There is a glass on the table between you and him.
It's a good one. Solid. sparkling. Half-filled with water and ice.
There are other things at the table as well. Paper sheets. A sign with the logo of the TV studio. There's even a second glass, but you like this one best because despite its sturdy appearance, there's a small crack — a hair's width, really — running on one side.
As if its content could
come
spilling
out
with the slighest amount of pressure.
You like looking at the glass. It gives you an excuse to not stare at [[the man you're about to interview.->man]]This confident young man sitting on the chair opposite to yours.
He's one of those Silicon Valley guys: square glasses and a bad haircut, blue jeans and a turtleneck shirt.
Like Steve Jobs. Like so many starry-eyed graduates with a startup idea and a trust fund to squander.
"Live in thirty seconds," the cameraman announces.
You breathe deeply, and [[smile for the camera.->Action.]](set: $mood to 3)
(set: $question to 0)
(set: $s to (text-style: "bold"))There is no public. No applause. Your boss insisted to conduct this interview in the enclosed garden outside the studio, to have a clear view of the sky.
You did not approve of the idea. Harder to secure an open space; to keep the protesters outside. You can still hear them, chanting in the distance.
Your smile is frozen on your face.
You think about the cracked glass.
The teleprompter lights up, displaying [[your script.->read]]You read the words on the screen. They are not the words you would like to say.
(font:"Courier")[Welcome back, America! Are you ready to make history together?
The alien spaceships have just completed their work, enclosing our Sun in a Dyson sphere.
It takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach Earth, and we're spending our last eight minutes of light with ████ ███████, the entrepreneur who sold the Sun.
It's so exciting to talk to you, ████.]
$s["And I am happy to be in your company,"] he replies with a [[smile.->turn]]
(click-replace: "history")[(text-style:'italic')[a disaster]]
(click-replace: "Dyson sphere")[(text-style:'italic')[big cage of death]]
(click-replace: "sold")[(text-style:'italic')[stole]]
(click-replace: "the Sun")[(text-style:'italic')[our Sun]](set: $minutes to 7)
He's smiling.
Gloating.
His teeth are too white and his eyes are too clear.
The microphone is in your hands.
(display: "interview"){(print: "<script>$('tw-story').removeClass(\)</script>")
(if: $minutes is 8)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes8')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 7)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes7')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 6)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes6')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 5)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes5')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 4)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes4')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 3)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes3')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 2)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes2')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 1)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes1')</script>")
] (else-if: $minutes is 0)[
(print: "<script>$('tw-story').addClass('minutes0')</script>")
]}
(set: $minutes to it - 1)$s["According to the Outer Space Treaty, signed by over 100 countries, nobody can own a celestial body. But the thing is..."] He leans towards you, as if about to whisper a secret. $s["The aliens never signed our treaty: they only care about their Galactic Space Register. It was only a matter of mailing the correct forms to the galactic office."]
A calibrated pause, long just enough for people to think "what a genius".
$s["I didn't know it at the time, but the Sun is a perfect subject for installing a Dyson sphere. As soon as I claimed ownership, the offers started coming."]
<div class="box">{(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(unless: (history:) contains "space")[[> "How will spend your earnings?"<br>->space]]
(unless: (history:) contains "protesters")[["> Did you ever stop to consider the... Morality of the situation?"<br>->protesters]]
<br>
(if: $minutes <= 2)[(display:"smash")]]
}
</div>$s["The space credits earned by selling the Sun will allow us to enter the galactic market, competing head-to-head with some of the biggest alien corporations. We're finally to move from the Iron Age... To the Space Age."]
<div class="box">{(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(unless: (history:) contains "animals")[[> "Will our planet survive without sunlight?"<br>->animals]]
(unless: (history:) contains "space2")[[> "Who are gonna be our first cosmonauts?"<br>->space2]]
<br>
(if: $minutes <= 2)[(display: "smash")]]
}
</div>$s["Humanity will live safely in Spacegroove's GeoVaults™, our self-sufficient underground compounds. Geotermal energy will power our heating system, the air recycling units — and of course, all your favourite electronic gadgets! You can live without sunlight, but I know you won't survive without the internet."]
The audience gives a half-hearted laugh.
$s["Humanity will thrive in space as well. We're expecting to launch our first Interstellarship™ next year."]
<div class="box">{(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(unless: (history:) contains "space2")[[> "Who are gonna be our first cosmonauts?"<br>->space2]]
(unless: (history:) contains "bunkers")[[> "What about those who can't afford GeoVaults?"<br>->bunkers]]
<br>
(if: $minutes <= 2)[(display: "smash")]]
}
</div><div class="box">{(if:
$minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(unless: (history:) contains "selling")[[> "How did you sell the Sun?"<br>->selling]]
(unless: (history:) contains "survive")[[> "How will humanity survive without sunlight?"<br>->survive]]
[[> "What about the environment?"<br>->environment]]
(unless: (history:) contains "space")[[> "How will spend your earnings?"<br>->space]]
<br>
(if: $minutes <= 2)[(display: "smash")]]
}
</div>$s["We'll give priority to poets, politicians, engineers — and journalists, of course. To document our feats,"] a coy wink. $s[We want the very best of humanity to go to space, and they will receive the best treatment until it's time to go. Think about it."]
(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[(display: "interview")]
(set: $mood to it -1)
(set: $question to it + 1)The last ray of sunlight kisses your cheek.
The light is gone.
$s["Well, it's done. Now, speaking about the future..."]
The man who sold the Sun turns on his phone. The light from the screen is almost too much to bear.
$s["Do you want to go to space? I want someone like you to document my feats. Someone positive. Say yes and I'll reserve a place on my spaceship immediately. Oh, and one thing..."] He turns towards the camera, the [[red light->Credits]] still blinking.
$s["Can you turn that off?"]HE SOLD THE SUN
A Twine by Giada Zavarise
Made for subQjam 2019
Restart?
(click:"Restart?")[(reload:)]You grab the glass and lurch forward in a fluid motion. Your hand the glass his face.
He falls off his chair with a grunt, drips of blood shining in front of your face like reverse rain.
A moment later you're over him. The glass fits in your hand as if it's always been a part of it. You bring it down
again
and
again
and
again.
Somebody screams. [[You don't care.->blood]]There are more screams and hands all over you, trying to tear you away, but you are too adamant to be moved. You hit him with your glass-hand until glass and hand become one and the same, a mesh of shards and broken fingers and pain.
You hit him until he stops whimpering and there are no more bones to crack.
The light is gone.
And yet the [[blood->Credits]] almost seems to shine in the eternal night.A flick of his mouth. A barely-contained grimace.
You could make him crack on national television.
You are not sure it would be a good idea.$s["No need to be so aggressive,"] he sighs. $s["I understand your apprehension, but I am not your enemy."]$s["Honestly, I don't give a fuck."]
(And even as he says it he doesn't stop smiling)
$s["I admit it. I don't care about what happens to all of you. I have a billion galactic credits and I am gonna go to space."]
He shrugs.
$s["There. You wanted a confession. Why?"]
<div class="box">[[> "Curiosity."->badend]]
[[> "Justice."->badend]]
[[> "I knew the truth already. I just wanted to hear it from you."->badend]]</div>(if: $question is 0)[(display: "annoyed")](else-if: $question is 1)[(display: "moreAnnoyed")](else-if: $question is 2)[(go-to: "burst")]
$s["For our GeoVaults™ Pods, we offer a range of subscription options — from luxurious villas to basic pods. Everyone can book a free appointment with one of our advisors to find the option best suited to their needs."]
(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[(display: "interview")]
(set: $question to it + 1)(if: $question is 0)[(display: "annoyed")](else-if: $question is 1)[(display: "moreAnnoyed")](else-if: $question is 2)[(go-to: "burst")]
$s["I can hear the protesters, and feel truly sorry for them. I know they're afraid, because change is always scary. But I want everyone to understand that selling our sunlight will only brighten our future."]
(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(display: "interview")]
(set: $mood to it -1)
(set: $question to it + 1)(if: $question is 0)[(display: "annoyed")](else-if: $question is 1)[(display: "moreAnnoyed")](else-if: $question is 2)[(go-to: "burst")]
$s["The animals we like to eat, like cows and chickens, will find a new home in our artificial undeground pastures. Our GeoVaults™ are equipped with undeground greenhouses and hydroponic cultures as well."]
<div class="box">{(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(unless: (history:) contains "survive")[[> "What is a GeoVault?"<br>->survive]]
(unless: (history:) contains "animals")[[> "What about the rest of the environment?"<br>->animals]]
<br>
(if: $minutes <= 2)[(display: "smash")]]
}
</div>(if: $question is 0)[(display: "annoyed")](else-if: $question is 1)[(display: "moreAnnoyed")](else-if: $question is 2)[(go-to: "burst")]
$s["While people are mourning the loss of our ecosystem, I see an opportunity for change."]
He looks mournfully at the sky.
$s["Who knows what new creatures will evolve in the next years? Perhaps even new kinds of intelligent life! After all, it took a meteor and a global extinction event to give bith to humanity."]
(if: $minutes is 0)[[["it's time."->shutdown]]](else:)[
(display: "interview")]
(set: $mood to it -1)
(set: $question to it + 1)$s["And now thanks to your self-righteousness, America despairs. What were you hoping to accomplish?"]
The light is gone.
The man who sold the Sun lights himself a [[cigarette.->Credits]][Smash the glass on his head.]<violence| (click-replace: ?violence)[(text-style:"strike")[Smash the glass on his head.](text-style: "bold")[ Be professional.]<violence2|]
(click: ?violence2)[(text-style: "bold")[[ No.->glass]]]
(click-replace: ?violence2)[ Be professional?]