ClubFloyd Transcript:
The Green Mountains by Clark Radwin
Centipede by J. Robinson Wheeler
As played on ifMUD on April 1, 2012

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 The Green Mountains written by Clark Radwin and Centipede written by J. Robinson Wheeler. First, there is a demo of the (work-in-progress) Sleepmask interface to allow ClubFloyd to play games with status bars and menus properly. The Green Mountains is...moving on, Centipede is a participant in the 2001 IF Arcade project. You can learn more about the games, including how to download them, by visiting the ifWiki pages: Centipede, and The Green Mountains .


WARNING! Below you will find a transcript of people playing these games, and it goes without saying that the transcript is full of spoilers. So, if you've never played these games, 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.

To skip directly to a particular game, click on its title:

The Green Mountains by Clark Radwin
Centipede by J. Robinson Wheeler


ToyShop & Floyditorium
#ClubFloyd Discussion


Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load greenmountains"
floyd | Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | You have awoken on the mountain, you are unaware of what is going on
floyd | and you have no memory. You see a letter next to you on the ground. It
floyd | says you have to find the Green Mountains, whatever that means
floyd | The Green Mountains
floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Clark Radwin
floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 110116 / Inform 7 build 6G60 (I6/v6.32 lib
floyd | 6/12N)
floyd |
floyd | Mountain
floyd | It is tall,dark and green. It contains hundreds of trees and a snowy
floyd | mountain top.
floyd |
floyd | You can see a letter here.
floyd |
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take letter"
floyd | >Taken.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "x me"
floyd | >As good-looking as ever.
floyd |
Maga says, "okay, this was a terrible decision"
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read letter"
floyd | >Go to the Green Mountains
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >
floyd | Path
floyd | Like The Mountain, its full of trees and in the distance you here a
floyd | bird chirping. You look below you and you see a small door, leading to
floyd | a small underground cave
floyd |
jacqueline says, "snrk. You are just saying that because of the missing period."
Tale asks (of Jacqueline), "Are you two talking about the game?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "open door"
floyd | >You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
DavidW says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | >You are carrying:
floyd |   a letter
floyd |
DavidW says (to Floyd), "in"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x mountain"
floyd | >You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "d"
floyd | >
floyd | Cave
floyd | A Small dark cave, a light is at the end of the hole. Rocks start to
floyd | fall behind you, you are trapped
floyd |
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "listen"
floyd | >You hear nothing unexpected.
floyd |
davidW says, "we is trapped!"
tale says (to Floyd), "scream"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
Maga says, "nnnnnnnnngrrrr"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "read letter"
floyd | >Go to the Green Mountains
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
jacqueline says (to maga), "I'm not disagreeing with you."
tale says (to Floyd), "w"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "n"
floyd | >
floyd | Small Room
floyd | The small room contains a lantern and the next letter
floyd |
floyd | You can see a Lantern and a next Letter here.
floyd |
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "take lantern"
floyd | >Taken.
floyd |
DavidW says (to Floyd), "take all"
floyd | >next Letter: Taken.
floyd |
Tale says, "ha ha"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "read next letter"
floyd | >You have gone the wrong way, be careful on your quest to the green
floyd | mountains, as it will be trecherous and dangerous.Look for the map on
floyd | your way to the green mountains. Beware
floyd |
Tale says, "I suspect this is deliberately bad"
jacqueline says, "Maybe it's an April Fool's Day joke from the past."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "light lantern"
floyd | >This dangerous act would achieve little.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "x lantern"
floyd | >The lantern has enough oil left for an hour of light.
floyd |
davidW asks, "Who leaves a next letter on the 'wrong way'?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on lamp"
floyd | >You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "turn on lantern"
floyd | >That's not something you can switch.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "s"
floyd | >
floyd | Cave
floyd | A Small dark cave, a light is at the end of the hole. Rocks start to
floyd | fall behind you, you are trapped
floyd |
Djfletch says, "someone who knows how incompetent we are"
inky arrives, full of neither funk nor fun. Tale says, "I was thinking we could see more now"
tale says (to Floyd), "exits"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "about"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "xyzzy"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
Vimes says, "this is rather amazing"
tale says (to Floyd), "credits"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
djfletch says (to Floyd), "burn letter"
floyd | >Which do you mean, the next Letter or the letter?
floyd |
jacqueline says, "Well, thanks for coming, everyone."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "burn next letter"
floyd | >This dangerous act would achieve little.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "ne"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "se"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "s"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "sw"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "w"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "nw"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
jacqueline says, "From IFDB: 'Forgiveness Rating: Merciful'"
tale says (to Floyd), "n"
floyd | >
floyd | Small Room
floyd | The small room contains a lantern and the next letter
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "n"
floyd | >
floyd | Burial Ground
floyd | The Graves have skeletons in them, dug up and nothing left. When you
floyd | approach one the graves you find a Map. The map shows the way out of
floyd | the Cave and to destination not to far away.
floyd |
floyd | You can see a Map here.
floyd |
Vimes says, "impossible to do anything to get yourself stuck, or in fact anything at all"
tale says (to Floyd), "get map"
floyd | >Taken.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "x map"
floyd | >The Map shows you the way out and to a destiantion not to far away
floyd |
jacqueline says, "Also, from IFDB: Two stars. I should have perhaps looked at that bit first."
tale says (to Floyd), "follow map"
floyd | >That's not a verb I recognise.
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >
floyd | Outside of Mountain
floyd | You have escaped from the Burial Ground and you are now outside of the
floyd | mountain. You see large rocks all around you with only one opening
floyd | available is above you
floyd |
inky says (to Floyd), "read map"
floyd | >The Map shows you the way out and to a destiantion not to far away
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | >
floyd | Rocky Mountain Side
floyd | You have climbed up the dangerous and rocky Mountain Side. You seem to
floyd | be getting closer to the snowy mountain top.You see writing enscribed
floyd | on the mountain. You are close to the Green Mountain, go east and you
floyd | will find your way
floyd |
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >
floyd | Long Circle Path
floyd | The Long Cirlce path goes up the mountain to the top. It almost seems
floyd | endless...
floyd |
DavidW says (to Floyd), "read writing"
floyd | >You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
Maga says, "'let's all have some delicious pie!' 'oh, but I'm too full for pie, let's just eat gravel instead' 'agreed!'"
tale says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | >You can't go that way.
floyd |
davidW says, "hey! We missed the writing!"
tale says (to Floyd), "w"
floyd | >The Green Mountain, on top of the world. Gold,Silver and Bronze
floyd | statues surround it. Each of the statues have words writtin on them.The
floyd | Gold Staue says You Have, the Silver Statue says Discovered, and the
floyd | Bronze Statue says Where it all began
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** The End ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 0, in 37 turns.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last
floyd | command?
jacqueline asks, "?!?!?"
Tale says, "Okay. Good night folks, see you next time."
jacqueline says, "..."
jacqueline says, "So, um, that was my fault."
davidW asks, "Not the most exciting game, was it?"
Vimes says, "....... well, going back to a previous topic: it occurs to me that sleepmask currently auto-enables the one last lousy point"
jacqueline says, "Because we had a bunch of games come in second, but I broke the tie with this one because I liked the title because I am a tree hugger."
jacqueline says, "So everyone should blame me."
davidW says, "I saw no >hug tree"
Vimes says (to jacq), "You are a jaunty and stylish treehugger."
Tale says, "Pff, Rangers."
jacqueline asks, "Centipede was also second. Is it a z-code abuse thing that won't work on Floyd, or should we try that?"
jacqueline says, "Centipedes are also things park rangers like, so that is why I chose that one next."
Maga says (to Tale), "they are a dangerous folk, evidently"
davidW says, "Centipede is not a z-abuse."
Tale says, "Yeah, one of them was the King of Gondor."
jacqueline says, "Okay. One sec."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "q"
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?
davidW says, "I think it's a text recreation of the Centipede arcade game."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "quit"
floyd asks, "That game over already? It was just getting good. Wanna play another?"
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "load centipede"
floyd | > Welcome to the Cheap Glk Implementation, library version 0.9.0.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | "100 feet per second," Chub says.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers flips you a holovid of his scary trash girlfriend. "Touch the
floyd | zipper icon," he says.
floyd |
floyd | There is a shudder in the cabin, and warning lights flare greasy-green
floyd | in your night vision goggles. "Hang on, campers," yells Chub. "Descent
floyd | jets one and two just jammed up. We're in for a bumpy landing."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers grunts. "So much for surprise. They live in the ground. Every
floyd | stinking bug for miles is gonna feel the vibrations."
floyd |
floyd | "Gravity zero point nine-sixty Gees," Chub says, her elbows swinging
floyd | out at awkward angles, flapping like stunted chicken wings. She's
floyd | fighting the two joysticks, trying to keep this iron turd level as it
floyd | streaks through the sky. "On my mark, Mitchum," she says.
floyd |
floyd | [Hit any key.]
Vimes says, "ha ha just getting good"
jacqueline says (to maga), "I'm surprised you haven't giggled over 'iron turd' yet."
Maga says, "it is a fine phrase"
Jacqueline pushes the green 'space' button.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | CENTIPEDE
floyd | A short story of senseless violence and profanity
floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 001231 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10 SD
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is below, one boot up on the bench, holding a safety strap with
floyd | one hand. Thinks he's on the damn bullet train. He's survived forty
floyd | missions, thinks he's invulnerable now.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is tucked around the corner at the helm. You can't see her, but
floyd | you can hear her voice in your helmet. "On my mark. On my mark..."
floyd |
floyd | >
jacqueline says, "This is a fairly surreal week here at ClubFloyd."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | You are carrying:
floyd |   a combat suit (being worn)
floyd |   a waterproof boots (being worn)
floyd |   a helmet (being worn)
floyd |   a set of night vision goggles (being worn)
floyd |   a belt of ammo clips (being worn)
floyd |   a backpack (being worn and closed)
floyd |   Charlene
floyd |   a holovid
floyd |
floyd | Your forehead just started to itch.
floyd |
floyd | >
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x charlene"
floyd | This is Charlene, your plasma rifle. You know every dent and scratch on
floyd | her curved metal body.
floyd |
floyd | >
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "x holovid"
floyd | It's a holovid of Duggers' scary trash girlfriend. She's standing near
floyd | some gym equipment. A little icon that looks like a zipper is dancing
floyd | in the lower corner.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale asks, "Who wrote this?"
tale says (to Floyd), "press zipper"
floyd | When you touch the zipper icon, the clothes on Duggers' girlfriend seem
floyd | to melt off her body, displaying her full frontal skankiness.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers takes his holovid back. "Don't get all excited, now," he says.
floyd | He gives his girlfriend's picture a quick ogle before stuffing it into
floyd | a side pocket of his vest.
floyd |
floyd | >
jacqueline says (to Tale), "Rob"
davidW says, "Rob, I think."
tale says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is below, one boot up on the bench, holding a safety strap with
floyd | one hand.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is tucked around the corner at the helm. You can't see her, but
floyd | you can hear her voice in your helmet.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x me"
floyd | You're in good health for a guy who's been awake and on active duty for
floyd | 76 straight hours. The stimulants they rationed you seem to be working
floyd | fine with no side effects. You're pumped and ready to kill some bugs
floyd | for God, planet and country.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale asks, "So, up the ladder?"
jacqueline says, "sure"
davidW says, "I think you ought to examine the panel so when you get the signal to fire you can."
tale says (to Floyd), "x panel"
floyd | The emergency station panel has two levers. Pulling them releases the
floyd | landing craft's emergency parachutes. There are three switches: homing
floyd | beacon launch, distress call broadcast, and self-destruct failsafe. You
floyd | aren't under orders to use the switches right now.
floyd |
floyd | Chub's voice starts counting down. You can hear the strain in her
floyd | voice, the pitch rising and falling in synchronization with the cabin's
floyd | spastic lurching and yawing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "pray"
floyd | Nothing practical results from your prayer.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Four ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
TheXenographer arrives, ready to play with the toys.
TheXenographer goes home.
TheXenographer arrives, ready to play with the toys. jacqueline says, "Good day, bouncyxen."
tale says (to Floyd), "load charlene"
floyd | She's already loaded.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Three ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
jacqueline says, "I'm nervous."
davidW says, "hm. I'm assuming we fire something. I could be wrong."
jacqueline says, "Not Charlene, though."
theXenographer says, "Hi, Jacq. Evidently my internet is feeling slightly bouncy today."
Tale says, "I must admit I don't know Centipede, and from YouTube, looks like a game about shooting stuff."
Inky says, "it's an old-time arcade game, yeah"
tale says (to Floyd), "x chub"
floyd | Sgt. Ann "Chub" Chaplin is a good solider. You've only been under her
floyd | command for three weeks, but she seems like she knows what she's doing
floyd | in a firefight.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit ...!"
floyd |
floyd | >
Inky says, "the centipede drops down from the top and slides back and forth and you shoot it from the bottom"
theXenographer asks, "What are we playing?"
Tale says, "ha ha ha"
jacqueline says (to Xen), "Centipede."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x duggers"
floyd | Private Dale "Dig-Dug" Duggers is a hulking brute and an absolute
floyd | killing machine. Also, a pretty good chess player.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit!"
floyd |
floyd | >
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "fire"
floyd | Save your aggressions and ammo for the mission, soldier.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Mark!"
floyd |
floyd | >
firion says (to floyd), "i"
floyd | You are carrying:
floyd |   a combat suit (being worn)
floyd |   a waterproof boots (being worn)
floyd |   a helmet (being worn)
floyd |   a set of night vision goggles (being worn)
floyd |   a belt of ammo clips (being worn)
floyd |   a backpack (being worn and closed)
floyd |   Charlene
floyd |
floyd | Chub screams, "What are you waiting for? Mitchum!"
floyd |
floyd | >
Inky says, "I forget if someone mentioned this, but Centipede was one of the games released as part of a "comp" for games themed after arcade games"
firion asks, "Which comp?"
Inky | [LINK]
davidW says, "Not a comp. IF Arcade."
Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is below, one boot up on the bench, holding a safety strap with
floyd | one hand.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is tucked around the corner at the helm. You can't see her, but
floyd | you can hear her voice in your helmet.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Duggers!"
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is already up the ladder and grabbing for the parachute release
floyd | levers. He yanks them hard, there is a noise like a screech owl
floyd | colliding with a sheet of inch-thick plexiglass, and then the cabin
floyd | seems to stop in midair, jolting everything that's not nailed down,
floyd | which includes you and Duggers. The two of you smash to the cabin
floyd | floor. You land on your side, the hard ammo clips strapped to your side
floyd | bruising your ribs, damn near cutting through your suit.
floyd |
floyd | >
davidW says, "It was a project similar to the recent Apollo 18+20."
firion debates trying an IF arcade styled game.
davidW says, "ah. I guess we were supposed to operate the parachute lever."
Tale says (to davidw), "You were right about them there switches."
tale says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | You can see Duggers and Chub here.
floyd |
floyd | Just as you start to sit up, Duggers attacks your throat with his
floyd | elbow, crushing your windpipe. You flop backwards like an upended
floyd | beetle, choking and gagging, pain throbbing outward from your neck,
floyd | your lungs burning.
floyd |
floyd | The fall seems to have damaged your helmet, because you can't hear
floyd | Duggers' voice any more. He's holding you by your gear straps, his
floyd | faceplate right in front of yours, screaming obscenities. Probably just
floyd | as well that you can't hear it.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot duggers"
floyd | Sure, you hate Duggers, but that's no reason to mow him down with a
floyd | plasma rifle. That might just make him mad.
floyd |
floyd | Chub comes racing into view. You watch, hearing only your own jaggered
floyd | breathing as your windpipe relaxes, as an argument ensues. Hands haul
floyd | you to your feet near the hatch. Duggers blows it open. Waited too long
floyd | to release the craft's parachutes, going to have to jump for it.
floyd | Probably cost us the mission and our lives, you reflect.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "I wonder if we could've pulled it on time"
Inky says, "sure"
firion asks, "Sure it'd be late, but better late than never, right?"
Tale asks, "Shall we see this through or restart?"
Djfletch says, "might as well keep going and see what happens"
tale says (to Floyd), "jump"
floyd | You jump on the spot, fruitlessly.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers leaps out of the hatch. Chub shoves at you from behind. You
floyd | still can't hear any voices.
floyd |
floyd | You're in mid-air, falling fast. You can't see the ground, and there's
floyd | nothing to see in the sky.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "fall"
floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
floyd |
floyd | >
firion says (to Floyd), "shit"
floyd | You mutter a few oaths and curses.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "d"
floyd | You adjust your direction slightly, but mostly you try to stay on
floyd | target.
floyd |
floyd | You pull the rip-cord, and your chute opens. Your neck snaps forward,
floyd | your throat closes hard and painfully. As you raise your head, your
floyd | throat doesn't open again. It feels swollen shut, and you can't
floyd | breathe.
floyd |
floyd | Far below, there's a round, white-green flare -- the landing craft,
floyd | crashing down.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "x throat"
floyd | You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "breathe"
floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "x craft"
floyd | You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "d"
floyd | You adjust your direction slightly, but mostly you try to stay on
floyd | target.
floyd |
floyd | You see a cloud-layer below. Maybe it's mist on the ground? You brace
floyd | for impact.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait and fall through the clouds. Not the ground, not yet. You take
floyd | a small breath, and another. You spot Duggers' chute below you,
floyd | slipping sideways, furling and raveling, sinking into wet blackness.
floyd | That's the ground, the marsh right below you.
floyd |
floyd | >
allen says (to Tale), "centipede song: [LINK]"
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait for the landing. Your boots hit a layer of wet slime, and you
floyd | sink into it up to your buckling knees. You lose your balance, but
floyd | can't move your feet to stabilize yourself. Slime splashes up into your
floyd | faceplate. Your hands sink into something gelatinous. Everything is
floyd | cold. You must be underwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
firion says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | You put your hands down, hoping to raise your weight, but there's no
floyd | support. Your arms sink like toothpicks into a sponge cake.
floyd |
floyd | >
firion says (to Floyd), "up"
floyd | You curl your legs up under your chest, slowly drawing them out of the
floyd | muck, and you replant them in fresh muck. Gradually you wobble yourself
floyd | into an upright fetal position and try to stand. You must weigh 350
floyd | pounds with all of your gear. Carefully, slowly, you stand. You get a
floyd | little help from your chute, yanked by a sudden wind. For a moment
floyd | you're not sure whether you're actually standing or not, and you
floyd | realize it's because your faceplate is covered with marsh slime.
floyd |
floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "wipe faceplate"
floyd | You are yanked backwards by your parachute. You stumble and again go
floyd | underwater, the chute tugging you further down.
floyd |
floyd | You struggle to get up, but your chute feels like it's caught on
floyd | something.
floyd |
floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "cut chute"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | With growing horror, you realize that the chute has become entangled
floyd | with something, and is dragging you further and further underwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
firion says (to floyd), "release chute"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | Your lungs burning, all of your limbs thrashing, you sputter for breath
floyd | and take in a lungful of marsh water.
floyd |
floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | Distantly, you hear the thrashing of boots through water, the dulled
floyd | booms of plasma rifles firing. Someone is trying to pull at one of your
floyd | boots, but their hands slip away. The last bit of air in your lungs
floyd | escapes, poisonous water takes its place.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 25000, in 29 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
Inky says, "whoops"
firion exclaims, "Game over, yeahhh!"
Tale says, "I hope we have another life"
tale says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Underwater
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | Distantly, you hear the thrashing of boots through water, the dulled
floyd | booms of plasma rifles firing. Someone is trying to pull at one of your
floyd | boots, but their hands slip away. The last bit of air in your lungs
floyd | escapes, poisonous water takes its place.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 25000, in 29 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
Tale says (to allen), "ha ha"
k-Y says, "man, I never even saw this outcome at all"
theXenographer says, "War is hell, I guess."
Inky says, "extra lives are modelled with your teammates, I think"
Tale asks, "So, er, as I seem to be the driver, I say we restart and pull the switch in time?"
tale says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Underwater
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "remove backpack"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | Distantly, you hear the thrashing of boots through water, the dulled
floyd | booms of plasma rifles firing. Someone is trying to pull at one of your
floyd | boots, but their hands slip away. The last bit of air in your lungs
floyd | escapes, poisonous water takes its place.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 25000, in 29 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
Djfletch says, "yup, go for it"
tale says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Underwater
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "remove chute"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | Distantly, you hear the thrashing of boots through water, the dulled
floyd | booms of plasma rifles firing. Someone is trying to pull at one of your
floyd | boots, but their hands slip away. The last bit of air in your lungs
floyd | escapes, poisonous water takes its place.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 0 out of a possible 25000, in 29 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "restart"
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | "100 feet per second," Chub says.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers flips you a holovid of his scary trash girlfriend. "Touch the
floyd | zipper icon," he says.
floyd |
floyd | There is a shudder in the cabin, and warning lights flare greasy-green
floyd | in your night vision goggles. "Hang on, campers," yells Chub. "Descent
floyd | jets one and two just jammed up. We're in for a bumpy landing."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers grunts. "So much for surprise. They live in the ground. Every
floyd | stinking bug for miles is gonna feel the vibrations."
floyd |
floyd | "Gravity zero point nine-sixty Gees," Chub says, her elbows swinging
floyd | out at awkward angles, flapping like stunted chicken wings. She's
floyd | fighting the two joysticks, trying to keep this iron turd level as it
floyd | streaks through the sky. "On my mark, Mitchum," she says.
floyd |
floyd | [Hit any key.]
tale says (to Floyd), "push space"
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | CENTIPEDE
floyd | A short story of senseless violence and profanity
floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 001231 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10 SD
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is below, one boot up on the bench, holding a safety strap with
floyd | one hand. Thinks he's on the damn bullet train. He's survived forty
floyd | missions, thinks he's invulnerable now.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is tucked around the corner at the helm. You can't see her, but
floyd | you can hear her voice in your helmet. "On my mark. On my mark..."
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "x panel"
floyd | The emergency station panel has two levers. Pulling them releases the
floyd | landing craft's emergency parachutes. There are three switches: homing
floyd | beacon launch, distress call broadcast, and self-destruct failsafe. You
floyd | aren't under orders to use the switches right now.
floyd |
floyd | Your forehead just started to itch.
floyd |
floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "scratch forehead"
floyd | You can't scratch it without taking off your helmet. You're just going
floyd | to have to tough it out, soldier.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "pull self-destruct"
floyd | You are unable to.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x cabinets"
floyd | Loaded with enough firepower to bugbomb an entire sector.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers swipes his holovid from you. "Hey man, don't you never give
floyd | nothing back?" he says. He gives his girlfriend's picture a quick ogle
floyd | before stuffing it into a side pocket of his pants.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "push self-destruct"
floyd | You have to be at the emergency station in order to push the
floyd | self-destruct failsafe switch.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You swing yourself from the hatchway up into your emergency station.
floyd | You're already starting to sweat inside your suit, but there isn't time
floyd | to adjust the coolant controls.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "push self-destruct"
floyd | You push the self-destruct failsafe switch. Immediately, Chub says,
floyd | "Mitchum! What in the name of Pleiades are you doing? Switch that off!
floyd | That's an order!"
floyd |
floyd | Chub's voice starts counting down. You can hear the strain in her
floyd | voice, the pitch rising and falling in synchronization with the cabin's
floyd | spastic lurching and yawing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "push self-destruct"
floyd | You are under orders not to push the failsafe switch.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Four ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
firion exclaims, "Thank you for pressing the self-destruct button!"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x shelves"
floyd | The supplies are designed to last a five-man unit for two weeks.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Three ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit ...!"
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "pull lever"
floyd | You pull hard on the levers, which ratchet into a locked position with
floyd | a satisfying, weighty "ka-chunk." From above, there is a noise like a
floyd | screech owl colliding with a sheet of inch-thick plexiglass, and then
floyd | the cabin seems to stop in midair, jolting everything that's not nailed
floyd | down, which includes you and Duggers.
floyd |
floyd | Chub hollers, "Dammit! I said on my mark, Mitchum!" She comes bolting
floyd | into view and yanks you down, eyeball to eyeball. "Since when does
floyd | 'shit' mean 'mark,' Mitchum? We were still falling too fast to deploy.
floyd | The chutes tore."
floyd |
floyd | Chub lets go of you and blows open the hatch. Icy wind snarls around
floyd | the cabin, dragging at you. "Bail out! And I mean now, fuckwit!"
floyd |
floyd | Duggers gives you a curled sneer and leaps out of the hatch. Chub
floyd | shoves at you from behind.
floyd |
floyd | In mid-air
floyd | You're in mid-air, falling fast. You can't see the ground, and there's
floyd | nothing to see in the sky.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You pause.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit!"
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "ask chub about shit"
floyd | Please use >TALK TO PLAYER to interact in this game.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Mark!"
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "pull lever"
floyd | You pull hard on the levers, which ratchet into a locked position with
floyd | a satisfying, weighty "ka-chunk." From above, there is a noise like a
floyd | screech owl colliding with a sheet of inch-thick plexiglass, and then
floyd | the cabin seems to stop in midair, jolting everything that's not nailed
floyd | down, which includes you and Duggers.
floyd |
floyd | Chub saunters into view. "Good work, Mitchum. All right, let's strap in
floyd | and get ready for touchdown. That means you too, Duggers."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "I got a hand on the strap, don't I?"
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Fine. Stand up if you want. When your kneecaps blow out and
floyd | your hamstrings are severed by the compound fractures of your thigh
floyd | bones you can crawl your ass through the swamp. Doesn't make any
floyd | difference to me, as long as you keep one hand free to salute."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers gives Chub a severe salute and lowers his stubborn ass down
floyd | onto the bench. You plunk down next to him.
floyd |
floyd | The cabin creaks and shudders. Chub checks her chronometer.
floyd |
floyd | >
inky says (to Floyd), "strap in"
floyd | You strap yourself in.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Okay. We need to prepare to lose the AVLC when we land.
floyd | This thing is going to fill with water and sink in about ninety-eight
floyd | seconds. Duggers, as soon as we hit, blow the hatch and do a quick
floyd | scout. Mitchum, launch the homing beacon and then get the hell out."
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "push save"
floyd | You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
tale says (to Floyd), "cf27"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "Am I going to fast? You guys are quiet."
Djfletch says, "no, carry on"
davidW says, "Considering this game is obviously timed, I prefer to have someone else drive."
Djfletch says, "looks like we wait until we land anyway"
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait. Chub checks her chronometer. She says, "Touchdown in eight,
floyd | seven, six..."
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | (first removing the straps)
floyd |
floyd | You get off the bench.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers shifts his weight forward, ready to spring into action.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Five, four, three..."
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You swing yourself up into the emergency station.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Tw--"
floyd |
floyd | With a jaw-splintering jolt, the AVLC hits the swampwater. You're
floyd | thrown hard to the floor by the impact, your helmet absorbing a lot of
floyd | the shattering force. Bright splotches fill your vision. Maybe your
floyd | goggles are damaged, you think at first, and then you realize that it's
floyd | your eyes.
floyd |
floyd | You squeeze your eyes, wait for the blotches to fade, and hope it isn't
floyd | a concussion.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You swing yourself up into the emergency station.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "Blowing the hatch..." Fwoom! There's a white flare in
floyd | your goggles, and the hatch disappears into darkness. Instantly,
floyd | freezing algae water pours into the opening. Duggers leaps out into it
floyd | as the cabin starts to reel, pitching aftward.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "push homing"
floyd | You launch the homing beacon.
floyd |
floyd | Chub yanks at your arm. You feel a spasm of pain shoot through it.
floyd | She's yelling at you and pointing at the hatch, but you can't hear her.
floyd | The fall must have damaged your helmet's comm system.
floyd |
floyd | The cabin is now half full of swampwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "out"
floyd | You get off the emergency station.
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is at the hatchway, standing firm against the inrushing water.
floyd |
floyd | You force yourself out of the craft, fighting the freezing water. Your
floyd | legs seize up a few steps from the sinking craft, or maybe they're just
floyd | caught in the muck. You lose your balance, but can't move your feet to
floyd | stabilize yourself. Slime splashes up into your faceplate. Your hands
floyd | sink into something gelatinous. Everything is cold. You must be
floyd | underwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "That's where we died before"
Tale says, "i wonder if we're not supposed to get underwater"
Inky says, "oh, there's probably a way to take off the chute"
Djfletch says, "maybe we should have kept wearing the straps for longer"
tale says (to Floyd), "remove baclpack"
floyd | You can't see any such thing.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "remove backpack"
floyd | You try, but it just makes you seep deeper into the murk.
floyd |
floyd | You put your hands down, hoping to raise your weight, but there's no
floyd | support. Your arms sink like toothpicks into a sponge cake.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You curl your legs up under your chest, slowly drawing them out of the
floyd | muck, and you replant them in fresh muck. Gradually you wobble yourself
floyd | into an upright fetal position and try to stand. You must weigh 350
floyd | pounds with all of your gear. Carefully, slowly, you stand. For a
floyd | moment you're not sure whether you're actually standing or not, and you
floyd | realize it's because your faceplate is covered with marsh slime.
floyd |
floyd | >
theXenographer says, "I'm suspecting that possibly anything we do will lead to us drowning in the marsh..."
tale says (to Floyd), "remove backpack"
floyd | A soldier never removes his backpack unless his life depends on doing
floyd | so.
floyd |
floyd | You smear the slime away with your hand, and see the marshland.
floyd |
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | The landscape is pitch black, even in your goggles. No heat from the
floyd | freezing swampwater. Out of the blackness, looming shapes in obscene
floyd | colors. You aren't supposed to see colors through these goggles, and
floyd | you wonder if you're doing worse than you thought.
floyd |
floyd | The shapes are mushrooms, hundreds of them, rising on their moist
floyd | stalks, ballooning heads eighteen feet around, eight feet high. You
floyd | can't get much of a sight beyond them. There's too many mushrooms.
floyd | Maybe you should waste some ammo clearing a sightline. Then again,
floyd | maybe you don't have any ammo to waste, now.
floyd |
floyd | You can see Chub and Duggers here.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers and Chub are standing in front of you, pointing and screaming
floyd | at you, wondering why you don't answer them.
floyd |
floyd | >
Inky says, "oh hmm"
tale says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
tale says (to Floyd), "cf28"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
Inky says, "I think because we didn't screw up the landing our chute isn't dragging us down maybe"
tale says (to Floyd), "point at helmet"
floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "remove helmet"
floyd | You'll need that helmet to survive and to communicate with Duggers and
floyd | Chub.
floyd |
floyd | You point at the comm antenna on your helmet and tap your finger to it.
floyd | You shake your head.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers flings his arms wide and throws his head back, the universal
floyd | pantomime for, "Well, that's just fucking GREAT." Chub approaches you,
floyd | removing her thick gloves, reaching for her toolbelt. You hear her
floyd | hands bumping against your helmet.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | There is a burst of deafening static in your helmet. You flinch and
floyd | turn to face Chub, who glowers at you and shoves your head away so she
floyd | can keep working. You feel the bones in your neck grind together, a
floyd | pain so bad you want to black out.
floyd |
floyd | Your training asserts itself. You clench your fists, bite your tongue,
floyd | and hang onto consciousness.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | There's another burst of static, and Chub's voice poking through it.
floyd |
floyd | "...hear that? ... if you ... --kay? ...Mitchum!"
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "talk to chub"
floyd | You hear Chub say, "How about that?"
floyd |
floyd | "Got it," you say.
floyd |
floyd | A vibration ripples the water. Duggers's voice: "Heads up! Heads up!
floyd | Can he hear through that goddamn thing yet? Come on!"
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "Okay, this is a tad confusing."
tale says (to Floyd), "talk to duggers"
floyd |
floyd | What would you like to say?
floyd | [1] Duggers, your girlfriend's a skank.
floyd | [2] Yo mama.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
Tale says, "ha ha"
tale says (to Floyd), "1"
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "Don't you be talkin' that way about Lashawnda,
floyd | motherfucker! I'll shuffle yo pasty pink Iowa corn-fed ass off this
floyd | mortal fuckin' coil, you hear what I'm saying?"
floyd |
floyd | [1] Yeah, I hear ya.
floyd | [2] I'll say what I like, bitch!
floyd | [3] Fuck off.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
firion exclaims, "Hopefully someone brought extra tokens. We're gonna need them in a game like this!"
Tale says, "Okay, let's vote"
Tale says, "I say 2"
Djfletch says, "ok, 2"
tale says (to Floyd), "2"
floyd |
floyd | Duggers bursts into hoarse laughter. "Man, you crack me up," he says.
floyd | His face goes stony again. "Just don't push me."
floyd |
floyd | [1] Yo mama.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
tale says (to Floyd), "1"
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "No, *yo* mama."
floyd |
floyd | Chub whips out her plasma rifle. You whip out Charlene. Charlene's your
floyd | partner, ready for the dance. You draw some strength from her, ignoring
floyd | the spasms in your bad arm.
floyd |
floyd | Easy girl. Just... hold it ... steady.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "talk to chub"
floyd |
floyd | What would you like to say?
floyd | [1] Yes sergeant.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
tale says (to Floyd), "1"
floyd |
floyd | You affirm Chub's authority.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "I've called for reinforcements, but they won't come in
floyd | until we hold this position for a while. No use aiding a lost cause."
floyd |
floyd | You say, "It is a lost cause, isn't it? The bugs are just going to keep
floyd | coming."
floyd |
floyd | The vibration comes again. Somewhere, far ahead, twisting its way
floyd | closer, the bug is coming.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot mushroom"
floyd | You hear the roar of many feet, so many feet it makes your stomach
floyd | turn. Up ahead, through that maze of mushrooms, you see a slickened
floyd | shape pass by, west to east.
floyd |
floyd | Chub shouts, "Fire!"
floyd |
floyd | You fire Charlene into the darkness. She purrs and growls. She's jumpy
floyd | today, you can tell. Or maybe you are. Duggers fires. Chub fires.
floyd | Mushrooms explode into spores. Fast-growing spores, you remember. In
floyd | ten minutes, there will be more of them, full-sized. How are you
floyd | supposed to win a war like this?
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | All you hit are more mushrooms, but you clear a path. Up ahead, the
floyd | behemoth twists like a snake, heading west, then east, then directly at
floyd | you. Duggers fires at the head of it, and the head explodes, but the
floyd | beast keeps coming. It turns east again.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You fire at the beast, cutting the bug in two. The damn segments don't
floyd | stop moving, though. Now there's two bugs, each twisting this way and
floyd | that. One segment reaches a small tunnel, formed by columns of
floyd | mushrooms to each side, and it twists between them, heading straight
floyd | for you.
floyd |
floyd | "Fire! Fire!" Chub screams.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | Charlene is white hot, searing your naked fingers. You love her most of
floyd | all when she's like this, when she's on fire. Your skin melds with
floyd | hers. Your hands become iron, her body becomes soft flesh.
floyd |
floyd | Your rifles flare in the damp night, shooting plasma pulses a million
floyd | degrees hot and moving at 400 miles an hour. The charging beast loses
floyd | its head, and then another head, and then another head, and then
floyd | another. Suddenly, there are no more heads, it is gone.
floyd |
floyd | The second segment twists into view, just beyond the closest range of
floyd | mushrooms, about to invade your empty black marshland base.
floyd |
floyd | Another noise, unlike the steady thrum of these insect feet, begins to
floyd | grow, with a doppler effect, from dead ahead. A flying bug.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "Rob is very good at emulating Heinlein"
tale says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
tale says (to Floyd), "cf29"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot flying bug"
floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
floyd |
floyd | >
theXenographer says, "I was going to say, this is a little Starship Troopers."
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You fire at the centipede and miss, but it gives you light to see
floyd | what's coming. It's a tick, two tons of chitinous carapace, bristly
floyd | fangs, and bug meat, hurtling straight at the three of you, over the
floyd | tops of the mushrooms. Its lazy feet scrape the mushroom heads,
floyd | poisoning them as it passes, making the mushrooms change to ugly
floyd | colors. If another bug touches one of those, it'll go into a
floyd | hallucinogenic frenzy.
floyd |
floyd | "Spread out! Spread out!" Chub shouts.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You dodge left and fire, but you can't get a steady bead on the damn
floyd | thing. Chub concentrates on the centipede, her plasma shots splitting
floyd | it again in two. They're coming at you from both sides now.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is right in the tick's path. He stands his ground, shouting at
floyd | the sonofabitch. Duggers fires at it, misses. Fires again, misses. It's
floyd | coming in too fast, even for Duggers.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You keep firing, trying to save Duggers, but the tick mows him down.
floyd | Its sticky feet latch onto his body, his face purples and blackens as
floyd | he's carted away to some nest to be digested. There is a scream in your
floyd | helmet, and then silence.
floyd |
floyd | Dead silence. The bugs are gone. There's just two of you left.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "talk to chub"
floyd |
floyd | What would you like to say?
floyd | [1] Yes sergeant.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
tale says (to Floyd), "x chub"
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
tale says (to Floyd), "0ss"
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
tale says (to Floyd), "0"
floyd | You decide not to say anything.
floyd |
floyd | You were right. More mushrooms have grown up already. It's harder to
floyd | see. Up ahead, you see the segmented beast twisting this way and that.
floyd | Up ahead, you hear another tick approaching like a dive bomber, coming
floyd | right at you and Chub.
floyd |
floyd | Up ahead, you hear the thrum. Wave number two. Or is it just a
floyd | continuation of the first wave?
floyd |
floyd | Something else, something new. Feet clicking, splashing, an almost
floyd | musical chirp as the legs saw back and forth. What the hell? Some sort
floyd | of cricket? No.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You shoot at the tick, and with a final good shot, it explodes into a
floyd | greasy cloud.
floyd |
floyd | In the glow of Charlene's plasma bolts you see what this new bug is.
floyd | It's a scorpion, sidling sideways. Fortunately, it's not coming at you.
floyd | Chub takes it out with one quick shot. She then swings her aim at the
floyd | beast, but only manages to cut it into three segments, damn her eyes.
floyd |
floyd | From the sky comes another tick, its poisonous legs turning the
floyd | mushrooms purple and blue.
floyd |
floyd | >
Djfletch asks, "can we run away?"
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You and Chub concentrate your fire on the tick. You vaporize it with
floyd | about thirty yards to spare. Plasma spray and unvaporized bug bits
floyd | sizzle over the mushroom caps, a wet coat of death.
floyd |
floyd | And then you hear another tick, bearing down on you, following its
floyd | kamikaze partner, poisoning even more mushrooms.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You take a lucky shot and destroy the second tick before it even gets
floyd | close, before it can poison too many mushrooms, but it's already too
floyd | late.
floyd |
floyd | One of the centipede segments hit the poisoned mushrooms, and the oil
floyd | gets into its skin, scrambling its stupid bug neurons. Crazed, it
floyd | charges forward, straight at you. Another segment hits another poisoned
floyd | shroom, and it, too, charges screaming at you.
floyd |
floyd | The two segments swoop down on either side of you and Chub, circle, and
floyd | play back and forth, zigzagging. The poison's worn off, thankfully.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot segment"
floyd | You charge, firing with deadly aim. One down. You're just about to
floyd | congratulate yourself when Chub shouts a warning.
floyd |
floyd | You see more centipedes arriving out of the darkness to your left and
floyd | right. Where are they coming from? Just two segments each, a head and a
floyd | tail, joining the dance. There's four of these damn things now, and
floyd | more every minute.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "Man."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf30"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "s"
floyd | You slog a few steps in that direction. Your foot runs into something
floyd | solid, probably the submerged landing craft.
floyd |
floyd | You shoot and shoot, vaporizing as many as you can. You start to think
floyd | you're winning, that you're going to get out of this, when out of the
floyd | corner of your eye, you see Chub backing up, not looking where she's
floyd | going. You yell for her to move, to watch out. You're still busy firing
floyd | as you try to move closer to her, to yank her out of the way, to give
floyd | her cover, but it's too late. A new segment dances into the marsh, runs
floyd | Chub down, stomps her into the muck. You hear a shriek in your helmet
floyd | that becomes a helpless gurgle. The beast drips acid out of its flanks,
floyd | out of its disgusting glands, and something sizzles underwater.
floyd |
floyd | A final shot from your rifle sails into the gloom. Far away, a mushroom
floyd | explodes.
floyd |
floyd | Again, silence. And you're the only one left.
floyd |
floyd | >
Djfletch says, "oh dear"
Tale says, "I think that was supposed to happen"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "hide"
floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd |
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | The landscape is pitch black, even in your goggles. No heat from the
floyd | freezing swampwater. Out of the blackness, looming shapes in obscene
floyd | colors. You aren't supposed to see colors through these goggles, and
floyd | you wonder if you're doing worse than you thought.
floyd |
floyd | You were right. New mushrooms have grown, dozens of them, eight feet
floyd | high. You can't get much of a sight beyond them. There's too many. You
floyd | don't have any ammo to waste, now.
floyd |
floyd | You can't see for all of the mushrooms blocking your way. You can hear
floyd | movement, far ahead, but you can't see anything but the mushrooms.
floyd | They're different colors now. Are you hallucinating? And where's the
floyd | backup Chub called for? How long are they going to take?
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "enter craft"
floyd | That's just not going to work, soldier.
floyd |
floyd | You vent your frustrations on the mushrooms, shooting again and again.
floyd | They explode, releasing spores that will grow more of them soon. You
floyd | don't care. You need the space to move if you're going to win this
floyd | battle, if you're going to survive.
floyd |
floyd | You know, though, that it's just a matter of time. You wonder what the
floyd | point of this is, and you laugh. It's a sick joke to someone up there
floyd | in HQ, someone in a chushy office on Atari Prime. It's just some stupid
floyd | game.
floyd |
floyd | >
Inky says, "ha ha"
Tale says, "ha ha"
Tale says, ">SHOOT FOURTH WALL"
tale says (to Floyd), "l"
floyd |
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | The landscape is pitch black, even in your goggles. No heat from the
floyd | freezing swampwater. Out of the blackness, looming shapes in obscene
floyd | colors. You aren't supposed to see colors through these goggles, and
floyd | you wonder if you're doing worse than you thought.
floyd |
floyd | You were right. New mushrooms have grown, dozens of them, eight feet
floyd | high. You can't get much of a sight beyond them. There's too many. You
floyd | don't have any ammo to waste, now.
floyd |
floyd | You hear the thunder, the singsong chirping, the freight train whistle
floyd | doing its doppler effect, doubled, tripled. All the bugs are back. More
floyd | than ever.
floyd |
floyd | A tick whizzes by you to your left, just missing you. You hear it hiss
floyd | its hatred.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You blast another tick as it flies by to the right, dripping poison.
floyd | The mushroom right in front of you warps, rots, seems to right itself.
floyd | You destroy it. There's another deadly one behind it. You shoot that
floyd | one, too, and another.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot mushrooms"
floyd | A lucky shot aimed at a mushroom obliterates a scorpion, but another
floyd | tick comes, and the beast is moving fast.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | Charlene's aim is true, and you wipe out what you hope is the last tick
floyd | of this wave. Once again, it's too late. The murshrooms have done their
floyd | work. The crazed behemoth charges; once again, you are surrounded. Once
floyd | again, new segments arrive from nowhere, spinning in circles around
floyd | you.
floyd |
floyd | Mocking your hopes, one last tick comes, and this one has your name on
floyd | it.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You fire at the tick, and miss.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You fire at the tick, and miss. It's going to get you.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You brace yourself for your last stand. You take aim at that tick,
floyd | right in its glassy, metallic blue-green eyes. You fire, and miss. One
floyd | last chance, it's almost here.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You get it from behind. Oh, shit, you think. The fucking irony. The
floyd | tick sails past, unharmed, as one of the segments of the beast crushes
floyd | you, biting off your legs.
floyd |
floyd | There's no time to feel pain, or maybe there isn't any pain. Some sort
floyd | of anesthetic in the saliva, you remember. You scream anyway, just like
floyd | Chub. You're not going down quietly. You try to turn your rifle around,
floyd | fire at the damn thing point-blank, but suddenly your arms don't work.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "uh og"
Djfletch says, "eep"
Tale says, "Loosing your legs is rarely the correct path in my experience"
tale says (to Floyd), "scream"
floyd | That's not a verb I recognize.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | That was the last one.
floyd |
floyd | You're flipped over on your back, and something viscous and yellow
floyd | oozes onto your faceplate, dissolving it. Suddenly your eyes don't
floyd | work, and you can't scream. You see a dull red that turns brown and
floyd | black in splotches, like the way the colors on a bubble turn before the
floyd | bubble pops, and it's dead.
floyd |
floyd | >
tale says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | The last thought that comes to you makes you laugh. It's that old joke.
floyd | What's the last thing to go through a bug's mind as it hits your
floyd | windshield? Its --.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 595 out of a possible 25000, in 54 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
Tale asks, "Hmm. Suggestions?"
Inky says, "ha ha"
Inky says, "I dunno, I thought that went pretty well"
Tale says, "This isn't nethack. Dying ain't good!"
jacqueline says, "SNRK"
jacqueline says, "er, snrk"
jacqueline says, "Just a little snrk."
davidW says, "I imagine you'd last longer if you didn't lose your teammates."
jacqueline says, "Doing something tedious that is taking me longer than anticipated. Watching, but kind of involved and unable to comment, mostly."
theXenographer asks, "Is there any way to save them, though?"
davidW says, "I'd think so, but I've never played this before."
Djfletch says, "we could shoot them and join the bugs"
davidW says, "It's probably difficult to see the best path without playing many times, I'd guess."
k-Y says, "I think half the IF Arcade games were commenting on the futility of playing an arcade game"
Djfletch says, "a lot of the time we just shot the most obvious thing - it's hard to see what else we could have done."
davidW asks, "Shoot nonobvious things?"
Djfletch says, "maybe"
Tale says, "Yeah maybe"
davidW says, "Also, I seem to remember a lot of initial inventory."
Tale asks, "I'm not aware of tactics in centipede. Maybe that'll help?"
davidW says, "Perhaps there's more options than shooting."
davidW says, "I never played the actual arcade game much. I was never good at arcade games, not even Tetris, Frogger, or Pac-Man."
allen says, "frogger was not a good game"
jacqueline says, "Frogger rocked."
davidW asks, "What was in our backpack?"
Djfletch says, "I don't know if we ever looked in it."
Djfletch asks, "Shall we try another run through and see if we can do anything better?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "restart"
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | "100 feet per second," Chub says.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers flips you a holovid of his scary trash girlfriend. "Touch the
floyd | zipper icon," he says.
floyd |
floyd | There is a shudder in the cabin, and warning lights flare greasy-green
floyd | in your night vision goggles. "Hang on, campers," yells Chub. "Descent
floyd | jets one and two just jammed up. We're in for a bumpy landing."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers grunts. "So much for surprise. They live in the ground. Every
floyd | stinking bug for miles is gonna feel the vibrations."
floyd |
floyd | "Gravity zero point nine-sixty Gees," Chub says, her elbows swinging
floyd | out at awkward angles, flapping like stunted chicken wings. She's
floyd | fighting the two joysticks, trying to keep this iron turd level as it
floyd | streaks through the sky. "On my mark, Mitchum," she says.
floyd |
floyd | [Hit any key.]
djfletch pushes the green 'space' button.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | CENTIPEDE
floyd | A short story of senseless violence and profanity
floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 001231 / Inform v6.21 Library 6/10 SD
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is below, one boot up on the bench, holding a safety strap with
floyd | one hand. Thinks he's on the damn bullet train. He's survived forty
floyd | missions, thinks he's invulnerable now.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is tucked around the corner at the helm. You can't see her, but
floyd | you can hear her voice in your helmet. "On my mark. On my mark..."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | You are carrying:
floyd |   a combat suit (being worn)
floyd |   a waterproof boots (being worn)
floyd |   a helmet (being worn)
floyd |   a set of night vision goggles (being worn)
floyd |   a belt of ammo clips (being worn)
floyd |   a backpack (being worn and closed)
floyd |   Charlene
floyd |   a holovid
floyd |
floyd | Your forehead just started to itch.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "open backpack"
floyd | You open the backpack, revealing food rations, a canteen, a letter and
floyd | a zip pack of stims.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "read letter"
floyd | It's a letter to your folks, to be sent in case you're killed in the
floyd | line of duty. You're hoping someone survives this mission to send it.
floyd | No. You're hoping nobody needs to send the damn thing. Not this time.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x stims"
floyd | It's stuff to keep you jacked up and alert. You've used up your ration
floyd | already, but you still got some extras you palmed off the medic.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x rations"
floyd | Today's food rations, in compact powder packets.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers swipes his holovid from you. "Hey man, don't you never give
floyd | nothing back?" he says. He gives his girlfriend's picture a quick ogle
floyd | before stuffing it into a side pocket of his pants.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "eat rations"
floyd | Not until you clear the sector and establish basecamp for the full
floyd | landing party.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "Oh you guys are replaying? I'm doing laundry. Almost as exciting!"
Djfletch says, "just wanted to have another quick try. I don't really have much of a plan though."
Djfletch says, "I'm not sure any of this inventory is going to help."
djfletch says (to Floyd), "talk to chub"
floyd |
floyd | What would you like to say?
floyd | [1] Yes sergeant.
floyd |
floyd | Select an option or 0 to say nothing >>
djfletch says (to Floyd), "1"
floyd |
floyd | You affirm Chub's authority.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You do nothing. Chub's voice starts counting down. You can hear the
floyd | strain in her voice, the pitch rising and falling in synchronization
floyd | with the cabin's spastic lurching and yawing.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You do nothing.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Four ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Three ..."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit ...!"
floyd |
floyd | >
davidW asks, "I wonder if the stims might help you act fast enough to save Dugger?"
Djfletch says, "hmm, maybe"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You swing yourself from the hatchway up into your emergency station.
floyd | You're already starting to sweat inside your suit, but there isn't time
floyd | to adjust the coolant controls.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Shit!"
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You hold one more second. Chub says, "Mark!"
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "pull levers"
floyd | You pull hard on the levers, which ratchet into a locked position with
floyd | a satisfying, weighty "ka-chunk." From above, there is a noise like a
floyd | screech owl colliding with a sheet of inch-thick plexiglass, and then
floyd | the cabin seems to stop in midair, jolting everything that's not nailed
floyd | down, which includes you and Duggers.
floyd |
floyd | Chub saunters into view. "Good work, Mitchum. All right, let's strap in
floyd | and get ready for touchdown. That means you too, Duggers."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "I got a hand on the strap, don't I?"
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Fine. Stand up if you want. When your kneecaps blow out and
floyd | your hamstrings are severed by the compound fractures of your thigh
floyd | bones you can crawl your ass through the swamp. Doesn't make any
floyd | difference to me, as long as you keep one hand free to salute."
floyd |
floyd | Duggers gives Chub a severe salute and lowers his stubborn ass down
floyd | onto the bench. You plunk down next to him.
floyd |
floyd | The cabin creaks and shudders. Chub checks her chronometer.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf31"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "wear strap"
floyd | You strap yourself in.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Okay. We need to prepare to lose the AVLC when we land.
floyd | This thing is going to fill with water and sink in about ninety-eight
floyd | seconds. Duggers, as soon as we hit, blow the hatch and do a quick
floyd | scout. Mitchum, launch the homing beacon and then get the hell out."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait. Chub checks her chronometer. She says, "Touchdown in eight,
floyd | seven, six..."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait. Duggers shifts his weight forward, ready to spring into
floyd | action.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Five, four, three..."
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "z"
floyd | You wait.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Tw--"
floyd |
floyd | With a jaw-splintering jolt, the AVLC hits the swampwater. Chub is
floyd | already on her feet, grabbing extra rations and munitions. Yeah, like
floyd | we'll last long enough to need those, you think.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | (first removing the straps)
floyd | You get off the bench and swing yourself up into the emergency station.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers says, "Blowing the hatch..." Fwoom! There's a white flare in
floyd | your goggles, and the hatch disappears into darkness. Instantly,
floyd | freezing algae water pours into the opening. Duggers leaps out into it
floyd | as the cabin starts to reel, pitching aftward.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "push beacon"
floyd | You launch the homing beacon.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "Let's go, Mitchum! Move! Move! Move!"
floyd |
floyd | The cabin is now half full of swampwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "out"
floyd | You get off the emergency station.
floyd |
floyd | Buzz-Busta AVLC-905 Cabin
floyd | There's dick-all to see here, even with the goggles on. Armory
floyd | cabinets, supply shelves, two brushed-steel benches, safety straps. The
floyd | emergency station is a swivel chair three steps up a ladder, facing a
floyd | panel with rugged switches and levers.
floyd |
floyd | Chub is at the hatchway, standing firm against the inrushing water,
floyd | motioning for you to get out.
floyd |
floyd | You force yourself out of the craft, fighting the freezing water. Your
floyd | legs seize up a few steps from the sinking craft, or maybe they're just
floyd | caught in the muck. You lose your balance, but can't move your feet to
floyd | stabilize yourself. Slime splashes up into your faceplate. Your hands
floyd | sink into something gelatinous. Everything is cold. You must be
floyd | underwater.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf32"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You put your hands down, hoping to raise your weight, but there's no
floyd | support. Your arms sink like toothpicks into a sponge cake.
floyd |
floyd | >
Djfletch asks, "how did we do this bit?"
Tale says, "Just up"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "u"
floyd | You curl your legs up under your chest, slowly drawing them out of the
floyd | muck, and you replant them in fresh muck. Gradually you wobble yourself
floyd | into an upright fetal position and try to stand. You must weigh 350
floyd | pounds with all of your gear. Carefully, slowly, you stand. For a
floyd | moment you're not sure whether you're actually standing or not, and you
floyd | realize it's because your faceplate is covered with marsh slime.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "clean faceplate"
floyd | You lift your arm to wipe off your faceplate, and a searing pain shoots
floyd | from your shoulder down to the end of your pinky. You grit your teeth
floyd | and ignore it. You figure you can probably still hold and fire your
floyd | weapon, so there's no use crying about it. You smear the slime away
floyd | with your other hand, and see the marshland.
floyd |
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | The landscape is pitch black, even in your goggles. No heat from the
floyd | freezing swampwater. Out of the blackness, looming shapes in obscene
floyd | colors. You aren't supposed to see colors through these goggles, and
floyd | you wonder if you're doing worse than you thought.
floyd |
floyd | The shapes are mushrooms, hundreds of them, rising on their moist
floyd | stalks, ballooning heads eighteen feet around, eight feet high. You
floyd | can't get much of a sight beyond them. There's too many mushrooms.
floyd | Maybe you should waste some ammo clearing a sightline. Then again,
floyd | maybe you don't have any ammo to waste, now.
floyd |
floyd | You can see Chub and Duggers here.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers and Chub are standing in front of you, pointing and screaming
floyd | at you, wondering why you didn't answer them.
floyd |
floyd | You say, "Sorry, Sergeant. I fell down and almost drowned."
floyd |
floyd | Chub and Duggers start to laugh. They loud enough to shake the ground.
floyd | The laughter stops when you see that a vibration is rippling the water.
floyd | The ground really is shaking.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers whispers, "Heads up! Heads up!"
floyd |
floyd | Chub whips out her plasma rifle. You whip out Charlene. Charlene's your
floyd | partner, ready for the dance. You draw some strength from her, ignoring
floyd | the spasms in your bad arm.
floyd |
floyd | Easy girl. Just... hold it ... steady.
floyd |
floyd | >
Tale says, "(cf32? Should've cleared that)"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "eat stims"
floyd | (first taking the zip pack of stims)
floyd | Easy there, soldier. No need to overmedicate yourself. You don't want
floyd | to end up with a problem.
floyd |
floyd | Chub says, "I've called for reinforcements, but they won't come in
floyd | until we hold this position for a while. No use aiding a lost cause."
floyd |
floyd | You say, "It is a lost cause, isn't it? The bugs are just going to keep
floyd | coming."
floyd |
floyd | The vibration comes again. Somewhere, far ahead, twisting its way
floyd | closer, the bug is coming.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You hear the roar of many feet, so many feet it makes your stomach
floyd | turn. Up ahead, through that maze of mushrooms, you see a slickened
floyd | shape pass by, west to east.
floyd |
floyd | Chub shouts, "Fire!"
floyd |
floyd | You fire Charlene into the darkness. She purrs and growls. She's jumpy
floyd | today, you can tell. Or maybe you are. Duggers fires. Chub fires.
floyd | Mushrooms explode into spores. Fast-growing spores, you remember. In
floyd | ten minutes, there will be more of them, full-sized. How are you
floyd | supposed to win a war like this?
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | All you hit are more mushrooms, but you clear a path. Up ahead, the
floyd | behemoth twists like a snake, heading west, then east, then directly at
floyd | you. Duggers fires at the head of it, and the head explodes, but the
floyd | beast keeps coming. It turns east again.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You fire at the beast, cutting the bug in two. The damn segments don't
floyd | stop moving, though. Now there's two bugs, each twisting this way and
floyd | that. One segment reaches a small tunnel, formed by columns of
floyd | mushrooms to each side, and it twists between them, heading straight
floyd | for you.
floyd |
floyd | "Fire! Fire!" Chub screams.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | Charlene is white hot, searing your naked fingers. You love her most of
floyd | all when she's like this, when she's on fire. Your skin melds with
floyd | hers. Your hands become iron, her body becomes soft flesh.
floyd |
floyd | Your rifles flare in the damp night, shooting plasma pulses a million
floyd | degrees hot and moving at 400 miles an hour. The charging beast loses
floyd | its head, and then another head, and then another head, and then
floyd | another. Suddenly, there are no more heads, it is gone.
floyd |
floyd | The second segment twists into view, just beyond the closest range of
floyd | mushrooms, about to invade your empty black marshland base.
floyd |
floyd | Another noise, unlike the steady thrum of these insect feet, begins to
floyd | grow, with a doppler effect, from dead ahead. A flying bug.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot flying bug"
floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You fire at the centipede and miss, but it gives you light to see
floyd | what's coming. It's a tick, two tons of chitinous carapace, bristly
floyd | fangs, and bug meat, hurtling straight at the three of you, over the
floyd | tops of the mushrooms. Its lazy feet scrape the mushroom heads,
floyd | poisoning them as it passes, making the mushrooms change to ugly
floyd | colors. If another bug touches one of those, it'll go into a
floyd | hallucinogenic frenzy.
floyd |
floyd | "Spread out! Spread out!" Chub shouts.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "e"
floyd | You slog a few steps in that direction.
floyd |
floyd | Chub splits the centipede again in two. They're coming at you from both
floyd | sides now.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is right in the tick's path. He stands his ground, shouting at
floyd | the sonofabitch. Duggers fires at it, misses. Fires again, misses. It's
floyd | coming in too fast.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You dodge left and fire, but you can't get a steady bead on the damn
floyd | thing. Chub concentrates on the centipede, her plasma shots splitting
floyd | it again in two. They're coming at you from both sides now.
floyd |
floyd | Duggers is right in the tick's path. He stands his ground, shouting at
floyd | the sonofabitch. Duggers fires at it, misses. Fires again, misses. It's
floyd | coming in too fast, even for Duggers.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "eat stims"
floyd | (first taking the zip pack of stims)
floyd | Easy there, soldier. No need to overmedicate yourself. You don't want
floyd | to end up with a problem.
floyd |
floyd | The tick mows Duggers down, its sticky feet latching onto his body. You
floyd | see his face purple and blacken as he's carted away to some nest to be
floyd | digested. There is a scream, and then silence.
floyd |
floyd | Dead silence. The bugs are gone. There's two of you left.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You keep firing, trying to save Duggers, but the tick mows him down.
floyd | Its sticky feet latch onto his body, his face purples and blackens as
floyd | he's carted away to some nest to be digested. There is a scream in your
floyd | helmet, and then silence.
floyd |
floyd | Dead silence. The bugs are gone. There's just two of you left.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "i"
floyd | You are carrying:
floyd |   a combat suit (being worn)
floyd |   a waterproof boots (being worn)
floyd |   a helmet (being worn)
floyd |   a set of night vision goggles (being worn)
floyd |   a belt of ammo clips (being worn)
floyd |   a backpack (being worn and open)
floyd |     food rations
floyd |     a canteen
floyd |     a letter
floyd |     a zip pack of stims
floyd |   Charlene
floyd |
floyd | You were right. More mushrooms have grown up already. It's harder to
floyd | see. Up ahead, you see the segmented beast twisting this way and that.
floyd | Up ahead, you hear another tick approaching like a dive bomber, coming
floyd | right at you and Chub.
floyd |
floyd | Up ahead, you hear the thrum. Wave number two. Or is it just a
floyd | continuation of the first wave?
floyd |
floyd | Something else, something new. Feet clicking, splashing, an almost
floyd | musical chirp as the legs saw back and forth. What the hell? Some sort
floyd | of cricket? No.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "x goggles"
floyd | The night vision goggles are an older model of specs. Apparently,
floyd | they're going to be more useful on this mission than the top of the
floyd | line version. Something about better motion interpolation and better
floyd | contrast in the -4C to 4C temperature range.
floyd |
floyd | It's a scorpion, sidling sideways. Fortunately, it's not coming at you.
floyd | You take it out with one quick shot. You're getting better at this.
floyd |
floyd | You'd better get even better, fast. Here comes that tick, with its
floyd | screaming song, with its poisonous legs, turning the mushrooms purple
floyd | and blue.
floyd |
floyd | Here comes the beast itself. Chub cuts it into three parts, damn her
floyd | eyes.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | While you destroy one of the three segments, Chub concentrates her fire
floyd | on the tick. She vaporize it with only about six yards to spare. Plasma
floyd | spray and unvaporized bug bits sizzle over both of you, a wet coat of
floyd | death.
floyd |
floyd | And then you hear another tick, bearing down on you, following its
floyd | kamikaze partner, poisoning even more mushrooms.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You take a lucky shot and destroy the second tick before it even gets
floyd | close, before it can poison too many mushrooms, but it's already too
floyd | late.
floyd |
floyd | One of the centipede segments hit the poisoned mushrooms, and the oil
floyd | gets into its skin, scrambling its stupid bug neurons. Crazed, it
floyd | charges forward, straight at you. Another segment hits another poisoned
floyd | shroom, and it, too, charges screaming at you.
floyd |
floyd | The two segments swoop down on either side of you and Chub, circle, and
floyd | play back and forth, zigzagging. The poison's worn off, thankfully.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot segment"
floyd | You charge, firing with deadly aim. One down. You're just about to
floyd | congratulate yourself when Chub shouts a warning.
floyd |
floyd | You see more centipedes arriving out of the darkness to your left and
floyd | right. Where are they coming from? Just two segments each, a head and a
floyd | tail, joining the dance. There's four of these damn things now, and
floyd | more every minute.
floyd |
floyd | >
davidW asks, "hm. Maybe if we can't eat the stims, someone/something else can. Maybe Dugger?"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "give stims to dugger"
floyd | You can only do that to something animate.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "give stims to chub"
floyd | (first taking the zip pack of stims)
floyd | Easy there, soldier. No need to overmedicate yourself. You don't want
floyd | to end up with a problem.
floyd |
floyd | You shoot and shoot, vaporizing as many as you can. You start to think
floyd | you're winning, that you're going to get out of this, when out of the
floyd | corner of your eye, you see Chub backing up, not looking where she's
floyd | going. You yell for her to move, to watch out. You're still busy firing
floyd | as you try to move closer to her, to yank her out of the way, to give
floyd | her cover, but it's too late. A new segment dances into the marsh, runs
floyd | Chub down, stomps her into the muck. You hear a shriek in your helmet
floyd | that becomes a helpless gurgle. The beast drips acid out of its flanks,
floyd | out of its disgusting glands, and something sizzles underwater.
floyd |
floyd | A final shot from your rifle sails into the gloom. Far away, a mushroom
floyd | explodes.
floyd |
floyd | Again, silence. And you're the only one left.
floyd |
floyd | >
davidW says, "Dugger's gone now."
davidW says, "oh. You can't take the stims out of the pack at all."
Djfletch says, "oh well"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "SAVE"
djfletch says (to Floyd), "cf33"
floyd | Enter saved game to store: Ok.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot bug"
floyd | You can't see for all of the mushrooms blocking your way. You can hear
floyd | movement, far ahead, but you can't see anything but the mushrooms.
floyd | They're different colors now. Are you hallucinating? And where's the
floyd | backup Chub called for? How long are they going to take?
floyd |
floyd | You vent your frustrations on the mushrooms, shooting again and again.
floyd | They explode, releasing spores that will grow more of them soon. You
floyd | don't care. You need the space to move if you're going to win this
floyd | battle, if you're going to survive.
floyd |
floyd | You know, though, that it's just a matter of time. You wonder what the
floyd | point of this is, and you laugh. It's a sick joke to someone up there
floyd | in HQ, someone in a chushy office on Atari Prime. It's just some stupid
floyd | game.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot mushroom"
floyd | Charlene's singing now. She's found her sweetest rhythm, and you follow
floyd | along with it. You hear the thunder, the singsong chirping, the freight
floyd | train whistle doing its doppler effect, doubled, tripled. All the bugs
floyd | are back. More than ever. You and Charlene are ready. You clear your
floyd | sightlines, blowing away dozens of mushrooms.
floyd |
floyd | A tick whizzes by you to your left, just missing you. You hear it hiss
floyd | its hatred.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You blast another tick as it flies by to the right, dripping poison.
floyd | The mushroom right in front of you warps, rots, seems to right itself.
floyd | You destroy it. There's another deadly one behind it. You shoot that
floyd | one, too, and another.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot mushroom"
floyd | A lucky shot aimed at a mushroom obliterates a scorpion, but another
floyd | tick comes, and the beast is moving fast.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | Charlene's aim is true, and you wipe out what you hope is the last tick
floyd | of this wave. Once again, it's too late. The murshrooms have done their
floyd | work. The crazed behemoth charges; once again, you are surrounded. Once
floyd | again, new segments arrive from nowhere, spinning in circles around
floyd | you.
floyd |
floyd | Mocking your hopes, one last tick comes, and this one has your name on
floyd | it.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot segment"
floyd | You ignore it, concentrating on the centipedes as the tick bears down
floyd | on you.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot centipede"
floyd | You fire at the segments, but it's hard to hit them when they're this
floyd | close, when there's so many. Either one of them or the tick is going to
floyd | get you.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot centipede"
floyd | You take careful aim at one of the segments and destroy it, but another
floyd | takes its place, and another. You brace yourself for your death. The
floyd | tick is almost here.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You get it from behind. Oh, shit, you think. The fucking irony. The
floyd | tick sails past, unharmed, as one of the segments of the beast crushes
floyd | you, biting off your legs.
floyd |
floyd | There's no time to feel pain, or maybe there isn't any pain. Some sort
floyd | of anesthetic in the saliva, you remember. You scream anyway, just like
floyd | Chub. You're not going down quietly. You try to turn your rifle around,
floyd | fire at the damn thing point-blank, but suddenly your arms don't work.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot centipede"
floyd | You spin on your heels, destroying a bug that was about to get you from
floyd | behind. The tick mows you down, killing you instantly.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 1085 out of a possible 25000, in 47 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "undo"
floyd | Marshlands
floyd | [Previous turn undone.]
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot tick"
floyd | You get it from behind. Oh, shit, you think. The fucking irony. The
floyd | tick sails past, unharmed, as one of the segments of the beast crushes
floyd | you, biting off your legs.
floyd |
floyd | There's no time to feel pain, or maybe there isn't any pain. Some sort
floyd | of anesthetic in the saliva, you remember. You scream anyway, just like
floyd | Chub. You're not going down quietly. You try to turn your rifle around,
floyd | fire at the damn thing point-blank, but suddenly your arms don't work.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot me"
floyd |
floyd | You're flipped over on your back, and something viscous and yellow
floyd | oozes onto your faceplate, dissolving it. Suddenly your eyes don't
floyd | work, and you can't scream. You see a dull red that turns brown and
floyd | black in splotches, like the way the colors on a bubble turn before the
floyd | bubble pops, and it's dead.
floyd |
floyd | >
djfletch says (to Floyd), "shoot me"
floyd |
floyd | The last thought that comes to you makes you laugh. It's that old joke.
floyd | What's the last thing to go through a bug's mind as it hits your
floyd | windshield? Its --.
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |
floyd |     *** Game over ***
floyd |
floyd |
floyd | In that game you scored 1085 out of a possible 25000, in 50 turns.
floyd |
floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, or QUIT?
floyd | >
Djfletch says, "hurrah, a new high score"
firion says, "A winner is you."
davidW says, "You ought to be able to add your initials when you get a new high score. :)"
jacqueline says, "heh"
jacqueline asks, "...so. We done?"
Inky says, "I guess"
Djfletch says, "I've had enough of centipedes anyway."
davidW says, "yeah, I don't see how to proceed without a lot of tedious and time-consuming experimentation."
jacqueline says, "Well, it was fun watching you guys. When the sun came out I realized I had an anti-glare cover I had bought this week that I could put on my screen so that I could actually see what was going on... but it took a bit longer to install than I'd hoped."
theXenographer says, "Yeah, I'm not really sure there are any better endings to be had, anyway."
jacqueline says, "So I was mostly watching as I tediously removed dust motes from the film as I was laying it down."
theXenographer says, "Let's move on."
jacqueline says (to xen), "That's nearly two hours for today, so that's all for this week."
jacqueline says, "Next week: Muggle Studies."
Inky says, "oh, hmm"
Inky says, "maybe I should hold off playing it then"
jacqueline says, "After that, Apollo 18+20."
davidW says (to inky), "At least peruse the lovely feelies!"
jacqueline says, "And then after those are done, Savoir Faire."
jacqueline says, "That is the lineup at present."
Inky says, "man, CF is so organized these days"
jacqueline says, "Heh. Sometimes."
Inky says, "I remember back when we didn't pick a game until people showed up"
jacqueline says, "We did that today."
jacqueline says, "But that line up decision is what came out of the opening conversation."
Inky says, "yeah, my memory doesn't go that far back"


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