Invisible Parties — 20 of 31

Book - Game Jam

gamejam is a party in tangle. gamejam is east of gamesnight. The printed name of gamejam is "Parallel Crunch". Understand "jam" or "crunch" or "parallel" or "convention" as gamejam.

The description of gamejam is "A convention kind of space, a room that feels low-ceilinged because it's so big on the other axes. Resilient carpet and inoffensive lighting accommodate an ocean of folding tables. Said tables are occupied by nerds of varying degrees of hipness, some furiously typing at laptops and others circulating busily within small groups.[p]An emergency exit leads outwards to a familiar stair."

The folding tables are an unimplement in gamejam. The description of folding tables is "Blocky, unremarkable."

the emergency exit is a waymouth in gamejam. The description of emergency exit is "Unremarkable double-doors with a plastic lightbox declaring EXIT above them, but beyond them you sense the Stairways, their hallway-echo and smell of cleaning products." Understand "doors" or "door" or "lightbox" or "plastic lightbox" as emergency exit.

the devs are a crowd in gamejam. Understand "nerd" or "nerds" as devs. The description of devs is "They're sun-starved, mostly young, trendy in an aggressively anti-stylish manner, and in a state of ferociously contained panic."

the closeclue of gamejam is "A map has been sketched on a whiteboard, annotated in a familiar scrawl."

the whiteboard map is an unreachable clue. the description of whiteboard map is "Jave's always had the picture formed in her head, and she only drew when there was a need to explain it. This is a four-by-four grid, like a tiny chessboard. You can't make out the labels (it was meant to go with a spoken explanation) but half of the squares have arrows leading from them to points outside the grid, and the other half have exclamation points."

the javeclue of gamejam is whiteboard map.

The tsadesc of gamejam is "Close to normal, except that you're full of endorphins. Digicammo tactical pants. GDC tanktop. Keds."

The threshold of gamejam is 1.

The boozedesc of gamejam is "Most of the people here seem to be drinking energy drinks in vividly-coloured cans. You suspect that at least some of them are supplementing this with vodka, but if so they're not sharing."

Instead of drinking the drinks in gamejam when gamejam is not doomed: say "You're not chugging someone else's energy drink just in the hope that it's got some liquor in it. Well, not in front of them, anyway."

The javeinit of gamejam is "Jave is definitely not part of this set; she's moving around to some ulterior purpose."

The javedesc of gamejam is "She's strolling easily around, with clothes and body-language that scream [i]security[/i]. A bland lack of interest in the interesting details of what people are working on, a sweeping, tactical gaze. Jave's brain doesn't really register artistic creation as in any way interesting; she [i]likes[/i] a great many things, but has a maddening indifference regarding their ontogeny."

The javecostume of gamejam is "Black cargo pants, black T-shirt, a now-useless earpiece mic dangling from its wire."

The listendesc of gamejam is "Self-consciously digital music, with lots of little arcade-game bleeps and show-off fiddly quickness. No lyrics, or noises abrasive enough to break concentration."

The rivdesc of gamejam is "Rivka Strossi has a posse. She's standing, leather-jacketed, at the shoulder of a panda-eyed blonde androgyne who's typing furiously, totally intent on their laptop. Other kids are in a buzzing cluster around them, pointing things out or making suggestions. Rivka says nothing, but she's clearly the real audience for everything being said."

The rivcostume of gamejam is "She's formed much as she usually is, when you see her at Sheafhome or along the Empty City. Her adornment, here, is the group. They're frenetic, weird, gorgeous, and so young; and in a thousand small ways they constantly, silently defer to her. You silently hope that they're not really hers, that their real heroes are worth it."

The rivweapon of gamejam is "a taser".

The dancedesc of gamejam is "You anxiously bounce on the balls of your feet, then throw in a little twirl. Man, this place makes you jittery."

The desolation of gamejam is "There's a cheap-looking clock up on one of the walls, its rim a sort of scabby plastic-plate blue. You only notice it because everybody's shooting hurried glances at it. It's on the final minute, each tick of the second hand somehow audible across the entire space. Hands are flying across keyboards, curses muttered under tight breath. One by one, groups hit a moment of final tension, then relax, snap lids down, walk out."

The demise of gamejam is "The second hand clicks to the top of the hour. The few groups remaining throw up their hands in resignation, pile their stuff together, congratulate and commiserate. You catch the signals: old friends who don't get to see one another enough, passing acquaintances transforming into friends, colleagues affirming respect, rivals uncomfortably playing nice, incipient hookups. From appearances, the real party happens now, in a dozen different places for as many reasons. None of which you are part of. Nowhere to go.[p]As the last of them leave, the lights start going out row by row, until you're left the dark, alone."

The Turning Stair is outside from gamejam. The Turning Stair is an egress. The description of The Turning Stair is "A landing, quite ordinary, dim and unhealthy-looking in the manner of something institutional from in the post-war decades. A staircase goes down, double-doors lead this way and that, two others lead up in different directions.[p]And each will lead to another staircase, and another, a door, a landing. The labyrinth at Minos was just a big building, seen through the eyes of uncultured Greeks for whom a three-room house was a palace: the Stairways and Doorways are that sense of mazed awe, the feeling that the corridors might go on forever, the wildwood in the dorm block." Understand "stairway" or "stairways" or "doorway" or "doorways" as turning stair.

The javeapp of Turning Stair is "Jave is sitting on a step, catching her breath".

The listendesc of Turning Stair is "Near-silence. The faint buzz of a light on the go, distant footsteps echoing in an empty hall."

The tsadesc of turning stair is "Very close to your default: red turtleneck, black cargo pants, approach shoes. You always wish that the Turning Stair would give you beefier thigh muscles, but it only does so in the conventional, unpleasant way."

the rebadesc of Turning Stair is "Arrayed in theatrical drapery, Reba al-Nasri stands at the top of one stair."

The rebalook of Turning Stair is "Reba is swamped in vaguely-classical drapery, not corresponding to the dress of any particular era, culture, class or gender so much as to painterly imagination. It cascades down in folds and pleats and counter-folds, spills across rather a lot of the staircase, and exposes one carefully-arranged arm"

the roadahead of turning stair is "A familiar burn builds up in your quads as the stairs turn upward."