Invisible Parties — 15 of 31

Volume - 16 Parties

A room has some text called listendesc.

a crowd is a kind of person. a crowd is scenery. a crowd is plural-named. Understand "people" or "crowd" or "guests" or "guest" or "man" or "woman" or "men" or "women" as a crowd.

Instead of kissing a crowd: try talking to the noun.

Instead of talking to a crowd: say "They're not really here; they're drawn from the worlds, somehow, though whether they're facsimiles, composites or projections of real people isn't clear. You could make light conversation with them, manipulate, harm; but you'll never be able to learn anything important from them, or understand them as individuals. Frankly, it gives you the creeps."

Instead of kissing a crowd: try talking to the noun.

Check attacking a crowd:

if Reba is not in the location and Rivka is not in the location and Becky is not in the location, try using warrior instead.

[This is a crude hack: an alt-crowd is just a crowd that doesn't cause a multiple-objects command issue when there are two of them in a room together.]

An alt-crowd is a kind of person. an alt-crowd is plural-named. an alt-crowd is scenery.

Instead of talking to an alt-crowd: say "They're not really here; they're drawn from the worlds, somehow, though whether they're facsimiles, composites or projections of real people isn't clear. You could make light conversation with them, manipulate, harm; but you'll never be able to learn anything important from them, or understand them as individuals. Frankly, it gives you the creeps."

Check attacking an alt-crowd:

if Reba is not in the location and Rivka is not in the location and Becky is not in the location, try using warrior instead.

A party has some text called boozedesc.

A party has some text called shortbooze.

A party can be challenging or unchallenging. A party is usually unchallenging.

A room has some text called javedesc.

A party has some text called rivdesc.

A party has some text called deathknell.

A clue is a kind of thing.

A clue can be unreachable or solid. A clue is usually solid.

Instead of taking a solid clue: say "You run a wistful finger over [the noun]. Keepsakes are not something that anybody gets to keep for long in the Ways - for that matter, practical equipment doesn't have much of a lifespan. That's never more true than in the constant transition of a tangle; little point in hanging on to it[one of][or][or]. When you were new and a fool, you kept a lock of Nusku's hair for nearly two years, subjective. Human tissue seems to be more constant. Eventually it turned into sloughed-off snakeskin and disintegrated[stopping]."

Instead of taking an unreachable clue: say "Not exactly the kind of thing you can lug around, even if it weren't ephemeral."

A party has a clue called javeclue.

The initial appearance of a clue is "[closeclue of the location]".

Instead of examining Jave:

if the puzzlecount is 4 begin;

say the description of Jave;

otherwise;

say "[the javedesc of location][br]";

end if;

The description of Jave is "".

Jave can be seen or unseen. Jave is unseen.

Carry out looking:

if Jave is in the location, now Jave is seen;

Instead of listening:

say "[the listendesc of the location][br]".

An egress is a kind of room.

Carry out going to an egress (this is the cruelty-check rule):

if Jave is not in the room gone to and the best route from the location of Jave to the room gone to through undestroyed rooms is nothing begin;

follow the Zarfian cruelty violation rule;

end if;

Before going (this is the Reba placement rule):

if the room gone to is an egress, move Reba al-Nasri to the room gone to.

The singdesc of an egress is usually "You hum a soft walking rhythm to yourself."

An egress has some text called roadahead.

An egress has some text called rebadesc.

An egress has some text called rebalook.

An egress has some text called javeapp.

An egress can be rebaseated. An egress is usually not rebaseated.

An egress has some text called reba-act-1.

An egress has some text called reba-act-2.

An egress has some text called reba-act-3.

An egress has some text called reba-act-4.

Before going inside in an egress:

if the room gone to is destroyed begin;

say "You know without trying. No possible way back in; it's destroyed on that side. You've sealed yourself out[if Jave is in the location]. And probably for the best[otherwise]. Reba catches your glance, tightens her lips in sympathy, and gives a so-it-goes shrug[end if].";

the mercy-kill happens in three turns from now;

stop the action;

end if;

At the time when the mercy-kill happens:

wait for any key;

try going outside;

Instead of going nowhere in an egress:

say "The choices are a lot simpler: either dive back into the tangle, or head out of it entirely[one of]. The latter, you're reasonably certain, would be a final decision[or][stopping]."

triedtoleave is a truth state that varies. triedtoleave is false.

Instead of going outside in an egress:

if Jave is in the location begin;

say "[roadahead of the location] Jave slips one hand into yours, which makes the going a little slower, but who fucking cares.[p]You might walk together for a month, or a few days, or years. But that's not something you have to worry about just yet. You know that you can talk, now, and that matters a lot more than what gets said.";

end the story saying "On and up.";

otherwise if the best route from the location of Jave to the location of the player through undestroyed rooms is nothing;

say "Well, no point in delaying the inevitable. The tangle's collapsing on itself. Maybe Jave will be caught in it, and maybe she won't, but hovering at the threshold isn't going to help her. [i]Fuck.[/i][p][roadahead of the location] You'll be fine, eventually. You're good at being fine. You'll grow and change in the ways, and fall for someone else, and be a different kind of happy. It'll be fine.";

end the story saying "It's still shit, though.";

otherwise if triedtoleave is false;

say "You fucking hate the idea. This is, you're sure, the last chance you may have to contact Jave in a very long time, and that could always mean never. You don't know if she can make it out of here on her own, either - [i]probably[/i] she can, if you can get out then likely so can she, but still. And, fuck, you hate the idea of running away with your tail between your legs, and seeing the Rebeccas at the next clade potlatch and smirking to one another about it.[p]But you could fucking [i]die.[/i] That is a point of some consequence. And you're not sure if you're still young and stupid enough to die for love or spite.";

now triedtoleave is true;

otherwise;

say "Fine. Fuck it. Jave can handle herself, and getting yourself killed in a pocket apocalypse isn't going to fix anything. But you have the sinking sense that your paths may not cross any time soon.[p][roadahead of the location] You'll be fine, eventually. You're good at being fine. You'll grow and change in the ways, and fall for someone else, and be a different kind of happy. It'll be fine.";

end the story saying "It's still shit, though.";

end if;