Your Choice: An Interactive(?) Adventure

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<div id="header"> <b>This is the Header.</b> </div> You are yourself. It is a lazy overcast saturday, and you have nothing to do. You're in your room. What do you do? [[ Computer | Computer1]] [[ Friendship | Friendship1]] <span class="alt"> [[narrator test]] </span>

You play on the computer. [[This is an audio test]]

<<set $juststarted to false>> <div align='center'>\ //Welcome.// You are about to play a game. In it, you will make choices, you will interact with this medium. But first, who are you? What is your name? <<textbox "$name" "N/A" autofocus>> [[:>_Going forward...|into2]] </div>

<div align='center'> Ah, so you're $name. A pleasure to meet you, $name. You are a human person. You have seen, thought, and experienced things I could never hope to feel in the exact same way. That doesn’t mean I can’t, or shouldn’t try. Preemptive apologies for how some of this is going to sound. I, your narrator, am typing this mostly off the cuff, as I suspect I won’t have time to edit most of my personal ramblings. The story/stories available should hopefully be more coherent. Anyhow. [[:>_|into3]]</div>

<<character 'knight' 'images/theknight.png'>> <<character 'maiden' 'images/theprincess.png'>> <<character 'dragon' 'images/thedragon.png'>> <<character 'monsterhunter' 'images/themonsterhunter.png'>> <<character 'sleuth' 'images/thesleuth.png'>> <<character 'monster' 'images/thesnake.png'>> <<character 'spacecop' 'images/thespacecop.png'>> <<character 'seeker' 'images/thetreasurehunter.png'>> <<character 'guardian' 'images/theguardian.png'>> <<set $name = "N/A">> <<set $juststarted = true>> <<set $playedoncebefore = false>> /%Maiden vars%/ <<set $haskey = false>> <<set $hasglowstone = false>> <<set $hasbook = false>> <<set $hasgold = false>> /%Monster vars%/ <<set $numchoices = 4>> <<set $choicenumber = 1>> <<set $venom = -1>> <<set $outside = -1>> <<set $inside = -1>> <<set $calm = -1>> <<set $priorities = -1>> <<set $rest = -1>> <<set $contact = -1>> <<set $exposit = -1>> <<set $menialtask = false>> /%Macguffin vars%/ <<set $learnedthings = false>> <<set $foundship = false>>

<div id="header"> CREDITS: </div> <div align='center'> I would like to thank the following: - Twine user "Chapel" for their numerous Macros needed for this project ( https://twinelab.net/custom-macros-for-sugarcube-2/#/ ) - Github user "mikewesthad" for their textbox css and their keyboard press macro. ( https://github.com/mikewesthad/twine-resources ) - Tom Boellstor ff, Rethinking Digital Anthropology. In Digital Anthropology. Edited by Heather A. Horst and Daniel Miller, 39–60. - Gershon, I. 2010. ‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Media Switching and Media Ideologies’. Journal of Linguistic Anthropology 20, 389–405. - Agha, Asif. 2011b Large and small scale forms of personhood. Language & Communication 31 (3): 171-180. - Andrejevic, Mark. "The Pacification of Interactivity," in The Participatory condition in the Digital Age, UMinn Press 2016. - The University of Toronto Library article: Why Games (https://guides.library.utoronto.ca/c.php?g=448614&p=3505475 ) - James Nicholas Stanton for his videos "“It’s Just Cosmetic” and "Tellfail Games" (https://www.youtube.com/user/JimSterling ) - “This Action Will Have Consequences”: Interactivity and Player Agency by Sarah Stang - Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload by Benjamin Scheibehenne, et al. - My QA testers who wished to remain anonymous. You all were very helpful in helping me develop (and fix) many elements of this game and I couldnt be more thankful. - My QA testers who wished to be named. Thank you so much Sophia Hassman, Emma Skinner, and Wendy Roble. You all were so helpful in giving me advice for this game! - You, $name. The player. Thank you so much for playing my game. ... <<if $juststarted eq true>> Return to title screen: [[:>_|Title Screen]] <<else>> If you want to play again, here you go: [[:>_|altintro1]] <</if>> <<if $playedoncebefore>> [[:>_This wasn't very fair, you know.|postcredits1]] <</if>> </div>

[img[images/Micsymbol.png]] <audio src="sounds/Interview1.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> We sure are testing audio, huh. [[We are done with audio test | Computer1]]

Localhosting is an option! Just gotta publish to file, then have an /images and a /sounds folders for game to draw from. Like so: <audio src="music/Twinetestone.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> [img[images/GiantSnake.png]]

Your choice. <div id="narrator"> This is the Narrator speaking. Ahem. <strong>Bitch.</strong> </div>

<div align='center'>\ This is a game. Specifically, a choice based adventure game. Interact however you wish, $name. Your options of moving forward will be highlighted as a link in the HTML. I want to tell you a story. I want you to feel involved in the worlds available to you. I hope it is possible. [[:>_|into3.5]]</div>

<div align='center'>\ So, the characters will have some different mechanics. The Monster/The Guardian will have a limited number of actions to do anything, you need to find what to do and in what order to get the best ending. The Maiden/The Treasure Seeker have an ongoing story, with little doubling over. Just pick your choices and go. The Knight/The Monster Hunter have an area to explore, maybe some puzzles to solve, and a fairly singular objective. Somewhat traditional adventure game. Why do this, even though it’s more work? Well… Maybe consider it a form of ‘Media Switching’ as Ilana Gershon put it in her work “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do: Media Switching and Media Ideologies”? I’m limited to text here, and though I know how to do art and could feasibly record… I don’t have the time to. So, how do I remediate you, the player, if my game will look and sound the same no matter what I do? My only option is to change the mechanics, see if that changes the media. If i have the time, I’ll throw in some audio, video, or images. That would be closer to the definition Gershoon used, being “the process by which people’s understandings and experiences of one medium are intertwined with those of other media” (pg 393). [[:>_|into5]] </div>

<div align='center'>\ Well, let’s begin. Every good story needs a good plot hook. For reasons largely arbitrary, I’ve prepared three options for you: Maiden, Monster, and Macguffen. Maiden: A standard story framework. You must rescue a princess from the warlock-dragon. High Fantasy setting. Monster: A classic combat scenario. You find yourself face to face with something dangerous. Modern day setting. Macguffin: A trope used for plots and subplots alike. You must explore to find something powerful that will surely solve whatever problems you face. Sci-fi setting. Generic, perhaps. Doesn’t cover everything, perhaps. Which do you choose? [[:>_"Maiden"|maid1]] [[:>_"Monster"|mons1]] [[:>_"Macguffen"|mac1]] </div>

<div id="header"> <b>MONSTER</b></div> <div align='center'>Ah, Monster! Everyone loves monster-centric tales, there’s so much you can do with a figure or creature that is explicitly inhuman in some way. You can take it as straight or as allegorical as you’d like. Fighting the monster could mean righteously fighting “the enemy” (whoever they may be) just as easily as it could be a sad tale on human nature or our own historical past. One notable trend has been that the monster is not to be killed, but to be befriended… though those stories are not lacking their own troublesome implications either. But, what I like does not matter to this. I promised you conflict, and you shall have it. You, the competent monster hunter- … Actually, wait. Who are you playing as? [[:>_The Monster Hunter |mh1]] [[:>_The Monster|mon1]] [[:>_Myself|myself]] </div>

<div id="header"> <b>Macguffin</b> </div> <div align='center'>Ah, Macguffin. You just can’t count just how many things are ‘macguffin’ stories, where all the hero needs to do is to travel to one place to deliver or collect some specific item that should somehow solve all other problems the hero faces. Not that macguffin hunts have not happened in real life of course, as there has always been someone off to search for lost treasures, forgotten knowledge, or evidence of the supernatural. Hi ho, exploration! So, are you ready to go hunting-- … Actually, are you the one searching? Who are you playing as? [[ :>_The Treasure Seeker|tseek1]] [[:>_The Treasure Guardian|tguard1]] [[ :>_Myself|myself]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>The Maiden </b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/theprincess.png]]</div> <div align='center'>Ah, you’re the maiden! Of course, why not be the named figure of this tale. … Well, I’ll tell you why. Cause it’s kinda boring. You’re not playing the hero, you’re playing a trope that really is only palletable in its own subversion. </div> <div id="narrator"> I feel a bit bad calling this route problematic, but… okay, hear me out.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|maiden2]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>Myself</b> </div> <div align='center'> You… You choose to play yourself. Hm. </div> <div align='center' id="narrator"> I mean, there’s nothing stopping you. I in fact should probably be encouraging it. I just don’t know what would happen if I were to include you, $name. And, I do hope you mean //yourself,// $name. I won't let you play as me, okay? That could get real strange real quick. How about this: I’m gonna give you a whole different... thing. Something for you to do as yourself. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Start game|myselfbedroom]] <span class="alt">[[:>_Reflect on this|myselfreflection]]</span> </div>

<div id="header">The Bedroom</div> <div align='center'> You find yourself in your room. It’s a lazy saturday afternoon. You’ve slept in. Your room is a slight mess, but that’s fine. Today is a day where you don’t have much planned. In your room you have your bed, some work to be doing, and access to your bathroom. You can also go to your living room and kitchen. What do you do? [[:>_Clean yourself up |myselfclean]] [[:>_Go to the living room|myselfliving]] [[:>_Do paperwork|myselfwork]] [[:>_Go to kitchen |myselfkitchen]]</div>

<div id="header">The Living Room </div> <div align='center'>You go to the living room, and no one is there. Your roommate (if you have one... let's just assume you do for convenience) isn’t about. Either they’re sleeping in, or they’re out already. Who’s to know. In the living room you’ve left your laptop charging on the coffee table by the couch. You could also waste some time by watching TV. [[:>_Go to bedroom|myselfbedroom]] [[:>_Go to kitchen|myselfkitchen]] [[:>_Open laptop|myselflaptopattempt]] [[:>_Go outside|myselfoutside]]</div>

<div id="header">The Kitchen </div> <div align='center'>You enter the kitchen. You look around and see a full fridge just ready for snacking, and a postit note on the door addressed to you, $name. [[:>_Go to bedroom|myselfbedroom]] [[:>_Go to living room|myselfliving]] [[:>_Raid fridge|myselffridge]] [[:>_Read note|myselfnote]] </div>

<div id="header">Unlock Laptop? </div> <div align='center'>Uhhh… whoops. Seems that you need to log in. What’s your password? <<set $answer to ''>>\ <<textbox '$answer' '' autofocus>> <span id='textbox-reply'></span> <span id='textbox-submit'>\ <<button 'Submit'>> <<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>> <<if $answer is 'password123'>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Correct! You've unlocked your laptop again and now have access to more things.\ <</replace>> <<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\ [[:>_Open Laptop|myselflaptop]]\ <</replace>> <<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>> <<else>> <<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\ Incorrect. Please try again.\ <</replace>> <</if>> <</button>>\ </span> [[:>_Go Back|myselfliving]] </div>

<div id="header">Go Outside</div> <div align='center'>You grab your keys and your wallet, put on your shoes, and give one final stretch before you open the door. A bright sunny day awaits you outside your home. There’s so much you can do today! You could visit some friends, go to an event, go grocery shopping, take a road trip, explore the town, meet new people, go to a class, go to some kinda volunteering thing, go to a job, go exploring…</div> <div align='center' id='narrator'> … Okay, stepping back for a second. I don’t want to type all those scenarios out. I only really wanted to type out some made-up stories. Can we say that you did whatever you wanted here, and somehow that left you looping back to the pre-planned stories in some clever way?</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Sure, fine.|into5]] [[:>_No, I’m done I think.|myselfdone]]</div>

<div id="header">I'm done.</div> <div align='center'>I… oh! Alright then. If you’re sure about that? I’d say “Thank you for playing my game” but… really there wasn’t much of a game here to play. Just someone's attempt at vaguely guessing as to what their version of a ‘generic person’ would be doing on a lazy saturday. But, fine… if you’re sure then you’re sure. [[:>_Credits|Credits]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>MAIDEN</b> </div> <div align='center'> Ah, Maiden. ‘Damsel in distress’ has always been a popular trope, hasn’t it? Perhaps it’s just thanks to the culture I was raised in, but I never really liked stories where the only hook is that the fair lady needs rescuing. It’s overdone and can feel a bit condescending. But of course, my opinions don’t matter here. This story is about you! You, the brave and shining knight-... Actually, who are you playing as? [[:>_The Knight |knight1]] [[:>_The Maiden|maiden1]] [[:>_Myself|myself]]</div>

<div id="header">Clean</div> <div align='center'>You drag yourself to your bathroom and brush your teeth, wash your hands, and take a shower. Always nice to be clean. The warm water from the shower makes you feel a little sleepy. [[:>_|myselfbedroom]] </div>

<div id="header">Do Work</div> <div align='center'>Be it homework, taxes, emails, or just general forms… there’s always some paperwork to do, huh. Well, good on you for being productive! It takes you awhile, and you’re pretty tired, but you get your work done. Or at least, done enough for a lazy saturday. You thankfully still have plenty of daylight hours left. [[:>_Bedroom |myselfbedroom]]</div>

<div id="header">Eat Food </div> <div align='center'>It is FULL of GOOD FOOD and you could just eat so much of it. It’s very nice. Regardless of how much you may/may not want to eat the entire fridge, you grab one small snack and eat it. Tasty! [[:>_Kitchen|myselfkitchen]] </div>

<div id="header">Read Note </div> <div align='center'>The note says “Hey, $name. I saw your laptop do a system update, so you’ll probably have to log in again. Your password is ‘password123’. -Your Roommate” Ignoring the fact that you have… terrible password taste, and also ignoring the fact that your roommate somehow knows your password… good to know? [[:>_Go to kitchen|myselfkitchen]] </div>

<div id="header"> Laptop </div> <div align='center'>You input the password and the computer comes to life! Gotta love the internet and all it’s infinite possibilities! After checking your emails (nothing especially of note today) you make sure there’s nothing serious that needs your attention. So… fun computer time is available! You look at the group chat and see a few friends having a conversation that you could participate in. You could always play some video games. Or, you have that one project that you’ve been meaning to get to for a while now… [Note: Going back to the living room will lock your computer again.] [[:>_Go back to living room|myselfliving]] [[:>_Talk with friends|myselffriends]] [[:>_Play video games|myselfvideogames]] [[:>_Work on that project|myselfproject]]</div>

<div id="header">Talk with friends </div> <div align='center'>You chat and chat and chat with your friends all day. It’s always nice to talk with your friends, especially those that live too far away to just visit. Some of the people you talk with are relatively new to you, others you’ve known for years now.</div> <div align='center' id="narrator"> … What are the nature of these friends? Are they digital entirely, or are they people you know from real life interactions, or some mix of both? What’s stopping you from getting together to talk? Scheduling, distance, something else? I’m somewhat asking you this, player. In his work “Digital Anthropology,” Tom Bollester focuses on his take on Anthropology in the digital world, in online communities. Most of his work focused on the game ‘Second Life,’ which has since garnered a bit of a… reputation, but from my perspective many of his observations hold up to modern digital communities. ‘Digital Anthropology’ was somewhat formative for the writing of this game, as I wanted to focus on video games… and who was talking about them but none other than Bollester? Many of the claims in it felt somewhat, well, obvious to me… but perhaps that was due to my advantage of essentially growing up in a digital world. Things like “the medium of the communication changes the details and practices of how communication is had” with examples like risque comments going to DMs (pg 47)... I lived that. I think I was a lonely kid, growing up. Think being the imperative word here, because I’m not sure. I was friendly, sure, but never friends with many others… at least, not in person. I had a lot of people I called ‘online friends,’ and I still do to some extent. Many hours spent just talking to people and playing games with people I’d never meet in real life. And it was fun! I’ll grant Bollester this: I was a different person with my online communities. More outgoing, opinionated, skilled. Talking with my German friends about what quest to go for in an MMO can be really fun. Good memories were had, and to some extent it helped me grow. But at the same time, I’m not sure how much I agree with the statement that “decisions and activities that take place on facebook cannot be reduced to the physical-world activities and identities of those who participate in it, even those that can have physical-world consequences” (pg 57). Because, well. Real life is demanding. It’s possible to spend all your time online, sure. Easy to have your second life become your only life, where you spend all your time and money. And sometimes, if the real world is especially harsh, online is the only place that’s safe. I get it. But, I question how strong that digital connection can be. I’ve had people I’ve just lost contact with, people who have had their accounts deleted and I knew no other form of contact with, people who just chose different programs to talk on, all sorts of things. Maybe I’m bad at keeping contact with people, sure, but from my experience this phenomenon is so common with online friendships. I can talk to someone about my deepest fears online, and a year later not even know their name and address. Perhaps it’s easier because of that vulnerability guarded by a layer of anonymity. Perhaps, as Ilana Gershon would like to put it, our mediums and forms of mediation simply drifted apart. I miss some of these friends. I do. But real life is so demanding. I can’t play games all day if I have college to do, a job to work, events to organize, and… well, a life to live. It would be so easier if some of these friends were closer by. Distance and time zones both are cruel. Ah, right. Your friends. </div> <div align='center'> A few suggest doing a viewing party or playing some kind of game together. You agree, and spend hours having fun with them, though none of you are even remotely in the same room. Still, eventually the conversation dies down. Some folks get distracted (yourself included), others move on to a different conversation topic, and others more just have important stuff to be doing. So, what now? [[:>_Back to laptop |myselflaptop]]</div>

<div id="header">Play a Game </div> <div align='center'>A fun hobby! You open up your library of video games, and the number is no doubt staggering. Games are fun and come in all sorts of genres, flavors, levels of seriousness, art styles… Plus, they can tell a story in a really unique way that makes you feel in charge of the action. Since there are so many games for you to pick, I’m gonna have to narrow this down somehow. It won’t be perfect of course, there’s no doubt something here I’m missing by these classifications… But… [[:>_Play a Game|into5]]</div>

<div id="header">Work on a project </div> <div align='center'>You have something on this computer, something you’ve been meaning to work on for a while that you’ve just been unable to. You’ve been too busy, it makes sense. But, with this free afternoon available, you FINALLY have time to sit down and work on this essay/article/video/film/art piece/puzzle/coding project/video game/music track/book/script. Finally.</div> <div id="narrator"> … Before I became really, really busy, my default ‘forever project’ was a video game. I really really wanted to make a video game. I loved the idea of getting wealthy and famous from making a smash-hit indie game with cool mechanics and interesting plot. Any idea for a story would soon get mechanics that would tie into and drive the plot. However, games… games take a lot of time and skill to make. Skill and Time I still don’t have. Add onto that the really hostile and unhealthy environment around most games, and I was… kinda shoved away from making games. Now the projects I want to do but never have time for involve hacking. Still fun, but technically not making media anymore, since what I do doesn’t go out to any public. </div> <div align='center'>But, good for you for sitting down and doing your passion project! You work for a while, and though it’s equal parts frustrating and satisfying, you eventually make good progress and decide you’re done for the day. What now? [[:>_Back to laptop |myselflaptop]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>The Monster Hunter</b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/themonsterhunter.png]]</div> <div align='center'>Ah, the monster hunter! Resident badass, tough guy with a gun who fights the monsters normal people can’t handle .A wondrous escapist fantasy that everyone can imagine themselves being for better or for worse. Put on some buffy the vampire slayer, because it’s time to tackle the supernatural! </div> <div id="narrator"> … So, once again I have to somewhat reveal my hand here. You see, I ran out of time. Well okay, that’s not true. I still have time to write. But, I wish to make a game. I would like to come back to this route later, but well.. Okay, can you do me a favor? Go play The Knight, and instead of being a Knight looking to rescue a princess… Pretend for flavor that you’re a monster hunter who got word of a monster living in an old cabin in the woods, a not far distance from the nearest town. You had a friend, an investigator who travelled there ahead of you… but you’ve not heard back from her in a few days. That work for you? Have at! </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Be The Knight|knight1]]</div>

/%{SET VARIABLES HERE } {7 choices, set vars to order you do things in. only have time for 4 things to do.} {once timer var hits 0, you get sent to place to see what happens thanks to what you did in what order.} {WIN CONDITION COMBOS: Calm self, investigate house, contact someone, check on the venom Calm self, check on venom, gauge priorities, investigate house Contact someone, investigate outside, investigate inside, check on the venom Contact someone, investigate inside, investigate outside, check on the venom Calm self, check priorities, exposit, rest Calm self, check priorities, rest, exposit}%/ <div id="header"> <b>The Monster</b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/thesnake.png]]</div> <div align='center'>YOU ARE THE MONSTER. Specifically, you are a were-lizard. Basically, imagine if a werewolf also got bit by a giant komodo dragon and the change was permanent. Yeah, you’re not the prettiest face around, but such is life as a meta-human. Because you’re part-reptilian, getting people to reserve their judgements is a bit… too much to ask for at points. Apparently. You tried living in the nearby town a few months ago, but all that got you were horrified looks and far too many rumors headed your way. Granted, you’re not the most innocent of monsters, you did attack a few people once when they were getting really pushy outside a bar. So, you’ve self isolated. You work from this nice little cabin in the woods with decent internet connection, doing some excel crunching for some company somewhere. You have a few friends you keep track with mostly online, but your closest one who is able and willing to meet in person is a good two hour drive away. Most of your days are quiet, but recently you swear you’ve been hearing noises like footsteps close to your home. It’s making you a bit nervous, like you’re being watched. Made worse because… well, you have something to protect. Being a were-lizard, you are associated with a group, a ‘Lounge’ of lizards (as is the collective noun, apparently). And you see, your group has tasked you with something important. This year, it’s your job to guard “The Venom,” a very important artifact to your people. The stories say that it was used to create the first metahumans, your group included. You’re not sure how much you believe it, as it does just look like an old jar filled with some kind of ink… but still, it’s not a difficult custom. Just guard it for the year, occasionally do some ritual if you’re feeling especially spiritual that day, and eventually you hand it off to the next person. So, you have reason to be on guard… but also, you’re just a person trying to live their life. Why would someone come all the way out here just to bother you? It’s the late afternoon, a weekend. A cold weekend though, which means you’re feeling awfully tired thanks to your cold blood. You’ve done your outdoor chores for the day, and as you head inside you swear you hear it again: the sound of footsteps that aren’t yours. You’re not sure if they came from outside or inside, or if you just made them up once again, really. What do you do? [NOTE: Order of your choices matters here. Be careful.] Time Remaining: [$numchoices choices] <<if $venom eq -1>> [[:>_Check on The Venom|monvenom]] <</if>> <<if $outside eq -1>> [[:>_Investigate Outside|monoutside]] <</if>> <<if $inside eq -1>> [[:>_Search your House|monhouse]] <</if>> <<if $calm eq -1>> [[:>_Calm yourself down|moncalm]] <</if>> <<if $priorities eq -1>> [[:>_Gauge priorities|monpriorities]] <</if>> <<if $rest eq -1>> [[:>_Go rest|monrest]] <</if>> <<if $contact eq -1>> [[:>_Contact someone|moncontact]] <</if>> <<if $exposition eq -1>> [[:>_Exposit more about yourself/your lounge|monexposit]] <</if>> <<if $menialtask eq false>> <span class="alt">[[:>_Do some menial tasks|moninterview3]]</span> <</if>> </div>

<div id="header"> <b>The Knight</b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/theknight.png]]</div> <div align='center'>YOU ARE THE KNIGHT. You are the most ideal figure, a brave smart beautiful figure standing in front of the castle of the sinister warlock-dragon. Your… very practical armor doesn’t persay shine through the ashen aura of the keep, but it’s fine. It’ll work. Much the same for your sword and your shield really, they’re not what you’d PREFER, especially since you’re going in to fight something far stronger than you, but… better than nothing, that’s for sure! Surely there must be some way to get exactly what you want though. I mean, why go through this game if you can’t have what you want? [[:>_What do I need to do to become THE TRUE KNIGHT?|trueknight1]] [[:>_I don’t care, just take me to the story.|knight2]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>The Treasure Seeker</b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/thetreasurehunter.png]]</div> <div align='center'>YOU ARE THE TREASURE SEEKER. Of course! Who doesn’t want to be the one searching for treasures? Gold, Glory, and gunfights, all part of your typical day. Or well, perhaps not gunfights. No one uses guns anymore, those are immoral and inefficient. No, everyone just uses laserpistols, no bullets anymore. It’s the year //49XX//, things are different here and now. And technically… you’re not out for glory or gold specifically. I mean what you are out for can GET you those things, but that’s not what you’re searching for. You see, THE TREASURE GUARDIAN is a known force this side of the milky way. His ship is tough to find, and even tougher to beat in combat. Rumors are that his homeworld had such amazing biotech, you could control matter, energy, and perhaps even your own lifespan as easy as you could snap your fingers. Of course, he’s not called THE TREASURE GUARDIAN for nothing, no one has ever seen reports of him just giving his tech away. More often than not, the reports are more along the line of “the treasure guardian is a hostile alien who kills for fun.” But, you were travelling along, trying to hide from homeworld ships since you’re technically not supposed to be flying… and you came across the ship of the guardian. You couldn’t just not investigate. Dangerous aliens aren’t an uncommon risk in your line of work anyhow, and this could be a great score. You flew your ship up to an easy-accessible airdock and hopped inside. In the process, something about the loading dock activates, and once you’re out, it… takes your ship in a metal grip, and moves it elsewhere. Probably to the main dock, wherever that is. Sigh. [[:>_ |tseek2]]</div>

<div id="header"> <b>The Treasure Guardian</b> </div> <div align='center'>[img[images/theguardian.png]]</div> <div align='center'>You become The Treasure Guardian.</div> <div id="narrator"> … Actually, no. That doesn’t happen. That didn’t happen. I’m sorry, cut the story here. Cut it. Player, I am sorry. I owe you an apology. I couldn’t finish this part of the game. I wanted to, I really wanted to. You were gonna play as the monster, you would have a limited number of turns to get everything done, and your ending would depend on what you did in what order… But I ran out of time. At the time of writing this, the entire world has gone into a bit of a turmoil. “A virus has infected the entire world and millions will die” sounds like the most generic beginning to any zombie movie ever, but it’s the world as I know it right now. Your narrator was living at school, working on this one moment… and was at home the next, trying to huddle inside so to not get infected and possibly die. So, my apologies if I don’t entirely have the energy to write some fun wacky choose your own adventure stories. I wish I did, trust me I wish I did. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard2]]</div>

<div id='header'>BECOME THE TRUE KNIGHT</div> <div align='center'> Oh, you’re interested in becoming a true knight? One with beautiful shining armor, a powerful sword and shield, perhaps some magic potions to help you in saving the maiden? I mean, understandable. Who doesn’t want to be prepared? Better yet, we can make you, the true knight, be more than just prepared! Whatever you want to look like, be named, be seen as… THE TRUE KNIGHT can give you all that and more. If you’re interested, I think you should go for it! Thankfully, there are at least two ways of getting this ‘true knight’ status… either do some grinding for money and experience, or pay the creator of this game $5. [[:>_Pay $5|trueknight2]] [[:>_Earn your status|trueknighttrial1]] [[:>_Actually, I’ll be fine looking kinda lame|knight2]]</div>

<div id="header">Begin</div> <div align='center'>You approach the gates of the castle, your steed tied to a fallen tree a few yards back. The ashen-brick walls of the fortress stretch high into the sky, but age has not done this structure any favors. The dragon-warlock may be thousands of years old, but apparently he has no time to repair the hovel he calls his home. … He? His? You’re not sure, really. You’re not sure if the beast has a gender, but calling something with clear sentience ‘it’ feels wrong. Similary with calling the monster ‘they,’ as nonbinary people probably don’t need more representation in the form of evil beasts. You decide to forget that tangent and continue reviewing your situation. The draco-warlock, a magical beast thousands of years old, resides at this castle. Somehow or another, the wonderful maiden has been found in the same castle, imprisoned by the monster. It is your task to be the hero you know you are, and rescue the maiden from this dangerous scenario. It’ll be life threatening, and perhaps you won’t even survive… but, a knight's duty is a knight's duty. Thankfully, there is no doubt you’ll receive fame and fortune for this act, if you survive. With the castle as decrepit as it is, you could probably find some way inside through a hole in the wall. Or, you could knock on the front door. [[:>_Sneak|knightsneak]] [[:>_Front Door|knight3]] [[:>_Flee|knightflee]]</div>

<div id="header">Pay $5</div> <div align='center'> Perfect, excellent choice! Just paypal me at creatorofyourchoices@notarealemail.org and I’ll get you started on a custom story with your avatar looking exactly how you want it! [Note: Changes only happen 24 hrs after payment has been confirmed. This payment is applicable to this game and this game only. If this game were to be abandoned/its servers shut down, you would not receive any refund for lost content.] [[:>_Credits|Credits]]</div>

<div id="header">Earn it. </div> <div align='center'>You want to earn your way to victory? Very fair! The reward is always sweeter knowing you deserve it, right? Now, to grind for this reward, you’ll need a lot of money to pay for your high quality equipment. Thankfully, I’ve taken the liberty to streamline the experience of the menial job for you. All you gotta do is click the button…. Let’s say…. 1000000 times? If that sounds too much, you could pay your way to victory, or live on as an average knight... <<set $presses = 0>>\ You jam the spacebar as many times as you can... Oh, how about... around 1500 times? ''<span id="presses" style="color: #f5f900"><<print $presses>> presses</span>'' <<silently>> <<keyup "space">> <<set $presses = $presses + 1>> <<replace "#presses">>$presses presses<</replace>> <</keyup>> <<repeat 1s>> <<if $presses >= 1500>> <<goto "trueknighttrial2">> <</if>> <</repeat>> <</silently>> [[:>_Give up... and pay the $5|trueknight2]] [[:>_Give up... and play the game|knight2]]</div>

<div id="header">Sneak Around</div> <div align='center'>After around ten minutes of searching, you find a hole in the wall that seems to lead directly into some room. After crawling through, you stumble right into what seems to be a grand study. The hole in the wall quickly closes in behind you as well, like the walls were rushing to cover up a mistake you just pointed out by slipping past them. You quickly brush yourself off, and look around. [[:>_Look around|knightstudy]]</div>

<div id="header">Approach the castle</div> <div align='center'>Bravely, you march right up to the front door, and knock three times. The echoing thud of each knock feels somber, like the chime of an old grandfather clock. Still, the giant wooden door creaks open slowly, allowing you entrance. You take a glance inside and see parts of the otherwise dark grand hall illuminated by candlelight. You step inside cautiously, drawing your sword and shield. As soon as you’re inside, the door quickly closes itself behind you. Trying to pry at it does nothing; it must be locked with some evil magics. Well, you’re in this whether you like it or not. [[:>_Go to the Grand Hall |knightgrandhall]]</div>

<div id="header">Flee</div> <div align='center'>You decide “actually, I value my life way too much to engage in anything this risky,” and book it back to your horse. Within a minute you’re on your steed and galloping away. Which… fair enough, I suppose? I can’t lie and say I wouldn’t at least think of doing the same thing if I were in that situation too. But, why’d you even wanna play a game if you didn’t want to do anything with it…? [[:>_Credits|Credits]]</div>

<div align='center'>You find yourself in what looks to be a living-quarters area of the ship. The immaculate status of the room tells you that it hasn’t been used in a while, so probably it’s a guest area of somesort. But, why would someone who shuns all outsides have a guest area? Your train of thought is interrupted by a message. You open your pocket computer. It’s from-- Oh shoot, it’s the cops. You have a bit of a weird relationship with the police force. By all accounts, you’ve largely benefitted from your interactions with them, in the sense that they help you more than they inconvenience you. Your jobs are not always smart, or totally legal, but the enemy forces you come across tend to be of a higher priority to the local law enforcement so you get off largely free. Still, you don’t exactly like or totally trust them. Maybe it’s because they tend to have an anti-alien bias, maybe it’s because they’re corrupt enough to be easily paid off, maybe because a few jobs have felt like you're benefiting them more than anyone else. The message says: <<spacecop>> “We’ve received reports of you approaching the last known location of The Guardian. If you stay RIGHT WHERE YOU ARE, we can send someone to retreive you. Please know that The Guardian is a known hostile alien and might react with lethal force if you’re found. DO NOT MOVE FROM YOUR CURRENT LOCATION.”<</spacecop>> While it’s true that you are technically in danger… are you gonna listen to the cops and not go forward with your mission? [[:>_Yes, stay in place|tseek3]] [[:>_No, go searching for treasures|tseek4]]</div>

<div id="header">Stay in place</div> <div align='center'>You sigh. Alright, maybe this mission wasn’t worth it. If you agree to stay and wait, then you’re an idiot who snuck into an unintentionally dangerous place… instead of an idiot who was trying to steal something incredibly valuable. <<seeker>>“Okay. I’m in some upper-level guest quarters. No cameras or signs of other life. I do not think The Guardian has noticed me. While there’s a dock where I am, my ship was taken away shortly after exiting, so I suspect it’s not safe.”<</seeker>> <<spacecop>>“Noted. Thank you for the information. We’re sending someone to retreive you soon. Stay in place, and find a spot to hide if someone comes your way.”<</spacecop>> You put away your pocket computer and sigh. Time to wait. So, you wait. And wait. And wait.... After what must have been an hour and a half, you hear footsteps coming your way. Big, heavy footsteps, unlike a humanoid. Do you hide? [[:>_Yes, obviously.|tseekyeshide]] [[:>_No Hiding.|tseekbefound]]</div>

<div id="header">Seek Treasure</div> <div align='center'>Hah. And give up on an adventure before it starts? Yeah, no thanks. There’s riches and power to be had! You don’t bother to send another message, and pocket the pocket computer. Slowly, you creep your way out of the quarters you found yourself in, and you take a look around. The ship is big, very industrial-looking in the hallways, and kinda… well, not pretty. Wires and pipes crisscross everywhere. Thankfully, the rooms you come across all seem to be marked with a neon sign with their intended purpose. You walk past “Library,” “Kitchen,” “Workshop,” “Dock,” “Lounge,” and more. No sign of The Guardian yet, but you think you hear some footsteps coming from the lounge area. You could go searching for treasure while the guardian is distracted right now… or, you could search for your ship. Maybe the docks will have something? [[:>_Search for the treasure|tseek4treasure]] [[:>_Search for the Guardian|tseek4guardian]] [[:>_Search for the Exit|tseek4exit]] <span class="alt">[[:>_Go to the lounge|tseekinterview2]]</span></div>

<div id="narrator"> As I type this, I just finished writing “The Knight” route. The knight has agency, puzzles to solve, fights to start… The maiden, in many stories, doesn’t. Sure the maiden can be smart and beautiful and if you’re lucky can even be part of the adventuring squad. But every time I think of the “Maiden”, I’m often left thinking “The Damsel in distress.” The maiden can really lack agency, both for herself and in the plot as a whole. “A person to be rescued” is a fine trope when given outside context showing that the person can otherwise be capable… but I don’t have the time to write that prior context. Which, I hope you can see why “you can be smart and beautiful and capable but you (a typically feminine-leaning character role) may still need a knight (a typically masculine-leaning character role) to come and rescue you” is a message that can be a bit uncomfortable to write. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|maiden3]]</div>

<div id="narrator">So, here’s the deal. I don’t want to write for The Maiden. I don’t. I know this feels strange as you probably chose “Maiden” to get here, but no. No playing as The Maiden in the Maiden route. If you really want to play as the maiden… play as The Treasure Seeker in the Macguffin route. It’s a bit more sci-fi than fantasy, but it’s close enough. If you really want to play as what can amount to a plot device, just wait around for the space-cops to show up. Okay? Okay.</div> <div align='center'>You choose to be The Maiden. You are The Treasure Seeker instead. [[:>_Be The Treasure Seeker|tseek1]] <span class="alt">[[:>_Be The Maiden|interview4]]</span> </div>

<div id="narrator"> It’s a shame, too! I felt like there would be a lot to say with this one character. The Monster/The Treasure Guardian were supposed to embody “the other,” the people or people(s) the player feel disconnected and estranged from. What is a bloodthirsty monster could just be an individual trying to live their own life outside of your influence. Just from the media side of things alone, there would have been so much to talk about! Allegories for race/religion/sex/culture… the list goes on! Then of course the question becomes can we really understand the other to properly make choices as if we were them? Does playing in this way ultimately help or harm our perceptions of the other? I planned to use this time to talk about my issues with specifically the video games industry, too. Well, moreso the industry of interactive media. Now, with some new context, I feel a bit more… conflicted on the matter. That’s not to say that I take back my original sentiments, absolutely not! Interactive mediums can be a poison! Take… Okay, let’s say you played a game on your phone. It’s a cute little game, you have minor customization options (such as what your character looks like, down to being different non-human species), you can play with your friends, and the intro price is free (though there are some opportunities to spend money elsewhere in an in-game storefront). It’s a cute, fun little game that you enjoy playing. Does something about this feel at all off? </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Yes|tguard3y]] [[:>_No|tguard3n]]</div>

<div id="header">Yes</div> <div id="narrator">Good on you! What exactly feels off?</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Game being on your phone|tguard3y0]] [[:>_Changing how your character looks|tguard3y1]] [[:>_Free intro price|tguard3y2]] [[:>_Something else|tguard3y3]]</div>

<div id="header">No</div> <div id="narrator"> Of course not. Cause it’s a game! Bets are you wouldn’t put too much thought into how watching television can bias you as a person, so why would your games be different? Well, it kinda sucks knowing your most trusted mediums, those that are most engaging and entertaining… aren’t always trustworthy. What if that game was not built properly and made your phone vulnerable to hackers? What if the data it was taking from you was going to someone who had an agenda you didn’t like? What if the terms and conditions had something that specifically exploits you, but you didn’t know it (cause do you really read the terms and conditions on everything you sign up for)? Or, focusing on the other, what if the game wanted to make you or someone else into the other? What if not forking over money for customizables was seen as the unpopular thing to do, so you lack self expression and are judged for it? What if the game had less-than-nice things to say about a certain group and wanted you to feel the same way? Given any of these questions, you’d probably say “yeah, heck to this game, I’m done” and uninstall it. Which, fair enough, you won’t be able to play with your friends on it anymore, but that’s not a nightmare. There are so many other ways to connect to your friends in the digital age in fun, interactive ways. … Ways that you may want to question the motives behind. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard4]]</div>

<<set $numberchoices = 4>><<set $choicenumber = 1>><<set $venom = -1>><<set $outside = -1>><<set $inside = -1>><<set $calm = -1>> <<set $priorities = -1>> <<set $rest = -1>> <<set $contact = -1>> <<set $exposit = -1>> <<set $menialtask = false>> <div id='narrator'>People are easy to manipulate, and unfortunately dear player… you’re a person. I, the narrator, am also a person. With all of what was said before, I can kinda get where Asif Agha is getting at in “Large and Small scales of personhood”. Agha compared the toxic relationship between the democratic liberal individual and mass media, saying that “One can only conclude that if anxieties about democracy and the mass media are joined at the hip, it is the autonomy of the liberal subject that needs hip surgery.” Mass media is too easy to access, perhaps too easy to accept and not question… and so, a very good manipulator. So, what of interactive media? I suspect it’s an especially evil arm of the mass media demon depicted by Agha; You make choices and form opinions as if they were your own… but really, you’re just being convinced. If you can make a choice in an interactive medium, someone thought of that choice before you. So… why do I defend video games still, if their interactivity can be an especially strong tool for indoctrination? Because I love them so much. Especially now, when I can’t leave my house to talk to my friends, I can still play video games with them. We can talk, joke around, have fun, etc across time zones, states, and quarantine. I can’t touch a friend right now because I may infect them… but we can still team up to struggle through some puzzles in portal 2. We all need some escapism sometimes. And, I guess I’m sorry for turning this one far too real. If you want to play The Treasure Guardian, play The Monster in The Monster route. I’ll place you there.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Go be The Monster|mon1]]</div>

<div align='center'>Wow… you did it. You actually did it. You earned your place as a TRUE KNIGHT, without spending a cent. Was the time really worth it? Part of me regrets giving you this option, but oh well. I’m a dev of my word, I guess. Send evidence of you reaching this point to creatorofyourchoices@notarealemail.org and I’ll get you started on a TRUE KNIGHT path. … [[:>_Credits|Credits]] [[:>_Why the hostility?|trueknighttrial3]]</div>

<div id="header">Why the hostility?</div> <div align='center'>Why, indeed.</div> <div id="narrator"> So, I was putting on a bit of an act there. Obviously. Please don’t send money to that email address, it’s clearly not a real email address. But, I was playing up what are basically the sentiments of a lot of larger-scale video game developers as of late. That’s right, you just clicked an absurd number of times to hear me rant and rave about why video game capitalism is bad. Don’t you love undergraduate student projects? </div> <div align='center'> [[:>_|trueknighttrial4]]</div>

<div id="narrator"> So. Player choice and interactivity. I’m going to make a bold claim here and say that, if given the choice to customize yourself in a situation where everyone else quite literally looked exactly the same, you’d probably go for it. You’d put on a hat, some clothing, maybe dye your hair, or even put on a costume maybe because the alternative is looking LITERALLY like everyone else. Reasonable enough assumption, yeah? Failing personal customization, maybe you’d want to tailor your personal experience to yourself, yes? Explore around, move on your own terms, make some choices… All fairly reasonable, especially in a project about interactivity, yeah? Unfortunately, video game publishers understand exactly these desires, and are very very good at exploiting them. In James Nicholas Stanton’s video “It's Just Cosmetic (The Jimquisition)”, James goes into detail about some common methods some games practice to drain more money from their invested playerbase. You may have already paid for the game… but you’ve not paid to make it yours, yet. You could earn your way to self expression, sure. But it’ll take a while, if the game balancers are doing their job right, so bets are you’ll fork over money after a while to get that right to customize. But the trick is, bets are all you did was pay for a permission slip. You didn’t actually buy a physical thing, so if your game breaks or the servers running the game shut down, you’ll be left with nothing from your purchase. These are the dangers of being a digital consumer, eh? … To be fair, being a producer can kinda suck, too. Have you heard about TellTale Games? I’d like to talk about TellTale Games. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|trueknighttrial5]]</div>

<div id = "narrator"> This really is just time for me to complain about the video games industry, huh. So, TellTale. TellTale Games was a big company, fairly famous in the video games industry for around a decade for making detailed ‘choose your own adventure games.’ Think this format, but with a budget and licencing. Their games were lauded for their beautiful stories, emphasis on player agency, and choice-focused gameplay. Their style of game was so influential, that when researching for this assignment I came across numerous articles that cited their works as important to the discussion on interactivity in digital mediums. My most favorite article was “”This Action Will Have Consequences”: Interactivity and Player Agency” by Sarah Stang, which cited TellTale Games as producing work that made people reflect on the morality of their choices, even in a completely fictional story. The events may be pre-scripted, but that in turn helped benefit player agency and willingness to act more in line with their morality. TellTale had a system, and it seemed to work. Good stories, a reliable fanbase… What could go wrong? Oh, aside from the sudden layoffs, that is. Now, massive layoffs are not an uncommon thing in the video game industry. Unfortunately. Much like entertainment as a whole, it seems like many people want to enter it but not many others are willing to pay a livable reliable salary for it. But what happened with TellTale was unique. One moment, the company was seemingly doing alright, signing off on projects and hiring new team members. The next, employees were being told they had less than a day to leave their office space and that everyone was being laid off. James Stanton has another video describing the situation in full, titled “Tellfail Games (The Jimquisition)”. How can a giant fall like that? So if the giant companies are not safe, and the independent developers have the inherent risks of going independent (no marketing, smaller crowds, little to no staff) while still taking on massive costs (since even cheap games can take a lot to make)... Things suck for developers too. So, interactive media can be bad for the consumer, and bad for the developer too. … I am being unfair here. I know this. But dang the video game industry can make me really mad sometimes. I don’t think I wanna make this game anymore, not after recounting all of that. Call me disheartened, I guess. Just go to the credits now please. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header"> [THE GRAND HALL] </div> <div align='center'>You find yourself in the grand hall. An opposing, quiet, cold place lit only by scattered candles. You can hear your footsteps echo as you walk, echoing against the old stone walls. Eery. From the hall you can go to the study, the dining hall, some storage rooms, some bathrooms, or you could go take the path to the tallest tower. [[:>_The Dining Hall|knightdininghall]] [[:>_The Study|knightstudy]] [[:>_The Bathrooms|knightbathrooms]] [[:>_The Storage Rooms|knightstorage]] [[:>_The Tallest Tower|knighttallesttower]] </div>

<div id="header">Hide</div> <div align='center'>You scramble to find a hiding place, and eventually find something: a snug spot between the wall and what is some strange automated dresser-closet device. From where you’re hiding, you can’t see the source of the sound, but you can hear it. Big, heavy, metallic sounds stomping and dragging across the room. At one point you swear it’s about to check your location and you can feel your heart stop in panic… but, you luck out. It eventually leaves and you heave a sigh of relief. You exit your hiding spot. Eventually, after around another hour of waiting, you hear footsteps come your way again. Light, fast, perhaps a bit panicked. The officer who bounds the corner clearly radiates a “new, but over confident” look to him, and he takes a moment to breathe. Kind of a slow, ill equipped rescue really. Makes you feel somewhat annoyed. <<spacecop>>“Hah… whew. I finally found you. Sorry for the delay, but-”<</spacecop>> <<seeker>>“Thank you officer but I didn’t entirely need your assistance. Just…”<</seeker>> You pause for a second. If this officer can be your getaway driver, then maybe you can make this heist after all. Sure, maybe you might face some repercussions for forcing him to help you in something that is basically theft, but you doubt the force would care too much. That being said, it is still dangerous… He looks at you, slightly confused. <<spacecop>>“ Just’…?”<</spacecop>> [[:>_Just hurry and run|seekerruncop]] [[:>_Grab the treasure|seekertreasurecop]]</div>

<div id="header">Found</div> <div align='center'>Eventually, the treasure guardian finds you. He’s a big alien, easily at least 8 ft tall. He has thick grey scales, and is covered in a heavy spacers armor. He’s also covered in metal aside from it, some on his neck and face for seemingly decorative purposes, others in place for bio-mechanical additions and what may be prosthetics. You’ve seen scarier aliens in your time, sure. They don’t have the reputation this individual has. For all you know, any of the strange gel pods on his neck could grant him the ability to kill you at a glance, or to read your mind. He approaches you in a way that just emanates ‘cautious and somewhat scared but not going to chicken out from this interaction’. What does he have to be afraid about, he’s the 8ft tall alien in this interaction. <<guardian>>“I’m sorry, but… Whoever you are, I’d request that you leave. I’m not welcoming any uninvited guests today.”<</guardian>> Well, that was maybe a bit more polite than you expected. You could be polite in turn and stop being a home invader, or you could see how fighting him would go… or, you could just talk and improvise. [[:>_Allow yourself to be escorted out|tseekkickedout]] [[:>_Talk to him about whatever comes to mind|tseekchatter]] [[:>_Fight him|tseekfight]]</div>

<div id="header">Run</div> <div align='center'>No mythic treasure is worth risking your life, alright. <<seeker>>“Just, we need ro get out of here. You have a ship close by? Mine isn’t anywhere to be found.”<</seeker>> The officer nods. <<spacecop>>“Of course. Let’s hurry and get ourselves out of this situation.”<</spacecop>> And so, you two do just that. Running down the hallways, sneaking past what you think might be cameras or security drones, all in the name of trying to escape the ship. Eventually, you find yourself in a docking bay-- and there’s your ship! Alongside the police cruiser! <<seeker>>“My ship!”<</seeker>> <<spacecop>>“Oh, that’s your ship? I just assumed that it belonged to the Guardian. Well, how about we--”<</spacecop>> Before anything else can be said, you run inside your ship, soon after finding the comforting familiar pilots chair. You use the announcement system to continue to talk to the officer: <<seeker>>“Yes yes, head back to the station and make a full report. I’ll take my ship, let’s just hurry.”<</seeker>> Before he can say anything in response, you begin the undocking process and he scrambles to his own ship. Not long after, you’re rocketing a respectful distance away from The Guardian’s base. You hover there, waiting, and think… You really didn’t see much of anything of the guardian, huh. Can you really make a proper report? Well, that much depends on if you’re actually going to go to the station that is, of course. You’re not so sure.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Seek Treasure</div> <div align='center'>This is what will probably be your one and only chance. You can’t mess this up. <<seeker>>“Just… okay, while we’re making our way out, can you please cover me while I search for something?”<</seeker>> The cop looks skeptical, and you try to bargain. <<seeker>>“I swear, it would only take five minutes, and we’re not even guaranteed to come across anything weird. If we do, I’d just ask for five minutes to do what I do and seek some treasure.”<</seeker>> He frowns. <<spacecop>>“I don’t know about this--”<</spacecop>> A loud metal creak from somewhere in the ship makes him jump, yell a little bit. So the guy is as nervous as he is overconfident, eh? <<seeker>>“Once that treasure is mine, we’ll be out of here. Not a minute past the five, I promise.”<</seeker>> <<spacecop>>“... Alright, fine. Fine, but only five minutes, and only once!”<</spacecop>> You nod. That’s all you’d need. You two sneak around the ship, and you’re careful to go slow so not to miss on anything that seems important. Eventually, you see… something. The Workshop? An open doorway, with tubes of glowing goo and wires moving in and out of it. This seems like something. You tell the cop to guard this menacing doorway as you head inside to look around. You see workbenches full of half-completed tools with unknown purposes. Notes with bizarre alien text are scattered everywhere. You have an eye for the weird and the valuable, but… well, all of this is weird! And who knows what amongst it is actually valuable! In the midst of your puzzlement, you’re brought back to reality to the sound of laser pistol shots, followed by a surprised yell from your would-be rescquerer. Seems that trouble has finally found you. You quickly grab some random thing from a workbench (tearing it away from some tubes and wires), pray that it does something, and rush out to face The Guardian. The Guardian, a massive alien that is seemingly as much cyborg as it is organic, turns to look at you as you wield the stolen goods in your hands. The signs of a firefight have left a few still-smoking scorchmarks on the walls, but it seems that The Guardian had better aim than your companion. As The Guardian focuses its attention to you, and you see him tense up in a panic, soon bounding after you, reaching for the item you hold. <<guardian>>“What the- NO!-”<</guardian>> Before anything else is said, you fire. You didn’t even realize what you stole was a weapon, but you see yourself aim it at The Guardian one second… and the next second The Guardian isn’t there. All that’s left is the smell of ozone and a few flakes of metal that fall to the ground. You and the cop take a moment to catch your breaths, and again the ship creaks. <<spacecop>>“Maybe there’s more than one guardian. Or maybe this ship doesn’t like being without its only one…” <</spacecop>> You nod slowly, looking at the gun in your hand. You don’t know what it really is, if being a vanisher is what it’s true purpose is, but… Well, you may come back here, if this one thing turns out to be as useful as you suspect it will be. <<seeker>>“Let’s get out of here. Thanks for humoring me.”<</seeker>> <<spacecop>>“Uh… of course. No problem.”<</spacecop>></div> <div id= "ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Leave</div> <div align='center'>I mean. Fair’s fair, you did get caught and… well, you are by all accounts in the wrong here. You’ve never really had a hostile alien politely ask you to leave. I guess hostile isn’t the correct word, then? You nod slowly, agreeing to leave. The Guardian sighs. <<guardian>>“Thank you. I presumed you arrived here on some personal shuttle? I’ll see you going.”<</guardian>> And The Guardian does just that. You’re wordlessly walked to your ship, docked safely, and The Guardian waves goodbye as you fly a distance away. Looking back towards the guardians ship, you see it just before it leaps into hyperspace, gone without so much of a trace. Who knows where it could be now.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Talk</div> <<if $learnedthings eq true>> <div align='center'>You think for a moment about what to talk about. But then you remember, you actually have a lot of questions! <<seeker>>“Wait wait actually. Before you throw me out, can I ask you some questions?”<</seeker>> <<guardian>>“I don’t answer about my tech--”<</guardian>> <<seeker>>“Not about the tech, not right now. I want to know some of that of course later, but… well, who are you? What are you? Where are you from? Why exactly does this tech need a guardian?”<</seeker>> Your questions take him off guard for a second. <<guardian>>“I uh… Oh yeesh okay, hm.” He looks around for a second. <<guardian>>“Can… How do you feel about tea? Let’s move to the kitchen so we can have tea. Sorry, I’m not used to having people want to talk to me. I also don’t really know how I feel about it.”<</guardian>> You shrug. Understandable. You both walk to what you suppose resembles a kitchen, and have a seat at the table. A few minutes later, The Guardian brings two mugs of tea. You’re not sure if it’s digestible for a human like you, but you thank The Guardian anyhow. <<guardian>>“Now, I can’t promise I’ll answer everything, stranger. I still might just kick you out. But… what do you want to know?”<</guardian>> You smile. Even if you can’t get access to the treasures, this might do for now. </div> <div id="ending"> <div id="ending">[End]</div> </div> <<else>> <div align='center'>You scramble for a moment to think of something to talk about. Nothing comes to mind and The Guarding is staring at you somewhat harshly, so you panic. <<seeker>>“WHY DO YOU HAVE METAL ON YOUR FACE?”<</seeker>> You both pause. <<guardian>>“Excuse me?”<</guardian>> <<seeker>>“I ask because it… looks nice on you and I wanted to know why?”<</seeker>> You lie because you don’t know where to go from here. Surprisingly though, The Guardian’s face kinda lights up at that. <<guardian>>“Well...Thank you! I’ve always worried that the bio-enhancers would ruin my appearance so I’ve had to balance that out, but when you live on your own your resources are limited. I suppose my answer is ‘because fashion’? But really it goes beyond that. Like this one bit of metal on my neck was from a surgery but then it kinda reminded me of this old story back on my homeworld so I-”<</guardian>> He’s rambling. You just nod, not paying much attention. <<guardian>>“-And you know not many humanoids can appreciate the arts nonhumanoids are bringing to the table. I’m a damn good metal-gelsmith if I say so myself, but am I ever recognized for it? Of course not. I mean sure I know of the rumors about me, but-”<</guardian>> Still going…. <<guardian>>“-Do you know how hard it is to be a one-person-crew for a ship this big? The mechanical costs alone are hellish. I mean she’s still the best ship out there, she’s got hyperspeeds for pete's sake, but-”<</guardian>> Still going. Oh dear. You may be here for a while.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <</if>> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Fight</div> <<if $foundship eq true>> <div align='center'> Thinking you can get the upper hand if you attack quickly, you rush him. You take out your small trusty laser pistol you have at your side, and try to shoot at one of his shins as you try to trip at the other. He’s caught off guard and falls to the floor, hissing in pain, and turns to look at you, rage and fight in his eyes. Some of the unknown technology embedded in him starts to glow, and he stands back up on his two feet, ignoring the pain (or perhaps already healing from it?). He also then summons some kind of taser rifle from thin air. Shoot. You may be outmatched here. Thankfully, you have a way out. Shooting some bolts as a diversion, you quickly hightail it over to the dock where you found your ship, The Guardian chasing after you. You run to your ship, and you’re able to undock just in time. You scratch your ship up, bumping into walls and denting some metal as you try and turn to escape, but you do so. Whew! That could have been real bad. </div> <div id="ending"> <div id="ending">[End]</div> </div> <<else>> <div align='center'>Thinking you can get the upper hand if you attack quickly, you rush him. You take out your small trusty laser pistol you have at your side, and try to shoot at one of his shins as you try to trip at the other. He’s caught off guard and falls to the floor, hissing in pain, and turns to look at you, rage and fight in his eyes. Some of the unknown technology embedded in him starts to glow, and he stands back up on his two feet, ignoring the pain (or perhaps already healing from it?). He also then summons some kind of taser rifle from thin air. Shoot. You may be outmatched here. But you don’t really have any backup plans… A bolt from The Guardians taser gun hits you in the shoulder, and it hurts but not enough to knock you out. The second shot though, that hits your neck. That’s definitely enough to knock you out. <<guardian>>“Wait, nonononono! That wasn’t supposed to-” <</guardian>> You fall to the ground, feeling yourself lose consciousness. Funny enough, you just barely notice The Guardian try and shake you awake, to no success. He seems to be panicking. You suppose you should be as well, but you’re too not-concious to really act on that judgement now. </div> <div id="ending"> <div id="ending">[End]</div> </div> <</if>> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">[THE STUDY]</div> <div align='center'>Bookshelves line the walls, with numerous books you’ve never seen before. While there are holes in the wall, the room still feels warm from the roaring fireplace and thesoft oak bookshelves. That’s when you see… him. The Draco-warlock is sleeping peacefully in front of a roaring fireplace, reclining on a very large sofa. The draco-warlock is large, easily at least 10 feet tall were he to stand on his hind legs. He looks like a strange dragon; his front ‘feet’ seem more like hands with opposable thumbs, and he bothers to wear what looks to be a vest and pants tailor made for him, as well as a pair of glasses currently crooked.. Though he lacks wings, he does still have a long tail, longer neck, and snout of other dragons you’ve heard of. His scales are a dark jade green. <<if $haskey eq false>> He seems to be clutching a key close to his chest. <</if>> [[:>_Kill the beast in its sleep|knightkill1]] [[:>_Wake the beast|knightwake]] <<if $haskey eq false>>[[:>_Steal the key|knighttakekey]]<</if>> <<if $hasbook eq false>>[[:>_Grab a book|knighttakebook]]<</if>> [[:>_Sneak to the Grand hall|knightgrandhall]] </div>

<div id="header">Kill</div> <div align='center'>You ready your sword, and carefully sneak up to the beast. You hover the sword over the dragon's neck, and stab down with all the force you can muster. You pierce the monster's throat, and its eyes are thrown open. It roars, knocking both you and the sofa over as it struggles to its feet. It’s clutching its throat, fire bellowing forth from its mouth seemingly uncontrollably now. You try to escape the room, but you’re soon dragged back into the blazing inferno as the draco-warlock casts a spell that grabs you by the ankle. Your battle with the monster lasts a while. Eventually you’re able to reclaim your sword and properly kill the beast, but by the time you do that fire has engulfed nearly every inch of the room. And so, you meet an early end.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Wake the beast</div> <div align='center'>You carefully walk up to the monster, who is sleeping soundly. You contemplate just ending the fight here before it can begin, but no. It’s only fair to give the monster a chance. You tap the monster on its shoulder, a few times. His eyes flutter open, and as soon as he sees you he screams with an “EEK” and flings himself over the couch, away from you. <<dragon>> “W-who are you? What do you want???” <</dragon>> [[:>_Say: "I want to rescue the maiden."|knightsayhelpmaiden]] [[:>_Say: “I want to know what you have here.”|knightsaygossip]] [[:>_Say: “I’m here to kill you.”|knightsaykill]] [[:>_Say: “I wanted to see you for myself.”|knightsayflirt]] </div>

<div id="header">Take Key</div> <div align='center'><<set $haskey to true>> Carefully, you try and grab the key from the dracolich… slowly you inch it away from his strong grip. Though he stirs at points, you’re able to grab the draco-key! Success! <<return ":>_The Study">> </div>

<div id="header">Take Book</div> <<set $hasbook to true>> <div align='center'>You grab a random book from the shelves. It may be useful? You’re not playing the most… intellectually-focused characters (as not many knights are known for using their intellect over their strength) but y'know. Maybe. <<return ":>_The Study">> </div>

<div id="header">Explain your quest</div> <div align='center'><<knight>> <<typesim "I want to rescue the maiden.">>\ <</typesim>>\ <</knight>> The Draco-Warlock looks puzzled at you. <<dragon>>“I… I have The Maiden here? Goodness, I did not know! I must have left the door unlocked.”<</dragon>> <<knight>> <<typesim "I...somewhat doubt that.">>\ <</typesim>>\ <</knight>> <<dragon>>“Well, I’m sorry! I’d love to help you find her! I personally would rather she not be here either. I don’t like uninvited guests, it makes me worried.”<</dragon>> He laughs. <<dragon>>“I’ve had too many people try and kill me before, so having someone in my home unknowingly is a nightmare of mine.”<</dragon>> [[:>_Say: “Thank you, Draco-Warlock. I would love the help.”|knightsay]] [[:>_Say: “On second thought, I’m here to kill you.” |knightsaykill]]</div>

<div id="header">Ask for info</div> <div align='center'>The monster pauses for a second… and shakes its head. <<dragon>>“No no no. I’m sorry, but I cannot tell you that. I need you to leave, as soon as possible.”<</dragon>> <<knight>>“What do you mean?”<</knight>> <<dragon>>“Please just… leave. I can’t have anyone here.”<</dragon>> [[:>_Leave|knightleave]] [[:>_Say: “I’ll just kill you instead.” |knightsaykill]] [[:>_Say: “I wanted to see you for myself.”|knightsayflirt]] [[:>_Say: “I just want to rescue the Maiden”|knightsayhelpmaiden]] </div>

<div id="header">Attack</div> <div align='center'>The Draco-Warlock reels back as you draw your sword and brace for an attack. Your battle was truly epic, and you and the monster both looked extremely cool. Your narrator however is feeling a bit too lazy to type it right now. So, you kill the monster. However, your battle left you with grave injuries… and you don’t last for much longer than the monster. <div id="ending">[End]</div> [[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Ask for info</div> <div align='center'>The monster pauses. <<dragon>>“I… oh, uh. I did not expect this!”<</dragon>> <<if $hasglowstone eq true>> The draco-warlock notices the glowing stone you have. <<dragon>> “Oh- the glowing stone! That’s mine, if you’d please--”<</dragon>> The draco-beast takes the stone from you before you could react. <<dragon>> “This stone is pretty precious to me. You see, it’s key to my abilities. I’m pretty sure I may as well be dead without it!” <</dragon>> The draco-warlock smiles at you. <<dragon>>“I owe you. If this got in the wrong hands, I’d be in so much trouble. I’ll…”<</dragon>> He claps his hands together. <<dragon>>“I know! I have a whole library of information, I simply MUST teach you something!”<</dragon>> Before you can object, he sits you down and starts reading aloud from one of his many, many books. You’re… gonna be here a while. END GAME [[:>_Credits|Credits]] <<elseif $hasbook eq true>> The monster pauses. <<dragon>> “Ah… stories. I see you have one of my books. One of the books on me, actually.”<</dragon>> He shakes his head. <<dragon>> “I am… or well, I like to think I’m a bit more sympathetic than others may know. I did do some horrible things in the past, but...” <</dragon>> He sighs. <<dragon>> “That’s neither here nor there.”<</dragon>> <<else>> The draco-warlock looks around a bit awkwardly. <<dragon>>“I’m not sure what to say. You are a stranger in my home and I am not known for the best of reputations. Plus, you are a knight. I… my kind tend to not have fantastic experiences with your kind. I hope you can understand.”<</dragon>> <</if>> [[:>_Kill the beast |knightsaykill]] [[:>_Leave|knightleave]] [[:>_Ask for help with rescuing the Maiden|knightsayhelpmaiden]]</div>

<div id="header">Ask for help</div> <div align='center'>With your combined work, you and the draco-warlock search the castle and find The Maiden in no time. The Maiden was found hiding in the tallest tower, how she got there was a complete mystery. Surprisingly, she somewhat objects to leaving, but the maiden has a kingdom to return to and the draco-warlock would really rather not have strangers in his home for much longer so really she’s just outvoted here. Soon, you’re out of the castle, maiden in hand. The draco-warlock waves you both goodbye as he closes the door behind you both. Soon, you’re both riding off into the sunset. You rescued the maiden! All in a good day's work for a knight.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Leave </div> <div align='center'>As per the monster's request, you leave. The draco-warlock ushers you out, and waves you goodbye. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header"> [THE DINING HALL] </div> <div align='center'>The dining hall is as quiet as the grand hall. The room itself is decorated with flowers and paintings, but those decorations seem as old as the rest of the house. A very large (and slightly burnt) table is surrounded by old wooden chairs. On the table is a note, a pink glowing stone, and… a whole cooked turkey. [[:>_Read note|knightreadnote]] <<if $hasstone eq false>>[[:>_Take glowing stone|knighttakestone]]<</if>> [[:>_Eat some turkey|knighteatturkey]] [[:>_Go to Grand hall|knightgrandhall]]</div>

<div align='center'>You go to the bathrooms. Uhhh… Yeah, you don’t find anything there.</div> <div id="narrator"> What do you want me to make a plunger an important quest item here? Cmon. Cut me some slack. This is a high fantasy setting, you're not gonna find anything important here.</div> <div align='center'>You go back to The Grand Hall. <<return ":>_The Grand Hall">></div>

<div id="header"> [THE STORAGE ROOMS] </div> <div align='center'>You go to the storage room. The dust lining the stone walls would make anyone go into a sneezing fit, but you manage to hold yourself together. Crates of all kinds are scattered across the floor: Some opened, some smashed to pieces, others completely unharmed. You see at least one with an interesting lock on the front. You also see two very faint sigils painted on the wall: One is a purple sigil that has a slot carved in the center for some kind of gemstone. The other is a similar sigil, except green and with numerous other slots exactly the size and shape of coins. [[:>_Examine crate|knightcrate]] [[:>_Examine purple sigil|knightpsigil]] [[:>_Examine green sigil|knightgsigil]] [[:>_Return to The Grand hall|knightgrandhall]]</div>

<div id="header"> [THE TALLEST TOWER] </div> <div align='center'> Of course! The Maiden MUST be hiding in the tallest tower! Fits all the tropes, right? You try the door that would lead you up into the tower, and... <<if $hashey eq false>> Dangit, it’s locked! Gotta find the key! [[:>_The Grand Hall|knightgrandhall]] <<else>> Success! The door unlocks and slowly creeks open. You carefully walk up the stairs, trying not to make your footsteps echo so much. Eventually, you reach the top and… There’s the maiden, pacing in what looks to be a guest bedroom. She notices you and frowns. <<maiden>>“Ah… brave knight. ”<</maiden>> She doesn’t look so happy to see you. <<maiden>>“I did not need your ‘rescue.’ The door may be locked, but beasts are not the only ones with magic. I think I can free us, just…”<</maiden>> She pauses, and silently ushers you down back the stairs with her. When you both return to the grand hall, she holds up a finger. With a wave of her hand, she points purple magic towards the front door and it starts to unlock itself. Just as she does this, you can hear rumbling coming from the study. The monster is waking. You try and run towards the door, but the maiden stops. <<maiden>>“No, I need to do one quick thing! Please!”<</maiden>> [[:>_Run, now|knightrunwmaiden]] [[:>_Buy the maiden some time|knighthelpmaidensupport]] <</if>> </div>

<div id="header">Read Note</div> <div align='center'>You take a look at the note on the table. It says: “Combo 2413. Purple + pink = out. Green + pink + $ = Power” <<return ":>_The Dining Hall">></div>

<div id="header">Take Stone</div> <<set $hasstone to true>> <div align='center'>You take the pink glowing stone. It feels warm to the touch, like a cup of tea. You wave it around a few time, and though it leaves a glowing trail in the air temporarily... nothing else happens. It’s most probably magic, so it’s probably useful somehow? <<return ":>_The Dining Hall">></div>

<div id="header">Eat Turkey</div> <div align='center'> You… You’ve broken into some random castle, which is kinda old and decaying, and you find some food. This isn’t your food, and even if it was unclaimed… you choose to eat random castle turkey? This feels both rude and unsanitary somehow. You’re being kind of a jerk, $name. But, sure. You eat some turkey. Not all of the turkey, but some. Yum. <<return ":>_The Dining Hall">> </div>

<div id="header">Examine Crate</div> <div align='center'>You look at the locked crate. It has a weird lock system, where you have to arrange numbers in some odd way… <<set _correct to [false, false, false]>>\ Enter the code: <<swap>>1<<onswap>> <<if swapCurrent() is '2'>> <<set _correct[0] to true>> <<else>> <<set _correct[0] to false>> <</if>> <</swap>> <<swap>>2<<onswap>> <<if swapCurrent() is '4'>> <<set _correct[1] to true>> <<else>> <<set _correct[1] to false>> <</if>> <</swap>> <<swap>>3<<onswap>> <<if swapCurrent() is '1'>> <<set _correct[2] to true>> <<else>> <<set _correct[2] to false>> <</if>> <</swap>> <<swap>>4<<onswap>> <<if swapCurrent() is '3'>> <<set _correct[3] to true>> <<else>> <<set _correct[3] to false>> <</if>> <</swap>> <span id="solved"> @@#not-right;@@ <<button "Try the combination...">> <<if not _correct.includes(false)>> <<set $hasgold to true>> <<replace '#solved'>>You hear a click and the lock comes off! Opening the crate, you see… Woah. That’s… That’s a lot of gold. Gold that you doubt this beast could have gotten in a humane way. There are signet rings, crowns, what look to be bones casted in gold… unnerving. You take some gold because why would you not?<</replace>> <<else>> <<replace '#not-right'>>No, that's not it... The lock stays locked.<</replace>> <</if>> <</button>> </span> /%Correct combo is 2413%/ <<return ":>_The Storage Room">> </div>

<div id="header">The Purple Sigil</div> <div align='center'> You examine the purple sigil on the wall. It takes a moment, but after a moment you realize that the sigil is just the image of a large set of doors held in a circle and given details, with a slot where a doorknob-shaped object would be. Perhaps this is the way to get out of here? You touch the sigil and it glows softly, but nothing else happens. [[:>_The Storage Room|knightstorage]] <<if $hasglowstone eq true>>[[:>_Place glowing stone as doorknob|knightpsigilknob]] <</if>> </div>

<div id="header">The Green Sigil</div> <div align='center'>This sigil is more like a mural, showing what you imagined the draco-warlock to look like. You see a large red dragon, coiled in on itself and breathing magical fire, while villages in the background burn. There is one larger slot in his eye socket, and many other smaller ones along his scaled body. [[:>_The Storage Room|knightstorage]] <<if $hasglowstone eq true && $hasgold eq true>>[[:>_Complete sigil|knightgsigilcomplete]]<</if>> </div>

<div id="header">Complete Sigil</div> <div align='center'>You place the stone into the slot, and the softly glowing sigil flares to life. The sounds of a door creaking open deafeningly ring throughout the castle, and you see the image of the door in front of you... open up. Through it you see a heavenly peaceful field, somewhere you aren't familar. However, you soon hear something loud enough to match the sound of the door-portal before you: The sound of shattering stone, followed by the roar of a dragon. <<dragon>> WHAT?!?!? <</dragon>> Oh, yeah. The castle seems to be collapsing in on itself. And, the beast is awake. Though you’ve found an exit, it’s clear that you don’t have any time to waste in using it. Sorry Maiden, but you need to go! And you do. Before the monster can realize what has happened, you bolt through the portal-door ahead of you, faceplanting into the soft grass below. You run a bit ahead, and looking back you see glimpses of the castle crumbling through the portal... before it closes, and you're left alone. Wait, where did the portal drop you? Uh oh.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Complete Sigil</div> <div align='center'>You stick the glowing stone in the eye socket of the dragon, and golden coins by the scales. As soon as you finish doing that, the sigil glows a dark green, and zaps you with magical energy, having you double over backward in pain. The draco-warlock seemingly is experiencing something similar, as you can hear his roar echo throughout the castle suddenly. After a moment though, it passes. You can feel fire and magic running through your veins. You head out into the hallway to see the beast heading your way, though he freezes upon seeing you. He tries to breathe fire on you, but nothing happens… You retaliate in kind, waving your hand causing a jet of fire to spring forth from nothing. You look down at yourself as the beast panics in the background, and smile to yourself. Forget the maiden, this power… you could get used to this power.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Run</div> <div align='center'>Ignoring the maidens' request, you take her arm and book it through the front door. Not a second too soon either, since as soon as you’re through the front gates you hear a monstrous voice from behind you say: <<maiden>>“Wait, WHAT--”<</maiden>> As the door closes behind you. You and the maiden quickly hop on your steed, and are gone before the beast can make a move. The princess doesn’t look particularly happy with you and isn’t speaking much on the ride back home, but… Mission complete!</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Guard</div> <div align='center'>You draw your sword and nod to the maiden. You tell her that you’ll hold off the monster but she needs to hurry. She quickly hurries off to the dining hall area, and not long after that does the monster emerge, rubbing sleep from his eyes. He soon recognizes you, and flares up. <<dragon>>“What the… No, no no no you need to LEAVE!”<</dragon>> Fire starts spewing from his mouth as he clashes with you. The candles lighting the area are quickly knocked over as you’re trying to dodge his attacks. You see the maiden quickly emerge from the dining room and duck into the storage room. You see this happen just as the monster knocks your sword and shield away, leaving you defenseless. You duck and weave away from the monster as long as you can, but soon he gets a tight grip on your arm, bringing you close. You can see flames growing ever brighter and brace yourself for the worst. Suddenly, a flash of green light wafts over you both. While you feel nothing, the creature in front of you lets go of your arm, doubling over in pain. Soon, it is blasted away by different fire, knocking it against the far wall. You look over and see the maiden, covered in a green aura and golden accessories you did not see before. Finally, the maiden smiles at you. <<maiden>>“Thank you, brave knight. For your rescue attempt, for holding off the monster, and for having some faith in me.”<</maiden>> She takes your hand, and starts walking towards the door. <<maiden>>“I’m done here. Let’s go home.”<</maiden>></div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Seek Treasure</div> <div align='center'>Treasure hunting time! If you had to guess, since you’re looking for tech… The weird life-changing tech you’re looking for should be either in the library, or in the workshop somewhere. The library is a bit less likely, but if it’s there… well, you can learn some things at least. If you do find something, it’ll be well documented. But also, do you really wanna doddle right now? The Workshop probably has the exact goods you’re looking for, so you could just start there and be done with it. [[:>_Take your time exploring to learn some things|tseeklearn]] [[:>_No, bolt directly for the treasure.|tseekbolttotreasure]]</div>

<div id="header">Seek The Guardian</div> <div align='center'>You seek, and you find. He’s looking over something in the lounge and seemingly going through a mental checklist when he notices you and jumps in surprise. He is… big. Easily at least 8 ft tall, and that’s with his neck curled down to look at you. Still, you approach. He looks somewhat confused, and perhaps a bit nervous. He doesn’t seem to know what to do at this moment, so it's up to you to act. <<guardian>> "Excuse me, but... who are you?" <</guardian>> What now? [[:>_Fight him|tseekfight]] [[:>_Talk to him about whatever comes to mind|tseekchatter]] </div>

<div id="header">Search for the exit</div> <<set $foundship to true>> <div align='center'>Good plan! Best have all your bases covered. Your ship was taken away somewhere, best find it so you can make a getaway. You creep over to the docks, and there it is! Your trusty ship! You run over to it, and give it a once over… yup, seems to be in working order, nothing broken or stolen. You hop inside and flick a few switches on, preparing it to fly out fast if you need a speedy escape. Now that you’re here.. Yknow, you could set a trap for the guardian. Make sure he doesn’t mess with your ship. You’ll have to improvise with stuff you see around the dock, but you can do it. Or, you could say heck to it and go confront the guardian or go search for the treasure now. Or, you can just leave. So many choices. [[:>_Leave|tseekleaveonown]] [[:>_Set a trap|tseektrap]] [[:>_Go Search for the treasure|tseek4treasure]] [[:>_Search for the guardian|tseek4guardian]]</div>

<div id="header">Learn some things</div> <<set $learnedthings to true>> <div align='center'>You stealth over to the library. As you suspected, books. Many many books. Some datapads too, but mostly books that you don’t have time to read. However, keyword is mostly. Just skimming a few of the scattered pages around, you learn a few things about the tech you’re searching for. It’s perhaps religious in origin, there are multiple guardians but none others close by, the exact abilities these devices can grant vary but can definitely apply to anyone, the guardian himself is an alien but from a group you’ve never heard of before, the ship itself might run on this far-future tech… Lots of interesting leads! It’s somewhat annoying how nothing you read gives you any solid information, but oh well. It’s a start, and by the end you’re fairly confident that you’re the leading expert on the guardians stuff thanks to this execution… aside from The Guardian himself that is.</div> <div id="narrator"> … Have you ever heard of the ‘Coding Games’ Genre? I’ve only heard of it recently, and I’m saddened that a younger-me wasn’t able to grow up on them. The premise of the genre is simple: Play a game, learn some code or coding logic on the way. I bring it up now partially because many of these games have a space-cyberpunk aesthetic to them, and partially because they’re a weirdly effective way of learning. I wish I was joking, but… To reveal a bit about your narrator here, I study computers. And, one element of computers is the ‘Assembly’ language, which you can think of as a halfway between binary and what you actually write with code. I had to know assembly, and I was bad at it. So, I played a game called “Human Resource Machine”, by Tomorrow Corporation. It was a coding puzzle game that was essentially just assembly. Playing that game, going through levels, it helped me get past some of my confusion with that aspect of my studies. Playing a game helped me learn. How cool is that! Games as teacher… Of course it won’t work in all cases, but it sounds like a fantastic tool to me. And I’m not alone, it seems! The University of Toronto has an entire guide titled “Digital Pedagogy - A Guide for Librarians, Faculty, and Students” that discusses the many upsides (and some downsides) to learning through games. It cites increased engagement and room to safely experiment being advantages to games as learning, and I agree from my own personal experience. Human Resource Machine let me mess up plenty of times without much downside, and that safety net of failure let me learn. And this game did it with basically no characters, and no plot! Imagine a game that had some interesting plot, and at one point the characters started to research ancient histories or learn about really complex chemistry facts in a way that would be relevant to the player later. It no doubt wouldn't be perfect, but it would be fantastic! ... </div> <div align='center'>Anyhow. Just as you’ve finished learning some things… you hear footsteps from down the corridor. Big, heavy footsteps, heading away from you. No doubt The Guardian on some kinda patrol. [[:>_Seek the Guardian|tseek4guardian]] [[:>_Bolt for the treasue|tseek4treasure]] [[:>_Search for the exit|tseek4exit]] </div>

<div id="header">Run to treasure</div> <<if $learnedthings eq true && $hasship eq true>> <div align='center'>It takes a bit of dodging cameras, but eventually you find a way to The Workshop. You see workbenches full of half-completed tools with unknown purposes. Notes with bizarre alien text are scattered everywhere. You have an eye for the weird and the valuable, but… well, all of this is weird! And who knows what amongst it is actually valuable! After a quick glance, you see something. A weird necklace-like thing that is lined with crystal-like blue computer chips. You recognize this. This, this is the big thing. This is the thing that’ll make you immortal. Bigtime immortal, the computer chips act as a way to micromanage the functioning of your cells for you. No data loss with cell replication, no lack of/overabundance of biochemicals, better immune system… All so long as you’re baseline-level healthy when you first put it on, so it can scan you. Well, you’re feeling pretty young and healthy right this moment. You put on the necklace, and for a brief moment it’s tight and choking. You can’t breathe for what feels like an hour, but is in reality only twenty seconds. Finally, it stops. The necklace feels part of you now, like an extension of yourself. That’s... probably a good thing? As soon as that event ends, you see him. The Guardian, hovering by the door looking absolutely shocked. <<guardian>> “What… What have you done…?” <</guardian>> Without a moment’s hesitation, you push past him, knocking him to the side as you sprint down the hall towards the dock. You rush into your ship, and start the takeoff sequence. <<guardian>> “Wait! Wait, stop, please!” <</guardian>> You pay The Guardian no need as your ship sparks to life and you fly out, foot on the gas as you speed away from The Guardians Ship. You lightly touch what is now your necklace and smile. If this isn’t false advertising… well, you could get used to this. <div id="ending">[End]</div> [[Credits|Credits]] </div> <<elseif $learnedthings != true && $hasship eq true>> <div align='center'>It takes a bit of dodging cameras, but eventually you find a way to The Workshop. You see workbenches full of half-completed tools with unknown purposes. Notes with bizarre alien text are scattered everywhere. You have an eye for the weird and the valuable, but… well, all of this is weird! And who knows what amongst it is actually valuable! You pick up what looks to be a necklace of somesort. A weird necklace-like thing at least that is lined with crystal-like blue computer chips. It’s pretty and it catches your eye long enough to pick it up. You look around; no instruction manual or anything. Hm, that’s inconvenient. It’s probably not safe to just put it on, but it has to do something, right…? As soon as you finish that thought, a figure appears in the doorway. The Guardian. He’s looking directly at you. <<guardian>> “I… who are you?”<</guardian>> Without a moment’s hesitation, you push past him, knocking him to the side as you sprint down the hall towards the dock. You rush into your ship, and start the takeoff sequence. <<guardian>> “Wait! Wait, stop, please! Give that back, you don’t know what you have!”<</guardian>> You pay The Guardian no need as your ship sparks to life and you fly out, foot on the gas as you speed away from The Guardians Ship. He was right about one thing though… you don’t know what you have, and from that tone it could very well be dangerous. You’re not gonna put it on, that’s for sure… but someone out there will no doubt pay a lot for this possibly-dangerous something they don’t understand. <div id="ending">[End]</div> [[Credits|Credits]] </div> <<else>> <div align='center'> It takes a bit of dodging cameras, but eventually you find a way to The Workshop. You see workbenches full of half-completed tools with unknown purposes. Notes with bizarre alien text are scattered everywhere. You have an eye for the weird and the valuable, but… well, all of this is weird! And who knows what amongst it is actually valuable! You’re overwhelmed. Something should have caught your eye by now, but it’s like you have too much choice and not enough options. Do you go for the jewelry? The Bigger machines? The things that look like sculptures? What is worth taking here aside from everything…? You grab hold of this knife-looking thing and a metal tablet with some glowing fractal-like symbols on it, trying to figure out what’s up with them... You don’t even notice The Guardian approach until he’s right behind you. <<guardian>> “Ahem. You shouldn’t be here, rogue.”<</guardian>> Ah, shoot. You got caught. Gotta think fast...</div> <</if>> <div align='center'> [[:>_Quickly try to grab and use treasure and use it|tseeknabtreasure]] [[:>_Be confronted |tseekbefound]]</div>

<div id="header">Leave</div> <div align='center'>You found your ship. The Guardian didn’t notice you. You can just leave and not have to deal with this situation anymore. No space cops involved, no more dangerous aliens… Yeah, that sounds good. You pack up your stuff, set the engines on your ship to Go, and fly out back into the stars. There’s more treasure elsewhere. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Make a trap</div> <div align='center'>Using what bits and bobs you find around the dock, you build a fantastic trap. There’s no way The Guardian can mess with your stuff. You know this because right as you finish, you look at your handiwork, basking in its awe… The Guardian arrives. He looks around at the mess you’ve made, with parts of shipes, tools, wires, oil, paint, and… well everything you can find, scattered everywhere. <<guardian>>“I….. What?”<</guardian>> He then looks at you, confused, as he reaches a hand out to pick up an improvised beartrap you made out of wire and jet-parts. It snaps around his hand, and though he flinches in shock, it doesn’t seem like it has done anything other than behave like a somewhat-pinching metal glove. He holds up the trap biting his hand, looks to you, and points to it in baffled confusion. <<seeker>>This… is awkward. Um." <</seeker>> You silently start to clean up the mess you made. The Guardian sternly nods as you do so. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'>[img[images/yourchoiceintro.png][Begin Game]]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Check on The Venom </div> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $venom to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div align='center'>You head to your storage room, and make sure that The Venom is still safe and sound. If you had infinite space and infinite resources, you’d probably prefer to store The Venom some other place than literally right next to your hardware shelves and old dusty furniture. But, you don’t and so you must. In a sense this might give The Venom some camouflage you suppose; old dusty things surrounded by old dusty things. You check and-- yup. Still there, not having moved a fraction of an inch since last you looked at it. The rest of the storage room looks about the same, and you mentally remind yourself that you ought to clean this room sometime later this week. Something at the corner of the room catches your attention though. A safe. Specifically, a safe with a kinda weak lock thanks to you accidentally breaking it that one time. But… better than having your valuables out in the open, right? You carry The Venom over to the safe, and quickly lock it up. The door is a bit wobbly, but… eh, it’ll do. You pause before you start to leave. If you’re gonna be cleaning up this room later anyhow… You make a mess of the room. Sharp nails and screws scatter the floor. Furniture and boxes arranged to make travel frustrating. Tripping and falling loudly and painfully almost a guarantee. Overkill? Yes. You’ll probably regret making a mess of the place later, but you’ll survive some pointless cleanup later. This is for your reassurance now. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div id="header">Go Outside</div> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $outside to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div align='center'>It’s cold. It’s //cold cold cold cold cold.// And you, the reptile that you are, do not handle cold well. It’s not even as cold as it can get out here, but the breeze chills you to your bones. Still, you need to tough it out. You throw on a coat and investigate outside. You look around, searching for evidence of someone being a snoop outside. Thankfully, you don’t actually find anything. There’s a lot of outside to search of course, and maybe your eagerness to get back inside meant that you didn’t do the best job searching, but you searched. To make it up to yourself, you do two things while you’re outside: You check the generator and the porch alarms. Both seem to work, thankfully, though you did have to flip a few switches back into place. No sudden blackouts for you, and if someone does try to break in now everyone in a two mile radius will hear it. With that done, you head back inside. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div id="header">Search inside the house </div> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $inside to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div align='center'>If there’s someone in your house… well, you’d rather not be the case. So, you scour your entire house: Living room, bedroom, guestroom, kitchen, storage room, office… nothing. No one. While you’re there you make sure to lock some doors of course, but you find no sign of anyone actually being here. Hm... [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div id="header">Calm Yourself</div> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $calm to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div align='center'>You take a moment. You take a long moment. Maybe meditate a little bit. If something strange is going on - and you don’t have proof that something is going on - then panicking won’t help you. You calm yourself. You take a breath. It maybe takes a little bit of doing nothing to center yourself, but your head feels clearer. You feel more confident in the decisions you’re about to make. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $priorities to $numchoices>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div id="header">Check your priorities</div> <div align='center'>You pause. Let’s review your priorities. You’re a meta-human, strong but perhaps misunderstood. If you get into a fight, you’d probably win. But… you don’t want to get into a fight. That isn’t you. Maybe you’re a pacifist? You’re not sure. If someone was here and wanted you dead, you’d just run, you have some people you can go to thankfully… But, it’s not just you that’s on the line if something goes wrong. You have something in your possession that is important to not just you, but also to many people like you. You can’t just leave it here and hightail it. If you took it with you with this as a precedent, you probably would just flee every new place the second you got anxious. If someone were to try to take that from you though? Would you fight for it? Probably, yes. Would you kill for it, especially if they would kill you for it? You’re not entirely sure. You’re not sure if you want to go that far. So… you can’t leave, but you have your limits. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $rest to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div id="header">Get some rest</div> <div align='center'> It’s cold, and after your chores today you’re probably pretty tired. You’re too awake to fall into a deep sleep right this moment, but you find a good place in the house to take a short forty-five minute nap. You wake feeling more rested. … I don’t know about you, but sometimes you just need to nap to calm down or to get a better view of things. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $contact to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div id="header">Contact Someone</div> <div align='center'>Nervous, you send a quick email to a friend, explaining your situation. You then call, leaving a message with a few other people as well, saying that you’d appreciate the help of others you know. Well, at least some friends will know to check on you later. That’s reassuring. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div id="header">Exposit</div> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $exposit to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> <div align='center'> About yourself? Uhh. Hm.</div> <div id="narrator"> It’s true I’ve somewhat had to make this character more of a, well, character than the rest, but… You’ve kinda put me on a spot here. You think about yourself, and your group. Your ‘lounge.’ You were born a meta-human, but not everyone is… and, ah heck. I don’t have creativity right now. At time of writing, it’s 12:05am on a wednesday. I can’t write lore for you. Just pretend you elaborated a lot about your life and your group and your culture… to yourself. And that it was very enlightening. <<if $exposit != 1>> This entire section is just… really passive on my end, huh. The Monster deserves better, but I just don’t have it. You’re being a passive player, I’m being a passive narrator… We’re both just slogging through this eh? Hm. Do you ever think about those who know about you? About the fear of being known? I ask because of my talk of passivity, and well.. This is a video game. If I were evil (and I swear, you can see my hand on my chest, honest to goodness) there’d be nothing stopping me from, oh… taking your data. Taking the data of all my players. See what they choose, what they don’t choose, what they like and don’t like… All without you ever knowing. Do you really always read the terms and conditions? Or see what has what permissions on your session or device? Bets are, no. Mark Andrejevic talks a bit on this in “The Participatory Condition in the Digital Age.” In it, he says two things that I feel are complimentary in the eeriest of ways: “To say that the target interacts does not mean that it participates in its own destruction. Interactivity takes place according to coded protocols; participation carries the implied promise of intervening in the code.” and “In actuality, thanks to automated forms of data storing, processing, and retrieval, one's data does not get "lost in the crowd" -nor, of course, do individual employees spend their time poring over it to extract interesting information.” Your data is known, even if you do not see it as data at all. Your interactivity has been designed to be limited ahead of time, so outlying variables will be less frequent. All of your data is stored, tracked and acknowledged, but possibly never even seen by human eyes. And whoever has your data, has a motive. Creepy, eh? Thankfully those motives are typically just “tempt a person to buy something”, but it’s very true that that same data could be used for darker purposes. Stalking, hacking, just general terrorizing. Happy thoughts in this branch, huh. Well, don’t worry too much. I mean do worry, do maybe turn off your GPS tracking if you can, but don’t worry here. This game isn’t tracking you as far as I’m aware, and I have nothing to sell you. Here is a place where we can both be passive. Passive player, passive producer. <</if>> </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div id="header">Grab the treasure</div> <div align='center'>Better to ask for apologies than permission, I guess? You don’t exactly know how to ‘use’ these items, but damn if you’re not gonna try. The Guardian warns against touching the fractal symbol, you do just that. He flinches away from the knife point, iregardless of if it’s pointed at him or yourself? Good to note! He seems to panic a bit more at you approaching some treasures than others? Take those! <<guardian>> “Please, stranger, you don’t know what you’re doing--”<</guardian>> What a rebel you are. Unfortunately, The Guardian seems to have been right. A few minutes after touching that fractal, you feel a burning sensation in your hand, like acid mixed with fire. Your arm becomes scaley, and you swear you have the taste of venom in your mouth. Some of the treasures in your arm that you’ve not dropped start glowing and humming, louder and louder as you panic and the acid sensation grows stronger. Suddenly, the Guardian does something. He runs over to a cabinet, throwing things aside, until he gets a vial of blackish green gel. He runs to you: <<guardian>>“Open your hand NOW, stranger!”<</guardian>> You do just that, and he pours the contents of the vial onto your hand. The sensation stops, but the treasures around you don’t seem to calm down, and the scales on your arm are not going away. You’re not sure how to feel about this. The Guardian sighs. <<guardian>>“What… have you done? We need to talk about this, this means a lot of new things for you, and.. a lot of bad things for me, as a guardian. At least, that's my assumption.”<</guardian>> He holds his face in his hands as you look at your scaley arm. You don’t feel too different, but if these scales are not going away and the tech seems to activate around you now or something… Yeah. Worth a discussion or two.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id='header'>[This wasn’t very fair.]</div> <div align='center'>…</div> <div id="narrator">“This wasn’t very fair.” To what?</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_To interactive media.|postcredits2]]</div>

<<set $haskey = false>><<set $hasglowstone = false>><<set $hasbook = false>><<set $hasgold = false>><<set $numberchoices = 4>><<set $choicenumber = 1>><<set $venom = -1>><<set $outside = -1>><<set $inside = -1>><<set $calm = -1>><<set $priorities = -1>><<set $rest = -1>> <<set $contact = -1>> <<set $exposit = -1>><<set $menialtask = false>><<set $learnedthings = false>> <<set $foundship = false>> <div align='center'> Ah, welcome back, $name ! You want to play again, make different choices, see new stories? Of course you do. Maybe there's something new to get from this. Well, we're glad to have you here. Just as a quick reminder of the mechanics.... [[:>_|into4][$playedoncebefore to true]] </div>

<div align='center'>[img[images/yourchoiceintro.png][altintro2]]</div>

<div id="header">[To Interactive Media]</div> <div id="narrator">… Do you mean me planning on making these stories basically all the same? On promising a story and not really delivering it? On just kinda making a bad game and then using it as a framing piece to criticize interactive media as a whole? No, perhaps it wasn’t very fair. I’m pretty sure some lit-theory major would have a good reason to yell at me, making all these stories the same, and intentionally limiting or dismissing choice at points. ... I don’t want to come across as too cynical. I really do love interactive media. Speaking personally, I don’t think I would be the same person without interactive media. I made friends through video games and ARGs (Alternate Reality Games). I took on writing and drawing thanks to tabletop games. I wrote several papers on interactive media as a teaching tool. I used to want to make interactive media as a full time profession. But I can’t be blind. No media, no medium, can be truly interactive.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|postcredits3]]</div>

<div id="narrator">$name, I don’t know you. As I type this, you are ‘[name]’ in the script document. Even in the twine scripting, you're listed as '$name'. I don’t know who you are, what you prioritize, how you prioritize, what you think is fun, what you think is funny, or what you would do if faced with a given situation. I only really know myself. So, I can only really program situations for myself. And if I don’t account for something you might want to do, is that medium still interactable?</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|postcredits4]]</div>

<div id="narrator">Dang I sound pretty pretentious right now huh.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|postcredits5]]</div>

<div id="narrator">I wanted to make a good story. I still do, really. If I can one day write an interesting story with characters that people attach themselves to, I’ll be happy. If I can make that a game with player choice, so the player can feel even more like their involvement matters, I’ll be happier. Someday, that’ll be me. Maybe. Hopefully. But interactive media is so limited, and you can’t tailor make something for everyone. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|postcredits6]]</div>

<div id="narrator">Interactive media has changed my life, but the limits of it can be dangerous. Devoted fans are willing to forgive and easy to exploit. People who run many forms of interactive media know this. In video games, for instance, self expression can be put behind a paywall. Not community interaction, but self expression to choose what you want to look like and how powerful you can be. Even forgetting the inevitable hard limits of simply not accounting for something, intractability can be an enticing lure to more nefarious schemes. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|postcredits7]]</div>

<div id="narrator">… Is the lesson really ‘everything needs balance’? I hope not, that always felt like a cop-out answer to me. Though if I’m structuring this part of the script like an informal essay, maybe it fits that my thesis is as something as vague as that. Despite the cynical, casual tone of this game, I don’t want to come across as mean or overly pessimistic. I may no longer wish to make interactive media in a professional context, but I stand by some of what I said earlier: I do believe interactive media can be very, very good for people. For everyone, really. And entertaining, of course! Who doesn’t love to be part of a story? Just, be careful. Your choices may not be as unlimited as you may think, and be aware of just how much you can interact. Thank you so much for playing my game. </div> <div id="ending">[FINAL ENDING.] [No really. No more game after this. Sorry.] [Feel free to end it here.]</div>

<<if $numchoices eq 0>> <<goto [[monendings]]>> <</if>> <div align='center'>You've done some bit of preparation, just because... well, you feel you must. You still feel off, like something's wrong, but preparation helps your nerves a bit. You're somewhat of a nervous person, aren't you? You think you can do $numchoices more things today before the sun sets and it goes from "chilly" to "cold enough that you really must sleep". What do you do next? [NOTE: Order of your choices matters here. Be careful.] Time Remaining: [$numchoices choices] <<if $venom eq -1>> [[:>_Check on The Venom|monvenom]] <</if>> <<if $outside eq -1>> [[:>_Investigate Outside|monoutside]] <</if>> <<if $inside eq -1>> [[:>_Search your House|monhouse]] <</if>> <<if $calm eq -1>> [[:>_Calm yourself down|moncalm]] <</if>> <<if $priorities eq -1>> [[:>_Gauge priorities|monpriorities]] <</if>> <<if $rest eq -1>> [[:>_Go rest|monrest]] <</if>> <<if $contact eq -1>> [[:>_Contact someone|moncontact]] <</if>> <<if $exposition eq -1>> [[:>_Exposit more about yourself/your lounge|monexposit]] <</if>> <<if $menialtask eq false>> <span class="alt">[[:>_Do some menial tasks/your lounge|moninterview3]]</span> <</if>> </div>

<<if $calm eq 1 && $venom eq 2 && $priorities eq 3 && $inside eq 4>> <<goto [[monend1]]>> <<elseif $calm eq 1 && $inside eq 2 && $contact eq 3 && $venom eq 4>> <<goto [[monend2]]>> <<elseif $contact eq 1 && $outside eq 2 && $inside eq 3 && $venom eq 4>> <<goto [[monend3]]>> <<elseif $contact eq 1 && $inside eq 2 && $outside eq 3 && $venom eq 4>> <<goto [[monend3]]>> <<elseif $calm eq 1 && $priorities eq 2 && $exposit eq 3 && $rest eq 4>> <<goto [[monend4]]>> <<elseif $calm eq 1 && $priorities eq 2 && $rest eq 3 && $exposit eq 4>> <<goto [[monend5]]>> <<elseif $menialtask != false && $calm != -1 && $rest != -1 && $exposit != -1>> <<goto [[monend6]]>> <<else>> <<goto [[monendbad]]>> <</if>>

<div align='center'>Fully in a right state of mind, and knowing that the relic you’re supposed to be guarding is in fact safe, and that there doesn’t seem to be anyone in your house, you exit the guest room… Or at least you attempt to, when you hear a creaking from the wooden dresser there. You open it up, and out falls a reporter. <<sleuth>> “Ow!”<</sleuth>> You stare at her a moment. <<monster>>“Ma’am… what are you doing in my house?”<</monster>> She stares up at you, a little scared and confused. <<sleuth>>“Oh, I was looking… looking for a… story?”<</sleuth>> <<monster>>“So you broke into someone’s house?”<</monster>> <<sleuth>>“I... Yes.”<</sleuth>> <<monster>>“Instead of just knocking on their door to get an account?”<</monster>> <<sleuth>>“...”<</sleuth>> You sigh, and help her up to her feet. <<monster>>“I shall be honest with you, Ma’am. I’ve been especially on edge as of late since I thought someone has been staking out my place to… either attack me or steal something important from me. Finding you here hasn’t exactly calmed my nerves. I’d like you gone now please.”<</monster>> The reporter slowly nods her head, and you escort her out the front door. Shortly after she leaves, you see a scruffy looking human person run out to meet her, looking equally as confused as her. They both turn to you and you shrug, shooing them both off. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'>After taking a moment to calm yourself down, to do some self reflection, to assure yourself that there is not someone spying on your place, and to make sure that nothing bad has happened to the thing you’re supposed to guard… You feel better. Or perhaps, you’ve spoken too soon. Thought too soon? As soon as you finish checking on The Venom, you hear the front door shut… and there’s a human there. A rugged looking person, who looks just as surprised that you see him as you are to actually be seeing him. He’s armed with a shotgun. A tense moment passes, before you’re able to speak. <<monster>>“I need you out of my house.”<</monster>> He looks surprised, both to see you and to hear you talking to him. <<monsterhunter>>“Ex… excuse me?”<</monsterhunter>> <<monster>>“I don’t welcome strangers in my home, especially not strangers who are armed. Get out of my house.”<</monster>> He looks… intimidated and uncertain. Before either of you know what you’re doing, you walk up to him and yank the shotgun from his grasp. Now, he is unarmed. <<monster>>“I’ll be taking this. Unless you get out right now I’m getting the authorities here.”<</monster>> <<monsterhunter>>“But, I… you’re a monster, and she--”<</monsterhunter>> <<monster>>“Out! Whatever or whoever you’re looking for isn’t here, so get out!”<</monster>> Quickly, you usher the human out of the front door. You see him drive off, and eventually relax with a sigh. That could have been bad. At least, all is well!</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'>No one can say you don’t take your security seriously. After investigating the entire area around your house, calling a friend to update them on your situation, and making sure The Venom was safe (setting up some extra security there as well) you relax slightly. If something is here to cause you harm or steal from you… they’ll have a rough time going about it. You yawn, and head over to your living room. You start a fire and fall asleep, feeling secure.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] ... <span class="alt">[[:>_Payoff|interview1]]</span> </div>

<div align='center'>Today has been quite a day of self reflection! Just why are you so nervous as of late? Maybe everything really was just all in your head. Your life is perhaps a bit more exciting than most, but that doesn’t mean you should live your life in paranoia. So, you get yourself some rest. And then you wake to the face of a punk-rock-looking stranger in your living room. Maybe your paranoia wasn’t unfounded? Except, weirdly enough, you kinda hit it off with the person? You talk for a fair bit, and learn that not only does he like the same books as you, but he seems to know a fair bit about meta-humans like yourself. He seems to be missing a friend, and sure enough she was indeed hiding in your house. Creepy, but at least you know that your fears weren’t unreasonable. Soon enough, you wave the two off, glad that's over with but also glad that you got to chat with that rugged looking human fellow.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'>Today has been… quite a day. And really it shouldn’t have been, really. Nothing officially is out of the ordinary. But, something in your gut feels wrong about all this. Still, the cold temperature on your cold blood means you tire easily. Though there’s more you’d like to do, you eventually have to fall asleep. You might have even taken a nap already, but no… you need to warm up. Or at the least, you need to wake up tomorrow hoping it’ll be a warmer day. You start a fire in the living room fireplace, and quickly fall asleep on the couch. What happens next… well it depends. Nothing might have happened. Your sleep could have been uninterrupted, and you awoke uneventfully to the next day in your life, still feeling like something was off somewhere. Perhaps no one was even remotely in the area; perhaps they entered and exited without so much as making a sound. You’ll never know. The Venom could have been stolen. You could have awoken to some stranger, power mad from holding a relic so dear to your community, turning into something beyond human before your eyes. They could have looked as horrified as they were excited, and you wouldn’t know what to do from there. You could have been killed. In your sleep or shortly after, attempting to catch a thief. Meta-humans can often take more hurt than your average human, but that doesn’t mean you can’t die or can’t be killed. Why would someone want you dead? Who knows. Why would someone want to kill a being who could easily throw them into the far wall of the room? Fear, perhaps? You’re afraid, too. Really, many things might happen. Perhaps not all good. Perhaps not all bad. Still, sleep overtakes you. <div id="ending">[Bad End... ]</div> Redo? Or go to Credits? [[:>_Redo|premon1]] [[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'>Today has been quite a day of self reflection! Just why are you so nervous as of late? You rested, and talked aloud to yourself a fair bit today, and that seemed to have helped. Maybe self reflection is what you need. Yours is a unique life, and aside from the lounge there isn’t really anyone you talk to about… well, you. As you're thinking instead of looking where you’re going, you nearly bump into someone as you walk past the storage room. Wait, what? Yes, an investigator-looking-woman seems to have broken into your home. She was walking out of the storage room just as you walked past it. This is… awkward. However, not unsalvageable. Perhaps someone who asks questions is just what you need right now. You sit her down for a cup of tea, and she explains herself. She’s a reporter who focuses specifically on meta-humans. Though in the past her reports and colleagues were of… less than generous attitude to metahumans, she wanted to find some more unbiased information. She wanted to grab ahold of The Venom to see just what it was, what it could do, and maybe why it was so important. She was willing to even use herself as a test subject. Obviously, you don’t let her near The Venom. For many reasons, that just wouldn’t be a good idea, and kinda makes you uncomfortable. However, you offer to answer all her questions, and perhaps even show her some things- given she accepts to a number of limits. She agrees. You spend many hours talking into the night with her, and you realize that you’re having fun with it.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div id="header">Customization</div> <div id='narrator'>This one, I surprisingly have a lot of opinions about. I’m going to make a broad generalization here and say: Everyone likes to have some form of self expression. That self expression can certianly apply to interactive media like video games, especially in contexts where you’re interacting with other players. If you are playing the same character as another person (same mechanics, same basic character design), you might want to decorate slightly differently to help yourself stand out. Your teammates might also prefer you do to just that, so to better communicate (talking to two of CharacterA might be easier if one CharacterA was green, and the other was wearing a hat, for instance). That’s all just forgetting the fact that designing characters can be fun, in a sort of digital-fashon-show kind of way. If you think your character looks cool, and you can back up your cool character with good gameplay, that’s a double-serving of satisfaction. But… what if the game charges you for the ability to customize? What if you can’t afford to, and all the while you see other players with the exact outfits that the game thinks you’d want? What if you’ve already paid for the game, and the ability to customize your experience required extra payments? Or, what if you could change a lot about your character at any time, but the changes seem somewhat… controvercial. What if you wanted to change your character to be some kind of robot-person, but the lore of the game says things about the robot-people that draw parallels to other real-world groups. Is it really right for the devs to write that? Can you entirely ignore the lore, especially if that then comes to reflect other elements of self expression (outfits, usable items, etc)? Should you be able to switch to and from that at a whim? I’m not sure if I’m making complete sense here, I just hope my vague sense of unease is being communicated well enough.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard4]]</div>

<div id="header">Free to play</div> <div id='narrator'>There’s a lot to be said about how if you can’t tell what is being sold to you, you’re the product. In the age of information, everyone wants to know everything about most people, so they can better track and market to and predict any given consumer. So, the game is free to play, but maybe has transactions for items or to speed up timers on the side. Sure thing, not uncommon. You probably might even get through the game without spending a single penny on it. But, say you were addicted to gambling, and the transactions were not so much a “you buy it and you own it” deal but were moreso like opening a pack of baseball cards. Except that analogy itself isn’t perfect, because in baseball cards you still own something physical. The game, the server, the data for the digital purchase: None of those things fully belong to you. If the producer of the game decided to shut down its servers, you would lose all digital collectables you had, without any sort of refund. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard4]]</div>

<div id="header">Something Else</div> <div id='narrator'> Very fair! To risk sounding like a tin-foil-hatter, sometimes it's a good idea to question why your media or medium behaves the way it does. If it's out to make money, there are many sneaky and sometimes insidious ways it can go about to do this.</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard4]]</div>

<div id="header">On phone</div> <div id='narrator'>Keen eye, there! Now, I wouldn’t say I have issues with mobile games inherently. We all have moments of waiting, of boredom with nothing to do. Lucky for us, we have smartphones, these small computers in our pockets. We can read, watch things, play video games, and more. We don’t need to be bored. Speaking for myself, I’m very thankful for my smart phone. It has kept me productive in many many ways. However… Your smartphone isn’t the safest of things. Have you read the terms of service on all of the applications you use? On the software updates? Who is using or has access to your metadata (your location history, your search data, your texting records, your app time data, your purchase history)? Do you want people to know exactly how much time you’re spending on this game, and with whom? Do you really?</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_|tguard4]]</div>

<div align='center'>Oh, one thing before we start. You see, the version of the game you'll be playing has had some edits made to it. Quality Assurance testers have come in, suggested some changes, and agreed to be interviewed to give their opinions on this game. If you see a green link <span class="alt">[[:>_Like This|greenlinkexample1]]</span> then that means you'll be sidetracked to some developer commentary, QA tester interview, alternate path... any number of things. It is suggested that you don't click on any of these green links until you playthrough the game a satifiable number of times, however, as there will be spoilers for the content of the routes. (Since now is a good enough time as any: We do encourage playing through multiple times to see multiple stories. If you reach the credits, it should provide a 'play again' button to press that will take you to the start. Playing again may just provide new content...) Okay? Moving on... [[:>_|into4]]</div>

<div align='center'>Exactly! New secret page. No spoilers here, though. You can just head on back. [[:>_|into3.5]] </div>

<div align='center'> <<set $numchoices -=1>> <<set $menialtask to $choicenumber>> <<set $choicenumber +=1>> [img[images/Micsymbol.png]] <audio src="sounds/Interview3.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> Please wait. Playing 9 minutes 38 seconds of audio. (Audio switches over to interview at 5:36 in 'Interview3.mp3' in the 'sounds' folder.) [[:>_|moninterview3results]]</div> </div>

<div id="header">Do some menial tasks</div> <div align='center'> To busy yourself, you do some menial tasks. You watch TV, eat some junkfood, waste time... all sorts of stuff. You stop yourself before you dig into the party-sized bag of cheezypuffs and kick your feet up to watch some dumb movie: This... this isn't productive. This isn't gonna be helping you secure things down. Like it may help you feel better, but why waste time on this? Maybe feeling better is the point... hm. [[:>_|mon2]]</div>

<div align='center'>Today... you have wasted today. You calmed yourself down, ate junk food, slept, and talked about yourself. Sometimes you need to take days off, sure, but is now really the best time? When the thing you've been tasked to keep secure is potentially at risk? Really? Well, it probably doesn't matter. The sun falls, you yawn, and prepare for sleep. Eventually, you reawaken. Something feels wrong. You run to where you've kept The Venom these recent days, and... it's not there. Searching around, you see plenty of evidence of an intruder: Knocked over supplies, footprints, scattered papers... but every piece of evidence seems to lead to a trail that has gone cold. Whoever has The Venom is long gone by now. You may have messed up slightly. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'> [img[images/Micsymbol.png]] <audio src="sounds/Interview2.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> Please wait. Playing 6 minutes 45 seconds of audio. (Audio source is 'Interview2.mp3' in the 'sounds' folder.) [[:>_|tseeklounge]]</div>

<div id="header">Go to the Lounge</div> <div align='center'> You head to the lounge, hoping that there some crew members you can ally yourself with, or perhaps talk to. You definitely heard some footsteps pacing around there, so the odds are good there's someone! Right before you round the corner into the room, you see The Guardian standing around in the lounge. The Guardian has some music playing as it seems to... be cleaning? Yes, it has a broom, a mop, a duster, and green soapy looking thing off in the corner somewhere. You've seen the state of this gigantic ship, and... well, it'll need more than that to look clean anytime soon. Maybe some de-rusting agent would be a good place to start, but even then... Thankfully, you're able to stop yourself from entering before The Guardian seems to notice you. Shoot... this ship is probably a one-person-run operation. That makes some sense if The Guardian is, well, guarding some super-high-tech stuff. Maybe there's something automating actually flying the ship, somewhere? Knowing that the guardian is here... What do you do? [[:>_Search for the treasure|tseek4treasure]] [[:>_Confront the Guardian|tseek4guardian]] [[:>_Search for the Exit|tseek4exit]] [[:>_The cleaning supplies are the treasure, take them|tseek4cleaning]] </div>

<div id="header">Take cleaning supplies</div> <div align='center'> ... Really? Okay, sure. You try and sneak past The Guardian while his back is turned You grab the cleaning tools in one big armful and run out the door. The guardian notices your escape. <<guardian>>"Wha-- ... Um?"<</guardian>> He doesn't seem to really chase after you, so much as half-jog towards you as you bolt away. It doesn't take long for you to lose him in his own twisting hallways, and you have a second to examine your findings. Well, the mop is... it's a mop, you checked. Waving it around does nothing. The boom cannot fly, though you thought it was reasonable to check that. Examinine the feather duster up close... it's a pretty nice feather duster, sure, but the dust does make you sneeze a little bit. You taste the soap, and-- eugh. Yuck! Yup, it's soap. Nothin to kill you, but... soap. You gave your position away for cleaning supplies. The PA system comes on, and you hear the voice of The Guardian echo throughout the halls: <<guardian>>"To the stowaway aboard my ship... I'd like my broom back, please. You're not getting your ship back until you return my belongings to me, thank you."<</guardian>> Well. Now you just feel silly.</div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center' id="narrator"> I don't entirely know why, but players seemed to really like going down the Myself route. Which I found to be especially strange, since... well. I made it in a day and it has NO plot to speak of. Still, all the QA testers who played this route seemed to think it clever. I suspect the gag would get old quick if they had to play it more than once, though. Still, I feel like this... might be relevant to part of my thesis with this piece. People like choice, people like playing as themselves? I guess? Anyhow. </div> <div align='center'> <<return ":>_Myself">> </div>

<div align='center'> [img[images/Micsymbol.png]] <audio src="sounds/Interview1.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> Please wait. Playing 5 minutes 20 seconds of audio. [[:>_|monend3payoff]] </div>

<div align='center'>So, it's payoff you want? You've done your preparations. You've protected what you need to protect, you've searched for intruders, you've even called for help in case you need it. So now, you can sleep. And sleep you do, for a while. You're eventually woken up, with the sound of a trap being sprung and panicked noises coming from the hallway. Two people, one armed, the other bloody. <<monsterhunter>>"Sleuth, are you alright?"<</monsterhunter>> <<sleuth>>"//$*@(#, do I look alright?//"<</sleuth>> <<monsterhunter>>"You... yeah, owch. At least it's not lethal?"<</monsterhunter>> Your listening in becomes interrupted by the sound of a car pulling into your driveway, followed by a text from your loungemate: "I'm here. Is all well?" You text back: <<monster>>[Two people, definitely went after The Venom. Need help ASAP. Am going to deal with the weapon. Enter as soon as you hear noise.]<</monster>> You wait just a moment for The Monster Hunters back to be turned, when you pounce on him. He's caught off guard. <<monsterhunter>>"What the-?!?"<</monsterhunter>> You're able to knock the weapon away from his hands... right as he elbows you in the eye. Ow. It takes a bit of wrestling, and a lot of chaos, but eventually you're able to contain the situation... by knocking out The Monster Hunter. Somewhere in the mess of a fight, your friend joined in and knocked out The Sleuth, who grabbed hold of the weapon while your back was turned. You and your loungemate breathe heavily for a moment, composing yourselves. Your paranoia paid off it seems. You have two knocked out strangers in your hallway, but... at least they didn't get The Venom. You turn to your loungemate. <<monster>>"So.... now what?"<</monster>> The fellow metahuman shrugs. They have no idea. </div> <div id="ending">[End]</div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>

<div align='center'> [img[images/Micsymbol.png]] <audio src="sounds/Interview4.mp3" autoplay> Your browser does not support the <code>audio</code> element. </audio> Please wait. Playing 12 minutes 32 seconds of audio. (Audio switches over to interview at 7:20 in 'Interview4.mp3' in the 'sounds' folder.) [[:>_Be The Maiden|maiden4]]</div>

<div id="narrator">Oh my gosh. You can't! There is no Maiden option! I did not write it because I did not have the time and I did not want to! I get it, we all want to play as a pretty girl, but... Ugh. I don't want to say 'make your own game' but... if you really want to play as The Maiden, make your own game? I somewhat regret my previous excuse (and that's what it was, an excuse) for not writing the maiden. While it's true the damsel in distress trope is a trope often used and with troubling implications (especially in Fantasy works) that's not at all representative of all 'fair maidens' in media. I know plenty of kick-ass princesses from different pieces of media. Just... Please. I don't wanna write for the princess. It's not my personal cup of tea, and I'm stressed for time and energy anyhow. Cut me some slack here. Be the Treasure Seeker Instead. </div> <div align='center'> [[:>_Be The Treasure Seeker|tseek1]] [[:>_I want to be The Maiden|maiden5]]</div>

<div id="narrator"> You just wanna be stubborn, is that it? Well bucko, I can be stubborn to. I'm controlling where this game is going, and I'm saying that if you're not being The Treasure Seeker, you're going to the credits. Sounds fun? Bet not. </div> <div id="ending">[End] [Bad End] [Because you refused to work with me here.]</div> <div id="narrator"> Look, I'm as sorry as I am spiteful and petty. Please. Go play a different route. </div> <div align='center'>[[:>_Credits|Credits]] </div>