the Floyd | hungry cilia reach for your hands. You grasp the skeleton's shoulders Floyd | through the protection of the lab coat and lift it. Thankfully, Floyd | enough ligaments and tendons and so forth remain on the skeleton to Floyd | maintain its cohesion as you pull it out, and you are able to extract Floyd | it from the machine without breaking it. You lay the skeleton down on Floyd | the tile floor. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get keycard" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take keycard" | ||||
Floyd | >You fish the keycard out of the lab coat's pocket. Floyd | | inky says, "er, whoops" | |||
Floyd | >You already have that. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter washing machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "enter machine" | ||||
Floyd | >For a moment, you picture yourself climbing into what appears to be a Floyd | cannibalistic digestive system in a box. You spend the next few Floyd | moments being glad that you possess a functioning self-preservation Floyd | instinct. Floyd | | * Doug has left the channel. | |||
| Doug has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | djfletch says, "hehe" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x sink" | DavidW says, "oh dear. Doug had enough, I guess." | |||
Floyd | >The basin of this sink is made of heavy-duty steel, its shiny surface Floyd | dulled from poor care and abuse. The functioning parts of the sink Floyd | are in even worse shape than the basin, though; both handles seem to Floyd | be missing, and the thick metal faucet, which would normally trace a Floyd | graceful, high arc, is bent at a jaunty angle. Floyd | Floyd | In the heavy-duty steel sink is a sheet of ruled paper. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get ruled" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sheet of ruled paper) Floyd | You pick up the sheet of ruled paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of ruled paper to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of ruled paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Raymond Pearce, M.D. Floyd | Assistant Director, Mt. Airy Hospital Floyd | May 1st, 1978 Floyd | Floyd | Well, things are clearly getting exciting for our guests from Floyd | Corona Labs. Floyd | I'm not sure what's different, but I've heard signs of a struggle Floyd | from McMoneagle's room during the day. Nurse Kim reports that his Floyd | sleeping at night has been disruptive and suspects that his nightmares Floyd | are more intense than when he first arrived. I want to know more, but Floyd | obviously none of the Corona employees are telling me anything at all. Floyd | As always, Cross watches me whenever I'm near their annex. Floyd | Something very suspicious is going on. They're experimenting on Floyd | that young man, and it's obviously not anything safe. Be it on their Floyd | heads if he dies, or becomes violent. They'd better be able to contain Floyd | it, or we are going to come down on them as hard as the law allows. I Floyd | swear it. Floyd | Yehuda has seemed the most concerned of the lot of them, and has Floyd | mentioned to me that he may need to requisition "a few medications" Floyd | from me in the near future. Truth be told, I hope he does so. That Floyd | might give me some insight to just what in heaven's name they're Floyd | doing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in basket" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital (in the laundry bin) Floyd | Crumpled white sheets fill an enormous laundry bin underneath the Floyd | chute's entrance - a great relief, since those sheets were dense Floyd | enough to competently break your fall. You're currently inside the Floyd | laundry bin, but you can see the rest of the room well enough. There Floyd | is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers and Floyd | dryers line the walls of this room. The room stinks of offal, blood Floyd | and bleach all at the same time. On the east wall, a large sink made Floyd | of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet is bent at a peculiar Floyd | angle and it is missing both handles. A particularly large laundry Floyd | machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | | inky says, "oh yeah, I forgot" | |||
| inky says, "there is a bug which lets you do all this without leaving the laundry bin" | ||||
| inky says, "so I assume we are rolling around the room in it" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | >You get out of the laundry bin. Floyd | Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | There is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers Floyd | and dryers line the walls of this room, and three canvas-walled carts Floyd | filled with dirty linens squat awaiting their purpose. The room Floyd | stinks of offal, blood and bleach all at the same time. On the east Floyd | wall, a large sink made of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet Floyd | is bent at a peculiar angle and it is missing both handles. A Floyd | particularly large laundry machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a laundry bin (in which is a heap of soiled sheets) Floyd | here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x faucet" | ||||
Floyd | >Even if the sink had working handles, the sharp angle at which this Floyd | faucet is bent would render it useless anyway. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take faucet" | ||||
Floyd | >Tugging on the faucet has no effect; whatever bent this must have Floyd | been a tremendous force. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c faucet" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the bent faucet, but you don't sense Floyd | anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c skeleton" | ||||
Floyd | >It looks rather like a skeleton from some biology classroom. A Floyd | biology classroom with a real human skeleton. It's wearing a lab Floyd | coat. Floyd | Floyd | You try to concentrate on the polished skeleton, but you don't sense Floyd | anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >The only obvious exit is south through a doorway into a hall. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Like the hallways upstairs, this hall has fluorescent lighting, dull Floyd | off-white walls, and tiled floors, but the basement is clearly less Floyd | cared-for. Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, Floyd | causing the peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. Floyd | The laundry room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room Floyd | door to the south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies between the elevator Floyd | doors, blocking them from closing. Floyd | | inky says, "more corpses" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >The battered body of this older man is swollen and purple with Floyd | bruising, and his limbs bend in more places than they should. Drying Floyd | blood marks his nostrils, lips, eyes, and earholes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You search the broken corpse, but you find nothing of interest on the Floyd | body. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "move it" | ||||
Floyd | >You get behind the corpse, set your hands under his shoulder, and Floyd | shove. You can feel his broken shoulderblades and ribs shifting as he Floyd | moves, but you manage to get him out from between the elevator doors. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "yay" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the boiler room door. Floyd | Floyd | Boiler Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light to this room. A maze of large pipes runs along the Floyd | ceiling. Most of said pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in Floyd | front of you, easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real Floyd | estate. A door to the north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | A metal box with a glass surface is mounted on the wall, a fire axe Floyd | tantalizingly close. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I think this room was the last place I reached." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x box" | ||||
Floyd | >A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself in the doorway, a roaring fills your ears, and grayness Floyd | clouds your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see that the room is hideously spattered Floyd | with gore, particularly the wall behind the boiler. Amid the less Floyd | recognizable chunks, you spot a bloodsoaked leather dress shoe, a Floyd | cracked cell phone, and a shredded lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears and the roaring fades. The blood, the Floyd | half-identified body parts, the shoe - all have vanished. Floyd | Floyd | It's a metal box containing a pristine, solid steel fire axe. The Floyd | glass on the front shows the words, "In case of emergency, break Floyd | glass." With what, a fire axe? Floyd | Floyd | In the metal box is a fire axe. Floyd | | DavidW says, "yeah, I never got the axe." | |||
| inky says, "whoops, I should have hit space" | ||||
| inky says, "anyway, the important thing here is sometimes you will get a vision of a corpse when you enter a room (I guess having to hit space first)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Chunks is a good word." | ||||
| inky says, "you only get the vision the first time you enter the room" | ||||
| inky says, "and that is your only clue that somewhere in the room is a flash" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >The harsh light barely illuminates a maze of large metal pipes, most Floyd | of which lead to the large boiler in the center of the room. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "touch pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >Upon contact, your fingers convulse tightly around the pipe. The Floyd | pipe groans, a sound that resonates not only through the boiler room, Floyd | but through your bones and your skull. Your fingers slacken.... Floyd | Floyd | As your outer eyes close, your inner eye opens. Dimly, you perceive Floyd | your body rebounding from the pipes to crumple on the floor, but Floyd | you're not there any more. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fleeting impressions flash through your awareness. It's hard to Floyd | orient yourself. You're running - banging helplessly at an elevator Floyd | button that doesn't respond - turning desperately down the hall. Floyd | Fleeing down a set of stairs. Thoughts pelt past with the same speed Floyd | as your running footsteps, rasp through you like your hard-stolen Floyd | breaths. Grasping for inner purchase, you come up with a name: Floyd | Floyd | Leon Shaunessy. Floyd | Floyd | With the name comes identity: Floyd | Floyd | Neurologist, Corona Laboratories, Mount Airy division. Father of two, Floyd | divorcee of one, lover of good scotch and handwritten letters and Floyd | speedcubing. Probably the world's leading expert in the effects of Floyd | Naegleria splendens, though it doesn't mean a good goddamned thing Floyd | now.... Floyd | Floyd | His perceptions are yours, his thoughts rush through you, and his fear Floyd | contaminates you as he runs down the hall, stumbles through the door, Floyd | and slams it shut. You look and see: Floyd | Floyd | Boiler Room Floyd | Until today, you had never visited the facility's boiler room. A Floyd | single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides a harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light, and a maze of large pipes runs along the ceiling. Floyd | Most of the pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in front of you, Floyd | easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real estate. In Floyd | the rear of the room, an oversized exhaust fan with wide blades stands Floyd | unmoving. Floyd | Floyd | A loud, electronic buzz permeates this room. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the east is closed, but there's no lock. You've got to Floyd | bar it somehow. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Wild." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | You think you hear something outside the door, and your strained Floyd | nerves shriek. If the door isn't barred, the horrors could come Floyd | straight in after you. You can't possibly hold the door shut with Floyd | muscle power alone. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >The pipes run all over the room, most eventually reaching the boiler. Floyd | Two red pipes run parallel to the door. A pipe that seems to be loose Floyd | from the rest of the framework is wedged in the fan at the room's Floyd | south side. Floyd | Floyd | Your heart is beating so fast it could burst. You urgently need to Floyd | block the door somehow. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the loose pipe) Floyd | You grab the loose length of pipe and pull hard on it. After a few Floyd | tries, you hear a groaning noise, and the pipe suddenly breaks free. Floyd | You stumble backward with the pipe. The fan blades, now loose, resume Floyd | their rotation, turning in a slow circle. The buzzing in the room Floyd | stops, becoming a low hum instead. Something about the humming Floyd | resonates through your mind, dizzying you.... Floyd | Floyd | In the moment of your dizziness, Leon moves with no prompting. Heart Floyd | pounding, he slides the metal pipe behind the pair of red pipes, Floyd | resting it on the pipe bend and the door's handle. The door is Floyd | effectively barred shut. Floyd | Floyd | The fan's rotation gently increases in speed, causing a breeze to waft Floyd | through the room. Floyd | | inky says, "this is the last confusing thing about the timeline in this game; these flashes are flash *forwards*" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "bar door with pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >["bar door with pipe" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | inky says, "to what happens six days after you return" | |||
| DavidW says, "oh, he auto-bars it." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "wait, this is the 'future' now?" | ||||
| inky says, "yes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I never clued into that at all." | ||||
| inky says, "it is pretty confusing" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "And it's *more* future than where the game started?" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| DavidW says, "okay." | ||||
| inky says, "basically, the deal is, these are "if you don't save the day during the main 1978 portion of the game, here is what will happen in 2010"" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x fan" | DavidW says, "gotcha" | |||
Floyd | >It's an almost comically large exhaust fan, six feet in diameter and Floyd | with blades about a foot wide. While the room may get hot because of Floyd | the boiler, the fan seems a bit larger than is necessary. The fan is Floyd | currently spinning. Floyd | Floyd | The fan continues to turn. Your hair moves in the strengthening Floyd | breeze. Floyd | | inky says, "(also, one of the flashes has something required to get the best ending to the game)" | |||
| DavidW asks, "In the meantime, Leon here is doomed, yes?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You're wearing a dirt-smeared lab coat and a security badge and Floyd | carrying a Samsung cell phone. In sum, you have absolutely nothing of Floyd | use. Floyd | Floyd | The fan's rotation picks up speed, causing the breeze to increase in Floyd | intensity. You brush hair from your face. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x badge" | ||||
Floyd | >Corona operates on a magnetic security badge system instead of Floyd | physical locks. This is your badge, complete with a rather august Floyd | photo, which allows you to open any doors in the secure Corona area of Floyd | the Corona building. Floyd | Floyd | Of course, you're not exactly in the secure Corona area now, nor would Floyd | you want to be (he remembers the jointed, steel-legged spider Floyd | crouching to fit through a doorway, blood streaking its legs to half Floyd | their height - then pushes the idea sharply out of his mind). Floyd | Floyd | The hum of the fan's motor has become increasingly loud, and it shows Floyd | no indication of stopping. Dust is dragged from the ground and sucked Floyd | through the fan. Floyd | Floyd | Some internal alarm rouses you, and you struggle for identity. This Floyd | is not you. Leon Shaunessy is not you.. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x cell phone" | ||||
Floyd | >The cell phone is off, its screen dark. Floyd | Floyd | The Samsung cell phone is currently switched on. Floyd | Floyd | The fan's blades are now a blur. It's getting harder to breathe in Floyd | here. The pipe rattles in the door, drawn, like all loose objects, Floyd | toward the fan. Floyd | Floyd | He's going to die. You can feel his death coming. Floyd | | Ellison says, "man" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the barricade pipe) Floyd | You don't dare take the loose pipe away; it's the only thing Floyd | separating you from the nightmare outside. Floyd | Floyd | As the fan's speed continues to increase, you find it difficult to Floyd | maintain your footing. You realize with despair that the horror has Floyd | found you after all, and tricked you into trapping yourself with it. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. This isn't your death - it's his. Floyd | Floyd | You struggle your way to the door and grasp the length of loose pipe, Floyd | trying to remove it from the door and make it out of this wind tunnel. Floyd | Just as you grab the pipe, the suction becomes too powerful. Your Floyd | shoes lift from the ground and you find yourelf holding onto the pipe Floyd | for dear life as the fan cuts a deadly whirlwhind behind you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the barricade pipe) Floyd | Leon doesn't respond to your suggestion. He's too busy clinging to Floyd | the pipe. Floyd | Floyd | After a few seconds, his grip, slick with nervous sweat, begins to Floyd | fail. His fingers lose their strength. Suddenly he is torn free, his Floyd | body falling sideways through the air for a few long moments before Floyd | striking the fan. The powerful blades churn Leon Shaunessy's body Floyd | into a paste, spraying the wall behind with gore. Floyd | Floyd | In the instant before death, you rip your consciousness free of his. Floyd | Leon Shaunessy is dead, but you are still alive. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | Jacqueline says, "le pant" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | DavidW asks, "Do we have a y/n question?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | This can still be changed Floyd | Floyd | You sense it. Floyd | | inky asks, "I think we have to enter a non-space key?" | |||
| inky says, "or maybe it's just super-slow" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push enter" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You're lying on the chill boiler room floor. You slowly get to your Floyd | feet. Floyd | Floyd | Boiler Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light to this room. A maze of large pipes runs along the Floyd | ceiling. Most of said pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in Floyd | front of you, easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real Floyd | estate. A door to the north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | A metal box with a glass surface is mounted on the wall, a fire axe Floyd | tantalizingly close. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I don't suppose we can get that axe." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break box" | ||||
Floyd | >Your fists and feet are not going to do the trick, and you don't have Floyd | anything sturdy or hard enough to break the glass. Floyd | | Wastrel asks, "So to see the future we have to be Shaunessy (whose one of the guys who's present if we die, I think?), but in the past we're allowed to wander about without possessing anyone, right?" | |||
| inky says (to Wastrel), "yeah, in the past we are just ourselves, I think" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Do we die? Is Ian in the future? Or are we Ian-take-2?" | ||||
| Wastrel asks (of inky), "Thanks. Yeah, I guess the mirror scene woulda revealed if we were in someone else's body?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to David), "We can get the axe with the axe, but we have to get the axe first before we can get it." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "of course." | ||||
| inky says, "we are the test subject in the experiment of 2010, just like Ian was the test subject in the experiment of 1978" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So get the axe from the future after the box is broken, and break the box with the axe, yes?" | ||||
| inky says, "hey, I heard you liked axes, so I put an axe in your axe" | ||||
| Wastrel says, "There's no axe like a paradox axe" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Boiler Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light to this room. A maze of large pipes runs along the Floyd | ceiling. Most of said pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in Floyd | front of you, easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real Floyd | estate. A door to the north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | A metal box with a glass surface is mounted on the wall, a fire axe Floyd | tantalizingly close. Floyd | | inky says, "there is probably a scrap of paper in the room somewhere" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x cage" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a metal cage surrounding the single lightbulb, providing eerie Floyd | shadows to the light it casts. It appears to be screwed into the Floyd | ceiling. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "So, if we're the test subject of the future that goes mad, is the solution that we need to take ... uh, Sandepam?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x boiler" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a large metal boiler. A gentle hiss comes from it, so you Floyd | assume that it's still functional. You don't see any visible Floyd | controls, but even if you did you don't think you'd know what to do Floyd | with them. Floyd | Floyd | You note a white piece of paper lying behind the boiler. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the piece of unlined paper) Floyd | You pick up the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the piece of unlined paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(your notes) Floyd | The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 4/20/78 Floyd | I knew it! I was right about him! Floyd | Ian is consistently testing better than any other subject we've put Floyd | through the paces. His score with the Zener cards is consistently over Floyd | 50% and he's shown some promise with psychometry. Dr. Atwater says Floyd | that it's all within the limits of random chance, of course. That man Floyd | would, presented with a UFO, write it off as a trendy new model of Floyd | Chevette. Floyd | We still have some testing to do to determine Ian's psychological Floyd | resilience and mental strength. There is some concern about his Floyd | chronic nightmares and emotional difficulties, but I honestly think Floyd | that one comes from the other. It's not uncommon for psychics to have Floyd | problems like these. Floyd | If everything checks out, it should be about a week before he's Floyd | introduced to the symbiont. I have a lot of faith, but it still makes Floyd | me nervous. No one's survived it. If I don't trust my instincts, I Floyd | have no reason to believe that Ian will be an exception. Floyd | Nothing to do but wait and see. Floyd | EGB Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Symbiont, eh?" | |||
| DavidW says, "Sounds dangerous." | ||||
| inky says, "I'm sure nothing could possibly go wrong" | ||||
| DavidW says, "(esp. the 'no one's survived it' part)" | ||||
| inky says, "also, EGB is the aforementioned Elaine Buchanan, who is the psychic assistant to dr theo" | ||||
| inky says, "and of course Zener cards are the things you were experimenting with at the start of the game" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't have a key for the autopsy room door. Floyd | | inky says, "hmm, that is a slightly confusing message, since what we actually need is a code for the keypad" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You shove the bent door experimentally. It does not even budge. Floyd | Even with tools, it would take hours to get through this door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | A piece of unlined paper lies face-down on the elevator floor. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | inky says, "into the elevator!" | |||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | inky says, "hmm" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the piece of unlined paper) Floyd | A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself on the far wall, your ears fill with a strident, sharp Floyd | ringing, and grayness clouds your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see a pudgy man with thinning brown hair Floyd | lying on the floor. His open eyes stare lifelessly into nowhere, and Floyd | his lips are twisted in a half-smile. There's no nametag on his white Floyd | lab coat. A small trickle of dark red blood runs from his ear to the Floyd | floor. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears and the ringing fades. The corpse is gone. Floyd | Floyd | You pick up the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the piece of unlined paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Does that 'key switch' unlock axe boxes?" | |||
| inky says, "another corpse, so there's a way to trigger another flash here" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "you are big on that axe" | ||||
| inky says, "I guess it is just common sense to want an axe when you're in a horror movie" | ||||
| DavidW says, "well duh" | ||||
| DavidW says, "All we can do is c at monsters." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 3/20/77 Floyd | This diary has seen a lot of angry words from me and a lot of them Floyd | have been related to my being declared an "inadequate" test subject Floyd | for Corona. I have the ability. I have the will. I've never been able Floyd | to understand what they meant when the Corona techs said I had an Floyd | "inadequate psychological profile" to be a carrier for the Project's Floyd | symbiont. Floyd | Since being hired, though, I'm starting to see an ugly truth: My Floyd | inadequacy may have saved my life. Floyd | This thing is killing people. It hasn't even been a year since I was Floyd | placed as Dr. Atwater's assistant and we've seen twelve deaths. Floyd | Twelve. Floyd | Presumably all of these people had stronger minds than me, if they Floyd | were taken into the program. But days after they're declared suitable Floyd | and given the symbiont, they end up tagged, bagged and shelved. Would Floyd | that have happened to me? Floyd | No, I'm better off where I am. And I have to have faith. I believe in Floyd | the researchers behind the symbiont, believe in Mr. Schuyler because Floyd | he believes in us. Believes that I'm the only person who can find him. Floyd | I'll find the one soon. Floyd | EGB Floyd | | DavidW says, "Much earlier entry, that." | |||
| DavidW says, "Pre-Ian, I assume." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This is pretty awesome, and I'm surprised it didn't do better than it did in the comp. I wonder if it's because people struggled with concentration." | ||||
| Ellison says, "third place is second loser!" | ||||
| maga says (to Jacq), "partly that; I only got one flashback" | ||||
| maga says, "I didn't like it much, mostly because I spent all my time giggling at the squick" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of maga), "And just WHAT is wrong with THAT?" | ||||
| maga says, "and other people just can't stand splatterpunk" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Psh. People." | ||||
| Ellison says, "(jk, of course) yeah, I think I struggled enough that I didn't even think to look for these cool vision things" | ||||
| inky says, "it's pretty long, too" | ||||
| inky says, "I assume some people mark games down if they can't finish them" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push alarm" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the alarm button, and a strident bell rings out, filling the Floyd | elevator with a painful level of sound. You stagger under the impact Floyd | of the noise, first grabbing for the wall and then for the railing. Floyd | Floyd | As your outer eyes close, your inner eye opens. Dimly, you feel your Floyd | grip slacken, and the railing falls away. Your shoulder and back hit Floyd | the elevator floor, but you're not there any more. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You reorient slowly. You're still in an elevator, but you recognize Floyd | this place - it's the elevator at Corona Labs. You and Dr. Ephart Floyd | rode this elevator she escorted you into the building on your first Floyd | day. Floyd | Floyd | Strange thoughts tick past, rattling sharply like stone striking Floyd | stone. Grasping for inner purchase, you come up with a name: Floyd | Floyd | Tobias Ensfield. I am Dr. Tobias Ensfield. Floyd | Floyd | And with the name comes identity: Floyd | Floyd | Graduate of Warren Alpert Medical School. Protegee of Edward Floyd | Dartmouth. Ex-employee of Dartmouth Industries. Life Master in the Floyd | United States Chess Federation. Rayjay Farley's mentor and master. Floyd | Microbiologist, Corona Labs. Floyd | Floyd | And with identity comes anger, and with anger comes sharp and Floyd | immediate fear, but the full scope of Tobias Ensfield's consciousness Floyd | is too overwhelming to process. The foreign thoughts tick swiftly Floyd | past and away as you reorient on the outside world. Ensfield's mind Floyd | adds sharp edges to everything. Your surroundings: Floyd | Floyd | Elevator (on the electric scooter) Floyd | The elevator is so familiar as to be beneath notice, with pale walls, Floyd | a thin metal railing, and carpeted floors. The indicator panel shows Floyd | a lighted number 3, fiercely at odds with both the glowing ground Floyd | floor button and your personal desires. Floyd | | maga says (to inky), "really? I've never seen any reviewer say as much" | |||
| inky says, "I do, at least" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| inky says, "though usually games I can't finish are deficient in other ways" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I definitely rate games lower if I think they are too long. I detracted some points against that zombie game for that." | ||||
| maga says, "I sort of figure that if a game maintains my interest for two hours, that's a pretty good sign" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ground button again, praying for the elevator to hurry Floyd | up. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator is moving too damned slowly. Anyone else would have used Floyd | the stairs. Unfortunately, that isn't an option, as your traitor legs Floyd | would surely have given out beneath you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ground button again, praying for the elevator to hurry Floyd | up. Floyd | Floyd | Is Rayjay all right? The last you knew, he was on the fourth floor. Floyd | He surely isn't ready to deal with whatever hell has broken loose at Floyd | Corona. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ground button again, praying for the elevator to hurry Floyd | up. Floyd | Floyd | The image of Camille deVries flashes through your mind - her empty Floyd | eyesocket staring blindly at you, her smashed skull half-fused with Floyd | the mirror, her stricken body dangling from that point of contact. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ground button again, praying for the elevator to hurry Floyd | up. Floyd | Floyd | You remember Elizabeth saying she was going down for a coffee. She Floyd | always takes the stairs - will she be downstairs, or upstairs? The Floyd | chivalrous man in you wants her to be downstairs, far away, but the Floyd | coward wants her to be upstairs. There's a weird core of strength in Floyd | the girl, and maybe she can take care of herself better than anyone Floyd | else. If so, maybe she'll take care of Rayjay. Floyd | Floyd | The floor indicator changes slowly from 3 to 2. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ground button again, praying for the elevator to hurry Floyd | up. Floyd | Floyd | Your cell phone suddenly rings. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "answer phone" | ||||
Floyd | >You hit the ANSWER button. Nothing happens. Floyd | Floyd | Your cell phone rings again. It might be Rayjay. Floyd | | inky says, "oh, forgot to check inventory" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are wearing your lab coat, which has your cell phone in one Floyd | pocket but not (you discover now) your Palm Pilot. In light of the Floyd | carnage upstairs, you're not too concerned. The white lab coat also Floyd | contains a security badge. You also have your wallet and the key to Floyd | your van. And, of course, the scooter. Floyd | Floyd | Your cell phone rings again. The sound seems terribly loud in this Floyd | confined space. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x wallet" | ||||
Floyd | >Your wallet is made of real leather, but of inexpensive design. You Floyd | recently cleaned out all of the extra junk in it, so it only contains Floyd | the bare essentials... all of which are utterly useless right now. Floyd | Floyd | The cell phone's ring fills the car again, painfully loud, and you Floyd | realize that it's not just the confined space. The sound is Floyd | increasing in volume. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x scooter" | ||||
Floyd | >You call it a scooter to keep from calling it a wheelchair, but you Floyd | never really forget that it's a wheelchair. It's four-wheeled, Floyd | candy-red, and equipped with a neat little joystick to trigger the Floyd | motor. It isn't that you can't walk - you can - but the shaking gets Floyd | too bad, and if you fall down in the middle of the lab, where will you Floyd | be then? Floyd | Floyd | Not that you can do much in the lab except point and instruct. That's Floyd | why you need Rayjay - his steady hands are your hands now, and his Floyd | confidence in you keeps you centered. Floyd | Floyd | The cell phone rings again, as loud as a child screaming. Why is the Floyd | elevator so slow? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smash phone" | ||||
Floyd | >You tighten your trembling hand around the phone and then smash the Floyd | phone into the wall. It's a brand new Nokia - surely there are Floyd | delicate electronics in here. Surely even you can break it. You hit Floyd | the wall with the phone again. Floyd | Floyd | The cell phone rings, and the sound transfixes your flesh to vibrate Floyd | your very bones and your spine. Redness flashes before your eyes as Floyd | the sound fills your head. The elevator is so very slow. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | >You tighten your trembling hand around the phone and then smash the Floyd | phone into the wall. It's a brand new Nokia - surely there are Floyd | delicate electronics in here. Surely even you can break it. You hit Floyd | the wall with the phone again. Floyd | Floyd | The phone rings again, and scarlet spirals through your vision as Floyd | agony rips through your ears, your skull, your brain. The sound is Floyd | too much for you to endure. Floyd | Floyd | He's going to die. You can feel his death coming. Floyd | Floyd | Why won't the elevator stop? The number 2 glows, the elevator hums, Floyd | but surely you should be at the ground floor by now. Floyd | Floyd | >You tighten your trembling hand around the phone and then smash the Floyd | phone into the wall. It's a brand new Nokia - surely there are Floyd | delicate electronics in here. Surely even you can break it. You hit Floyd | the wall with the phone again. Floyd | Floyd | The phone rings, and it is louder than anything you have ever heard. Floyd | You can't see anything but red, and your involuntary scream of pain is Floyd | lost in the terrible ringing. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. It's not your death. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears as the floor indicator flashes to 1. Floyd | | inky says, "I think some of these lines are highlighted to make it clear who is thinking what" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The phone rings again. Your entire body twitches, as if the sound Floyd | were an electric shock, and the familiar, well-hated tremors run Floyd | through your hands and over your face, making you twitch like a Floyd | seizure patient. Floyd | Floyd | It's not you. You're not the one dying. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator stops. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "scream" | ||||
Floyd | >No. No one would hear you through the elevator walls. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Floyd | Floyd | The phone rings again. The klaxon sound overwhelms Tobias Ensfield's Floyd | trained, calculating brain and disrupts delicate balances in his head. Floyd | A fine trickle of blood seeps from one of his ears, strangely Floyd | ticklish, strangely painless. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push space" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >You're out of time. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator doors slide open. Beyond the doors, the ground floor Floyd | hallway is a half-obscured hell of crackling electricity. Amid the Floyd | leaping sparks are bodies every bit as hideous as Camille deVries's. Floyd | Floyd | Tobias Ensfield gives up. He relaxes into the agony of the phone's Floyd | next strident ring, and an odd sense of relief overcomes him as he Floyd | dies. Floyd | Floyd | And then the noise is blessedly gone. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | This can still be changed Floyd | Floyd | You are sure of it. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You're lying on the elevator floor. You slowly get to your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | Ellison says, "if I were writing a game like this, I think it'd stress me out just to name this many characters" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | inky says, "ok, and I gotta split, unfortunately -- if there's time next week maybe I'll show off a few more things about the game endings" | |||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Ellison says, "aw. I have to say that I was hoping inky would come today and show us some of the things he loved about the game, and I have to say, he's done a splendid job so far." | |||
| Ellison asks, "is anyone else interested in driving or should we postpone the rest until next week when inky is back?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I haven't played past this point but I'm also getting a headache." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push key switch" | ||||
Floyd | >The fire key switch isn't a button, it's a slot for a fire key. Floyd | Pushing it doesn't do anything. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "I've lost track where we are. Did we merely enter the elevator? Are we still at basement level?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | >The control panel is heavily scuffed at gurney-height, and the button Floyd | for the 2nd floor appears to have been replaced at least once. The Floyd | buttons are marked B through 4. There is also an extended button Floyd | marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire", which is scarred with Floyd | key marks. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Do we really trust the elevator to get us back to the 3rd floor?" | |||
| Ellison says, "we pushed a buttons, but between the visions and all, I couldn't tell if we were actually going anywhere" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button 1" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the ground floor button, the basement button, the Floyd | second floor button, the third floor button, the fourth floor button Floyd | or the alarm button? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push ground floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The ground floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The ground floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look east" | ||||
Floyd | >You see nothing unexpected in that direction. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the dim hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x menu" | ||||
Floyd | >In looping calligraphy, someone has written out a rather unappetizing Floyd | menu. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The handwritten menu reads: Floyd | Floyd | TONIGHT'S DINNER Floyd | Floyd | Chicken cordon bleu Floyd | ~~o~~ Floyd | Mashed potatoes Floyd | ~~o~~ Floyd | Carrots and peas Floyd | ~~o~~ Floyd | Pears or sherbert Floyd | Floyd | | DavidW says, "I suppose, if we leave the building, we lose." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into the kitchen, and below it, a set of metal rails is Floyd | mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x machine" | ||||
Floyd | >A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself against a table, a feverish heat rises in your cheeks, and Floyd | grayness clouds your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see a tall black woman contorted into a Floyd | protective fetal position. Although her arms are shielding her face, Floyd | you recognize the beaded braids and lab smock of "Best" Ife, one of Floyd | the techs from your Corona Labs. Her skin is horribly blistered, and Floyd | it hangs loosely on her slim-boned body. In places, the flesh has Floyd | split to reveal the cooked muscle below. Floyd | Floyd | The fever fades, and your vision clears. Mercifully, the corpse is Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | It's an old-style snack vending machine. A small window near the top Floyd | displays a few snacks, doomed to forever be display products only. Floyd | The rest of the machine's surface displays an abstract design Floyd | featuring several loops and a drawing of a building. The design Floyd | seems familiar to you. Bizarrely, the vending machine lacks a keypad Floyd | and any means of inserting money; you have no idea how anyone is Floyd | supposed to get snacks out of it. A plastic flap conceals the lower Floyd | compartment where the snacks are supposed to come out. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open flap" | ||||
Floyd | >You push open the plastic flap. Inside the compartment of the vending Floyd | machine, you see: the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the piece of unlined paper) Floyd | You pick up the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the piece of unlined paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 5/3/78 Floyd | Ian is suffering a lot, and he says that his headaches are worse than Floyd | ever. I knew that this would be a part of it, but things are going to Floyd | be difficult for all of us until his mind adjusts to the symbiont. I'm Floyd | confident that it will. Floyd | In the meantime, it's a bit difficult not to be a bit unsettled by Floyd | the intensity of his nightmares. I don't think I would even know about Floyd | them if it weren't a set part of our counseling sessions. He's very Floyd | reluctant to talk about them, and refused to do so until I reminded Floyd | him that failing to do so might hamper testing. Floyd | There's a common theme to his nighttime ordeals. Imagery involving Floyd | teeth, internal organs, and being trapped in a moist, wet space are Floyd | showing up over and over again. I've got to assume that Ian is Floyd | obsessed with being eaten. Floyd | I can't help but wonder if he witnessed something awful when he was Floyd | little, but he gets very upset when questioned about the possible Floyd | source of the nightmares. Maybe I'll ask again once his mind has Floyd | recovered a bit. Floyd | Nervous but hopeful! Floyd | EGB Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the snack vending machine, but you don't Floyd | sense anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into the kitchen, and below it, a set of metal rails is Floyd | mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rails" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a set of rails that you put cafeteria trays on while you're Floyd | getting your food. Strangely, there are no such trays in sight. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tables" | ||||
Floyd | >Plain particle board tables with a wood veneer surface. Clearly a Floyd | permanent fixture here, they look pretty heavy. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't go that way. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gap" | ||||
Floyd | >You look through the gap into the kitchen, only to find that the Floyd | kitchen is not there. Where the floor of the room through the gap Floyd | should be, some kind of room-sized fleshy tube leads down to Floyd | God-knows-where. Some kind of strange smell emanates through the gap. Floyd | You find yourself somewhat grateful that there is no visible way to Floyd | get there. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell gap" | ||||
Floyd | >The vague, overly sweet stench of rotten food vaguely reaches your Floyd | nostrils. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Giant esophagus, I guess." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on rails" | ||||
Floyd | >That's not something you can sit down on. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying a Corona Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You turn your back on the distant lobby windows and walk north along Floyd | the dim hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | It's very dark here, but enough light from the south stretches up the Floyd | hall to help you find your way. Underfoot, the texture of the tile Floyd | floor seems less stable and more mushy than it used to be. The air is Floyd | thick with a dank, somehow metallic odor. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" | Jacqueline says, "IRTA 'giant esplodagus'" | |||
Floyd | >Your questing fingers come across a sheet of partially damp paper Floyd | clinging to the floor. You peel it off and pick it up. Floyd | Floyd | You add the piece of unlined paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >It's too dark to read anything here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >More quickly than you might have expected, you reach the well-lit Floyd | square by the cafeteria and the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 5/12/78 Floyd | There will never be anything I can do to make up for the sins I have Floyd | committed. Blinding myself to the danger of this experimentation, as Floyd | tied to it as I was, is a pure product of my own ambition and Floyd | bitterness at having been rejected. I should have known long ago. Floyd | Now it is only because of that connection that I am alive and Floyd | everyone else is dead. Floyd | I know where he is and where his nightmares are. I can stay alive Floyd | while I find out what I need to do to beat him. Floyd | No matter what else happens, I have to try. Even if it kills me. I Floyd | helped birth this monster in an innocent young man. Now I must kill it Floyd | or die trying. Floyd | It's all up to me now. Floyd | EGB Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You walk south down the hall toward the distant lobby. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Above, the lights are shattered, leaving this part of the hallway Floyd | dark, and shards of glass crunch softly underfoot. To the south, the Floyd | lobby windows shine like a will-o-the-wisp. To the north, harsh Floyd | fluorescent lights still illuminate the hall near the elevator. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass" | ||||
Floyd | >You crouch to feel across the darkened floor. Your fingers encounter Floyd | curved shards and prickling splinters before encountering something of Floyd | a different texture - papery and flat. You pick up the piece of Floyd | paper, brushing off the fragments. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of ruled paper to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >More quickly than you might have expected, you reach the well-lit Floyd | square by the cafeteria and the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of ruled paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Raymond Pearce, M.D. Floyd | Assistant Director, Mt. Airy Hospital Floyd | May 8th, 1978 Floyd | Floyd | Well! Floyd | Dr. Yehuda has come to requisition supplies as he said he might, Floyd | but I daresay I expected the man to be more composed when he did so. Floyd | He was wild-eyed when he came to my office, with the air of a Floyd | fugitive who had just escaped a pursuer. It was therefore somewhat Floyd | less of a surprise when he asked that I not report the requisition to Floyd | Mr. Cross. Much as I would have liked to use the information as a Floyd | bargaining chip, I am inclined to be more lenient to Dr. Yehuda as Floyd | opposed to Cross, not to mention the fact that any requisition at all Floyd | would give me information that I didn't have before. Floyd | Though suspicious, I therefore consented. Floyd | Dr. Yehuda asked for a dose of liquid tyramine for synthesis, as Floyd | well as a drug that contained diazepam, benzodiazepenes, and beta Floyd | blockers. Concerning the tyramine, I knew that the hospital had only Floyd | one supply of the stuff suitable for the lab, and that went by the Floyd | brand name Vanemine. We also had a cocktail matching the doctor's Floyd | second request, which sold under the brand name Sandepam. I assured Floyd | him that both would be made available to him. Floyd | As soon as I was clear of the Doctor, I began researching his Floyd | choices, starting with the most specific and targeted. Given its Floyd | specific chemical cocktail, Sandepam is primarily kept as a treatment Floyd | for a potentially fatal adrenergic storm. While there are a lot of Floyd | causes of such a condition, an overdose of tyramine is one. I can Floyd | assume, then, that the relationship between the drugs is causal. So Floyd | why would he need tyramine in the first place? I have trouble Floyd | believing that Corona has hired out an annex to research some kind of Floyd | advanced "cheese effect." Floyd | Given the secretive and dangerous air about the project combined Floyd | with a need for high levels of a potentially life-threatening Floyd | norepinephrine, I can only assume that they are playing with Floyd | McMoneagle's brain. Are they trying to create a supersoldier? An Floyd | advanced neurotoxin? Floyd | This is too dangerous. I've got to get to the bottom of it, even if Floyd | it puts my position in danger. Floyd | | Ellison says, "heh 'giant esplodagus'" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Back into the elevator? Try floor 2?" | ||||
| djfletch asks, "what does "cheese effect" mean?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to djfletch), "Darned if I know." | ||||
| djfletch says, "weird" | ||||
| Ellison goes back to Squeamhurst.. | ||||
| Ellison has disconnected. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push second floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The second floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The second floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | Floyd | The scene that greets you as the elevator doors slide open is one Floyd | extracted directly from nightmare. Rather than a hallway, the area Floyd | ahead of you appears to be some kind of cave made of flesh, lined with Floyd | fanged jaws and pulsating sphincters. Hideous, amorphous creatures Floyd | spawn within seconds, only to be devoured messily seconds later. The Floyd | air is thick with the smell of feces, bile and death. A rusty iron Floyd | portcullis directly behind the doors, glistening with blood, does Floyd | little to hide the horrors but mercifully separates you from stepping Floyd | into the hall... and keeps the things there from getting to you. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Shame. I was looking for the pharmacology dept. My mistake." | |||
| djfletch says, "heh" | ||||
| Ellison arrives, ready to play with the toys. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push fourth floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The fourth floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The fourth floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into unfamiliar terrain. Floyd | Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | DavidW says, "I'm guessing the lounge might be useful." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the wooden door. Floyd | Floyd | Staff Lounge, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This windowless room smells of cigarette smoke and less savory things, Floyd | but it's comfortingly normal - no corpses, no blood, no mystery teeth, Floyd | and no other signs of the cataclysm experienced by the rest of the Floyd | building. Signs and memos litter the bulletin board and the surface Floyd | of the refrigerator. Utilitarian black chairs cluster around a small Floyd | round table, and, at the far end of the lounge, a pale blue couch Floyd | sprawls in front of the silent television sitting on a back counter. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless wooden door to the north leads out of the staff lounge. Floyd | | Ellison says, "a lounge is the best place to flashback to the 70s" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x signs" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bulletin board" | ||||
Floyd | >A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself in the doorway, static fills your ears, and grayness clouds Floyd | your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see a dark-haired man lying on the floor in Floyd | an unnaturally twisted position. You recognize him as Rayjay Farley, Floyd | a tech of some kind from your Corona Labs. Below the neck, his skin Floyd | is completely raw, as if it had been sunburned badly and then sanded Floyd | off. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears and the static fades. The corpse is gone. Floyd | Floyd | It's a normal bulletin board made of dark cork. Floyd | Floyd | On the cork bulletin board are an assortment of plastic-headed push Floyd | pins, a bake sale advertisement, a neatly written memo and a newspaper Floyd | clipping. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), " x push pins" | ||||
Floyd | >Several push pins stud the dark surface of the cork bulletin board. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ad" | ||||
Floyd | >This is an elegantly designed (yet still visibly amateur) bake sale Floyd | ad. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The bake sale advertisement reads: Bake sale Wed. 5/17 to Fri. 5/19 Floyd | to benefit the American Cancer Society. Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, Floyd | we want it all! Contact Sandra C. to donate. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x memo" | ||||
Floyd | >The handwriting is neat and precise. The numbering is so careful Floyd | that you could mistake it for computer printing, save that it's some Floyd | twenty years too early. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The neatly written memo reads: Please don't forget - the autopsy room Floyd | access code has changed -> 5 7 1 3 9 Floyd | | Ellison says, "yay" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x clipping" | ||||
Floyd | >The garishly large headline of the story is clipped from another Floyd | source - the front page, perhaps - and stapled to the top of the Floyd | article. The article starts, "HUMAN CLONING IS HERE! David Rorvik, Floyd | author of bestselling book Your Baby's Sex: Now You Can Choose, has Floyd | written a new book talking about his secret cloning lab in South Floyd | Africa!" Across the bottom of the article, someone has written Floyd | "B.S.!" with a wide black marker. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >(the massive refrigerator) Floyd | The tall refrigerator has just one door - there's no freezer Floyd | compartment. Floyd | Floyd | On the massive refrigerator are a handful of colorful magnets and a Floyd | fridge warning note. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x warning note" | ||||
Floyd | >This note is written in heavy black marker. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The fridge warning note reads: FRIDGE CLEANING NEXT TUESDAY. Label Floyd | your things if you don't want them thrown out! Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x magnets" | ||||
Floyd | >A number of thin magnets are stuck to the surface of the fridge, Floyd | every one of them some kind of advertisement. Many are ads for Floyd | pharmaceuticals, but a few are for local restaurants. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read magnets" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing written on the handful of colorful magnets. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >(the massive refrigerator) Floyd | You're not sure what you expected to find in the fridge, but even at Floyd | your most pessimistic you wouldn't have guessed this. Opening the Floyd | fridge reveals a full set of working internal organs, filling the Floyd | fridge completely from wall to wall. You watch the lungs inflate and Floyd | deflate rhythmically next to a distended yellowish heart, only a short Floyd | distance from a gurgling stomach and pulsating intestines. The organs Floyd | all churn with life, though each one looks discolored and bloated. An Floyd | indescribable organic stink wafts from the organs. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x heart" | ||||
Floyd | >Pulsating, yellowish, disgusting, smelly organs pack the inside of Floyd | the refrigerator. The layout seems to be similar to that of a human, Floyd | but much larger and bloated beyond belief. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stomach" | ||||
Floyd | >Pulsating, yellowish, disgusting, smelly organs pack the inside of Floyd | the refrigerator. The layout seems to be similar to that of a human, Floyd | but much larger and bloated beyond belief. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search organs" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >(the massive refrigerator) Floyd | You shut the refrigerator door, blocking out the hideous sight within. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x couch" | ||||
Floyd | >This couch has definitely seen better days. A rip on the side mars Floyd | the upholstery, and the cushions are lumpy and malformed. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cushions" | ||||
Floyd | >These cushions are worn-down from years of being sat on, and the Floyd | stuffing has gotten malformed, giving them a lumpy feel. They seem to Floyd | be sewn directly to the couch's upholstery. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Staff Lounge, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This windowless room smells of cigarette smoke and less savory things. Floyd | Signs and memos litter the bulletin board and the surface of the Floyd | refrigerator. Utilitarian black chairs cluster around a small round Floyd | table, and, at the far end of the lounge, a pale blue couch sprawls in Floyd | front of the silent television sitting on a back counter. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless wooden door to the north leads out of the staff lounge. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" | ||||
Floyd | >A cheap-looking but inoffensive coffee table, probably of Swedish Floyd | design. Floyd | Floyd | On the small round table are a dirty ashtray and a small piece of Floyd | unlined paper. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take unlined paper" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the small piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small piece of unlined paper to your existing collection Floyd | of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 4/17/78 Floyd | Floyd | I know it's totally unprofessional, but I can't help but think that Floyd | the patient in room 320 is really interesting. Floyd | I don't know much about him. He's in an annex that's being used by an Floyd | outside corporation for a secret project or something. I'm not even Floyd | really supposed to talk to him, but ... Floyd | Well, he looks so sad. He hasn't gone home in a week and a half and Floyd | he'll be here for even longer than that, and he's got to be really Floyd | lonely. They can't expect me to come through the room and give him Floyd | food and change his linens and keep my mouth clamped shut the whole Floyd | time. That's not fair to him and it's not fair to me either. Floyd | More than food and linens and medication, what a patient like that Floyd | needs right now is a friendly face and light conversation if he Floyd | happens to be up late. That's not a crime, is it? Floyd | And I've gotta admit ... he's kind of cute. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ashtray" | ||||
Floyd | >It's just a dirty ashtray. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tv" | ||||
Floyd | >The television sits dark and silent. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn it on" | ||||
Floyd | >The television turns on with a click. The meaningless roar of static Floyd | fills the room as tiny black and white dots flit over the screen. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "change channel" | ||||
Floyd | >["change channel" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn tv off" | ||||
Floyd | >The static seething over the television screen shrinks to a tiny dot Floyd | and disappears. Silence fills the room again. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search couch" | ||||
Floyd | >You search among the cushions, but surprisingly enough, you don't Floyd | find any spare change. However, there is something small, hard, and Floyd | squarish in the couch rip. Easing it out, you discover that it is a Floyd | typewriter key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x key" | ||||
Floyd | >A small black key with a white letter I. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | >You already have that. Floyd | | DavidW says, "odd" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Check the washroom next?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x water" | ||||
Floyd | >Water trickles from under the bathroom door in a slow stream, moving Floyd | to the seam between the floor and wall and running down the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the gray door. Floyd | Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You step in a thin layer of water that covers the floor immediately Floyd | upon entering the bathroom. While the single toilet here appears to Floyd | be whole and undamaged, it is filled nearly to the brim with some kind Floyd | of thick, reddish-brown substance that you cannot immediately Floyd | identify. The sink's faucet is on, and the sink is filled to the brim Floyd | with water, which is overflowing continuously onto the floor. An Floyd | undamaged mirror sits above the sink. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to the south leads out of the bathroom. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off faucet" | ||||
Floyd | >You turn off the faucet and water ceases to flow from it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mirror" | ||||
Floyd | >There is something profoundly disturbing about seeing your own Floyd | likeness in these environs, as though it somehow legitimizes the Floyd | nightmare you're slogging through. You quickly look away. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x toilet" | ||||
Floyd | >The toilet is filled with some sort of disgusting reddish-brown gunk. Floyd | It stinks of rotting meat, though not as badly as the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x water" | ||||
Floyd | >(the thin layer of water) Floyd | Spilled water sits perhaps an inch deep on the floor, making your Floyd | footing treacherous. There doesn't seem to be anywhere for it to Floyd | drain away. Floyd | | ||||
| olethros arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gunk" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clogged toilet) Floyd | The toilet is filled with some sort of disgusting reddish-brown gunk. Floyd | It stinks of rotting meat, though not as badly as the hallway. Floyd | | olethros says, "oh my, what a scene to come on in to" | |||
| DavidW says, "I have to visit another room for a few minutes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "We could always take a short break." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "If by 'another room' you mean the room that you are reminded of when reading a description of a toilet filled with disgusting reddish-brown gunk." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am not sure if this prolonged silence means that we are taking that break right now, or what." | ||||
| (from olethros) tumbleweeds rustle by. | ||||
| olethros says, "or maybe tumble by" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I had a tumbleweed once." | ||||
| olethros asks, "so, what were you playing?" | ||||
| olethros asks, "where did you keep it?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I tacked it to my wall." | ||||
| olethros asks, "was it very small?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It didn't tumble so well after that, but it was a great conversation starter." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It was about the size of a small beach ball, I guess." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "A friend from college was going to Oklahoma to visit family and asked if I wanted her to bring me anything. I jokingly told her I would like a tumbleweed. She evidently didn't realize I was joking." | ||||
| olethros says, "beach balls are huuuge, by law" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, fine. One and a half to two times larger than the diameter of a basketball." | ||||
| DavidW says, "back. I had to have a BM." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Was it reddish-brown?" | ||||
| olethros says, "slightly disappointed that the tumbleweed didn't just tumble in" | ||||
| olethros asks, "bic mac?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "and in muliple disjointed parts." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Sigh. I hate talking about my toilet activities for a transcript." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I was trying to be vague on purpose." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "ha" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, okay, let's talk about the toilet in the game instead." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x gunk" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clogged toilet) Floyd | The toilet is filled with some sort of disgusting reddish-brown gunk. Floyd | It stinks of rotting meat, though not as badly as the hallway. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Sadly, I am not in a driving mood today." | |||
| DavidW says, "yeah. I'm fortunate that comparatively, my bowel emissions will be one of the least disgusting things in the t-script." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to DW), "heehee" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You begin to walk east, and have not walked ten paces before the Floyd | darkness engulfs you completely. You are unable to see so much as your Floyd | hand in front of your face, and the vomitous smell increases in Floyd | intensity. Floyd | Floyd | Engulfed in Darkness Floyd | It's dark here, and the darkness reeks. You can barely perceive the Floyd | dim light of a dying fluorescent bulb back to the west, where you came Floyd | from, but there is only darkness moving forward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x floor" | ||||
Floyd | >You briefly crouch down and touch the floor. Its texture is Floyd | unpleasantly slick. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell" | ||||
Floyd | >The air smells horrible, like a stew of fresh vomit. You're trying Floyd | not to dwell on it too much. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to maga), "You are right. This game is made of awesome." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Your steps become more cautious out of instinct and you place your Floyd | hand in front of you, feeling for a wall or obstacle. It is only as Floyd | you slow down that you notice the floor giving a bit beneath your Floyd | feet, as though you are walking on a gym mat or soil after a rain. Floyd | You pause and consider turning back, and are only moments too late. Floyd | Floyd | The walls and floor, rubbery and sticky, constrict together with no Floyd | warning and pull you down into an unseen tunnel. You can feel ropy, Floyd | pulsing movement as you are pulled down further and further. After Floyd | what seems like an eternity of being pulled through a hot, suffocating Floyd | nightmare, the walls shove you into some kind of burning liquid. Floyd | Floyd | The liquid stings every surface of your skin. The pain is unbearable. Floyd | You black out.... Floyd | Floyd | | maga says (to Jacq), "you still haven't reached the best bit" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | > Engulfed in Darkness Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You rapidly return to stand beneath the single dying light. Floyd | Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push basement" | ||||
Floyd | >The basement button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The basement button Floyd | stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the grimy basement Floyd | hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "type 57139" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing to type on here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "type 57139 on keypad" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing to type on here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x keypad" | ||||
Floyd | >The ten white keys on the keypad are numbered in black from 0 to 9. Floyd | There are also two lights, both unlit at this time. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 5" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 5 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 7" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 7 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >(the 1 key) Floyd | You push the 1 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 3" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 3 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 9" | ||||
Floyd | >A green light flashes on the keypad, and the door unlocks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), ";" | ||||
Floyd | >[";" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | Floyd | The green light on the keypad winks out. Floyd | There's a click from the door as the lock reengages. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "sorry, which WAY is the door?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You shove the bent door experimentally. It does not even budge. Floyd | Even with tools, it would take hours to get through this door. Floyd | Floyd | The green light on the keypad winks out. Floyd | There's a click from the door as the lock reengages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the autopsy room door. Floyd | Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of typewriter paper lies on the floor very near the hallway Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sheet of typewriter paper) Floyd | You pick up the sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of typewriter paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, April 15, 11:00 am Floyd | I suppose someone must have listened to Elaine's assertion that Floyd | this test subject was different from the rest, since we've just gained Floyd | a new member of the team. Floyd | This was not a pleasant cup of chicory to down first thing in the Floyd | morning. Don't get me wrong -- I would love, more than anything, to Floyd | welcome Simon Cross to our ranks, and G-d knows that we could stand to Floyd | gain another team member. Of all of the positions we had open prior to Floyd | today, however, I'm not sure I ever would have counted "Company Spook" Floyd | among them. Floyd | Perhaps I am being unfair, but it is my opinion that hypnotizing Floyd | yourself into believing that a knife is a rolling pin will not prevent Floyd | you from needing stitches after trying to make bread dough. Cross's Floyd | official title is "auditor." He claims that he is here to oversee Floyd | Corona's professional interests in the Project, and I don't doubt him Floyd | one bit. Cross oozes "professional interests." He brushes his teeth Floyd | with it, or he wouldn't be able to give me that sharkish grin. Floyd | Still, we are bedfellows now. There's nothing to do but see to it Floyd | that he is comfortable ... and bored. Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | Floyd | The hallway door swings closed. There's a click as the lock Floyd | reengages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >Until very recently, this body belonged to a precisely-handsome man Floyd | in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a finely-pressed and Floyd | very expensive suit. Now both the suit and body have been peeled Floyd | open, exposing everything within. The flaps of skin that once held Floyd | the corpse's organs in place are stretched in four directions, one for Floyd | each flap. Surgical thread embedded in the ceiling with heavy needles Floyd | stretches the skin upward, giving a coliseum view to the gore within. Floyd | The man's vivisected torso is littered with dozens of surgical Floyd | instruments - scalpels, forceps, hypodermic needles - each one driven Floyd | in with such force as to be stuck in place. Some are barely visible. Floyd | Only a surgical bonesaw, currently half-bisecting the man's neck, Floyd | looks extricable. The man's face is distorted in a silent scream, Floyd | and, upon closer inspection, you can just see something stuck inside Floyd | his mouth. Floyd | Floyd | The corpse's right hand is curled desperately around a small black Floyd | pistol, the kind you're used to seeing in spy films. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pistol" | Jacqueline asks, "Can we take it?" | |||
Floyd | >A small, sleek black pistol with a short barrel. It reminds you of Floyd | the Walther PPK from 60s spy movies. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pistol" | ||||
Floyd | >The corpse's hand maintains a death-grip on the pistol, rendered Floyd | unbreakable by rigor mortis. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x mouth" | ||||
Floyd | >You peer into the mouth of the corpse. Floyd | Floyd | In the corpse's mouth is a wad of crumpled paper. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take crumpled" | ||||
Floyd | >(the wad of crumpled paper) Floyd | You gingerly reach inside the corpse's mouth and extract the piece of Floyd | paper, trying not to touch the dry-yet-tacky sides of the mouth as you Floyd | do so. Then, you flatten it into legibility. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small page torn from a compact notebook to your existing Floyd | collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The small page torn from a compact notebook reads: Floyd | Floyd | S.C. - Entry 1978-05-12-0230 Floyd | Floyd | Doctor, Doctor, Doctor. Floyd | I know that you're not used to people sifting through your notes, but Floyd | you should know by now that you are out of your element. I'm sure that Floyd | you have a private diary that I won't find, but keeping crib notes of Floyd | your experiments on the side is simply not a very good survival Floyd | technique. Floyd | Tyramine? Diazepam? Dead samples of the symbiont? I may not be a Floyd | doctor, Doctor, but I am not a fool and I am in a facility chock full Floyd | of useful texts. Floyd | "Curing" Ian will not save him, and your attempt has sealed your fate. Floyd | This is bigger than you or me, Doctor. We are but tiny satellites Floyd | floating in the corona of the sun. Dive too deep and you will burn Floyd | away. Floyd | You have dived too deep, Doctor. Now I must burn you. Floyd | | DavidW says, "That S.C. would be Simon Cross, I suppose." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bonesaw" | ||||
Floyd | >A rather old-fashioned looking bonesaw, it has a molded grip made of Floyd | painted wood and a sharp steel blade that is mostly hidden by being Floyd | buried in the corpse's neck. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x threads" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bonesaw" | ||||
Floyd | >You grasp the handle of the bonesaw and pull upward. With a sucking Floyd | sound, it pulls free of the corpse's neck, still smeared with Floyd | partly-congealed blood. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cut hand with bonesaw" | ||||
Floyd | >[This command only takes one input. Ignoring "with bonesaw".)] Floyd | Floyd | You grasp the corpse by the wrist. You set the edge of the bonesaw Floyd | against the edge of the hand where its fingers begin, and set your Floyd | teeth for an unpleasant task. You brace your shoulder and begin Floyd | sawing the fingers at the joint, easily slicing through the first Floyd | layers of flesh and grating against the hardened muscle. After a few Floyd | moments of nauseating work, you feel the grate of bone beneath the Floyd | saw. You set your back into a few more passes, trying to neither see Floyd | nor hear the flesh shredding under the bonesaw. Floyd | Floyd | At last you are rewarded for your gruesome work: the pistol clatters Floyd | to the ground amid curled, severed fingers. Floyd | Floyd | Unfortunately, you do not anticipate the sudden success. The weight Floyd | of your shoulder throws the saw forward, driving it solidly into the Floyd | side of the metal table and bending it nearly in half. You discard Floyd | the ruined bonesaw. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pistol" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the small-caliber pistol. Floyd | | maga asks (of Jacq), "points out of ten for corpse-wrangling accuracy?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "yes. We can." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sinks" | ||||
Floyd | >Literally the cleanest sink you have ever seen, the polished steel of Floyd | the basin gleams like a mirror. A long faucet curves in a neat arc Floyd | over the sink and its long handles flank the faucet like wings. Floyd | Floyd | In the sink is a small brass key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take brass key" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the small brass key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x key" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the small brass key or the typewriter key? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "brass" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing noteworthy about the small brass key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in sink" | ||||
Floyd | >The sink is empty. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x faucet" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cabinets" | ||||
Floyd | >The cabinets are curiously empty. Many of the instruments from them Floyd | are likely buried in the corpse's chest now. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x counters" | ||||
Floyd | >The polished stone of the counter is spotless, with no hint of dust Floyd | or scoring on its immaculate surface. It almost seems as though the Floyd | room was recently built, though you have trouble believing so. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to maga), "Pretty decent, really." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "(Sorry, there was someone at the door)" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >Until very recently, this body belonged to a precisely-handsome man Floyd | in his late twenties or early thirties, wearing a finely-pressed and Floyd | very expensive suit. Now both the suit and body have been peeled Floyd | open, exposing everything within. The flaps of skin that once held Floyd | the corpse's organs in place are stretched in four directions, one for Floyd | each flap. Surgical thread embedded in the ceiling with heavy needles Floyd | stretches the skin upward, giving a coliseum view to the gore within. Floyd | The man's vivisected torso is littered with dozens of surgical Floyd | instruments - scalpels, forceps, hypodermic needles - each one driven Floyd | in with such force as to be stuck in place. Some are barely visible. Floyd | The man's face is distorted in a silent scream. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x suit" | ||||
Floyd | >At one point, this suit was probably worth over a thousand dollars. Floyd | Its cut is precise, its silk fine. Sadly, it has been shredded by its Floyd | owner's impromptu vivisection, and is now worth nothing to no one. A Floyd | quick check of the suit's remaining pockets reveals nothing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x organs" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glass door" | ||||
Floyd | >A door made from two panes of thick glass mounted in a metal frame, Floyd | with rubber seals on all sides. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through it" | Jacqueline says, "(The person wanted to know if I would be ready to go into town anytime soon. I am not sure I want to go, but... well I guess I'll see if we're done in half an hour or so.)" | |||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the glass door. Floyd | Floyd | Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The astringent smell is even stronger in the morgue than in the Floyd | autopsy room. The single working fluorescent light here flickers Floyd | slightly, giving your movement a cinematic cast to it. The east wall Floyd | of the morgue is lined with large drawers for corpse storage, like a Floyd | giant, morbid filing cabinet. Along the north wall is a counter with Floyd | a large industrial sink. Nearby, a hospital gurney squats at an odd Floyd | angle, one of its wheels bent sharply to the side. There is a spatter Floyd | of dried blood on the drawers, marring the otherwise spartan Floyd | cleanliness of the area. Floyd | Floyd | A heavy glass door to the west leads back to the autopsy room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gurney" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a hospital gurney of dated design that has seen heavy use. It Floyd | is currently stripped of any bedclothes, its surface flat and Floyd | uncomfortable-looking. One of its legs has bent near the wheel, Floyd | causing the wheel to rest on its side and causing the whole gurney to Floyd | lean slightly. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | >The large industrial sink is empty. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x counter" | ||||
Floyd | >A heavy-duty industrial sink sits in the middle of the counter. Floyd | Below the sink is a concealed storage cabinet. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open storage cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the concealed doors, revealing some pipes and a bulky Floyd | wastebasket stashed beneath the sink. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >Just ordinary pipes. You don't see anything strange about them, Floyd | which in and of itself is sort of strange. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wastebasket" | ||||
Floyd | >The wastebasket is awkwardly large. It's possible to reach and see Floyd | into the wastebasket in its current position, but wrestling it out Floyd | from its niche among the pipes would be a chore. Floyd | Floyd | In the bulky wastebasket is a bloodstained lab coat. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coat" | ||||
Floyd | >The neck, back, and shoulder of the lab coat are wet with Floyd | disconcertingly fresh blood. However, the lower half, including the Floyd | pockets, are unstained. Through the scarlet stain, you read the Floyd | embroidered name: Dr. Theodore M. Yehuda Floyd | Floyd | In the bloodstained lab coat is a typewritten page. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take page" | ||||
Floyd | >(the typewritten page) Floyd | You pick up the typewritten page. Floyd | Floyd | You add the typewritten page to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The typewritten page reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, May 6th, 8:00pm Floyd | Ian's test was strange today. Floyd | As I've said in my notes, Ian is showing a great deal of promise in Floyd | remote viewing. He's able to come up with at least one salient, unique Floyd | detail about anything he is asked to see. Over the past day or two, Floyd | his "scrying" has been strikingly accurate, including not only Floyd | corroborating details but also an understanding of the situations he Floyd | has been asked to view. Floyd | Today's trial, though, has left me with a nasty sense of Floyd | foreboding. Dr. Atwater had just excused himself to make a run to the Floyd | convenience store, so I proposed to Ian that he perform a viewing on Floyd | the doctor. I was initially merely disappointed when Ian described an Floyd | office within the facility, indicating guesswork on Ian's part. After Floyd | that, the boy became seriously agitated, babbling about being in Floyd | danger. He dissolved into a panic attack and spoke very fast. It was Floyd | hard to understand him, but he seemed to be saying that Cross and Dr. Floyd | Atwater were "out to get him," claiming that "they want to terminate Floyd | me." Floyd | I did my best to placate the poor boy, but he was having none of Floyd | it. By the look in his eyes, he seemed to be caught in the vision and Floyd | unable to escape it. After a few minutes, I saw no recourse but to Floyd | tranquilize him and have him moved back to his room under supervision. Floyd | Once awake, he was very paranoid, still believing firmly that Cross Floyd | and Dr. Atwater were conspiring to end his life. By my estimation, Floyd | this must have been his nightmares bleeding over into his visions, Floyd | tainting them with the paranoia of being chased on a nightly basis. Floyd | It's possible that Ian's abilities interpreted Dr. Atwater's departure Floyd | from the facility as abandonment, termination. It's the best that I Floyd | can guess. Floyd | There is a part of me that believes that I should have put all of Floyd | this into the official report. Instead, I used the most generic terms Floyd | I could. Panic attack. Adverse effects. Unexpected delusions. Floyd | Why not the truth, Theo? You are a Doctor and an employee of Floyd | Corona. They don't pay you to omit details. Floyd | The truth is ... by now, I trust Ian's abilities more than I trust Floyd | Dr. Atwater's belief in the project. When Ian told me that Dr. Floyd | Atwater wanted him to die, well, it was very difficult not to believe Floyd | him. Floyd | Where is this project going, and why are we in a handbasket? Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blood" | ||||
Floyd | >(the spatter of dried blood) Floyd | The blood is dry, and there wasn't much of it to begin with. Its spray Floyd | and drip pattern indicates a violently inflicted wound. You note that Floyd | apart from the spray, there is a smear of dried blood on drawer 6. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer 6" | ||||
Floyd | >You open drawer 6 and slide its metal tray partway out. On the tray Floyd | are a pair of corpses, stacked atop one another face-to-face in some Floyd | gross parody of intimacy. The upper corpse is fresh and sports a Floyd | nasty-looking head wound; the lower corpse is paler and clearly Floyd | embalmed. Floyd | | maga asks, ""God Jesus"?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x upper corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >This corpse is fresh, and, from what you can tell, hastily-stowed in Floyd | this drawer. Before death, Dr. Yehuda was a somewhat overweight Floyd | middle-aged man. Although he was stacked face down, his head is Floyd | turned to the side, away from his grisly companion, so you can see Floyd | that his face looks tired but kindly. The neat bullet-wound between Floyd | the corpse's eyes has dried, but the messy exit wound in the back Floyd | glistens with still-drying blood. Behind a thick pair of black-rimmed Floyd | glasses, the skin around his eyes shows clear laugh lines. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x glasses" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lower corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >Judging from what you can see of this corpse, it was once a white man Floyd | of average build and below average height. His features are those of a Floyd | man in his middle age, but his face is craggy for its youth. The Floyd | corpse has bags under its closed eyes and stress lines on its brow. Floyd | The corpse has clearly been autopsied and embalmed, as its naked, pale Floyd | skin shows no sign of decay. There are also no visible injuries on Floyd | this corpse. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search upper corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You search the fresh corpse, but you find nothing of interest on the Floyd | body. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Well, nothing visible we can see with the other corpse atop it." | |||
| DavidW says, "ugh. You want to move him?>" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "move yehuda" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the fresh corpse, the face, Yehuda 4/15, Yehuda Floyd | 4/2 or typewritten page? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the embalmed corpse or the fresh corpse? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "fresh" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | maga says, "(okay, actually 'God Judas/Jude/Judah')" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "move upper corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You'd prefer not to disturb Dr. Yehuda's corpse. He surely deserves Floyd | whatever measure of peace he has achieved. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x face" | ||||
Floyd | >(the embalmed corpse) Floyd | Judging from what you can see of this corpse, it was once a white man Floyd | of average build and below average height. His features are those of a Floyd | man in his middle age, but his face is craggy for its youth. The Floyd | corpse has bags under its closed eyes and stress lines on its brow. Floyd | The corpse has clearly been autopsied and embalmed, as its naked, pale Floyd | skin shows no sign of decay. There are also no visible injuries on Floyd | this corpse. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close drawer 6" | ||||
Floyd | >You slide the tray back into the drawer, then close the door and lock Floyd | it in place. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x drawers" | ||||
Floyd | >(drawer number 1) Floyd | These are morgue drawers just like the ones you've seen in the movies, Floyd | with heavy latched doors like those on industrial refrigerators; the Floyd | doors are labeled 1 to 12. There is a spatter of dried blood on the Floyd | doors. The spray and drip pattern indicates a violently inflicted Floyd | wound. You note that apart from the spray, there is a smear of dried Floyd | blood on drawer 6. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer 1" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door to drawer 1. Rather than a metal tray on rails, Floyd | you see a reddish, pulsating, fleshy tunnel that extends into a Floyd | darkness you cannot see. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close it" | ||||
Floyd | >You close drawer number 1, hiding the abomination from sight. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer 2" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door to drawer 2. Rather than a metal tray on rails, Floyd | you see a reddish, pulsating, fleshy tunnel that extends into a Floyd | darkness you cannot see. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close it" | ||||
Floyd | >You close drawer number 2, hiding the abomination from sight. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open drawer 12" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door to drawer 12. Rather than a metal tray on rails, Floyd | you see a reddish, pulsating, fleshy tunnel that extends into a Floyd | darkness you cannot see. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close it" | ||||
Floyd | >You close drawer number 12, hiding the abomination from sight. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I guess drawer 6 is the only semi-useful drawer." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I can see what you mean, maga, as I am giggling a bit." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Seems it." | ||||
| maga says, "the monsters! they have invented the Fleshlight" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying a small brass key, a small-caliber pistol, a Floyd | typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I'm gonna guess that the brass key is for the elevator." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw and some severed fingers here. Floyd | Floyd | You hear the meaty thunk of something large hitting the ground to the Floyd | east. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x e" | Jacqueline says (to maga), "Ew ew ew make it not be in my brain anymore damn you" | |||
Floyd | >You see nothing unexpected in that direction. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The astringent smell is even stronger in the morgue than in the Floyd | autopsy room. The single working fluorescent light here flickers Floyd | slightly, giving your movement a cinematic cast to it. The east wall Floyd | of the morgue is lined with large drawers for corpse storage, like a Floyd | giant, morbid filing cabinet. Along the north wall is a counter with Floyd | a large industrial sink. Nearby, a hospital gurney squats at an odd Floyd | angle, one of its wheels bent sharply to the side. There is a spatter Floyd | of dried blood on the drawers, marring the otherwise spartan Floyd | cleanliness of the area. The doors beneath the large counter stand Floyd | open, exposing steel pipes and a wastebasket. Floyd | Floyd | A heavy glass door to the west leads back to the autopsy room. Floyd | Floyd | The fresh corpse lies face-down on the floor here. Floyd | Floyd | Drawer number 6 is open, exposing a tray with a prepared and embalmed Floyd | corpse on it. Floyd | Floyd | The corpse on the ground seems to melt and grow, its flesh pouring Floyd | rapidly along the ground from its sleeves, pantlegs and collar. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fresh corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >The fresh corpse lies face-down on the floor, unmoving. The exit Floyd | wound in the back of the skull glistens dark and red. Floyd | Floyd | The flesh pours from Dr. Yehuda's corpse, expanding rapidly in all Floyd | directions. The edges form coherent, fleshy tendrils that glisten Floyd | like fresh, exposed muscle, and the tendrils reach toward you Floyd | hungrily. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "shoot it" | ||||
Floyd | >You raise the gun and fire a bullet into the prone corpse. You are Floyd | immediately seized with a sense of dread, feeling that you have made a Floyd | terrible mistake. The corpse's hideous mutation continues unabated, Floyd | and now you are out of bullets. Perhaps you should have waited until Floyd | the thing displayed an obvious weak point.... Floyd | Floyd | Lightning fast, one of the fleshy tentacles wraps around you with Floyd | crushing force. You set your heels and lean back against the pull of Floyd | the tentacle, but you are unable to maintain your footing. With a Floyd | sudden jerk, the fleshy muscle jerks you forward and you stumble Floyd | directly into the mass of pulsating flesh. You hit the stuff Floyd | face-first, and you can feel it wrap around you as soon as you touch Floyd | it. You attempt to scream, but the noise is cut off as something warm Floyd | and soft expands down your throat. Deprived of air, you can only Floyd | struggle helplessly as you feel your flesh begin to prickle. Every Floyd | contact point between your body and the mass of flesh begins to burn, Floyd | almost as though you are being digested.... Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | > Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fresh corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >The flesh of the corpse has become a glistening red, like exposed Floyd | muscle. The clothes now seem to float in a sea of the stuff as the Floyd | substance takes over the entire room. You should probably get out of Floyd | here. Floyd | Floyd | Lightning fast, one of the fleshy tentacles wraps around you with Floyd | crushing force. You set your heels and lean back against the pull of Floyd | the tentacle, but you are unable to maintain your footing. With a Floyd | sudden jerk, the fleshy muscle jerks you forward and you stumble Floyd | directly into the mass of pulsating flesh. You hit the stuff Floyd | face-first, and you can feel it wrap around you as soon as you touch Floyd | it. You attempt to scream, but the noise is cut off as something warm Floyd | and soft expands down your throat. Deprived of air, you can only Floyd | struggle helplessly as you feel your flesh begin to prickle. Every Floyd | contact point between your body and the mass of flesh begins to burn, Floyd | almost as though you are being digested.... Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | > Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I would like to get that axe." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >There's no visible lock on this side. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the glass door or the hallway door? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hallway" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't see a keypad on this side, or even a lock. Floyd | Floyd | The corner of a white piece of paper is visible beneath the door. Floyd | Floyd | A wet sliding noise emanates from the morgue, starting quiet but Floyd | getting louder by the second. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "eep" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(your notes) Floyd | You already have that. Floyd | Floyd | Through the door to the east, you can see a writhing, pulsating mass Floyd | of what appears to be raw red muscle. It is filling the morgue and Floyd | rapidly approaching the autopsy room. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Hm. With what, you think?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take white paper" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take white piece of paper" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to take EGB 4/20/78. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take white" | ||||
Floyd | >(the tiled floor) Floyd | That's not really feasible. Floyd | Floyd | The opening to the morgue fills now with pulsating red flesh, pouring Floyd | over the sides of the door like a sideways drain overflowing with Floyd | sludge, all the while making a ghastly wet sliding noise. In the Floyd | center of the mass, a pale bubble forms. It appears at first to be a Floyd | blister, but its features define until you recognize a face - that of Floyd | Dr. Yehuda. The face's expression is wracked with pain; it lets out an Floyd | anguished sound as the mass of flesh pushes its way into the room. Floyd | Floyd | "I didn't know! I'm so sorry!" the face moans. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "shoot face" | ||||
Floyd | >(the pale face) Floyd | You raise your pistol toward the face-blister and pull the trigger. Floyd | With a deafening report, the gun kicks in your hand. A spray of white Floyd | liquid splatters from the face's forehead where the bullet lands. The Floyd | white liquid runs in rivulets down the front of the face as it Floyd | contorts in even further agony. Floyd | Floyd | "God, why?" the face moans. "Why did I die?" Floyd | Floyd | The mass of bloody flesh begins to retract, pulling away from the Floyd | walls and leaving a glistening red trail as it goes. Steam billows Floyd | from the flesh as the white liquid runs onto it and burns it away. Floyd | The face begins to lose coherency, melting as it cries. Floyd | Floyd | "My only sin was ignorance," the dissolving face murmurs. "Please Floyd | forgive me my part in this." Floyd | Floyd | After a minute, the mass has retreated entirely into the morgue. Floyd | Through the door, you see it retract back to the center of the room, Floyd | curl into a small ball, and collapse into a small pile of ash with a Floyd | peculiar clinking sound. Floyd | Floyd | After several seconds of empty silence, you hear a click from the door Floyd | to the south. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "my" | |||
| DavidW asks, "'clinking'?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Did he leave us his glasses after all?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Wait, clink or click?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The astringent smell is even stronger in the morgue than in the Floyd | autopsy room. The single working fluorescent light here flickers Floyd | slightly, giving your movement a cinematic cast to it. The east wall Floyd | of the morgue is lined with large drawers for corpse storage, like a Floyd | giant, morbid filing cabinet. Along the north wall is a counter with Floyd | a large industrial sink. Nearby, a hospital gurney squats at an odd Floyd | angle, one of its wheels bent sharply to the side. There is a spatter Floyd | of dried blood on the drawers, marring the otherwise spartan Floyd | cleanliness of the area. The doors beneath the large counter stand Floyd | open, exposing steel pipes and a wastebasket. Floyd | Floyd | A heavy glass door to the west leads back to the autopsy room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a small, circular pile of ash below drawer 6. Floyd | Floyd | Drawer number 6 is open, exposing an empty tray. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ash" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a small pile of gray ash. Nothing more remains of the corpse of Floyd | Dr. Yehuda. You note a faint glint of metal in the ash. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search ash" | ||||
Floyd | >Upon closer examination, the small piece of metal turns out to be a Floyd | ridged key. You pick up the ridged key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ridged key" | ||||
Floyd | >This is a typical office door key. It has a slightly ridged handle. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw and some severed fingers here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fingers" | ||||
Floyd | >(the severed fingers) Floyd | These four severed fingers used to belong to the corpse in the autopsy Floyd | room. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take fingers" | ||||
Floyd | >(the severed fingers) Floyd | You pick up the severed fingers. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I'm gonna guess there's a fingerprint scanner later. I don't know if there is one, but juuuuust in case." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hallway door" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't see a keypad on this side, or even a lock. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" | ||||
Floyd | >The hidden lock releases under your hand. Floyd | Floyd | You open the hallway door. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "hah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "So true." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(your notes) Floyd | You already have that. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of typewriter paper lies on the floor very near the hallway Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | Floyd | The autopsy room door swings closed. There's a click as the lock Floyd | reengages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take sheet" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, Pearce 5/8/78, Pearce 4/16/78 or Pearce 5/1/78? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(sheet of typewriter paper) Floyd | You pick up sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add sheet of typewriter paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, April 15, 11:00 am Floyd | I suppose someone must have listened to Elaine's assertion that Floyd | this test subject was different from the rest, since we've just gained Floyd | a new member of the team. Floyd | This was not a pleasant cup of chicory to down first thing in the Floyd | morning. Don't get me wrong -- I would love, more than anything, to Floyd | welcome Simon Cross to our ranks, and G-d knows that we could stand to Floyd | gain another team member. Of all of the positions we had open prior to Floyd | today, however, I'm not sure I ever would have counted "Company Spook" Floyd | among them. Floyd | Perhaps I am being unfair, but it is my opinion that hypnotizing Floyd | yourself into believing that a knife is a rolling pin will not prevent Floyd | you from needing stitches after trying to make bread dough. Cross's Floyd | official title is "auditor." He claims that he is here to oversee Floyd | Corona's professional interests in the Project, and I don't doubt him Floyd | one bit. Cross oozes "professional interests." He brushes his teeth Floyd | with it, or he wouldn't be able to give me that sharkish grin. Floyd | Still, we are bedfellows now. There's nothing to do but see to it Floyd | that he is comfortable ... and bored. Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | | DavidW asks, "hm. I think we had that one already, no?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "count notes" | ||||
Floyd | >["count notes" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x notes" | ||||
Floyd | >[To see the next page of your notes, just TURN the page.] Floyd | Floyd | Your notes consist of a sheaf of various papers that you found Floyd | scattered about this facility. Currently, a sheet of typewriter paper Floyd | written on 4/15 by Yehuda is the topmost page. Floyd | Floyd | This is a piece of paper punched for a three-ring binder, its words Floyd | typed out from an old self-correcting machine. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, that's a repeat." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bent door" | ||||
Floyd | >This metal door is damaged beyond repair, dented inward and fused Floyd | with its frame as though struck from the other side by a car moving at Floyd | high speed. Whatever hit it must have been incredibly strong, given Floyd | how sturdy the door seems to be. The doorknob is missing from the Floyd | door completely. A sign on the door reads "stairs". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put brass key in key switch" | ||||
Floyd | >That can't contain things. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x key switch" | ||||
Floyd | >You see nothing special about the fire key switch. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push it" | ||||
Floyd | >The fire key switch isn't a button, it's a slot for a fire key. Floyd | Pushing it doesn't do anything. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fire key" | ||||
Floyd | >You see nothing special about the fire key switch. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "insert brass key" | ||||
Floyd | >["insert brass key" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "um" | |||
| DavidW says, "I guess this isn't where the brass key is used." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Put key in slot?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put brass key in slot" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "er, switch?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put brass key in switch" | ||||
Floyd | >That can't contain things. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "I'm out of ideas on this one." | |||
| DavidW says, "It's obviously not coded as a 'container'." | ||||
| djfletch asks, "unlock?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock fire switch" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't have a key that fits the fire key switch. Floyd | | DavidW says (to djfletch), "thanks" | |||
| olethros says, "bedification" | ||||
| olethros was so energetic that he immediately bumped into the walls of the experimental apparatus and was annihilated. | DavidW says, "I guess we go to floor 3 and try out our keys." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push third floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you walk away, you hear a peculiar fluttering noise behind you. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock north door with brass key" | ||||
Floyd | >[This command only takes one input. Ignoring "with brass key".)] Floyd | Floyd | You insert the ridged key into the lock of the door to room 322 and Floyd | turn it, successfully unlocking the door | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the door to room 322. Floyd | Floyd | Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | Floyd | A piece of unlined paper lies face-down on the floor, half in and half Floyd | out of the oak desk's shadow. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take unlined paper" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the piece of unlined paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | 4/7/78 Floyd | I've found him! Floyd | Floyd | It's hard not to doubt myself. I've written about candidates before. I Floyd | believed in each and every one of them. They all had that spark, that Floyd | brilliant glint of possibility. It shone in them like a tiny sun. How Floyd | could I not believe? And with each failure it became harder to believe Floyd | in myself. Floyd | Floyd | But he's different, McMoneagle. Ian. A skinny boy from the suburbs of Floyd | Olney with nothing spectacular about him but chronic nightmares, Floyd | headaches, and emotional problems. But that sun, his sun. So much Floyd | brighter than any I've seen. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Atwater is of course convinced that he'll fail just like all the Floyd | others, and refuses to refer to him even by his first name since we Floyd | picked him up. Even Dr. Yehuda is cautious, given our track record. I Floyd | have to convince him, both of them. Floyd | Floyd | He's the one. He's our hope. Floyd | Floyd | EGB Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x calendar" | ||||
Floyd | >A large desktop calendar with disposable pages. The Floyd | currently-displayed month is May of 1978. While notes are scrawled on Floyd | the calendar, little are of any use; most are for day-to-day Floyd | activities centered around someone named "Ian". Several other names Floyd | are mentioned: "Atwater", "Elaine", and occasionally "Pearce". A Floyd | quick page-flip reveals that little is filled out for future months in Floyd | the calendar. Whoever was using this lived in the moment, or at least Floyd | by the month. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x oak desk" | ||||
Floyd | >This desk is smaller than the one on the other side of the room, but Floyd | taller and made of fine varnished oak. Upon closer inspection, it is Floyd | in fact conspicuous in its barren appearance. There is literally Floyd | nothing on this desk, as though it had been cleaned out but not taken Floyd | away. The diplomas on the wall remain, but the desk itself is a Floyd | suspense story of a departed occupant. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diplomas" | ||||
Floyd | >Several diplomas, commendations and awards adorn the wall around the Floyd | standing desk. Each one is awarded to an Edward Atwater, Ph.D, MD, Floyd | and each one congratulates the man for his astonishing skill and study Floyd | in the field of medicine. Apparently, Dr. Atwater both knew his stuff Floyd | and wanted everyone around him to know it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x metal desk" | ||||
Floyd | >While somewhat cheap, this steel desk is large and provides a good Floyd | deal of real estate for its user. A large desk calendar sits on its Floyd | surface, stained with rings of coffee and marked with a near-illegible Floyd | scrawl. Several framed photos sit on the right corner of the desk. Floyd | Floyd | A black safe with a prominent dial has been bracketed beneath the left Floyd | side of the desk. The safe was obviously manufactured separately and Floyd | attached in a somewhat haphazard fashion, but the metalwork is Floyd | effective even if it isn't attractive. The safe is currently closed. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks (of DW), "If I decide to take the ride into town when it's offered (quite soon), do you want to resume tomorrow, since it's kinda just you and I?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh wait, and dj." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I suppose we can stop here." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't mind if we resume tomorrow." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Would you want to pick it bac - cool." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf5" | Jacqueline says, "Sounds good." | |||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | Wastrel asks, "What time, if ya don't mind me asking?" | |||
| djfletch says, "I'm only half paying attention - no problem stopping" | ||||
| olethros asks, "what are you playing anyway?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I assume 2pm again." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Sounds fine, yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to olethros), "One Eye Open." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "If that works for you." | ||||
| DavidW says, "sure" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "mmkay" | ||||
| ********** GAME RESUMED THE FOLLOWING DAY ********** | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Are we ready to begin? Or do we need a recap or something first?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Please do the honors, since you saved last. If you need me to, though, I can look up the save (though it's probably still in Floyd's brane)." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think we're ready... it was you, me, and dj, and we're here." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Unless someone else wants us to recap?" | ||||
| djfletch says, "the story so far - corpses and blood and teeth." | ||||
| Touchy asks, "are you continuing yesterday's session?" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I was going to help out but now I'll just snark at the game" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to djf), "Don't forget the vomit and fleshy bits." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Touchy), "Yeah" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Well, we explored all the floors except floor 3 where we started, and we used a pistol and a hacksaw, and we now have two keys, a typewriter key, and a passcard." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We need that darn axe." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We have not obtained the axe, correct." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Though the game's description there seems awfully dismissive on our ability to acquire said axe." | ||||
| DavidW says, "However, we used one of the keys to get into an office where there's two desks and a safe." | ||||
| djfletch asks, "was there a typewriter anywhere to put the typewriter key in?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Oh, and the horrors we're seeing are mostly in the past ... except when they're visions of the future horrors that we can somehow prevent." | ||||
| DavidW says (to djfletch), "We haven't seen one yet, but we shall be on the lookout. It was the 'I' key, if that helps any." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "anyway, shall I load 'er up?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Load 'er up." | ||||
| Tale arrives, full of fun and funk. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "load oneeyeopen" | ||||
Floyd | >Are you sure you want to quit? Welcome to the Cheap Glk Floyd | Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Please be advised that One Eye Open is a horror game. It contains Floyd | mature content (including blood, gore, human injury and death, mild Floyd | language, tobacco reference, violence, and violent references.) Floyd | Floyd | We do not recommend this game for a younger audience. Floyd | | Tale says, "Just watchin'" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | Would you like to proceed? (y/n) >Please answer yes or no.> Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | One Eye Open Floyd | An Interactive Nightmare by Colin Sandel and Carolyn VanEseltine Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 100929 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | After only ten days, you're becoming surprisingly comfortable with Floyd | life as a Corona Corporation guinea pig. It helps that your routine Floyd | is so reliable - meals, exercise, rest, and sleep are clearly arranged Floyd | on a schedule hanging beside the white clock in your room. As for the Floyd | tests - well, you've grown used to the sight of your blood in a sample Floyd | vial, and the rest is mostly paperwork. Personality tests, aptitude Floyd | tests, intelligence tests, psychological tests, Rorschach and the MMPI Floyd | and even kinetic family drawing... you're starting to worry that Floyd | they'll run out of tests by the end of the month. Floyd | Floyd | Although 7:30 PM is always the day's last test, you never leave your Floyd | room alone, so you were still watching American Beauty when Dr. Marnie Floyd | Ephart knocked at the door. "Oh, you're almost to the end!" she said Floyd | brightly, seeing the screen. "I can wait until you're through." Floyd | Floyd | "No, that's fine." You hit PAUSE to freeze Angela in mid-motion as Floyd | you got up from the couch. "I've seen it before." Last Monday, Floyd | actually. The video collection isn't that good, and, considering what Floyd | they're paying you, it's a pity Corona couldn't invest in a few more Floyd | options. It's hard to complain, though; the staff is friendly, the Floyd | tests aren't hard, and the salary is great. Floyd | Floyd | During the day, Raymond, Best, or one of the scientists might be Floyd | around, but at night, it's usually just the two of you, and the hall Floyd | you cross now is deserted. You accompany her through the antechamber Floyd | and into the main testing chamber. By now, you're used to being Floyd | watched from behind one-way glass, but the observational room is fully Floyd | lit today, and you can easily see inside. Floyd | Floyd | "Back in a moment," Dr. Ephart says cheerfully. "See you on the other Floyd | side!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Corona Labs Floyd | In the center of the room, a single black office chair sits in front Floyd | of a broad, heavy desk. The desk and chair are familiar, but the Floyd | wireless keypad sitting on the desk is new. There are five large Floyd | white buttons on the keypad, each displaying a different symbol in Floyd | broad black strokes. The symbols are a circle, a cross, a set of Floyd | three wavy lines, a square, and a five-pointed star. As always, you Floyd | are quite aware of the cameras watching you from above. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | The familiar black office chair sits invitingly nearby. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the curved desk in the Floyd | observational room. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Whoa whoa whoa wait this is a horror game?" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | Tale says, "Ha ha, tobacco fits nicely in there." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf5" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wall button" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the dull off-white Floyd | wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x button" | ||||
Floyd | >A white plastic button about a half-inch in diameter, mounted in a Floyd | brass plate. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sign" | ||||
Floyd | >It's taped to the wall next to a plate with a button. Instructions Floyd | concerning "remote viewing" are typed on the page's surface. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The typewritten sign reads: No remote viewing tests are to occur Floyd | without a remote supervisor. The subject is to be released by the Floyd | remote supervisor at the signal of the local supervisor. This button Floyd | will unlock the door for fifteen seconds, at which time a local buzzer Floyd | will sound. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to Tale), "So far by 'tobacco reference' I think all we've seen has been an ashtray." | |||
| maga arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | ||||
| Wastrel arrives, ready to play with the toys. | DavidW asks, "hm. Sounds like we could look at Ian from here?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Perhaps." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x safe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | A black safe with a numbered dial has been bracketed to the inner left Floyd | leg of the inexpensive desk. The safe doesn't look overwhelmingly Floyd | expensive, either, but it does look durable and effective. There is a Floyd | safety label on the front advising you that it is Class 350 and rated Floyd | for four hours of fire resistance. It is currently closed. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read label" | ||||
Floyd | >The safe label reads: Floyd | Floyd | Record Protection Equipment Floyd | Classified By Floyd | Underwriters Laboratories, Inc Floyd | As To Fire Resistance Floyd | Rating: Class 350-4 Hr Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open safe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | It seems to be locked. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dial" | ||||
Floyd | >The numbered dial goes from 1 to 60. Floyd | | Ellison says (to Wastrel), "type '@recap #toyshop 300' to see the last 300 lines of toyshop text" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photos" | Ellison says, "we just started a couple minutes ago" | |||
Floyd | >There are three photos in frames on the desk. The one in the center Floyd | seems to be a family photo. A man with curly salt-and-pepper hair Floyd | laughs, his hands on the shoulder of a woman of about his age and a Floyd | child of about ten whose features, though youthful, strongly resemble Floyd | those of the older man. After a moment, you recognize the Floyd | curly-haired man as Theo Yehuda. The younger boy and the woman Floyd | feature in their own photo, as do the older man and the woman. Floyd | Happiness all but shines from the subjects as they gaze into the Floyd | camera lens. Floyd | | Ellison says, "we have been looking at a typewriter and wishing we had an axe" | |||
| Wastrel exclaims (at Ellison), "You are a wonderful person!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "Thank you for being Mr. Helpful. I always forget about that command, somehow, despite its excessive usefulness." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Ellison), "We haven't seen a typewriter key." | ||||
| DavidW says, "er yet" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We haven't seen a typewriter yet" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I agree with these nice things I am accuse of!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" | Ellison says, "oh, I thought the typewriter sign was on a typewriter" | |||
| DavidW says, "No, just typed on a typewriter." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "look under desk" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate, an ache pulses powerfully through your temples. Floyd | You feel the need to pay closer attention to the small brass key, the Floyd | ridged key, and the typewriter key. Floyd | Floyd | >Which do you mean, the inexpensive desk or the standing desk? Floyd | | Tale says (to wastrel), "Try asking him about Doom 3 and you'll see how nice he is" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "inexpensive desk" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Wonder where that combo is written down..." | |||
| Ellison says (to Tale), "especially if I have an axe" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Maybe we'll find it in a note." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c safe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | You try to concentrate on the black safe, but you don't sense anything Floyd | out of the ordinary. Floyd | | DavidW says, "So much for foreseeing the combo. :)" | |||
| djfletch says, "heh that should work" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think we could try turning on the tv, or check out another room." | ||||
| Ellison says, "does the game give any clues to what objects are concentrate-able? I get lost in this text" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Ellison), "yes." | ||||
| Wastrel asks, "Think we can concentrate on the new photo like we did on the first one?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "It said we can concentrate on the brass key, the ridged key, and the typewriter key." | ||||
| DavidW says, "That's why I did a 'c'. The general points to the specifics." | ||||
| Ellison says, "ah" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Wastrel), "so, unfortunately, we probably can't concentrate on these photos." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on tv" | ||||
Floyd | >It's already on. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tv" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a wall-mounted television monitor, antique by your standards. Floyd | The screen seems to be split into two halves, but one half is Floyd | completely dark. The other shows a familiar sight: the testing Floyd | chamber. A skinny young man is hunched on a chair in the corner of Floyd | the room, next to the table. A timestamp shows in blocky white font Floyd | on the bottom of the monitor: MAY 12 1978 20:20. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ian" | ||||
Floyd | >On the television monitor, a young man hunches over on a chair, Floyd | stock-still. Scraggly hair falls over his eyes, obscuring his face. Floyd | His bare back is curved in a painful arch, and skinny elbows rest on a Floyd | pair of plain sweatpants. His feet are bare and stained with Floyd | something dark. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ian's feet" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x feet" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "x stain?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dark half" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the dark red Floyd | smudge. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "oho" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x stain" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "dark red smudge?" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Wasn't that down in the morgue?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, so that's relating to something not even in scope? Weird." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x smudge" | ||||
Floyd | >Closer examination convinces you that the red substance staining the Floyd | paper is blood. The mark is about the size and shape of a smeared Floyd | fingerprint. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "mmkay" | |||
| DavidW says, "oh, no, it is something here." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I guess one of the notes we're carrying had a bloody fingerprint." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fingerprint" | Jacqueline says, "Yeah" | |||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "compare smudge to fingers" | ||||
Floyd | >["compare smudge to fingers" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | DavidW says, "(by the way, we're also carrying some guy's fingers. My guess is they belonged to Simon Cross.)" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c brass key" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the small brass key, you feel a peculiar Floyd | pressure between your eyebrows. There's a distinct sense of smugness Floyd | imbued in the key. Over and over, the key's owner placed this key in Floyd | its lock and felt pleased and self-satisfied. The image of a black Floyd | filing cabinet flashes through your mind and away. Floyd | | Jacqueline exclaims (at DW), "Where *is* that fingerprint scanner?!" | |||
| Jacqueline smiles. | ||||
| Ellison says, "perhaps the building would appreciate some finger snacks" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't know if there is one, but there might be. Also, Ellison's idea is a reasonable runner-up guess." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "You missed when we played Adventurer's Consumer Guide, didn't you?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I did. It looked pretty fun from the transcript." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But I didn't read it in detail because I haven't played it." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c typewriter key" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the typewriter key, your eyelids droop Floyd | involuntarily closed for a moment. You find your mind drifting.... Floyd | Floyd | You picture a spacious, spartan room with two desks, where Dr. Yehuda, Floyd | his eyes drawn and haunted from lack of sleep, sits clacking away at a Floyd | typewriter. Every so often, he glances at the door. He finishes Floyd | writing and pulls the page from the typewriter, but suddenly starts Floyd | and looks at the door as though hearing a noise from it. He stands, Floyd | looks about him, folds the paper in half and slides it behind one of Floyd | the diplomas bolted to the wall above the opposite desk. Floyd | Floyd | The image flickers and you see a dapper man in a suit, slowly sliding Floyd | the same page back into its hiding place. He shakes his head slowly. Floyd | Floyd | The vision ends. Floyd | | DavidW says, "well, search for 'finger' in the transcript later." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x typewriter" | ||||
Floyd | >(the typewriter key) Floyd | A small black key with a white letter I. Floyd | | djfletch says, "we saw some diplomas somewhere I think" | |||
| DavidW says, "Right here." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x diplomas" | ||||
Floyd | >There's something very familiar about these diplomas. Floyd | Floyd | Several diplomas, commendations and awards adorn the wall around the Floyd | standing desk. Each one is awarded to an Edward Atwater, Ph.D, MD, Floyd | and each one congratulates the man for his astonishing skill and study Floyd | in the field of medicine. Apparently, Dr. Atwater both knew his stuff Floyd | and wanted everyone around him to know it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind them" | ||||
Floyd | >There's nothing back there. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search them" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search diplomas" | ||||
Floyd | >You slide your hand along the side of one of the diplomas and find a Floyd | folded typewritten page hidden there. You pull it gently from its Floyd | hiding place, unfold it, and smooth it out. Floyd | Floyd | You add the creased sheet of typewriter paper to your existing Floyd | collection of pages. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I wonder what 'them' was matching." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The creased sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, May 11th, 11:30 am Floyd | Floyd | I can't believe that I didn't do more digging when I first signed Floyd | on with this G-d damned company. A little bit of snooping would have Floyd | saved me a world of horror. While I knew that Ian was not the first Floyd | subject of Corona's experiments, what I did not know was exactly how Floyd | the others had been deemed unsuitable. I wonder if "Reacted poorly to Floyd | the symbiont" managed to make it onto their epitaphs, or whether it Floyd | was scrawled in the margins of a toe tag. Knowing what I have learned Floyd | about Corona, I would be surprised if they lent even that much dignity Floyd | to their "lab rats." Floyd | Floyd | The cherry on the proverbial sundae: their very best metric of Floyd | success, the sign that they are on the right track: the death of a Floyd | researcher at the hands of a psychic test subject, purposefully hopped Floyd | up on a potentially fatal brain-eating symbiont. Floyd | Floyd | This has to stop. Floyd | Floyd | I am working on an inoculation against the symbiont. The fact that Floyd | Ian survived it is a good sign that his own psychic ability might be Floyd | enough to withstand its death. The theory is as follows: Floyd | Floyd | I need a sample of the symbiont, dead, just as for a standard Floyd | vaccine. This should be easy; Atwater indicated to me in April that Floyd | the symbiont died in response to standard chemicals, so long as it Floyd | wasn't already in a living being's system. A dose of the vaccine Floyd | would be enough to kill the symbiont itself, but its bond with Ian's Floyd | mind will be harder to break. With this in mind, a very strong dose Floyd | of tyramine will give him the adrenal spike he needs to break that Floyd | psychic link. Floyd | Floyd | He'll need almost immediately to take a strong dose of medicine to Floyd | stave off an adrenergic storm; that amount of tyramine would be fatal Floyd | to anyone, even a psychic of his stature. With that in mind, I have Floyd | requisitioned a drug with enough levels of diazepam, benzodiazepenes Floyd | and beta blockers. If he takes them in turn, it'll be hell on his Floyd | system ... but he will live and the symbiont won't. Floyd | Floyd | I have the diazepam formula. I just hope I can get ahold of the Floyd | tyramine-fortified vaccine before that spook, Cross, realizes what I'm Floyd | up to. Floyd | Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | Floyd | Below, you find a recipe detailing the creation of a vaccine. It Floyd | requires a sample of contaminated blood, "Vnmne", formaldehyde, and Floyd | "Hrtmn for dilut", all combined in precise measurements and directly Floyd | injected into the subject. Floyd | Floyd | No wonder Dr. Yehuda preferred to type his notes - his handwriting was Floyd | abysmal. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| DavidW says, "I hope we don't have to mix this cocktail up ourselves." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Man, ACG is cracktastic. And why didn't you try direct pressure and elevation to stop your bleeding in that transcript?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "(Sorry, just got done with an EMT refresher.)" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I suspect direct pressure and elevation isn't in adventure genre. Also, what verbs would you use?" | ||||
| Ellison says, "yeah, that was a crazy game" | ||||
| DavidW says, "(also, I haven't taken EMT, so I didn't know that)" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, I guess we haven't seen a game with those verbs since Cheiron." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I haven't played Cheiron." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh man." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It's awesome, but only if you have a background in anatomy." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I very much boggled and balked at it pretty quickly." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I gave it an 8." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But I was in the minority." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It was written by med students, so." | ||||
| DavidW says, "It was like an AIF bingo of verb/noun without the sex." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||||
| Binder arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Will it be easy to reference this note later? For the cocktail?" | |||
| DavidW says, "We can cycle through the notes." | ||||
| Binder asks, "sorry I'm late, did I miss anything, Mrs. Lincoln?" | ||||
| Tale says, "nice inventory" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think I'll set this bit aside." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The notes do have individual names, but the game doesn't easily vouchsafe them to us players." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I've set aside for reference when the time (probably) comes." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c ridged key" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the ridged key, your vision unfocuses Floyd | unexpectedly, producing a doubled world. You receive the impression Floyd | of its former owner - a mind both exhausted and determined, with a Floyd | deep underlying current of kindness. The kindness is a strength; the Floyd | kindness is a weakness. Floyd | Floyd | You... bastard. The thought is heavy with sorrow. Has it really come Floyd | to this? Is there nothing I can do? Floyd | Floyd | And then, in a sudden moment of decision, he fakes a cough and Floyd | secretly puts the key in his mouth. He's about to swallow it (the Floyd | worst pill he's ever taken) just to rob Cross of a little convenience, Floyd | the one spit-in-the-eye moment that he never managed before he was a Floyd | walking dead man. Floyd | Floyd | The bullet smashes through his mind and takes the decision away, but Floyd | as the corpse of Theo Yehuda collapses, gravity quietly wedges the key Floyd | into his throat. If he dies a failure, at least he didn't hand his Floyd | secrets over like a slave. At least he did that much for Ian. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ah. That's why Theo's corpse didn't have the key, but his ashes did." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Clever." | ||||
| Ellison says, "interesting" | ||||
| djfletch says, "oh, right. I couldn't remember us getting a key out of anyone's throat." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Let's look at the other rooms." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock south door" | ||||
Floyd | >You try unlocking the door to room 321 with the ridged key and the Floyd | small brass key, but you don't have a key to fit the lock. Floyd | | DavidW says, "hm" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | A legal-size page lies face-up on the floor amid the debris. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take page" | ||||
Floyd | >(the legal-size page) Floyd | You pick up the legal-size page. Floyd | Floyd | You add the legal-size page to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The legal-size page reads: Floyd | Floyd | From the desk of Dr. Edward Atwater, M.D., Ph.D. Floyd | April 3rd, 1978 Floyd | Not a day passes by that I fail to be astonished by how willing Floyd | Corona is to throw their money away. Such tremendous cost of research! Floyd | Such lucrative pay for the staff! Such reparations to the families of Floyd | the dead! Floyd | This project has killed fifteen fools who believed themselves to be Floyd | psychic. I would painstakingly run them through personality tests, IQ Floyd | tests, psychological profiles. They would pass muster or fail, and Floyd | those who failed would be turned away. The poor fools who pass receive Floyd | the treatment that will inevitably kill them. I'm not sure that Floyd | they've even told the new project head, Yehuda, how many subjects have Floyd | died thanks to the "symbiont." Floyd | Symbiont. Pah. I'm no microbiologist, but I recognize the symptoms Floyd | of a parasite when I see one, and this one has killed everyone that Floyd | it's been fed to. The thing dies like any other microorganism when Floyd | exposed to formaldehyde in the lab as when creating a vaccine, but Floyd | once it's in the body there's no cure. The little beasts go straight Floyd | to the brain, the subject goes mad and then dies in an out-of-control Floyd | adrenergic storm that even a near-lethal dose of diazepam won't stop. Floyd | And now we're looking for another one. At this rate, we'll never Floyd | get the contract -- at the very least, someone needs to live through Floyd | the damn infection. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Has there been an explanation as to how these pages ended up everywhere? Besides the obvious 'this is how the authors string out the backstory?'" | |||
| DavidW says, "If I had to guess, Ian put them there." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x debris" | ||||
Floyd | >It's unclear what happened here, but sorting cautiously through the Floyd | debris by eye, you identify at least two broken test tubes, a Floyd | shattered syringe, and a couple tiny clamps. A dark, clotted brown Floyd | substance clings to several of the sharper edges among the debris. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tubes" | ||||
Floyd | >It's unclear what happened here, but sorting cautiously through the Floyd | debris by eye, you identify at least two broken test tubes, a Floyd | shattered syringe, and a couple tiny clamps. A dark, clotted brown Floyd | substance clings to several of the sharper edges among the debris. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x brown substance" | ||||
Floyd | >It's unclear what happened here, but sorting cautiously through the Floyd | debris by eye, you identify at least two broken test tubes, a Floyd | shattered syringe, and a couple tiny clamps. A dark, clotted brown Floyd | substance clings to several of the sharper edges among the debris. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search debris" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You think that you left this door open, and you know that it wasn't Floyd | locked before. But it's closed now, and as you try the knob, you Floyd | discover that it's locked. Floyd | Floyd | You try unlocking the door to room 323 with the ridged key and the Floyd | small brass key, but you don't have a key to fit the lock. Floyd | | DavidW says, "hm" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You try unlocking the door to room 324 with the ridged key and the Floyd | small brass key, but you don't have a key to fit the lock. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I suppose we can try using the keycard next, but I'm a-scared." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Me, too, David. Me, too." | ||||
| Jacqueline holds David's hand. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Wait, you can't type that way." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf6" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | Jacqueline releases David's hand. | |||
| (From DavidW) Jacqueline pushes David into the lions' den. | Ellison asks, "did we already put the code into that one access panel?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks (of DW), "Are you using the autosave? Or keeping track yourself?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The morgue? Yes." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "autosave" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You swipe your keycard through the keycard reader. After a moment, Floyd | the door emits a loud click and the airlock door slides open. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of ruled paper lies beside a prone figure. Floyd | Floyd | On the floor, there is a prone figure in a complete hazard suit. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sheet of ruled paper) Floyd | You pick up the sheet of ruled paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of ruled paper to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of ruled paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Raymond Pearce, M.D. Floyd | Assistant Director, Mt. Airy Hospital Floyd | May 12th, 1978 Floyd | I don't know what kind of disaster they've uncovered but it's Floyd | happening right now and it's in my hospital. Floyd | They're all running around like they're possessed. The subject, Floyd | McMoneagle, went tearing past me less than a half hour ago. It's more Floyd | energy than I've ever seen him display. He went down the stairs, not a Floyd | doctor or escort in sight. I should have followed, but something gave Floyd | me this unearthly fear. Ridiculous, but it's hard not to fall prey to Floyd | the mysticism that's surrounded this whole absurd affair. Floyd | Minutes later, I heard screaming, like the kind in the giant Floyd | monster pictures my nephew is so damn fond of. I couldn't tell where Floyd | it was from. Now there's something strange going on in the wet lab, Floyd | something obscuring the window in there. Floyd | It's now or never. I have a terrible feeling about all this, but I Floyd | have to find out what the hell they've been doing before we're all run Floyd | out of the building. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x figure" | ||||
Floyd | >Someone in a hazard suit lies, unmoving. The faceplate of the hazard Floyd | suit is completely obscured by a red, wet substance that looks not Floyd | entirely unlike sloppy joe filling. The stuff inside the suit is Floyd | moving, churning within itself. Floyd | Floyd | The external airlock door slides closed with a hiss and locks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | Binder says, "sounds like it turned out to be 'never'" | |||
| DavidW says, "ewwwww" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "haha" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I'm starting to think that the building killed everybody for littering." | ||||
| Binder says, "they clearly deserved it" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't think we want to open this suit." | ||||
| Jacqueline cackles at Ellison's theory. | ||||
| maga says (to Jacq), "that was the moment I was waiting for" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hazard suit" | ||||
Floyd | >Someone in a hazard suit lies, unmoving. The faceplate of the hazard Floyd | suit is completely obscured by a red, wet substance that looks not Floyd | entirely unlike sloppy joe filling. The stuff inside the suit is Floyd | moving, churning within itself. Floyd | | Jacqueline exclaims (at DW), "Oh please, please save and then open it!" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shredded suit" | ||||
Floyd | >You see nothing special about the shredded environment suit. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Nothing special at all." | |||
| DavidW says, "I saved one room ago. I'm not saving at every room." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to maga), "yeah, that bit was awesome" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lamps" | Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | |||
Floyd | >A battery of six red lamps glares down at you. The light manages to Floyd | be both subtle and harsh. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hooks" | Jacqueline says, "Let's just open it, then. Open it and see what it's like to become a sloppy joe" | |||
Floyd | >A pair of small brass hooks is mounted in the wall. They are small Floyd | and somewhat flimsy, appearing to be designed for exactly the kind of Floyd | environment suit that hangs, shredded, from one of the hooks. The Floyd | other hook is empty. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search shredded suit" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open shredded suit" | ||||
Floyd | >That's not something you can open. | Ellison says, "I hope it's not heavy on the onions" | |||
Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open hazard suit" | ||||
Floyd | >You begin to unzip the hazard suit. The moment an opening appears, Floyd | you are sprayed in the face with some kind of reddish mist. It stings Floyd | your eyes and nose, and you stumble backward. You start to feel queasy Floyd | immediately, and the skin where the mist touched you starts to Floyd | experience a buzzing sensation. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You hesitate over the DECONTAMINATE button. Based on the cleanliness Floyd | of the room (and the disturbing redness on the other side of the inner Floyd | airlock door), the decontamination procedures here are designed to Floyd | handle some pretty powerful stuff - bleach at a bare minimum, Floyd | probably, and not formulated to play nice with human skin. Floyd | Floyd | In the interests of avoiding severe chemical burns, you refrain from Floyd | pushing the button. Floyd | Floyd | The skin of your face starts to feel very hot, the burning sensation Floyd | in your eyes and nose becoming more intense. The buzzing sensation Floyd | spreads, creeping down your arms. Your vision is replaced with a Floyd | fiery redness, and the pain is all-consuming. Floyd | | Ellison says, "interesting" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "sing" | ||||
Floyd | >You are too distracted by your condition to take any action. Floyd | Floyd | The pain in your face ebbs away, replaced with a vibrating numbness. Floyd | You reach one hand up to touch your cheek but feel only a churning, Floyd | moving wetness where your face used to be. Your limbs have become Floyd | numb, and you can feel your heart's beating become labored in your Floyd | chest. Something moving in your lungs begins to retard your Floyd | breathing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||||
Floyd | >You are too distracted by your condition to take any action. Floyd | Floyd | Gurgling helplessly, you slump to the floor. You can feel the Floyd | intruder in your body slowly eating away at you, from the inside and Floyd | out. Mercifully, the pain is now gone, replaced only by a strange Floyd | vibration in the places of your body that remain uneaten. As your Floyd | lungs and heart slowly stop moving, your senses fade away, replaced by Floyd | an ominous stillness. Floyd | Floyd | | Binder says, "dude." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | maga says, "you steadily become more delicious" | |||
| DavidW says, "I knew it was a mistake." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf6" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to DW), "Yeah, but it was a kickass mistake." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Thank you." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Okay. We probably need this suit to go further east. Suggestion: Let the demon laundry machine wash it?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "May I?" | ||||
| Binder asks, "the evil is on the inside, can the machine wash through the suit?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Absolutely." | ||||
| Binder says, "I guess we should find out." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Binder), "If you have a better suggestion, feel free to suggest." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You swipe your keycard through the keycard reader. After a moment, Floyd | the door emits a loud click and the airlock door slides open. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of ruled paper lies beside a prone figure. Floyd | Floyd | On the floor, there is a prone figure in a complete hazard suit. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper and hazard suit" | ||||
Floyd | >sheet of ruled paper: You pick up the sheet of ruled paper. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hazard suit" | Jacqueline says, "hm" | |||
| Binder says (to DavidW), "If I come up with one, I'll pipe up." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | sealed hazard suit: Do you mean to unzip the sealed hazard suit? (y/n) Floyd | >Please answer yes or no.> Floyd | You begin to unzip the hazard suit. The moment an opening appears, Floyd | you are sprayed in the face with some kind of reddish mist. It stings Floyd | your eyes and nose, and you stumble backward. You start to feel queasy Floyd | immediately, and the skin where the mist touched you starts to Floyd | experience a buzzing sensation. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of ruled paper to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Wait NO" | |||
| DavidW says, "ACK" | ||||
| Binder says, "deja ew." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That is an issue with not seeing the question before you answer." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bindew), "HA" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The damn secret y/n question." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >The exterior airlock door leads back to the hallway, and the interior Floyd | airlock door leads somewhere unknown. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Wait... I'll let David do it." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Now we know the question, at least." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sheet of ruled paper) Floyd | You pick up the sheet of ruled paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the sheet of ruled paper to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | Floyd | The external airlock door slides closed with a hiss and locks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hazard suit" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | DavidW asks, "er, are there more questions?" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you mean to unzip the sealed hazard suit? (y/n) >Did you mean to Floyd | pick up the prone figure? (y/n) >Please answer yes or no.> Then what Floyd | did you mean by trying to take the hazard suit? Now I'm all confused. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "I guess there are." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Okay, so no then yes." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take hazard suit" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you mean to unzip the sealed hazard suit? (y/n) >Did you mean to Floyd | pick up the prone figure? (y/n) > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | Jacqueline says, "Oh man, another q." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "This is weird." | ||||
| DavidW says, "[expletive deleted]" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Say, um... maybe." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | You think you could lift the prone figure, but you'll need to have Floyd | your hands free first. Set down the severed fingers, the ridged key, Floyd | the small brass key, the small-caliber pistol and the typewriter key? Floyd | (y/n) >Please answer yes or no.> It's too awkward to lift the prone Floyd | figure while carrying the severed fingers, the ridged key, the small Floyd | brass key, the small-caliber pistol, the typewriter key, the Corona Floyd | Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "To be fair, this is Floyd's fault, not the games." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "er, game's" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So let us not hold this against it." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "So, um, take hazard suit. n. y. y." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "carry the hazard suit" | Jacqueline says, "er, no, not n." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | Binder says, "The game is merely an accomplice in Floyd's attempt to turn us to goo." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you mean to unzip the sealed hazard suit? (y/n) >Did you mean to Floyd | pick up the prone figure? (y/n) > | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "yes" | ||||
Floyd | You think you could lift the prone figure, but you'll need to have Floyd | your hands free first. Set down the severed fingers, the ridged key, Floyd | the small brass key, the small-caliber pistol and the typewriter key? Floyd | (y/n) > Floyd | You discard the severed fingers. Floyd | Floyd | You set down the ridged key. Floyd | Floyd | You set down the small brass key. Floyd | Floyd | You set down the small-caliber pistol. Floyd | Floyd | You set down the typewriter key. Floyd | Floyd | You fold your notes, slip the keycard into the fold, tuck them under Floyd | your arm, and heave the prone figure onto your shoulder. It feels Floyd | both heavier and squishier than you expected it to be, given its size. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Mmm... squishy." | |||
| Binder shudders | ||||
| DavidW says, "I feel that this is on the correct track, though. Moving the thing." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes." | ||||
| Binder says, "Sounds good. Unless there's something inside the next door needing shot." | ||||
| DavidW stage-whispers, "DOWN THE CHUTE?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Binder), "We're out of bullets." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "EXIT". The external airlock door emits a Floyd | loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ACK" | |||
| DavidW says, "We left the keycard in there!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That Do You Want To Unzip The Suit disambiguation is great because there's no way one could misinterpret 'unzip suit' for 'take suit' but the authors just want to make sure you experience the unzipping." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop suit" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sealed hazard suit) Floyd | You haven't got that. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying a hazard-suited figure slung over your shoulder. Floyd | Also, you have your notes folded under your arm with the Corona Labs Floyd | keycard tucked inside. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop figure" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave the hazard-suited figure off your shoulder and lower it Floyd | carefully to the ground. Then, you untuck your notes from your armpit Floyd | and fish out the Corona Labs keycard with minimal damage done. Floyd | | DavidW says, "oh, we kept the card. Missed that." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take figure" | ||||
Floyd | >You fold your notes, slip the keycard into the fold, tuck them under Floyd | your arm, and heave the hazard-suited figure onto your shoulder. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | >That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "EXIT". The external airlock door emits a Floyd | loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | There's a large white butterfly flitting back and forth near the Floyd | ceiling. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Butterfly?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x butterfly" | ||||
Floyd | >Looking more closely at the white butterfly, you realize that it is Floyd | nothing more than folded paper. Still, its wings beat like a real Floyd | butterfly's wings against the slight breeze in the hallway, and it Floyd | dances through the air with careless, casual grace. Floyd | Floyd | There seems to be something written on the butterfly, but you can't Floyd | make out the words from here. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Another note." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take butterfly" | ||||
Floyd | >It's too awkward to pick anything up while you're carrying the Floyd | hazard-suited figure around. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "drop figure" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave the hazard-suited figure off your shoulder and lower it Floyd | carefully to the ground. Then, you untuck your notes from your armpit Floyd | and fish out the Corona Labs keycard with minimal damage done. Floyd | Floyd | The paper butterfly traces a lazy spiral through the air before coming Floyd | to rest on the dull white tile. Its diamond-shaped wings flex, Floyd | unflex, and then unfold. The corners and edges pull apart from one Floyd | another like some sort of magical puzzle box. Floyd | Floyd | The transformation is complete. The butterfly is gone, and only a Floyd | small piece of unlined paper remains. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(the small piece of unlined paper) Floyd | You pick up the small piece of unlined paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small piece of unlined paper to your existing collection Floyd | of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 5/6/78 Floyd | Today must have been different for Ian. When I came in, he greeted me Floyd | with a plea to keep him company and keep him awake. I was glad to be Floyd | able to help, so we talked late into the night. Floyd | It feels like he's putting a lot of trust in me, even though he Floyd | doesn't like to talk about his nightmares or his past. He seems to be Floyd | afraid of himself, and said over and over that he didn't want to hurt Floyd | anybody. He's afraid, he says, and he doesn't want to hurt anybody. It Floyd | was hard not to laugh at the notion of Ian hurting anybody. He Floyd | wouldn't -- couldn't -- hurt a fly. Floyd | He really didn't want to fall asleep, but eventually he just couldn't Floyd | stay up any longer. I tucked him in and tried to make him as Floyd | comfortable as I could for when the nightmares came. Floyd | I think I'm developing feelings for Ian. His eyes are so expressive Floyd | and he feels for other people so keenly. Unprofessional or not, Ian's Floyd | a really special person and I hope Corona's able to cure him of Floyd | whatever it is that he's got. I wish I could do something for him. Floyd | Protect him from his demons. Floyd | In the meantime, I'll just do the one thing that it seems like only I Floyd | can do: Floyd | Care. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take figure" | ||||
Floyd | >You fold your notes, slip the keycard into the fold, tuck them under Floyd | your arm, and heave the hazard-suited figure onto your shoulder. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a laundry chute to the west. Floyd | Floyd | The sterile breeze flowing north slowly stops and then reverses. A Floyd | long wave of bad-smelling air pushes toward you from the dense Floyd | darkness down the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter chute" | ||||
Floyd | >It'll be a difficult enough wriggle to get into the chute without Floyd | carrying the hazard-suited figure at the same time. If you want the Floyd | hazard-suited figure at the bottom of the laundry chute, you should Floyd | probably drop it in first. Floyd | | DavidW says, "This'll be messy, I bet." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put figure in chute" | Binder asks, "I missed it, did we concentrate on the figure and get any visions?" | |||
Floyd | >You drop the hazard-suited figure into the laundry chute. It Floyd | promptly vanishes into the darkness. Floyd | | DavidW says (to Binder), "figures, and no." | |||
| DavidW says, "er fingers" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter chute" | DavidW says, "I'm guessing we get a deluxe death this time." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >A peek down the laundry chute suggests that it is still safe, but Floyd | looks may be deceiving. Are you sure you want to try it? (y/n) >You Floyd | slide headfirst down the laundry chute. The fast, exhilarating, and Floyd | death-free ride ends with a heartstopping plummet through space and a Floyd | faceful of soiled sheets. They're soft enough for you to land safely, Floyd | but still pretty disgusting. Floyd | Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital (in the laundry bin) Floyd | Crumpled white sheets fill an enormous laundry bin underneath the Floyd | chute's entrance - a great relief, since those sheets were dense Floyd | enough to competently break your fall. You're currently inside the Floyd | laundry bin, but you can see the rest of the room well enough. There Floyd | is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers and Floyd | dryers line the walls of this room. The room stinks of offal, blood Floyd | and bleach all at the same time. On the east wall, a large sink made Floyd | of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet is bent at a peculiar Floyd | angle and it is missing both handles. A particularly large laundry Floyd | machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | In the laundry bin you can see a hazard-suited figure. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||||
Floyd | >You get out of the laundry bin. Floyd | Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | There is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers Floyd | and dryers line the walls of this room, and three canvas-walled carts Floyd | filled with dirty linens squat awaiting their purpose. The room Floyd | stinks of offal, blood and bleach all at the same time. On the east Floyd | wall, a large sink made of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet Floyd | is bent at a peculiar angle and it is missing both handles. A Floyd | particularly large laundry machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a laundry bin (in which are a hazard-suited figure Floyd | and a heap of soiled sheets) here. Floyd | | Binder says, "yay death-free" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take figure" | ||||
Floyd | >You fold your notes, slip the keycard into the fold, tuck them under Floyd | your arm, and heave the hazard-suited figure onto your shoulder. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Here we go." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put figure in machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave the hazard-suited figure into the cilia-filled tube of the Floyd | laundry machine and close the lid. Floyd | Floyd | The laundry machine starts up with an audible whine and a whirring Floyd | noise that increases in frequency as its internal motors (or muscles, Floyd | you suppose) spin up. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Imagine a coke can shaken up in a paint mixer." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | You nearly jump out of your skin as a buzzer sounds loudly from the Floyd | huge laundry machine. Its motor gradually slows to a halt. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open machine" | Binder says, "we should have used formaldehyde detergent" | |||
Floyd | >You lift the lid of the large laundry machine, revealing the fleshy, Floyd | cilia-lined tube within. Flattened around the inside of the tube is Floyd | the limp form of an empty hazard suit, clean and white. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take suit" | Binder exclaims, "YAY!" | |||
Floyd | >You reach into the machine and grasp the suit by your thumb and Floyd | forefinger, then gently extract it while avoiding the reach of the Floyd | undulating cilia. You shake the hazard suit out, noting that it is Floyd | now completely clean and dry. You momentarily find yourself wondering Floyd | whether, if you could manufacture machines like this, the American Floyd | public might be able to overlook its flesh-eating properties for its Floyd | clearly superior garment care. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ha ha ha" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear suit" | ||||
Floyd | >The suit is somewhat flimsy. You'd better not wear it until you Floyd | really need it or you might tear the thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand closed. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | >The call button lights under your finger. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The split-flap display whirs into life, reporting the elevator's Floyd | transit from floor to floor. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x display" | ||||
Floyd | >A single call button glows beside the elevator doors. The floor Floyd | indicator has a split-flip display currently reading "BASEMENT". Floyd | Floyd | The split-flap display stops on "BASEMENT". The elevator call button Floyd | goes dark, and the metal doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push third floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You swipe your keycard through the keycard reader. After a moment, Floyd | the door emits a loud click and the airlock door slides open. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a typewriter key, a small-caliber pistol, a small Floyd | brass key, a ridged key and some severed fingers here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all" | ||||
Floyd | >typewriter key: You pick up the typewriter key. Floyd | small-caliber pistol: You pick up the small-caliber pistol. Floyd | small brass key: You pick up the small brass key. Floyd | ridged key: You pick up the ridged key. Floyd | severed fingers: You pick up the severed fingers. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wear suit" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean hazard suit) Floyd | You clamber awkwardly into the suit. It takes you several minutes to Floyd | figure out how to get your hands into the gloves at the end of the Floyd | sleeves without having to zip it up first, but after some struggling Floyd | you are completely suited up. You check all of the airtight zippers Floyd | and make sure that the filter is letting you breathe properly. You Floyd | feel clumsy and big, but you should be protected from all but the most Floyd | minute contaminants. Unless the suit tears, of course. Floyd | | Binder says, "How portentous." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. A metallic feminine voice Floyd | announces, "Decontamination cannot proceed while the exit door is Floyd | open." Floyd | Floyd | The external airlock door slides closed with a hiss and locks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. You hear a hissing noise, and Floyd | several of the nozzles overhead spray white foam over you and your Floyd | surroundings. The foam is followed immediately by several jets of Floyd | clear liquid, which hit with staggering force. After you are sluiced Floyd | down, the nozzles spray a fine mist into the air, which immediately Floyd | begins to smell of chlorine. Floyd | Floyd | After about twenty seconds, the nozzles shut off. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Wait - how can you smell it?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Our suit must have a leak." | |||
| DavidW says, "Magic" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Ah." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push entry" | ||||
Floyd | >(the entry button) Floyd | You push the button marked "ENTRY". The internal airlock door emits a Floyd | loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | As the door slides open, you are immediately sprayed by a reddish Floyd | liquid, which splatters against the surface of your suit. Upon wiping Floyd | off your faceplate with a suited arm, you see that an amorphous red Floyd | substance is now oozing into the airlock through the partly open door. Floyd | Floyd | You flinch back from the vista beyond, where a strange, churning red | Jacqueline says, "We must have imagined the smell." | |||
Floyd | substance has devoured almost an entire room. Before, when you looked Floyd | into the faceplate of the prone figure's environmental suit, you saw a Floyd | seething red hell that consumed one man. That was the microcosm; this Floyd | door contains the same red hell in macrocosm. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Suggestions?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I think our options are to go east anyway or to try closing the door and push decontaminate again." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "We could wet our hazmat suit." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "wha?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Kidding." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, let's try east anyway." | ||||
| DavidW says, "okays" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Biohazard Lab, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This room seems to have been the subject of some kind of massive Floyd | biological explosion. Some kind of glistening, mealy red substance Floyd | similar to ground meat is splattered all over the floor, walls and Floyd | ceiling in large patches. The substance seems to have a life of its Floyd | own, pulsing and undulating in great colonies. Large piles of it merge Floyd | and separate. Floyd | Floyd | The room itself seems to have been some kind of biological Floyd | experimentation laboratory. You can see a large sink along one wall, Floyd | with nozzles for a bunsen burner mounted next to it. While most of the Floyd | counters are covered with the disgusting red substance, one table is Floyd | mostly untouched thanks to an overhanging edge. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is a measuring pipette, fixed in place above a wooden Floyd | test tube rack. There's also a small lab refrigerator branded with a Floyd | biohazard symbol. Floyd | Floyd | The bottom of a glass test tube projects from a mound of the mealy red Floyd | stuff. Floyd | | ||||
| Tale has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Jacqueline says, "Tale has gone to the lounge to vomit." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rack" | ||||
Floyd | >A wooden rack with holes and divots for holding test tubes. It's Floyd | currently empty. Floyd | | Tale says, "Oi, no, but I was chatting on another channel and floyd got in the way." | |||
| Tale arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >The refrigerator is half-sized, like a dorm fridge, but designed to Floyd | contain various heat-sensitive biological supplies instead of beer. A Floyd | striking orange and black biohazard symbol has been stickered to the Floyd | front. Unlike so much else in the room, the refrigerator appears Floyd | uncontaminated by the red mass. Floyd | Floyd | The internal airlock door slides closed with a hiss and and locks with Floyd | a click. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "So... let's turn on the bunsen burner and die by fire along with this abomination." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "Or do we want to kill it and also live?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x suit" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a thin white hazard suit. While not very durable, a combination Floyd | of a charcoal air filter and an airtight fiber weave should serve to Floyd | protect the wearer from most environmental hazards. Mealy red stuff Floyd | smears the outside of the hazard suit, giving it a certain butchery Floyd | chic look. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | >The mealy red substance covers this large sink. Next to it are some Floyd | equally contaminated-looking bunsen burner nozzles. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nozzles" | ||||
Floyd | >There are two of the cone-shaped, ridged nozzles, each with a handle Floyd | on top. If there were a bunsen burner nearby, you could connect it to Floyd | one of these. Unfortunately, you see no such thing. Worse, the Floyd | nozzles seem to be covered with red goo and rust. Floyd | | DavidW says, "So, we could fill the room with gas." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, hm." | ||||
| DavidW says, "maybe." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That would be potentially quite effective, yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Try it." | ||||
| DavidW says, "That would kill us." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Though... we could smell the cheese earlier. I mean, chlorine." | ||||
| Ellison says, "I think there is something important in the fridge, if the red mist is avoiding it" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We're not supposed to be able to smell anything is my point." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the small lab refrigerator, revealing a vial of blood and a Floyd | legal-size page. Floyd | | Ellison says, "bah" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Wait." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "We don't have any kind of breathing apparatus on this suit, do we?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't think so." | ||||
| djfletch says, "it said something about a filter" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "There is no way this thing is airtight, then." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to djfletch), "hm" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, it's worth a try." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Even if it's a deadly try." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all from fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >["take all from fridge" is vague - please be more specific with your Floyd | command.] Floyd | | djfletch asks, "who is keeping their diary pages in the fridge?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take page from fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the legal-size page. Floyd | Floyd | You add the legal-size page to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The legal-size page reads: Floyd | Floyd | From the desk of Dr. Edward Atwater, M.D., Ph.D. Floyd | April 25th, 1978 Floyd | I'll be damned, they're really buying it. McMoneagle's due to be Floyd | dosed within the next few days. Floyd | I am not a completely heartless man. It is a popular conceit in Floyd | this office, and I suppose I cannot blame anyone for thinking so. But Floyd | I have been here for years, now, and overseen the snuffing out of over Floyd | a dozen lives. With each death I hope to the godless heavens that Floyd | Corona will see the depth of its mistake, realize that experimenting Floyd | with a lethal parasite and calling it a symbiont will not make wishes Floyd | come true. If we want to join the Project it will only be through Floyd | methodical chicanery, not methodical murder. Floyd | What do they want of me? To become McMoneagle's friend, like Floyd | "kindly old Doc Yehuda?" To have faith in the absence of reason, like Floyd | "Crazy 'Lainey?" I dread to think of how crushed they will be when the Floyd | young man's brain floods itself with chemicals. I will be the only Floyd | staff member in his right mind. Floyd | I am not a monster. I am a doctor. To hell with anyone who doesn't Floyd | understand that. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x vial" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a small vial of dark red blood with a handwritten label on the Floyd | front. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >The vial is labelled "Ian McMoneagle, 5/10/78". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pipette" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a long, very thin tube with a valve to control the flow of Floyd | liquid through it. It is mounted in place above the test tube rack. Floyd | The pipette is marked with numbered graduations along its side to aid Floyd | with measurement, and it is flared at the top so that pouring liquid Floyd | into it is easier. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "c vial?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I'm unsure if we should take this vial now or not. We probably need the other ingredients." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c vial" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the vial of Ian McMoneagle's blood, but you Floyd | don't sense anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >You close the small lab refrigerator. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You're wearing a sludge-smeared hazard suit, which is excellent Floyd | protection, but which does give the world a certain surreal quality as Floyd | seen through the faceplate. You are carrying some severed fingers, a Floyd | ridged key, a small brass key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter Floyd | key, a Corona Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" | ||||
Floyd | >A black stone table. Its edge extends outward from the solid wood Floyd | base supporting it, and the hanging edge seems to have kept any of the Floyd | red goo from making it to the top of the table. It's a miracle that Floyd | none has fallen down from the ceiling. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x goo" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x red substance" | ||||
Floyd | >You study the goop for a moment. It's a pulsating mass of red, Floyd | mealy, meat reminiscent of nothing so much as living, malevolent Floyd | sloppy joe filling. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c substance" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sludge-encrusted test tube) Floyd | A dark brown substance clings to the inside of the test tube. Floyd | Floyd | You try to concentrate on the sludge-encrusted test tube, but you Floyd | don't sense anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c red substance" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the mealy red substance, but you don't Floyd | sense anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "I am reminded of that scene from Poltergeist with the meat crawling across the counter, except exponentially worse." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x test tube" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sludge-encrusted test tube) Floyd | A dark brown substance clings to the inside of the test tube. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | >You pull the test tube out of the churning mound of mealy red stuff. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x brown substance" | ||||
Floyd | >A dark brown substance clings to the inside of the test tube. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell it" | ||||
Floyd | >From inside the hazard suit, most smells are muted under your own Floyd | body odor, but you can still pick up a faint meaty reek. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read tube" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sludge-encrusted test tube) Floyd | There's nothing written on the sludge-encrusted test tube. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Biohazard Lab, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This room seems to have been the subject of some kind of massive Floyd | biological explosion. Some kind of glistening, mealy red substance Floyd | similar to ground meat is splattered all over the floor, walls and Floyd | ceiling in large patches. The substance seems to have a life of its Floyd | own, pulsing and undulating in great colonies. Large piles of it merge Floyd | and separate. Floyd | Floyd | The room itself seems to have been some kind of biological Floyd | experimentation laboratory. You can see a large sink along one wall, Floyd | with nozzles for a bunsen burner mounted next to it. While most of the Floyd | counters are covered with the disgusting red substance, one table is Floyd | mostly untouched thanks to an overhanging edge. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is a measuring pipette, fixed in place above a wooden Floyd | test tube rack. There's also a small lab refrigerator branded with a Floyd | biohazard symbol. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search goop" | ||||
Floyd | >Wincing, you grope about for a moment in the sludge near the door Floyd | until you encounter something that feels like a button. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the hidden button. The internal airlock door emits a loud Floyd | click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Lovely." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | A few slowly shifting tendrils of red, mealy meat have made their way Floyd | into the airlock. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close entry door" | ||||
Floyd | >The internal airlock door resists your attempt to close it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. A metallic feminine voice Floyd | announces, "Decontamination cannot proceed while the entry door is Floyd | open." Floyd | Floyd | The internal airlock door slides closed with a hiss and and locks with Floyd | a click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. You hear a hissing noise, and Floyd | several of the nozzles overhead spray white foam over you and your Floyd | surroundings. The red substance that ended up in the airlock makes a Floyd | horrible shrieking noise and begins to smoke and thrash. The foam Floyd | is followed immediately by several jets of clear liquid, which hit Floyd | with staggering force. After you are sluiced down, the nozzles spray Floyd | a fine mist into the air, which immediately begins to smell of Floyd | chlorine. Floyd | Floyd | After about twenty seconds, the nozzles shut off. Shortly thereafter, Floyd | the red substance finishes dissolving entirely. Floyd | Floyd | You note that the glass test tube has been scoured completely clean. | Jacqueline says, "I'll bet we can't." | |||
Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Oh wait, huh." | |||
| DavidW says, "oops" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, we need that tube." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh. Tricksy." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "ENTRY". The internal airlock door emits Floyd | a loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Lab, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This room seems to have been the subject of some kind of massive Floyd | biological explosion. Some kind of glistening, mealy red substance Floyd | similar to ground meat is splattered all over the floor, walls and Floyd | ceiling in large patches. The substance seems to have a life of its Floyd | own, pulsing and undulating in great colonies. Large piles of it merge Floyd | and separate. Floyd | Floyd | The room itself seems to have been some kind of biological Floyd | experimentation laboratory. You can see a large sink along one wall, Floyd | with nozzles for a bunsen burner mounted next to it. While most of the Floyd | counters are covered with the disgusting red substance, one table is Floyd | mostly untouched thanks to an overhanging edge. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is a measuring pipette, fixed in place above a wooden Floyd | test tube rack. There's also a small lab refrigerator branded with a Floyd | biohazard symbol. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put tube in rack" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean glass test tube in the wooden test tube rack) Floyd | You lower the clean glass test tube through a hole in the wooden test Floyd | tube rack and nestle its base into the appropriate divot. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ugh" | |||
| DavidW asks, "where was our last save point?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "When we cleaned the suit?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Quite a bit back, I think. Lemme see..." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "When we cleaned the suit," | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "cf7" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Can we restore back to there then?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure." | ||||
| DavidW says, "thanks" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf7" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | There is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers Floyd | and dryers line the walls of this room, and three canvas-walled carts Floyd | filled with dirty linens squat awaiting their purpose. The room Floyd | stinks of offal, blood and bleach all at the same time. On the east Floyd | wall, a large sink made of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet Floyd | is bent at a peculiar angle and it is missing both handles. A Floyd | particularly large laundry machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a laundry bin (in which is a heap of soiled sheets) Floyd | here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search sheets" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "I'm guessing we need that vial of Ian's blood for the cocktail - how are we going to manage that? I guess we mix it *in that room*?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take sheets" | ||||
Floyd | >Should you really find yourself in need of a large mass of formless Floyd | textile, surely you can find some that doesn't smell like zombie Floyd | manure. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I think so, yes" | |||
| DavidW says, "But we don't have all the ingredients anyway." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Right" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "brb - potty" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Also, I think we need to get into the other locked rooms somehow." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'll just take us to the airlock and get our things as we think about our next move." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand closed. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | * GDorn has left the channel. | |||
Floyd | >The call button lights under your finger. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The split-flap display whirs into life, reporting the elevator's Floyd | transit from floor to floor. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The split-flap display stops on "BASEMENT". The elevator call button Floyd | goes dark, and the metal doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push third button" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Back." | |||
| DavidW says, "I'm taking us to the airlock." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You swipe your keycard through the keycard reader. After a moment, Floyd | the door emits a loud click and the airlock door slides open. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a typewriter key, a small-caliber pistol, a small Floyd | brass key, a ridged key and some severed fingers here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all" | ||||
Floyd | >typewriter key: You pick up the typewriter key. Floyd | small-caliber pistol: You pick up the small-caliber pistol. Floyd | small brass key: You pick up the small brass key. Floyd | ridged key: You pick up the ridged key. Floyd | severed fingers: You pick up the severed fingers. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put suit on hook" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean hazard suit on the small brass hook) Floyd | You set the clean hazard suit on the small brass hook. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | Floyd | The airlock door slides closed with a hiss and locks with a click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf8" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "So now we go do other things? Find the other stuff? Or... what were you thinking?" | |||
| DavidW says, "So, we have three locked doors here, the locked safe, the room Ian is in." | ||||
| maga's studied dalliance with his venal muses is little to our taste. | DavidW says, "I'm not sure how to proceed from here." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Need to find those other drugs." | ||||
| DavidW says, "We've never pushed the alarm button in the elevator; I'd like to try that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Probably behind one of those locked doors." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure - alarm away." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | Ellison asks, "how far did they get with making their cocktail? any chance that the blood already has the whole mix?" | |||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the ground floor button, the basement button, the Floyd | second floor button, the third floor button, the fourth floor button Floyd | or the alarm button? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "alarm" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the alarm button, and a strident bell rings out, filling the Floyd | elevator painfully for a long moment. The sound dies away, but the Floyd | ringing in your head takes a bit longer to fade. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "hm" | |||
| DavidW says, "Different people in the notes claimed to have some of the stuff." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x alice" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, small piece of unlined paper, Alice 5/12/78, Alice Floyd | 4/17/78 or Alice 4/30/78? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x alice paper" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, small piece of unlined paper, Alice 5/12/78, Alice Floyd | 4/17/78 or Alice 4/30/78? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlined" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, small piece of unlined paper, Alice 5/12/78, EGB Floyd | 4/20/78, EGB 5/12/78, EGB 5/12/78, EGB 4/7/78, EGB 3/20/77, Alice Floyd | 4/17/78, Alice 4/30/78 or EGB 5/3/78? Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read all alice" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't use multiple objects with that verb. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read alice 5/12/78" | ||||
Floyd | >You flip through your notes until you come to the Alice 5/12/78 Floyd | entry. Floyd | Floyd | The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 5/12/78 Floyd | Floyd | I just saw a man die. He was standing in a shadow and a mouth came Floyd | out and bit him in half. Floyd | I feel numb and awful and I'm so scared. I don't know where Ian is Floyd | and I'm afraid that he's going to be hurt or killed. I don't know why Floyd | he isn't in his room. Floyd | I have to help him and protect him. I'll wait for him here and he'll Floyd | come back, and we can be together and I'll stop the awful things from Floyd | hurting him. Floyd | Please Ian come back. I will be here waiting until you come back. Floyd | I love you. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read alice 4/17/78" | ||||
Floyd | >You flip through your notes until you come to the Alice 4/17/78 Floyd | entry. Floyd | Floyd | The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 4/17/78 Floyd | Floyd | I know it's totally unprofessional, but I can't help but think that Floyd | the patient in room 320 is really interesting. Floyd | I don't know much about him. He's in an annex that's being used by an Floyd | outside corporation for a secret project or something. I'm not even Floyd | really supposed to talk to him, but ... Floyd | Well, he looks so sad. He hasn't gone home in a week and a half and Floyd | he'll be here for even longer than that, and he's got to be really Floyd | lonely. They can't expect me to come through the room and give him Floyd | food and change his linens and keep my mouth clamped shut the whole Floyd | time. That's not fair to him and it's not fair to me either. Floyd | More than food and linens and medication, what a patient like that Floyd | needs right now is a friendly face and light conversation if he Floyd | happens to be up late. That's not a crime, is it? Floyd | And I've gotta admit ... he's kind of cute. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read alice 4/30/78" | ||||
Floyd | >You flip through your notes until you come to the Alice 4/30/78 Floyd | entry. Floyd | Floyd | The small piece of unlined paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Alice's Diary, 4/30/78 Floyd | Floyd | He screams at night. Floyd | Ian says that he's had these nightmares as long as he can remember, Floyd | that it's fine and everything is normal. I really want to believe him, Floyd | but the last few days have been different. I've seen him tossing and Floyd | turning, but now he screams. Says things. His eyes are open, but he Floyd | can't see or hear me. Floyd | Are they doing something to him? I'm not supposed to ask about why Floyd | he's here. I've been sort of hoping that he would tell me something, Floyd | but he doesn't even like to talk about the nightmares. All I can hear Floyd | are the things he says when he's asleep, strangled bits of words. Floyd | "Teeth. Dark. Coming for me." Floyd | I wish I could do something for him. Anything. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read unread alice" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | DavidW says, "frustrating" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "consult notes about sandepam" | ||||
Floyd | >You discover nothing of interest in your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "list notes" | ||||
Floyd | >["list notes" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "help notes" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to help. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "What specifically were you looking for?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I want to know who has which drugs." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, ugh." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I mean, I could search transcripts." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Gimme a sec." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think either Alice or Elaine claimed to have the Sandepam or whatever it was." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >The only way out of the elevator is through the elevator doors to the Floyd | east. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Long banks of fluorescent lights cast sharp shadows along the Floyd | half-familiar, half-unfamiliar hallway, which continues off to the Floyd | north. The tiled floor is only a shade darker than the dull off-white Floyd | walls. A strange, unpleasant odor hangs in the air and stings your Floyd | nostrils. The door to Room 320 is across the hall to the west. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads east into the testing room's antechamber. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Room 320, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A broad ivory spike protrudes from the floor and pierces the ceiling, Floyd | transfixing the corpse of a slender, dark-haired woman on the way. Floyd | Her blood stands starkly red against the dull white tile and walls. Floyd | The room's furnishings - a hospital bed, a bookshelf, a dresser - have Floyd | been smashed into a still-recognizable pile of twisted metal and wood Floyd | on the west side of the room. Thousands of pieces of shredded paper, Floyd | none much larger than a fingernail, cover the floor near the wreckage Floyd | and shiver in the slight breath from the broken window. The only exit Floyd | is to the east. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x alice" | ||||
Floyd | >(the the corpse of the young nurse) Floyd | The woman impaled on the white spike is dressed as you imagine a nurse Floyd | might have been in the seventies, with a button-down skirt that must Floyd | once have been clean white. Her face, frozen in a look of wide-eyed Floyd | shock, indicates asian-american heritage and youth. Floyd | | DavidW says, "'the the corpse'" | |||
| DavidW says, "okay. This is Alice." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm wondering if general searches don't work, maybe a specifc one would." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Like, if we knew Alice had a bottle of iodine, we might try 'search alice for iodine'?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "hrm" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Well, put something in her pocket to test it?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "It's a long shot, I admit." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search alice" | ||||
Floyd | >(the the corpse of the young nurse) Floyd | You go briefly and quickly through the dead nurse's pockets, but you Floyd | find nothing of interest. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put brass key in alice's pocket" | Ellison says, "the notes didn't say anything about people ingesting each of the drugs, right? if so, maybe we go around collecting blood" | |||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put brass key in alice" | Jacqueline says, "No, I don't think so, no." | |||
Floyd | >(the the corpse of the young nurse) Floyd | That can't contain things. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "give brass key to alice" | ||||
Floyd | >You can only do that to something animate. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I really didn't think that would work anyway." | |||
| djfletch asks, "have we found a use for either of the keys yet?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Well, the brass key is for a black cabinet somewhere." | ||||
| DavidW says, "And the typewriter key is probably for a typewriter." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "There was a note from Pearce saying that Yehuda came to him trying to requisition drugs." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Well, there's also the button by the tv." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I think pushing the button unlocks a door, but I'm unclear as to which one." | ||||
| DavidW says, "If for the testing lab, we'd have to run to it before it closes." | ||||
| djfletch says, "yes, I wasn't sure about that. The testing room sounds the most likely though." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'd like to find that black filecabinet, yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Let's try that. Maybe the window between the antechamber and testing rooms is gone or something." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Long banks of fluorescent lights cast sharp shadows along the Floyd | half-familiar, half-unfamiliar hallway, which continues off to the Floyd | north. The tiled floor is only a shade darker than the dull off-white Floyd | walls. A strange, unpleasant odor hangs in the air and stings your Floyd | nostrils. The door to Room 320 is across the hall to the west. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads east into the testing room's antechamber. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to DW), "I have the transcripts pulled up. Let me know if you want me to search the notes for anything." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read sign" | ||||
Floyd | >The typewritten sign reads: No remote viewing tests are to occur Floyd | without a remote supervisor. The subject is to be released by the Floyd | remote supervisor at the signal of the local supervisor. This button Floyd | will unlock the door for fifteen seconds, at which time a local buzzer Floyd | will sound. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tv" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a wall-mounted television monitor, antique by your standards. Floyd | The screen seems to be split into two halves, but one half is Floyd | completely dark. The other shows a familiar sight: the testing Floyd | chamber. A skinny young man is hunched on a chair in the corner of Floyd | the room, next to the table. A timestamp shows in blocky white font Floyd | on the bottom of the monitor: MAY 12 1978 20:02. Floyd | | djfletch says, "I'm worried we'll lock ourselves in the testing room" | |||
| DavidW says, "hm. Unlocks for 15 seconds. We probably can't reach there in time." | ||||
| DavidW says (to djfletch), "We braved the living sloppy joe monster, we can brave this." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Might be worth it just to go in there after saving. See what's what." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | >Your vision swims for a moment, and anxiety seizes your heart. You Floyd | strongly sense that you should push the button, but once you do you Floyd | must end this nightmare. There will be no going back. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "And we may be surprised." | |||
| DavidW says, "oops" | ||||
| djfletch says, "yikes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "That was a strong warning." | ||||
| djfletch says, "the button is labelled "release monsters"" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The final battle." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||||
| djfletch says, "I suppose maybe it lets out Insane Ian McGonagle from that room" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "ok. We need a new idea. Can we get the axe?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am not hopeful about the axe." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "What about the 'fire switch' in the elevator?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "But that is possibly just me." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I thought we 'unlocked' that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The fire switch, I mean." | ||||
| DavidW says, "uh, I don't think so." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh. Let's take a look, then." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "no" | ||||
Floyd | Are you sure you want to do this? (y/n) >Please answer yes or no.> Floyd | You let out your breath in a long hiss. You know that you must Floyd | eventually open the test chamber, but you have to be absolutely Floyd | prepared. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unlock fire" | ||||
Floyd | >You don't have a key that fits the fire key switch. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I misremember yet again." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, I remember now." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We were fiddle farting around with syntax, and finally dj mentioned 'unlock' and we were happy to figure out the syntax, but were no closer beyond that." | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Shoot the axe case?" | |||
| DavidW says, "We could try 'c' everywhere for hints." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "C is good." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The pistol had only the one bullet and we used it on Yehuda." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "ah" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Still, it might break the axe's glass." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The gun itself, you mean? Yeah." | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Possibly." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push basement" | ||||
Floyd | >The basement button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The basement button Floyd | stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the grimy basement Floyd | hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >The battered body of this older man is swollen and purple with Floyd | bruising, and his limbs bend in more places than they should. Drying Floyd | blood marks his nostrils, lips, eyes, and earholes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search corpse" | ||||
Floyd | >You search the broken corpse, but you find nothing of interest on the Floyd | body. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Boiler Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light to this room. A maze of large pipes runs along the Floyd | ceiling. Most of said pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in Floyd | front of you, easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real Floyd | estate. A door to the north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | A metal box is mounted on the wall, about the right size for a fire Floyd | axe. The glass on the front is broken, and the broken glass is strewn Floyd | near the foot of the box. You see no fire axe anywhere nearby. Floyd | | DavidW says, "HEY" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "What the?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x broken glass" | ||||
Floyd | >I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the broken metal Floyd | box. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Shit, now there's probably a pulsating thing with an axe somewhere." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x box" | Jacqueline says, "Waiting for us." | |||
Floyd | >The metal box's glass has been shattered, and someone has taken the Floyd | fire axe from it. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Someone who ISN'T US." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That is not as good as it being us, no." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Okay. This means -- sigh -- revisit all old locations." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, poo." | ||||
| djfletch says, "damn axe theives" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am liking your c idea." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x boiler" | Jacqueline says, "As long as we're going everywhere." | |||
Floyd | >It's a large metal boiler. A gentle hiss comes from it, so you Floyd | assume that it's still functional. You don't see any visible Floyd | controls, but even if you did you don't think you'd know what to do Floyd | with them. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open boiler" | ||||
Floyd | >That's not something you can open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c box" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the broken metal box, but you don't sense Floyd | anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "c" | Ellison says, "I started up my own game to take a look at things myself. yeah, EGB says she was going to carry Theo's bottle of pills of Sandepam with her." | |||
| DavidW says, "Missing axe is out of the ordinary!" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Did I hit another secret question?" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate, a web of pain settles more firmly into the Floyd | surface of your skull. There's something funny about the maze of Floyd | pipes. Floyd | | DavidW says, "No, 'c' is freakishly slow." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "ah" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c pipes" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the maze of pipes, spots of darkness, like Floyd | sourceless afterimages, lilt across your vision. Nausea immediately Floyd | wells in your gut and blackness twists through your head, breaking Floyd | your focus. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "What does that mean?" | |||
| djfletch asks, "were these the pipes in one of the visions?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I dunno. Leon had bad pizza before he was killed?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "I think so... maybe that one where a pipe was used to bar the door?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "This is where Leon died. Or will die." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Great. Thanks. Now I want pizza." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Don't they beat that out of you in Alaska?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Have some spruce tea instead." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "mmkay" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >The pipes are firmly fixed in place. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Let's scope out the rest of the basement." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I gotta say I'm nervous about that axe." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "Sounds good." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Me too." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | DavidW says, "lack of directions in this room = bad" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You shove the bent door experimentally. It does not even budge. Floyd | Even with tools, it would take hours to get through this door. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >The only routes open to you are a door to the north labelled "Autopsy Floyd | Room/Morgue" and a hallway leading back to the west. There's also a Floyd | door to the east, but it's too damaged to open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You try unlocking the autopsy room door with the ridged key and the Floyd | small brass key, but you don't have a key to fit the lock. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 5" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 5 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 7" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 7 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 1" | ||||
Floyd | >(the 1 key) Floyd | You push the 1 key. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 3" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push 9" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the 3 key. Floyd | Floyd | >A green light flashes on the keypad, and the door unlocks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the autopsy room door. Floyd | Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of typewriter paper lies on the floor very near the hallway Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take paper" | ||||
Floyd | >(sheet of typewriter paper) Floyd | You pick up sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add sheet of typewriter paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||||
Floyd | >You already have that. Floyd | Floyd | The sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, April 15, 11:00 am Floyd | I suppose someone must have listened to Elaine's assertion that Floyd | this test subject was different from the rest, since we've just gained Floyd | a new member of the team. Floyd | This was not a pleasant cup of chicory to down first thing in the Floyd | morning. Don't get me wrong -- I would love, more than anything, to Floyd | welcome Simon Cross to our ranks, and G-d knows that we could stand to Floyd | gain another team member. Of all of the positions we had open prior to Floyd | today, however, I'm not sure I ever would have counted "Company Spook" Floyd | among them. Floyd | Perhaps I am being unfair, but it is my opinion that hypnotizing Floyd | yourself into believing that a knife is a rolling pin will not prevent Floyd | you from needing stitches after trying to make bread dough. Cross's Floyd | official title is "auditor." He claims that he is here to oversee Floyd | Corona's professional interests in the Project, and I don't doubt him Floyd | one bit. Cross oozes "professional interests." He brushes his teeth Floyd | with it, or he wouldn't be able to give me that sharkish grin. Floyd | Still, we are bedfellows now. There's nothing to do but see to it Floyd | that he is comfortable ... and bored. Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | Floyd | The hallway door swings closed. There's a click as the lock Floyd | reengages. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "We already saw that one, methinks." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The sheet of typewriter paper reads: Floyd | Floyd | Unofficial log, April 15, 11:00 am Floyd | I suppose someone must have listened to Elaine's assertion that Floyd | this test subject was different from the rest, since we've just gained Floyd | a new member of the team. Floyd | This was not a pleasant cup of chicory to down first thing in the Floyd | morning. Don't get me wrong -- I would love, more than anything, to Floyd | welcome Simon Cross to our ranks, and G-d knows that we could stand to Floyd | gain another team member. Of all of the positions we had open prior to Floyd | today, however, I'm not sure I ever would have counted "Company Spook" Floyd | among them. Floyd | Perhaps I am being unfair, but it is my opinion that hypnotizing Floyd | yourself into believing that a knife is a rolling pin will not prevent Floyd | you from needing stitches after trying to make bread dough. Cross's Floyd | official title is "auditor." He claims that he is here to oversee Floyd | Corona's professional interests in the Project, and I don't doubt him Floyd | one bit. Cross oozes "professional interests." He brushes his teeth Floyd | with it, or he wouldn't be able to give me that sharkish grin. Floyd | Still, we are bedfellows now. There's nothing to do but see to it Floyd | that he is comfortable ... and bored. Floyd | - Theo Yehuda Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw here. Floyd | | DavidW says, "weird" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Morgue, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The astringent smell is even stronger in the morgue than in the Floyd | autopsy room. The single working fluorescent light here flickers Floyd | slightly, giving your movement a cinematic cast to it. The east wall Floyd | of the morgue is lined with large drawers for corpse storage, like a Floyd | giant, morbid filing cabinet. Along the north wall is a counter with Floyd | a large industrial sink. Nearby, a hospital gurney squats at an odd Floyd | angle, one of its wheels bent sharply to the side. There is a spatter Floyd | of dried blood on the drawers, marring the otherwise spartan Floyd | cleanliness of the area. The doors beneath the large counter stand Floyd | open, exposing steel pipes and a wastebasket. Floyd | Floyd | A heavy glass door to the west leads back to the autopsy room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a small, circular pile of ash below drawer 6. Floyd | Floyd | Drawer number 6 is open, exposing an empty tray. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take tray" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter drawer 6" | ||||
Floyd | >Somehow, taking the place of the embalmed corpse lacks appeal. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "close drawer 6" | ||||
Floyd | >You slide the tray back into the drawer, then close the door and lock Floyd | it in place. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x wastebasket" | ||||
Floyd | >The wastebasket is awkwardly large. It's possible to reach and see Floyd | into the wastebasket in its current position, but wrestling it out Floyd | from its niche among the pipes would be a chore. Floyd | Floyd | In the bulky wastebasket is a bloodstained lab coat. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "search coat" | ||||
Floyd | >The bloodstained lab coat is empty. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "darn" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | >The bloodstained lab coat is wet to the touch, but you pull it out of Floyd | the wastebasket and smooth it out. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||||
Floyd | >The neck, back, and shoulder of the lab coat are wet with Floyd | disconcertingly fresh blood. However, the lower half, including the Floyd | pockets, are unstained. Through the scarlet stain, you read the Floyd | embroidered name: Dr. Theodore M. Yehuda Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pockets" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "c it?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I forget if we already got something from this." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c coat" | ||||
Floyd | >You try to concentrate on the bloodstained lab coat, but you don't Floyd | sense anything out of the ordinary. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Yeah, we got a page from it." | |||
| DavidW asks, "hm. okay. I'm wondering: launder it?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Sure. Why not?" | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "It'll get the red out!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bonesaw" | ||||
Floyd | >Once, this was a useful cutting implement, but it's now a uselessly Floyd | bent piece of metal. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take it" | ||||
Floyd | >The bonesaw is so badly damaged now that it would be more likely to Floyd | injure you than to do anything that your hands couldn't. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cross" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x simon" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | DavidW says, "hm. I thought for sure this was Simon." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x atwater" | ||||
Floyd | >You flip through your notes until you come to the Atwater 4/3/78 Floyd | entry. Floyd | Floyd | Your notes consist of a sheaf of various papers that you found Floyd | scattered about this facility. Currently, a legal-size page written Floyd | on 4/3/78 by Atwater is the topmost page. Floyd | Floyd | Lines of neat, professional script in black pen run across the surface Floyd | of the legal-size page. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >There's no visible lock on this side, but you try the door anyway. Floyd | The hidden lock releases under your hand. Floyd | Floyd | You open the hallway door. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | There is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers Floyd | and dryers line the walls of this room, and three canvas-walled carts Floyd | filled with dirty linens squat awaiting their purpose. The room Floyd | stinks of offal, blood and bleach all at the same time. On the east Floyd | wall, a large sink made of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet Floyd | is bent at a peculiar angle and it is missing both handles. A Floyd | particularly large laundry machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a laundry bin (in which is a heap of soiled sheets) Floyd | here. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put coat in machine" | ||||
Floyd | >(the bloodstained lab coat in the laundry machine) Floyd | You drop the bloodstained lab coat into the cilia-filled tube of the Floyd | laundry machine. The cilia crawl across its surface, first slowly, Floyd | and then with increasing agitation. Then, with a sudden heave, the Floyd | laundry machine expels the bloodstained lab coat in a beautiful arc Floyd | through the air. Floyd | Floyd | The bloodstained lab coat sails through the air to land in the laundry Floyd | bin. With a sharp twitch, the laundry machine slams its lid shut. Floyd | | DavidW says, "huh." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That is freaky." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x coat" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the clean lab coat or the bloodstained lab coat? Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Oh right. I can see how the game would be confused." | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "But it's still bloodstained?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Two clean lab coats shouldn't be a problem if handled right." | ||||
| DavidW says, "The washing machine rejected Yehuda's coat." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You lift the lid of the large laundry machine, revealing the fleshy, Floyd | cilia-lined tube within. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bloody coat" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take bloodstained coat" | Jacqueline says, "'bloodstained'" | |||
Floyd | >You pick up the bloodstained lab coat. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Timing" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put it in machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You drop the bloodstained lab coat into the cilia-filled tube of the Floyd | laundry machine. The cilia crawl across its surface, first slowly, Floyd | and then with increasing agitation. Then, with a sudden heave, the Floyd | laundry machine expels the bloodstained lab coat directly into your Floyd | forehead. Floyd | Floyd | You reel in surprise at the impact as the bloodstained lab coat falls Floyd | to the ground. With a sharp twitch, the laundry machine slams its lid Floyd | shut. Floyd | | DavidW says, "heh. Different target this time." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Okay, funny, but I have to wonder why the elaborateness of that." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Put something else in there." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Just to see if it's that object or what." | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh, I see." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put pistol in machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You lift the lid of the large laundry machine, revealing the fleshy, Floyd | cilia-lined tube within. Floyd | Floyd | You drop the small-caliber pistol into the cilia-filled tube of the Floyd | laundry machine. The cilia crawl across its surface, first slowly, Floyd | and then with increasing agitation. Then, with a sudden heave, the Floyd | laundry machine expels the small-caliber pistol in a beautiful arc Floyd | through the air. Floyd | Floyd | The small-caliber pistol sails through the air to land in the sink. Floyd | With a sharp twitch, the laundry machine slams its lid shut. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "bing bing bing" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "So maybe it's that only that hazmat suit works here." | ||||
| DavidW says, "You were right." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It happens." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I guess they never thought anyone would try to wash the bloodstained lab coat." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take pistol and bloodstained coat." | ||||
Floyd | >small-caliber pistol: You pick up the small-caliber pistol. Floyd | bloodstained lab coat: You pick up the bloodstained lab coat. Floyd | | DavidW says, "well, we better continue to explore." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push ground floor" | ||||
Floyd | >The ground floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The ground floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x panel" | ||||
Floyd | >The control panel is heavily scuffed at gurney-height, and the button Floyd | for the 2nd floor appears to have been replaced at least once. The Floyd | buttons are marked B through 4. There is also an extended button Floyd | marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire", which is scarred with Floyd | key marks. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x button" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the ground floor button, the basement button, the Floyd | second floor button, the third floor button, the fourth floor button Floyd | or the alarm button? Floyd | | DavidW says, "I was worried for a sec that ground floor was not the first floor." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I know 'c' is slow, but we should consider trying it." | ||||
| DavidW says, "That ought to be made more explicit." | ||||
| DavidW asks (of Jacqueline), "where though?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "here in the elevator?" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Lacking an idea of where (I hate to say this), everywhere?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "ugh. okay." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" | DavidW says, "I thought we'd resort to that desparation later." | |||
Floyd | >As you concentrate, a burst of pain leaves you reeling. You are Floyd | strangely drawn to the alarm button. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "ha" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, I'm fine with putting it off." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I just was going there in the absence of other ideas." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c alarm button" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a black button with thin white letters reading "ALARM". Floyd | Floyd | As you concentrate on the alarm button, an ache pulses powerfully Floyd | through your temples. Nausea immediately wells in your gut and Floyd | blackness twists through your head, breaking your focus. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the dim hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate, you feel a tic stutter briefly through your cheek Floyd | before you manage to suppress it. You find yourself thinking about Floyd | the plastic chair and the red-handled lever projecting from the maze Floyd | of pipes. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Plastic chair?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||||
Floyd | >The chairs, which are neither new nor cheap, have diagonal metal legs Floyd | that come together to a support in the center, onto which is bolted a Floyd | molded plastic frame. You remember seeing chairs like this in Floyd | multipurpose rooms at schools. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c chair" | ||||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the plastic chair, you get a dull headache. Floyd | The echoes of a thousand meals are imbedded in the mundane plastic. Floyd | Directors, visitors, nurses, doctors, techs, janitors - light bonds Floyd | and deeper ones, professional contacts and friendships, hope and Floyd | sorrow and the boredom of day after day - it's a tapestry, rich in Floyd | meaning and beauty, but the pattern is too complex for you to follow Floyd | any given thread. You let the impression go. Floyd | | DavidW says, "A tapestry of bums in seats." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "heh - yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "We did the red lever?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Like, a chair-eyed view of the world?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I have to ask -- what red lever?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I didn't notice any pipes in here either." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pipes" | Jacqueline | You find yourself thinking about the plastic chair and the red-handled lever projecting from the maze of pipes. | |||
Floyd | >The pipe maze is sufficiently complex that you fear for the original Floyd | designer's sanity. Forking here, twisting back there, studded with Floyd | valves and levers - what was it all intended for, anyway? Floyd | Floyd | One pipe near the door has a red-handled lever of mysterious purpose Floyd | that is particularly prominent. Floyd | | DavidW says, "yes but" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "That red lever." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "but where is a pipe maze mentioned in the room?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | DavidW says, "oh, okay. It is mentioned." | |||
| DavidW says, "I guess this is one thing we missed on the original walk." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "And they have a way to clean their trays and dishes, it would seem." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lever" | ||||
Floyd | >Inspecting the pipe maze, you find a red-handled lever within reach Floyd | on the wall. Its purpose is mysterious to you. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | >From somewhere in the pipe maze, you hear a sharp hiss of steam, but Floyd | your mind reels strangely. It seems like the hiss is as much within Floyd | your head as outside it, and you feel very peculiar. The room twists Floyd | sideways.... Floyd | Floyd | As your outer eyes close, your inner eye opens. Dimly, you perceive Floyd | the way your ribs collide with a rectangular table and the way your Floyd | body collapses to the floor, but you're not there any more. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "ack" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "undo and c lever first?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You reorient slowly. You're still in a cafeteria, but you recognize Floyd | this place - surrounded by the cheerful bustle of chatty office Floyd | workers from elsewhere in the building, you sat here and drank tea Floyd | with Dr. Ephart. Floyd | Floyd | Your awareness doubles - you remember drinking tea with Dr. Ephart Floyd | after signing your guinea pig contract, but there's an echo in your Floyd | mind, the echo of tens or hundreds of other snacks and meals grabbed Floyd | quickly in this room, either alone or with others. These thoughts Floyd | aren't yours, but they strike and dissolve upon your own thoughts like Floyd | falling raindrops, shifting them subtly with every touch. Grasping Floyd | for inner purchase, you come up with a name: Floyd | Floyd | Abeni - no, Elizabeth, Elizabeth "Best" - Ife. Floyd | Floyd | And with the name comes identity: Floyd | Floyd | I said my name was Elizabeth, and they called me Betsy, then Bets. Floyd | When Marlene's kid garbled it to Best, I kept it - that was perfect! Floyd | I'll be the best they've ever seen. A lab tech now, but that's just Floyd | the start. I'm as good as anyone else in Corona, and if they really Floyd | just care about skill - well, this is the way in and the way up. Even Floyd | for a woman. Even for a foreigner. To hell with their prejudices. Floyd | Floyd | Her thoughts are inflicted strangely - there's a lilt to them, a sway. Floyd | You realize that she isn't really thinking in English, but you seem to Floyd | be translating it well enough. Still, focusing on her mind is like Floyd | staring into a driving rainstorm - it blinds you and dazes you with Floyd | its force. You shift your focus outward and see: Floyd | Floyd | Break Room Floyd | Only a few hours ago, the room was bustling with people from the Floyd | building's various offices, but now it's completely empty save for you Floyd | and the furniture. The room is large enough to be a cafeteria, but Floyd | apart from a dozen or so cafeteria tables, it isn't furnished like Floyd | one. The room bears only a small kitchenette with a fridge, Floyd | microwave, sink, and a tabletop espresso machine. Floyd | Floyd | The exit to the hallway is opposite the kitchenette, to the west. Floyd | | DavidW says, "too late" | |||
| DavidW says, "We had a brief vision of her earlier." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >There's a nice white leather satchel over your shoulder, and you keep Floyd | just about everything you need in there. Like almost always, your Floyd | hair is braided back with a set of gold and blue beads. Floyd | Floyd | You stifle a yawn. You could really go for a double right now. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "yeah" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x machine" | ||||
Floyd | >The espresso machine is fairly inexpensive, but produces good enough Floyd | coffee for you. That's all that matters since you're probably the Floyd | only person who knows how to operate it. It is already loaded and Floyd | tamped; you prepped it earlier today. Floyd | Floyd | In the espresso machine is a pretty white demitasse. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You switch on the espresso machine. It makes a familiar hissing Floyd | sound as hot steam is forced through tightly-packed espresso grounds. Floyd | Floyd | The espresso machine makes an unexpected popping noise. The hissing Floyd | noise jumps in volume as the steam wand suddenly starts spewing hot Floyd | vapor. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off machine" | Ellison says, "huh, sure is easy to miss the best parts of this game" | |||
Floyd | >In theory, it's already off. In practice, something seems to be Floyd | horribly wrong with it - the din continues unabated, and steam spews Floyd | in all directions. Floyd | Floyd | The steam wand of the espresso machine continues to spew hot vapor. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "unplug machine" | ||||
Floyd | >["unplug machine" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "leave" | ||||
Floyd | >The only exit from the break room is into the hallway there, to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A loud noise like a gunshot erupts from the espresso machine, and you Floyd | flinch back from it. A powerful blast of vapor issues from the Floyd | espresso machine's nozzle, shattering the demitasse into tiny shards. Floyd | Menacing steam begins to leak from other crevices in the device. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You start moving toward the door, but are interrupted as a pipe near Floyd | the door violently bursts, spraying hot water vapor across the Floyd | entrance. You are trapped inside the cafeteria. Floyd | Floyd | Unprompted, the microwave lights up, turning on. The bowl inside Floyd | slowly rotates. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Scared now." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn off microwave" | djfletch says, "this bit I actually saw - I remember the evil kitchen appliances" | |||
Floyd | >You press the "stop" button on the microwave. Nothing happens. Floyd | Floyd | The bowl in the microwave begins to bubble over with overheated Floyd | liquid. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break microwave" | ||||
Floyd | >Attempting to break the microwave seems futile. Floyd | Floyd | The microwave fills with steam. You begin to hear strange noises from Floyd | the pipes above you. Floyd | Floyd | Caught in the power of Best's mind, strung out on her confusion and Floyd | alarm, you fight to preserve your thoughts. You are not Best Ife, Floyd | Elizabeth Ife, Abeni Ife - you are yourself. This isn't you. Floyd | | Ellison asks, "are they evil because you don't actually get an espresso?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "turn on sink" | ||||
Floyd | >You're perfectly clean already. Floyd | Floyd | The microwave suddenly bursts open, billowing clouds of hot steam. As Floyd | if on cue, you hear a deafening report from the back of the Floyd | refrigerator and see steam jet out from behind it. Floyd | Floyd | She's going to die. You can feel her death coming. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "This sort of shit right here is what happens when you go too long between espressos." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "There's a life lesson here." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open satchel" | ||||
Floyd | >You click the clasps open on the white satchel. Floyd | Floyd | A groaning noise comes from above. Floyd | Floyd | But this isn't you. This isn't how you die. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in satchel" | ||||
Floyd | >That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | In the white satchel are a Richard Feynman biography and a large red Floyd | paperback. Floyd | Floyd | With a hideous shriek, the maze of pipes above you explodes, issuing a Floyd | wave of superheated water vapor. You cannot escape the steam as it Floyd | fills the room. Best gasps for breath as she is bathed in burning Floyd | moisture. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Not you! Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read paperback" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | You're out of time. Floyd | Floyd | Best stumbles toward the exit, but not fast enough. She collapses to Floyd | the ground, unable to take a breath, literally boiling alive. As she Floyd | tumbles to the floor, her blurring vision documents the way her skin Floyd | peels away against the edge of a tile, and her ravaged nerves report Floyd | the fiery sensation all the way up her arm. She covers her head with Floyd | her arms and succumbs to the loss of her senses. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Floyd | Floyd | Your mind flees from hers, and Abeni Elizabeth Ife dies alone in a Floyd | watery hell. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | This can still be changed Floyd | Floyd | It has to be true. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You're lying on the ground. You slowly get to your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Can still be changed?" | |||
| DavidW asks, "well, she's in the future, right?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh right. I get a bit perplexed on the flow of time." | ||||
| inky says, "I hope you guys haven't been playing since I left yesterday" | ||||
| inky arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | Jacqueline says (to inky), "Yep. I'm getting sleepy." | |||
| Tale says, "I knew you'd have a olounge or connect from that article soon" | DavidW asks, "So, should we still pull this lever?" | |||
| Jacqueline asks, "When did we last save?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Not sure" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf9" | Jacqueline says (to inky), "I am glad you are here, as we are flaily just a teency bit." | |||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | Jacqueline says, "But only a teency bit." | |||
Floyd | >Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "ha" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, that was anti-climactic." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Keep looking for the axe?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah." | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "Oh, inky! Someone stole the damn axe!" | ||||
| inky says, "the lever kicks off a vision but only once" | ||||
| Ellison says (to inky), "we just saw the vision where the lady is scalded to death" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lights" | inky says, "that is actually the vision where you need to do something to get the best ending" | |||
Floyd | >The fluorescent lights cast their stark, unflattering light from Floyd | behind frosted plastic covers. Floyd | | inky asks, "did you do it?" | |||
| DavidW asks, "Do what?" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I don't think we did!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We didn't get the best ending there, no." | ||||
| djfletch exclaims, "we needed to drink the espresso!" | ||||
| inky asks, "can you undo back a bit to it?" | ||||
| Ellison says, "we did not get the best Best ending" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "The espresso never got made." | ||||
| inky says, "specifically you need to do something in her purse" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We only got around to opening the purse when it was too late." | ||||
| DavidW says, "There was a paperback and a biography in there." | ||||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky asks, "can you undo back to it? or is it too far back?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "It might be easier to restore and return here." | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "Richard Feynman will save us!" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf8" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You try unlocking the door to room 323 with the ridged key and the Floyd | small brass key, but you don't have a key to fit the lock. Floyd | | DavidW says, "oh, that's too far back." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "I thought you did a 9" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, you did a cf0" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "er cf9" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf9" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | >Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | | Ellison says, "cf9 was the second lever pulling" | |||
| DavidW says, "yeah, cf9 is too late." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, poo." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "/undo?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "well, return to cf8?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Or that." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Undo won't work at all with the restores." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf8" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | inky says, "ah good, you have the fingers" | |||
| inky says, "you need those for another ending" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push basement" | ||||
Floyd | >The basement button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The basement button Floyd | stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the grimy basement Floyd | hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Boiler Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | A single incandescent bulb behind a metal cage provides harsh yet Floyd | inadequate light to this room. A maze of large pipes runs along the Floyd | ceiling. Most of said pipes lead to a large boiler that squats in Floyd | front of you, easily taking up three quarters of the small room's real Floyd | estate. A door to the north leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | A metal box is mounted on the wall, about the right size for a fire Floyd | axe. The glass on the front is broken, and the broken glass is strewn Floyd | near the foot of the box. You see no fire axe anywhere nearby. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push ground" | ||||
Floyd | >The ground floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The ground floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the dim hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "save" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf9" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||||
Floyd | >From somewhere in the pipe maze, you hear a sharp hiss of steam, but Floyd | your mind reels strangely. It seems like the hiss is as much within Floyd | your head as outside it, and you feel very peculiar. The room twists Floyd | sideways.... Floyd | Floyd | As your outer eyes close, your inner eye opens. Dimly, you perceive Floyd | the way your ribs collide with a rectangular table and the way your Floyd | body collapses to the floor, but you're not there any more. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You reorient slowly. You're still in a cafeteria, but you recognize Floyd | this place - surrounded by the cheerful bustle of chatty office Floyd | workers from elsewhere in the building, you sat here and drank tea Floyd | with Dr. Ephart. Floyd | Floyd | Your awareness doubles - you remember drinking tea with Dr. Ephart Floyd | after signing your guinea pig contract, but there's an echo in your Floyd | mind, the echo of tens or hundreds of other snacks and meals grabbed Floyd | quickly in this room, either alone or with others. These thoughts Floyd | aren't yours, but they strike and dissolve upon your own thoughts like Floyd | falling raindrops, shifting them subtly with every touch. Grasping Floyd | for inner purchase, you come up with a name: Floyd | Floyd | Abeni - no, Elizabeth, Elizabeth "Best" - Ife. Floyd | Floyd | And with the name comes identity: Floyd | Floyd | I said my name was Elizabeth, and they called me Betsy, then Bets. Floyd | When Marlene's kid garbled it to Best, I kept it - that was perfect! Floyd | I'll be the best they've ever seen. A lab tech now, but that's just Floyd | the start. I'm as good as anyone else in Corona, and if they really Floyd | just care about skill - well, this is the way in and the way up. Even Floyd | for a woman. Even for a foreigner. To hell with their prejudices. Floyd | Floyd | Her thoughts are inflicted strangely - there's a lilt to them, a sway. Floyd | You realize that she isn't really thinking in English, but you seem to Floyd | be translating it well enough. Still, focusing on her mind is like Floyd | staring into a driving rainstorm - it blinds you and dazes you with Floyd | its force. You shift your focus outward and see: Floyd | Floyd | Break Room Floyd | Only a few hours ago, the room was bustling with people from the Floyd | building's various offices, but now it's completely empty save for you Floyd | and the furniture. The room is large enough to be a cafeteria, but Floyd | apart from a dozen or so cafeteria tables, it isn't furnished like Floyd | one. The room bears only a small kitchenette with a fridge, Floyd | microwave, sink, and a tabletop espresso machine. Floyd | Floyd | The exit to the hallway is opposite the kitchenette, to the west. Floyd | Floyd | Best needs espresso, badly! Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | | DavidW says (to inky), "Show us your stuff." | |||
| inky says, "ok, I hope this works" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >There's a nice white leather satchel over your shoulder, and you keep Floyd | just about everything you need in there. Like almost always, your Floyd | hair is braided back with a set of gold and blue beads. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open satchel" | ||||
Floyd | >You click the clasps open on the white satchel. Floyd | Floyd | Your eyes droop a little, reminding you of why you came here in the Floyd | first place. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open satchel" | ||||
Floyd | >That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | Best needs espresso, badly! Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | >That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | In the white satchel are a Richard Feynman biography and a large red Floyd | paperback. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get feynman" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the Richard Feynman biography. Floyd | Floyd | You stifle a yawn. You could really go for a double right now. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read feynman" | ||||
Floyd | >Dr. Ensfield loaned you this biography, and, rather to your Floyd | amazement, you loved it. You need to give this one back and get your Floyd | own copy. It's called Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! For a Floyd | physicist, Richard Feynman got up to some absolutely crazy shit - Floyd | playing the bongos, going to Japan and Brazil, sending puzzle letters Floyd | with his wife to dodge the government censors, and so on. Floyd | Floyd | You even had the chance to try out one of his stunts. After reading Floyd | about how he cracked all the locks at Los Alamos, you went wandering Floyd | around the building in search of locks to try his techniques on, and Floyd | you went into a whole bunch of filing cabinets with no one the wiser. Floyd | You also found this great old desk hidden in the basement with a safe Floyd | bolted onto it. That was totally weird! You managed to get it open, Floyd | and there were even some papers inside.... Floyd | Floyd | That's been bothering you, a bit - because the papers in there were Floyd | old, but they talked about a set of experiments that sounded very Floyd | familiar. There's no way anyone else could know about Naegleria Floyd | splendens, is there? You passed them over to Dr. Ephart - she'll Floyd | figure out what to do from here. Floyd | Floyd | Where is your mind going? You must need that espresso very badly! Floyd | Floyd | Something inside you (not Best, but you) snaps shut like a clamshell, Floyd | preserving that moment and that memory. It might be important.... Floyd | | inky says, "and there you go" | |||
| inky says, "I'm not sure if you guys have seen the safe yet" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We saw a safe on the 3rd floor." | ||||
| inky says, "well, now you can open it!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yes. We saw the safe with the desk." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "ooh" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "oh?" | ||||
| inky says, "Best learned how to open it in the future, and you just copied her memory" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "A future vision helps us unlock a safe in the past?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Lessgosee." | ||||
| inky says, "ok, let's get out of this" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >The only exit from the break room is into the hallway there, to the Floyd | west. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "And boy oh boy was that obscure." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You hesitate, casting a regretful look back at the espresso machine, Floyd | but... maybe you should lay back on the caffeine a little. People Floyd | joke about how wired you get. But you like the feeling - being up and Floyd | high and confident and capable. Having the world melt away in a Floyd | headache is much less fun. Floyd | Floyd | You turn away from the espresso machine and start toward the hallway, Floyd | but you're interrupted by a strange noise. Looking back, you see that Floyd | the steam wand of the espresso machine has started spewing vapor. Floyd | That's extremely weird. Floyd | Floyd | The steam wand of the espresso machine continues to spew hot vapor. Floyd | | inky says, "yeah, it's crazy" | |||
| DavidW asks, "So.... does that mean we coulda learned things from Leon and Atwater?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | A loud noise like a gunshot erupts from the espresso machine, and you Floyd | flinch back from it. A powerful blast of vapor issues from the Floyd | espresso machine's nozzle, shattering the demitasse into tiny shards. Floyd | Menacing steam begins to leak from other crevices in the device. Floyd | | inky says, "no, this is the only vision that has something you actually can do (as far as I know)" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Unprompted, the microwave lights up, turning on. The bowl inside Floyd | slowly rotates. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The bowl in the microwave begins to bubble over with overheated Floyd | liquid. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The microwave fills with steam. You begin to hear strange noises from Floyd | the pipes above you. Floyd | Floyd | Caught in the power of Best's mind, strung out on her confusion and Floyd | alarm, you fight to preserve your thoughts. You are not Best Ife, Floyd | Elizabeth Ife, Abeni Ife - you are yourself. This isn't you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The microwave suddenly bursts open, billowing clouds of hot steam. As Floyd | if on cue, you hear a deafening report from the back of the Floyd | refrigerator and see steam jet out from behind it. Floyd | Floyd | She's going to die. You can feel her death coming. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | A groaning noise comes from above. Looking up, you discover a maze of Floyd | pipes wending over the ceiling and down the walls - pipes that, Best Floyd | thinks dazedly, almost certainly weren't there at lunchtime. Floyd | Floyd | But this isn't you. This isn't how you die. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | With a hideous shriek, the maze of pipes above you explodes, issuing a Floyd | wave of superheated water vapor. You cannot escape the steam as it Floyd | fills the room. Best gasps for breath as she is bathed in burning Floyd | moisture. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Not you! Floyd | | DavidW asks, "So what's the paperback?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read paperback" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | You're out of time. Floyd | Floyd | Best stumbles toward the exit, but not fast enough. She collapses to Floyd | the ground, unable to take a breath, literally boiling alive. As she Floyd | tumbles to the floor, her blurring vision documents the way her skin Floyd | peels away against the edge of a tile, and her ravaged nerves report Floyd | the fiery sensation all the way up her arm. She covers her head with Floyd | her arms and succumbs to the loss of her senses. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Floyd | Floyd | Your mind flees from hers, and Abeni Elizabeth Ife dies alone in a Floyd | watery hell. Floyd | | inky says, "oops, too slow" | |||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | DavidW says, "yeah, exactly when I tried to read it." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | This can still be changed Floyd | Floyd | It has to be true. Floyd | | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You're lying on the ground. You slowly get to your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Break Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Break Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Break Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read paperback" | ||||
Floyd | >You've already read it. You're just carrying it around because Floyd | you're planning to loan it to Rayjay - he needs some help loosening up Floyd | and a reminder not to take himself so seriously. He's always so stiff Floyd | and formal, which makes sense, since he's working with Dr. Ensfield Floyd | all the time - but Rayjay's sour too, and that worries you. Dr. Floyd | Ensfield's not sour. Plus, Rayjay is the only person anywhere near Floyd | your age at Corona, and it would be nice if he weren't such a Floyd | grapefruit. Floyd | Floyd | A groaning noise comes from above. Looking up, you discover a maze of Floyd | pipes wending over the ceiling and down the walls - pipes that, Best Floyd | thinks dazedly, almost certainly weren't there at lunchtime. Floyd | Floyd | But this isn't you. This isn't how you die. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Break Room Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x paperback" | ||||
Floyd | >This is a copy of Tales from the Securemarket, this great future Floyd | fantasy about gun-toting supermarket employees in a weird version of Floyd | Washington DC. Floyd | Floyd | A groaning noise comes from above. Looking up, you discover a maze of Floyd | pipes wending over the ceiling and down the walls - pipes that, Best Floyd | thinks dazedly, almost certainly weren't there at lunchtime. Floyd | Floyd | But this isn't you. This isn't how you die. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | With a hideous shriek, the maze of pipes above you explodes, issuing a Floyd | wave of superheated water vapor. You cannot escape the steam as it Floyd | fills the room. Best gasps for breath as she is bathed in burning Floyd | moisture. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Not you! Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | You're out of time. Floyd | Floyd | Best stumbles toward the exit, but not fast enough. She collapses to Floyd | the ground, unable to take a breath, literally boiling alive. As she Floyd | tumbles to the floor, her blurring vision documents the way her skin Floyd | peels away against the edge of a tile, and her ravaged nerves report Floyd | the fiery sensation all the way up her arm. She covers her head with Floyd | her arms and succumbs to the loss of her senses. Floyd | Floyd | Not you. Floyd | Floyd | Your mind flees from hers, and Abeni Elizabeth Ife dies alone in a Floyd | watery hell. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | This can still be changed Floyd | Floyd | It has to be true. Floyd | | ||||
| inky presses the yellow enter button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You're lying on the ground. You slowly get to your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | >I beg your pardon? Floyd | | inky says, "there we go" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Cafeteria, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The hospital's cafeteria is not very large, but it's still enough to Floyd | seat a few dozen people at a time. Rows of rectangular tables covered Floyd | in wood veneer are surrounded by a gauntlet of cheap chairs made of Floyd | metal and molded plastic. The ceiling is higher here than elsewhere Floyd | in the hospital; the fluorescent lights hang down, surrounded by a Floyd | maze of exposed pipe running through the room. A gap in the wall to Floyd | the east looks into a strange fleshy tube, and below it, a set of Floyd | metal rails is mounted on the wall, suitable for resting a tray on. Floyd | Floyd | The open doorway to the west leads back to the hallway. Next to the Floyd | door is a hulking vending machine. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in compartment" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in machine" | DavidW asks, "The flap?" | |||
Floyd | >You push open the plastic flap. Inside the compartment of the vending Floyd | machine, you see: nothing. Floyd | | inky says, "ah, good, you got it" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | DavidW says, "Been there. Done that." | |||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. Floyd | Floyd | There is a handwritten menu taped below the placard. Floyd | | Ellison asks, "can we open just the safe or can we pick any other locks, too?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get menu" | ||||
Floyd | >You pull the menu off the wall. Floyd | Floyd | You add the handwritten menu to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | inky says, "just the safe, I think" | |||
| inky says, "let's see" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You walk south down the hall toward the distant lobby. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Above, the lights are shattered, leaving this part of the hallway Floyd | dark, and shards of glass crunch softly underfoot. To the south, the | DavidW asks, "We can take the menu?" | |||
Floyd | lobby windows shine like a will-o-the-wisp. To the north, harsh Floyd | fluorescent lights still illuminate the hall near the elevator. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "I hope there is a keyring in the safe." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "feel floor" | ||||
Floyd | >You feel your way cautiously across the darkened floor, but you Floyd | encounter only curved shards and prickling splinters. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >More quickly than you might have expected, you reach the well-lit Floyd | square by the cafeteria and the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The overhead lights are shattered to the north and south, leaving this Floyd | solitary space brightly lit in the white-walled hallway. Looking to Floyd | the south, you can glimpse the dim squares of light that are the Floyd | windows of the far-distant lobby. Twin doors stand open across the Floyd | hallway, and a placard beside them reads "CAFETERIA". The elevator Floyd | doors are to the west. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 3" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "unlock safe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | Resting your fingers on the dial for a moment, you close your eyes and Floyd | call up Best's memory. Floyd | Floyd | The room was shadowed and full of dust. How long since anyone had Floyd | been down there? Since you'd picked the lock to get into the room in Floyd | the first place, probably pretty long, but you were so bored, and Floyd | exploring was fun. Floyd | Floyd | The safe was a surprise. What a weird old desk, with the safe bolted Floyd | onto its leg! You tried to open it, but it was still locked. You Floyd | leaned into it just a bit, and you started turning the dial slowly, Floyd | feeling the numbers shift under your fingers. You recognized the Floyd | little shift in friction when it came - "you don't have to sandpaper Floyd | your fingertips", Feynman wrote, and he was right. It was amazing - a Floyd | small success, a minor exploration, but perfect all the same. Floyd | Floyd | Releasing the memory, you open your eyes. The safe opens under your Floyd | hand. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open safe" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in safe" | ||||
Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | That's already open. Floyd | Floyd | >(the black safe) Floyd | In the black safe is a secret document. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get document" | ||||
Floyd | >A sense of relief, quiet but intense, courses through you. You feel Floyd | strongly that you have done something right. Floyd | Floyd | You add the secret document to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The secret document reads: Examining hyperkinetic reactions related Floyd | to intravenously induced symbiotic amoebic meningoencephalitis.... Floyd | Floyd | At least, you think that's what the first line says - the Floyd | terminology's mostly unfamiliar, and the handwriting is an abominable Floyd | scrawl. From what you can determine, these notes are the very early Floyd | planning stages for a cure to combat the lethal effects of a Floyd | particularly virulent amoebic infection. Floyd | Floyd | Unfortunately, the notes never seem to get to an actual cure. There's Floyd | extensive discussion of the ineffectiveness of Amphotericin B, for Floyd | example, and the author's confusion and dismay over this are painfully Floyd | clear. Floyd | | inky says, "I don't actually understand the deal here" | |||
| inky says, "since the notes are not particularly helpful" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm" | ||||
| inky says, "it is conceivable that they use this document in the future to kickstart the experiment, but I didn't see that stated explicitly" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "hrm" | ||||
| inky says, "(so it might be you are changing the future at this point)" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look behind diplomas" | ||||
Floyd | >You check behind the diplomas, but there's nothing else there. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Did that." | |||
| inky says, "man, you guys are pretty thorough" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying some severed fingers, a ridged key, a small brass Floyd | key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Labs keycard Floyd | and your notes. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Not thorough enough." | |||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "let's see" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We're still locked out of three rooms." | ||||
| inky asks, "did you have the key from the upstairs bathroom?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "We got something up there but that was yesterday." | ||||
| inky says, "let's see" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | inky says, "actually, detour first" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Was that the brass key?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push b" | ||||
Floyd | >The basement button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | | inky asks, "I thought the brass key was from the guy in the autopsy room, but maybe I am misremembering -- or did you do that yet?" | |||
| inky says, "I guess you must have" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | Ellison asks, "that was neck guy, eh?" | |||
| DavidW says, "We got the ridged key from the morgue. Yeah. Yehuda." | ||||
| inky says, "are there two keys in there or just one? I am trying to remember" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | DavidW says, "He swallowed the key just as Cross shot him." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The basement button Floyd | stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the grimy basement Floyd | hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | inky says, "this elevator is crazy slow given that nothing ever happens when it changes floors" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Laundry, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | There is no mistaking the purpose of this room. Industrial washers Floyd | and dryers line the walls of this room, and three canvas-walled carts Floyd | filled with dirty linens squat awaiting their purpose. The room Floyd | stinks of offal, blood and bleach all at the same time. On the east Floyd | wall, a large sink made of heavy-duty steel sits, but its long faucet Floyd | is bent at a peculiar angle and it is missing both handles. A Floyd | particularly large laundry machine looms at the end of the row. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads south out of the room. Floyd | Floyd | There's a human skeleton lying on the tiled floor. It's wearing a Floyd | very clean lab coat. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a laundry bin (in which is a heap of soiled sheets) Floyd | here. Floyd | | DavidW says, "yeah, that elevator should speed up." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open machine" | ||||
Floyd | >That's already open. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put fingers in machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You drop the severed fingers into the cilia-filled tube of the Floyd | laundry machine and close the lid. Floyd | Floyd | The laundry machine starts up with an audible whine and a whirring Floyd | noise that increases in frequency as its internal motors (or muscles, Floyd | you suppose) spin up. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "oh dear, really?" | |||
| Ellison says, "gives your character more time to hum 'the girl from ipanema' to himself" | ||||
| inky says, "hee hee" | ||||
| inky says, "the machine is very useful in the game!" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Do we get the One Ring?" | ||||
| inky says, "this part is optional but the other part is very important" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | DavidW says, "We laundered the hazmat suit already." | |||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | Ellison says, "wow, look at that" | |||
| inky says, "ah, good" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | inky says, "this is just another crazy ending" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | You nearly jump out of your skin as a buzzer sounds loudly from the Floyd | huge laundry machine. Its motor gradually slows to a halt. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open machine" | ||||
Floyd | >You lift the lid of the large laundry machine, revealing the fleshy, Floyd | cilia-lined tube within, and flinch in surprise as some small objects Floyd | burst out of the laundry machine, bounce off your face and clatter to Floyd | the floor. A quick look around reveals that the fingers you dropped Floyd | into the laundry machine have now been reduced to twelve finger bones, Floyd | each one bleached white by the machine's industrious cilia. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the handful of fingerbones. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x bones" | ||||
Floyd | >Twelve clean white fingerbones, created by dropping four severed Floyd | fingers into a monstrous laundry machine. Floyd | | DavidW says, "The machine didn't wash Yehuda's bloodstained lab coat, though." | |||
| inky says, "hmm, I don't remember where there is a clue about this, but:" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "drop bones" | Jacqueline says, "huh - I guess I should have anticipated that." | |||
Floyd | >You toss the fingerbones on the ground, and they clatter across it Floyd | like dice before coming to a rest. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the handful of fingerbones. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c bones" | Jacqueline says, "I think it just eats tissue." | |||
Floyd | >As you concentrate on the handful of fingerbones, a web of pain Floyd | settles more firmly into the surface of your skull. After a moment, Floyd | you hear a sharp sound and see the image of six dice being rolled on Floyd | top of the surface of a mirror. The peculiar vision fades quickly, Floyd | leaving you baffled but otherwise lucid. Floyd | | inky says, "mirror!" | |||
| DavidW says, "Why do we want fingerbones?!?!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | Jacqueline exclaims, "Roll dem bones!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | DavidW asks, "The sink?" | |||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 3" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "The morgue sink was shiny, wasn't it?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z.z.z." | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | | inky says, "oh, hmmmm" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors and into the grimy basement Floyd | hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | inky asks, "does someone remember the code?" | |||
| DavidW says, "The bathroom mirror on 3rd is cracked. The mirror on 4th is fine but on a wall." | ||||
| DavidW says, "5 7 1 3 9" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 5. push 7. push 1. push 3. push 9. n" | inky asks, "..er?" | |||
Floyd | >You push the 5 key. Floyd | Floyd | You push the 7 key. Floyd | Floyd | (the 1 key) Floyd | You push the 1 key. Floyd | Floyd | You push the 3 key. Floyd | Floyd | A green light flashes on the keypad, and the door unlocks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | Floyd | You open the autopsy room door. Floyd | Floyd | Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here is thin with an astringent, chemical smell that makes you Floyd | feel light-headed. Counters and cabinets line the west and north Floyd | walls of the room, with a pair of sinks in the middle of each. Every Floyd | surface you see is immaculate save for the metal table in the center Floyd | of the room. On it, a corpse in a cut-up suit has been laid in a Floyd | spread-eagled position, with dozens of surgical tools protruding from Floyd | its dissected torso. Flaps of skin from the corpse's torso stretch Floyd | towards the ceiling, suspended by thin pieces of surgical thread. Floyd | Floyd | A sheet of typewriter paper lies on the floor very near the hallway Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | A door made of heavy, insulated glass leads to another room to the Floyd | east. Floyd | Floyd | The door to the hallway lies to the south. Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a ruined bonesaw here. Floyd | | inky says, "ah there" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get sheet" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, Pearce 5/8/78, Pearce 4/16/78, Pearce 5/12/78 or Floyd | Pearce 5/1/78? Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get typewriter" | DavidW asks, "How the heck is someone to guess that stripping the flesh off the fingers would be useful, though? Instinctual voodu knowhow?" | |||
Floyd | >(Yehuda 4/2) Floyd | You flip through your notes until you come to the Yehuda 4/2 entry. Floyd | Floyd | You already have that. Floyd | | inky says, "the parsing around the notes is super-unhelpful" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "hint" | ||||
Floyd | >Ah, you're looking for some assistance? Welcome to the hint system. Floyd | Floyd | In One Eye Open, hints are location-based. If you are trying to solve Floyd | a specific puzzle, go to a room that seems related to that puzzle and Floyd | type HINT. The hints will not lead you to any specific ending, but Floyd | they will give you a bit more direct information. If you're looking Floyd | for something more specific, consider the WALKTHROUGH command. Floyd | Floyd | Dice were probably originally made from the ankle bones of hoofed Floyd | animals, but their nickname of "knucklebones" can give the impression Floyd | that original dice were made from the bones of human fingers. Floyd | | inky says, "I think this hint was what tipped me off" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get typewriter paper" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | Floyd | You add sheet of typewriter paper to your existing collection of Floyd | pages. Floyd | Floyd | The hallway door swings closed. There's a click as the lock Floyd | reengages. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "How many times have we picked that paper up now?" | |||
| Tale asks, "What, you don't routinely do that to every finger you find?" | ||||
| inky asks, "oh right, it gets moved in every time or something, right?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in sink" | DavidW says (to Tale), "We said to save 'em for a scanner!" | |||
| Jacqueline says (to Tale), "I will from now on." | ||||
Floyd | >The sink is empty. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "drop bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You toss the fingerbones on the ground, and they clatter across it Floyd | like dice before coming to a rest. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | >Literally the cleanest sink you have ever seen, the polished steel of Floyd | the basin gleams like a mirror. A long faucet curves in a neat arc Floyd | over the sink and its long handles flank the faucet like wings. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put bones in sink" | DavidW says, "gleams like a mirror. I remembered." | |||
Floyd | >You place the handful of fingerbones in the sink. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "This game would have one another point had it called them phalanges." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh well." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >There's no visible lock on this side, but you try the door anyway. Floyd | The hidden lock releases under your hand. Floyd | Floyd | You open the hallway door. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | inky says, "bah, finding a real mirror" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the | DavidW asks, "wait, what?" | |||
Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Why are you leaving?" | |||
| inky asks, "sorry, did you want to try something more?" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "You just dropped them in. Shouldn't you throw or roll them or c them?" | ||||
| inky says, "oh, right" | ||||
| inky says, "I am pretty sure they all do the same thing and do nothing in that room, but let's re-try" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "roll bones" | ||||
Floyd | >["roll bones" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "throw bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You toss the fingerbones on the ground, and they clatter across it Floyd | like dice before coming to a rest. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Autopsy Room, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | DavidW says, "The only unbroken real mirror is in the 4th floor bathroom." | |||
| inky says, "yeah, both bathrooms will actually work" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf10" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | DavidW says, "But, it's on the wall." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >There's no visible lock on this side, but you try the door anyway. Floyd | The hidden lock releases under your hand. Floyd | Floyd | You open the hallway door. Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | At this end of the dingy basement hall, the only intact door is Floyd | labelled with a black sign reading "Autopsy Room/Morgue". Floyd | Floyd | A white 10-digit keypad is attached to the wall beside the door. Floyd | Floyd | In the adjoining wall, a bent doorframe holds a severely dented metal Floyd | door that has been very badly dented toward you. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w.w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Basement Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Grime coats the frosted covers of the overhead lights, causing the Floyd | peeling walls and tiled floors to look shadowed and ugly. The laundry Floyd | room's large entrance to the north opposes the boiler room door to the Floyd | south. To the west, an elevator's doors stand open. Floyd | Floyd | An open door leads north into the laundry room. Floyd | Floyd | A swollen corpse with visibly broken limbs lies on the floor a short Floyd | distance from the elevator doors. Floyd | Floyd | You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 4" | ||||
Floyd | >The fourth floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches upward. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "I don't understand yet. Are you going to throw the bones at the mirror and hope they stick like fridge magnets?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z.z.z.z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | | inky says, "I just show the stuff off, I don't explain it" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to DW), "ha" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | Jacqueline says (to inky), "You are mysterious." | |||
| DavidW says, "we jumped off the railing somehow." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The fourth floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into the familiar stench of the Floyd | fourth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Also, watch out. The axe might be up here." | |||
Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While the single toilet here appears to be whole and undamaged, it is Floyd | filled nearly to the brim with some kind of thick, reddish-brown Floyd | substance that you cannot immediately identify. The sink's faucet is Floyd | off, and the sink is filled to the brim with water. An undamaged Floyd | mirror sits above the sink. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to the south leads out of the bathroom. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "throw bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You toss the handful of fingerbones onto the ground, where they Floyd | splash into the water. You stare at them for a moment, but nothing Floyd | happens. You sigh and move to pick them up, only to realize that your Floyd | reflection does not bend down as you do. Floyd | Floyd | You straighten your back slowly, looking at the mirror. A skinny, Floyd | gaunt-faced young man, naked to the waist, stares at you with piercing Floyd | green eyes from behind the mirror's surface. You stare back. The Floyd | mirror explodes with no warning, pelting you painfully with glass. Floyd | You stumble against the rear wall, throwing your hands over your Floyd | stinging face and eyes.... Floyd | Floyd | You remain frozen in place for a moment, then cautiously move your Floyd | arms away from your face. The pain is gone; your skin is undamaged. Floyd | Your reflection again shows your own face. The fingerbones sit on the Floyd | floor. You scoop them up again. Floyd | Floyd | You toss the fingerbones on the ground, and they clatter across it Floyd | like dice before coming to a rest. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "my" | |||
| inky says, "and while we are up here" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "so, uh, that was 'helpful'?" | ||||
| inky says, "oh no" | ||||
| inky says, "just cool" | ||||
| Jacqueline snickers. | ||||
| inky says, "there is an ending you can use the bones to trigger, but it's at the end of the game" | ||||
| inky says, "however, this is helpful" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in sink" | ||||
Floyd | >(the metal sink) Floyd | The metal sink is empty. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get stopper" | Jacqueline says, "Man, this game is massive." | |||
Floyd | >You pull the stopper out of the drain by its chain, causing the water Floyd | to immediately begin draining from the sink. Floyd | Floyd | Water continues to drain from the sink through its pipes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Water continues to drain from the sink through its pipes. Floyd | Floyd | You are startled by a loud, splashing clang! You see that a u-bend Floyd | section of pipe has disconnected and fallen to the floor. Water pours Floyd | from the disconnected drainpipe directly to the floor now. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "There's a stopper?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x ink" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x sink" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | >(the metal sink) Floyd | The sink contains clean, clear water, which is now emptying from the Floyd | sink through its drain (and from there onto the floor, since the pipe Floyd | is missing). At the bottom of the sink, you can see that the sink's Floyd | drain is unplugged. A chain leads from behind the faucet to a rubber Floyd | stopper. Floyd | Floyd | Water continues to drain from the sink onto the floor. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Did it MENTION a stopper?" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Ooh - what's in the trap." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in pipe" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a useless piece of pipe. Not even Professor Plum could use it Floyd | as an effective weapon. Floyd | Floyd | In the rusty u-bend pipe is a crumpled piece of plastic. Floyd | Floyd | Water continues to drain from the sink onto the floor. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get plastic" | ||||
Floyd | >(the crumpled piece of plastic) Floyd | You reach carefully into the pipe and pull out the plastic thing. It Floyd | snags on the edge of the pipe, but you manage to get it out. It's a Floyd | crumpled plastic baggie containing a folded piece of paper. Floyd | Floyd | Immediately after you remove the baggie, something else falls out of Floyd | the pipe. You manage to catch it reflexively and discover that you Floyd | have a steel key. Floyd | Floyd | Water continues to drain from the sink onto the floor. Floyd | Floyd | The sink, now empty, ceases to pour water on the floor. The room is Floyd | now silent. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "hahaha - Not even Professor Plum could use it as an effective weapon." | |||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "A KEY?!" | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "WT?!" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "The sink was empty BUT HAD A STOPPER?!?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Here, David. Have a seat, and breathe into this brown paper bag." | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Ellison says, "the authors must have had some bad plumbing experiences" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "c steel key" | ||||
Floyd | >The key is made of silvery steel, and it hasn't suffered any for its Floyd | time in the pipe. The teeth are still sharp and clean. Floyd | Floyd | As you concentrate on the steel key, spots of darkness, like Floyd | sourceless afterimages, lilt across your vision. This key was cut Floyd | right before being given to its owner, and lost into the drain within Floyd | the first few days. It remembers grime, soap, and the cold touch of Floyd | water better than the touch of flesh - yet something about that, the Floyd | cold, uncaring strength of water, echoes the dim impression remaining Floyd | from its brief owner. Floyd | | inky says, "this is an unfortunate programming thing where the author modifies a container but forgets to adjust the "look in" description" | |||
| Ellison says, "I imagine 'x sink' would have told us about the stopper" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bag" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get paper from baggie" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | >(the folded piece of paper from the ripped plastic baggie) Floyd | You remove the folded page from the ripped plastic baggie, unfold it, Floyd | and smooth it out as best as you can. It turns out to be a small page Floyd | torn from a compact notebook. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small page torn from a compact notebook to your existing Floyd | collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The small page torn from a compact notebook reads: Floyd | Floyd | S.C. - Entry 1978-04-15-1400 Floyd | Floyd | Mr. Schuyler was right; there is entirely too much humanity in this Floyd | project. Floyd | Only Atwater displays even the remotest scrap of professional Floyd | detachment, which he manages to keep entirely useless through the Floyd | judicious application of insecurity and megalomania. Yehuda, while Floyd | observant and quick-thinking, is entirely too compassionate and will Floyd | be doddering before his time, should he live so long. Buchanan, no Floyd | matter how much faith Mr. Schuyler has in her abilities, is little Floyd | more than a hippie who lacked the good graces to be born in the Floyd | correct decade. Floyd | I have no doubt that my presence has their dander up. I will never be Floyd | able to oil my smile so much that it would not arouse their collective Floyd | suspicion. But that's of no consequence. They know their jobs, shaken Floyd | nerves will not deter them, and this is precisely as it should be. Floyd | Should they do their jobs, mine will be boring and that is ideal. Floyd | I am, of course, prepared for the alternative. Floyd | | djfletch says, "people really like to hide these diary pages" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I am coming up with all sorts of inconvenient places to hide my stuff by playing this game." | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| Ellison says, "do any of these keys unlock the testing room we started in? even though there's probably nothing there, I'd still want to see it the 70s version of it" | ||||
| djfletch says, "there is a button that unlocks that" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The button by the tv unlocks the testing room, but we can't do that yet." | ||||
| Ellison asks, "oh, is dude in the same room that we were in?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | inky says, "yeah" | |||
| DavidW says (to Ellison), "yes." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 3" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | | inky says, "the setup is a little confusing because there are two ways to see into that room, one that is east then south from the elevators, and one that is south then east" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In Floyd | front of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the Floyd | end of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left Floyd | and right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a laundry chute to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The single fluorescent light in the bathroom flickers rapidly like a Floyd | strobe. On the other side of the room, a bloodied corpse seems to be Floyd | partially buried in the toilet, folded in half. Near the toilet is a Floyd | sink, above which is a mirror marred by a spiderweb crack. The light's Floyd | strobe effect gives the room a surreal, filmlike quality. Behind you, Floyd | to the west, a door leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "throw bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | inky says, "oh nooo" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >[You cannot "undo" any further.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While the single toilet here appears to be whole and undamaged, it is Floyd | filled nearly to the brim with some kind of thick, reddish-brown Floyd | substance that you cannot immediately identify. The sink's faucet is Floyd | off, and the sink is currently empty. An undamaged mirror sits above Floyd | the sink. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to the south leads out of the bathroom. Floyd | Floyd | There's a rusty u-bend pipe on the floor. It looks pretty useless. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get bones" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You can also see a handful of fingerbones here. Floyd | Floyd | >You pick up the handful of fingerbones. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The air here has an acrid, biological tang to it that reminds you of Floyd | little so much as fresh vomit. The nauseating stench is aided by a Floyd | hot, humid breeze, which seems to oscillate through the hallway. The Floyd | hallway itself continues to the east, but you cannot see far; the only Floyd | functioning light is the one directly above you, and the hall quickly Floyd | fades into an impenetrable darkness. Floyd | Floyd | A gray door to your north is clearly marked by a large pictographic Floyd | sign as a unisex bathroom. A thin trickle of water runs from under Floyd | the door along the edge of the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a windowless wooden door sits, a small metal sign next Floyd | to it marking it as a "staff lounge". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >You step into the elevator. Floyd | Floyd | Elevator, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The elevator is just big enough to fit the length of a standard Floyd | hospital gurney and not much else. Unlike the dull white walls of the Floyd | rest of the hall, the elevator's interior is crafted with burnished Floyd | steel. The fluorescent lights above shine through a thick metal Floyd | grate. Floyd | Floyd | There are floor buttons for B through 4 on the control panel. There Floyd | is also a button marked "Alarm" and a key switch marked "Fire". Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push 3. z.z.e.n" | ||||
Floyd | >The third floor button lights under your finger. The elevator doors Floyd | slide closed, and the elevator lurches downward. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The elevator comes to a halt with a quiet ding. The third floor Floyd | button stops glowing, and the doors slide open. Floyd | Floyd | You step through the elevator doors into a familiar hallway. In front Floyd | of you, the lurid orange biohazard symbol all but glows from the end Floyd | of the east hall, and a broader hallway stretches away to the left and Floyd | right. Floyd | Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. A long, slow breeze flows Floyd | from the south past you, reaching towards the deep shadow to the Floyd | north. Before the light fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull Floyd | white wall to the east and a laundry chute to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Bathroom, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The single fluorescent light in the bathroom flickers rapidly like a Floyd | strobe. On the other side of the room, a bloodied corpse seems to be Floyd | partially buried in the toilet, folded in half. Near the toilet is a Floyd | sink, above which is a mirror marred by a spiderweb crack. The light's Floyd | strobe effect gives the room a surreal, filmlike quality. Behind you, Floyd | to the west, a door leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | Tale asks, "But...wouldn't you notice the male parts on the other person?" | |||
| Tale says, "ilac" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Tale), "In this game? Only if there was a key embedded in it." | ||||
| Tale says (to Jacqueline), "Ha ha eeeagh" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "throw bones" | ||||
Floyd | >The fingerbones clatter against the floor. For a moment, nothing Floyd | happens. Floyd | Floyd | Abruptly, the broken mirror breaks open and expands outward like a Floyd | mouth, its jagged edges yawning toward you. You scream as it sinks Floyd | its shard-teeth into your arm, and you pull against it with all of Floyd | your strength. Floyd | Floyd | When your back hits the opposite wall, you realize that your arm is Floyd | unhurt and the mirror is still. The fingerbones sit on the floor. Floyd | You scoop them up again. Floyd | Floyd | You toss the fingerbones on the ground, and they clatter across it Floyd | like dice before coming to a rest. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the handful of fingerbones. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hallway, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Partway down this hall, the fluorescent lights have sputtered out, Floyd | leaving the way north cloaked in darkness. There's a long, slow rush Floyd | of bad-smelling air coming from that direction. Before the light Floyd | fails, there's a bathroom door in the dull white wall to the east and Floyd | a laundry chute to the west. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | DavidW says, "I notice that inky hasn't found our axe yet." | |||
| inky says, "I know where the axe is" | ||||
| inky says, "sort of" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So steel key to new office?" | ||||
| inky says, "let's see" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >You insert the steel key into the lock of the door to room 321 and Floyd | turn it, successfully unlocking the door Floyd | You open the door to room 321. Floyd | Floyd | Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This small room would have made a cozy office for a single person; set Floyd | up for two, it feels more like a furnished closet. The room's Floyd | furnishings express remarkably different personalities: on the west, a Floyd | massive black filing cabinet is flanked by a mahogany desk and Floyd | expensive-looking rolling chair. On the east, the cheap metal desk Floyd | has a kneeling chair in front of it, next to a gray filing cabinet Floyd | much smaller than its counterpart on the west side. Floyd | Floyd | There's a high shelf supporting a preserved heart, a pickled Floyd | two-headed sparrow and a jar of formaldehyde above the mahogany desk. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x mahogany desk" | ||||
Floyd | >A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself against the black filing cabinet, the world doubles Floyd | unpleasantly, and grayness clouds your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see two identical, obviously dead women Floyd | standing nearby and watching you. Chestnut hair spills over their Floyd | shoulders. Each woman's skull is hideously crushed, and each face, Floyd | turned toward you, has one missing eye - the left missing for the Floyd | woman on the left, and the right missing for the woman on the right. Floyd | Blood and less identifiable fluids drip from the empty eyesockets. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears and the doubled image disappears. The corpses are Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | The mahogany desk is immaculate. Its varnished surface seems to have Floyd | been cleaned not long ago, and it sports no clutter whatsoever. Floyd | Floyd | On the mahogany desk is a precisely folded sheet of typewriter paper. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Our brass key ought to unlock the black cabinet." | |||
| inky says, "actually, hmm" | ||||
| inky says, "let me try another door first" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You insert the steel key into the lock of the door to room 324 and Floyd | turn it, successfully unlocking the door Floyd | You open the door to room 324. Floyd | Floyd | Room 324, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The fluorescent lights overhead are dark - burned out, judging by the Floyd | presence of the tall torchiere lamp standing by the door. The Floyd | torchiere is currently turned off, and ink-dark shadows fill the room. Floyd | Floyd | A small door to your south leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn on torchiere" | ||||
Floyd | >You switch on the tall torchiere. Yellow light floods through the Floyd | small room, illuminating row upon row of shelves around you and a Floyd | closed metal cupboard at the back of the room. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "The steel key opens two doors?" | |||
| inky says, "yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "convenient, eh" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open cupboard" | ||||
Floyd | >Opening the cupboard, you discover that it contains quite a few Floyd | sterile packages containing hypodermic syringes. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get syringes" | ||||
Floyd | >You select a sealed hypodermic syringe. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 324, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The yellow light of a single torchiere lamp illuminates a small room. Floyd | The room is filled mostly with standing shelves that go from floor to Floyd | ceiling, reminding you immediately of the brief glances of pharmacies Floyd | that you've caught over their counters. Sure enough, the shelves are Floyd | filled with rows upon rows of medicine, kept in bottles of varying Floyd | sizes. A metal cupboard containing a pile of packaged syringes stands Floyd | open at the end of the room. Floyd | Floyd | A small door to your south leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Hooray - we need those." | |||
| inky says, "hmm, I thoight we had another flashforward due us" | ||||
| inky says, "also, note that this room contains pharmaceutical supplies" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search shelves" | ||||
Floyd | >You paw through the bottles on the shelf, searching for the Vanemine Floyd | described in Pearce's 5/8 entry. Though it takes you a few minutes, Floyd | you are able to find a small vial of Vanemine hidden behind several Floyd | other medications in larger bottles. You pocket it. Floyd | Floyd | "Hrtmn" is difficult to uncover until you luckily find "Hartmann's Floyd | Solution" in the small print of the bottle labeled CSL. You pick up Floyd | the bottle. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search shelves" | ||||
Floyd | >You make one last search of the shelves for anything useful. Floyd | Unexpectedly, you discover a small piece of notebook paper concealed Floyd | against the back wall of the shelving. You remove and unfold it. Floyd | Floyd | You add the small page torn from a compact notebook to your existing Floyd | collection of pages. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The small page torn from a compact notebook reads: Floyd | Floyd | S.C. - Entry 1978-05-07-0400 Floyd | Floyd | "No battle plan survives contact with the enemy." Floyd | Atwater spoke to me about the possibility of terminating McMoneagle. Floyd | It is true and observable that Ian has suffered more severe effects Floyd | than any of the previous test recipients had before their brains Floyd | succumbed to the symbiont's side effects. Since Atwater has never had Floyd | faith in the possible success of the project, psychotic reactions hold Floyd | no hope for him. He would just as soon destroy the subject and move to Floyd | the next. Floyd | What I did not know upon this meeting is that Atwater had given an Floyd | innocuous excuse to Yehuda concerning his absence from the test -- a Floyd | trip to the store. This rendered him an adequate target for a remote Floyd | viewing session, by Yehuda's reckoning. Ian "overheard" Atwater's Floyd | conversation with me and became overwrought. Floyd | When he went to sleep, his psychic abilities manifested, somehow Floyd | dealing severe trauma to Atwater's heart. By the time the doctor was Floyd | taken to the hospital, he was already dead. Floyd | While I was notified almost immediately, this is going to be Floyd | incredibly inconvenient to keep quiet and controlled. Elaine should be Floyd | easy to manipulate; her faith in the project will ensure her loyalty. Floyd | Yehuda will be another matter. I will speak to him directly, but even Floyd | then I will need to keep an eye on the man. He has too much humanity Floyd | to be a good Doctor. Floyd | I realize that it is my job to babysit the ignorant, but that does not Floyd | keep it from being infuriating. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "sweet" | |||
| DavidW asks, "So, did anyone finish this in two hours?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hahahahahaha oh dear, David you are a funny man." | ||||
| inky says, "well, I got to *an* ending" | ||||
| inky says, "but it was sucky" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Sometimes I worry that IF Comp becomes follow-the-walkthrough-comp." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We hit an ending less than two hours in, too. That's true." | ||||
| inky says, "I am pretty sure you guys could have just pushed the button and gotten to the ending early on, yeah" | ||||
| inky says, "there is another flash in here, let me see if I can find it" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn off torchiere" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | >You switch off the tall torchiere. Darkness immediately floods the Floyd | room. Floyd | Floyd | >Room 324, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The fluorescent lights overhead are dark - burned out, judging by the Floyd | presence of the tall torchiere lamp standing by the door. The Floyd | torchiere is currently turned off, and ink-dark shadows fill the room. Floyd | Floyd | A small door to your south leads back into the hallway. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s. n. z" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | Floyd | Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Room 324, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The fluorescent lights overhead are dark - burned out, judging by the Floyd | presence of the tall torchiere lamp standing by the door. The Floyd | torchiere is currently turned off, and ink-dark shadows fill the room. Floyd | Floyd | A small door to your south leads back into the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | | inky says, "ok, I dunno, maybe I screwed it up" | |||
| inky says, "back to the other room then!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "What.. is there a secret glow-in-the-dark label on a bottle?" | |||
| inky says, "there is something with the torchiere" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | DavidW says, "well, c torchiere" | |||
Floyd | >You insert the steel key into the lock of the door to room 321 and Floyd | turn it, successfully unlocking the door Floyd | You open the door to room 321. Floyd | Floyd | Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This small room would have made a cozy office for a single person; set Floyd | up for two, it feels more like a furnished closet. The room's Floyd | furnishings express remarkably different personalities: on the west, a Floyd | massive black filing cabinet is flanked by a mahogany desk and Floyd | expensive-looking rolling chair. On the east, the cheap metal desk Floyd | has a kneeling chair in front of it, next to a gray filing cabinet Floyd | much smaller than its counterpart on the west side. Floyd | Floyd | There's a high shelf supporting a preserved heart, a pickled Floyd | two-headed sparrow and a jar of formaldehyde above the mahogany desk. Floyd | | inky says, "oh yeah" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | Bishop asks, "Good heavens, y'all are still going?" | |||
Floyd | >Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "undo" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 324, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | [Previous turn undone.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c torchiere" | ||||
Floyd | >With the torchiere lamp turned off, it's just too dark to see Floyd | anything in here. Floyd | Floyd | You can't sense anything from the tall torchiere right now. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "turn on torchiere" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "c torchiere" | ||||
Floyd | >You switch on the tall torchiere. Yellow light floods through the Floyd | small room, illuminating row upon row of shelves around you and an Floyd | open metal cupboard at the back of the room. Floyd | Floyd | >The slim, graceful torchiere is a bit odd in these surroundings, but Floyd | burned-out fluorescents overhead might help explain its presence. Floyd | Floyd | You can't sense anything from the tall torchiere right now. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Sometime in the next half hour I need to take a break for about an hour." | |||
| inky says, "hm, I dunno" | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims (at Bishop), "We're persistent!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | Floyd | >You insert the steel key into the lock of the door to room 321 and Floyd | turn it, successfully unlocking the door Floyd | You open the door to room 321. Floyd | Floyd | Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This small room would have made a cozy office for a single person; set Floyd | up for two, it feels more like a furnished closet. The room's Floyd | furnishings express remarkably different personalities: on the west, a Floyd | massive black filing cabinet is flanked by a mahogany desk and Floyd | expensive-looking rolling chair. On the east, the cheap metal desk Floyd | has a kneeling chair in front of it, next to a gray filing cabinet Floyd | much smaller than its counterpart on the west side. Floyd | Floyd | There's a high shelf supporting a preserved heart, a pickled Floyd | two-headed sparrow and a jar of formaldehyde above the mahogany desk. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Do we need the formaldehyde too in the other room? I haven't taken notes on the notes." | |||
| inky says, "good catch!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "stand on chair" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the rolling office chair or the kneeling chair? Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "stand on mahogany desk" | ||||
Floyd | >A sudden wave of dizziness overwhelms you. As you stumble and steady Floyd | yourself against the black filing cabinet, the world doubles Floyd | unpleasantly, and grayness clouds your vision. Floyd | Floyd | Through the grayness, you see two identical, obviously dead women Floyd | standing nearby and watching you. Chestnut hair spills over their Floyd | shoulders. Each woman's skull is hideously crushed, and each face, Floyd | turned toward you, has one missing eye - the left missing for the Floyd | woman on the left, and the right missing for the woman on the right. Floyd | Blood and less identifiable fluids drip from the empty eyesockets. Floyd | Floyd | Your vision clears and the doubled image disappears. The corpses are Floyd | gone. Floyd | Floyd | You climb up on the mahogany desk. From here, you can reach the high Floyd | shelf. Floyd | | inky says, "also dead body = another flash" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get formaldehyde" | ||||
Floyd | >You pick up the jar of formaldehyde. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x heart" | ||||
Floyd | >It appears to be a chicken's heart, preserved in a jar of Floyd | formaldehyde. A small label on the jar reads: "A merry heart doeth Floyd | good like a medicine. Proverbs xvii. 22." Floyd | | inky says, "(random weird thing)" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||||
Floyd | >You climb carefully down from the desk. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "unlock black cabinet with brass key" | ||||
Floyd | >[This command only takes one input. Ignoring "with brass key".)] Floyd | Floyd | You insert the small brass key into the lock of the black filing Floyd | cabinet and turn it, successfully unlocking the black filing cabinet. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open it" | inky says, "I found these cabinets a little disappointing but there might be stuff in here I missed" | |||
Floyd | >You open the black filing cabinet. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look in it" | ||||
Floyd | >[To find things in the black filing cabinet's files, use the command Floyd | "LOOK UP [topic] IN FILES".] Floyd | Floyd | In the black filing cabinet, you see a set of files relating to Floyd | employee records. Floyd | | inky says, "the black cabinet has personnel files and the grey one has sort of general topics" | |||
| DavidW says, "hooboy" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up yehuda in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Yehuda, Theodore. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Yehuda's file contains mainly research on him and his work in the Floyd | study of neuroscience. A few performance reviews from other offices Floyd | are in the file, which you're not entirely certain is legal. The Floyd | paperwork pertinent to Corona, Inc indicates that the doctor signed on Floyd | with Corona in early April, 1978, immediately assuming a position as Floyd | the head of the project. One of the reports has holes cut out of it. Floyd | You suspect that there may be information missing from the report. Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | DavidW says, "There's so many names we could look up, I suppose." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up elaine in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Buchanan, Elaine Geraldine. Floyd | Floyd | It takes you a few moments to parse the disparate and heavily censored Floyd | information in the file, but you are eventually able to make sense of Floyd | it. It seems as though she was originally an applicant for an Floyd | Institute that was doing contract work for some kind of government | ||||
| Tale makes himself you nothing me nothing out of the dust. | ||||
| Tale has disconnected. | ||||
Floyd | Project. The name of both project and institute have been excised Floyd | from all documents where they are mentioned, clipped out with Floyd | scissors. Elaine was rejected by the Institute as unsuitable, and Floyd | headhunted by Corona not a week later, judging by her interview notes. Floyd | Her recruitment took place sometime in 1977, before April. Since Floyd | then, it appears that Elaine has acted as some kind of scout, seeking Floyd | out suitable test patients and doing field research. Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up ian in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for McMoneagle, Ian. Floyd | Floyd | Ian's file is one of the thickest in the cabinet, filled with past Floyd | medical reports and research. Ian was born on October 30th, 1955 in Floyd | Olney, Maryland to John McMoneagle, a general store manager, and Olive Floyd | McMoneagle. Judging by the neatly-organized and annotated transcripts, Floyd | Ian was very bright but did poorly in school due to depressive Floyd | behavior. A few reports of incidents illustrate that Ian was a Floyd | frequent victim of bullying, and even the teachers and administration Floyd | of his schools found his behavior off-putting. His medical records Floyd | indicate a history of chronic headaches and nightmares. Ian was Floyd | recruited as a test subject for Corona Laboratories in mid-April of Floyd | 1978. Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up alice in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Kim, Alice. Floyd | Floyd | Its contents reveal that Alice is a nurse at Mt. Airy, and she has Floyd | been working for the hospital for about six months. Alice was born on Floyd | May 14, 1955, in Wheaton, Maryland, to Seung and Mary Kim. While Floyd | there isn't much more specific information about Alice, her Floyd | performance review indicates that while Alice "sometimes lacks Floyd | procedural knowledge," she is a patient favorite, known for her Floyd | "bright and cheerful outlook", and people note that she "never seems Floyd | to have a bad day." Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | inky asks, "and I forget the other doctor's name -- atkins?" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up simon in black cabinet" | DavidW says, "atwater" | |||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Cross, Simon. Floyd | Floyd | A single sheet of paper lies in the folder. In its center, a simple Floyd | message has been typed in a bold serif font: "This space intentionally | inky says, "ah, right" | |||
Floyd | left blank." Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | Ellison asks, "when did everything go down? did Alice die on her birthday?" | |||
| Ellison says, "maybe we can sing to her corpse" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I know it's May 1978, but not the exact date. I haven't been taking notes." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up atwater in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Atwater, Edward. Floyd | Floyd | The files indicate that Dr. Atwater had a solid career in medicine for Floyd | about 30 years before signing on with Corona Labs in 1977. Dr. Floyd | Atwater was initially the lead physician in charge of Corona's project Floyd | here at Mt. Airy Hospital, but about a month ago he stepped down from Floyd | that role to be replaced by Dr. Yehuda. The reason for this is not Floyd | explicitly stated in the file, and you can't help but feel that there Floyd | may be some information purposefully left out. Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "There's a Pearce as well, no?" | |||
| inky says, "so I don't get why this black cabinet is a thing, since it doesn't seem to have any useful info" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up pearce in black cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You search through the black filing cabinet until you locate a folder Floyd | for Pearce, Raymond, MD. Floyd | Floyd | The folder is thick with files, mainly reports, commendations and Floyd | reviews. Near the front and the back you find some basic information: Floyd | Dr. Pearce was born on October 15th, 1915, in Northwest Washington, Floyd | DC. There isn't much about his personal life, but it appears that the Floyd | Doctor's progression through the hospital's ranks was gradual and Floyd | measured; his most recent promotion was two years ago, to the position Floyd | of the hospital's assistant director. Nothing else that you find is Floyd | of value. Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Backstory?" | |||
| Ellison says, "it is mysterious why several things are things" | ||||
| inky says, "I guess, but they don't even really provide anything you don't know already from the notes" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Future people won't be in here, I suppose." | ||||
| inky says, "maybe the idea is people who didn't find all the notes can get it from the cabinet, but the sort of people who don't find all the notes probably won't bother with the cabinet" | ||||
| DavidW says, "The notes get very repetitive, I thought." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "How many times do they say Elaine is a hippy-type?" | ||||
| inky says, "yeah, it's a little overdone" | ||||
| inky says, "and the important things like the formula only appear once, so if you don't find them you're stuck" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in grey cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in gray cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >You open the gray filing cabinet. Floyd | Floyd | [To find things in the gray filing cabinet's files, use the command Floyd | "LOOK UP [topic] IN FILES".] Floyd | Floyd | In the gray filing cabinet, you see a set of files relating to a Floyd | variety of peculiar topics, ranging from UFOs to remote viewing to Floyd | cryptozoology. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up remote viewing in gray cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >The organization system of the gray filing cabinet is mysterious at Floyd | best. You skim quickly through, but you cannot find a clipping about Floyd | remote viewing. Floyd | | inky says, "(which is weird)" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up symbiont in files" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look up ufos in gray cabinet" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the black filing cabinet or the gray filing Floyd | cabinet? Floyd | Floyd | >You find three articles about UFOs. Each one centers around an Floyd | alleged sighting, and is covered with notes in black marker. It seems Floyd | that whoever wrote these notes actually did some research on each Floyd | sighting, as the notes pertain to the likely accuracy of each Floyd | statement. One article, concerning an incident near Roswell, is Floyd | marked "Likely! Ask about vacation time in August." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "gray" | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | You put the file back where you found it. Floyd | Floyd | >["gray" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look up symbiont in gray" | ||||
Floyd | >The organization system of the gray filing cabinet is mysterious at Floyd | best. You skim quickly through, but you cannot find a clipping about Floyd | symbiont. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Did I misspell it?" | |||
| inky says, "no, I just screw it up for you, sorry" | ||||
| inky says, "er, ^ed" | ||||
| Wastrel goes home. | DavidW asks, "Did I misspell symbiont?" | |||
| inky says, "no, I think the cabinets are just not very well implemented" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I am probably going to bail here in about five, but am good with you guys either continuing without me (I will definitely read up later) or holding off until I'm back (probably in an hour)." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I wouldn't mind a break." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I just want to go outside for a bit while there's still daylight." | ||||
| inky says, "okey doke" | ||||
| inky says, "I am guessing we have a half-hour of gameplay left or so" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I may be gone only a few, or it may be warm enough to hang out until sunset. But I think that's in 1:15, so." | ||||
| inky says, "but stuff always takes longer than I think, so" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to inky), "Yeah, I don't want the sun to go down without me having some time out there." | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "Talk to you in a few!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf11" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| djfletch has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Jacqueline says, "I'm back and good whenever." | |||
| Jacqueline says, "I guess we have about two and a half hours until ifMud goes down. Hopefully that is enough time to find some sort of conclusion." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Hopefully a happy one, if there is such an ending." | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This small room would have made a cozy office for a single person; set Floyd | up for two, it feels more like a furnished closet. The room's Floyd | furnishings express remarkably different personalities: on the west, a Floyd | massive black filing cabinet is flanked by a mahogany desk and Floyd | expensive-looking rolling chair. On the east, the cheap metal desk Floyd | has a kneeling chair in front of it, next to a gray filing cabinet Floyd | much smaller than its counterpart on the west side. Floyd | Floyd | There's a high shelf supporting a preserved heart and a pickled Floyd | two-headed sparrow above the mahogany desk. Floyd | | inky says, "yeah, it should be" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sparrow" | ||||
Floyd | >One of the heads is smaller than the other, jutting strangely upward, Floyd | while the other is bowed by the weight of the first. Both beaks are Floyd | open plaintively, but all four eyes are closed. Floyd | | inky says, "basically at this point I think you need to make the drug following the formula, which you should be able to do" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Thanks for the break. I had a good stroll." | ||||
| inky arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | inky says, "and then you can hit the button and go into the endgame rooms" | |||
| DavidW says, "I never saw an explicit formula. Only hints." | ||||
| djfletch arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | maga asks, "it's not raining hard where you are?" | |||
| inky says, "your character knows the formula if you saw the ingredient" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying a jar of formaldehyde, a bottle of Hartmann's Floyd | solution, a vial of Vanemine, a sealed hypodermic syringe, a handful Floyd | of fingerbones, a steel key, a ripped plastic baggie, a ridged key, a Floyd | small brass key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Floyd | Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | inky says, "(which are hartmann's, vanemine, formaldehyde, and some infected blood)" | |||
| DavidW says, "well, we saw the blood." | ||||
| inky asks, "yeah, I guess that was something that got lost when you restored to the earlier save?" | ||||
| Bishop hears pickle to the east! | ||||
| DavidW says, "We left it in the fridge." | ||||
| Ellison asks, "huh, we don't need that S-word stuff?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "And we put the goop encrusted test tube in the rack." | ||||
| inky says, "you sort of do, but it's not in the dispensary for whatever reason" | ||||
| inky says, "(you will find it later)" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "I suppose we need to clean the test tube after all, then, eh?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to maga), "No. It's very pleasant out. (Sorry)" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "l" | ||||
Floyd | >Room 321, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This small room would have made a cozy office for a single person; set Floyd | up for two, it feels more like a furnished closet. The room's | Ellison says, "EGB says she took it in one of her notes" | |||
Floyd | furnishings express remarkably different personalities: on the west, a Floyd | massive black filing cabinet is flanked by a mahogany desk and Floyd | expensive-looking rolling chair. On the east, the cheap metal desk Floyd | has a kneeling chair in front of it, next to a gray filing cabinet Floyd | much smaller than its counterpart on the west side. Floyd | Floyd | There's a high shelf supporting a preserved heart and a pickled Floyd | two-headed sparrow above the mahogany desk. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. | inky says, "oh, right" | |||
Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf12" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| Gerynar arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You swipe your keycard through the keycard reader. After a moment, Floyd | the door emits a loud click and the airlock door slides open. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | djfletch says, "hey we could launder a pickled sparrow, that would be tasty for the laundry machine" | |||
| Ellison says, "I think we were unclear on whether we'd be able to safely leave this area with the stuff from inside" | ||||
| inky says, "ah, I see" | ||||
| inky says, "well, it is safe to leave as long as you decontaminate" | ||||
| DavidW says, "well, it scoured the test tube, and we thought maybe that was a mistake." | ||||
| inky says, "it seems like a mistake but it's not -- you need to start with a clean tube" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||||
| DavidW says, "So we restored to a point where the test tube is dirty again." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x suit" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean hazard suit) | Jacqueline asks, "But what about the blood?" | |||
Floyd | It's a thin white hazard suit. While not very durable, a combination Floyd | of a charcoal air filter and an airtight fiber weave should serve to Floyd | protect the wearer from most environmental hazards. Floyd | | inky says, "the tube gets scoured because it's unsealed" | |||
| DavidW says, "The blood is in the fridge." | ||||
| inky says, "the game assumes all the other stuff is sealed" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, I must have gotten those two obj confused." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I was thinking it had somehow gotten rid of our (well, Ian's) blood." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "wear suit" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean hazard suit) Floyd | (first taking the clean hazard suit) Floyd | You pick up the clean hazard suit. Floyd | Floyd | You clamber awkwardly into the suit. It takes you several minutes to Floyd | figure out how to get your hands into the gloves at the end of the Floyd | sleeves without having to zip it up first, but after some struggling Floyd | you are completely suited up. You check all of the airtight zippers Floyd | and make sure that the filter is letting you breathe properly. You Floyd | feel clumsy and big, but you should be protected from all but the most Floyd | minute contaminants. Unless the suit tears, of course. Floyd | | DavidW says, "no, I didn't touch Ian's blood. Only looked at it." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "ENTRY". A metallic feminine voice Floyd | announces, "The entry door cannot open while the exit door is open." Floyd | Floyd | The external airlock door slides closed with a hiss and locks with a Floyd | click. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Gotcha." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "ENTRY". The internal airlock door emits Floyd | a loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | As the door slides open, you are immediately sprayed by a reddish Floyd | liquid, which splatters against the surface of your suit. Upon wiping Floyd | off your faceplate with a suited arm, you see that an amorphous red Floyd | substance is now oozing into the airlock through the partly open door. Floyd | Floyd | You flinch back from the vista beyond, where a strange, churning red Floyd | substance has devoured almost an entire room. Before, when you looked Floyd | into the faceplate of the prone figure's environmental suit, you saw a Floyd | seething red hell that consumed one man. That was the microcosm; this Floyd | door contains the same red hell in macrocosm. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Lab, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This room seems to have been the subject of some kind of massive Floyd | biological explosion. Some kind of glistening, mealy red substance Floyd | similar to ground meat is splattered all over the floor, walls and Floyd | ceiling in large patches. The substance seems to have a life of its Floyd | own, pulsing and undulating in great colonies. Large piles of it merge Floyd | and separate. Floyd | Floyd | The room itself seems to have been some kind of biological Floyd | experimentation laboratory. You can see a large sink along one wall, Floyd | with nozzles for a bunsen burner mounted next to it. While most of the Floyd | counters are covered with the disgusting red substance, one table is Floyd | mostly untouched thanks to an overhanging edge. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is a measuring pipette, fixed in place above a wooden Floyd | test tube rack. There's also a small lab refrigerator branded with a Floyd | biohazard symbol. Floyd | Floyd | The bottom of a glass test tube projects from a mound of the mealy red Floyd | stuff. Floyd | | ||||
| Bishop arrives, full of funk, but no fun. | DavidW says, "I'm still unclear what the procedure is." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get tube" | ||||
Floyd | >(the sludge-encrusted test tube) Floyd | You pull the test tube out of the churning mound of mealy red stuff. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | A few slowly shifting tendrils of red, mealy meat have made their way Floyd | into the airlock. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | Ellison says, "I imagine we mix it all together and add salt to taste" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The internal airlock door slides closed with a hiss and and locks with Floyd | a click. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. You hear a hissing noise, and Floyd | several of the nozzles overhead spray white foam over you and your Floyd | surroundings. The red substance that ended up in the airlock makes a Floyd | horrible shrieking noise and begins to smoke and thrash. The foam Floyd | is followed immediately by several jets of clear liquid, which hit Floyd | with staggering force. After you are sluiced down, the nozzles spray Floyd | a fine mist into the air, which immediately begins to smell of Floyd | chlorine. Floyd | Floyd | After about twenty seconds, the nozzles shut off. Shortly thereafter, Floyd | the red substance finishes dissolving entirely. Floyd | Floyd | You note that the glass test tube has been scoured completely clean. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the button marked "ENTRY". The internal airlock door emits Floyd | a loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Lab, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | This room seems to have been the subject of some kind of massive Floyd | biological explosion. Some kind of glistening, mealy red substance Floyd | similar to ground meat is splattered all over the floor, walls and Floyd | ceiling in large patches. The substance seems to have a life of its Floyd | own, pulsing and undulating in great colonies. Large piles of it merge Floyd | and separate. Floyd | Floyd | The room itself seems to have been some kind of biological Floyd | experimentation laboratory. You can see a large sink along one wall, Floyd | with nozzles for a bunsen burner mounted next to it. While most of the Floyd | counters are covered with the disgusting red substance, one table is Floyd | mostly untouched thanks to an overhanging edge. Floyd | Floyd | On the table is a measuring pipette, fixed in place above a wooden Floyd | test tube rack. There's also a small lab refrigerator branded with a Floyd | biohazard symbol. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put tube in rack" | Jacqueline says (to Ellison), "I prefer mine on the rocks, no salt, thanks." | |||
| DavidW asks, "Even though the notes thought the quantities were important?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "open fridge" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean glass test tube in the wooden test tube rack) Floyd | You lower the clean glass test tube through a hole in the wooden test Floyd | tube rack and nestle its base into the appropriate divot. Floyd | Floyd | >You open the small lab refrigerator, revealing a vial of blood and a Floyd | legal-size page. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "look in sink" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get page" | ||||
Floyd | >You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | The internal airlock door slides closed with a hiss and and locks with Floyd | a click. Floyd | Floyd | >(the legal-size page) Floyd | You pick up the legal-size page. Floyd | Floyd | You add the legal-size page to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | Bishop asks, "Are there actually notes with specific quantities mentioned?" | |||
| DavidW says, "hey, I took that page!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "read notes" | ||||
Floyd | >The legal-size page reads: Floyd | Floyd | From the desk of Dr. Edward Atwater, M.D., Ph.D. Floyd | April 25th, 1978 Floyd | I'll be damned, they're really buying it. McMoneagle's due to be Floyd | dosed within the next few days. Floyd | I am not a completely heartless man. It is a popular conceit in Floyd | this office, and I suppose I cannot blame anyone for thinking so. But Floyd | I have been here for years, now, and overseen the snuffing out of over Floyd | a dozen lives. With each death I hope to the godless heavens that Floyd | Corona will see the depth of its mistake, realize that experimenting Floyd | with a lethal parasite and calling it a symbiont will not make wishes Floyd | come true. If we want to join the Project it will only be through Floyd | methodical chicanery, not methodical murder. | inky says, "ha ha" | |||
Floyd | What do they want of me? To become McMoneagle's friend, like Floyd | "kindly old Doc Yehuda?" To have faith in the absence of reason, like Floyd | "Crazy 'Lainey?" I dread to think of how crushed they will be when the Floyd | young man's brain floods itself with chemicals. I will be the only Floyd | staff member in his right mind. Floyd | I am not a monster. I am a doctor. To hell with anyone who doesn't Floyd | understand that. Floyd | | DavidW says (to Bishop), "No." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get blood" | ||||
Floyd | >(the vial of blood) | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put blood in tube" | ||||
Floyd | You pick up the vial of blood. Floyd | | DavidW says, "They *hinted*." | |||
Floyd | >(the vial of blood in the clean glass test tube) Floyd | There are no measurement graduations on the test tube. You should put Floyd | components into the pipette so that you can be sure you added the Floyd | right amount. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put blood in pipette" | ||||
| Emily arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. | ||||
Floyd | >(the vial of blood in the measuring pipette) Floyd | Using Dr. Yehuda's notes for reference, you carefully measure some of Floyd | the vial of blood into the pipette and then decant it into the test Floyd | tube. Floyd | | inky says, "see, you know how much to put in" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put formaldehyde in tube. put hartmann's in tube" | Bishop asks, "Mmm. If these notes say it, shouldn't it have told us?" | |||
| DavidW asks, "okay, how was I supposed to know that I know that?" | ||||
| Doug arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
Floyd | >(the partially full glass test tube) Floyd | There are no measurement graduations on the test tube. You should put Floyd | components into the pipette so that you can be sure you added the Floyd | right amount. Floyd | Floyd | (the partially full glass test tube) Floyd | There are no measurement graduations on the test tube. You should put Floyd | components into the pipette so that you can be sure you added the Floyd | right amount. Floyd | | inky says, "I just tried it on the principle that it would be unkind for the game to insist on you typing "put in five milliliters" or whatever" | |||
| inky says, "whoops" | ||||
| DavidW says, "ugh. I hate the vagueness." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put formaldehyde in pipette. put hartmann's in pipette" | ||||
Floyd | >Using Dr. Yehuda's notes for reference, you carefully measure some of Floyd | the jar of formaldehyde into the pipette and then decant it into the Floyd | test tube. Floyd | Floyd | Using Dr. Yehuda's notes for reference, you carefully measure some of Floyd | the bottle of Hartmann's solution into the pipette and then decant it Floyd | into the test tube. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put Vanemine in pipette" | ||||
| Doug has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
Floyd | >Using Dr. Yehuda's notes for reference, you carefully measure some of Floyd | the vial of Vanemine into the pipette and then decant it into the test Floyd | tube. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put syringe in tube" | Ellison says, "oh, so we did defeat the red mist? I thought there was a giant blob of it after we got the small stuff" | |||
Floyd | >(the partially full glass test tube) Floyd | There are no measurement graduations on the test tube. You should put Floyd | components into the pipette so that you can be sure you added the Floyd | right amount. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "hmm" | ||||
Floyd | >["hmm" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get tube" | ||||
Floyd | >(the partially full glass test tube) Floyd | You pick up the partially full glass test tube. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "pour tube in syringe" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "fill syringe from tube" | ||||
Floyd | >(the partially full glass test tube in the sealed hypodermic syringe) Floyd | You open the plastic wrapper surrounding the hypodermic syringe and Floyd | prepare the needle for use. Floyd | Floyd | You draw some of the liquid from the test tube into the hypodermic Floyd | syringe. Floyd | Floyd | >["fill syringe from tube" is not a recognized command.] Floyd | | inky says, "there we go" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "put tube in rack" | ||||
Floyd | >(the partially full glass test tube in the wooden test tube rack) | inky says, "the syringe is sealed so the decontamination won't affect it" | |||
Floyd | You lower the partially full glass test tube through a hole in the Floyd | wooden test tube rack and nestle its base into the appropriate divot. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Wincing, you grope about for a moment in the sludge near the door Floyd | until you encounter something that feels like a button. Floyd | Floyd | You push the hidden button. The internal airlock door emits a loud Floyd | click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Biohazard Airlock, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | You stand in a small room lit by a low red light. It is immaculately Floyd | clean and nearly featureless. Two hooks are mounted on the wall; what Floyd | appears to be a shredded environment suit hangs from one of them. Floyd | Overhead, a set of red lamps shines down on you, mounted next to four Floyd | spray nozzles. A sliding door with a small wire-reinforced window Floyd | leads back to the hallway to your west. Another door stands to the Floyd | east, a small opaque window set in it. Floyd | Floyd | Three large buttons, one marked "ENTRY", one marked "EXIT", and one Floyd | marked "DECONTAMINATE", glow faintly from a wall recess. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | You note that some of the mealy red substance from inside the Floyd | biohazard lab has found its way into the airlock. Floyd | | Bishop asks, "Are we sure this is all the chemicals needed?" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "So we need to inject Ian with this before the hospital eats us?" | |||
| inky says, "I *think* so" | ||||
| inky says, "if not you'll have to restore" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The internal airlock door slides closed with a hiss and and locks with Floyd | a click. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push decontaminate" | ||||
Floyd | >You push the DECONTAMINATE button. You hear a hissing noise, and Floyd | several of the nozzles overhead spray white foam over you and your Floyd | surroundings. The red substance that ended up in the airlock makes a Floyd | horrible shrieking noise and begins to smoke and thrash. The foam Floyd | is followed immediately by several jets of clear liquid, which hit Floyd | with staggering force. After you are sluiced down, the nozzles spray Floyd | a fine mist into the air, which immediately begins to smell of Floyd | chlorine. Floyd | Floyd | After about twenty seconds, the nozzles shut off. Shortly thereafter, Floyd | the red substance finishes dissolving entirely. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "remove suit. w" | ||||
Floyd | >(the clean hazard suit) Floyd | You take off the clean hazard suit. Floyd | Floyd | You push the button marked "EXIT". The external airlock door emits a Floyd | loud click and then slides open with a soft hiss. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Plain, windowless doors labelled neatly with small brass signs lead Floyd | off to the north and south. At the east end of the hallway, a large, Floyd | lurid orange biohazard symbol marks a door of a different design. Floyd | This door is a sliding door instead of a regular door, and it has a Floyd | small, wire-reinforced window. Floyd | Floyd | Several curving, sharp pieces of glass and small pieces of metal Floyd | litter the floor. Floyd | Floyd | There's a keycard reader beside the sliding door. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | >Glass crunches faintly underfoot as you move through the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Room 322, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While spacious, this office is surprisingly austere. The office is Floyd | clearly separated into two sides. On the west side, a large but Floyd | inexpensive-looking metal desk is festooned with decorations; a Floyd | calendar covers its center, while several photos are proudly displayed Floyd | with their faces to the door. The desk on the east side is a standing Floyd | oak desk, precisely arranged and nearly bare. All of the decoration Floyd | on that side of the room is on the walls, an array of diplomas and Floyd | commendations. An office chair stands in front of each desk. Floyd | Floyd | Only a single object dares to split the room: a wall-mounted Floyd | television displaying half of a grainy black-and-white picture. Floyd | Floyd | To your south, a door leads back to the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Below the television, there is a wall button with a typewritten sign Floyd | taped next to it. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf13" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | inky says, "I think this is it" | |||
| inky says, "unless we have forgotten something" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get sign" | ||||
Floyd | >You carefully peel the sign off the wall. Realizing that the old Floyd | clear tape is likely to tear the paper, you fold it over the paper's Floyd | side and add it to your notes. Floyd | Floyd | You add the typewritten sign to your existing collection of pages. Floyd | | Jacqueline leans forward. | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||||
Floyd | >Your vision swims for a moment, and anxiety seizes your heart. You Floyd | strongly sense that you should push the button, but once you do you Floyd | must end this nightmare. There will be no going back. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | Are you sure you want to do this? (y/n) >Still dazed by the sudden Floyd | racing of your heart, you depress the button. Floyd | Floyd | To the southwest, muffled by the walls, you hear a strident buzzer, Floyd | and the noise of high heels suddenly echoes down the hallway from that Floyd | direction. The footsteps pause, and you hear the sound of a door Floyd | opening. Floyd | Floyd | In the security monitor, you see the young man jerk his head upward Floyd | suddenly. This is your first good look at his face, and his features Floyd | are gaunt, his eyes sunken and haunted. He slowly gets to his feet Floyd | and walks out of the range of the security camera. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | | DavidW says, "Afaik there's only four ingredients for the mixture." | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | >The lights flicker. The security monitor gives a sharp, abrupt Floyd | crackle before going dead. Floyd | Floyd | Side Hall, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | The off-white walls and dull, stain-resistant tiles of this hallway Floyd | match those of the main hall to the west. Windowless doors marked Floyd | with small brass signs branch off to the north and south. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "w" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall Intersection, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Cold fluorescent lights pace the ceiling from north to south and lead Floyd | off east along the T intersection. To the west, a pair of metal Floyd | elevator doors sits silently closed. There's a call button beside the Floyd | elevator and a floor indicator above the call button. Floyd | Floyd | A building map is posted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "s" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Hall End, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Long banks of fluorescent lights cast sharp shadows along the Floyd | half-familiar, half-unfamiliar hallway, which continues off to the Floyd | north. The tiled floor is only a shade darker than the dull off-white Floyd | walls. A strange, unpleasant odor hangs in the air and stings your Floyd | nostrils. The door to Room 320 is across the hall to the west. Floyd | Floyd | A windowless door leads east into the testing room's antechamber. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | > Floyd | Antechamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Your last visit to this room was your last breath of normalcy; now, Floyd | the madness has spread even here. A pile of shattered bones, gore and Floyd | viscera lies in a wide cone, sprayed toward the door through which you Floyd | entered. Blood drips from the walls and ceiling in the shape of that Floyd | same cone, pelting you with a gentle crimson rain. The most complete Floyd | part of the remains is a single high-heeled shoe, which lies just in Floyd | front of the pile. The ficus tree that previously stood in the corner Floyd | now lies on its side, its leaves glistening with blood. Its pot, now Floyd | cracked, lies on its side in a pile of blood-drenched topsoil. Floyd | Floyd | A metal fire axe lies on the far side of the floor. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | | DavidW says, "ooh, axe" | |||
| inky says, "see? I got you the axe!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heehee" | ||||
| Ellison says, "yay" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get axe" | ||||
Floyd | >You heft the metal fire axe. It is heavier than you expected it to Floyd | be, but the weight is nonetheless somewhat reassuring. Floyd | Floyd | The strident buzzer continues to sound. Floyd | Floyd | With an audible click, the buzzer shuts off. The door swings closed Floyd | behind you, and the lock slams home before you can intercept it. Floyd | | inky says, "(I might have missed this on the calendar, but the remains here are elaine, I believe)" | |||
| DavidW asks, "ack. Did we goof?" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x shoe" | ||||
Floyd | >It's a single, black, heeled women's pump. Whatever happened to its Floyd | owner threw it forward just enough that it escaped the carnage, and it Floyd | is mostly free of blood. Someone has written "EGB" in faded black Floyd | marker on the pale gold lining of the inner sole. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks, "Wait a tick. How did the axe end up here?" | |||
| inky says, "no, we just had to make it through this door" | ||||
| Ellison asks, "so she should have a bottle of pills on her?" | ||||
| inky says (to Ellison), "good point!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "x ficus" | ||||
Floyd | >The ficus tree's leaves glisten red with blood, so evenly coated as Floyd | to uniformly appear that this is their natural state. The tree Floyd | sprawls from the mouth of a cracked pot that lies on its side. Floyd | | Emily says, "Elaine had the axe" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "oh" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "search ficus" | ||||
Floyd | >The ficus tree's pot is badly cracked, and the topsoil in which the Floyd | tree was planted now spills out on the floor, soaking up the blood Floyd | that coats one half of the room. You glimpse something buried in the Floyd | topsoil, probably thrown there from the remains of the corpse: an Floyd | intact pill bottle. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get bottle" | ||||
Floyd | >(the bottle of Hartmann's solution) Floyd | You already have that. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "get pill bottle" | DavidW asks, "That's the sandepam or whatever?" | |||
Floyd | >You pick up the bottle and brush off the blood-soaked dirt. It's Floyd | labeled "Sandepam". Floyd | | inky says, "it is!" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to store: Ok. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "woo" | |||
| inky says, "ok here is the real ending setup now" | ||||
| Bishop asks, "Wait, was the sandepam supposed to be part of the stuff in the syringe?" | ||||
| inky says, "no, it seems to be a separate thing" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't remember what to do with it. It was yesterday." | ||||
| Ellison asks, "is there a mirror in this room for the finger bones?" | ||||
| inky says (to Ellison), "let's see!" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | inky says, "the bones are kind of an easter egg, so maybe I will do that first" | |||
| inky says (to Floyd), "drop bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You scoop the fingerbones up from your pocket, rattle them in one Floyd | hand, then toss them onto the ground in front of Ian. At once, his Floyd | screams stop, and he stares at the bones. Floyd | Floyd | Following his gaze, you see that the fingerbones are gone. What lies Floyd | on the ground is a set of twelve six-sided game dice, each one showing Floyd | a single pip facing upward. Six sets of snake eyes stare up at you Floyd | and Ian. You stare back. Floyd | Floyd | The room vibrates for a few seconds, and then reality shatters. You Floyd | both shatter with it. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "uh, what?" | |||
| Bishop blinks. | ||||
| inky says, "we have bad luck, I guess" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No saving throw, I take it." | ||||
| inky says, "(I really don't understand what this bit means)" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| DavidW says, "This means nothing to me either." | ||||
| inky says, "but now check out what it shows next:" | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | A darkened office. The orange light of dusk spilling through venetian Floyd | blinds, laying bright stripes on the dark wood of an expensive luxury Floyd | desk. Floyd | Floyd | With a satisfying clatter, six dice bounce across the surface of the Floyd | desk, coming to rest with assorted results: 6 6 2 6 3 1. The man who Floyd | threw them, a middle-aged man with a face craggier than his age should Floyd | allow, wears Brylcreemed black hair, a power suit, and the receiver of Floyd | an office telephone held firmly to the side of his head. Floyd | Floyd | "No, John, let me tell YOU something," he says. "The Schuyler family Floyd | didn't get to be where it is because we refused to take risks. This Floyd | stuff is the real deal, and whoever pulls it off first is going to be Floyd | set for generations." Floyd | Floyd | He grabs three of the dice, leaving the three that show sixes. With Floyd | an offhand gesture, he tosses them again. One of the three comes up a Floyd | six. "Look, this Buchanan broad is too hippy dippy for the Institute, Floyd | but she's the real deal and she'll do anything for a break. They want Floyd | to look legit, fine, but they won't land the project. We will." Floyd | Floyd | He picks up one of the unlucky dice, then the other. He pauses for a Floyd | moment, listening to the phone, then laughs. "Well, John, I imagine Floyd | she'll go nuts after a little while, but if you're not willing to Floyd | squeeze an orange hard enough, you'll never get a glass of juice. Floyd | Well, all right John. Talk to you later." Floyd | Floyd | The man hangs up the phone, then throws the final two dice one last Floyd | time. Both come up sixes. He leans back in his chair and smiles. Floyd | Floyd | "Heh-heh," he says. "Yahtzee." Floyd | Floyd | Then, he puts five dice back in the game box and one die in his Floyd | pocket, and he saunters off to dinner. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is The House Always Wins. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | Emily says, "that one was pretty odd" | |||
| inky says, "it's basically kind of an easter eggy backstory piece" | ||||
| DavidW says, "uhhh" | ||||
| inky says, "but I liked it as kind of a glimpse at the actual bad guys behind the scenes who never suffer or get brought to justice" | ||||
| Ellison says, "interesting" | ||||
| inky says, "everyone else is kind of their pawns" | ||||
| Jacqueline blinks. | ||||
| Jacqueline blinks again. | ||||
| Ellison says, "and that Yahtzee is the game of choice of high-stakes-risking evil men" | ||||
| inky says, "I assume that, like, this guy is the one responsible for bringing Cross on the scene to clean up" | ||||
| inky says, "ha ha" | ||||
| inky says, "how true" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "So I suppose there's two more endings via 'give pills' and 'inject Ian'?" | |||
| inky says, "you would think, but not exactly" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "'eat pills' and 'inject me'?" | ||||
| Ellison says, "I have to go idle. I guess I will read the rest in scrollback. good luck!" | ||||
| inky says, "wave!" | ||||
| djfletch says, "wasn't one of the medicines supposed to cure the side-effects of the other one, or something" | ||||
| inky says, "the brute forciest way is just to kill ian with the axe, or break the mirror" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his | DavidW says, "oh right. axe." | |||
Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "kill ian" | ||||
Floyd | >You raise the fire axe over your head and bring it down in a long, Floyd | sweeping slice. Ian's head hits the floor and bounces from the force Floyd | of its removal. Ian's body slumps for a moment. Floyd | Floyd | Something in the stump of his throat moves. Widening the throat, Floyd | something emerges from his windpipe: a single veiny eyeball supported Floyd | on a pink, pulsating stalk. It swivels to stare at you. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror continues to chew at Ian, drawing him into its surface with Floyd | razor-sharp shard-teeth. Floyd | | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "hit eyeball" | ||||
Floyd | >You falter, unable to break away from the eyeball's faceless gaze. Floyd | And from deep inside the headless body, there comes a dreadful Floyd | keening.... Floyd | Floyd | The mirror begins to bubble, like a photograph exposed to flame. Floyd | Great silver blisters form in its surface, and the blisters slowly Floyd | turn white from front to back. Only a few heartbeats pass before the Floyd | entire mirror is comprised of large white mounds. Then, all at once, Floyd | a black spot with a dark green iris appears at the center of each Floyd | mound, and they all swivel to stare directly at you. The surface of Floyd | the mirror, now perfectly still, has become a wall of eyes. The Floyd | combined gaze bores savagely into you as the body of Ian McMoneagle Floyd | collapses at your feet. Floyd | Floyd | Paralyzed, you stare back, completely unable to move. Floyd | | Emily says, "wow, ew" | |||
| Emily says, "I'm not sure I saw this one" | ||||
| DavidW says, "geez" | ||||
| inky says, "I *think* this is the walkthrough ending" | ||||
| Bishop says, "I smashed the mirror on my playthrough. Killing Ian didn't even occur to me." | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You wake up with a start in your room. Floyd | Floyd | You awaken in your bed surrounded by familiar and unfamiliar faces - Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist; Rayjay Farley and Best Ife, the lab Floyd | techs; the wheelchair-bound Dr. Ensfield, previously familiar to you Floyd | only at a distance; a slim, chestnut-haired woman with a cool gray Floyd | gaze, utterly unknown to you. Dr. Ephart is missing. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy has a closed eye on his forehead. So does Rayjay. So Floyd | does Best. They all do. Floyd | Floyd | You open your mouth to say something, but the noise that comes out is Floyd | scarcely more coherent than a frightened blubber. Dr. Shaunessy opens Floyd | his mouth, but all that you can hear is a bizarre echoing noise that Floyd | bounces around the inside of your head like an over-loud metro Floyd | announcement in an empty station. You try to speak again, but the Floyd | noise you make sounds like nothing you could ever produce. Floyd | Floyd | Concerned, the team surrounds you, staring down. You shrink down into Floyd | your pillow, looking fearfully from third eye to closed third eye. Floyd | The eyes are going to open. You can feel it. You can sense it. You Floyd | shrink back with terror - and then you shriek with it, clawing for Floyd | escape. Floyd | Floyd | Best and Rayjay grab your arms, lightning quick. It's all too much - Floyd | pinned down, you faint away. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "Those are *his* eyes too, aren't they?" | |||
| Emily says (to Bishop), "yeah" | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Your fitful consciousness leads the doctors to strap you down to your Floyd | own bed. You flit in and out of restless sleep, beset by nightmares Floyd | that stalk you through the waking world with just as much confidence Floyd | as the sleeping world. You feel the eyeballs in the walls; you feel Floyd | the chewing in your mind. Ian's keening echoes in your manacles. Floyd | Simon Cross tears off his fingers and leaves them in your water glass. Floyd | Best's warm smile turns into a frozen stare and then a full-throated Floyd | scream of horror when the eyeballs ripple open on her right arm. Floyd | Floyd | Best flees your room, still screaming, and you don't know what happens Floyd | after that. Don't you? You don't. Floyd | | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You'd like to think you don't. But you do. You know how Best pats at Floyd | her arm and pushes at the deformity and tries to close it, hide it, Floyd | lock it away somehow, sobbing helplessly, hating herself for the Floyd | breakdown even as she breaks down. The eyelashes flutter against her Floyd | fingertips, and she screams in pain when she pokes the iris Floyd | accidentally. Floyd | Floyd | She can't hide and the other doctors find her, but when she looks at Floyd | them, they recoil from her - from themselves - from the walls - and Floyd | they can see what you see. They see the third eyes, tightly shut; the Floyd | eyes in the walls, staring and open; the lines of typewritten text Floyd | that headless Ian, keening in despair, draws around them like a noose. Floyd | Floyd | Elaine Buchanan stands at your bedside, stroking your hair as they Floyd | die. Her handwriting covers the walls and she writes straight through Floyd | the eyeballs without stopping. Sclera drips from her fingers as Floyd | topsoil drips from her shoulders. Floyd | Floyd | There's nothing you can do. It's out and you can't keep it in. Floyd | There's nothing at all that you can do..... Floyd | | ||||
| Dave arrives, full of fun, but no funk. | ||||
| Bishop asks, "Topsoil?" | DavidW says, "good grief" | |||
| Dave has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Bishop says, "Er, ILAC." | inky asks, "I think because she is dead and buried, but maybe it's the topsoil from the ficus?" | |||
| Bishop says, "Man, that ficus gets around." | ||||
| inky pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Everyone sees now in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is Eyes On You. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| inky says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | DavidW says, "And we haven't used that damned syringe yet." | |||
| Emily says, "I definitely didn't get that ending" | ||||
| Emily says, "so it's different from what you get if you break the mirror, which I think is the walkthrough ending" | ||||
| inky says, "oops, and now I've got to split -- but I know Emily knows all the remaining endings here, so" | ||||
| inky says, "oh, ok" | ||||
| inky says, "anyway, have fun! *eyeballs*" | ||||
| inky has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | DavidW asks, "so we should break the mirror next?" | |||
| Emily says, "sure" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break mirror" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave your shoulder behind the fire axe, driving it into the Floyd | mirror's surface with all of your strength. The head of the axe Floyd | buries itself in the mirror, throwing cracks all the way across its Floyd | surface. The cracks run straight through the mirror, through the Floyd | hideous jaws, and through the body of Ian McMoneagle Floyd | | DavidW says, "yie" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "yia" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You awaken in your bed surrounded by familiar Floyd | and unfamiliar faces - Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist; Rayjay Farley Floyd | and Best Ife, the lab techs; the wheelchair-bound Dr. Ensfield, Floyd | previously known by you only at a distance; a slim, chestnut-haired Floyd | woman with a cool gray gaze, utterly unknown to you. Dr. Ephart is Floyd | missing. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaughnessy has soothing words for you, but most of them blur Floyd | together, issuing from a face that sometimes seems to lace with scars Floyd | from an unknown source. You fight to understand. You were Floyd | unconscious for three days, he tells you, after collapsing during a Floyd | memory test. The project will continue if you feel up for it after a Floyd | few days of rest, but right now everyone's going to take it easy. Floyd | Floyd | You want to know where Dr. Ephart went. Dr. Shaughnessy says that she Floyd | was transferred to another project because she adjusted your Floyd | medication doses inappropriately, contributing to your attack. In the Floyd | corner, the chestnut-haired woman with the bullet eyes stares at you. Floyd | It all seems wrong, wrong. Everyone is alive and dead. Walking Floyd | around one moment, shambling with fatal wounds the next. Floyd | Floyd | Nightmares plague you that night - Dr. Ephart, confused and Floyd | protesting, gunned down by the chestnut-haired woman; Dr. Ensfield Floyd | screaming and covering his ears in an elevator shaft; Rayjay Farley Floyd | staring into static as the static takes him apart. And Ian. Over and Floyd | over, that young man from the test chamber in Mt. Airy Hospital - Ian Floyd | McMoneagle, wild with fear and guilt, being devoured by the walls. Floyd | Floyd | | Bishop says, "Shouldn't have hit it quite so hard." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You can guard your words. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | But you can't stop your dreams. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | You can't stop your nightmares. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | You can't stop this from happening all over again. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | It's inside you. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | It's inside you. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | IT'S INSIDE YOU. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "gah" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | And you had the chance to stop it. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | But you can't stop it now. Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Your protestations turn to abjurations. Your abjurations turn to Floyd | ravings. You must make them listen, and your efforts become more Floyd | violent; you plead, you cry, you lose control, you scream and rave. Floyd | It is not long before the youngest and strongest of the staff, Rayjay Floyd | and Best, strap you to your bed with sad, worried eyes. Floyd | Floyd | But straps will only hold you down while you're still harmless. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Once it gets out | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | they'll all die. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Okay: successfully creeped out now. Well done, authors." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Just like you saw. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Three days later, your dreams come to life in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is The Wheel. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | DavidW says, "waaaa. mommy." | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | Bishop asks, "Pill ending now? Or stab with pointy thing?" | |||
| DavidW says, "I guess we should try pills." | ||||
| Emily says, "the pills are to counteract the injection" | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh. We don't just give the pills alone, then." | ||||
| Emily says, "so I think you get different outcomes if you inject yourself and don't use the pills, or you inject yourself and do, and maybe if you inject Ian, I forget" | ||||
| DavidW says, "oh, I was wondering if we should target ourselves instead of Ian." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "wowza many possibilities" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "well, what should we try next?" | ||||
| Emily says, "let's try injecting Ian next" | ||||
| DavidW says, "okay." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are | Emily says, "I think there's some reason you can't give him the pills afterward, but I don't remember" | |||
Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "inject Ian" | ||||
Floyd | >With no time for precision or care, you dodge Ian's attempts to fend Floyd | you off and ram the syringe into his shoulder, driving the plunger Floyd | home. The solution enters his body, and his screams, for just a Floyd | moment, are stilled. Floyd | Floyd | You watch him anxiously for some sign of change as you withdraw the Floyd | needle, but nothing obvious happens. The mirror bites down again, and Floyd | his screams renew. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror continues to chew at Ian, drawing him into its surface with Floyd | razor-sharp shard-teeth. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "And we just wait?" | |||
| Emily asks, "hm, maybe try giving him the pills and see if it works?" | ||||
| Emily says, "ISTR it doesn't, but I don't remember why not" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "give pills to Ian" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open bottle" | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the pill bottle or the bottle of Hartmann's Floyd | solution? Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "Oh" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pill bottle" | Bishop says, "Man, is this ever killing the dramatic tension." | |||
| Emily says, "ha" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "oh, is there a yes/no question we can't see?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you want to swallow the Sandepam pills? (y/n) > Floyd | You twist off the lid of the Sandepam and hesitate over the pills for Floyd | a moment before swallowing two. Floyd | Floyd | After a moment, you feel a numb, calm sensation come over you. Your Floyd | senses are slightly dulled, but the terror of your situation seems a Floyd | little bit less sharp. If only you'd found these a little earlier in Floyd | the nightmare. Floyd | Floyd | Ian's anguished screams gargle into weak bubbles as the mirror bites Floyd | into his chest, and, surely, his lungs. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "oh dear" | |||
| Emily says, "oh, that's right -- if you open the bottle, you can only use the pills on yourself" | ||||
| Emily says, "annoying" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So, we injected him, but we swallow the pills?" | ||||
| Emily says, "apparently" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Now what? That mirror bites." | ||||
| Emily says, "okay, this may not go anywhere interesting after all, but I know there are interesting outcomes if we restore and then inject ourselves" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" | Emily says, "(sorry, it seemed worth a try even though I couldn't remember exactly how it worked out)" | |||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "give pills to ian" | ||||
Floyd | >You can't see any such thing. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ian" | ||||
Floyd | >Ian's eyes are bulging and terrified, but filled with terrible Floyd | knowledge and guilt as well. His mouth is opened wide, his teeth Floyd | stained with what must be his own blood. The lower half of his body Floyd | is hidden by the glass jaws that are chewing him up from the bottom to Floyd | the top. Floyd | Floyd | With the sound of glass grinding against glass, the mirror-glass draws Floyd | Ian all the way in and shuts its uneven jaws. There is a brief and Floyd | terrible silence before the mirror shatters cataclysmically. Floyd | Floyd | Shards of glass fly past you, shredding your skin and muscle. You Floyd | feel tiny pieces piercing your eyes, driving into your brain, flaying Floyd | you alive. You stumble and fall onto a floor covered in razor-sharp Floyd | pieces. There is no mercy; as you twitch in spasmodic anguish, lanced Floyd | repeatedly through the cerebrum and cerebellum, everything goes Floyd | dark.... Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | DavidW says, "bah. That's one of the standard endings pre-finale." | |||
| Emily says, "yeah" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't understand what we ought to be doing." | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "restore" | ||||
Floyd | Restore failed. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "restore" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | Emily says, "well, there are two people who need curing of the symbiote" | |||
| Emily says, "us, and Ian" | ||||
| Emily says, "it looks like we can't fix Ian" | ||||
| Emily says, "but we can fix us" | ||||
| DavidW asks, "We have a symbiote? Was that established?" | ||||
| Emily says, "implied, I think" | ||||
| Bishop says, "Well, curing Ian's kinda pointless anyways. I mean, he already killed everyone back in the 70s." | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | >Antechamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Your last visit to this room was your last breath of normalcy; now, Floyd | the madness has spread even here. A pile of shattered bones, gore and Floyd | viscera lies in a wide cone, sprayed toward the door through which you Floyd | entered. Blood drips from the walls and ceiling in the shape of that Floyd | same cone, pelting you with a gentle crimson rain. The most complete Floyd | part of the remains is a single high-heeled shoe, which lies just in Floyd | front of the pile. The ficus tree that previously stood in the corner Floyd | now lies on its side, its leaves glistening with blood. Its pot, now Floyd | cracked, lies on its side in a pile of blood-drenched topsoil. Floyd | | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "inject me" | ||||
Floyd | >You poise the tip of the hypodermic syringe over your elbow and Floyd | briefly consider what a bad idea this is. Before you have time to Floyd | talk yourself out of it, you push the needle into your vein and press Floyd | down the plunger. The solution burns like fire ants racing into your Floyd | body. Floyd | Floyd | Immediately, you feel light-headed, and you think your heart might be Floyd | beating faster although only a few seconds have passed. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror continues to chew at Ian, drawing him into its surface with Floyd | razor-sharp shard-teeth. Floyd | | Emily says, "I think at this point we can either wait or eat the pills" | |||
| DavidW says, "I want to eat the pills, I think." | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "open pill bottle" | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you want to swallow the Sandepam pills? (y/n) > Floyd | You twist off the lid of the Sandepam and hesitate over the pills for Floyd | a moment before swallowing two. Floyd | Floyd | After a moment, you feel a numb, calm sensation come over you. Your Floyd | senses are slightly dulled, but the terror of your situation seems a Floyd | little bit less sharp. If only you'd found these a little earlier in Floyd | the nightmare. Floyd | Floyd | Ian's anguished screams gargle into weak bubbles as the mirror bites Floyd | into his chest, and, surely, his lungs. Floyd | Floyd | Your heartbeat becomes labored and fast, and you can feel its sharp, Floyd | heavy thud shaking your chest. Your breathing increases in speed as Floyd | your vision fades toward white. You fall to your knees, losing Floyd | strength in your limbs and feeling in your extremities. Floyd | | Bishop asks, "Actually, if curing ourself is the goal, why is the showdown with Ian even necessary? Why not inject yourself somewhere _without_ a carnivorous mirror?" | |||
| Emily says (to Bishop), "you have to get as far as the antechamber to get the pills, but I just came in here because it seemed more interesting" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Bishop), "yes, I wondered that." | ||||
| Emily says (to floyd), "wait" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | With the sound of glass grinding against glass, the mirror-glass draws Floyd | Ian all the way in and shuts its uneven jaws. There is a brief and Floyd | terrible silence before the mirror shatters cataclysmically. Floyd | Floyd | Shards of glass fly past you, shredding your skin and muscle. You Floyd | feel tiny pieces piercing your eyes, driving into your brain, flaying Floyd | you alive. You stumble and fall onto a floor covered in razor-sharp Floyd | pieces. There is no mercy; as you twitch in spasmodic anguish, lanced Floyd | repeatedly through the cerebrum and cerebellum, everything goes Floyd | dark.... Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Consciousness returns. You muzzily realize that you are gazing at the Floyd | ceiling of the Corona Labs test chamber just before the door slams Floyd | open. Dr. Shaunessy, the neurologist, hurries into the room. Dr. Floyd | Ephart follows close enough behind to step on his heels. "How many Floyd | fingers do you see?" Dr. Shaunessy asks, kneeling down beside you, and Floyd | Dr. Ephart rests light fingers on your wrist to take your pulse. In Floyd | short order, they conclude that you suffered a vasovagal syncope and Floyd | struck your head in the fall. Floyd | Floyd | You try to talk to the doctors, but your words are confused and Floyd | disjointed. Your gaze drags across the fallen photograph, Floyd | half-shadowed by the folder above it, and you see the gaunt young man Floyd | screaming. You can't find the words to make them understand. Though Floyd | you can nearly stand on your own, the doctors firmly escort you from Floyd | the room and off to bed. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaunessy leaves, but Dr. Ephart stays with you as the sedatives Floyd | take hold. "Don't worry," she says, resting a gentle hand on your Floyd | shoulder. "Everything will be all right." Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Six days later, the past repeats itself in Corona Labs. Floyd | No one escapes alive. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** You have failed. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | Emily says, "hmmm" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | > Please give one of the answers above. Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | Emily says, "okay, maybe we should do it in the antechamber. I admit I'm not sure why that didn't work" | |||
| DavidW says, "The shards hitting us, I guess." | ||||
| Emily says, "yeah" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "inject me" | ||||
Floyd | >You poise the tip of the hypodermic syringe over your elbow and Floyd | briefly consider what a bad idea this is. Before you have time to Floyd | talk yourself out of it, you push the needle into your vein and press Floyd | down the plunger. The solution burns like fire ants racing into your Floyd | body. Floyd | Floyd | Immediately, you feel light-headed, and you think your heart might be Floyd | beating faster although only a few seconds have passed. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open pill bottle" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you want to swallow the Sandepam pills? (y/n) > Floyd | You twist off the lid of the Sandepam and hesitate over the pills for Floyd | a moment before swallowing two. Floyd | Floyd | After a moment, you feel a numb, calm sensation come over you. Your Floyd | senses are slightly dulled, but the terror of your situation seems a Floyd | little bit less sharp. If only you'd found these a little earlier in Floyd | the nightmare. Floyd | Floyd | Your heartbeat becomes labored and fast, and you can feel its sharp, Floyd | heavy thud shaking your chest. Your breathing increases in speed as Floyd | your vision fades toward white. You fall to your knees, losing Floyd | strength in your limbs and feeling in your extremities. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | After what seems like an eternity of agonized arrhythmia, the Floyd | Sandepam's effect begins to counter that of the cure. Your heartbeat Floyd | becomes more subtle, regular, slow. Your breathing, too, begins to Floyd | return to normal. While your eyes still feel wired open, the white Floyd | fuzz around the edge of your vision begins to recede. Floyd | Floyd | You feel decidedly unwell - nauseated and manic at the same time. But Floyd | you don't think you're going to die. Not for this reason, at least. Floyd | | Emily says, "encouraging" | |||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wait" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "hm. Do we go in now?" | |||
| Bishop says, "Maybe now that all the drugs have taken hold, it'll be less nightmarish in there." | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | Bishop says, "Then again, maybe not." | |||
| Emily asks, "try breaking the mirror now?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "break mirror" | ||||
Floyd | >You heave your shoulder behind the fire axe, driving it into the Floyd | mirror's surface with all of your strength. The head of the axe Floyd | buries itself in the mirror, throwing cracks all the way across its Floyd | surface. The cracks run straight through the mirror, through the Floyd | hideous jaws, and through the body of Ian McMoneagle Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You blink awake slowly in your room at modern-day Corona Labs. Your Floyd | third eye seems to flicker open before your real ones do; you find Floyd | yourself unconsciously probing the room. There are people here, and Floyd | they are familiar to you. They are alive. They are your team. You Floyd | blink your way to bleary-eyed consciousness and turn your head Floyd | slightly to look at them. Floyd | Floyd | There they all are, gathered in a ring at the foot of your bed: Dr. Floyd | Shaunessy, the neurologist; Best Ife, the lab tech; the Floyd | wheelchair-bound Dr. Ensfield, previously familiar to you only at a Floyd | distance, with his assistant Rayjay Farley; and Dr. Ephart. Their Floyd | attention is focused on Dr. Shaunessy, who is reporting from a Floyd | clipboard that he taps occasionally with a pen. Dr. Ensfield nods Floyd | rhythmically as his colleague speaks. Floyd | Floyd | "... will definitely survive, and will probably wake up soon, having Floyd | stabilized naturally from the spike. There isn't anything we could Floyd | do, but it seems as though the problem cleared up on its own." Floyd | Floyd | Unnoticed, you open your mouth and work your jaw for a moment. It Floyd | feels like a long time since you spoke to anyone. Dr. Ensfield says, Floyd | "But at this time, we can't verify any activity whatsoever from the N. Floyd | splendens culture." Floyd | Floyd | "That's because it's dead," you say. Floyd | | Emily says, "there we go" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "nice" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The group turns to you as one, surprise in every eye. "Look who's Floyd | awake!" Dr. Ephart says fondly, breaking into a wide grin. Her Floyd | expression sobers, then, as she comes to you. "You gave us quite a Floyd | fright, passing out for days like that. But Dr. Ensfield informs us Floyd | that you took care of the problem all on your own, so good going Floyd | there." Floyd | Floyd | "We'll let Ms. deVries know that the patient is awake," Dr. Ensfield Floyd | says. Floyd | Floyd | "And discourage her from visiting," Rayjay adds. Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaughnessy looks at you with calculating eyes. "I'm gonna assume Floyd | you've had some weird dreams," he says to you carefully, tapping the Floyd | pen in his hand against his lab coat. "Your REM was pretty crazy - Floyd | for days. So were your EEG readings. I'm gonna assume you've had Floyd | some weird dreams -" Floyd | Floyd | Because we all had some weird dreams. But he doesn't say it. Floyd | Floyd | You nod, and he nods. He says, "I'm not sure what happened with you Floyd | or how much you know, but I've been consulting with Dr. Ensfield, and Floyd | we should talk." Floyd | Floyd | "But not now," Dr. Ephart says. "What we need now is a moment of Floyd | calm." Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Shaughnessy nods and walks out of the room, following Rayjay and Floyd | Dr. Ensfield. Floyd | | DavidW says, "hmmm" | |||
| djfletch says, "hah, take that, N splendens culture" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | But not everyone leaves. Best folds her arms and leans her slender Floyd | frame against the door. Dr. Ephart drags a chair next to your bed and Floyd | lowers herself into it. She looks at you, her eyes showing concern Floyd | and a certain degree of assessment. Floyd | Floyd | "I'm sorry, kiddo," she says, patting your arm. "I never really knew Floyd | how deep this rabbit hole goes. If I had, I might have made some of Floyd | my choices differently." Floyd | Floyd | You place a hand over hers. Floyd | Floyd | "You've figured some things out with that killer brain of yours, Floyd | haven't you," she asks. You wince at the adjective, but nod. "I Floyd | thought so," she says. "I had a... funny feeling." Dream. Floyd | Floyd | She continues. "I don't know what you've figured out exactly, but I Floyd | need you to be careful. The company's sent a representative, and Best Floyd | figured out that she's cased everybody's office. If we'd been writing Floyd | down some of the things we've figured out in the past few days, we Floyd | could be in real trouble." Floyd | Floyd | She fixes you with a steady gaze. You return it, your eyes locked on Floyd | hers. Something passes between you, and you both nod at once. Floyd | Floyd | "We've got a lot to talk about," she says. "I'm going to sleep with Floyd | one eye open until we get this all sorted out." Floyd | Floyd | Marnie pats your hand once more, then stands. She turns and nods to Floyd | Best, who walks out into the hallway, looks left and right, then moves Floyd | out of sight of the doorway. Marnie walks over to the television, Floyd | leans down, and presses a button on the VCR, then the TV. The ending Floyd | of American Beauty comes on. She walks out of the room, giving a Floyd | small wave to you as she goes. Floyd | | Bishop says, "How'd we get infected with splendens anyway? I assume they did it deliberately, but that was never enlarged upon." | |||
| Emily says, "yeah, the deal is that our experiment is a re-doing of the one on Ian, and the telepathic abilities we had at the beginning were the result of the splendens starting to work" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You lean back and close your eyes, trying to settle your jangling Floyd | nerves and come to terms with... everything. As you think things Floyd | over, the movie comes to a close. Lester Burnham speaks from the Floyd | screen. His voice flows over you like water over stone as he delivers Floyd | his final speech. As he reflects on the last moments of his "stupid Floyd | little life," you think on the most recent events in yours. Floyd | Floyd | You smile quietly. You're seeing things differently too, now, and so Floyd | is Marnie Ephart. Your lives, no matter how stupid or little, are Floyd | going to take a different direction. Floyd | Floyd | You'll start on that path when you wake up. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is Awakening. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | ||||
| Gerynar disappears through an invisible gap in the MUD. You think you may have heard the sounds of chatting before the gap closed again. | djfletch says, "hurrah" | |||
| Bishop says, "I think I maybe liked some of the failure endings more." | ||||
| Emily says, "there is an interesting ending if you just inject yourself and don't use the pills" | ||||
| DavidW says, "I was half-expecting that a company rep would kill us for surviving." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks (of Bishop), "Oh?" | ||||
| Emily says, "IIRC" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "This was insanely long, but very good." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "Should we try that?" | ||||
| Bishop says, "Well, the eyes-everywhere one had style." | ||||
| Ellison comes back. "does injecting/pills affect the 'throw dice' ending at all? no? | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "RESTORE" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | > Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "inject me" | ||||
Floyd | >You poise the tip of the hypodermic syringe over your elbow and Floyd | briefly consider what a bad idea this is. Before you have time to Floyd | talk yourself out of it, you push the needle into your vein and press Floyd | down the plunger. The solution burns like fire ants racing into your Floyd | body. Floyd | Floyd | Immediately, you feel light-headed, and you think your heart might be Floyd | beating faster although only a few seconds have passed. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | Floyd | Your heartbeat becomes labored and fast, and you can feel its sharp, Floyd | heavy thud shaking your chest. Your breathing increases in speed as Floyd | your vision fades toward white. You fall to your knees, losing Floyd | strength in your limbs and feeling in your extremities. Floyd | | DavidW asks, "now, do we break the mirror or just wait?" | |||
| Emily asks, "try waiting?" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror continues to chew at Ian, drawing him into its surface with Floyd | razor-sharp shard-teeth. Floyd | Floyd | Too late, you realize that your system is not strong enough to Floyd | withstand the powerful injection. Your vision goes completely white Floyd | and you collapse heavily to the floor, feeling your heart seize up as Floyd | your senses fade. Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | But your mind - does not fade. In the moment of death, you are drawn Floyd | forward to where your body convulses in a white bed. You see Dr. Floyd | Ephart's white and worried face as she drops your hand and steps away, Floyd | hear Dr. Ensfield's cry for someone to use the paddles, Best coming Floyd | forward with the paddles in her hands. Floyd | Floyd | The paddles flare across your chest. Electricity. Your heart tries Floyd | to start - and fails. Your synapses spark and jitter. Floyd | Floyd | Your mind does not fade. But as electricity snaps through you, your Floyd | awareness is torn backward across the planes of reality, a psychic Floyd | rope ripped painfully down through twenty years of history. Floyd | Floyd | You see Best retreating with the paddles in her hands, hear Dr. Floyd | Ensfield's indecipherable cry, see Dr. Ephart's white and worried face Floyd | as she steps toward you and takes your wrist. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | DavidW asks, "a y/n question here?" | |||
| (from Bishop) DavidW's fingers fall off. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | Do you want to know what happened next? (y/n) >Please answer yes or Floyd | no.> Please answer yes or no.> Please answer yes or no.> Please answer Floyd | yes or no.> Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Everything faster. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Everything backward. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | Everything accelerating from your death to your death. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | You don't see, but somehow sense, the Corona team cluster around your Floyd | corpse. And then you're alive again. They back away from your Floyd | unconscious body, compelled by worry and concern. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | You lie unconscious for three days and then rise sharply into Floyd | wakefulness. You press buttons on a wireless keypad; Dr. Ephart holds Floyd | up the matching cards in response. You leave the test chamber Floyd | backward; you watch red rose petals dance upward on the television Floyd | screen. Floyd | | Bishop asks, "I guess if we're dead we can't hurt anyone, can we?" | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | You watch yourself retreat from the blue-walled rooms of Corona. Now Floyd | you've never been there. The teams mills about briefly in your Floyd | absence, consulting and debating, before it dissolves to the wind. Floyd | Dr. Ensfield leaves with Rayjay Farley. The others all leave alone. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The building bustles with transcriptionists and secretaries, all Floyd | walking confidently and casually backward. They untype letters from Floyd | computers and regurgitate lunch in neat little bites and leave the Floyd | building one by one, never to return. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | And then the workmen come, and what they touch - the carpenters, the Floyd | plumbers, the electricians, the stonemasons - they destroy. They pull Floyd | paint from the walls and wires from the ceilings and coat everything Floyd | in soot and decay. There is only a carcass here. Floyd | | Bishop says, "I'm not watching the bit where they shove us back into our mother." | |||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | For years, the scorched and ruined carcass stands. Your mind whispers Floyd | with melancholy voices, but they're all backward, shattered, Floyd | bewildering. You understand none of it. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | And then men come again - dressed differently, this time, men in suits Floyd | and sunglasses and briefcases. They bring corpse after corpse into Floyd | the building, each more mutilated than the last, and they leave the Floyd | corpses. Walking backward, they retreat into sunlight. Floyd | | djfletch says, "hehe" | |||
| djfletch says, "this whole bit is written with the movie adaptation in mind" | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | On the third floor of the building, shattered silver reforms into a Floyd | pane of one-way glass. Seconds later, the mirror regurgitates a young Floyd | man's corpse, and the corpse comes to life. Nightmare swirls through Floyd | the building - acid, jaws, darkness and madness, something too Floyd | inconstant and awful for your mind to embrace - and where the Floyd | nightmare goes, dead men and women leap up alive and flee backward Floyd | through their mortal days. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | And there - with the building half-gutted, corpses springing to life Floyd | around you - there is where you die again, hot cheek against the floor Floyd | with the Vanemine raging through your bloodstream. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Your mind stretches from death to death like a piece of rope. Your Floyd | consciousness stretches backward and forward across twenty years. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | With light, sharp-edged pressure that knows nothing of time, the young Floyd | man's mind rubs at yours. Your psyche cannot endure the same space as Floyd | his. Slowly, you fray. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | And someday, somehow, you will snap. Floyd | | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | But not yet... | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | not yet... | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | not yet... | ||||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is The Rope And The Abyss. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | DavidW says, "bizarre" | |||
| Emily says, "I think that one is my favorite in terms of WTF imagery" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, that was slightly exhausting." | ||||
| DavidW says, "yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Perhaps more than slightly." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I'm not sure how I feel about the story as a whole. I'm not sure survival is enough." | ||||
| djfletch says, "I suppose it makes sense that you can't save the people who are dead in the past" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, in that one, it dies." | ||||
| Binder says, "it is pretty bleak." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I hate to bring this up, but I suppose we ought to discuss what we're playing next weekend." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Heehee" | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "We're exhausted, sort of in the intersitial period between games, and you want to talk about NEXT WEEK?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Not really, no." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I think we should keep going." | ||||
| Binder says, "how about Zork, I heard that one's pretty easy" | ||||
| Binder ducks. | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I've played the next two, and they're both good." | ||||
| DavidW says, "Something without blood, gore, teeth, or eyes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I'm thinking the top ten is not out of line." | ||||
| Bishop asks, "Are we proceeding down the Comp charts?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "hm, ok" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "I can't promise you no blood and gore, sorry." | ||||
| DavidW asks, "So what was at #4 in the comp?" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Bishop), "That's what I was thinking." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Blind House" | ||||
| djfletch says, "the antidote to this one is probably Mite" | ||||
| Bishop says, "Blind House is... not exactly cheery." | ||||
| Emily says, "Blind-- yeah" | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to dj), "That was 6." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "We could swap out, have things a bit lighter next week." | ||||
| Emily says, "and it's even more confusing than this one" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "No reason we can't play out of order." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "I haven't played Mite. Is it cheery?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Still, we don't redecorate the house with entrails." | ||||
| Bishop says, "DotC and Mite are both nicely light-hearted." | ||||
| Emily says, "yeah, I am not a fan of entrails" | ||||
| DavidW says, "Mite is nice, yes." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to David), "Please quit tempting me to spoil Blind House." | ||||
| Bishop says (to DavidW), "You just didn't _notice_ that they were entrails." | ||||
| Emily says, "ha ha ha ha" | ||||
| DavidW says (to Bishop), "They were holiday streamers. And shuddup." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Well, what does everyone think? Should we go out of order to lighten things up? Maybe do Mite, then Blind House, then Death Off the Cuff (also light)." | ||||
| DavidW says, "I don't mind doing Blind House next." | ||||
| Bishop idly wonders what it ays about the community that the comp is toploaded with grim horror and bleakness. | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to DW), "I don't either, really." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Keeping it in order will make more sense to the authors." | ||||
| DavidW says, "And maybe someone can show me what the ____ was used for." | ||||
| Jacqueline asks, "Hm. The ____ in Blind House?" | ||||
| DavidW says, "One item that seemed important that I didn't use." | ||||
| DavidW says, "in Blind House, yes." | ||||
| Bishop says, "Ooh, I know the item." | ||||
| Jacqueline exclaims, "Hm. I am spacing out on what item you mean. I guess we shall learn next week!" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's just go in order." | ||||
| Bishop says, "It actually vanished midgame on me." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "I shall get on transcripts and such." | ||||
| Emily says, "I never figured that item out either" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Man, you people are driving me nuts. Someone whisper it to me." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "(Please)" | ||||
| (from Emily) Jacqueline says, "ha ha ha, you all have different answers" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "All of you whispered the same thing, and I don't recall that item. Weird." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "That'll be interesting." | ||||
| Jacqueline says (to Emily), "heehee" | ||||
| Bishop has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Emily has had her fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | djfletch says, "bye all" | |||
| djfletch can produce a dozen witnesses to swear he was elsewhere. | ||||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | ||||
| DavidW has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "lists" | ||||
| Floyd says (to Ellison), "Floyd doesn't know that trick." | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "load oneeyeopen" | ||||
Floyd | > Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Please be advised that One Eye Open is a horror game. It contains Floyd | mature content (including blood, gore, human injury and death, mild Floyd | language, tobacco reference, violence, and violent references.) Floyd | Floyd | We do not recommend this game for a younger audience. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | Would you like to proceed? (y/n) > Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | One Eye Open Floyd | An Interactive Nightmare by Colin Sandel and Carolyn VanEseltine Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 100929 / Inform 7 build 6E72 (I6/v6.31 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | After only ten days, you're becoming surprisingly comfortable with Floyd | life as a Corona Corporation guinea pig. It helps that your routine Floyd | is so reliable - meals, exercise, rest, and sleep are clearly arranged Floyd | on a schedule hanging beside the white clock in your room. As for the Floyd | tests - well, you've grown used to the sight of your blood in a sample Floyd | vial, and the rest is mostly paperwork. Personality tests, aptitude Floyd | tests, intelligence tests, psychological tests, Rorschach and the MMPI Floyd | and even kinetic family drawing... you're starting to worry that Floyd | they'll run out of tests by the end of the month. Floyd | Floyd | Although 7:30 PM is always the day's last test, you never leave your Floyd | room alone, so you were still watching American Beauty when Dr. Marnie Floyd | Ephart knocked at the door. "Oh, you're almost to the end!" she said Floyd | brightly, seeing the screen. "I can wait until you're through." Floyd | Floyd | "No, that's fine." You hit PAUSE to freeze Angela in mid-motion as Floyd | you got up from the couch. "I've seen it before." Last Monday, Floyd | actually. The video collection isn't that good, and, considering what Floyd | they're paying you, it's a pity Corona couldn't invest in a few more Floyd | options. It's hard to complain, though; the staff is friendly, the Floyd | tests aren't hard, and the salary is great. Floyd | Floyd | During the day, Raymond, Best, or one of the scientists might be Floyd | around, but at night, it's usually just the two of you, and the hall Floyd | you cross now is deserted. You accompany her through the antechamber Floyd | and into the main testing chamber. By now, you're used to being Floyd | watched from behind one-way glass, but the observational room is fully Floyd | lit today, and you can easily see inside. Floyd | Floyd | "Back in a moment," Dr. Ephart says cheerfully. "See you on the other Floyd | side!" Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Corona Labs Floyd | In the center of the room, a single black office chair sits in front Floyd | of a broad, heavy desk. The desk and chair are familiar, but the Floyd | wireless keypad sitting on the desk is new. There are five large Floyd | white buttons on the keypad, each displaying a different symbol in Floyd | broad black strokes. The symbols are a circle, a cross, a set of Floyd | three wavy lines, a square, and a five-pointed star. As always, you Floyd | are quite aware of the cameras watching you from above. Floyd | Floyd | To the west, a windowless door separates the testing room from the Floyd | antechamber outside. Floyd | Floyd | The familiar black office chair sits invitingly nearby. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you can see the curved desk in the Floyd | observational room. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >That was a rhetorical question. Floyd | Floyd | Through the thick pane of glass, you see Dr. Ephart come into the Floyd | observational room carrying a stack of cards and a notebook. She Floyd | waves to you in friendly fashion, sets her notebook on the desk, and Floyd | sits down before pressing the intercom button. Floyd | Floyd | "This is a different kind of test," Dr. Ephart explains. "I have Floyd | twenty-five cards here, each of which shows one of the symbols on your Floyd | keypad." She holds up five cards and fans them so you can see the Floyd | circle, cross, wavy lines, square, and five-pointed star. "I'm going Floyd | to draw one of these cards and concentrate on the shape. I want you Floyd | to concentrate, to really focus your mind, and try to pick the same Floyd | symbol that I do. After you've decided on your symbol, press it on Floyd | the keypad. We'll do five of these." Floyd | Floyd | Dr. Ephart shuffles her cards together and draws the first card. She Floyd | holds the card up with its back to you. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "i" | ||||
Floyd | >You are carrying a pill bottle, a metal fire axe, a vial of blood, a Floyd | clean hazard suit, a jar of formaldehyde, a bottle of Hartmann's Floyd | solution, a vial of Vanemine, a loaded hypodermic syringe, a handful Floyd | of fingerbones, a steel key, a ripped plastic baggie, a ridged key, a Floyd | small brass key, a small-caliber pistol, a typewriter key, a Corona Floyd | Labs keycard and your notes. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "look" | ||||
Floyd | >Antechamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | Your last visit to this room was your last breath of normalcy; now, Floyd | the madness has spread even here. A pile of shattered bones, gore and Floyd | viscera lies in a wide cone, sprayed toward the door through which you Floyd | entered. Blood drips from the walls and ceiling in the shape of that Floyd | same cone, pelting you with a gentle crimson rain. The most complete Floyd | part of the remains is a single high-heeled shoe, which lies just in Floyd | front of the pile. The ficus tree that previously stood in the corner Floyd | now lies on its side, its leaves glistening with blood. Its pot, now Floyd | cracked, lies on its side in a pile of blood-drenched topsoil. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "inject ian" | ||||
Floyd | >With no time for precision or care, you dodge Ian's attempts to fend Floyd | you off and ram the syringe into his shoulder, driving the plunger Floyd | home. The solution enters his body, and his screams, for just a Floyd | moment, are stilled. Floyd | Floyd | You watch him anxiously for some sign of change as you withdraw the Floyd | needle, but nothing obvious happens. The mirror bites down again, and Floyd | his screams renew. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror continues to chew at Ian, drawing him into its surface with Floyd | razor-sharp shard-teeth. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "open bottle" | ||||
Floyd | >Which do you mean, the pill bottle or the bottle of Hartmann's Floyd | solution? Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "pill" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "n" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you want to swallow the Sandepam pills? (y/n) >It's safer to Floyd | leave the pills in their container until you decide to take them. Floyd | Floyd | Ian's anguished screams gargle into weak bubbles as the mirror bites Floyd | into his chest, and, surely, his lungs. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "restore" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "cf14" | ||||
Floyd | >Enter saved game to load: Ok. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "inject me" | ||||
Floyd | >You poise the tip of the hypodermic syringe over your elbow and Floyd | briefly consider what a bad idea this is. Before you have time to Floyd | talk yourself out of it, you push the needle into your vein and press Floyd | down the plunger. The solution burns like fire ants racing into your Floyd | body. Floyd | Floyd | Immediately, you feel light-headed, and you think your heart might be Floyd | beating faster although only a few seconds have passed. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "open pill bottle" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "y" | ||||
Floyd | >Do you want to swallow the Sandepam pills? (y/n) > Floyd | You twist off the lid of the Sandepam and hesitate over the pills for Floyd | a moment before swallowing two. Floyd | Floyd | After a moment, you feel a numb, calm sensation come over you. Your Floyd | senses are slightly dulled, but the terror of your situation seems a Floyd | little bit less sharp. If only you'd found these a little earlier in Floyd | the nightmare. Floyd | Floyd | Your heartbeat becomes labored and fast, and you can feel its sharp, Floyd | heavy thud shaking your chest. Your breathing increases in speed as Floyd | your vision fades toward white. You fall to your knees, losing Floyd | strength in your limbs and feeling in your extremities. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "z" | ||||
Floyd | >Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | After what seems like an eternity of agonized arrhythmia, the Floyd | Sandepam's effect begins to counter that of the cure. Your heartbeat Floyd | becomes more subtle, regular, slow. Your breathing, too, begins to Floyd | return to normal. While your eyes still feel wired open, the white Floyd | fuzz around the edge of your vision begins to recede. Floyd | Floyd | You feel decidedly unwell - nauseated and manic at the same time. But Floyd | you don't think you're going to die. Not for this reason, at least. Floyd | | Jacqueline asks (of Ell), "Whatcha doing?" | |||
| Ellison says, "just making sure that throwing the bones while medicated doesn't offer a different ending" | ||||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "e" | ||||
Floyd | >As you open the windowless door, you interrupt the insulated barrier Floyd | that was preventing sound from leaving the test chamber. The sound of Floyd | screaming suddenly goes from a muted, ignorable presence to a Floyd | hammering agony on your ears. Floyd | Floyd | The screaming from inside the test chamber hammers down, not only on Floyd | your ears, but on your mind. The world warps strangely around you, Floyd | and, quite abruptly, you are somewhere else. Floyd | Floyd | The door slams shut behind you with tremendous force. Floyd | Floyd | Test Chamber, Mt Airy Hospital Floyd | While you are not entirely sure what you expected to find, you are Floyd | halted in your tracks nonetheless. The floor of the test chamber is Floyd | littered with glittering shards of reflective glass. The one-way Floyd | mirror between the test chamber and the observation room is opaque, Floyd | but it pushes outward in the center to form a pair of jagged, Floyd | irregular halves like a pair of jaws. From the hips up, Ian Floyd | McMoneagle is trapped in the grip of those jaws, his face twisted into Floyd | a mask of pain. The mirror's halves grind against muscle and bone, Floyd | tearing him apart as they draw him in. And yet he lives.... Floyd | Floyd | Ian McMoneagle looks you in the face with wide, terrified eyes, his Floyd | bloody bangs obscuring his gaze but not reducing its weight. He opens Floyd | his mouth and screams in guilty agony. Floyd | Floyd | The mirror pulls Ian in more deeply. The hideous cracking sound that Floyd | follows is almost surely his pelvis. Floyd | | Jacqueline says, "ah" | |||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "drop bones" | ||||
Floyd | >You scoop the fingerbones up from your pocket, rattle them in one Floyd | hand, then toss them onto the ground in front of Ian. At once, his Floyd | screams stop, and he stares at the bones. Floyd | Floyd | Following his gaze, you see that the fingerbones are gone. What lies Floyd | on the ground is a set of twelve six-sided game dice, each one showing Floyd | a single pip facing upward. Six sets of snake eyes stare up at you Floyd | and Ian. You stare back. Floyd | Floyd | The room vibrates for a few seconds, and then reality shatters. You Floyd | both shatter with it. Floyd | | ||||
| Ellison pushes the green 'space' button. | ||||
Floyd | Press any key to continue. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | A darkened office. The orange light of dusk spilling through venetian Floyd | blinds, laying bright stripes on the dark wood of an expensive luxury Floyd | desk. Floyd | Floyd | With a satisfying clatter, six dice bounce across the surface of the Floyd | desk, coming to rest with assorted results: 6 6 2 6 3 1. The man who Floyd | threw them, a middle-aged man with a face craggier than his age should Floyd | allow, wears Brylcreemed black hair, a power suit, and the receiver of Floyd | an office telephone held firmly to the side of his head. Floyd | Floyd | "No, John, let me tell YOU something," he says. "The Schuyler family Floyd | didn't get to be where it is because we refused to take risks. This Floyd | stuff is the real deal, and whoever pulls it off first is going to be Floyd | set for generations." Floyd | Floyd | He grabs three of the dice, leaving the three that show sixes. With Floyd | an offhand gesture, he tosses them again. One of the three comes up a Floyd | six. "Look, this Buchanan broad is too hippy dippy for the Institute, Floyd | but she's the real deal and she'll do anything for a break. They want Floyd | to look legit, fine, but they won't land the project. We will." Floyd | Floyd | He picks up one of the unlucky dice, then the other. He pauses for a Floyd | moment, listening to the phone, then laughs. "Well, John, I imagine Floyd | she'll go nuts after a little while, but if you're not willing to Floyd | squeeze an orange hard enough, you'll never get a glass of juice. Floyd | Well, all right John. Talk to you later." Floyd | Floyd | The man hangs up the phone, then throws the final two dice one last Floyd | time. Both come up sixes. He leans back in his chair and smiles. Floyd | Floyd | "Heh-heh," he says. "Yahtzee." Floyd | Floyd | Then, he puts five dice back in the game box and one die in his Floyd | pocket, and he saunters off to dinner. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** Your ending is The House Always Wins. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? | Ellison says, "ah well" | |||
| Ellison says (to Floyd), "quit" | ||||
| Floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?" | Jacqueline says, "There there." | |||
| Ellison says, "I have to admit that One Eye Open had me more curious for what I missed than the average comp game" | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, there was stuff hidden all over the place." | ||||
| Emily says, "I think the thing with Best and the book was pretty unfair" | ||||
| Emily says, "since it's really easy to miss that in that scene and then you cannot go back without massive replaying" | ||||
| Ellison says, "yeah, that was pretty crazy" | ||||
| Ellison has had his fill of playing for now, and goes back to the Lounge. | Ellison says, "also, man, I hope games like OEO that are slow to play on Floyd don't become the norm" | |||
| Jacqueline says, "Heh. We hit one of these every once in awhile." | ||||
| Jacqueline says, "It's okay on occasion." | ||||
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