,,,,,(if: $last is "mirror")[It's a relief to be home(if: (history:) contains "shards of glass")[;](else:)[. Even covered in [[shards of glass]],]your flat is comfortingly familiar.
Doors lead to the [[bathroom->Bathroom]] and [[kitchen->Kitchen]] (respectively), while your bedroom – once you look past everything that's useless without power – is pretty much taken up with the (if: (history:) contains "Make bed" and (history:) contains "Sleep")[bed](else:)[[[bed->Bed]]] itself. Set along the walls are a [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]] and a (if: (history:) contains "visible")[wardrobe](else:)[[[wardrobe->Wardrobe]]].
Where the mirror once stood, a small [[door]] is set into the wall.]
\(else-if: $last is "wardrobe")
[Your hamster-cage flat feels a lot more confining now. It's not the space that you miss; it's more the fact that even in your own home, you're the only thing alive.
(if: (history:) contains "shattered")[Doors lead to the [[bathroom->Bathroom]] and [[kitchen->Kitchen]] (respectively), while your bedroom – once you look past everything that's useless without power – is pretty much taken up with the (if: (history:) contains "Make bed" and (history:) contains "Sleep")[bed](else:)[[[bed->Bed]]] itself. Set along the walls are a [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]] and a wardrobe.
Where the mirror once stood, a small [[door]] is set into the wall.](else:)[Doors lead to the [[bathroom->Bathroom]] and [[kitchen->Kitchen]] (respectively), while your bedroom – once you look past everything that's useless without power – is pretty much taken up with the (if: (history:) contains "Make bed" and (history:) contains "Sleep")[bed](else:)[[[bed->Bed]]] itself. Set along the walls are a [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]], a wardrobe and a full-length [[mirror->Mirror]].]]
\(else:)
[It's not an especially large flat, and it's kind of a mess. Doors lead to the [[bathroom->Bathroom]] and [[kitchen->Kitchen]] (respectively), while your bedroom – once you look past everything that's useless without power – is pretty much taken up with the (if: (history:) contains "Make bed" and (history:) contains "Sleep")[bed](else:)[[[bed->Bed]]] itself. Set along the walls are a [[bookshelf->Bookshelf]], a [[wardrobe->Wardrobe]] and a full-length [[mirror->Mirror]].](if: $bookshelf is "messy")[Your bookshelf is a mess. You've just kind of been shoving books in there as you get them, always thinking to yourself that you'll clean it up and organise them properly someday when you have time for it.
(if: $last is "mirror")[Well, you've got time, at least.](else:)[Well, now you've got time.]
* [[Organise books]]
* (if: (count: (history:), "Read something") > 20)[~~Read something~~](else:)[[[Read something]]]
* [[Back->main]]
](else:)[Now you've got your books all neatly organised by $bookshelf. You're not sure if it's the perfect system, but it's definitely better than it was before.
* [[Re-organise books->Organise books]]
* (if: (count: (history:), "Read something") > 20)[~~Read something~~](else:)[[[Read something]]]
* [[Back->main]]
]How should they be arranged?
* (link: "alphabetically by author")[(set: $bookshelf to "author")(goto: "Organised books")]
* (link: "alphabetically by title")[(set: $bookshelf to "title")(goto: "Organised books")]
* (link: "by subject")[(set: $bookshelf to "subject")(goto: "Organised books")]
* (link: "by colour")[(set: $bookshelf to "colour")(goto: "Organised books")]
* (link: "by size")[(set: $bookshelf to "size")(goto: "Organised books")](if: $bookshelf is "author")[This seems like a good idea, until you realise that you own a few books co-written by multiple authors. You put them with the first author listed, but you're not entirely happy about it.](if: $bookshelf is "title")[Great for finding specific books, even better for finding books you forgot about while you're searching for that book you can't remember the name of.](if: $bookshelf is "subject")[This seems like the most sensible way to do it, but there's just so much overlap and it's not at all easy to fit them into an order that makes sense to you. You could spend hours on this, except that after about twenty minutes of it you get sick of looking at them.](if: $bookshelf is "colour")[You're going to hate yourself for this next time you actually want to find a particular book, but it sure does look pretty! You try not to think about the trilogies you've broken up.](if: $bookshelf is "size")[You can actually fit a whole extra shelf into your bookcase this way. It's definitely the most *efficient* way to sort them. It's just also terrible in just about every other way.]
[[Okay, good enough.->Bookshelf]](set: $last to "flat")(set: $bookshelf to "messy")(set: $books to (ds: "Melianarrheyal", "Sahta, First Child", "Borrowed Strength", "Ephemeron", "Palalgia", "Changeling", "Beyond Dreams", "Phoenix", "Fire and Silver", "The Voynich Manuscript", "Ten Little Astronauts", "Face of Glass", "OCR is Not the Only Font", "Red Herring", "Bionic Punchline", "Osiris Likes This", "Robocopout", "We All Saw It Coming", "Blunderball", "Smallholding"))It's been three days now since you've stepped outside your door.
Outside, disease is raging. The government has warned all residents to stay indoors, to shelter in place; a week ago groceries were still considered essential, reason enough to venture into areas of contagion armoured with mask and gloves, but last you heard "reason enough" no longer existed. Keep your doors and windows closed, they said. Starve out the disease. There was some talk of chemical sprays being released from helicopters to combat whatever infection lingers in the empty streets, but you're pretty sure that one was a conspiracy theory.
[[`-->`->hamster analogy]](if: $books's length > 0)[(set: _book to (either: ...$books))(set: $books to it - (ds: _book))This one's called //_book//.
(display: _book)]
\(else:)
[(if: $last is "mirror")[You're too jittery to concentrate on reading right now. You can't get those mirror images out of your mind.](else-if: $last is "wardrobe")[Even the best fiction isn't going to make you feel less alone right now.](else:)[You're sick of reading. No matter how hard you try to escape into fiction, you're still trapped here, and you're still alone.]]
[[`-->`->Bookshelf]]It's a fantasy novel about trauma and emotional abuse. Not exactly the sort of thing you feel like escaping into right now.It has a skeletal dog in it, which just about manages to be more cute than creepy.You flip to a (either: "horror story about an island cut off from civilisation, which nonetheless is ravaged by a speculative disease that turns people into some kind of monsters. It's probably not the best reading material you could have chosen at this point in your life", "story about someone refusing the call to adventure so hard that he passes his whole prophesied future onto someone else", "story about a tiny plantlike alien being vivisected by scientists. It makes your stomach churn").You flip to a story about (either: "someone taking a train to the moon. It's surreal and steampunk at the same time. The issue of how the tracks are laid is never even mentioned", "a traffic cop pulling over a vampire. It's funny, but not exactly what you're in the mood for right now", "a robot granted sentience by futuristic alien architects. The robot has an existential crisis").You flip to a (either: "story about someone being murdered with a shovel. It's gruesome, but also kind of funny", "story in which most of the characters have been replaced with sexy lamps. It's more weird than erotic", "folk horror story about a fox trading its senses away to the Devil. It gives you the creeps").You flip to a (either: "post-apocalyptic retelling of //Hänsel and Gretel//, in which the attempted cannibalism is thwarted with actual cannibalism. Not exactly cheery", "story about using a hand of glory to break someone out of prison. It doesn't turn out as well as one might think", "story about the world ending, in a literally-taken-apart-by-dying-gods sort of way. It's all very poetic, but you've got more than enough apocalypse of your own").You flip to a (either: "trans retelling of //Cinderella//. It actually works really well", "story about a metal singer so awesome that Death himself grants her immortality and she moves into space. You're not really sure where the sci-fi turn at the end came from, but you can't complain", "story about healing one's life (and one's dog) with a magic MacGuffin found in a dream. It's probably meant to be hopeful and inspiring, but all you're getting out of it is the way the protagonist can escape a life trapped indoors through her dreams. You wish your dreams would provide you with that kind of escape").You flip to a story about (either: "space faeries. The imagery is great, but it's also incredibly sinister. It gives you the creeps", "a vampiric Tyrannosaur. Because prehistoric predators weren't dangerous enough already", "a post-apocalyptic lemonade stand. You really don't need more apocalypse in your life right now").You flip to a story about (either: "having to find friendship on the internet because the protagonist is stuck in a hospital. This isn't helping at *all*.", "a mermaid trapped on land. You try not to feel bitter about the fact that you're trapped in a much smaller area.", "prosthetic fingernails that grow out of larvae. It's extremely gross. Who comes up with this stuff?")You can't read it. Nobody can read it. You just bought it (a copy, of course) because you thought it was cool.(if: (history:) contains "Make bed")[What a neatly made bed you have. You must be an incredibly got-it-together person.](else:)[It's a tangle of sheets. You like to think of yourself as not so much a "slob" as a "person with limited resources and better things to do with their time than rearrange blankets every morning".
That was when you still had better things to do with your time, obviously.]
* (if: (history:) contains "Make bed")[~~Make bed~~](else:)[[[Make bed]]]
* [[Sleep]]
* [[Back->main]]There we go. Pillow fluffed, sheets straightened, pajamas folded neatly where your feet would go if you were to lie down on it. The effect is a lot less lived-in than usual, but it does look nicer.
[[`-->`->Bed]](if: $last is "mirror")[You think you'd just have nightmares if you tried to sleep now.](else-if: $last is "wardrobe")[You're too depressed to sleep right now. You wouldn't think that's a thing, but it is.](else:)[(if: (history:) contains "Make bed")[What, and mess up your freshly made bed? After you went to all that effort to make it? That'd be just a waste of time!](else:)[You'd like to, honestly. Just being awake is kind of exhausting lately. But you're way too restless to fall asleep, and your dreams have been anything but an escape the past few days.]]
[[`-->`->Bed]](if: (history:) contains "Clean bathroom")[It still reeks of cleaning fluids in here.
* ~~Clean bathroom~~
* [[Wash hands]]
* [[Back->main]]
](else:)[The sink is crusted with gunk, the mirror spattered with toothpaste. It'd probably be pretty disgusting if you weren't used to it. But eh, it's home.
(if: $last is "mirror")[It's good to be home.](else:)[...or so your thinking usually goes, but right now you're not exactly happy to be home, and wallowing in filth isn't really helping.]
* [[Clean bathroom]]
* [[Wash hands]]
* [[Back->main]]
](if: $last is "mirror")[(either: "Scrub as you might, you can't wash away the lingering memory of that place in the mirror.", "They say the first thing you should do when you get home is wash your hands. Does that include weird surreal dream-trips into some kind of horrific mirror universe?", "Whatever sickness that weird mirror universe was afflicted with, you hope you can protect yourself from it by just washing your hands.", "As annoying as it is to constantly wash your hands, at least you don't need to wear a freaking gasmask to leave the house. Well, at least you didn't three days ago. And probably won't. Hopefully.", "Mirror universe diseases aren't, like, cross-universe contagious, right?", "You try to wash away the memory of your death. Then you try again.", "As much as you've washed your hands in the past few weeks, it still doesn't feel like a normal calming-you-down sort of activity.", "The water feels reassuringly wet after the memory of the weird liquid-but-not glass. Water. Stuff. Whatever that was.", "Your face in the bathroom mirror still looks shaken. ...You're kind of not sure how to feel about mirrors in general at this point.", "They told you soap and water would keep you safe. You hope that's true.", "Even after washing them for two minutes, you still don't feel really clean.")]
\(else-if: $last is "wardrobe")
[(either: "Your dream, or whatever it was, didn't actually make your hands dusty, but better wash 'em again to make sure.", "That big brass key didn't have any germs on it, did it?", "You're so sick of washing your hands.", "The person you saw in your dream, if it was a dream – if it was a person – certainly wasn't close enough to infect you with anything, but you'd better wash your hands again just to be sure.", "It's always time to wash your hands.", "Washing your hands may give you a bunch of skin-on-skin contact – with yourself – but it's no substitute for actual social interaction, and you're not getting any oxytocin out of it.", "Not like a place as completely dead as the world in the back of your wardrobe could have had any germs in it, but you're washing your hands anyway. Like a responsible person.", "Get back from an adventure in completely-dead-empty-lifeless-lonely-land, and what's the first thing you do? Make sure nothing alive is staying on your hands.", "You wish you had someone to talk to.")]
\(else:)
[(either: "What was it they said? Twenty seconds? Twenty minutes?", "Surgical handwashing procedure: circle palms together; rub each palm over the back of the opposite hand, interlacing fingers; rub palms together, interlacing fingers; hook fingers into one another and move rapidly back and forth; grasp and rotate each thumb; rub fingertips against each palm; rub the side of each hand, thumb on palm, fingers on back; circle hand around wrist and rotate; rinse.", "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear... whose birthday is it today, anyway? Someone famous, probably. You miss the internet.", "You must have touched your face recently. Better wash 'em again.", "Does it make sense to wash your hands so often when you're trapped indoors and the contagion is (hopefully) trapped outdoors? You're not sure, but better safe than sorry.", "At least the water's still working.", "Out! Out, damned spot!", "Better wash 'em again, just to be sure.", "Your hands are drying out under all this soap and water. You're starting to run kind of low on lotion, but this is definitely not the time to buy more.", "Good thing you're well stocked on soap.", "Did they seriously say at least fifty times a day, or did you mishear that? You're not sure, but better wash 'em again just in case.", "Okay, they're clean. For now.")]
[[`-->`->Bathroom]](set: $cleanedbathroom to true)You grab some gloves and begin polishing various surfaces with assorted caustic fluids (taking care not to mix them, of course).
(if: $last is "mirror")[As a distractionary technique, it leaves something to be desired.](else:)[Aw yeah. You can actually see your reflection in the mirror now(if: $last is "wardrobe")[. Not that it's much good at conversation].]
[[`-->`->Bathroom]](if: (history:) contains "Clean up")[A nice clean kitchen, with barely any evidence of use (never mind the looming spectre of the powered-off fridge). If you want to keep it that way, you'd better start reusing teacups.](else:)[The first thing you notice as you step into the kitchen is the silence: the audible absence of the refrigerator's constant hum. If the power doesn't come on by tomorrow you'll have to clean it out, but for now you figure the best plan is to leave it untouched. Opening the door to let in the heat would only help the contents spoil faster.]
* [[Make a cup of tea]]
* (if: (count: (history:), "Get a snack") > 4)[~~Get a snack~~](else:)[[[Get a snack]]]
* (if: (history:) contains "Clean up")[~~Clean up~~](else:)[[[Clean up]]]
* [[Back->main]](if: $last is "wardrobe")[No matter how hot your cup of tea, it's never going to be a suitable substitute for actual human interaction.](else:)[(if: $last is "mirror")[You hope a hot cup of tea will help you calm down and process... whatever it was that just happened to you.
It works, kind of. You've](else:)[You've] never been so grateful for your solar-powered camping kettle.]
[[`-->`->main]](if: (count: (history:), (passage:)'s name) is 0)[You grab a handful of grapes. Better eat them before they go bad.](else-if: (count: (history:), (passage:)'s name) is 1)[You take a packet of crisps from the cupboard. Low-effort comfort food at its finest.](else-if: (count: (history:), (passage:)'s name) is 2)[You're going to have to start to get creative. What happens if you put some (either: "jam", "honey", "molasses", "nutella", "syrup", "mustard") on this (either: "stale old biscuit", "dried-out bit of toast", "uncooked sheet of lasagna that was hiding behind the microwave", "flavourless cereal", "lonely crisp that must have fallen out of the bag earlier")?
A sticky mess, that's what happens.](else:)[You can't scrounge up anything appealing enough to outweigh your lack of actual appetite.]
[[`-->`->main]]You do the washing-up, then wipe off every surface you can find. Including the floor. You even consider cleaning out the refrigerator, but you're not willing to commit to drinking all the milk.
[[`-->`->Kitchen]]Yup, that's what you look like, all right.
* (if: (history:) contains "Clean mirror")[~~Clean mirror~~](else:)[[[Clean mirror]]]
* (if: (history:) contains "Groom yourself")[~~Groom yourself~~](else:)[[[Groom yourself]]]
* [[Talk to your reflection]]
* [[Back->main]]You wipe the glass clean. This mirror doesn't get as dirty as the one in the bathroom, but a bit of extra cleaning never hurts. Probably.
[[`-->`->Mirror]]What for? It's not like you're going out. Or like anyone will see you.
Nonetheless, you spend a few minutes picking at your skin until you realise what you're doing and manage to put a stop to it.
[[`-->`->Mirror]](if: $last is "wardrobe")[You're lonely enough to try anything at this point.
]Content in the knowledge that no one's here to watch you be cheesy, you do fingerguns at your reflection in the mirror. "Lookin' good," you say.
Your reflection smiles and winks back at you, mirroring your fingerguns.
[[Then it vanishes.]]Reflexively, you reach out to touch the place where it stood – as if to assure yourself that the mirror is still real, still solid, still hard and unforgiving glass.
Instead, the glass washes up your hand – cool, almost wet, like bright gellified water – and [[pulls you in]].It's a slightly battered armoire with a loose handle, which you bought very used and – therefore – very cheap. It's just about big enough that you could stash a body in it(if: $last is "mirror")[, not that you want to be thinking about dead bodies right now], but all you've ever kept in there is clothing.
* (if: (history:) contains "Sort through your clothes")[~~Sort through your clothes~~](else:)[[[Sort through your clothes]]]
* [[See if you can fit yourself in there]]
* [[Back->main]]Under water, under glass. (Don't breathe.) Light, surface, upwards.
[[Swim.]]Break the surface, breathe the light –
Lakewater, mirror-flat, broken by [[reeds]]. Coiling mist. From the [[shoreline]], voices.Between them, hiding, watch the [[shore->shoreline]].A troop of humanoid figures, outlines blurred by bulky clothing, no skin to be seen. Their faces, gasmasks. Insect snouts under huge blank eyes. In their hands: knives and crowbars and makeshift spears. On their backs: bottles, jugs. They kneel at the lakeshore, fill their vessels, carry the water away.
Always some watching. Always some standing guard. (if: (history:) contains "reeds")[They do not see you, safely hidden in the reeds.
Threatening. Frightening. [[Follow]], hiding? [[Run away?]]](else:)[They see you. Point. Shout. //Infected! Contagious! Kill, quick, kill!//
No. Not infected. Not contagious. Just you, just you. Not infected. Don't kill.
Huge blank insect eyes do not listen, do not care. Spears point. Knives point. Crowbars pull back, to swing, to strike.
Can't reach you. Too far away.
[[Run->Run away?]]? [[Hide]]?]Shadow, silent, two metres back. Shelter behind trees. They do not see, eyes flat, facing forwards. They do not hear, ears all covered. Safe.
//Slosh//, //slosh//, the water on their backs. //Clomp//, //clomp//, their boots in the mud. //Swish//, //swoosh//, the weapons in their hands.
On, and on, and [[on]].Swim away to another shore. Mist and water, silver-grey. No one here. Lonely. Safe.
Ahead: forest, mist. No sound. No aim.
Wet. Cold. Shivering.
[[Walk.]]Dive down again into mirror-waters. Come up, breathe, hide between the reeds. Wait for mask people, knife people, to walk away.
Hiding, [[follow->Follow]].Through the mist, on and on and on. Trees, looming silent. Wet //squelch// of feet in mud.
Somewhere, a sound – howling, coughing, crying, wailing. //Help. Help. Help me.//
Go [[towards]]? [[Away]]?From the mist: howling, coughing, crying, wailing. //Help. Help. Help me.//
Knives up, spears up, crowbars up. Voices, mask-torn: //Where?//
Hide. Safe behind trees. Safe in the mist. Safe, two metres back, out of reach of knives and spears.
From the mist: something. Something wailing. Something crying. //Help me.//
Human face. Human skin. Eyes wet. Skin wet, slimy, raw. //Help me.// Coughing, wet, bloody. //Help me.// Human. Sick.
//Infected! Contagious! Kill, quick, kill!//
Knives. Spears. Crowbars. Blood.
Flies. Sprays. Two metres back, behind the tree, safe.
Screams. [[Then silence.]]//Slosh//, //slosh//. //Clomp//, //clomp//. //Swish//, //swoosh//. On and on and on.
Through the mist, ahead, walls. [[Shelter.]]Through the door, the knife-people, the mask-people. You cannot follow, hiding.
[[Climb]]? [[Wait]]?Up the walls, careful-quiet. Look inside.
Courtyard. Gasmask-people. Cage.
Inside, someone: human, scared. Not sick, not visibly. Scared. Green-glinting wrist, jewels in leather.
(if: (history:) contains "Wait")[Climb closer. [[Watch]].](else:)[Gasmask face turns up, sees you. Huge blank eyes. Scream.
Gun, pointing at you.
[[Pain.]]]Wait til darkness. Wait til silence. [[Climb]].Mask-people with needles, syringes, medicine.
In the cage, arm riddled with needle-holes.
Sees you. Staring at you. //Help me.//
Climb down wall. Edge closer.
//Please.//
[[Quick]]? [[Cautious]]?As blackness closes in, a sound:
(link: "the shattering of glass.")[(set: $last to "mirror")(goto: "shattered")]Towards the cage, running – break it open – freedom –
Mask-people shout, raise guns. Point them at you both.
[[Pain.]]Slowly, sidle towards the cage; creep closer to the light.
In the cage, eyes on you, pleading.
Needle tight in a gloved hand. Into the cage, into the arm. Injection. Whimper. Eyes on you. //Help me.//
Masked head turns, huge flat mask-eyes face you in the shadows –
A shout. A gun. [[Pain.]]Closer, now: something wailing, something crying. //Help me.//
Stumbling out from the mist, something, someone: human face, human skin. Eyes wet. Skin wet, slimy, raw. //Help me.// Coughing, wet, bloody. //Help me.// Human. Sick.
Closer. Reach out. Touch: slimy skin, spongey, sloughing from flesh, creeping up your hand, your arm, [[your face->Pain.]] –Through the mist, running, away from the cries of a human voice. //Help me.// Run, run, faster, farther, away –
Ahead, through the mist: something shining. Mirror-surface, lake-surface – is this where you came from? No, no, different – another lake, another mirror –
Something breaks the surface: a hand, green gems glinting from a leather armband; a face, human, //normal//, staring into your soul.
Beside you, unseen, a figure: covered in cloth, head a faceless mask. In their hand, a knife.
In your chest, a knife.
[[Pain.]]You open your eyes to find a familiar ceiling above you, though from an unfamiliar angle. You're back in your flat – of course you are; of course you never left, not really – lying on the floor, surrounded by the shards of your erstwhile mirror.
You can try to put it aside as a dream, a weird hallucination brought on by your lack of external stimulation while you, apparently, punched your mirror to pieces; but the memory of fear, of pain, of your own death, lingers.
[[`-->`->main]]You clean away what remains of your mirror. You tell yourself you're not stress-cleaning, just making sure you don't cut yourself, but you can't deny the relief in doing something relatively normal.
[[`-->`->main]](if: (count: (history:), "door") is 0)[That's odd. You don't remember this door at all. Your mirror had been covering this stretch of wall for quite a while, but you would've thought you'd remember covering up something like this.
]The wall it's set into is an outside wall: theoretically, it should open onto a two-storey drop. It's not sealed off, though. Just locked.
It looks like it takes a large, distinctively shaped brass key(if: (history:) contains "something gleams")[.
Like the one you found in your wardrobe.
* [[Try the key]]
* [[Back->main]]
](else:)[: a thing you absolutely do not have.
[[`-->`->main]]]You make a neat pile of clothes you don't really wear, for donation at whatever date you can actually get out of your flat again(if: $last is "mirror")[. It at least helps you get your mind off of things a little].
Wow. Your wardrobe's only about half as full now. You never realised how little of your clothing you actually wear.
[[`-->`->Wardrobe]](if: (history:) contains "Sort through your clothes")[Now that your wardrobe's pretty much half empty, you fit pretty easily. It's actually pretty comfortable in here.](else:)[It's a tight fit with all your clothes in here, but you manage. The thick layer of trousers at your back actually makes for a very comfortable bit of padding.]
You close the door behind you and sit for a minute in darkness.
(if: $last is "mirror")[It's kind of comforting, actually: a hiding space, safety within safety, a place where the memory of cheap weapons and expressionless gasmasks feels impossibly far away.](else:)[This is what you've come to, apparently: shutting yourself away into a dark enclosed space (if: (history:) contains "Sort through your clothes")[half-]full of clothing and just sitting there, because you have literally nothing more sensible to do with your time.]
When you're done with your little bit of darkness-meditation (okay, you're actually kind of starting to fall asleep), you try and [[brace yourself against the wall]] as you reach over to open the door again.The wall's no longer there. Neither is the door(if: $last is "mirror")[.
You try not to panic].
You stand, cautiously, and feel around yourself in the darkness. As far as you can feel, in every direction – nothing. Even the (if: (history:) contains "Sort through your clothes")[wall](else:)[trousers] you'd been using as a backrest have vanished.
Slowly, the world around you starts to become [[visible]].Utter desolation stretches around you, as far as you can see until it vanishes in the darkness.
Below: dusty grey stone. Above: darkness. The only sound is the howling of the wind, chill and just damp enough to feel clammy.
[[You walk.]]The desolation all around you is unbroken. You see no hills, no grass, not even a dead tree somewhere. Your footsteps, stretching out into eternity behind you, are the only sign of any life in this place.
* [[Call out]]
* [[Keep walking]]There's no response from the emptiness all around you; only the shiver of the wind.
You [[keep walking->Keep walking]].How long have you been walking? It's been a long time since you could see the place where you began. Your footsteps are a line into forever.
In all this time you've seen no sign of life, heard nothing but the wind.
You might be the only thing alive here.
You might be the only thing that ever was.
[[You've never been this alone.]]In the empty eternity that stretches out all around you, you wonder:
will your own voice be the last you hear?
will your own skin be the last you touch?
will your own heartbeat be the last you perceive of anything that is alive?
[[The horizon is getting nearer.]]Step by step, you come closer to the edge – of everything, of eternity, of forever.
A sheer cliff falls away into darkness. You cannot hope to scale it. This is the end.
You gaze out into [[the abyss]].Far out beyond the infinite sea of darkness – do you see something? Do you hear something?
* [[Call out->yell at the abyss]]
* [[Wave]]
* [[Stare]]You call out, as loud and clear as you can. Your voice falls away into darkness.
But there on the wind – faint, so faint you can hardly hear it – an answer.
Far away, on an opposite shore, a figure too distant to clearly make out echoes your cry. A sharp green glint shines from their wrist as they wave at you, doing everything they can to attract your attention.
Someone's out there. Someone exists – you can't reach them, you're still alone, but out there in the darkness //[[someone exists]]//.You jump up and down, flailing your arms, being as big and visible as you know how to be.
Across the endless darkness, on an opposite shore, a figure too distant to clearly make out echoes your motions; a sharp green glint shines from their wrist as they wave.
Someone's out there. Someone exists – you can't reach them, you're still alone, but out there in the darkness //[[someone exists]]//.There's something there. You're sure of it. Across this infinite expanse, another endless island, just like yours.
There's someone standing there, at the edge, so distant you can barely see them.
* [[Call out->yell at the abyss]]
* [[Wave]]The person is too far to reach, too far to speak to; but they try to communicate, gesturing vaguely, pointing at their feet.
[[You don't understand.]]Helpless, you look down at your own feet, grey and dusty with the long journey through emptiness.
Between them, [[something gleams]].Lying half-buried in the dust at the shore of your island is a large brass key with a distinctive shape.
You pluck it from the dirt and look back up at your new friend, but –
There's nothing there. There's nothing here but darkness, and a (if: (history:) contains "Sort through your clothes")[wall](else:)[bunch of trousers] at your back, and the smell of fresh laundry.
You've been sitting here a long time, and your legs are starting to cramp. [[You push the wardrobe door open.]](set: $last to "wardrobe")Did you fall asleep in there after all? You must have, but you feel as though you've just walked a thousand kilometres in utter isolation. To be fair, the isolation – at least – is actually real.
...And your hand's still curled tightly around a large brass key.
That's... kind of weird.
[[`-->`->main]]The door opens.
Not to fresh air and a two-storey drop; not even into some sort of access hatch crowded with insulation; but into a long rough corridor, completely out of place in your flat and the world it belongs to.
You're dead certain, this time, that you're not dreaming.
You take a deep breath, grab a torch, and [[go through]].This isn't a dream world. This isn't a mirror world. This is...
You don't know what this is.
But at the very least, it's a way out of your flat.
Behind you, the rectangle of light shrinks away. Rough stone surrounds you, echoing with your breaths, your footsteps.
[[There's another sound in the echoes.]]Footsteps, not your own.
Breathing, not your own.
[[Torchlight]]. Not your own.You throw up a hand to guard your eyes from the light. Behind it, the sillhouette gasps in amazement –
"You're real!"
You squint past the light in your face. Your eyes focus on a hand, a wrist – a leather bracelet set with smooth green rhinestones, bright and gleaming in your own light.
You drop your torch.
"It's you – you're real. It's you."
[[You step forwards.]]You'll stay two metres apart. You'll wash your hands. You'll do whatever you have to.
But you don't have to deal with this alone.
[[You'll face this quarantine together.->Start]]Regardless, here you are: trapped in your flat like a hamster in its cage. It wasn't so bad while you still had a hamster wheel – that is, a gaming console and a computer with internet access – but the power went out at some point last night, and in a stroke of extremely unfortunate timing you forgot to charge your phone just one night too many. You have no idea what's going on out there. Your closest thing to social contact is your own reflection in the mirror. And until the power comes back on, [[you're going to have to find a way to entertain yourself.->main]]
=><=
#(text-style: "underline")[QUARANTINE QUEST]
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#[[BEGIN]]
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#[[CREDITS]]
=><=
(text-style: "underline")[''QUARANTINE QUEST'']
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A game by (link-repeat: "G. Deyke")[(open-url: "https://gdeyke.wordpress.com/")]
for (link-repeat: "Southampton Game Jam 2020 @ Home")[(open-url: "https://itch.io/jam/sotongamejam20")]
with contributions by (link-repeat: "Damon L. Wakes")[(open-url: "https://damonwakes.wordpress.com/")].
---
(text-style: "underline")[Featuring photography by:]
(link-repeat: "Simone Hutsch")[(open-url: "https://unsplash.com/photos/Sw1YwqLKmP4")]
(link-repeat: "Mike Petrucci")[(open-url: "https://unsplash.com/photos/M8hKEuued60")]
(link-repeat: "James L.W")[(open-url: "https://unsplash.com/photos/5EB6cPgDrF8")]
(link-repeat: "Thomas Dumortier")[(open-url: "https://unsplash.com/photos/Ek4yAaAsbmM")]
(link-repeat: "Filip Kominik")[(open-url: "https://unsplash.com/photos/IHtVbLRjTZU")]
---
This font is (link-repeat: "Shark HandWritten ABC")[(open-url: "https://www.dafont.com/shark-handwritten-abc.font") by Aryel Filipe].
---
[[RETURN|Start]]It's a hard sci-fi reimagining of Agatha Christie's //And Then There Were None//. But you haven't read that, so you can only imagine how close a reimagining this might be.It's a fantasy novel set on a volcanic island. A real sword and sandal sort of thing - except that the main characters are all part of a stone age tribe, so there aren't actually all that many swords (or sandals).You flip to a (either: "story about a ringwraith trying to enter the Tour de France", "very short story in which a horde of zombie actors go on strike", "story about a minotaur on a cycling tour of Greece").You flip to a (either: "crossover between //Star Wars// and //The Odd Couple//", "parody of //It's a Wonderful Life// in which the main guy goes to opposite world", "really weird story about a fox that becomes superintelligent (and strangely fashionable) after some guy feeds it a bunch of pills").You flip to a (either: "story about a bad guy running a generic fantasy dungeon, then regretting every choice he ever made when it turns out that all the heroes he captures in there are way too keen on being whipped", "story about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse shopping at a petrol station - it's funny, but also a little awkward right now given that Pestilence is pretty much the main character", "really, really short story about various fairytale creatures investing in the London housing market").You flip to a (either: "strange, post-apocalyptic story where old VHS tapes of //Friends// become the foundation of a new religion", "story about cavemen worrying about the consequences of new technological development in the field of sticks and sharp rocks", "fantastical horror story about a swan that lays golden eggs").You flip to a (either: "//Mad Max// parody where all the characters are mascots for various brands of breakfast cereal", "parody of //Robocop//, which seems kind of inevitable given the title of the book", "bizarre string of stories about a form of time travel that causes the people using it to violently explode").You flip to(either: "... You're actually not sure what this is. It's just the word 'banana' written over and over again. Why do you even own this? You can't remember where you got it", " a superhero parody featuring characters such as Captain Redundancy and Count Erfitter", " what's best described as a narrative reimagining of that //Mousetrap// board game").You flip to a (either: "parody of //Jurassic Park// titled //Jurassic Pork//. Instead of dinosaurs, there's a time-travelling pig", "slightly eerie story about someone whose flat is besieged by wolves that ultimately end up moving in with them. You wouldn't mind the company, to be honest", "a fable in which Order and Chaos make a bet to determine the fate of the universe").You flip to a (either: "retelling of that Steamed Hams thing from //The Simpsons//, but written in the style of a Homeric epic", "slightly gross sci-fi about two rival restauraunt owners trying to make a living in a space station where the zero gravity constantly makes travellers barf everywhere", "very eerie story about a god that suddenly turns up in the middle of town and gradually makes the world disappear, one word at a time. It's not exactly what you wanted to read right now, if you're honest with yourself").{
(if: (passage:)'s tags contains "doorway")[(enchant: ?Link, (hover-style: (text-color: "green")))]
(elseif: (passage:)'s tags contains "mirror")[(enchant: ?Link, (hover-style: (text-color: "red")))]
(elseif: (passage:)'s tags contains "wardrobe")[(enchant: ?Link, (hover-style: (text-color: "purple")))]
(else:)[(enchant: ?Link, (hover-style: (text-color: "blue")))]
}