  
ClubFloyd Transcript:
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.
|
|
ClubFloyd Transcript:
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.
|
|
ToyShop & Floyditorium
|
#ClubFloyd Discussion
|
|
| **** SESSION ONE **** | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask ascent" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The sun is very low now, and as long as you stand in this exact spot Floyd | with your head in this exact position, it shines straight through the Floyd | tower's arches and into your eyes, so that you're standing right on Floyd | its gargantuan shadow's axis of symmetry and staring directly into the Floyd | center of its magnificent silhouette. It is gorgeous. This is a Floyd | transcendent moment of perfect alignment, one which you wish you could Floyd | prolong indefinitely, but now your eyes are starting to hurt. You Floyd | should stop staring at the sun. Floyd | Floyd | The Ascent of the Gothic Tower Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Ryan Veeder Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140831 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Lawn Floyd | The hill on this side of the river is a wide lawn with only a few Floyd | trees, seemingly designed for the purpose of offering a clear view of Floyd | the tower. Down the hill to the west, the streetlamps are already Floyd | turned on over the bridge, like runway lights marking the path up to: Floyd | the tower. Floyd | Floyd | You feel like there are spots like this all over town that exist only Floyd | to make people notice this tower, and yet as far as you can tell, Floyd | you're the only one who's as obsessed with the tower as you are. Floyd | Floyd | A couple of kids are sitting on a blanket nearby, pawing at each other Floyd | like there's nobody else around—and wouldn't that be nice? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "shrk" | |
| Jacqueline says, "er, snrk" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "You should stop staring at the sun." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x kids" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X KIDS Floyd | Floyd | They stare into each other's eyes; they whisper; at intervals they Floyd | kiss. Floyd | Floyd | By "wouldn't that be nice," you didn't mean that it would be nice to Floyd | be necking outdoors in front of everyone. The thing that would be nice Floyd | is the hypothetical situation in which there's nobody else around. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Relatable content." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a photocopy from the library Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X ME Floyd | Floyd | You aren't really obsessed. Floyd | Floyd | You do have other things going on in your life. You have other goals. Floyd | But isn't it best, with any goal, to give it your complete focus, at Floyd | least for as long as you're focusing on it? Yesterday you had Floyd | something else to take care of, so you took care of it. Tomorrow there Floyd | will be yet another thing to worry about, and you will worry about it, Floyd | exerting one hundred percent of the concern that the issue merits. Floyd | Floyd | But tonight, you are going to get to the top of that tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "irta 'a photocopier'" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photocopy" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X PHOTOCOPY Floyd | Floyd | This is a photocopy of a photocopy of a grainy photo from an old book, Floyd | but it gets the point across. It depicts a monster carved in stone, Floyd | with the head and talons of a rooster but the wings and tail of a Floyd | dragon. It is either a basilisk or a cockatrice. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says (to Jacqueline), "That'd be a fun inventory object indeed." | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Considering what we occassionally lug around in these games..." | ||
| Jacqueline says (to KO), "Fair" | ||
| DavidW says, "I wonder what the craziest inventory item I've ever had was." | ||
| DavidW says, "Not counting bugs, of course." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "For me, I think it was a mouldy cup of coffee." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "But I have no regrets." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "The corpse of HR probably is up there, from the IF progressive." | ||
| DavidW says, "One of the old Infocom games has you pick up a passageway." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "ha" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Which one?" | ||
| DavidW says, "Northwest by southeast, I think it was." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Yeah, that beats a lot of items." | ||
| DavidW asks, "Zork Zero? Which Zork had the jester?" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > L Floyd | Floyd | Lawn Floyd | The hill on this side of the river is a wide lawn with only a few Floyd | trees, seemingly designed for the purpose of offering a clear view of Floyd | the tower. Down the hill to the west, the streetlamps are already Floyd | turned on over the bridge, like runway lights marking the path up to: Floyd | the tower. Floyd | Floyd | A couple of kids are sitting on a blanket nearby, but all their Floyd | attention is focused on each other. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x river" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X RIVER Floyd | Floyd | It winds into town from up north somewhere, and it loiters around here Floyd | for a while, and then it heads south toward destinations unknown. Floyd | Probably somewhere warmer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x town" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWN Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x hill" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X HILL Floyd | Floyd | Which do you mean, the west hill or the east hill? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x west hill" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X WEST HILL Floyd | Floyd | The hill on the far side of the river is covered in trees, and they Floyd | all look the same. Not especially interesting. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x east hill" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X EAST HILL Floyd | Floyd | Somebody takes good care of this lawn. Some individual or group of Floyd | individuals gets paid to make this a nice place for strangers to sit Floyd | around and watch the sunset. Floyd | Floyd | There's one bright orange ginkgo tree out in the middle of the grass; Floyd | it stinks, but it's pretty. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x ginkgo tree" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X GINKGO TREE Floyd | Floyd | People would probably sit underneath it and have picnics all the time, Floyd | if it didn't smell the way that it does. From a distance, though: very Floyd | nice. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I love me a ginkgo" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "smell it" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > SMELL IT Floyd | Floyd | You're trying not to. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | It was built in the twenties by a man who had studied the Gothic Floyd | architecture of France in his off time during the first World War. Floyd | Then various other people built various other, uglier buildings around Floyd | it, like it needed to be protected from something. Floyd | Floyd | From here, though, it seems to stand like a crown on the horizon, Floyd | graceful and severe, all of its gables and arches very distinct Floyd | against the sky. Is this the most beautiful thing in this city? Floyd | Probably, yes. Floyd | Floyd | > | Bishop says, "Yeah, the spare passageways were in Z0. ISTR the noncardinal-direction one being labeled as "slightly irregular"." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x gables" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X GABLES Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x streetlamps" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X STREETLAMPS Floyd | Floyd | Ancient but reliable, looking down non-judgmentally on the bridge, Floyd | making everything look orange. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x blanket" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X BLANKET Floyd | Floyd | The age of that blanket is in all likelihood greater than the sum of Floyd | the ages of its occupants. Floyd | Floyd | > | Roger says, "the most beautiful thing other than us" | |
| DavidW says, "That blanket description. My goodness." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "It is quite a description." | ||
| DavidW asks, "Shall we enter the tower or stare at the sun or chat to the kids or what?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "We can try chatting." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "talk to kids" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > TALK TO KIDS Floyd | Floyd | You mutter a hello, and the two kids look up to you with apprehensive Floyd | smiles. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "I'm easy like Sunday morning." | |
| Jacqueline says, "Kiss them." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask kids about tower" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK KIDS ABOUT TOWER Floyd | Floyd | They look across the river. "Huh," says the girl. "I never thought Floyd | about it." Floyd | Floyd | "I always thought it was a church," offers the boy. Floyd | Floyd | It is not a church. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask kids about themselves" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK KIDS ABOUT THEMSELVES Floyd | Floyd | The boy takes the lead. "Uh, we're having a really nice afternoon. Floyd | Thanks for asking." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "kiss kids" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS KIDS Floyd | Floyd | That's the kind of unabashed emotional openness that gets people Floyd | arrested. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "show photocopy to boy" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOW PHOTOCOPY TO BOY Floyd | Floyd | The two of them take a look at the photocopy. Floyd | Floyd | "I have no idea what that is," says the girl. Floyd | Floyd | To which the boy adds: "Yeah." Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Now what?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "We could give in to our non-obsession." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Thank you for trying to kiss them. That was an excellent response." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Yeah, let's hit the tower." | ||
| DavidW says, "heh. no problem" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter tower" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER TOWER Floyd | Floyd | First you'll need to walk all the way over there. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh wait" | |
| Jacqueline says, "I wonder..." | ||
| DavidW asks, "yes?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "I wonder if we stare and stare at the sun if we will lose our eyesight." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Because Ryan" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "We might." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Let's try" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stare at sun" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > STARE AT SUN Floyd | Floyd | The setting sun is "directly" behind the tower (actually, it is Floyd | separated from the tower by ninety-three million miles of empty Floyd | space). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Jacqueline says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | The setting sun is "directly" behind the tower (actually, it is Floyd | separated from the tower by ninety-three million miles of empty Floyd | space). Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x shadow" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X SHADOW Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "oh, meh" | |
| Jacqueline says, "never mind" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "go to tower" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > GO TO TOWER Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > L Floyd | Floyd | Lawn Floyd | The hill on this side of the river is a wide lawn with only a few Floyd | trees, seemingly designed for the purpose of offering a clear view of Floyd | the tower. Down the hill to the west, the streetlamps are already Floyd | turned on over the bridge, like runway lights marking the path up to: Floyd | the tower. Floyd | Floyd | A couple of kids are sitting on a blanket nearby, but all their Floyd | attention is focused on each other. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Though I do like the 93 million miles bit" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "West I think." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bridge Floyd | It's getting harder to see the tower, but it's still due west from Floyd | here. Floyd | Floyd | The river looks a little choppy on account of the wind, and nobody's Floyd | standing around to admire the view, but there are a few birds swooping Floyd | around to make the scene tolerably pretty. Floyd | Floyd | Some guy is crossing from the other direction. Just don't make eye Floyd | contact. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, do." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x guy" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > X GUY Floyd | Floyd | He's only a guy with a beard and a backpack, the type of guy you see Floyd | all over the place. He might even look a little familiar. Floyd | Floyd | You just looked him in the eye by accident, and now you have to nod Floyd | politely to show him you're not a creep. Floyd | Floyd | He keeps walking, and disappears behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu exclaims, "Eye contact!" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Darn." | ||
| DavidW says, "It's Ryan. (pause) RUN!" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x river" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > X RIVER Floyd | Floyd | In a couple months, it'll be a wasteland of jagged ice floes grinding Floyd | into each other; tonight it's just a run-of-the-mill river. Floyd | Floyd | There used to be a trio of ferocious geese that would hang out around Floyd | here, but something must have happened. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "What happened to the geese, Ryan?" | |
| Knight_Otu asks, "The stone dragon ate them?" | ||
| DavidW says, "We should find out and avenge them." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||
| DavidW asks, "West?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Sure." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Hill Floyd | This side of the river is somewhat quieter, as there aren't as many Floyd | people running around. Floyd | Floyd | But now the hill and the trees and everything have made it impossible Floyd | to see the tower at all. You're too close. It's still up the hill to Floyd | the west, though. You know that much. Floyd | Floyd | Well, great, somebody is locking up her bike on the rack. What's she Floyd | doing here? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x woman" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > X WOMAN Floyd | Floyd | Actually, it looks like she was in fact unlocking her bike, and now Floyd | she's cycling off across the bridge. Floyd | Floyd | Maybe you'll have the place to yourself after all. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "She's stealing our tower, surely." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x trees" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > X TREES Floyd | Floyd | The hill is covered in trees. If you knew more about trees, you might Floyd | get more out of staring intently at these trees the way you are. As it Floyd | stands, you have no reason to continue staring at the trees. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Tree staring is so not this game." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | The low rumble of society is all around you. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "west?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "sure" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 19 Floyd | All right, this is it. The tower is just ahead. Floyd | Floyd | Well, just ahead is the newer building that surrounds the tower on all Floyd | sides, too high for you to see the actual tower from down here. But Floyd | you walked straight west from across the river, so it stands to reason Floyd | that you could reach the tower by heading through the door to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A sidewalk running around the building leads northwest and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The placard over the door says "ENTRANCE 19". Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Curiouser and Curiouser." | |
| DavidW asks, "There aren't nineteen or more entrances to this tower, are there?" | ||
| Jacqueline shrugs. | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "We could try to find out if we dare." | ||
| DavidW clears the save counter. | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf1" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write: Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > SAVEOk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | The door's handle won't budge, but you can see through the window to Floyd | the other side. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | The lights are still on inside, and you can just make out a photograph Floyd | hung on the opposing wall. It may actually be a picture of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "photograph" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > PHOTOGRAPH Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photograph" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > X PHOTOGRAPH Floyd | Floyd | In the photograph, the tower stands alone atop a hill. It must have Floyd | been taken before the construction of the building that you're peering Floyd | into. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "I guess we go around. NW ok?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Sure." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > NW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to a basement exit or something. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lot" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > X LOT Floyd | Floyd | It's just a big black rectangle, but if you ran over to the other end Floyd | you might be able to get a look at the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Parking Lot Floyd | There are no cars here; everyone must be home for the night. A low Floyd | chain fence does a lousy job of separating the pavement from the slope Floyd | below. Floyd | Floyd | But when you turn back towards the south, you do get a very nice view Floyd | of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | You haven't had a chance to see the tower from this angle before Floyd | tonight, and it merits some close attention. The north face looks very Floyd | similar to the east face, but there are some details that either Floyd | differ between the two sides or aren't visible from way across the Floyd | river. Those rosettes, for example; you've never seen anything like Floyd | them before. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x rosettes" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > X ROSETTES Floyd | Floyd | Well, you assume they're rosettes. They're probably rosettes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | Well, you assume they're rosettes. They're probably rosettes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chain" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHAIN Floyd | Floyd | It's just a plain old chain, slung over fenceposts five or so feet Floyd | apart. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x slope" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > X SLOPE Floyd | Floyd | The hill descends into darkness. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Down from here or back?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "We could try down." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | The tower is south from here. The city that extends in all other Floyd | directions is of no interest to you tonight. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to a basement exit or something. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Alcove Floyd | The sign says "NO SMOKING", but judging from the cigarette butts all Floyd | over the floor, it looks like this little hole at the bottom of the Floyd | stairs isn't used for anything else. Floyd | Floyd | The pale door here must lead into the basement. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x butts" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > X BUTTS Floyd | Floyd | They're diverse enough in appearance that they seem to be the relics Floyd | of many different brands, or else many different historical periods. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x sign" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > X SIGN Floyd | Floyd | Under the words "NO SMOKING", someone has scratched the word "SOON" Floyd | into the sign with their keys. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "huh" | |
| Knight_Otu asks, "Soon what?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Dunno." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "But it's kinda ominous." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | Well, hold on. You should think about this first. It's possible that Floyd | you aren't supposed to go through this door. Floyd | Floyd | On the other hand, there's no signage saying anything of the kind—and Floyd | even then, if these people don't feel like locking a particular door, Floyd | that's their problem. Floyd | Floyd | All right, it's settled. It is completely ethical for you to open this Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | You reach toward the door | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach toward the door, but it opens before you touch it | Knight_Otu exclaims, "ALARM!" | |
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach toward the door, but it opens before you touch it, and two Floyd | people walk out | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Alcove
Floyd | people walk out and bump into you.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's just a couple of kids! Well, college kids. One of them is wearing
Floyd | a bright green scarf—why does she need a scarf? It's not that cold
Floyd | out.
Floyd |
Floyd | They goggle at you for a second, until the other one manages to say
Floyd | "Pardon me, sorry, excuse me," and they rush past you and up the
Floyd | stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door swings shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Jacqueline says, "poo" | |
| Knight_Otu asks, "I thought the people weren't that interested in the tower?" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | You open the basement door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Except for us, who are certainly not obsessed." | |
| Jacqueline says, "No. Not at all." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x camera" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X CAMERA Floyd | Floyd | It is a big angry trapezoid, painted a shade of burnt umber that Floyd | hasn't been in currency for decades. The eye is a dusty bubble, behind Floyd | a dustier pane of protective glass. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Try the maintenance door or go south instead?" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), " Stick out tongue at camera" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > STICK OUT TONGUE AT CAMERA Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Oops." | |
| Jacqueline says, "heh" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | You try the maintenance door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | You knew this part was coming. Floyd | Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x nook" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X NOOK Floyd | Floyd | A person of your size could conceivably enter this cavity in order to Floyd | hide from a pursuer, if it ever came to that. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Surely not foreshadowing" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Ominous again." | ||
| DavidW says, "I love finding understair nooks." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter nook" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER NOOK Floyd | Floyd | You hunch over slightly to fit in the nook. Hey, a dollar! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take dollar" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE DOLLAR Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x dollar" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOLLAR Floyd | Floyd | It's in fairly good shape, considering. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You get out of the nook. Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Up or north?" | |
| Jacqueline is assuming that DW is taking notes. | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Hm. If our goal is to get to the top, we could just go up, but..." | ||
| DavidW says, "I'm taking very itty-bitty notes. It's hard to note-take in CF sessions." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "... I suspect there'll be obstacles. Let's explore this floor first." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x machine" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X MACHINE Floyd | Floyd | It looks like a roll of mints (E2) or a pack of gum (E4) is fifty Floyd | cents; a chocolate bar (D1), nut roll (D3), or box of crackers (C5) is Floyd | seventy-five cents; and a bag of cookies (B1), potato chips, (A4) or Floyd | corn nuts (A5, but those things are inedible) is a dollar and twenty Floyd | cents. Floyd | Floyd | To your right are the slots for bills and coins, that seven-segment Floyd | display that says how much money is in the machine ($0.00), the Floyd | buttons for your letters and your numbers and your coin return, and Floyd | the little hole that your change comes out of. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bench" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X BENCH Floyd | Floyd | Not a bad place to take a break. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on bench" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON BENCH Floyd | Floyd | You get onto the cushioned bench. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x cushion" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X CUSHION Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under bench" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UNDER BENCH Floyd | Floyd | You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x coin return" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X COIN RETURN Floyd | Floyd | You see nothing special about the coin return button. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push it" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH IT Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push button" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH BUTTON Floyd | Floyd | Which do you mean, the A button, the B button, the C button, the D Floyd | button, the E button, the 1 button, the 2 button, the 3 button, the 4 Floyd | button or the 5 button? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push coin return" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH COIN RETURN Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "stand" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > STAND Floyd | Floyd | You get off the cushioned bench. Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "oh, there's stairs here too?" | |
| DavidW asks, "wait a minute; how could there be stairs down on this side?" | ||
| Knight_Otu asks, "I think they're the stairs we came from?" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "enter nook" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER NOOK Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You get out of the nook. Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Although it seems reasonable to guess that the hallway continues in Floyd | the same direction for some distance, you'd prefer not to go stumbling Floyd | around in the dark. A safer bet is heading back inside the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Although it seems reasonable to guess that the hallway continues in Floyd | the same direction for some distance, you'd prefer not to go stumbling Floyd | around in the dark. A safer bet is heading back inside the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "This is a bit confusing. The same stairs seem to be both north and south from the main floor space." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Although it seems reasonable to guess that the hallway continues in Floyd | the same direction for some distance, you'd prefer not to go stumbling Floyd | around in the dark. A safer bet is heading back inside the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "A bit weird, yes." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Someone dropped their notebook on the steps. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "take notebook" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > TAKE NOTEBOOK Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X IT Floyd | Floyd | It's small enough to fit in a back pocket, and clearly has seen its Floyd | share of adventures. The cover is closed; "DIARY" has been scrawled Floyd | across it in pen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > READ IT Floyd | Floyd | You paw tentatively at the cover. It occurs to you that the author of Floyd | this journal likely did not expect for a stranger to pick it up and Floyd | start reading. The author probably would be somewhat upset if they Floyd | discovered you browsing through their diary, and justifiably so. Floyd | Floyd | That's false, though. Nobody can reasonably expect that their Floyd | possessions will remain unmolested after being abandoned in a Floyd | staircase. A person who wants their secrets to remain secret has a Floyd | responsibility to avoid dropping those secrets on the floor, and Floyd | probably shouldn't have them down in the first place. Floyd | Floyd | You've made your decision. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "heh" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read it" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > READ IT Floyd | Floyd | You no longer have any qualms with reading this diary, but it would be Floyd | nice if you could find a place to sit down first. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "please" | |
| DavidW says, "Back to the bench, then." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline asks, "Can't sit on the steps?" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I suspect these "You made your decision" points will become relevant." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on bench" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON BENCH Floyd | Floyd | You get onto the cushioned bench. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notebook" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > READ NOTEBOOK Floyd | Floyd | You open the book to a random page: Floyd | Floyd | 8 September Floyd | Floyd | So, about a week ago I wrote in here about the steam tunnel grate next Floyd | to the construction site on the hill across the river, and how I saw Floyd | it was left unlocked, and how I stood over it with that incredible Floyd | feeling of anticipation/dread as I considered what secrets lurked Floyd | beneath before I chickened out and went home. You, faithful reader, Floyd | already know that story. Floyd | Floyd | I ended up telling the same story to Kerianne after I wrote it all Floyd | down, and she got way, way too excited about it. The emotional and Floyd | spiritual significance of deciding not to climb down the grate was Floyd | completely lost on her. She just told me that if it had been her, she Floyd | would have jumped down there immediately. She told me this a number of Floyd | times, and then she started asking about where exactly the grate was, Floyd | and did I think it was still open, et cetera. I got suspicious. I knew Floyd | what her game was. Floyd | Floyd | And I told her very clearly, in no uncertain terms, that she Floyd | absolutely was not to go climbing down that grate into those steam Floyd | tunnels, unless she took me with her. So that's what we did this Floyd | afternoon. Floyd | Floyd | [Press any key to continue...] | Jacqueline leans forward. | |
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel
Floyd | [Press any key to continue...]## Stretch of Tunnel
Floyd | Kerianne climbed down the hatch first, and I went down after her. She
Floyd | did not seem nervous at all. I was tremendously nervous, but I don't
Floyd | know if Keri noticed. I've never been able to tell by looking at
Floyd | people whether they can tell how I'm feeling by looking at me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway. The tunnel was terrifying. It would have been wide enough for
Floyd | two people to walk side by side, except the walls were covered in
Floyd | these huge pipes, so instead it was super claustrophobic. There were
Floyd | lights every so often, but they were so dim that you couldn't really
Floyd | see any appreciable distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | While we were still standing next to the ladder, I said, "Well, let's
Floyd | say that way's north, and that way's south," because I had no idea
Floyd | which way north actually was, and I didn't want to get lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then Keri asked why it mattered which way was north, and I said it
Floyd | didn't, except it might help to have a frame of reference. We
Floyd | discussed this briefly. I failed to convince Keri of the virtue of my
Floyd | approach. She said, "Did you bring the chalk?" And I said yes (she had
Floyd | told me earlier to bring chalk, so I did), and she said that was all
Floyd | we needed to avoid getting lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | I decided I would privately refer to the directions as "north" and
Floyd | "south" in my mind regardless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| Knight_Otu asks, "Adventure in an adventure?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Or merely hints." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read diary" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > READ DIARY Floyd | Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "read notebook" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > READ NOTEBOOK Floyd | Floyd | I couldn't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | All I was carrying was my piece of chalk. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "oh shit" | |
| Jacqueline says, "no, you're right" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > X ME Floyd | Floyd | I had come prepared. I was wearing my dirtiest jacket (so I didn't Floyd | burn my arms on any steam pipes) and some extremely grody jeans. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "dang" | |
| DavidW says, "geez. So not expecting this." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "l" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > L Floyd | Floyd | Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | We were in the middle of a stretch of tunnel that went north and Floyd | south, with a ladder leading up to an access grate. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "What's this, proto-Cragne Manor?" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "version" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > VERSION Floyd | Floyd | The Ascent of the Gothic Tower Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Ryan Veeder Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140831 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Identification number: //9694576A-3FF9-4251-B2A8-C6B25E3EA235// Floyd | Interpreter version 1.3.1 / VM 3.1.2 / Library serial number 080126 Floyd | Standard Rules version 3/120430 by Graham Nelson Floyd | Conversation Framework version 11 by Eric Eve Floyd | Epistemology version 7 by Eric Eve Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "2014, so yes" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write "start"" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - ""start"" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE "START" Floyd | Floyd | Using my piece of chalk I wrote ""start"" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | We had ended up at a dead end. The only way back was south. Floyd | Floyd | Keri said, "Don't worry about it. There can't be that many tunnels." Floyd | As it turned out, there were lots and lots of tunnels. Many, many, Floyd | many tunnels. But I refused to become discouraged. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write de1" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End - "de1" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE DE1 Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "de1" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - ""s art"" Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Stretch of Tunnel - ""s art"" Floyd | We were in the middle of a stretch of tunnel that went north and Floyd | south, with a ladder leading up to an access grate. ""s art"" was Floyd | written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | Now that we were well and truly intruding upon these steam tunnels, Floyd | where we weren't supposed to be, I asked Keri why it was so important Floyd | to her for us to intrude upon these steam tunnels where we weren't Floyd | supposed to be. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, these grates are all over campus, and I always used to stop and Floyd | try to peer down into them. But there are only so many grates, and you Floyd | can only see like a square foot of the tunnel from up on the sidewalk. Floyd | I could tell that the tunnels were an entire separate plane of the Floyd | campus, but I could barely see it, much less actually, you know, be Floyd | there." Floyd | Floyd | I can remember this all perfectly accurately, because I have a Floyd | photogenic memory. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Uh oh, the chalk doesn't last." | |
| Jacqueline says, "so it would seem" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Clever." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "So we should, um, write much longer stuff?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Although maybe it disappears as a percentage, so it doesn't matter." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write "start of the tunnels"" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - ""s art" "start of the tunnels"" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE "START OF THE TUNNELS" Floyd | Floyd | I wrote ""start of the tunnels"" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | Keri said, "Well, this is a tunnel, that we're in right now." Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Photogenic memory." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | Keri thought about it some more and then she continued her thought Floyd | from before. "And everyone at this school ends up going to the same Floyd | buildings, and they all walk on the same sidewalks, until they find Floyd | the shortcuts that everyone else already knew about. Maybe sometimes Floyd | you notice something that someone else hasn't noticed, but as far as Floyd | the spaces you occupy, everybody ends up with the same experience. Floyd | Floyd | "But nobody ever goes down in the steam tunnels! Because nobody ever Floyd | gets the chance. But you gave us a chance, and I knew we had to take Floyd | it." At this point she grabbed my arm in a very affirming if somewhat Floyd | uncomfortable manner. "So, thanks." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write tiberius" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "tiberius" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE TIBERIUS Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "tiberius" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "um, okay" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I'd ask if we're dying in these tunnels, but then the diary wouldn't be in the tower." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write cloverfield" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "cloverfield" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE CLOVERFIELD Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "cloverfield" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | I suggested to Keri that maybe we should try looking for a way out, Floyd | since it was starting to look to me like we had seen everything the Floyd | tunnels had to offer. She sighed very deeply. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write transylvania" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "transylvania" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE TRANSYLVANIA Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "transylvania" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | We had ended up at a dead end. The only way back was north. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Next time, let's write supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Just for fun" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write dracula's crypt" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End - "dracula's crypt" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE DRACULA'S CRYPT Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "dracula's crypt" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "trarsylvania" Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "trarsylvania" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. "trarsylvania" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and west. "DRIEDOUT" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | It was written in marker instead of chalk, so I couldn't have written Floyd | it, even if I had forgotten about it (somehow?). We looked at it Floyd | silently for a moment. It was a weird moment. Floyd | Floyd | "So, someone's been down here before us," Keri said. Obviously the Floyd | people who were supposed to be in the steam tunnels had been there, Floyd | but that's not what she meant. Floyd | Floyd | I asked her if she was disappointed. Floyd | Floyd | "Kind of," she said. "I mean, I shouldn't be. It was dumb to assume we Floyd | would be the first." Floyd | Floyd | She smiled, although it might have been a fake smile, and said, "It's Floyd | kind of cool, actually. Whoever wrote this must have hoped someone Floyd | else would find it, and now we did." Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Wait, did Ryan not just make a letter disappear, but instead make it partially disappear? n to r? Clever boy." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write driedout" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE DRIEDOUT Floyd | Floyd | I leaned down to write something next to "DRIEDOUT", but then Keri got Floyd | mad at me for some reason, so I decided not to. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | south, and west. Floyd | Floyd | Keri craned her head toward the passage to the south. "I don't think Floyd | we've been down that way," she said. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Nethack did something similar, I recall, where simple writing gets eroded." | |
| DavidW says, "sorry, switching pages, then had to answer the door" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "write don't think we've been south" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "don't think we've been south" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE DON'T THINK WE'VE BEEN SOUTH Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "don't think we've been south" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | The floor of the tunnel started to slope upward, and then we passed Floyd | through an open doorway into a room that was not, strictly speaking, a Floyd | tunnel. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnel Access Floyd | We were in a serious-looking room in a building we definitely hadn't Floyd | been in before. All around us were machines and dials and valves, and Floyd | of course a bunch of pipes that went into the wall to snake through Floyd | the tunnels. The only window was very high on the wall, too high for Floyd | us to see through—but I recognized it immediately. Floyd | Floyd | I said, "I know the shape of that window. We're in the power plant!" Floyd | Floyd | Keri said, "Well, where else would all those steam pipes come from?" I Floyd | had never bothered thinking about it that way. Floyd | Floyd | The passage to the tunnels was "north" of us, but I noticed another Floyd | door off to the "east". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x pipes" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > X PIPES Floyd | Floyd | There were pipes of numerous diameters and materials, and they popped Floyd | up into the ceiling or out of the walls at random intervals. I don't Floyd | know why they need so many pipes down there. You could tell without Floyd | getting all that close that they were extremely hot. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x machines" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > X MACHINES Floyd | Floyd | I did look at all that equipment while I was in the room, and I tried Floyd | to understand what it did and how it worked, but now I'm trying to Floyd | remember it and all I can see is this anonymous mass of Floyd | complicatedness. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | We had kind of wordlessly agreed that we needed to get out of there, Floyd | but when Keri reached to open the door I stopped her. I indicated the Floyd | sign on the door, and explained how it said the door was an "EMERGENCY Floyd | EXIT ONLY" and how an "ALARM [would] SOUND" if she opened it. But Keri Floyd | just rolled her eyes. Floyd | Floyd | She said, "Look closely at this door. There is no alarm attached to Floyd | it. There are no wires that lead away from this door and toward any Floyd | alarm. This is just a door like any other door, except this door has a Floyd | sign on it that lies." Floyd | Floyd | Then she said, "Go ahead and open it." Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "So much for "photogenic memory"." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | The door looked like most doors you see around campus, but it had a Floyd | sign that said "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY ALARM WILL SOUND WHEN OPENED", and Floyd | that gave me pause. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Well?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "It surely will sound an alarm. But we could open it." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf2" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write: Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > SAVEOk. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "There ya go" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | Well, it was with great trepidation that I approached that door, but Floyd | of course when I opened it nothing happened, except that a huge gust Floyd | of gorgeous cool air rushed in around us, and I felt more relieved Floyd | than I had ever felt about anything in my life. I felt amazing. Floyd | Floyd | Then we went back to Keri's apartment and she gave me a back rub, and Floyd | I felt even better. Floyd | Floyd | [Press any key to continue...] | Knight_Otu asks, "What's the worst that could happen?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||
| DavidW says, "back rub!" | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | [Press any key to continue...]You close the notebook. Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway (on the cushioned bench) Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a notebook Floyd | a dollar bill Floyd | a photocopy from the library Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I surely didn't expect back rubs." | |
| Jacqueline says, "same" | ||
| DavidW says, "This game is full of suprises. I didn't expect the kids on the blanket to be given genders." | ||
| DavidW says, "They were gender neutral until we started talking to them." | ||
| DavidW asks, "so back into the stairwell?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "huh. I did not notice that." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Sure." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Yeah." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | (first getting off the cushioned bench) Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "Keep going up or see what's on this floor?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Let's continue exploring." | ||
| DavidW asks, "which is south or north?" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "I suspect it wouldn't matter?" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | A tall trophy case stands against one wall, its contents illuminated Floyd | with a tiny lamp that barely manages to reveal the letters "HLOHOWSKYJ Floyd | & ASSOCIATES" mounted on the wall opposite. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "HLOHOWSKY, huh." | |
| DavidW says, "HLOHOWSKYJ" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Oh, right." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "hlohowskyj" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > HLOHOWSKYJ Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "me neither, game" | |
| Knight_Otu asks, "Lo, how sky?" | ||
| DavidW says (to Knight_Otu), "Soon." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Third Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 3 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the third floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a dull noise from the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "listen" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LISTEN Floyd | Floyd | The dim drone of humans occupying a distant space. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | All you can see through the window is an intermittent glow on a far Floyd | wall, reflecting light from a source around the corner somewhere. Floyd | Someone must be watching TV. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a dull noise from the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "Knock?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "I hope this is not cheating, but I ran it through an anagram unscrambler and came up with nada." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on door" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR Floyd | Floyd | No response. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "cf3" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write: Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > SAVEOk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 4 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fourth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | Twilight casts the vague shape of someone's open door against the Floyd | wall. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I'm getting less of a mysterious tower vibe right now and more of an apartment building vibe." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | The door's handle won't budge. You can see through the window to the Floyd | other side, though. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I wonder if we missed a key somewhere." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 5 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fifth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You'd think by now you would be getting tired. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | A long, dark hallway is on the other side of the door, and at the far Floyd | end, underneath the only light that's turned on, a figure appears to Floyd | be mopping the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x figure" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X FIGURE Floyd | Floyd | He or she is either mopping or sweeping. Maybe. It's tough to tell. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "wave at figure" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > WAVE AT FIGURE Floyd | Floyd | The distant mopping figure is on the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "Hm. Maybe?" | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "knock on door" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR Floyd | Floyd | No response. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 6 is painted on the wall—in the middle of Floyd | the loop, the word "DRIEDOUT" has been written in marker. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the sixth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Oh." | |
| Jacqueline says, "huh" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | The sixth floor is completely dark. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Damn." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x driedout" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X DRIEDOUT Floyd | Floyd | It's easier to read than some other tags you've seen, if not as Floyd | elaborate. The stem of the T fading out is a nice touch. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "Are we going to find "our" chalk texts soon?" | |
| Jacqueline says, "Hm. I was thinking more that we should have been paying attention to them down in the tunnels for clues from the same person up here." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "But maybe." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Top of the Stairs Floyd | Finally. Floyd | Floyd | You stand at the top of the staircase. There are no more stairs to Floyd | climb. The door leads out to the seventh floor. Floyd | Floyd | And off to the side, through a huge window, you can see the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | (the huge window) Floyd | The places where the outside building have been grafted on are in full Floyd | view, and here and there vents and ducts hang out like abandoned Floyd | medical instruments. These people weren't content to appreciate the Floyd | tower; they had to stitch themselves onto it, crowd in and subsume it, Floyd | so that nobody else could have it. Floyd | Floyd | But the crown of the tower stands above all this. You can see details Floyd | you've never seen before: the pinnacles are lined with delicate Floyd | crockets, and a row of escutcheons are carved at the base of the Floyd | arches. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x crockets" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X CROCKETS Floyd | Floyd | They're like the buds of tiny flowers. There are so many of them, and Floyd | they were all carved by human hands. Impossible. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x escutcheons" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X ESCUTCHEONS Floyd | Floyd | From left to right: a lion rampant regardant sinister; a decrescent; a Floyd | chevron inverted. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | A framed portrait hangs on the wall across from the door into the Floyd | staircase, with a small plaque beneath it. The hallway continues Floyd | south. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x portrait" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PORTRAIT Floyd | Floyd | A man with a small mustache glances off to the side and down, trying Floyd | to put some painful memory out of his mind. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x plaque" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PLAQUE Floyd | Floyd | The plaque reads: Floyd | Floyd | Amos B. Emery (1895-1973) was born in Edmond, Kansas and studied Floyd | architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1915 to 1922, his Floyd | studies interrupted by World War I service in France from 1917 to Floyd | 1919. His design of the Gothic Tower, completed in 1927, was completed Floyd | while working for Proudfoot, Rawson, Soeurs and Thomas; in 1930 he Floyd | established his own office. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look behind portrait" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK BEHIND PORTRAIT Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push plaque" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH PLAQUE Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW asks, "south?" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Sure." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Archway Floyd | This hall was built right into the north face of the tower, and you Floyd | stand beneath a stone archway that used to loom impossibly high in the Floyd | air. Carved into the keystone of the arch is a grotesque beast: a Floyd | cockatrice. Or a basilisk. Floyd | Floyd | Beneath the arch is yet another door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x keystone" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X KEYSTONE Floyd | Floyd | This cockatrice, a statue of a cockatrice, is harmless. In folklore, Floyd | the gaze of the cockatrice turned its victims into stone. But folklore Floyd | isn't very specific: Do you turn into stone whenever a cockatrice Floyd | looks at you, or is it when you happen to look at a cockatrice? Or is Floyd | it necessary for you to look at a cockatrice while the cockatrice is Floyd | looking back at you for the magic to take effect? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says (to DW), "If you ever come to my house, please just know that there's nothing hidden behind anything on any wall, and that some of the stuff is fragile so don't touch it." | |
| DavidW says, "heh" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, ">make eye contact" | ||
| DavidW says, "I assume you don't have a wall safe. If you have a safe at all, it'll be in a closet or cubbyspace or basement area." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "make eye contact" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > MAKE EYE CONTACT Floyd | Floyd | Once you start thinking about it, it becomes impossible, and you stare Floyd | down at the ground instead. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Oh hey, that works." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x photocopy" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PHOTOCOPY Floyd | Floyd | This is a photocopy of a photocopy of a grainy photo from an old book, Floyd | but it gets the point across. It depicts a monster carved in stone, Floyd | with the head and talons of a rooster but the wings and tail of a Floyd | dragon. Floyd | Floyd | It's the same carving you see over the archway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | Through the window you can see stairs—more stairs!—leading up. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You draw your hand back from the door's handle. Floyd | Floyd | This is the furthest you've ever explored in a building where you Floyd | weren't supposed to be. What would happen if someone caught you now? Floyd | Could they have you arrested? On what charge? Floyd | Floyd | Well, there's trespassing. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "That sure is there." | |
| Jacqueline asks, "Now we have a consciene?" | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Now we have a conscience?" | ||
| DavidW says, "We keep having qualms for some reason." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "It's probably another "you have made your choice" point." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Like with the basement door and the diary." | ||
| DavidW asks, "I made my choice to play the game. Once I made *that* choice, do I have the option to write to the tower's caretaker and be given a tour and permissions to visit and so on?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Considering where the game starts, apparently noz." | ||
| DavidW asks, "Could I have, instead, turned around and found a late night coffee shop with strudel for sale?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Make it a cream cheese Danish and I, too, will re-evaluate our life choices." | ||
| DavidW says, "Like, obviously, I should have *chosen* to not only make eye contact with the guy crossing the bridge but hooked up with him for a quickie in a dark alleyway." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Well, apparently, our only money we have, we got after trespassing." | ||
| DavidW says, "I'm sure there's a quarter to find too so we can buy the best candy." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Okay, sometimes, the money is on the streets." | ||
| DavidW says, "indeed" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Or in a thorny bush." | ||
| DavidW says, "I suppose our choices do matter in this game, though, and I bet replays may have different outcomes, especially if we reject the premise." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "That's what I'm assuming." | ||
| DavidW asks, "But we are gonna try to open this door, right?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Yeah, we're already trespassing anyway..." | ||
| DavidW says, "We might even find out the cake is dried out." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | You reach for the door | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach for the door, and open it without event, revealing more Floyd | stairs for you to climb. | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" | ||
Floyd | stairs for you to climb.Then you hear footsteps coming down the stairs | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "push space" | ||
Floyd ] Archway
Floyd | stairs for you to climb.Then you hear footsteps coming down the
Floyd | stairs, and while you're wondering what to do, the door swings shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | The footsteps are getting closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| DavidW says, "We know of ONE (1) hiding spot." | |
| DavidW asks, "Do we really run all the way back to the nook at the bottom of the first stairs?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "All the way back in the basement." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "SAVE" | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "cf4" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > SAVE Floyd | %% Enter a save filename to write: Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > SAVEOk. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Knight), "feel free to drive" | Knight_Otu says, ">Act casually-" | |
| DavidW says, "unless you want me to do it" | ||
| Knight_Otu asks, "If you want to continue?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "heh, ko" | ||
| DavidW asks, "Are we running to hide or staying put?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "no opinion" | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "I kind of want to see what happens." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The footsteps are getting closer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | The footsteps are getting closer. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | A man wearing a drab uniform and a tool belt emerges from the doorway. Floyd | He smiles politely as he passes you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x man" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X MAN Floyd | Floyd | You see nothing special about the custodian. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tool belt" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOOL BELT Floyd | Floyd | Though it has numerous loops from which to hang the instruments of his Floyd | service, at present he's equipped only with a bottle of cleaning Floyd | fluid. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask man about tower" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK MAN ABOUT TOWER Floyd | Floyd | He slows down once you've gotten his attention. Floyd | Floyd | "It's a beautiful building, yeah. But I guess you get used to how Floyd | beautiful it is after a while." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "ask man about estrucheons" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK MAN ABOUT ESTRUCHEONS Floyd | Floyd | "Sorry, I don't know anything about that. I just work here." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "show photocopy to man" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOW PHOTOCOPY TO MAN Floyd | Floyd | He nods in recognition. "Yeah, that's right up here." He points to the Floyd | carving above the arch. Floyd | "It's a mythological beast. A chicken with a grievance." Floyd | Floyd | He continues down the hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Heh." | |
| DavidW says, "There's a good chance he'll head down to that maintenance door in the basement." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Loft Floyd | You ascend the stairs, and reach the room at the top of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | A long table takes up the middle of the room, with several chairs Floyd | sitting upside-down on top of it. Only a wheeled office chair remains Floyd | standing on the floor, next to an easel displaying a pristine Floyd | whiteboard. Floyd | Floyd | The doorway to the archway is down the stairs. A small door is built Floyd | into the west wall, and in the east wall is an even smaller window. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | (the tiny window) Floyd | Looking through the window, you should be able to see across the river Floyd | to the lawn. This would only be fair; it would only be what you Floyd | deserve, after climbing all those stairs. Floyd | Floyd | But the blinds, between the two panes of glass, are almost completely Floyd | closed, and you can only make out a few details of the outside world Floyd | by moving your head rapidly up and down. Floyd | Floyd | Sticking out of the window frame is a thin metal lever. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X LEVER Floyd | Floyd | It's connected to the window, but what mechanism it engages is a Floyd | mystery. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Self destruct surely." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > PULL LEVER Floyd | Floyd | You pull down on the lever, and it snaps off in your hand. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "(or it opened the blinds before wevandalized it.)" | |
| DavidW says, "oopsie doopsie" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a metal lever Floyd | a notebook Floyd | a dollar bill Floyd | a photocopy from the library Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X LEVER Floyd | Floyd | Hopefully they won't notice anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Pft." | |
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x table" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X TABLE Floyd | Floyd | People probably sit down and discuss minor accounting errors in here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x chair" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | It's not a low-end chair, but it looks a bit beat up. Probably it's Floyd | retired from service in a more important office. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x easel" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X EASEL Floyd | Floyd | A flimsy-looking collapsible easel. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x whiteboard" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X WHITEBOARD Floyd | Floyd | It is perfectly white. And with good reason; you can't see any markers Floyd | around. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Yes, someone got rid of the markers. They were DRIEDOUT." | |
| Jacqueline says, "hee" | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "door" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > DOOR Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | (the small door) Floyd | It's lower and narrower than any other door in the building, and it Floyd | bears a sign reading "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Alarm will sound if Floyd | opened." Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "That sounds familiar." | |
| DavidW says, "I guess using the lever to prop open any door that wants to swing shut on us." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "look under table" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK UNDER TABLE Floyd | Floyd | You find nothing of interest. Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline nods. | |
| Knight_Otu says, "I was wondering if we could use it to open doors." | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on swivel chair" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON SWIVEL CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | You get onto the wheeled office chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "swivel" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > SWIVEL Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "roll chair" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > ROLL CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | (the small door) Floyd | The sign on the door says: "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Alarm will sound if Floyd | opened." As much as you'd like to see what's on the other side, Floyd | setting off an alarm isn't really an option. Floyd | Floyd | But there's no alarm built into the door, and there are no wires or Floyd | anything connected to it. And if that kid can do it... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | (the small door) Floyd | You open the door | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You open the door, and step out into the air. | ||
| DavidW pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | You open the door, and step out into the air. From there, it's just a Floyd | short climb to the top of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | The Tower Floyd | It's pretty windy up here. Floyd | Floyd | This is as high as it gets: higher than any of the buildings around, Floyd | higher than anything else in the city. Floyd | Floyd | Standing here in the crown of the tower, looking out from the arches, Floyd | you can see the entire city in the fading dusk. There's the parking Floyd | lot to the north, and the dark neighborhoods beyond that; to the east Floyd | is the river, and the bridge, and the lawn up on the hill, where a few Floyd | people are still walking around. Floyd | Floyd | Man, is it windy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "put lever in door" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT LEVER IN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x bridge" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X BRIDGE Floyd | Floyd | The sun is down, and the cones of orange light falling down from the Floyd | streetlamps are all that illuminate the bridge. Nobody is walking Floyd | across right now: Even the swallows are gone, returned to their cozy Floyd | nests. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | From inside, you can't get a clear view of any one part. The only Floyd | solid impression you have is of how gigantic this tower is. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x hill" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X HILL Floyd | Floyd | The hill is almost empty, and the people milling around seem less busy Floyd | and angry than they normally do. That's the thing about people: Floyd | They're not so bad, as long as you can appreciate them from a Floyd | reasonable distance. Floyd | Floyd | You turn your focus to a blank space on the lawn: the spot where you Floyd | were standing as the sun set, when you were looking up at the tower, Floyd | at the space under the arches that you're standing in right now. The Floyd | circuit is complete. Floyd | Floyd | Now the moon is rising, slowly, from behind the hill. Waning gibbous. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| DavidW says (to Floyd), "x moon" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X MOON Floyd | Floyd | The moon has several advantages over the sun. The moon isn't Floyd | responsible for making summer as unbearably hot as it often is; the Floyd | moon doesn't shine in through your bedroom window and wake you up Floyd | before you wanted to be awake. Floyd | Floyd | The disc of the moon provides a lot more to look at than the sun: Floyd | intricate patterns carved out of the surface over millions of years. Floyd | And you can look directly at the moon, without the risk of bodily Floyd | harm. Floyd | Floyd | There's nobody around to stop you; you can stare at it for as long as Floyd | you like. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** The end. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Lovely" | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Nice." | ||
| DavidW says, "yeah" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "And perfectly timed." | ||
| DavidW says, "This seems the sort of game that probably hides a few secrets." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "It's like it was written for CF." | ||
| Jacqueline says, "But yeah... I suspect y'all are wanting to go back and prod it a bit. heh." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to DavidW), "Yeah, I suspect there are quite a few secrets." | ||
| Jacqueline asks, "Next week revisit?" | ||
| DavidW asks, "oh maybe?" | ||
| Jacqueline says, "Like, I'm down." | ||
| DavidW says, "I wouldn't mind a revisit." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "Sure." | ||
| **** SESSION TWO **** | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "load sleepmask ascent" | ||
Floyd | >Are you sure you want to quit? ] Lawn Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | The sun is very low now, and as long as you stand in this exact spot Floyd | with your head in this exact position, it shines straight through the Floyd | tower's arches and into your eyes, so that you're standing right on Floyd | its gargantuan shadow's axis of symmetry and staring directly into the Floyd | center of its magnificent silhouette. It is gorgeous. This is a Floyd | transcendent moment of perfect alignment, one which you wish you could Floyd | prolong indefinitely, but now your eyes are starting to hurt. You Floyd | should stop staring at the sun. Floyd | Floyd | The Ascent of the Gothic Tower Floyd | An Interactive Fiction by Ryan Veeder Floyd | Release 1 / Serial number 140831 / Inform 7 build 6L02 (I6/v6.33 lib Floyd | 6/12N) Floyd | Floyd | Lawn Floyd | The hill on this side of the river is a wide lawn with only a few Floyd | trees, seemingly designed for the purpose of offering a clear view of Floyd | the tower. Down the hill to the west, the streetlamps are already Floyd | turned on over the bridge, like runway lights marking the path up to: Floyd | the tower. Floyd | Floyd | You feel like there are spots like this all over town that exist only Floyd | to make people notice this tower, and yet as far as you can tell, Floyd | you're the only one who's as obsessed with the tower as you are. Floyd | Floyd | A couple of kids are sitting on a blanket nearby, pawing at each other Floyd | like there's nobody else around—and wouldn't that be nice? Floyd | Floyd | > | Jacqueline says, "Oh, coolio." | |
| Knight_Otu asks, "So one thing we wanted to try was rejecting our non-obsession?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | The only thing in any other direction is the boorish city you must Floyd | endure on a daily basis. The tower stands to the west, across the Floyd | river. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | It was built in the twenties by a man who had studied the Gothic Floyd | architecture of France in his off time during the first World War. Floyd | Then various other people built various other, uglier buildings around Floyd | it, like it needed to be protected from something. Floyd | Floyd | From here, though, it seems to stand like a crown on the horizon, Floyd | graceful and severe, all of its gables and arches very distinct Floyd | against the sky. Is this the most beautiful thing in this city? Floyd | Probably, yes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x gables" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X GABLES Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x kids" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X KIDS Floyd | Floyd | They stare into each other's eyes; they whisper; at intervals they Floyd | kiss. Floyd | Floyd | By "wouldn't that be nice," you didn't mean that it would be nice to Floyd | be necking outdoors in front of everyone. The thing that would be nice Floyd | is the hypothetical situation in which there's nobody else around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > X ME Floyd | Floyd | You aren't really obsessed. Floyd | Floyd | You do have other things going on in your life. You have other goals. Floyd | But isn't it best, with any goal, to give it your complete focus, at Floyd | least for as long as you're focusing on it? Yesterday you had Floyd | something else to take care of, so you took care of it. Tomorrow there Floyd | will be yet another thing to worry about, and you will worry about it, Floyd | exerting one hundred percent of the concern that the issue merits. Floyd | Floyd | But tonight, you are going to get to the top of that tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Lawn Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | You are carrying: Floyd | a photocopy from the library Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bridge Floyd | It's getting harder to see the tower, but it's still due west from Floyd | here. Floyd | Floyd | The river looks a little choppy on account of the wind, and nobody's Floyd | standing around to admire the view, but there are a few birds swooping Floyd | around to make the scene tolerably pretty. Floyd | Floyd | Some guy is crossing from the other direction. Just don't make eye Floyd | contact. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "make eye contact" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > MAKE EYE CONTACT Floyd | Floyd | Once you start thinking about it, it becomes impossible, and you stare Floyd | down at the ground instead. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "ask man about tower" | ||
Floyd ] Bridge Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK MAN ABOUT TOWER Floyd | Floyd | "Um, yeah." The guy tries to turn back to look at the tower without Floyd | breaking his stride. "Pretty cool." Floyd | Floyd | He keeps walking, and disappears behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Hill Floyd | This side of the river is somewhat quieter, as there aren't as many Floyd | people running around. Floyd | Floyd | But now the hill and the trees and everything have made it impossible Floyd | to see the tower at all. You're too close. It's still up the hill to Floyd | the west, though. You know that much. Floyd | Floyd | Well, great, somebody is locking up her bike on the rack. What's she Floyd | doing here? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "ask woman about tower" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > ASK WOMAN ABOUT TOWER Floyd | Floyd | She fails to notice you. Actually, it looks like she was in fact Floyd | unlocking her bike, and now she's cycling off across the bridge. Floyd | Floyd | Maybe you'll have the place to yourself after all. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x trees" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > X TREES Floyd | Floyd | The hill is covered in trees. If you knew more about trees, you might Floyd | get more out of staring intently at these trees the way you are. As it Floyd | stands, you have no reason to continue staring at the trees. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x rack" | ||
Floyd ] Hill Floyd | > Floyd | > X RACK Floyd | Floyd | It's a frame of thick metal bars, scuffed but serviceable. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 19 Floyd | All right, this is it. The tower is just ahead. Floyd | Floyd | Well, just ahead is the newer building that surrounds the tower on all Floyd | sides, too high for you to see the actual tower from down here. But Floyd | you walked straight west from across the river, so it stands to reason Floyd | that you could reach the tower by heading through the door to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A sidewalk running around the building leads northwest and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The placard over the door says "ENTRANCE 19". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | The lights are still on inside, and you can just make out a photograph Floyd | hung on the opposing wall. It may actually be a picture of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x photograph" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > X PHOTOGRAPH Floyd | Floyd | In the photograph, the tower stands alone atop a hill. It must have Floyd | been taken before the construction of the building that you're peering Floyd | into. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "break window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > BREAK WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "Last time we went northwest, right?" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > SW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 20 Floyd | The sidewalk from the northeast ends here, where the perimeter of the Floyd | building runs into a row of thick bushes to the south. It looks like a Floyd | dead end, although there is another door to the north, labeled Floyd | "ENTRANCE 20". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x bushes" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > X BUSHES Floyd | Floyd | The first thing you notice about the bushes is that they haven't been Floyd | trimmed recently. The second thing you notice is a little hole in Floyd | between two of them, just wide enough that you could slip through to Floyd | whatever lies beyond. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Cozy Place Floyd | What's this? Floyd | Floyd | Carved into the hill among all these trees is a little place to sit: a Floyd | circle of lumpy flagstones, surrounded by stone benches. There are Floyd | weeds all over everything. Floyd | Floyd | It feels like you've ended up in the middle of nowhere, although Floyd | you're aware that the sidewalk is just north of here. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Cozy." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x flagstones" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > X FLAGSTONES Floyd | Floyd | There's not enough space between the benches to comfortably accomodate Floyd | even a small group of people. What did the person who built this space Floyd | have in mind? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x benches" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > X BENCHES Floyd | Floyd | One bench looks a lot more comfortable than the others, although that Floyd | isn't saying much. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x weeds" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > X WEEDS Floyd | Floyd | If this place belongs to somebody, they haven't been around to take Floyd | care of it recently. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "pull weeds" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > PULL WEEDS Floyd | Floyd | You pull out a clump of vegetation (creeping charlie? maybe?) and toss Floyd | it over your shoulder. Your action is laudable, but its effects are Floyd | minimal. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sit on bench" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON BENCH Floyd | Floyd | You take a seat, lean back, and look up at the sky. Floyd | Floyd | This is nice. Floyd | Floyd | You can't really see anything from here, so it stands to reason that Floyd | nobody can see you. This is real solitude. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sleep" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > SLEEP Floyd | Floyd | You close your eyes, but are unable to let go of your thoughts Floyd | completely. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | (first getting off the stone bench) Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 20 Floyd | The sidewalk from the northeast ends here, where the perimeter of the Floyd | building runs into a row of thick bushes to the south. There's only a Floyd | very narrow gap where you could pass between them. To the north is Floyd | another door, labeled "ENTRANCE 20". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | The hallway inside is dark, but you can see a red "EXIT" sign at the Floyd | other end, and below it, a narrow orange rectangle—about the Floyd | dimensions of the one you're looking through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x rectangle" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > X RECTANGLE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > SW Floyd | Floyd | Besides the door to the north and the path through the bushes to the Floyd | south, the only obvious path is northeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > NE Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 19 Floyd | Just ahead is the newer building that surrounds the tower on all Floyd | sides, too high for you to see the actual tower from down here. You Floyd | walked straight west from across the river, so it stands to reason Floyd | that you could reach the tower by heading through the door to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A sidewalk running around the building leads northwest and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The placard over the door says "ENTRANCE 19". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > NW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to a basement exit or something. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | It's a tough-looking steel door, painted industrial gray. There's a Floyd | tall, skinny window set above the handle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | The hallway inside is dark, but you can see a red "EXIT" sign at the Floyd | other end, and below it, a narrow orange rectangle—about the Floyd | dimensions of the one you're looking through. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > SW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 17 Floyd | Now that you're on the other side of the tower, there's very little Floyd | between you and this amazing sunset. Floyd | Floyd | A placard above the door reads "ENTRANCE 17", and the graffito Floyd | underneath that says "DRIEDOUT". The sidewalk goes south and northeast Floyd | from here, following the perimeter of the building. Floyd | Floyd | Hey, there's a quarter on the sidewalk. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "THERE is the quarter." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "get quarter" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > GET QUARTER Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > X IT Floyd | Floyd | On one side, George Washington's head. On the other, that big angry Floyd | eagle. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x sunset" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > X SUNSET Floyd | Floyd | It occurs to you that the sun is ridiculous. Floyd | Floyd | The sun is larger than your imagination can grasp. It is hotter than Floyd | your imagination can grasp. It is so hot, and so massive, that the Floyd | laws of physics as you normally interact with them do not apply in its Floyd | vicinity. In many ways the sun is functionally an alternate dimension. Floyd | Floyd | But all these disturbing facts are unproblematic, because the sun is Floyd | very far away. It is so far away (you can "understand" how far away Floyd | the sun is only in a very rudimentary taking-their-word-for-it sense) Floyd | that it appears to be smaller than your thumb. It's a very good thing Floyd | that the sun is so far away, for a multitude of reasons. The distance Floyd | between you and the sun is the perfect distance, the correct Floyd | distance, and as with so many things the correct distance is "very, Floyd | very, very far away". Floyd | Floyd | You really should stop staring at the sun. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "With the quarter and the dollar, we can buy the best snacks." | |
| Knight_Otu says, "True." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "We never did that." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | There's a painting hanging in the hallway inside. You can only see it Floyd | at an extremely oblique angle, but it might be a painting of a Floyd | waterfall. Or a lady wearing a cape. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 17 Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Your eyes follow the trail of the sidewalk as it curves toward Floyd | Entrance 16, Entrance 15, and who knows what other destinations, and Floyd | you apply some quick spatial reasoning: Floyd | Floyd | The tower is at this end of the complex, probably (assuming this end Floyd | of the complex is basically symmetrical) due east from where you're Floyd | standing. And you have no idea what is going on in the rest of this Floyd | building. If you lose your point of reference, you could get seriously Floyd | lost. Floyd | Floyd | It's also starting to get kind of dark over there. It kind of feels Floyd | like you should find another way inside. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "So, we don't get to see all entrances." | |
| DavidW says, "ah. Apparently." | ||
| Knight_Otu says, "I wonder if the stone bench down here gives us a different diary adventure." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > NE Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to a basement exit or something. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Parking Lot Floyd | There are no cars here; everyone must be home for the night. A low Floyd | chain fence does a lousy job of separating the pavement from the slope Floyd | below. Floyd | Floyd | But when you turn back towards the south, you do get a very nice view Floyd | of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] Parking Lot Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | You haven't had a chance to see the tower from this angle before Floyd | tonight, and it merits some close attention. The north face looks very Floyd | similar to the east face, but there are some details that either Floyd | differ between the two sides or aren't visible from way across the Floyd | river. Those rosettes, for example; you've never seen anything like Floyd | them before. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to a basement exit or something. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Alcove Floyd | The sign says "NO SMOKING", but judging from the cigarette butts all Floyd | over the floor, it looks like this little hole at the bottom of the Floyd | stairs isn't used for anything else. Floyd | Floyd | The pale door here must lead into the basement. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | There's no window in this one, which is a little worrying. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "knock on door" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR Floyd | Floyd | No response. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Well, hold on. You should think about this first. It's possible that Floyd | you aren't supposed to go through this door. Floyd | Floyd | On the other hand, there's no signage saying anything of the kind—and Floyd | even then, if these people don't feel like locking a particular door, Floyd | that's their problem. Floyd | Floyd | All right, it's settled. It is completely ethical for you to open this Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | You reach toward the door | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach toward the door, but it opens before you touch it | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach toward the door, but it opens before you touch it, and two Floyd | people walk out | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Alcove
Floyd | people walk out and bump into you.
Floyd |
Floyd | It's just a couple of kids! Well, college kids. One of them is wearing
Floyd | a bright green scarf—why does she need a scarf? It's not that cold
Floyd | out.
Floyd |
Floyd | They goggle at you for a second, until the other one manages to say
Floyd | "Pardon me, sorry, excuse me," and they rush past you and up the
Floyd | stairs.
Floyd |
Floyd | The door swings shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x camera" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X CAMERA Floyd | Floyd | It is a big angry trapezoid, painted a shade of burnt umber that Floyd | hasn't been in currency for decades. The eye is a dusty bubble, behind Floyd | a dustier pane of protective glass. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | You try the maintenance door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | You knew this part was coming. Floyd | Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x nook" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X NOOK Floyd | Floyd | A person of your size could conceivably enter this cavity in order to Floyd | hide from a pursuer, if it ever came to that. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "enter it" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER IT Floyd | Floyd | You hunch over slightly to fit in the nook. Hey, a dollar! Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "get dollar" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > GET DOLLAR Floyd | Floyd | Taken. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X IT Floyd | Floyd | It's in fairly good shape, considering. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You get out of the nook. Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x b" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X B Floyd | Floyd | It's about five feet tall. Hard to miss. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Hallway Floyd | The hallway is very dark, except in this small area near the vending Floyd | machine. A cushioned bench sits across from it, a place where hungry Floyd | souls can sit and consider which snack to purchase. A door leads back Floyd | into the stairway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x machine" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X MACHINE Floyd | Floyd | It looks like a roll of mints (E2) or a pack of gum (E4) is fifty Floyd | cents; a chocolate bar (D1), nut roll (D3), or box of crackers (C5) is Floyd | seventy-five cents; and a bag of cookies (B1), potato chips, (A4) or Floyd | corn nuts (A5, but those things are inedible) is a dollar and twenty Floyd | cents. Floyd | Floyd | To your right are the slots for bills and coins, that seven-segment Floyd | display that says how much money is in the machine ($0.00), the Floyd | buttons for your letters and your numbers and your coin return, and Floyd | the little hole that your change comes out of. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "So, what do we want?" | |
| DavidW asks, "uh, cookies?" | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "put dollar in slot" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT DOLLAR IN SLOT Floyd | Floyd | You stick the dollar bill into the slot, and now the display reads Floyd | $1.00. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "put quarter in slot" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUT QUARTER IN SLOT Floyd | Floyd | You stick the quarter into the slot, and now the display reads $1.25. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "push b1" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH B1 Floyd | Floyd | You punch in "B1". Machinery whirrs, a bag of cookies falls from its Floyd | tiny shelf, and you fish your prize out of the collection area at the Floyd | bottom of the machine. Floyd | Floyd | A single coin falls into the coin return hole. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x return" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X RETURN Floyd | Floyd | You see nothing special about the coin return button. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x return hole" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X RETURN HOLE Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to examine the coin return Floyd | button. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x hole" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X HOLE Floyd | Floyd | In the little hole is a nickel. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "It'll be a nickel." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "get nickel" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > GET NICKEL Floyd | Floyd | You scoop up a nickel from the coin return. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x it" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X IT Floyd | Floyd | Nickels really are larger than they have any right to be. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Thanks." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x cookies" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X COOKIES Floyd | Floyd | Cookies could be nice. A cookie is a cookie, after all. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Hope it's not a wooden nickel." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Or an old nick..el" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | Someone dropped their notebook on the steps. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x notebook" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X NOTEBOOK Floyd | Floyd | You scoop up the notebook for a closer look. Floyd | Floyd | It's small enough to fit in a back pocket, and clearly has seen its Floyd | share of adventures. The cover is closed; "DIARY" has been scrawled Floyd | across it in pen. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | You try the maintenance door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Alcove Floyd | The sign says "NO SMOKING", but judging from the cigarette butts all Floyd | over the floor, it looks like this little hole at the bottom of the Floyd | stairs isn't used for anything else. Floyd | Floyd | The pale door here leads into the basement. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to that alcove with all the Floyd | cigarette butts. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "se" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > SE Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 19 Floyd | Just ahead is the newer building that surrounds the tower on all Floyd | sides, too high for you to see the actual tower from down here. You Floyd | walked straight west from across the river, so it stands to reason Floyd | that you could reach the tower by heading through the door to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A sidewalk running around the building leads northwest and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The placard over the door says "ENTRANCE 19". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > SW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 20 Floyd | The sidewalk from the northeast ends here, where the perimeter of the Floyd | building runs into a row of thick bushes to the south. There's only a Floyd | very narrow gap where you could pass between them. To the north is Floyd | another door, labeled "ENTRANCE 20". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Cozy Place Floyd | Carved into the hill among all these trees is a little place to sit: a Floyd | circle of lumpy flagstones, surrounded by stone benches. There are Floyd | weeds all over everything. Floyd | Floyd | It feels like you've ended up in the middle of nowhere, although Floyd | you're aware that the sidewalk is just north of here. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sit on bench" | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON BENCH Floyd | Floyd | You get onto the stone bench. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "read diary" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > READ DIARY Floyd | Floyd | You open the book to a random page: Floyd | Floyd | 8 September Floyd | Floyd | So, about a week ago I wrote in here about the steam tunnel grate next Floyd | to the construction site on the hill across the river, and how I saw Floyd | it was left unlocked, and how I stood over it with that incredible Floyd | feeling of anticipation/dread as I considered what secrets lurked Floyd | beneath before I chickened out and went home. You, faithful reader, Floyd | already know that story. Floyd | Floyd | I ended up telling the same story to Kerianne after I wrote it all Floyd | down, and she got way, way too excited about it. The emotional and Floyd | spiritual significance of deciding not to climb down the grate was Floyd | completely lost on her. She just told me that if it had been her, she Floyd | would have jumped down there immediately. She told me this a number of Floyd | times, and then she started asking about where exactly the grate was, Floyd | and did I think it was still open, et cetera. I got suspicious. I knew Floyd | what her game was. Floyd | Floyd | And I told her very clearly, in no uncertain terms, that she Floyd | absolutely was not to go climbing down that grate into those steam Floyd | tunnels, unless she took me with her. So that's what we did this Floyd | afternoon. Floyd | Floyd | [Press any key to continue...] | Knight_Otu says, "Same adventure." | |
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel
Floyd | [Press any key to continue...]## Stretch of Tunnel
Floyd | Kerianne climbed down the hatch first, and I went down after her. She
Floyd | did not seem nervous at all. I was tremendously nervous, but I don't
Floyd | know if Keri noticed. I've never been able to tell by looking at
Floyd | people whether they can tell how I'm feeling by looking at me.
Floyd |
Floyd | Anyway. The tunnel was terrifying. It would have been wide enough for
Floyd | two people to walk side by side, except the walls were covered in
Floyd | these huge pipes, so instead it was super claustrophobic. There were
Floyd | lights every so often, but they were so dim that you couldn't really
Floyd | see any appreciable distance.
Floyd |
Floyd | While we were still standing next to the ladder, I said, "Well, let's
Floyd | say that way's north, and that way's south," because I had no idea
Floyd | which way north actually was, and I didn't want to get lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | Then Keri asked why it mattered which way was north, and I said it
Floyd | didn't, except it might help to have a frame of reference. We
Floyd | discussed this briefly. I failed to convince Keri of the virtue of my
Floyd | approach. She said, "Did you bring the chalk?" And I said yes (she had
Floyd | told me earlier to bring chalk, so I did), and she said that was all
Floyd | we needed to avoid getting lost.
Floyd |
Floyd | I decided I would privately refer to the directions as "north" and
Floyd | "south" in my mind regardless.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x keri" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > X KERI Floyd | Floyd | I took a moment to look at Kerianne. She was wearing this really cute Floyd | felt pea coat and her green scarf that she wears everywhere. It was an Floyd | adorable ensemble, but it struck me as a little too Daphne Blake for Floyd | mucking around in dirty steam tunnels. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x me" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > X ME Floyd | Floyd | I had come prepared. I was wearing my dirtiest jacket (so I didn't Floyd | burn my arms on any steam pipes) and some extremely grody jeans. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "So, obviously, the kids that came out of the basement. That really should have clicked with me last week." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "i" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > I Floyd | Floyd | All I was carrying was my piece of chalk. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "oh" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x chalk" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > X CHALK Floyd | Floyd | The chalk I brought was blue, because that was the first piece of Floyd | chalk I saw when I opened up my chalk bag. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write this is where we start" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - "this is where we start" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE THIS IS WHERE WE START Floyd | Floyd | Using my piece of chalk I wrote "this is where we start" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "l" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - "this is where we start" Floyd | > Floyd | > L Floyd | Floyd | Stretch of Tunnel - "this is where we start" Floyd | We were in the middle of a stretch of tunnel that went north and Floyd | south, with a ladder leading up to an access grate. "this is where we Floyd | start" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | Now that we were well and truly intruding upon these steam tunnels, Floyd | where we weren't supposed to be, I asked Keri why it was so important Floyd | to her for us to intrude upon these steam tunnels where we weren't Floyd | supposed to be. Floyd | Floyd | "Well, those grates are all over campus, and I always used to stop and Floyd | try to peer down into them. But there are only so many grates, and you Floyd | can only see like a square foot of the tunnel from up on the sidewalk. Floyd | I could tell that the tunnels were an entire separate plane of the Floyd | campus, but I could barely see it, much less actually, you know, be Floyd | there." Floyd | Floyd | I can remember this all perfectly accurately, because I have a Floyd | photogenic memory. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. Floyd | Floyd | Keri thought about it some more and then she continued her thought Floyd | from before. "And everyone at this school ends up going to the same Floyd | buildings, and they all walk on the same sidewalks, until they find Floyd | the shortcuts that everyone else already knew about. Maybe sometimes Floyd | you notice something that someone else hasn't noticed, but as far as Floyd | the spaces you occupy, everybody ends up with the same experience. Floyd | Floyd | "But nobody ever goes down in the steam tunnels! Because nobody ever Floyd | gets the chance. But you gave us a chance, and I knew we had to take Floyd | it." At this point she grabbed my arm in a very affirming if somewhat Floyd | uncomfortable manner. "So, thanks." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "kiss keri" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > KISS KERI Floyd | Floyd | I wanted to kiss Kerianne. I really did. And I tried to get up the Floyd | nerve. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was one step from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "north was one step from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS ONE STEP FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was one step from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was two steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was two steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS TWO STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was two steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | We had ended up at a dead end. The only way back was north. Floyd | Floyd | Keri said, "Don't worry about it. There can't be that many tunnels." Floyd | In actual fact, there were lots and lots of tunnels. Many, many, many Floyd | tunnels. But I refused to become discouraged. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was two steps f om where we starte|" Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "north was two steps f om where we starte|" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. "north was two steps f om where we starte|" was Floyd | written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | I suggested to Keri that maybe we should try looking for a way out, Floyd | since it was starting to look to me like we had seen everything the Floyd | tunnels had to offer. She sighed very deeply. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and west. "DRIEDOUT" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | It was written in marker instead of chalk, so I couldn't have written Floyd | it, even if I had forgotten about it (somehow?). We looked at it Floyd | silently for a moment. It was a weird moment. Floyd | Floyd | "So, someone's been down here before us," Keri said. Obviously the Floyd | people who were supposed to be in the steam tunnels had been there, Floyd | but that's not what she meant. Floyd | Floyd | I asked her if she was disappointed. Floyd | Floyd | "Kind of," she said. "I mean, I shouldn't be. It was dumb to assume we Floyd | would be the first." Floyd | Floyd | She smiled, although it might have been a fake smile, and said, "It's Floyd | kind of cool, actually. Whoever wrote this must have hoped someone Floyd | else would find it, and now we did." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x driedout" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "DRIEDOUT" Floyd | > Floyd | > X DRIEDOUT Floyd | Floyd | This was the room where "DRIEDOUT" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | south, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write south and west was three steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "south and west was three steps from where we Floyd | starte Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE SOUTH AND WEST WAS THREE STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "south and west was three steps from where we started" on the Floyd | floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "north was ore step from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection - "north was ore step from where we started" Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. "north was ore step from where we started" was written on Floyd | the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Okay, seems like a grid that behaves itself." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "south and west was three steps from where we Floyd | starte Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "south and west was three steps from where we Floyd | started" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | south, and west. "south and west was three steps from where we Floyd | started" was written on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | Keri craned her head toward the passage to the north. "I don't think Floyd | we've been down that way," she said. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write south was four steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "south was four steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE SOUTH WAS FOUR STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "south was four steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection - "north was where we started" Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. "north was where we started" was written on the Floyd | floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "south was four steps from whcre we startcd" Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection - "south was four steps from whcre we Floyd | startcd" Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. "south was four steps from whcre we startcd" was written on Floyd | the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | east, and south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "south was five steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > SOUTH WAS FIVE STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I only understood you as far as wanting to (go) south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write south was five steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "south was five steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE SOUTH WAS FIVE STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "south was five steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I don't really remember the path." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I don't either." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write west was six steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "west was six steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE WEST WAS SIX STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "west was six steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I think I got lucky in finding an exit." | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Yeah." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | We had ended up at a dead end. The only way back was west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "west was six steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection - "west was six steps from where we started" Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. "west was six steps from where we started" was written on Floyd | the floor. Floyd | Floyd | Keri craned her head toward the passage to the north. "I don't think Floyd | we've been down that way," she said. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Dead End Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Dead End Floyd | We had ended up at a dead end. The only way back was south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Four-way Intersection - "west was ix steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Four-way Intersection - "west was ix steps from where we started" Floyd | We were at an intersection where the tunnels went north, east, south, Floyd | and west. "west was ix steps from where we started" was written on the Floyd | floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | south, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was seven steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was seven steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS SEVEN STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was seven steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Stretch of Tunnel Floyd | We were in the middle of a stretch of tunnel that went north and Floyd | south, with a ladder leading up to an access grate. Floyd | Floyd | I said, "Isn't this the same place where we climbed down in the first Floyd | place?" but Keri reminded me that I had written "this is where we Floyd | start" on the floor there, and here there wasn't anything written on Floyd | the floor at all. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was eight steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - "north was eight steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS EIGHT STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was eight steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Stretch of Tunnel - "north was c ght steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | I looked up and realized the grate was closed. Then I climbed up the Floyd | ladder and pushed on the hatch until I realized it was locked. Then I Floyd | freaked out a little. Actually, to Keri, it must have seemed like I Floyd | was freaking out a lot. She kinda grabbed me and said we would find Floyd | another way out. Which we eventually did, and now looking back on it I Floyd | can describe it all very cavalierly. But at the time, I was terrified. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | T-intersection Floyd | At this juncture we had reached a fork in the tunnels that led north, Floyd | south, and west. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "write north was nine steps from where we started" | ||
Floyd ] T-intersection - "north was nine steps from where we started" Floyd | > Floyd | > WRITE NORTH WAS NINE STEPS FROM WHERE WE STARTED Floyd | Floyd | I wrote "north was nine steps from where we started" on the floor. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | The floor of the tunnel started to slope upward, and then we passed Floyd | through an open doorway into a room that was not, strictly speaking, a Floyd | tunnel. Floyd | Floyd | Tunnel Access Floyd | We were in a serious-looking room in a building we definitely hadn't Floyd | been in before. All around us were machines and dials and valves, and Floyd | of course a bunch of pipes that went into the wall to snake through Floyd | the tunnels. The only window was very high on the wall, too high for Floyd | us to see through—but I recognized it immediately. Floyd | Floyd | I said, "I know the shape of that window. We're in the power plant!" Floyd | Floyd | Keri said, "Well, where else would all those steam pipes come from?" I Floyd | had never bothered thinking about it that way. Floyd | Floyd | The passage to the tunnels was "north" of us, but I noticed another Floyd | door off to the "east". Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "There we are." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | The door looked like most doors you see around campus, but it had a Floyd | sign that said "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY ALARM WILL SOUND WHEN OPENED", and Floyd | that gave me pause. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "keri, open door" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > KERI, OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | There was no reply. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Okay, no shifting the blame. :p" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "open door" | ||
Floyd ] Tunnel Access Floyd | > Floyd | > OPEN DOOR Floyd | Floyd | We had kind of wordlessly agreed that we needed to get out of there, Floyd | but when Keri reached to open the door I stopped her. I indicated the Floyd | sign on the door, and explained how it said the door was an "EMERGENCY Floyd | EXIT ONLY" and how an "ALARM [would] SOUND" if she opened it. But Keri Floyd | just rolled her eyes. Floyd | Floyd | She said, "Look closely at this door. There is no alarm attached to Floyd | it. There are no wires that lead away from this door and toward any Floyd | alarm. This is just a door like any other door, except this door has a Floyd | sign on it that lies." Floyd | Floyd | Then she said, "Go ahead and open it." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | Well, it was with great trepidation that I approached that door, but Floyd | of course when I opened it nothing happened, except that a huge gust Floyd | of gorgeous cool air rushed in around us, and I felt more relieved Floyd | than I had ever felt about anything in my life. I felt amazing. Floyd | Floyd | Then we went back to Keri's apartment and she gave me a back rub, and Floyd | I felt even better. Floyd | Floyd | [Press any key to continue...] | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Cozy Place Floyd | [Press any key to continue...]You close the notebook. Floyd | Floyd | Cozy Place (on the stone bench) Floyd | Carved into the hill among all these trees is a little place to sit: a Floyd | circle of lumpy flagstones, surrounded by stone benches. There are Floyd | weeds all over everything. Floyd | Floyd | It feels like you've ended up in the middle of nowhere, although Floyd | you're aware that the sidewalk is just north of here. Floyd | Floyd | It's getting pretty dark. The sun must have gone down while you were Floyd | reading. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | (first getting off the stone bench) Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 20 Floyd | The sidewalk from the northeast ends here, where the perimeter of the Floyd | building runs into a row of thick bushes to the south. There's only a Floyd | very narrow gap where you could pass between them. To the north is Floyd | another door, labeled "ENTRANCE 20". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 20 Floyd | > Floyd | > NW Floyd | Floyd | Besides the door to the north and the path through the bushes to the Floyd | south, the only obvious path is northeast. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "ne" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 19 Floyd | > Floyd | > NE Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 19 Floyd | Just ahead is the newer building that surrounds the tower on all Floyd | sides, too high for you to see the actual tower from down here. You Floyd | walked straight west from across the river, so it stands to reason Floyd | that you could reach the tower by heading through the door to the Floyd | west. Floyd | Floyd | A sidewalk running around the building leads northwest and southwest. Floyd | Floyd | The placard over the door says "ENTRANCE 19". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "nw" | ||
Floyd ] Entrance 18 Floyd | > Floyd | > NW Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Entrance 18 Floyd | There's another door here at the north end of the building, facing an Floyd | empty parking lot. Not much of a view. Floyd | Floyd | The sidewalk turns from southeast to southwest, and it breaks off here Floyd | toward a stairway that leads down to that alcove with all the Floyd | cigarette butts. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Alcove Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Alcove Floyd | The sign says "NO SMOKING", but judging from the cigarette butts all Floyd | over the floor, it looks like this little hole at the bottom of the Floyd | stairs isn't used for anything else. Floyd | Floyd | The pale door here leads into the basement. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | A tall trophy case stands against one wall, its contents illuminated Floyd | with a tiny lamp that barely manages to reveal the letters "HLOHOWSKYJ Floyd | & ASSOCIATES" mounted on the wall opposite. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "knock" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > KNOCK Floyd | Floyd | What do you want to knock? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "door" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > DOOR Floyd | Floyd | No response. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "unlock door" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > UNLOCK DOOR Floyd | Floyd | What do you want to unlock the door with? Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "nickel" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > NICKEL Floyd | Floyd | That doesn't seem to be something you can unlock. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "break window" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > BREAK WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "That response seems like we can't open these doors." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Third Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 3 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the third floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "HLOHOWSKYJ might've been a spell in The Lurkening." | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Maybe." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "look through window" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LOOK THROUGH WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | All you can see through the window is an intermittent glow on a far Floyd | wall, reflecting light from a source around the corner somewhere. Floyd | Someone must be watching TV. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I'd have to check my notes to be sure." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "knock on door" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > KNOCK ON DOOR Floyd | Floyd | No response. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a dull noise from the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "shout" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > SHOUT Floyd | Floyd | (hello to yourself) Floyd | Talking to yourself is likely to prove unrewarding. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a dull noise from the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 4 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fourth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "lever door" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > LEVER DOOR Floyd | Floyd | That's not a verb I recognise. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 5 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fifth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You'd think by now you would be getting tired. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "Maybe the dull noise is your future self, tied to a chair." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 6 is painted on the wall—in the middle of Floyd | the loop, the word "DRIEDOUT" has been written in marker. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the sixth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Eep." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x driedout" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > X DRIEDOUT Floyd | Floyd | It's easier to read than some other tags you've seen, if not as Floyd | elaborate. The stem of the T fading out is a nice touch. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Top of the Stairs Floyd | Finally. Floyd | Floyd | You stand at the top of the staircase. There are no more stairs to Floyd | climb. The door leads out to the seventh floor. Floyd | Floyd | And off to the side, through a huge window, you can see the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x tower" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > X TOWER Floyd | Floyd | The places where the outside building have been grafted on are in full Floyd | view, and here and there vents and ducts hang out like abandoned Floyd | medical instruments. These people weren't content to appreciate the Floyd | tower; they had to stitch themselves onto it, crowd in and subsume it, Floyd | so that nobody else could have it. Floyd | Floyd | But the crown of the tower stands above all this. You can see details Floyd | you've never seen before: the pinnacles are lined with delicate Floyd | crockets, and a row of escutcheons are carved at the base of the Floyd | arches. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | A framed portrait hangs on the wall across from the door into the Floyd | staircase, with a small plaque beneath it. The hallway continues Floyd | south. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x portrait" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PORTRAIT Floyd | Floyd | A man with a small mustache glances off to the side and down, trying Floyd | to put some painful memory out of his mind. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x plague" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PLAGUE Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x plaque" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > X PLAQUE Floyd | Floyd | The plaque reads: Floyd | Floyd | Amos B. Emery (1895-1973) was born in Edmond, Kansas and studied Floyd | architecture at the University of Pennsylvania from 1915 to 1922, his Floyd | studies interrupted by World War I service in France from 1917 to Floyd | 1919. His design of the Gothic Tower, completed in 1927, was completed Floyd | while working for Proudfoot, Rawson, Soeurs and Thomas; in 1930 he Floyd | established his own office. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "get portrait" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > GET PORTRAIT Floyd | Floyd | They'd probably miss it. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu asks, "Psh, who would?" | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Archway Floyd | This hall was built right into the north face of the tower, and you Floyd | stand beneath a stone archway that used to loom impossibly high in the Floyd | air. Carved into the keystone of the arch is a grotesque beast: a Floyd | cockatrice. Or a basilisk. Floyd | Floyd | Beneath the arch is yet another door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x arch" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > X ARCH Floyd | Floyd | The people who spent days carving this stone in minuscule detail knew Floyd | that onlookers would appreciate it from the ground seven stories Floyd | below. They could not have known that another, uglier building would Floyd | eventually be attached to theirs, and that people would be able to Floyd | examine their handiwork up close. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You draw your hand back from the door's handle. Floyd | Floyd | This is the furthest you've ever explored in a building where you Floyd | weren't supposed to be. What would happen if someone caught you now? Floyd | Could they have you arrested? On what charge? Floyd | Floyd | Well, there's trespassing. Floyd | Floyd | > | DavidW says, "I need to lie down. Sorry. Didn't get enough sleep, I guess." | |
| Knight_Otu says, "Then go get some more sleep." | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | You reach for the door | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You reach for the door, and open it without event, revealing more Floyd | stairs for you to climb. | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | stairs for you to climb.Then you hear footsteps coming down the stairs | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] Archway
Floyd | stairs for you to climb.Then you hear footsteps coming down the
Floyd | stairs, and while you're wondering what to do, the door swings shut.
Floyd |
Floyd | The footsteps are getting closer.
Floyd |
Floyd | >
| ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | A framed portrait hangs on the wall across from the door into the Floyd | staircase, with a small plaque beneath it. The hallway continues Floyd | south. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | The only obvious paths are down the hallway to the south, and in the Floyd | door to the staircase. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Top of the Stairs Floyd | You stand at the top of the staircase. The door leads out to the Floyd | seventh floor. Floyd | Floyd | And off to the side, through a huge window, you can see the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 6 is painted on the wall—in the middle of Floyd | the loop, the word "DRIEDOUT" has been written in marker. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the sixth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 5 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fifth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 4 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fourth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Third Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 3 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the third floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | You hear a dull noise from the other side of the door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "enter nook" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > ENTER NOOK Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | You can hear footsteps approaching from upstairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | You can hear footsteps approaching from upstairs. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | Someone is walking down the stairs right above your head. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | A man wearing a drab uniform and a tool belt appears, and immediately Floyd | notices you hiding under the stairs. His expression betrays nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "z" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > Z Floyd | Floyd | Time passes. Floyd | Floyd | He exits to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | You get out of the nook. Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Basement Hallway Floyd | The lights in here are orange, which would seem to indicate something. Floyd | Floyd | At the south of the hall, a door leads into the main staircase; the Floyd | pale door at the north end opens outside. The door in the east wall is Floyd | labeled "MAINTENANCE". Floyd | Floyd | High on the wall, an antiquated security camera turns from one to the Floyd | other. Floyd | Floyd | The custodian is here with you. Floyd | Floyd | The custodian waves goodbye and disappears through the maintenance Floyd | door. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] Basement Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | You try the maintenance door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "I guess hiding isnt our strong suite." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Bottom of the Stairs Floyd | Here is the lowermost of many flights of stairs, this one with a Floyd | triangular nook underneath it—one of those spaces that attracts dust Floyd | and dead bugs. Painted on the wall is a large letter B. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the basement hallway. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] First Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | First Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 1 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the first floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Second Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 2 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the second floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Second Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | You try the door, but the handle won't budge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Third Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Third Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 3 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the third floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fourth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 4 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fourth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Fifth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 5 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the fifth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Sixth Floor Landing Floyd | There's a flight of stairs going up, and there's a flight of stairs Floyd | going down. A big numeral 6 is painted on the wall. Floyd | Floyd | A door leads out to the sixth floor hallway. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "u" | ||
Floyd ] Top of the Stairs Floyd | > Floyd | > U Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Top of the Stairs Floyd | You stand at the top of the staircase. The door leads out to the Floyd | seventh floor. Floyd | Floyd | And off to the side, through a huge window, you can see the tower. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "The custodian deleted the DRIEDOUT." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "in" | ||
Floyd ] Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | > Floyd | > IN Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Seventh Floor Hallway Floyd | A framed portrait hangs on the wall across from the door into the Floyd | staircase, with a small plaque beneath it. The hallway continues Floyd | south. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Archway Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Archway Floyd | This hall was built right into the north face of the tower, and you Floyd | stand beneath a stone archway that used to loom impossibly high in the Floyd | air. Carved into the keystone of the arch is a grotesque beast: a Floyd | cockatrice. Or a basilisk. Floyd | Floyd | Beneath the arch is another door. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "s" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > S Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Loft Floyd | You ascend the stairs, and reach the room at the top of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | A long table takes up the middle of the room, with several chairs Floyd | sitting upside-down on top of it. Only a wheeled office chair remains Floyd | standing on the floor, next to an easel displaying a pristine Floyd | whiteboard. Floyd | Floyd | The doorway to the archway is down the stairs. A small door is built Floyd | into the west wall, and in the east wall is an even smaller window. Floyd | Floyd | The door swings shut behind you. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x window" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X WINDOW Floyd | Floyd | (the tiny window) Floyd | Looking through the window, you should be able to see across the river Floyd | to the lawn. This would only be fair; it would only be what you Floyd | deserve, after climbing all those stairs. Floyd | Floyd | But the blinds, between the two panes of glass, are almost completely Floyd | closed, and you can only make out a few details of the outside world Floyd | by moving your head rapidly up and down. Floyd | Floyd | Sticking out of the window frame is a thin metal lever. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X LEVER Floyd | Floyd | It's connected to the window, but what mechanism it engages is a Floyd | mystery. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "push lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > PUSH LEVER Floyd | Floyd | You try not to resort to violence, when you can help it. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "pull lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > PULL LEVER Floyd | Floyd | You pull down on the lever, and it snaps off in your hand. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "g" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > G Floyd | Floyd | Nothing obvious happens. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x lever" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X LEVER Floyd | Floyd | Hopefully they won't notice anything. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x blinds" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X BLINDS Floyd | Floyd | Horizontal strips of black plastic, between which you can see Floyd | basically nothing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sit on chair" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON CHAIR Floyd | Floyd | You get onto the wheeled office chair. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "n" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > N Floyd | Floyd | The only obvious exits are down the stairs and the small door labeled Floyd | "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "d" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > D Floyd | Floyd | (first getting off the wheeled office chair) Floyd | The only obvious exits are down the stairs and the small door labeled Floyd | "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY". Floyd | Floyd | You would have to get off the wheeled office chair first. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "out" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > OUT Floyd | Floyd | The only obvious exits are down the stairs and the small door labeled Floyd | "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY". Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x door" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > X DOOR Floyd | Floyd | (the small door) Floyd | It's lower and narrower than any other door in the building, and it Floyd | bears a sign reading "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Alarm will sound if Floyd | opened." Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd ] Loft Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | The sign on the door says: "EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY. Alarm will sound if Floyd | opened." As much as you'd like to see what's on the other side, Floyd | setting off an alarm isn't really an option. Floyd | Floyd | But there's no alarm built into the door, and there are no wires or Floyd | anything connected to it. And if that kid can do it... Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "w" | ||
Floyd | > Floyd | > W Floyd | Floyd | You open the door | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd | You open the door, and step out into the air. | ||
| Knight_Otu pushes the green 'space' button. | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | You open the door, and step out into the air. From there, it's just a Floyd | short climb to the top of the tower. Floyd | Floyd | The Tower Floyd | It's pretty windy up here. Floyd | Floyd | This is as high as it gets: higher than any of the buildings around, Floyd | higher than anything else in the city. Floyd | Floyd | Standing here in the crown of the tower, looking out from the arches, Floyd | you can see the entire city in the fading dusk. There's the parking Floyd | lot to the north, and the dark neighborhoods beyond that; to the east Floyd | is the river, and the bridge, and the lawn up on the hill, where a few Floyd | people are still walking around. Floyd | Floyd | Man, is it windy. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "eat cookies" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > EAT COOKIES Floyd | Floyd | As hungry as you are, it would be nice to sit down somewhere while Floyd | you're eating. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "e" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > E Floyd | Floyd | There's no need to leave so soon. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Aw." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "sit on floor" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > SIT ON FLOOR Floyd | Floyd | You would prefer to sit on something designed for the purpose. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x city" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X CITY Floyd | Floyd | Now the city is far away, and reduced to a manageable size. Surely Floyd | it's still loud, cramped, and bewildering over there, but from up here Floyd | it seems as silent as a painting. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x lot" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X LOT Floyd | Floyd | Still very empty, and getting darker. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x river" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X RIVER Floyd | Floyd | The river isn't black and anonymous, but dappled with color: silver, Floyd | in a few places, where it reflects the light of the city; red, where Floyd | it reflects the lights on top of the power plant; and orange, where it Floyd | reflects the streetlamps above the bridge. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x power plant" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X POWER PLANT Floyd | Floyd | It's almost invisible against the southern sky, except for the red Floyd | lights blinking atop its smokestacks. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x campus" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X CAMPUS Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "jump" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > JUMP Floyd | Floyd | Don't be so morbid. Floyd | Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Okay, okay." | |
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x moon" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X MOON Floyd | Floyd | You can't see any such thing. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "l" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > L Floyd | Floyd | The Tower Floyd | This is as high as it gets: higher than any of the buildings around, Floyd | higher than anything else in the city. Floyd | Floyd | Standing here in the crown of the tower, looking out from the arches, Floyd | you can see the entire city in the fading dusk. There's the parking Floyd | lot to the north, and the dark neighborhoods beyond that; to the east Floyd | is the river, and the bridge, and the lawn up on the hill, where a few Floyd | people are still walking around. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x bridge" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X BRIDGE Floyd | Floyd | The sun is down, and the cones of orange light falling down from the Floyd | streetlamps are all that illuminate the bridge. Nobody is walking Floyd | across right now: Even the swallows are gone, returned to their cozy Floyd | nests. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x hill" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X HILL Floyd | Floyd | The hill is almost empty, and the people milling around seem less busy Floyd | and angry than they normally do. That's the thing about people: Floyd | They're not so bad, as long as you can appreciate them from a Floyd | reasonable distance. Floyd | Floyd | You turn your focus to a blank space on the lawn: the spot where you Floyd | were standing as the sun set, when you were looking up at the tower, Floyd | at the space under the arches that you're standing in right now. The Floyd | circuit is complete. Floyd | Floyd | Now the moon is rising, slowly, from behind the hill. Waning gibbous. Floyd | Floyd | > | ||
| Knight_Otu says (to Floyd), "x moon" | ||
Floyd ] The Tower Floyd | > Floyd | > X MOON Floyd | Floyd | The moon has several advantages over the sun. The moon isn't Floyd | responsible for making summer as unbearably hot as it often is; the Floyd | moon doesn't shine in through your bedroom window and wake you up Floyd | before you wanted to be awake. Floyd | Floyd | The disc of the moon provides a lot more to look at than the sun: Floyd | intricate patterns carved out of the surface over millions of years. Floyd | And you can look directly at the moon, without the risk of bodily Floyd | harm. Floyd | Floyd | There's nobody around to stop you; you can stare at it for as long as Floyd | you like. Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | *** The end. *** Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Floyd | Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game, QUIT or UNDO the last Floyd | command? Floyd | > | Knight_Otu says, "Well, we found a couple more things." | |
