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Welcome to <i>Zero Sum Game</i>, an escape room experience set in the universe of Max Gladstone's series, The Craft Sequence. This is a multimedia fanwork that incorporates written and spoken text, sound effects, and visual artwork to tell a story through a series of puzzles.
Throughout the game, you will unlock new scenes by using the clues you've discovered to solve puzzles. Some of these may be entirely new locations; others may be revealed when you return to a location you've already explored, to find something new hidden there. Each puzzle will require a password to solve and unlock the next step in your investigation.
Some scenes may provide items that you will acquire for your inventory. These may unlock new scenes, or they may be needed to solve puzzles later on in the game. You can click on items in your inventory to revisit them at any time.
If a puzzle seems confusing or impossible to solve, you may not have all of the tools you need yet. Try exploring other scenes to find more clues or items that might help. Revealed scenes are not sequential, and can be explored in any order. If you're ever really stuck on a puzzle, you can consult the list of clues for that scene. These will provide hints on how to solve each step of the puzzle. Be aware, however, eventually they will give away the solution!
[[Good luck and hope you enjoy the game.|Tutorial]]<<set $thaums to 2000>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Introduction.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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It took you about a month after graduating from the Hidden Schools to realize that Dresediel Lex didn't quite fit you any more. Or that you didn't fit it. Perhaps it's a little bit of both.
Your family home now seemed quaint and old-fashioned—just like the vaguely disapproving looks your father sent your way when he occasionally deigned to attend dinner. Your favorite coffee shop had all new employees, workers who didn't remember how you liked your espresso, and it was petty of you to be rankled by it, but really, it was par for the course—the city went through hell while you were away, and the rebuilt parts felt sharp and jarring, giving you an odd sense of deja-vu as you walked down streets that were both familiar and not.
You were different, too.
You were proud and sure—not just a child resting on the laurels of their family name, but a Craftsperson in their own right. You were more… you, and you'd worked hard to get there, unapologetically burning bridges and cutting bits of yourself away when it was called for. You could take it—after all, you'd been honed by starlight. You'd dared to reach for the power once held by the Gods alone, and had claimed yourself worthy to wield it. Your father's notions of propriety and tradition were made ridiculous in the face of all that vastness.
You've never been the kind of person to sit around and wait for the world to catch up, so you packed a bag, said your good-byes, and caught a dragon to Alt Coulumb, feeling the need to spread your wings. You fell asleep to the steady beat of the dragon's wings, and when you startled awake, you found yourself clutching a white business card between your fingers saying "Tara Abernathy, Craftswoman of Kos."
You're still clutching it now, as the driverless carriage takes you through the city towards the Temple.
It's an invitation. A job offer, even, if you play your hand right. You look at the card for what must be the hundredth time that day, feeling the smooth paper and embossed font bump against your fingertips, reaching out with your Craft once again to see if there's anything you've missed, not willing to admit that you might be just the littlest bit nervous.
After all, Tara Abernathy's unorthodox and meteoric rise as the Craftswoman of Kos is the stuff of legend.
You've always thought of her as a kindred spirit—you can't help but see a piece of yourself in her stubbornness and tendency to court trouble. As you make your way through the teeming streets of Alt Coulumb, you think that she might see something of herself in you, too.
The gravel crunches under the wheels as the carriage enters the long, circular drive of the Temple of Kos. Its columns and buttresses, tall and polished black, loom before you. You take a deep breath as you dismount from the carriage and make your way up the steps.
[[Enter the Temple of Kos Everburning.|Church of Kos]]You find yourself in a plain room in the Church of Kos.
[[Investigate the church balcony.|Church Balcony]]
[[Investigate the lectern.|Lectern]]
[[Investigate the technical altar.|Technical Altar]]
<<if visited("TA's Office")>>[[Look at the wall sconces again.|Wall Sconces]]<<else>>[[Investigate the walls.|Wall Sconces]]<</if>><<if visited("TA's Office")>>
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]<</if>><<if visited("Business Cards")>>
[[Go to the Church Archives.|Church Archives]]<</if>>
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/kos.jpg" width="400" /></center><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Church+Balcony.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Church+Balcony.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
You see shadows and moonlight through the balcony door.
Under the pale and watchful face of its goddess, Alt Coulumb no more sleeps than Dresediel Lex with its electric nightlife brilliance, but the illumination has a different quality here. It paints the rooftops silver-white—and how strange, to see rooftops from a balcony, instead of obsidian pyramids and glass towers stretching up to pierce the sky on their spires—and saps color from the world, leaching it into grayscale.
You step out onto the balcony because there's no one here to stop you. The railing is cool under your hands, organic—this city is shaped from wood and stone, more than metal and glass.
<<if visited("Church Balcony") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>You look to one side, and see a face chiseled into the stone facade.
It's a beautiful face, and terrible, crafted from an artist's nightmare. Delicate, deadly horns spiral back from a face men would call savage because they fear it, and rough-cut amethysts gleam in the moonlight. A snarl carves into the expression, not cruel, but fierce in a way you find comforting.
Then the demure veil of a cloud slips away from the moon, and you realize it isn't just a face at all.
The statue's proud breast is revealed by the silver glow, unclothed but not alluring. Striking in the way only true art can be, without the invitation an artist's gaze can sculpt into female nudity. Well-defined granite arms, the ripple of a muscled torso—
—wait, did you just think 'ripple'? Surely that's only the illusion of movement, the trick of another cloud moving across—
The statue pitches forward and dives off the balcony.
You don't shriek because your heart has leapt into your throat and is blocking your airway. You grip the railing hard enough to hurt and lunge forward, leaning out into nothingness. You know the interdict against flight in this city, and it's a fatal plunge from this height.
Then silver-gray wings snap open with a sound like toppled marble, and the figure below shifts from a glide into a climb, gaining height as she soars. You lose sight of her when she banks behind one of the churches that dot the skyline, and no amount of straining your eyes brings her back into view.
The gargoyle's flight reminds you of a cliff runner you dated for a while. It's a defiance of gravity, strength and speed and agility pushing a body to extraordinary heights without the benefit of starlight and glyphs.
Your heart still hasn't calmed when you turn back toward the balcony door.
It's just as well, because the sight of a second gargoyle perched on the other side of the doorway would have only sent it racing again.
For a long moment, you stare at one another in silence. This one - he? - has eyes like chips of emerald, and a leaner physique than the bodybuilder who just jumped off the railing. He rumbles something low in his chest, like the purr of a...well, nothing like a cat, really. Maybe an earthquake.
You find your voice. "Hello," you say. "I'm looking for Tara Abernathy. Have you seen her?"
The gargoyle regards you somewhat warily. You wonder if it's your voice that's provoked this reaction, or the name.
"You're one of Seril's children, aren't you?" you ask politely. "May I ask why you're hanging around the Church of Kos?"
You know the history, of course, but Ms. Abernathy's brief had mentioned a case, and you don't know who all the players are yet.
"She's also a…" A pause, which feels as though it's being measured in geologic time. "...partner, of Seril's. Her priestess."
"Do you usually do business with Ms. Abernathy in the Tower? Do other followers of Seril have obligations to Kos?"
There's a slight recoil, which if it weren't embodied in solid granite might have been called a flinch. <i>Gotcha</i>, you think, as the gargoyle's carved expression turns unexpectedly shifty. He hadn't meant to be seen out here. He's snooping around the same way you are.
This time, to break the impasse, he speaks first.
"You're the Crafts—"
You can see the plosive on his tongue (does he have a tongue?), poised for compression and release of air (does he breathe?) while he considers a pronoun.
"Yes," you say. "I am. And you are?"
It's too blunt an inquiry—you've never been good at verbal fencing. You wield questions like clubs, with brute force and the expectation of answers.
It's something you're working on.
He says a word. You think it's a word, anyway; he might just be fucking with you. It sounds a little like a glacier calving into the sea.
You're nothing if not detail-oriented, and intimidation by a flying statue isn't really the way you want to start out this gig. "Would you mind spelling that for me?"
He stares at you with gemstone eyes for a very long moment. Then he does.
<i>S-H-A-L-E.</i><</linkreplace>><<if visited("Rooftop Garden")>>
Listen to Shale's name again:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/SHALE.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/SHALE.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center><</if>><<else>>You look to one side, and see a face chiseled into the stone facade.
It's a beautiful face, and terrible, crafted from an artist's nightmare. Delicate, deadly horns spiral back from a face men would call savage because they fear it, and rough-cut amethysts gleam in the moonlight. A snarl carves into the expression, not cruel, but fierce in a way you find comforting.
Then the demure veil of a cloud slips away from the moon, and you realize it isn't just a face at all.
The statue's proud breast is revealed by the silver glow, unclothed but not alluring. Striking in the way only true art can be, without the invitation an artist's gaze can sculpt into female nudity. Well-defined granite arms, the ripple of a muscled torso—
—wait, did you just think 'ripple'? Surely that's only the illusion of movement, the trick of another cloud moving across—
The statue pitches forward and dives off the balcony.
You don't shriek because your heart has leapt into your throat and is blocking your airway. You grip the railing hard enough to hurt and lunge forward, leaning out into nothingness. You know the interdict against flight in this city, and it's a fatal plunge from this height.
Then silver-gray wings snap open with a sound like toppled marble, and the figure below shifts from a glide into a climb, gaining height as she soars. You lose sight of her when she banks behind one of the churches that dot the skyline, and no amount of straining your eyes brings her back into view.
The gargoyle's flight reminds you of a cliff runner you dated for a while. It's a defiance of gravity, strength and speed and agility pushing a body to extraordinary heights without the benefit of starlight and glyphs.
Your heart still hasn't calmed when you turn back toward the balcony door.
It's just as well, because the sight of a second gargoyle perched on the other side of the doorway would have only sent it racing again.
For a long moment, you stare at one another in silence. This one - he? - has eyes like chips of emerald, and a leaner physique than the bodybuilder who just jumped off the railing. He rumbles something low in his chest, like the purr of a...well, nothing like a cat, really. Maybe an earthquake.
You find your voice. "Hello," you say. "I'm looking for Tara Abernathy. Have you seen her?"
The gargoyle regards you somewhat warily. You wonder if it's your voice that's provoked this reaction, or the name.
"You're one of Seril's children, aren't you?" you ask politely. "May I ask why you're hanging around the Church of Kos?"
You know the history, of course, but Ms. Abernathy's brief had mentioned a case, and you don't know who all the players are yet.
"She's also a…" A pause, which feels as though it's being measured in geologic time. "...partner, of Seril's. Her priestess."
"Do you usually do business with Ms. Abernathy in the Tower? Do other followers of Seril have obligations to Kos?"
There's a slight recoil, which if it weren't embodied in solid granite might have been called a flinch. <i>Gotcha</i>, you think, as the gargoyle's carved expression turns unexpectedly shifty. He hadn't meant to be seen out here. He's snooping around the same way you are.
This time, to break the impasse, he speaks first.
"You're the Crafts—"
You can see the plosive on his tongue (does he have a tongue?), poised for compression and release of air (does he breathe?) while he considers a pronoun.
"Yes," you say. "I am. And you are?"
It's too blunt an inquiry—you've never been good at verbal fencing. You wield questions like clubs, with brute force and the expectation of answers.
It's something you're working on.
He says a word. You think it's a word, anyway; he might just be fucking with you. It sounds a little like a glacier calving into the sea.
You're nothing if not detail-oriented, and intimidation by a flying statue isn't really the way you want to start out this gig. "Would you mind spelling that for me?"
He stares at you with gemstone eyes for a very long moment. Then he does.
<i>S-H-A-L-E.</i><</if>>
[[Go back.|Church of Kos]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Lectern.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Lectern.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
It's not difficult to spot the lectern in the middle of the room. There's really not a lot else here.
<<if visited("Lectern") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>You're supposed to be meeting Tara Abernathy, the in-house Craftswoman for the Church of Kos—and, rumor has it, legal counsel on retainer for the moon goddess, Seril Undying, to boot. But while you're sure this is the correct office, it's currently empty. 'Empty' meaning devoid of the usual office furniture and accoutrements: Desk, chair, law texts, nightmare couch, silver knives. There's not even much starlight coming through the glass door to the balcony.
If this were your office, you'd have skylights, mirrors, and an efficient messaging system for arranging deposition prep meetings and low-carb lunches. Unfortunately you're still a first-year associate fresh out of the Hidden Schools, so you have a few years to go before you can start planning your dream office in earnest.
The service book on the lectern lies open, its spine broken like an altar sacrifice. You skim the words of a devotional song to Kos without really taking it in. You've heard words like these before, although usually in Quechal. <i>Glory to Your Flame</i> is a complicated sentiment for someone who grew up hearing stories about Aquel and Achal.
Then your eye catches on the opposite page, and you reconsider.
<i>For your light, we give thanks</i>, reads the second song. <i>Praise carried on our tongues kindles in each a holy flame.</i>.
You have the unpleasant sense that you're being led by the nose, but you need this job more than Tara Abernathy or the Church of Kos needs a member of this year's graduating class. Dresediel Lex is a gambler's city, and you've played enough to know that sometimes you have to call even when you don't hold a winning hand.
If you're reading this right, there's another way out of this room. Call it a fire escape. That's cute.<</linkreplace>><<else>>You're supposed to be meeting Tara Abernathy, the in-house Craftswoman for the Church of Kos—and, rumor has it, legal counsel on retainer for the moon goddess Seril Undying to boot. But while you're sure this is the correct office, it's currently empty. 'Empty' meaning devoid of the usual office furniture and accoutrements: Desk, chair, law texts, nightmare couch, silver knives. There's not even much starlight coming through the glass door to the balcony.
If this were your office, you'd have skylights, mirrors, and an efficient messaging system for arranging deposition prep meetings and low-carb lunches. Unfortunately you're still a first-year associate fresh out of the Hidden Schools, so you have a few years to go before you can start planning your dream office in earnest.
The service book on the lectern lies open, its spine broken like an altar sacrifice. You skim the words of a devotional song to Kos without taking it in. You've heard words like these before, although usually in Quechal. <i>Glory to Your Flame</i> is a complicated sentiment for someone who grew up hearing stories about Aquel and Achal.
Then your eye catches on the opposite page, and you reconsider.
<i>For your light, we give thanks</i>, reads the second song. <i>Praise carried on our tongues kindles in each a holy flame.</i>.
You have the unpleasant sense that you're being led by the nose, but you need this job more than Tara Abernathy or the Church of Kos needs a member of this year's graduating class. Dresediel Lex is a gambler's city, and you've played enough to know that sometimes you have to call even when you don't hold a winning hand.
If you're reading this right, there's another way out of this room. Call it a fire escape. That's cute.<</if>>
[[You pick up the service book.|Service Book]]
[[Go back.|Church of Kos]]<<set $inventory to true>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Service+Book.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Item+Service+Book.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<code> For your light, we give thanks,
Lord Kos, the Everburning,
He whose fire cleanses all.
Praise carried on our tongues
Kindles in each a holy flame.
At our side, purest truth,
And inside of our city
and in the machines that carry us,
behind the door of every boiler room,
who promised to carry us ever forward,
He! the Open Flame! Lord Kos!</code>
<<return>> <center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Technical+Altar.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Technical+Altar.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
There's an alcove carved into the stone wall, a recessed cavern that contains a multitude of items. You know enough to recognize church supplies, even unfamiliar ones. These are boiler-room tools, worn dull and grimy with worship.
You studied the Interfaith Standards Council 19001 in preparation for this job, but reading about prayer-based amortization and missionary escrow is a far cry from seeing a priest-technician's can of holy lubricating oil, the metal canister stamped with the three-tongued sign of the flame. You don't even recognize half of the items on this altar, just the industrial design of them, and the reverent way they've been placed in their niche.
You reach out to examine a few up close, stopping just before your hand closes on one of the brushes. There are several of them, made of steel and brass and wire, as well as a hand saw and a sturdy clamp. There are cleaning tools for descaling and scraping, a soot-stained cloth, and a box of long-handled matches. You don't honestly think that picking anything up will anger the local god enough to smite you where you stand, but there's something about the altar that gives off the impression these tools are not for casual handling.
It's never felt more obvious that you're in a church, even after your journey through the hallways past crimson-robed and tonsured priests, the walls echoing with the chanted prayers of the faithful. There's a wrought iron grille covering a vent at your feet, through which you can hear the hiss of steam and clank of gears. Warmth creeps up your legs, Kos' eternal fire heating every level of His Tower through the miracle of air ducts.
Part of you doesn't know what you're doing here. The rest of you remembers that even a high-profile career starts with grunt work, and the Church of Kos looks good on a résumé.
<<if visited ("Technical Altar") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>That is, if you can figure out how to find your boss.
The label on the matchbox catches your attention. Unlike the diamond flame and triangle symbols you've seen elsewhere, the matches are marked with a single gazing eye. You wonder if this has another meaning in the church, or if it's another message entirely, for you alone. If you look at the matchbox with Craft, will there be more to it than—no pun intended—meets the eye?
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/matchbox.jpg" width="500" /></center><</linkreplace>>
[[Look at the matchbox with Craft again.|Matchbox]]<<else>>That is, if you can figure out how to find your boss.
The label on the matchbox catches your attention. Unlike the diamond flame and triangle symbols you've seen elsewhere, the matches are marked with a single gazing eye. You wonder if this has another meaning in the church, or if it's another message entirely, for you alone. If you look at the matchbox with Craft, will there be more to it than—no pun intended - meets the eye?
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/matchbox.jpg" width="500" /></center>
[[Look at the matchbox with Craft.|Matchbox]]<</if>>
[[Go back.|Church of Kos]]
<<set $inventory to true>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Matchbox.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Item+Matchbox.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Using Craft, you look at the matchbox with new eyes, and see a message scrawled in tiny, slanting print in place of the glyph.
<i>You're onto something</i>, reads the message. <i>And you're late for our appointment</i>.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Wall+Sconces.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Wall+Sconces.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<<if visited("TA's Office")>>[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<<linkreplace "Re-examine the wall sconces.">>At first it doesn't occur to you how deeply weird it is that none of the wall sconces are lit. In the church of a fire god, you'd have thought everything flammable would be burning at all hours. Kos Himself is never extinguished, but this is His Tower; surely in the eyes of a god, all flames here are a part of Him.
The sconces themselves are polished brass, welded securely into place and decorated with the triangle-and-diamond motif favored by the church. The candle wicks are blackened, soot staining the walls behind them and melted wax hardened into rivulets that drip down the central pillars. You don't know enough about paper and cotton filaments to tell how long these would burn. Perhaps it's a budgetary issue.
There's plenty of light in the room, provided by the chandelier hanging from thick ropes from the ceiling. That's a relief: In Dresediel Lex, blackouts are bad for business. Blackouts mean gods and their followers at work.
You acknowledge there is a certain amount of irony there.
The sconces are placed at regular intervals along the walls, gleaming in the chandelier's light. You make your way around the room, examining the walls and sconces.<</linkreplace>><<else>>At first it doesn't occur to you how deeply weird it is that none of the wall sconces are lit. In the church of a fire god, you'd have thought everything flammable would be burning at all hours. Kos Himself is never extinguished, but this is His Tower; surely in the eyes of a god, all flames here are a part of Him.
The sconces themselves are polished brass, welded securely into place and decorated with the triangle-and-diamond motif favored by the church. The candle wicks are blackened, soot staining the walls behind them and melted wax hardened into rivulets that drip down the central pillars. You don't know enough about paper and cotton filaments to tell how long these would burn. Perhaps it's a budgetary issue.
There's plenty of light in the room, provided by the chandelier hanging from thick ropes from the ceiling. That's a relief: In Dresediel Lex, blackouts are bad for business. Blackouts mean gods and their followers at work.
You acknowledge there's a certain amount of irony there.
The sconces are placed at regular intervals along the walls, gleaming in the chandelier's light. You make your way around the room, examining the walls and sconces.
<<if visited("Matchbox")>><<if visited("Wall Sconces") gt 1>>Examine the wall near each sconce again:
Sconce 1:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 2:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 3:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 4:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+4.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+4.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 5:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+5.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Sconce 6:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+6.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+6.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 7:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+7.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Sconce+7.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Sconce 8:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Sconce+8.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<</if>>Which sconces should you light?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '3 and 7'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '4 and 6'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is 'four and six'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is 'three seven'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is 'three and seven'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is '3 7'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Tara Abernathy's office.|TA's Office]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|WALL PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("WALL PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|WALL PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("WALL PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|WALL PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("WALL PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|WALL PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>><</if>>
[[Go back.|Church of Kos]]
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Tara's+Office.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Tara's+Office.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center><<set $realm to true>>
<<if visited("TA's Office") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read Tara Abernathy's introductory scene.">>There's a sharp click, a whirr of well-oiled gears, and a short burst of steam as the decorative metal vines covering the wall part, and a door swings open. You feel a brief burst of pride, mixed with annoyance at having been made to jump through these hoops just to get an audience with Tara Abernathy. It's understandable; you'd most likely make a similar choice in her place—but you're a graduate of the Hidden Schools, not some first year setting off accidental explosions in the lab.
You make your way up a winding staircase. Along the way, hidden peepholes show quick glimpses of life in the Tower—a room that looks like an enormous steam engine, a series of benches where young trainees are putting together and taking apart various devices, a sauna—before you finally reach a heavy metal door.
You pause before opening it, very nearly expecting another test, and use your Craft to reach out to make sure it is what it seems—and feel a little foolish once you determine it is, indeed, a metal door; no secret messages written on it, or tricky lock that needs unpicking.
You knock, and you hear a voice on the other side telling you to enter.
Tara Abernathy is seated behind an intricately carved oak desk, and she quirks an eyebrow as you enter.
"I see you found your way up here," she says, her hazel eyes crinkling in the corners in what could best be described as a mild sort of amusement. She stands to offer you a slim hand with a deceptively firm handshake, her taupe skin warm against yours.
She's smartly dressed in a well-fitted black jacket, skirt, and crisp white blouse—you'd expect no less from the Craftswoman of Kos—her thickly curled dark hair twisted back and pinned with a silver and gold pin—the symbols of Kos and Seril intertwined.
She hides her hesitancy well, but you saw her give you a quick once-over as you entered, and you take the opportunity to introduce yourself. "Craftsperson Qispi," you say. "Glad to help."
You are offered coffee—a reasonably decent blend, although it doesn't hold a candle to those found in Dresediel Lex—and settle into your chair.
"You come highly recommended," Tara continues, after you've made some polite noises about the coffee and your impressions of the city thus far. "And I'm up to my neck in these Clockwork Kingdom treaty renegotiations. To say it's a mess is an understatement." She sighs, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I had an... interesting visitor last week, and I need someone to look into it—I just haven't had the time. Alba was her name—a Craftswoman in her early twenties, so she must've graduated no more than five years ago, but there was very little she could tell me about what she's been up to since, as her memory was recently heavily modified. Over a year of her life, completely gone. She was worried about why. Oh, I know it's reasonably standard for Craftspeople working in confidential areas to have non-disclosure agreements, and it's not unheard of to take it a step further, ensure there's nothing in your memories to disclose, but I think she suspects that she was involved in something troubling. Troubling enough that she made the effort to smuggle some information out with her when she left. With her memory as it is, she couldn't make much out of it, but that's where she was hoping I'd come in."
Tara tilts her head your way. "I'd like you to investigate. See what you can make of it, if it's anything to begin with. Alba's since left town—she thought it would be safer—but she's available by Nightmare if you need to reach her. I doubt she'll be able to give you much—she was more than a little shaken when she came to see me, and her recent memories were... well. Non-existent."
You nod in agreement.
There's a small hiss of steam, a chime sounds in the room, and Tara gets up once again. "I have a meeting with the Technical Cardinal—I'll leave you to it." She gestures with a hand before she leaves the room. "Feel free to make use of the resources here as you need them."<</linkreplace>><<else>>There's a sharp click, a whirr of well-oiled gears, and a short burst of steam as the decorative metal vines covering the wall part, and a door swings open. You feel a brief burst of pride, mixed with annoyance at having been made to jump through these hoops just to get an audience with Tara Abernathy. It's understandable; you'd most likely make a similar choice in her place—but you're a graduate of the Hidden Schools, not some first year setting off accidental explosions in the lab.
You make your way up a winding staircase. Along the way, hidden peepholes show quick glimpses of life in the Tower—a room that looks like an enormous steam engine, a series of benches where young trainees are putting together and taking apart various devices, a sauna—before you finally reach a heavy metal door.
You pause before opening it, very nearly expecting another test, and use your Craft to reach out to make sure it is what it seems—and feel a little foolish once you determine it is, indeed, a metal door; no secret messages written on it, or tricky lock that needs unpicking.
You knock, and you hear a voice on the other side telling you to enter.
Tara Abernathy is seated behind an intricately carved oak desk, and she quirks an eyebrow as you enter.
"I see you found your way up here," she says, her hazel eyes crinkling in the corners in what could best be described as a mild sort of amusement. She stands to offer you a slim hand with a deceptively firm handshake, her taupe skin warm against yours.
She's smartly dressed in a well-fitted black jacket, skirt, and crisp white blouse—you'd expect no less from the Craftswoman of Kos—her thickly curled dark hair twisted back and pinned with a silver and gold pin—the symbols of Kos and Seril intertwined.
She hides her hesitancy well, but you saw her give you a quick once-over as you entered, and you take the opportunity to introduce yourself. "Craftsperson Qispi," you say. "Glad to help."
You are offered coffee—a reasonably decent blend, although it doesn't hold a candle to those found in Dresediel Lex—and settle into your chair.
"You come highly recommended," Tara continues, after you've made some polite noises about the coffee and your impressions of the city thus far. "And I'm up to my neck in these Clockwork Kingdom treaty renegotiations. To say it's a mess is an understatement." She sighs, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I had an... interesting visitor last week, and I need someone to look into it—I just haven't had the time. Alba was her name—a Craftswoman in her early twenties, so she must've graduated no more than five years ago, but there was very little she could tell me about what she's been up to since, as her memory has been recently heavily modified. Over a year of her life, completely gone. She was worried about why. Oh, I know it's reasonably standard for Craftspeople working in confidential areas to have non-disclosure agreements, and it's not unheard of to take it a step further, ensure there's nothing in your memories to disclose, but I think she suspects that she was involved in something troubling. Troubling enough that she made the effort to smuggle some information out with her when she left. With her memory as it is, she couldn't make much out of it, but that's where she was hoping I'd come in."
Tara tilts her head your way. "I'd like you to investigate. See what you can make of it, if it's anything to begin with. Alba's since left town—she thought it would be safer—but she's available by Nightmare if you need to reach her. I doubt she'll be able to give you much—she was more than a little shaken when she came to see me, and her recent memories were... well. Non-existent."
You nod in agreement.
There's a small hiss of steam, a chime sounds in the room, and Tara gets up once again. "I have a meeting with the Technical Cardinal—I'll leave you to it." She gestures with a hand before she leaves the room. "Feel free to make use of the resources here as you need them."<</if>>
[[Investigate the Craftwoman's envelope.|Envelope]]
[[Investigate the Map of Alt Coulumb.|Map of AC]]
[[Investigate the bookshelves.|Bookshelves]]
[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare Realm]]
[[Go elsewhere in the Church of Kos.|Church of Kos]]Choose your nightmare:
A. [[Aging|Nightmare 1]]
B. [[Back In School|Nightmare 3]]
C. [[Childhood Fears|Nightmare 4]]
D. [[Natural Disaster|Nightmare 2]]
[[Wake yourself.|TA's Office]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Church+Archives.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Church+Archives.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<<if visited("Church Archives") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the scene with Abelard.">>Monk-Technician Abelard isn't what you expect. You weren't previously aware that you had much in the way of expectations, so that's saying something.
"This isn't really my area," Abelard says around the cigarette wedged between his lips. "I was called to the Technical Branch. Cardinal Librarian Aldis would know more, but you've come at kind of a bad time."
There isn't any censure in the words, although you're tempted to bristle at them anyway. He's matter-of-fact about it, not even looking at you as he dumps a weighty pile of cracked tomes onto the round wooden table tucked away in one corner of the church archives.
A cloud of dust puffs up from the books, and Abelard whisks the cigarette from his mouth, holding it out to one side and ignoring the trail of ash that falls onto his crimson robe. He's young, jittery, all elbows and knees—which is impressive for someone who isn't showing much of either.
You'd thought priests would have more...solemn dignity.
"This is everything," Abelard reports. "At least I think so. Volatility index, market trends, stock values...is there anything else you need?"
You look at the surface of the table itself, which is covered in glyphs, with complex designs etched into its surface. You don't know how formal you should be with a priest while in the employ of the church, but something about Abelard seems to invite familiarity. "What <i>is</i> this?"
"Oh. Uh." Abelard takes another drag from his cigarette, then leaves it clamped between his lips as he uses both hands to rearrange the books so you can see most of the tabletop. "Market fluctuation chart. You match these symbols with the degrees along the inside of the, uh, Holy Market Gear..."
The way he says this, along with the red flush above his robe collar, suggests the technical name for this chart is not the Holy Market Gear.
"...to find your coordinate points. You're looking into specific dates, right?"
When you confirm this, he nods as if he's back on solid ground, with no small amount of relief.
"Right. So, the investment company you asked about is here, at this point. If you calculate the coordinates on the list you showed me, the dates of death? You should be able to trace a line directly from the investment company to that date, and continuing that line will show you what the market was doing at that time."
He scratches the back of his neck, heedless of the burning cigarette still dangling from his fingertips. You look at the table again, and back at Abelard, who shrugs.
"Don't look at me. Technical Branch, remember? But, uh..."
He looks for a moment as though he's trying to remember something. You're tempted to label the expression 'monk-priest inexperienced in the art of offering comfort'. He fumbles for a moment and then produces a coin, offering it to you pinched between two fingers.
"This was meant for the donation box, but sometimes small coins fall through and we find them on the ground. I was going to take it upstairs with me, but maybe it's meant to be with you. God works in mysterious ways, after all."<</linkreplace>>
<<if visited("Church Coin")>>[[Investigate the coin again.|Church Coin]]<<else>>[[Investigate the coin.|Church Coin]]<</if>>
<<if visited("Market Fluctuation Chart")>>[[Investigate market fluctuation chart again.|Market Fluctuation Chart]]<<else>>[[Investigate market fluctuation chart.|Market Fluctuation Chart]]<</if>><<else>>Monk-Technician Abelard isn't what you expect. You weren't previously aware that you had much in the way of expectations, so that's saying something.
"This isn't really my area," Abelard says around the cigarette wedged between his lips. "I was called to the Technical Branch. Cardinal Librarian Aldis would know more, but you've come at kind of a bad time."
There isn't any censure in the words, although you're tempted to bristle at them anyway. He's matter-of-fact about it, not even looking at you as he dumps a weighty pile of cracked tomes onto the round wooden table tucked away in one corner of the church archives.
A cloud of dust puffs up from the books, and Abelard whisks the cigarette from his mouth, holding it out to one side and ignoring the trail of ash that falls onto his crimson robe. He's young, jittery, all elbows and knees—which is impressive for someone who isn't showing much of either.
You'd thought priests would have more...solemn dignity.
"This is everything," Abelard reports. "At least I think so. Volatility index, market trends, stock values...is there anything else you need?"
You look at the surface of the table itself, which is covered in glyphs, with complex designs etched into its surface. You don't know how formal you should be with a priest while in the employ of the church, but something about Abelard seems to invite familiarity. "What <i>is</i> this?"
"Oh. Uh." Abelard takes another drag from his cigarette, then leaves it clamped between his lips as he uses both hands to rearrange the books so you can see most of the tabletop. "Market fluctuation chart. You match these symbols with the degrees along the inside of the, uh, Holy Market Gear..."
The way he says this, along with the red flush above his robe collar, suggests the technical name for this chart is not the Holy Market Gear.
"...to find your coordinate points. You're looking into specific dates, right?"
When you confirm this, he nods as if he's back on solid ground, with no small amount of relief.
"Right. So, the investment company you asked about is here, at this point. If you calculate the coordinates on the list you showed me, the dates of death? You should be able to trace a line directly from the investment company to that date, and continuing that line will show you what the market was doing at that time."
He scratches the back of his neck, heedless of the burning cigarette still dangling from his fingertips. You look at the table again, and back at Abelard, who shrugs.
"Don't look at me. Technical Branch, remember? But, uh..."
He looks for a moment as though he's trying to remember something. You're tempted to label the expression 'monk-priest inexperienced in the art of offering comfort'. He fumbles for a moment and then produces a coin, offering it to you pinched between two fingers.
"This was meant for the donation box, but sometimes small coins fall through and we find them on the ground. I was going to take it upstairs with me, but maybe it's meant to be with you. God works in mysterious ways, after all."
[[Investigate the coin.|Church Coin]]
[[Investigate market fluctuation chart.|Market Fluctuation Chart]]<</if>>
[[Go back.|Church of Kos]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Craftswoman's+Envelope.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Craftswoman's+Envelope.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<<if visited("Gambling Chip")>>The pale cream envelope made of thick paper stock till sits, slightly wrinked, on the corner of Ms. Abernathy's desk. You pick up the envelope to examine it. Glyph work stamped in crimson wax seals the flap on the reverse, a tamper-proof evidence lock that you could break open again. The only thing written on the envelope is the name <i>ALBA</i>, in heavy-handed calligraphy.
<<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>The seal resists your authority, but you're under contract with the church, and 'tamper-proof' only goes so far. The wax hisses when you exert your will on it. You prick your finger with the tip of a silver pin to spill a single drop of blood into the center, and the glyph glows. With Craft, you log it as evidence in your investigation and remind it of the chain of custody, of the documentation that legally transfers it from Ms. Abernathy's safeguarding to your own keeping.
The wax cracks apart and melts into thick red liquid, almost indistinguishable from the blood at its center. The wet blob of it retracts away from the edge of the flap, the glyph fading away, its power now lost.
You tip the envelope and a gambling chip tumbles into your hand. The envelope crinkles when you flatten it, contents discharged.
There's no question of what it is—you know casinos, and while the sigil might be different, the Craftwork embedded in it is familiar enough. You run your thumb over the ridges notched into its edge, and look carefully on both sides for the name of a club. This had to come from somewhere, and it's local, judging by the style of the engraving.
You close your hand over the chip, feeling it bite into your palm, and catch the faintest hint of a lingering soul.<</linkreplace>>
[[Investigate the gambling chip again.|Gambling Chip]]<<else>>A pale cream envelope made of thick paper stock sits unassumingly on the corner of Ms. Abernathy's desk. You pick up the envelope to examine it. Glyph work stamped in crimson wax seals the flap on the reverse, a tamper-proof evidence lock that you're about to break open. The only thing written on the envelope is the name <i>ALBA</i>, in heavy-handed calligraphy.
The seal resists your authority, but you're under contract with the church, and 'tamper-proof' only goes so far. The wax hisses when you exert your will on it. You prick your finger with the tip of a silver pin to spill a single drop of blood into the center, and the glyph glows. With Craft, you log it as evidence in your investigation and remind it of the chain of custody, of the documentation that legally transfers it from Ms. Abernathy's safeguarding to your own keeping.
The wax cracks apart and melts into thick red liquid, almost indistinguishable from the blood at its center. The wet blob of it retracts away from the edge of the flap, the glyph fading away, its power now lost.
You tip the envelope and a gambling chip tumbles into your hand. The envelope crinkles when you flatten it, contents discharged.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/gambling-chip.jpg" width="500" /></center>
There's no question of what it is—you know casinos, and while the sigil might be different, the Craftwork embedded in it is familiar enough. You run your thumb over the ridges notched into its edge, and look carefully on both sides for the name of a club. This had to come from somewhere, and it's local, judging by the style of the engraving.
You close your hand over the chip, feeling it bite into your palm, and catch the faintest hint of a lingering soul.
[[Investigate the chip with Craft.|Gambling Chip]]<</if>>
[[Look around Abernathy's office again.|TA's Office]]
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Inset into the wall, you see an enormous brass plate etched with a map of Alt Coulumb. The bright globe of the city hangs suspended in a cloudy marble sky. You can discern neighborhoods crammed together in the bustle of the streets—Hot Town and the Central Business District hemming in the Ash, with the University Campus stretched beneath, and the Paupers' and Pleasure Quarters pressed close to the sea. In the center of them all is the triangle of the Church of Kos in the Holy Precinct, the beating heart of Alt Coulumb.
Thin lines of Craft travel along the arteries of boulevards and back alleys alike, the map changing over time, tied to the city itself. Your eyes trace the winding path that leads through Riverside Park, to the chiseled boardwalk along the shore, all the way down to Dockside. The engraved lines of docks jut out into the harbor, which empties south into the World Sea.
There are stories now, since the lawsuit against Kos Everburning, that claim you can read gargoyles' poetry from the sky, written in the streets under moonlight. You're not sure you believe them; all you can see here is an aerial map of a foreign city. The interdict against flying in Alt Coulumb skies makes it a difficult theory to test, which is likely part of why the stories have spread. Only the gargoyles—and some of Seril's other chosen followers—would know the truth.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/map-in-wall.jpg" width="850" /></center><<if visited("Bookshelves")>>
You look a little closer...
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/alt-coulumb-urb.jpg" width="500"/>
<a href="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/alt-coulumb-urb.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[EXPAND]</a></center><</if>><<if visited("Xiltanda")>><<else>><<if visited("Gambling Chip")>>
Where is the chip pointing you?
<<textbox '$answer' 'No numbers, please.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'xiltanda'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Club Xiltanda.|Xiltanda]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '8. xiltanda'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Go to Club Xiltanda.|Xiltanda]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|CHIP PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("CHIP PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|CHIP PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("CHIP PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|CHIP PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("CHIP PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|CHIP PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>><</if>>
[[Look around Abernathy's office again.|TA's Office]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Tourist+Guide+to+Alt+Coulumb.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Tourist+Guide+to+Alt+Coulumb.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
A pamphlet on one of the bookshelves catches your eye, the red ink and bold typeface standing out from the leatherbound law texts. <i>Tourist Guide to Alt Coulumb</i> is printed on the front, and when you unfold it, you find a list of places to visit in the city, accompanied by a tiny but informative map of their relative locations.
1. Temple of Justice
2. Rowan Wood Ball Court
3. University Library
4. Paupers' Quarter Market
5. Infirmary of Justice
6. Third Court of Craft
7. Claude's
8. Xiltanda
9. The Undercroft
10. God's Tears Public House
11. Crier's Guild Office
12. Schtumpfeter Museum
13. Capistrano Service and Repair
14. Church of Sacred Ashes
15. Cadfael's Bar and Grill
16. Adelaide & Stears Clothiers
17. Alowith Park
After reading the list, you decide this might be a good reference for getting around the city.
[[Look around Abernathy's office again.|TA's Office]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Part+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Part+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
The market fluctuation chart shows you how the market is doing at any given time. The longer the sacred sun rays on the outside, shown in reds and golds, the healthier the market in Alt Coulumb. The blue ones are trouble spots, places where the market cooled significantly.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/market-flux-table-1.jpg" width="500"/></center>
<<if visited("Death records")>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Part+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Part+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<u>Step One:</u>
<<linkreplace "Calculate the coordinates for the dates of death.">>
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/market-flux-table-2.jpg" width="500"/>
<a href="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/market-flux-table-2.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[EXPAND]</a></center>
Calculate the coordinates for the dates of death. If you form a triangle between those three points, you should find the sigil for Anchor Investments, LLC within the triangle. Each company has a different place inside the ring based on their auspices, determined by Craft.
<u>Step Two:</u>
Use Anchor's sigil as the center point, and trace outward through each death date and the market fluctuations to get the market correlation number of each date vs. Anchor.<</linkreplace>>
<<if $mfc is true>>Oh, that's right! All of the deaths correspond to downturns in the market. It doesn't seem like the most sustainable business model to have your clients die on you when the markets have a bad day...<<else>>
What are the three market correlation numbers?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Numerals only. Lowest to highest, please.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '1.4 6.1 11.3'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "It doesn't seem like the most sustainable business model to have your clients die on you when the markets have a bad day..." "Church of Kos">><<set $mfc to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '1.4 6.1 11.4'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "It doesn't seem like the most sustainable business model to have your clients die on you when the markets have a bad day..." "Church of Kos">><<set $mfc to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|CHART PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("CHART PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|CHART PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("CHART PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|CHART PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("CHART PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|CHART PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>><</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the Church of Kos.|Church of Kos]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Gambling+Chip.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<<if visited("Gambling Chip") gt 1>>There's no question of what it is—you know casinos, and while the sigil might be different, the Craftwork embedded in it is familiar enough. You run your thumb over the ridges notched into its edge, and look carefully on both sides for the name of a club. This had to come from somewhere, and it's local, judging by the style of the engraving.
You close your hand over the chip, feeling it bite into your palm, and catch the faintest hint of a lingering soul...
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/gambling-chip.jpg" width="500" /></center>
<</if>><i><center>It's a damn tough life
Full of toil and strife
We windweavers undergo
Cause they sure give a damn
When the battle's at hand
How hard our winds do blow
And it's up to us
To decide what we must
If it's right what we have done
And we won't give a damn
When a drink's in our hand
With our friends in Alt Coulumb
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb, my friends
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb
It was up to us
To decide what we must
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb
This time we sailed
With an easterly gale
Through the Old World's ice and rain
Those failing gods
Our Craft and their bonds
Through their deaths we found our gain
Six hellish months
We fought our way
Out from cold, Dread Koschei's thumb
And now we're bound
From that frozen ground
Safe and sound to Alt Coulumb
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb, my friends,
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb
We're homeward bound
From that frozen ground
Safe and sound in Alt Coulumb
So west we sail
Weaving unearthly gales
Towards the warm hearth of our home
Our wind we stole
With weaving bold
From what's left of Brima's foam
So what if our Craft
Got carried away
What care we for what's sound?
If a living wave
Is after us,
Thank Kos, we're homeward bound
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb, my friends
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb
It was left to us
To decide what we must
Rolling down to Alt Coulumb</center></i>
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Church+Coin.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<i>I can't believe I'm out of the office by three in the afternoon, it's a miracle. I may even leave a coin for Kos on my way home.</i>
<<return>>You dig through your bag to find what you're looking for.
<ul><<if visited("Lectern")>><li>[[Investigate the service book of Kos.|Service Book]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Matchbox")>><li>[[Look at the matchbox from the Church of Kos with Craft.|Matchbox]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Gambling Chip")>><li>[[Investigate the gambling chip from Alba's envelope.|Gambling Chip]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Game Guide")>><li>[[Read the Game Guide you got from Cat.|Game Guide]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Business Cards")>><li>[[Examine the correct business cards.|Business Cards]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Statue")>><li>[[Examine the statue of Brima.|Statue]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Church Coin")>><li>[[Investigate the coin you got from the Church of Kos.|Church Coin]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Leah coin")>><li>[[Investigate the coin you got from Leah.|Leah coin]]</li><</if>>
<<if $acoin is true>><li>[[Investigate the coin you got from Alba.|Alba coin]]</li><</if>>
<<if visited("Chander coin")>><li>[[Investigate the coin from Chander's personal effects.|Chander coin]]</li><</if>></ul>
<<return>>You enter Club Xiltanda.
[[Head to the rooftop garden.|Rooftop Garden]]
[[Listen to the stage performance.|Stage]]
<<if visited("Corner Table")>>[[Head back to Cat's table.|Corner Table]]<<else>>[[Head to that table in the corner.|Corner Table]]<</if>><<if visited("Bar")>>
[[Head back to the bar.|Bar]]<</if>><<if visited("Cocktail tables")>>
[[Take a breather at the cocktail tables.|Cocktail tables]]<</if>>
[[Try the shell game.|Shell game]]
[[Try a high stakes game.|High Stakes Game]]<<if visited("Statue")>>
[[Try a memory game.|Memory game]]<</if>><<if visited("SCAM UNCOVERED")>>
[[Try your hand at Ledger.|Solo Card Game]]<</if>><<if visited("Death records")>>
[[Try your hand at Control.|Group card game]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: You need to use the tourist guide to figure out where the song is leading you.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: You're starting at the Church of Kos.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: Keep going on the same street until you're able to turn using the next direction.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Wall+Sconces-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Have you studied your hymns to Kos recently? A hidden message is written between "light" and "open."
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Clue 2: You're looking for the possible entrance to a door.
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Clue 3: Listen closely to the knocking sounds to help reveal where a door might be.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+garden.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The climate in Alt Coulumb isn't anything like the dry heat of Dresediel Lex, but Club Xiltanda employs a significant—and expensive—amount of Craft to pretend otherwise. The flashy décor and staff uniforms make a passable attempt at convincing club-goers they've crossed over into a glorified Quechal wonderland, if you haven't seen the real thing for comparison. In any case, the real treasure is the desert garden on the rooftop.
Succulents that have no business being here thrive under the combined efforts of gardeners and Craft contracts, carefully arranged in shades of green, brown, and blue-gray, with an occasional eye-catching splash of purple or scarlet. The arid warmth causes your stomach to lurch with unexpected homesickness, but the scent isn't quite right, or the sounds, the myriad details that make up a familiar cosmopolitan tapestry.
<<if visited("Rooftop Garden") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the scene with Aev.">>There's also the incongruous presence of a gargoyle crouching on the wall.
This isn't Shale, or the other you caught sight of before she plunged off the balcony to take flight. This gargoyle is large and somehow <i>old</i>-looking, a term which means next to nothing when your teachers are deathless skeletons. She bears a silver circlet on her brow, and watches your progress on the garden path with eerie, fixed attention.
"Hello," you say when you're close enough for human hearing, in the hope that gargoyles have something like the same range. "Nice place to warm up."
The gargoyle rumbles a sound. You don't know enough to recognize it as a name, a greeting, or a laugh.
"I met some of your friends earlier," you continue, accepting that you might be carrying the conversation here. "Shale, and...I didn't catch her name. Or yours?"
The silence stretches long enough for you to doubt that this was the best approach, but you're committed now.
"Aev," says the gargoyle at last. The name has the weight of a rockslide.
You've already taken the direct approach, so you continue to bludgeon your way forward. "Are you watching me?"
"Yes." Aev surprises you with how frank and unapologetic she is about it. "Our Lady has an interest in the affairs of this city."
"I thought Seril and Justice weren't the same anymore."
"It is...complicated."
You're apparently not getting any more of an explanation than that. You take a seat on the warm stone bench beside the wall, hoping that a more relaxed, casual posture will invite unguarded discussion.
You're really not very good at relaxed and casual.
"If you're taking an interest, I don't suppose you know anything that could help."
Aev considers that for a long moment. Either that, or she's wondering whether you're a waste of time and how much trouble it would be to crush you under her impressive heel.
(Somehow, you don't think it would be much trouble for her at all.)
"The Craftswoman," she says eventually. "Tara spoke of her to us, so we would know her if she came again to the city. Reef knew of her. She came here to the garden in the past, and spoke with another."
She growls out a series of sounds you recognize from your brief conversation with Shale.
"Is that a name?"
"Yes." Aev's reply is terse. You realize her attention might be elsewhere when you notice her gaze fixed on something out of your line of sight, down toward the alleys beyond the club's walls.
"Could you...?"
"I must go." Aev's wings spread, an action made unsettling by its silence, the uncanny stealth that shouldn't belong to anything so massive. "Someone prays."
"Wait..." you say urgently, halfway up from the bench already. The name, you need the name—
—but Aev launches herself from the wall to the labyrinthine avenues below, and long before you have any chance of running down the flight of stairs or flinging a starlight net out to catch her, she's gone.<</linkreplace>>
<<if visited("Church Balcony")>>Listen to the name Aev gave you again:
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/NAME.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/NAME.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center><</if>><<else>>There's also the incongruous presence of a gargoyle crouching on the wall.
This isn't Shale, nor the other you caught sight of before she plunged off the balcony to take flight. This gargoyle is large and somehow <i>old</i>-looking, a term which means next to nothing when your teachers are deathless skeletons. She bears a silver circlet on her brow, and watches your progress on the garden path with eerie, fixed attention.
"Hello," you say when you're close enough for human hearing, in the hope that gargoyles have something like the same range. "Nice place to warm up."
The gargoyle rumbles a sound. You don't know enough to recognize it as a name, a greeting, or a laugh.
"I met some of your friends earlier," you continue, accepting that you might be carrying the conversation here. "Shale, and...I didn't catch her name. Or yours?"
The silence stretches long enough for you to doubt that this was the best approach, but you've committed now.
"Aev," says the gargoyle at last. The name has the weight of a rockslide.
You've already taken the direct approach, so you continue to bludgeon your way forward. "Are you watching me?"
"Yes." Aev surprises you with how frank and unapologetic she is about it. "Our Lady has an interest in the affairs of this city."
"I thought Seril and Justice weren't the same anymore."
"It is...complicated."
You're apparently not getting any more of an explanation than that. You take a seat on the warm stone bench beside the wall, hoping that a more relaxed, casual posture will invite unguarded discussion.
You're really not very good at relaxed and casual.
"If you're taking an interest, I don't suppose you know anything that could help."
Aev considers that for a long moment. Either that, or she's wondering whether you're a waste of her time and how much trouble it would be to crush you under her impressive heel.
(Somehow, you don't think it would be much trouble for her at all.)
"The Craftswoman," she says eventually. "Tara spoke of her to us, so we would know her if she came again to the city. Reef knew of her. She came here to the garden in the past, and spoke with another."
She growls out a series of sounds you recognize from your brief conversation with Shale.
"Is that a name?"
"Yes." Aev's reply is terse. You realize her attention might be elsewhere when you notice her gaze fixed on something out of your line of sight, down toward the alleys beyond the club's walls.
"Could you...?"
"I must go." Aev's wings spread, an action made unsettling by its silence, the uncanny stealth that shouldn't belong to anything so massive. "Someone prays."
"Wait..." you say urgently, halfway up from the bench already. The name, you need the name—
—but Aev launches herself from the wall to the labyrinthine avenues below, and long before you have any chance of running down the stairs or flinging a starlight net out to catch her, she's gone.<</if>>
<<if visited("Bar")>>[[Head back to the bar.|Bar]]<<else>>
What was the name Aev gave you?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'leah'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Head to the bar.|Bar]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|GARDEN PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("GARDEN PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|GARDEN PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("GARDEN PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|GARDEN PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("GARDEN PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|GARDEN PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Bar.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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It's a busy night, and the bartender greets you warmly but takes a minute to get to you, pouring sparkling liquors into glasses and sending them flying down the bar. She has warm brown skin and hair styled in box braids accented with copper beads. Finally, she gets to you. "Hi, how can I help you?" she asks.
<<if visited("Bar") gt 1>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>"Oh, yeah, I know them," when you ask after the name Aev gave you. "They were pretty tight with that sailor who died recently."
"Died?"
"Yeah, keeled over at my bar," the bartender says, and shudders a little. "Doesn't usually happen here; I take care of my patrons. I'm not gonna forget that anytime soon."
"What was his name?"
"Uh..." The bartender snaps her fingers. "I don't remember the name, but lanky guy. Tan skin, kinda leathery, greyish-black hair, big mustache. Almost walrus-y. Ask around; someone will know who he is. He was a regular."
She doesn't have any more information for you, and someone's calling for another round. You thank her and slip off into the crowd.<</linkreplace>><<else>>"Oh, yeah, I know them," when you ask after the name Aev gave you. "They were pretty tight with that sailor who died recently."
"Died?"
"Yeah, keeled over at my bar," the bartender says, and shudders a little. "Doesn't usually happen here; I take care of my patrons. I'm not gonna forget that anytime soon."
"What was his name?"
"Uh..." The bartender snaps her fingers. "I don't remember the name, but lanky guy. Tan skin, kinda leathery, greyish-black hair, big mustache. Almost walrus-y. Ask around; someone will know who he is. He was a regular."
She doesn't have any more information for you, and someone's calling for another round. You thank her and slip off into the crowd.<</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Corner+Table.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<<if visited("SCAM UNCOVERED")>><<linkreplace "Re-read the scene with Cat.">>Sitting alone, cradling something clear and bubbly in a long glass, is a striking woman in a tight black skirt. Even in the low light, scars are visible against the pale skin of her neck. Coins glinting where they're woven into her black chain belt tempt you to count them, but you refrain at the sharp glint in her eyes.
"Sit," she invites. You oblige, and she swirls the drink slowly as her eyes stray over your shoulder. You turn to look, but you can't ascertain what she's distracted by. When you face her again, she smiles at you.
"Sharp. You haven't been here before," she guesses.
You acknowledge that this is true. She holds out a hand. "Cat Elle," she says. "I'm a Blacksuit. There have been rumors of a scam on the casino floor; are you familiar with the games?"
"They might be somewhat different from the ones back home," you say. "I'm here on a case, not for pleasure."
"Ah," Cat says, "but you may have to lay down a few thaums on the tables to get what you're looking for, no? Tell you what: if you can figure out how to win the shell game and explain your reasoning to me, I'll give you a guide to the local games."
She sends you on your way with a desultory wave and settles back to watch.<</linkreplace>>
[[Re-read the solution scene again.|SCAM UNCOVERED]]
[[Examine the game guide again.|Game Guide]]
[[Try your hand at Ledger.|Solo Card Game]]<<else>>Sitting alone, cradling something clear and bubbly in a long glass, is a striking woman in a tight black skirt. Even in the low light, scars are visible against the pale skin of her neck. Coins glinting where they're woven into her black chain belt tempt you to count them, but you refrain at the sharp glint in her eyes.
"Sit," she invites. You oblige, and she swirls the drink slowly as her eyes stray over your shoulder. You turn to look, but you can't ascertain what she's distracted by. When you face her again, she smiles at you.
"Sharp. You haven't been here before," she guesses.
You acknowledge that this is true. She holds out a hand. "Cat Elle," she says. "I'm a Blacksuit. There have been rumors of a scam on the casino floor; are you familiar with the games?"
"They might be somewhat different from the ones back home," you say. "I'm here on a case, not for pleasure."
"Ah," Cat says, "but you may have to lay down a few thaums on the tables to get what you're looking for, no? Tell you what: if you can figure out how to win the shell game and explain your reasoning to me, I'll give you a guide to the local games."
She sends you on your way with a desultory wave and settles back to watch.<<if visited("Shell game")>><<else>>
[[Check out the shell game.|Shell game]]
<</if>>
Where will the next prize end up?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'seril'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Bingo.|SCAM UNCOVERED]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|SCAM PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("SCAM PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|SCAM PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("SCAM PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|SCAM PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("SCAM PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|SCAM PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+Garden-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: If you listen closely, you've heard all those sounds before...
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+Garden-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: Shale spelled out his name when you met him.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+Garden-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: You weren't sure, but Aev might have been introducing herself.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: When you create a triangle using the dates of death, do you see a single sigil in the center?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: The coordinates should correspond with downward trends in the market.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: These calculations can be a little finicky—the answer may vary slightly by .1° in either direction.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Have you explored all of the areas available to you at Club Xiltanda yet?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: You saw the winning sequence at the shell game; have you seen that same pattern elsewhere, too?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: Listen a little more closely to that lounge singer...
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You find Cat where you left her, her drink still almost full. "You got a good look at the game," she says. "Did you find any answers for me?"
You sit down. "The table is marked for each of the city's gods and for the Craft: flame, crescent, and star." You gesture as if to three markings on the table between you. "Do you know the song "Undying Lady?" The words to it? <i> And the moon's children dot the sky</i>," you sing softly. "That's how the man running the game and the plant in the crowd knew where the pearl needed to be. The song gave the sequence."
"Very clever," Cat says. She slides a booklet across the table to you. "Read fast, and maybe you'll get your answers, too. Good luck."
She leaves the table and her drink, and you tuck the guide into your pocket.
<<if visited("SCAM UNCOVERED") gt 1>>[[Examine the game guide again.|Game Guide]]<<else>>[[Examine the game guide.|Game Guide]]<</if>>
[[Try your hand at Ledger.|Solo Card Game]]
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<h1>Control</h1>
Control is a trick-taking card game, meaning that play proceeds in a number of rounds or "tricks", with each evaluated to determine who wins—or "takes"—the trick. There are three rounds in a hand.
At the beginning of a hand, the dealer deals each player three cards: 1 face-up, 1 to their reserve (face-up, but not available until the second round of the hand), and 1 face-down (which only the player it belongs to may look at). A player is chosen to lead the suit for the whole hand: whatever card they choose to play each round, the other players can only play cards that match its suit.
Whichever player puts down the highest value card takes the trick. Court cards trump and win the round under two conditions: 1) the person who plays the court card won the previous round, and 2) this round's suit is the same as the last round. Cards in the reserve are not playable in the first round, but fair game in the second and third.
Whoever takes the most tricks wins.
<h1>Ledger</h1>
A solo card game, played with one dealer and one player.
The player is dealt three cards and must choose the order in which to play all three cards. The first card represents only its value; the subsequent cards are added or subtracted to get to the total. Each suit always either increases or decreases the total by the number value of the card; house rules vary for which suit does which. (The game is played without court cards).
The player wins if the sequence of their cards produces a total of zero. However, if at <i>any</i> point in the calculation, the result is a negative number, the player automatically loses.
<<return>><<set $thaums to $thaums - 10>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Solo+Card+Game.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The dealer flashes a smile as you take a seat. You place your stake on the table, that bit of soulstuff still <i>yours</i> but now floating free, its fate determined by a gamble.
Three cards fan out onto the table in front of you. A ten of swords, a two of cups, and a three of swords. You're too experienced to wince, but you don't even bother to arrange the cards, just leave them as they are.
"Nine," calls the dealer, recording your total, and you push the chip across the table.
There's a sound like an indrawn breath of anticipation all around you, and then a long, satisfied exhale. There are no jaded ghosts of luck deities here as there are in Dresediel Lex, but the exchange of so much concentrated soulstuff in one place is enough to cause a stir.
The dealer hooks the chip professionally into a basket behind the table, where it clatters among a pile of its lost fellows. You feel the tug—small, you didn't stake much—as the soulstuff leaves you, a brief moment of disequilibrium, as though you've stood up too fast without the blood pressure to compensate for your motion.
You have generous funds to draw on; it's almost possible to ignore the loss. You flick another chip onto the table and meet the dealer's eyes to request another hand.
This one is more promising, and when the last card lands, you study the options arrayed on the table. There's a six of swords, a four of wands, and an eight of coins.
After a moment, you admit defeat and shake your head, leaving the cards as they are. "Ten," calls the dealer, sealing your bid. Another few drops of your soul dribble out as the chip is claimed, and this time the sigh raises gooseflesh on your arms.
<<if visited("Cocktail tables")>>[[It's important to know when to walk away.|Xiltanda]]
<<linkreplace "Re-read the rest of the scene.">>The third time is never actually the charm, but enough people believe it that they only remember the times it's proven right, reinforcing the myth. You flip another chip from your thumb to land on the table, and three more cards slide across the table.
A nine of wands, a five of swords, and a four of coins. You reach across the table to arrange them.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/ledger-game.jpg" width="700"/></center><</linkreplace>>
[[Revisit the cocktail tables.|Cocktail tables]]<<else>>The third time is never actually the charm, but enough people believe it that they only remember the times it's proven right, reinforcing the myth. You flip another chip from your thumb to land on the table, and three more cards slide across the table.
A nine of wands (9wands), a five of swords (5swords), and a four of coins (4coins). You reach across the table to arrange them.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/ledger-game.jpg" width="700"/></center>
How do you order your cards?
<<textbox '$answer' 'No commas, please.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '5swords 4coins 9wands'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a break at the cocktail tables." "Cocktail tables">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '5 4 9'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a break at the cocktail tables." "Cocktail tables">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|SOLO PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("SOLO PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|SOLO PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("SOLO PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|SOLO PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("SOLO PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|SOLO PUZZLE 4]]<</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Solo+Card+Game-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Look to the Game Guide as a good place to start!
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2: You can use the totals the dealer provides at the end of your first two hands to sort out which suits are added and which are subtracted.
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Clue 3: Coins are subtracted.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Cocktail+Tables.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<<if visited("Cocktail tables") gt 1>>You take a breath and then get back to work.
<<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>Someone comes up to you in the crowd. She is wearing a long tunic in swirling purple and red patterns that seem to pulse with the noise of the crowd, a matching scarf covering her hair. "Were you the one asking about the sailor who died?" she asks.
"Yes," you say. "Do you know who he was?"
She nods. "I wasn't here that night, but I know who he was," she says. "His name was Chander. We were all very sad to hear about him—I wasn't a close friend, but he was here often. He had a very dry sense of humor; it was always fun to play at a table with him."
"I'm sorry for your loss," you say.
"Are you trying to figure it out? Why he died?" she asks.
"Maybe," you hedge. You're not sure yet where this case will take you. "Thank you for letting me know."
He's not your case—but Chander gives you a new lead to look into.<</linkreplace>><<else>>Someone comes up to you in the crowd. She is wearing a long tunic in swirling purple and red patterns that seem to pulse with the noise of the crowd, a matching scarf covering her hair. "Were you the one asking about the sailor who died?" she asks.
"Yes," you say. "Do you know who he was?"
She nods. "I wasn't here that night, but I know who he was," she says. "His name was Chander. We were all very sad to hear about him—I wasn't a close friend, but he was here often. He had a very dry sense of humor; it was always fun to play at a table with him."
"I'm sorry for your loss," you say.
"Are you trying to figure it out? Why he died?" she asks.
"Maybe," you hedge. You're not sure yet where this case will take you. "Thank you for letting me know."
He's not your case—but Chander gives you a new lead to look into.<</if>>
[[Follow up on your leads at the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]You walk the halls of Alt Coulumb's Temple of Justice with a sense of growing purpose.
[[Market investments|Market investments]]<<if visited("Card table")>><<if $mip is true>>
[[Do some research in Business Records.|Business records]]<</if>><</if>><<if visited("Death records")>>
[[Comb through the Temple's Death Records.|Death records]]<</if>>
[[Examine the victim's body.|Victim's body]]
[[Examine the victim's personal effects.|Victim's stuff]]<<if $seawater is true>>
[[Get the results of the fluid analysis.|Fluid analysis]]<</if>>
[[Speak with Commissioner Michaels.|Commissioner Michaels]]
<<if visited("Key witness")>>[[It's time to present your evidence.|Evidence]]<</if>>
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You stare at yourself in the mirror, and touch the blighted bones of your skull with your bony—truly, fleshless—fingers. You are cold—so... very... cold.
You knew hypothetically there was a cost to your Craft, that someday, enough bits of you could be stripped away that you would no longer be yourself, but it's too soon—it's far too soon—you thought you had more time, and you thought you'd have a choice. You thought you'd choose differently.
You realize that this is inevitable.
Choices are illusions.
You were always going to become this.
You shudder at the clacking sound of bone touching bone, at the swirls of fire staring back at you from your own eye sockets, at the fact that you should feel horrified, but all you feel is the cold.
If you could scream, you would—you want to so badly. You can sense your soul stretched taut across hundreds of trusts and Concerns, pulling at you, demanding of you. You wonder if you'll ever feel warm again, and know that you won't.
An endless existence yawns before you, filling you with dread. You thought you had more time.
Silly thing.
Now you have all the time in the world, don't you?
You continue to not scream.
<<if $mfc is true>><<if $acoin is true>>[[Alba's reaching out to you.|Memories revealed]]<<else>>[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare T]]<</if>><<else>>[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare T]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You feel the rumble in your chest first, and then see it shiver through the buildings, causing glass to come crashing down around you, metal structures screaming as the street bucks beneath your feet.
The sound of two mighty roars in quick succession deafens you and sends a more visceral shudder through you, an animal fear—the mighty serpents have been released, and you can feel them calling for blood.
The street is both familiar and not—you know your city, but the ruined buildings and debris have changed the skyline in a surreal sort of way, and you can't find your way home. You feel like you're running in circles, screaming yourself hoarse. You've got to hurry—your grandmother is alone and afraid in the dark, the terrified mob pounding on her door until they crack the wood, and you can hear her calling out for help even though she is across town.
You feel a sick lurch in your stomach, and while you know in a detached sort of way that your family made it through this disaster, you also know deep in your bones that if you don't get to them in time here and now, in this dreamspace, history will be re-written and you will wake up an orphan.
Your way is blocked by a clot of desperate people, screaming, shoving you, pushing you down no matter how hard you fight, and you lash out with Craft. They part around you and stream past you, eyes wild, the man you've killed lying smoking in front of you, his stare accusing. You hear another rumble and a crash, and you race around the corner, your home somehow further away than when you started, the glass crunching beneath your feet, and all the while you can hear your grandmother sobbing.
<<if $mfc is true>>[[Alba's reaching out to you.|Memories revealed]]<<else>>[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare T]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You awaken with a jerk, the hard back of your seat instantly familiar, and wipe the dampness from the corner of your mouth with the back of your hand.
You catch the eye-roll of the student next to you and roll yours right back, glaring at her as if the intensity of your gaze could sufficiently cover that you'd just been sleeping in class.
She snorts, unamused, and points to the front of the classroom, where your professor stands within the silver ritual circle, face upturned in your direction, waiting impatiently. On a table before him lies a body covered with a sheet.
No.
No, no, no.
You can recite Contracts and Remedies backwards, but everything you've ever read in Corpse has just vanished into the ether.
The professor gestures again, and you make your way down to the stage, feeling every eye on you. You approach the draped figure, and perhaps it's your nerves, but you think you see the sheet twitch with a slight movement.
You reach out for the corner slowly, everyone's gaze boring into you, expecting you to demonstrate... something.
Under the sheet, the thing twitches once more.
You pull it back with a sudden yank, and see yourself on the table—alive, terrified, and naked—and all of a sudden, you are on that table staring up at yourself, and the entire room is laughing at you uproariously, pointing and cackling at your shame.
<<if $mfc is true>>[[Alba's reaching out to you.|Memories revealed]]<<else>>[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare T]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+4.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You are burning up with a fever, and reach for your favorite stuffed dragon, only to find he isn't there. You stumble from bed, the sheets wrapping around your ankles, and make your way out into the dark hallway—a hallway that all of a sudden seems vast and unwelcoming, the doors looming over you. You call out for mama, for Nanny, for papa, for Cook, and no-one answers. You can barely reach the doorknobs to turn them, it's a struggle to tug the doors open, and once you finally manage it each room yawns empty before you.
There's no-one, and the tears and snot run down your face as you continue to wander the deserted halls, sobbing, the passages twisting and becoming sinister in your delirium.
You feel something large and wet slithering behind you—something breathing—and you don't dare to look around to see what it is.
You try to run, then, but your legs are small and shaking, and you stumble, falling hard on the tile, and you can feel the breath of the large thing behind you gust against the soles of your feet as it comes closer and closer, your unanswered wails echoing off of the cavernous walls.
<<if $mfc is true>>[[Alba's reaching out to you.|Memories revealed]]<<else>>[[Reach out to Alba by nightmare.|Nightmare T]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Transition.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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You fall through the surface of an ink-black lake. It shatters on impact, or you shatter in its place - your bones splintered fragments your skin cobwebbed with crimson your eyes open in horror your lungs frozen with cold - and see yourself through an obsidian mirror. The inkbloodsoullife trickles from your wounds and you feel yourself grind beneath the gears of time advancing on while you lie trapped in this place, this void of nothing. Jagged forks of lightning like the legs of insects creep toward you to lick the soul from the corners of your eyes, stab like needle-knives into soft meat flesh. You are in-between, lost, hanging from hooks of Craft that pierce through every repressed memory and secret fear. A message glitters on the surface of the obsidian mirror, the letters rotating in place, slithering sickly in and out of your comprehension.
<center><img src="https://ia801500.us.archive.org/7/items/zero-sum-game/nightmare-letter-game-large.gif" width="700"/></center>
<<if visited("Nightmare Realm Unlocked")>>[[Go further into the nightmare.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]<<else>>
How do you answer the message?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '00:50'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Find Alba.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '0:50'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>
[[Find Alba.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is '50'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Find Alba.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is ':50'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Find Alba.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is '0:51'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Find Alba.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|NIGHT PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("NIGHT PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|NIGHT PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("NIGHT PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|NIGHT PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("NIGHT PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|NIGHT PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Turn back.|TA's Office]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Transition-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Try to rotate the letters to form words.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Transition-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: What might "choose the moment" mean?
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Clue 3: When do you hear a "pop" in the audio?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Interrogation.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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It's balmy here. Balmy isn't the word. Stifling. Clammy. Humid.
Thick as pea soup, isn't that the saying? I mean I wouldn't know, I'm from the desert.
I don't know where this is. I don't know who you are. I hardly know who I am.
You want information, but I don't have it.
You can strip my mind from me with Craft and you still won't find it. Someone's beaten you to it.
Oh, I know that's what I'd say even if it weren't true. That doesn't change anything.
I think I tried to come forward. Whistleblowing isn't a safe profession.
That's a noble thought, isn't it? Maybe I didn't say a word, maybe I only knew too much.
Maybe I only came forward for revenge, because I knew I'd lost.
I hope that isn't the person I am. That's not who I want to be.
Do you know the difference between dreams and memories?
They're both lies of a different kind, but there's one way to tell.
I can't smell anything here. That's how I know I'm in a nightmare.
Not the fear, or the blood, or the screaming. That could have happened.
What's missing is the scent. Odor memory, it's called. That's how we remember.
There are no scents in dreams. Even when we imagine them.
Hell, some people believe we can't even smell in our sleep. I don't think I believe that.
We wake up when a lover prepares tea in the morning; we smell smoke and look for fire.
I've just made a circular argument with a loophole large enough for a demon to get through.
Look out, they do get through here. They've come for me before.
You're not going to learn anything from me this way.
Even my nightmares are chaos. All I hear are whispers and screams.
And you're here looking for answers. Knowing all you do now, I have to ask you: Why?
<<if $night is true>>Yes... Probity. That has to be enough now.<<else>>
Alba asked you a question. Why?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'probity'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Good answer." "Nightmare Realm Unlocked">><<set $night to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|INT PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("INT PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|INT PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("INT PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|INT PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("INT PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|INT PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Turn back.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Dreamspace+Memories.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/nightmare_vision_1.png" width="700"/>
<a href="https://ia601500.us.archive.org/7/items/zero-sum-game/AO3-nightmare_vision_1.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[EXPAND]</a></center>
<<if visited("Memories revealed")>>[[Go back to Alba's new message.|Memories revealed]]
<<linkreplace "Re-read this scene first.">>You look behind you, and wish you hadn't.
You're floating, adrift on the sea, hunger curled queasy in your small belly. Salt dries into a thin white crust on your brown skin as your sweat evaporates and ocean spray bakes off in the sun. A city rises before you, hope on the horizon, and you taste a faint trace of prayer on your tongue.
"This isn't right," you/Alba say, gazing up at the city. "This isn't how it happened."
You remember this. You're sandwiched in between your parents and brothers and sisters, too many of you for this platform of lashed-together planks, not nearly seaworthy enough to be called a raft.
Yet somehow you've made it.
"This did happen," you/Alba insist, leaning into the comfort of your mother in spite of the sticky heat.
"But not like this," you/Alba say. There is as much certainty as doubt in your voice.
The city shifts through time, corpses of dying gods lying beached on the sands, leviathans cast up from the waters to rot for eternity. Glass towers spiral out of the wreckage, crumbling staircases giving way to steel spires and concrete.
"We came here," you/Alba say, and in that <i>we</i> you hear a multitude, a voice raised in chorus, in grief for the homeland you've fled and hope for a brighter future.
Rafts appear all around you, broad thick banana leaves wrapped with vines bound around floating logs, small fishing boats crammed full with so many passengers they sink low in the water, swamped anew by each swelling wave. Two small children huddle close to each other on what was once their front door, paint peeled away and bleached of colour by salt and sun, alone and abandoned. A fleet of desperate improvisation, a flotilla.
Out of the city, the Iskari squid god rises above you, heavy as a thundercloud in judgement. You've grown to fear storms, out here. Every time they pass, you see one less silhouette, and you mark the lost by the belongings that float past your raft: A necklace of shells, a scrap of faded cloth, a wooden toy boat.
There are dark shapes in the water, circling beneath the surface. Sometimes you feel them bump against the raft at night, and hear them break the surface before they dive again.
You look up at the city, and the squid god looms over your raft, features dissolving like melting wax into a tidal wave. You/Alba scream, and cover your head as the water crashes down toward you.
"This isn't the way things were," you/Alba say, and then sand fills your mouth, an ocean of it, a vast desert that stretches around you in all directions, swallowing footprints and travelers as they stagger through it toward the one oasis at its heart.
Books fall from towers in Agdel Lex—no, from Alikand, left behind, dreaming-and demons snap their jaws in the reflections of crystal mirrors. Streets twist away from you, the promise of haven snatched from your grasp. No matter how far you flounder toward it, the city is always just out of your reach.
You slip beneath the water and the sand slides in to cover you, slippery and shifting. Your father pulls you out, holds you close and chants scolding prayers as you gasp for breath.
You clutch a talisman in your small fist, and pry your own fingers open to see. It's a coin, held tight enough to leave an impression behind, the edges of a circle inscribed in your skin.
"This is a dream," you/Alba say.
"This isn't our dream," you/Alba say.
One of you, independent of the other, says, "Wake up."<</linkreplace>><<else>>You look behind you, and wish you hadn't.
You're floating, adrift on the sea, hunger curled queasy in your small belly. Salt dries into a thin white crust on your brown skin as your sweat evaporates and ocean spray bakes off in the sun. A city rises before you, hope on the horizon, and you taste a faint trace of prayer on your tongue.
"This isn't right," you/Alba say, gazing up at the city. "This isn't how it happened."
You remember this. You're sandwiched in between your parents and brothers and sisters, too many of you for this platform of lashed-together planks, not nearly seaworthy enough to be called a raft.
Yet somehow you've made it.
"This did happen," you/Alba insist, leaning into the comfort of your mother in spite of the sticky heat.
"But not like this," you/Alba say. There is as much certainty as doubt in your voice.
The city shifts through time, corpses of dying gods lying beached on the sands, leviathans cast up from the waters to rot for eternity. Glass towers spiral out of the wreckage, crumbling staircases giving way to steel spires and concrete.
"We came here," you/Alba say, and in that <i>we</i> you hear a multitude, a voice raised in chorus, in grief for the homeland you've fled and hope for a brighter future.
Rafts appear all around you, broad thick banana leaves wrapped with vines bound around floating logs, small fishing boats crammed full with so many passengers they sink low in the water, swamped anew by each swelling wave. Two small children huddle close to each other on what was once their front door, paint peeled away and bleached of colour by salt and sun, alone and abandoned. A fleet of desperate improvisation, a flotilla.
Out of the city, the Iskari squid god rises above you, heavy as a thundercloud in judgement. You've grown to fear storms, out here. Every time they pass, you see one less silhouette, and you mark the lost by the belongings that float past your raft: A necklace of shells, a scrap of faded cloth, a wooden toy boat.
There are dark shapes in the water, circling beneath the surface. Sometimes you feel them bump against the raft at night, and hear them break the surface before they dive again.
You look up at the city, and the squid god looms over your raft, features dissolving like melting wax into a tidal wave. You/Alba scream, and cover your head as the water crashes down toward you.
"This isn't the way things were," you/Alba say, and then sand fills your mouth, an ocean of it, a vast desert that stretches around you in all directions, swallowing footprints and travelers as they stagger through it toward the one oasis at its heart.
Books fall from towers in Agdel Lex—no, from Alikand, left behind, dreaming-and demons snap their jaws in the reflections of crystal mirrors. Streets twist away from you, the promise of haven snatched from your grasp. No matter how far you flounder toward it, the city is always just out of your reach.
You slip beneath the water and the sand slides in to cover you, slippery and shifting. Your father pulls you out, holds you close and chants scolding prayers as you gasp for breath.
You clutch a talisman in your small fist, and pry your own fingers open to see. It's a coin, held tight enough to leave an impression behind, the edges of a circle inscribed in your skin.
"This is a dream," you/Alba say.
"This isn't our dream," you/Alba say.
One of you, independent of the other, says, <<link ""Wake up."" "TA's Office">><<set $acoin to true>><</link>><</if>>
<<if $acoin is true>>[[Turn back.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]<</if>><<if $night is true>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers+Intro.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The whispering starts quietly at first, and then builds, a cacophony of sound enveloping and surrounding you. You wonder for a brief moment if entering a fractured mind was entirely wise as the chorus crests, drowning out any remaining thoughts in your head.
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<<if $seawater is true>>The voices are whispering... <i>seawater</i>? Maybe that's meant to be a clue?<<else>>
What are the whispers trying to tell you?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'seawater'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Good answer." "Nightmare Realm Unlocked">><<set $seawater to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'sea water'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>
<<link "Good answer." "Nightmare Realm Unlocked">><<set $seawater to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|SEA PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("SEA PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|SEA PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("SEA PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|SEA PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("SEA PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|SEA PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>><<else>>
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<</if>>
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Clue 1: Some of the words in the scene sound a little different from the others.
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Clue 2: The words sound a little like letters, don't they?
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Clue 3: There are seven letters that form a word.
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<i>I have to move my meeting later this afternoon because Aesop Cleft needs the room for a client. At least I don't have to be the one sitting through a meeting with him.</i>
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<center><i>Yes, anything I'd do
Undy'ng lady for you
I would sell my soul
Have a demon eat me whole
Into twilight's battle hurled
For just a chance of your lip curled
When I sip the poppy's milk
And moon's children dot the skies
Time parts memories like silk
And I think of your green eyes
I follow the kraken star to the west
And dream I could ride it to your door
But thoughts of you bring me no rest
Our flame dulled from a roar
In a time when Earth was young
Dying gods in the sky were hung
But now the Earth is old
And the sky with it is still
And never more in darkest night
Will we bask in our god's light
When I sip the poppy's milk
And moon's children dot the skies
Time parts memories like silk
And I think of your green eyes
I follow the kraken star to the west
And dream I could ride it to your door
Thoughts of you bring me no rest
Our flame dulled from a roar
But you died, now Justice reigns
Empty vessels filled with pain
They are not you, merely a shell
For this, I earned my place in hell
When I sip the poppy's milk
And moon's children dot the skies
Time parts memories like silk
And I think of your green eyes
I follow the kraken star to the west
And dream I could ride it to your door
But thoughts of you bring me no rest
Our flame dulled from a roar
Our flame dulled from a roar</i></center>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Shell+Game.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The shells on display at one of the game tables are lacquered with gold, gleaming against the glossy black tabletop. They slide against the surface with a silky rasp, flying deftly between the hands of the performer putting on the show.
The man is dressed in a stark black and white suit with a cape, undulating lines embroidered into the fabric that dizzy the eye as he shuffles the shells. The glitter-gold sign beside the table reads <i>Grand Illusionist Gus the Great</i>. You've seen better stage names. Also better-quality costumes.
"No Craft, no tricks, watch the shells and win," sings out Grand Illusionist Gus, raising one of the shells to display the pearl beneath. It's captured again in the next moment, the shells skating around each other in a hypnotic dance. "Kos, Seril, or Craft, lay your bet and win."
<<if visited("SCAM UNCOVERED")>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>Three symbols are painted onto the table; a flame for Kos, a crescent for Seril, and a falling star to represent Craft. You're surprised this isn't considered blasphemous, and cynical curiosity draws you toward the table to see if Craft ever wins over the city's gods.
"Step right up, try your hand and win," calls Gus, and singles out a stocky woman in rust-covered overalls from the crowd. "Name your bet, trust your eye and win."
She moves gamely to stand before the table, the rest of the onlookers observing in a loose ring around her, sipping cocktails and feigning apathy. It's easy to pretend you'd succeed at something by acting like you can't be bothered trying.
The woman starts nervous, but gains confidence after her first guess of 'Seril' wins a pearl. Your pessimism is proven incorrect when 'Craft' takes the second round, and the third goes to 'Kos'.
The crowd is eager now, indifference dissolving in the face of such an easy win. A queue forms in front of the table, gamblers shifting from a semi-circle into a phalanx to test their own acuity.
"Take a chance, prove your worth and win," Gus croons. The woman lays one last bet—all three pearls, double or nothing—but you suspect you already know where the prize will end up. You give the shell game one last, long look, and drift away from the table.<</linkreplace>><<else>>Three symbols are painted onto the table; a flame for Kos, a crescent for Seril, and a falling star to represent Craft. You're surprised this isn't considered blasphemous, and cynical curiosity draws you toward the table to see if Craft ever wins over the city's gods.
"Step right up, try your hand and win," calls Gus, and singles out a stocky woman in rust-covered overalls from the crowd. "Name your bet, trust your eye and win."
She moves gamely to stand before the table, the rest of the onlookers observing in a loose ring around her, sipping cocktails and feigning apathy. It's easy to pretend you'd succeed at something by acting like you can't be bothered trying.
The woman starts nervous, but gains confidence after her first guess of 'Seril' wins a pearl. Your pessimism is proven incorrect when 'Craft' takes the second round, and the third goes to 'Kos'.
The crowd is eager now, indifference dissolving in the face of such an easy win. A queue forms in front of the table, gamblers shifting from a semi-circle into a phalanx to test their own acuity.
"Take a chance, prove your worth and win," Gus croons. The woman lays one last bet—all three pearls, double or nothing—but you suspect you already know where the prize will end up. You give the shell game one last, long look, and drift away from the table.<</if>>
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There's a ripple of tension and groans around a table, and you're drawn in like a moth to a flame. <<if visited("High Stakes Game") gt 1>>
<<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>A crowd has gathered to watch, though only four are playing. The abacus-like device monitored by a casino employee indicates that almost all the cards in the deck have been drawn, and the round is close to ending. Seated to one side, the banker waits for the players to lay their bets on the layout. One player puts a single chip on the nine; two others place a few chips each on the queen and the two. The final player, their curly silver hair matted with sweat and their pale eyes staring, slides their entire stack onto the bar labelled "High Card."
The silver-haired player sits back, hands gripped tightly together, as the banker reaches down to draw the cards. You know this game. First, the banker's card; anyone who bet on this card loses. He flips it over: nine of cups. The player who bet on it shrugs and gives a self-deprecating smile as the banker takes her chip. Then, the banker reaches for the player's card. This card, if anyone bet on it—or if it is higher than nine, given the silver-haired player's bet—wins them a payout. The banker seems to draw out the tension, playing it like a violin, then flips the card.
Seven of swords.
The silver-haired player pushes away from the table with fear in their eyes. "No," they say, as the banker takes the chips they set down. With a deft twist, the banker breaks away the thread tying the soulstuff imbued in the chips to the player. The player crashes to the ground, gasping for breath. Without stopping to think, you rush forward, kneeling to check on them. A casino employee joins you—not either of the ones running the table; they have moved on to the next bet as the crowd parts around this scene.
"I'll take care of this," the employee tells you. "We get idiots in here doing this from time to time—come here and risk their last thaum in hopes of winning big. I'll take them back to the recovery room."
"Will they be all right?" you ask, skeptical.
The employee shrugs. "Nothing we can do. Either they'll pull through or they won't. Excuse me." The employee hefts the player over their shoulder, and nervous eyes watch them go.<</linkreplace>><<else>>A crowd has gathered to watch, though only four are playing. The abacus-like device monitored by a casino employee indicates that almost all the cards in the deck have been drawn, and the round is close to ending. Seated to one side, the banker waits for the players to lay their bets on the layout. One player puts a single chip on the nine; two others place a few chips each on the queen and the two. The final player, their curly silver hair matted with sweat and their pale eyes staring, slides their entire stack onto the bar labelled "High Card."
The silver-haired player sits back, hands gripped tightly together, as the banker reaches down to draw the cards. You know this game. First, the banker's card; anyone who bet on this card loses. He flips it over: nine of cups. The player who bet on it shrugs and gives a self-deprecating smile as the banker takes her chip. Then, the banker reaches for the player's card. This card, if anyone bet on it—or if it is higher than nine, given the silver-haired player's bet—wins them a payout. The banker seems to draw out the tension, playing it like a violin, then flips the card.
Seven of swords.
The silver-haired player pushes away from the table with fear in their eyes. "No," they say, as the banker takes the chips they set down. With a deft twist, the banker breaks away the thread tying the soulstuff imbued in the chips to the player. The player crashes to the ground, gasping for breath. Without stopping to think, you rush forward, kneeling to check on them. A casino employee joins you—not either of the ones running the table; they have moved on to the next bet as the crowd parts around this scene.
"I'll take care of this," the employee tells you. "We get idiots in here doing this from time to time—come here and risk their last thaum in hopes of winning big. I'll take them back to the recovery room."
"Will they be all right?" you ask, skeptical.
The employee shrugs. "Nothing we can do. Either they'll pull through or they won't. Excuse me." The employee hefts the player over their shoulder, and nervous eyes watch them go.<</if>>
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Weaving your way through the dancers, you spot a monster from Northtown rising from the fourth seat around a card table, splayed hands likely indicating that funds have run dry. There's an orange-clad Crier eyeing the table, but you move in first, pausing with your hand lightly on the back of the open chair.
"Mind if I join you?"
<<if visited("Card table")>><<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene.">>The table's other occupants are a clockwork golem with a burning pocket watch in the furnace of its chest, a red-eyed vampire in the white uniform of a ship's captain, and a woman made of frost and icicles, her skin powder-white and hair frozen in straight, sharp spikes that drip onto the wet-wool fabric of her kolt.
Of the three, it turns out that the vampire is the chatty one. "Control's the game. You win every round and you've won the game. You know it?"
"Something like it."
It's a bluff, but you've played enough similar games to figure out the rules as you go. The vampire smirks at you with a hint of fang and shuffles the cards. The scars across his knuckles flex on the bridge.
"Three cards in hand—one face up, one face down, and one in your reserve. No one plays the reserve card on the first round. You lead the suit each round and we follow, and high card in that suit wins. We're playing with wands, swords, and cups. Court cards trump and win the round, but they only count if you've just won a round in their suit. A queen of cups won't mean a thing if you've just played a sword. Got that?"
Gambling is one part luck, two parts skill, and three parts bravado. You take your seat and fold your hands on the table.
"Deal me in."
The cards fly across the table in a blur of unnatural speed, but while you might not be able to spot any sleight of hand, the clockwork golem would. Mechanical appendages unfold, clacking and squeaking, to check the golem's face-down card. The frost woman touches the back of her card with a fingernail filed to a pearlescent point. The vampire lifts the corner of his card, then turns his carmine gaze back to you, expectant.
The face-up cards of your opponents are a seven of wands, knight of wands, and two of cups.
The reserve cards are a ten of cups, and an eight and three of swords.
You hold a nine of swords (9S), with a seven of cups (7C) face-up, and a queen of swords (QS) in your reserve.
The golem sips through a funnel from a cocktail that smells like engine oil. The frost woman raises a snowflake-patterned eyebrow.
You reach for your first card, ready to play all three.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/control-game.jpg" width="700"/></center><</linkreplace>>
[[Take another look at that commotion.|Card table]]<<else>>The table's other occupants are a clockwork golem with a burning pocket watch in the furnace of its chest, a red-eyed vampire in the white uniform of a ship's captain, and a woman made of frost and icicles, her skin powder-white and hair frozen in straight, sharp spikes that drip onto the wet-wool fabric of her kolt.
Of the three, it turns out that the vampire is the chatty one. "Control's the game. You win every round and you've won the game. You know it?"
"Something like it."
It's a bluff, but you've played enough similar games to figure out the rules as you go. The vampire smirks at you with a hint of fang and shuffles the cards. The scars across his knuckles flex on the bridge.
"Three cards in hand—one face up, one face down, and one in your reserve. No one plays the reserve card on the first round. You lead the suit each round and we follow, and high card in that suit wins. We're playing with wands, swords, and cups. Court cards trump and win the round, but they only count if you've just won a round in their suit. A queen of cups won't mean a thing if you've just played a sword. Got that?"
Gambling is one part luck, two parts skill, and three parts bravado. You take your seat and fold your hands on the table.
"Deal me in."
The cards fly across the table in a blur of unnatural speed, but while you might not be able to spot any sleight of hand, the clockwork golem would. Mechanical appendages unfold, clacking and squeaking, to check the golem's face-down card. The frost woman touches the back of her card with a fingernail filed to a pearlescent point. The vampire lifts the corner of his card, then turns his carmine gaze back to you, expectant.
The face-up cards of your opponents are a seven of wands, knight of wands, and two of cups.
The reserve cards are a ten of cups, and an eight and three of swords.
You hold a nine of swords (9swords), with a seven of cups (7cups) face-up, and a queen of swords (Qswords) in your reserve.
The golem sips through a funnel from a cocktail that smells like engine oil. The frost woman raises a snowflake-patterned eyebrow.
You reach for your first card, ready to play all three.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/control-game.jpg" width="700"/></center>
In what order do you play your cards?
<<textbox '$answer' 'No commas, please.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '7cups 9swords qswords'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "What's that commotion over there?" "Card table">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '7 9 q'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "What's that commotion over there?" "Card table">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|CARD PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("CARD PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|CARD PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("CARD PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|CARD PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("CARD PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|CARD PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
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As the game breaks up, you overhear two sailors talking:
"Don't know why you wanted to waste your shore leave on games of Control—"
"You have a better idea?"
There are sounds of a scuffle, and you catch sight of two young men, one with the other in a clearly playful headlock. The latter finally ducks out, face flushed, and flattens his hair. He flicks a coin into a small fountain set into the wall. "Brima, bring us safe journey across the sea; keep us free from your tangled net. Praise Her name, all sailors," he intones.
The other laughs derisively. "Better to pay The Drowned Sailors Collective. At least they can do something if something goes wrong."
Another scuffle ensues, and you wonder what that was about. Brima is not the name of a goddess you recognize.
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You take a seat at a bland white table, opposite a dark-haired woman in a heavy suit. Most of the booths for this game are lined up along the wall, gamblers lost in their own memories and the ebb and flow of thaums washing over their souls. This table is the only one set aside for competitive play against an opponent.
You know the rules: Drawing on your memories, the table will produce images of a variety of objects, which will then dissolve away before you're asked questions about them. How many objects, the name of the one to the left, the odd one out...you're familiar with this kind of game. It's common among children as a teaching tool, and you remember playing it when you were very young.
You don't remember what images your memories conjured up then. You're even less certain of what they'll conjure up now.
<<if visited("Key witness")>>On second thought, you'd better get back to the case.
[[Re-interview that key witness?|Key witness]]
[[Play this again anyway.|Memory game video]]<<else>>[[Try your hand.|Memory game video]]<</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Key+Witness.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Key+Witness.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
The woman with the dark hair nods curtly<<if visited("Key witness") gt 1>>, making a pointed guesture towards the coin she's passed you.<<else>> as she slides a coin across the table to you.<</if>> "You with that lady, Alba?" she asks, abruptly.
You look over at her a little more closely. "I'm helping her," you say. "I'm looking into something she was worried about."
Her eyes narrow. "Who you workin' with?" she asks.
"Tara Abernathy," you reply. Her shoulders do not lower.
"You're not with the Anchor people?" she asks. You nod. "Swear?" she adds. You make the glyph at your collarbone glow, draw your moon knife from it carefully—you notice her flinching—and prick your palm.
"I swear," you reply.
"Good," she says, still looking on-edge. "Good. Heard you were asking questions, and, well. After Chander bit it, and Alba just... disappeared..." she shakes her head. "Let's say I have a few of my own." She extends a hand. "Leah," she says. "Alba said she was lookin' into stuff, about what happened to Chander, but I haven't seen her around lately. She okay?"
"She had her memory wiped," you reply. "She was worried about you, though. Despite not knowing why. Enough to ask Tara to look into it."
She nods. "They had Chander and me sign a contract to invest," she says. "Said that we had a chance at a better life, if we only had the guts to risk it big. So we went all in. Signed our last thaums away in blood."
You've never had to contemplate a life where you'd be so desperate that you'd sign it over—not even for a better future, but just a <i>chance</i> at one. Where a dip in the market would be enough to wipe you out and send you under.
You also suspect that while the people who convinced this woman and her friend to sign on talked a big talk, their motives were not nearly as altruistic as they made it seem. You remember the market fluctuation chart, and feel a twist in your stomach. Would the next downturn see Leah end up like her friend?
You raise an eyebrow. "Are you willing to testify about what you know?"
She shrugs in a jerking motion, her mouth tugging down at the corner. "Don't know how useful I can be, but if it'll help Alba, yeah. Yeah, I'm in."
<<if visited("Key witness") gt 1>>[[Investigate the coin again.|Leah coin]]<<else>>[[Investigate the coin with Craft|Leah coin]]<</if>>
[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Try to reconstruct the scene as best as you can.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: The dragon was in the top left-hand corner.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: The coin was in the bottom right-hand corner.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Leah's+Coin.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<i>I hope I understand everything today. Willa Thornton makes the contract sound simple. This could change my life.</i>
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Group+Card+Game-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 1: Look to the Game Guide and the rules at the start of the scene as a good place to start!
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Group+Card+Game-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 2: You have two cards to choose from for your first hand; which one should you lay down first?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Group+Card+Game-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: How can you play your seven of cups in a way that will beat your opponent's ten of cups?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/nightmare_vision_2.png" width="700"/>
<a href="https://ia601500.us.archive.org/7/items/zero-sum-game/AO3-nightmare_vision_2.jpg" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[EXPAND]</a></center>
This time, when you pass into the nightmare, you fall into the Godwastes.
You hear the wash of the Shield Sea, and sense the enormous shadow of the squid god looming over you, dwarfing the city, but neither of those things are real here. Here, there is only sand and the black slope made up of fallen bodies, a mountain of the dead.
You stagger through the drag of the tide—of sand—of rivers of blood—toward the city.
"This isn't how it happened either," you guess, floundering in the tangle of a goddess' lank hair.
"No," Alba agrees. "But it's closer."
You nearly fall to your knees and land on a raft made of logs, bound with vines and banana leaves. You push yourself up again as it begins to sink, marching grimly on toward your family's last hope.
Gods lie twisted and broken around you, gazing at the sky with unseeing eyes. The scale of them feels impossible; you could fall forever into the pit of a navel, or impale yourself on a hangnail.
Do gods get hangnails? It's not a question they address in Applied Theology.
Here and there you see traces of others, half-swallowed by the sands. There's a necklace of shells, abandoned and nearly buried, in the crook of a goddess' elbow. A child-god, crushed beneath the protective arm of its dead mother, has a wooden toy boat angled against its head like a comical hat.
"Watch out," Alba says, and the desert shifts, sliding and yawning open to disgorge an enormous bird, wings beating to stir up a furious sandstorm.
"This isn't real," you insist, when you've staggered through the blinding, choking sand into the shelter of a god's blood-soaked armpit.
"That doesn't matter here," Alba says.
You want to ask why, but when you look up, you see sunlight splintering off the crystal towers, and you're momentarily blinded. The sand blows into new dunes, and you stagger on to climb them.
You fall again, somewhere between a bone-white wooden door and an abandoned boat, and your hand closes over something small and hard in the sand.
"Do you have it?" Alba asks. You clench your fist and nod. Alba says, "Don't let go."
<<if visited("Statue")>>[[Re-examine the statue in your hand.|Statue]]<<else>>
How many new things have appeared in the dreamscape?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '6'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the statue in your hand.|Statue]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'six'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the statue in your hand.|Statue]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'two'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the statue in your hand.|Statue]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '2'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the statue in your hand.|Statue]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|REV PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("REV PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|REV PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("REV PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|REV PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("REV PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|REV PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Turn back.|Nightmare Realm Unlocked]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: You've [[seen this image before|Dreamspace Memories]] , haven't you?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: How many differences do you see?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Clue 3: There are some things that are in the first picture that aren't in the second, and vice versa.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Statue.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The statue you hold in your hand is a small, unassuming thing—it's old, its features blurred, the metal surface pocked, fissured, and covered with a rimey crust of salt, along with a few hinted remains of calcified barnacles.
The statue itself is that of a woman, hair slicked against her forehead and stuck to her shoulders like strands of kelp, mouth open in an inarticulate scream—you cannot tell if she is angry, hungry, grieving, or a mixture of all three. She is naked and grasping a net.
While it is small enough that you can wrap your fingers around its circumference, it feels far heavier than it ought—given how pitted the surface is, you wouldn't expect it to be made of something so dense.
You tentatively reach out with Craft, tracing the outlines with the tips of your fingers, the glyphs coiled around your arms glowing starlight, your soul extending into a fissure of the statue until you reach a dense, metal core, and pull back with a sudden jerk at the strong shock of awareness that floods your brain with images.
She is Brima.
Brima, Goddess of the drowned, the storm, the flood—you feel the crash of waves, the pressure of water around you, the cold of the depths, far colder than the starlight you sip from to power your Craft. You breathe, and are amazed to feel air enter your lungs instead of seawater.
You've never read about her before—she wasn't notable enough to be listed in the history books of the God Wars alongside titans like Qet Sea-Lord—but there were so many who fought and died in that war—people and gods alike.
Well. You say 'died,' but death can be relative for a god—Seril, for instance, was presumed to be dead for over half a century, but a Flight of Gargoyles kept the faith and brought her back. And dead gods can still be put to use through the miracle of Craft, of course—the body of Qet pumps seawater through his veins still, converting it to fresh water—his heart still beats to give Dresediel Lex fresh water to drink.
You <<if visited("Statue") gt 1>>re-<</if>>pocket the statue, which now feels <<if visited("Statue") gt 1>>freshly<<else>>slightly<</if>> slick and damp against your fingers.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The Temple of Justice has access to a great deal of information, including the financial records of deceased citizens—and, with a little string-pulling, public records of those still among the living.
The lists of investments for the victim from Club Xiltanda and the key witness you're trying to track down aren't the most daunting you've seen, but they're nothing to shrug at, either. You skim down each list of caveats and inclusions until you've thoroughly lost your way, and then you reach in and <i>pull</i> the information free, using Craft to weave it into a representative chart.
You comb through both sets of records to find which stocks they have in common. It's mostly local staples: Golem carts, a uniform clothier, a bakery chain, and alchemical supplies. The distributions are the same percentage across both accounts, which suggests this is a stock portfolio made through an investment company.
You look at the spread of goods, and then at what's missing: Stone quarries, mechanical tools, and the ever-present devotional item of choice in Alt Coulumb—cigarettes. There's only one investment company within the city that offers this particular portfolio, and you know exactly where to find them.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/market-investments-venn-diagram.png" width="700"/>
<a href="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/venn-diagram-investments.png" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[ENLARGE]</a></center>
<<if $mip is true>>[[Look for for more leads about Anchor Investments elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<<else>>
Which investment firm are we looking for?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'anchor'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "That's one more piece of the puzzle..." "Temple of Justice">><<set $mip to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'a'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "That's one more piece of the puzzle..." "Temple of Justice">><<set $mip to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'anchor llc'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "That's one more piece of the puzzle..." "Temple of Justice">><<set $mip to true>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|MARKET PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("MARKET PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|MARKET PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("MARKET PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|MARKET PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("MARKET PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|MARKET PUZZLE 4]]<</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Victim's+Body.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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When you ask after Chander, you are surprised to find that he is still here. "Well, in a sense, heh," the coroner says, flicking through a chart. "You're welcome to take a look and make your own analysis. Our examination has been... inconclusive."
Laid out in the drawer, the victim looks peculiarly small, even for the rail-thin figure he would have cut in life. The bushy, silvering handlebar mustache seems to dwarf the rest of his angular face. You look closer, examining the glassy eyes, and reaching out with Craft. He feels hollower than he should. You can't quite put your finger on the sensation for a moment.
"His soulstuff," you say carefully.
"Yes. There are signs he experienced a massive and traumatic loss of soulstuff near the time of death," the coroner says.
All in, you think uneasily, feeling nauseous at the thought. "But cause of death is inconclusive? That would be enough to kill someone, surely."
"We concluded that it happened near time of death because it would have been difficult to survive it, but there's no way of knowing whether it happened before or after," the coroner says. "If you have any insight, it would be a help."
You decide to let poor Chander go back to his rest and leave, thinking longingly of a nice, soothing mug of chocolate.
<<if $seawater is true>>Then you have a second thought. [["Actually, have you checked the lungs?"|Fluid analysis]]<</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Victim's+Personal+Effects.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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It does not seem like such a small box should hold the material remains of a life. You receive the meager collection of items. In a pouch is the detritus of a busy person's pockets: a tangled ball of red thread, a crinkled ticket stub (smudged beyond reading), a few cigarettes (no lighter), and a single coin. The coin whispers a little as you touch it<<if visited("Chander coin")>>.
[[Examine the coin with Craft again.|Chander coin]]<<else>>, and without knowing why, you pocket it.
[[Examine the coin with Craft.|Chander coin]]<</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Commissioner+Michaels.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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Commissioner Michaels is working when you enter her office, and she offers you a chair across the desk from her. She is broad-shouldered, strong, and the desk is nearly as intimidating a presence as she is. "Now, I <<if visited("Key Witness")>>think you have enough evidence<<else>>understand you don't have all your evidence yet<</if>>," she says, "but Ms. Abernathy wanted me to walk you through the trial process ahead of time."
You nod, settling in to listen.
"There's a reason they call a court trial a legal battle," Michaels says. "You and the defendant's legal representative will take turns presenting evidence or bringing witnesses to the stand to testify in order to support your argument. As the plaintiff, you will begin, and the defendant will respond. When you are each satisfied that all evidence has been presented, the judge will make a ruling. Is that clear?"
"Seems pretty simple," you say.
"Hmm," she replies. "Keep your eyes open. Things can change pretty fast in there."
<<if visited("Key Witness")>>[[It's time to present your evidence.|Evidence]]<</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The coroner is puzzled by your request for fluid samples from the lungs, but accommodates you nonetheless. <<if visited("Death records")>><<linkreplace "Re-analyze the data?">>You settle down at a borrowed worktable to analyze the samples.
<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 600px; max-height: 90vh; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px; border-color: #888" allowFullScreen="true" src="https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/online-jigsaw-puzzle-player.html?frm=1&url=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcmNoaXZlLm9yZy9kb3dubG9hZC96ZXJvLXN1bS1nYW1lL2ppZ3Nhdy1wdXp6bGUuanBnXyhub19wcmV2aWV3XzQpXyhub3A9MzAp" title="Jigsaw Puzzle">Jigsaw Puzzle</iframe><</linkreplace>><<else>>You settle down at a borrowed worktable to analyze the samples.
<iframe style="width: 100%; height: 600px; max-height: 90vh; border-style: solid; border-width: 2px; border-color: #888" allowFullScreen="true" src="https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/online-jigsaw-puzzle-player.html?frm=1&url=aHR0cHM6Ly9hcmNoaXZlLm9yZy9kb3dubG9hZC96ZXJvLXN1bS1nYW1lL2ppZ3Nhdy1wdXp6bGUuanBnXyhub19wcmV2aWV3XzQpXyhub3A9MzAp" title="Jigsaw Puzzle">Jigsaw Puzzle</iframe>
What was the true cause of death?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'drowning'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Take this finding to Death Records.|Death records]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|FLUID PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("FLUID PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|FLUID PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("FLUID PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|FLUID PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("FLUID PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|FLUID PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Business+Records.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
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The business records of The Drowned Sailor's Collective and Anchor Investments, LLC are a thicket of mergers, variable costs, and quantifiable assets. The two companies have similar value propositions and target markets, and there's a shared revenue stream from a particularly well known group of angel investors, but you wouldn't have passed your final exams if you couldn't untangle a few conglomerates.
<<if visited("Business Cards")>>In fact, you already have. <<linkreplace "Re-read the full scene anyway.">>Thorns pierce your skin as the accounts sprout new vines, encircling your wrists to bind you with legal disclaimers and non-disclosure agreements. Hacking your way through them might be satisfying, but you need a scalpel for this sort of work, not a machete. You separate stock portfolios, employee registers, and tax records from the thick snarl of data, unbraiding quarterly reports with deft and deliberate skill.
You get scratches up and down both arms, but the creeping tendrils that try to wrap around your throat never gain enough purchase to choke. This is what you're here for, after all; first-year associates always get the grunt work.
DSC and AI both have smokescreens over their sensitive information, so you look for back doors. No one encrypts the boss' coffee order even when it's charged to the company card. There are patterns in the data, even if you can't always trust the sources.
In the desk you find two envelopes. The first is labeled "Anchor Investments, LLC" and the second is labeled "The Drowned Sailors' Collective". When you empty out the envelopes you realize they're filled with business cards, but they have different addresses. Frustrated, you toss them onto the table, but then you notice on the back of each card in a sinuous script is a note. The cards from the first envelope read:
<ol><li>"If and only if this card is true it is the right one."</li>
And
<li>"The other card is false."</li></ol>
The cards from the second envelope read:
<ol><li>"This card is lying and card 2 is also lying."</li>
<li>"Either card 3 is telling the truth or 3 is the right card."</li>
<li>"The right card is the only true one."</li></ol>
You roll up your sleeves, grinning. This—this is a game you're good at.<</linkreplace>><<else>>Thorns pierce your skin as the accounts sprout new vines, encircling your wrists to bind you with legal disclaimers and non-disclosure agreements. Hacking your way through them might be satisfying, but you need a scalpel for this sort of work, not a machete. You separate stock portfolios, employee registers, and tax records from the thick snarl of data, unbraiding quarterly reports with deft and deliberate skill.
You get scratches up and down both arms, but the creeping tendrils that try to wrap around your throat never gain enough purchase to choke. This is what you're here for, after all; first-year associates always get the grunt work.
DSC and AI both have smokescreens over their sensitive information, so you look for back doors. No one encrypts the boss' coffee order even when it's charged to the company card. There are patterns in the data, even if you can't always trust the sources.
In the desk you find two envelopes. The first is labeled "Anchor Investments, LLC" and the second is labeled "The Drowned Sailors' Collective". When you empty out the envelopes you realize they're filled with business cards, but they have different addresses. Frustrated, you toss them onto the table, but then you notice on the back of each card in a sinuous script is a note. The cards from the first envelope read:
<ol><li>"If and only if this card is true it is the right one."</li>
And
<li>"The other card is false."</li></ol>
The cards from the second envelope read:
<ol><li>"This card is lying and card 2 is also lying."</li>
<li>"Either card 3 is telling the truth or 3 is the right card."</li>
<li>"The right card is the only true one."</li></ol>
You roll up your sleeves, grinning. This—this is a game you're good at.<</if>>
<<if visited("Business Cards")>>[[Examine the correct cards again.|Business Cards]]<<else>>
Which two cards are correct?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '1 and 3'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the correct cards.|Business Cards]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'one and three'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the correct cards.|Business Cards]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is '1 3'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the correct cards.|Business Cards]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<elseif $answer is '13'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Examine the correct cards.|Business Cards]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|BIZ PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("BIZ PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|BIZ PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("BIZ PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|BIZ PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("BIZ PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|BIZ PUZZLE 4]]<</if>><</if>>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
It takes a shockingly short amount of time to go to trial—from the moment you tell Tara Abernathy that you're prepared to make your case to stepping foot into the Third Courthouse of Craft feels like a whirlwind of motion —a riptide tugging at your breastbone and pulling you along faster and faster to this moment. The black stone flows around you as you enter the heavily warded pyramid walls, Leah following hesitantly in your stead.
You push open the door at the end of the hallway leading you to your courtroom, and take it all in—the black walls, the silver-filled grooves in the floor, the ghost lit ceiling. Tara is there, as are a few Craftspeople from Anchor Investments, LLC, their counsel, and a few bored-looking Criers.
You can do this.
You're ready.
A peal of thunder sounds in the room, which is suddenly plunged into blackness; a bent, sallow figure stands on the Judge's dais. "I am Judge Cathbad, son of Norbad," he intones, his words resonating in your chest. "I call from chaos to order. I stand to witness the verities and falsehoods of Craftsperson Qispi, representing the Church of Kos, who is bringing charges against Anchor Investments, LLC. I invite counsel to approach."
A circle of blue flame dances in the silver circle on the floor. You take a deep breath as you cross the threshold, a shiver running through you as you do.
The Judge stands between you and your opponent, enormous with Craft, twisted and dark, pierced through with a lance of light.
"Present your evidence."
You clear your throat to present your opening argument.
There's just a few odds and ends remaining that you need to present in order to fully solidify your case.
You know from your pre-trial subpoenas that there are three executives capable of the level of Craftwork needed for binding contracted souls to a goddess, wiping the memories of Craftswomen, and triggering a market crash capable of drowning people in debt. Their names are Orion Halberry, Aesop Cleft, and Willa Thornton. You believe that each of them has a different one of those responsibilities within the company.
Chander and Leah were both bound by contracts to Anchor Investments, LLC, and Chander died in debt to the company. Alba's memory was wiped while she worked for Anchor Investments, LLC. Each of them had a meeting with one of the executives booked in the conference room on the day Chander died, between two and five in the afternoon for an hour each. The sign-in calendar for the conference room, however, has those three hours conveniently blanked out.
You know what you have to do to get to the information you need; you call upon the powers of the stars and the earth as you draw the four coins from your pocket and feel them clinking against your palm. You rise into the air, wreathed in flame, and with your free hand, you pull your knife from the glyph below your collarbone, steeling your will as your opponent rises opposite you, her mouth severe.
There is no room for error—you must fight her fire with your own in order to gain the upper hand.
The coins float in the air before you, glowing in turn.
1. Who was responsible for triggering the market crash that killed Chander?
2. When was the meeting during which Alba's memory was wiped?
3. To whom did the coin from the church belong?
Please answer all three questions in succession.
<<textbox '$answer' '[FIRST LAST] [#] [FIRST LAST]'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'aesop cleft 4 willa thornton'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Victory is so close you can taste it.|Judgement]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '[aesop cleft] [4] [willa thornton]'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Victory is so close you can taste it.|Judgement]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
[[Clue 1|EVIDENCE PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("EVIDENCE PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|EVIDENCE PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("EVIDENCE PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|EVIDENCE PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("EVIDENCE PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|EVIDENCE PUZZLE 4]]<</if>>
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: Look at where the various circles overlap.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: Which firms are investing in the companies on your list?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Clue+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 3: Only one of the firms invests in all four of the companies you're interested in.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Chander's+Coin.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Item+Chander's+Coin.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
<i>Someone I know leaves the conference room just as I arrive. She's with Willa Thornton. I've met with Thornton before.</i>
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Death+Records.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Death+Records.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
You flip through the death records for Alt Coulumb over the past year, noting every cause of death marked 'drowning.' For a busy port city, there aren't as many as you'd expect—at least not that match the circumstances of your corpse.
In the end, you identify three:
<img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/Taurus.png" width="40"/><font size="+3"> - 9 Taurus - Amin, C.</font>
<img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/Corax.png" width="40"/> <font size="+3"> - 11 Corax - Badu, K.</font>
<img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/Hirundo.png" width="40"/> <font size="+3"> - 11 Hirundo - Molchalin, I.</font>
[[Look elsewhere in the Temple of Justice.|Temple of Justice]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: Make sure you’ve fully solved the puzzle.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: What is happening to the figure in the puzzle?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Clue+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 3: Phrase the answer as an official cause of death.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Judgement.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Judgement.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
There is a flurry of blows—your evidence is a shield as you fight off an assault on your mind and body, struggling to halt your opponent's attempts to warp the truth. You parry, keeping her from entrapping you in her net of power, feeling your soul stretch with the effort as your mind burns. You pull the financial records as a wall of data, countering with a swipe of your knife, and add the connections between the investment firm and the insurance company—and lastly, you pull out the statue of the goddess, feeling a slick wetness in your hand as you wield it.
The Craftswoman's face twists.
"Every day someone bets their life on the markets. Markets don't care. They rise and fall, and sometimes they fall too fast, and someone drowns. It happens. And it happens because they chose to sign on the dotted line, and to take that risk. They just happened to sign with us."
"You put your thumb on the scale," you reply, firm in your convictions as you both continue your dance of fire and Craft. "You chose investments you knew would be riskier, and got a big, fat bonus when your clients drowned—literally drowned. Some loophole you must've discovered. It goes to figure when you represent the interests of the Goddess of the Drowned. You chose to exploit it—exploit them. Only, you got greedy, and when my client found out, you wiped her memory to keep it hidden."
You can see the patterns so clearly now, the web of connections, and you pluck at them to make them stand out—unravelling her defense in the process. Your light seeps through the cracks you've forced open, and the Craftswoman screams and stiffens.
The world resolves itself with a sickening suddenness—you are standing once again within the silver circle, harshly panting, the defending counsel weaving unsteadily on her feet.
The judge raises a hand.
"I rule in favor of the prosecution," he intones. "The Craftsperson was stripped of her memory for attempting to expose the fraudulent and harmful practices of Anchor Investments, LLC and The Drowned Sailor's Consortium. All contracts associated with both firms are hereby rendered null and void while we investigate further." He points to the gallery. "Take those three into custody."
You hardly hear the judge—there is a sudden shift of pressure in your ears—and you turn to the gallery to see if you can catch Tara Abernathy's eye.
Instead, you see Leah standing, seawater streaming from her mouth, her eyes glowing blue.
Power crackles through the room—Divine power—making all the hairs on your arms stand on end.
"THE SACRIFICES AND PRAYERS OF THE DOOMED HAVE AWOKEN ME, AND I HAVE BEEN FREED OF MY CHAINS. MY SAILORS—MY PEOPLE—THEY WILL KNOW I HAVE RETURNED."
The wet, ancient voice booms in the hall.
"I RELEASE MY PEOPLE FROM THEIR DEBT, BUT THEIR BOND TO ME, IT CAN NEVER BE BROKEN. SOMEDAY, THEY WILL BE MINE, I WILL WRAP THEM IN MY EVERLASTING EMBRACE BENEATH THE WAVES, BUT I WILL NOT TAKE THEM BEFORE THEIR TIME. MY DAUGHTER," she calls out.
"Y... yes?" Leah gasps, before her head once again is tilted back, her eyes full of light.
"YOU WILL WORSHIP ME?"
"Always," she replies, falling to her knees.
"I CALL YOU MINE, PRIEST," she intones through Leah.
She rises to her feet, sobbing in joy as you turn to Tara Abernathy, your face slack with shock.
Later that evening, at a private booth in Club Xiltanda, you watch while Tara pours you each some champagne. She's just finished recounting her first case, the one that resulted in the reawakening of Seril.
"I've got to stop making a habit of this," she says with a sparkle in her eyes. "Gonna get a reputation. Nicely done, Craftsperson."
You raise your glass, and clink it against Tara's extended flute.
"To Justice," she says.
"To Craft," you reply.
[[Credits|Credits]]
<i>You started this case with 2000 thaums, and you ended it with $thaums thaums. Not too bad! Enough to pay for another bottle of champagne at least.</i><center><h1>Thank you so much!</h1></center>
If you enjoyed this game (or if you didn't!) we hope you'll find these links useful:
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<h1>Zero Sum Game: Full Cast & Credits</h1>
<strong>Fandom:</strong> The Craft Sequence — Max Gladstone
<strong>Music & Quotations:</strong> Item: Gambling Chip: "Rolling Down to Old Maui" (traditional)
<strong>Sentient Hive:</strong> AirgiodSLV, kitkat50311, CompassRose, epaulettes, minnabird, ellejabell, mahons-ondine, sisi_rambles
<strong>Concept & Project Lead:</strong> AirgiodSLV
<strong>Plot & Story Development:</strong> kitkat50311
<strong>Sound Editing & Mixing:</strong> ellejabell
<strong>Art & Visual Design:</strong> CompassRose
<strong>Twine & HTML Wrangling:</strong> epaulettes
<strong>Puzzle Master:</strong> AirgiodSLV
<strong>Writers:</strong> AirgiodSLV, kitkat50311, minnabird, mahons-ondine, epaulettes
<strong>Voice Actors:</strong> AirgiodSLV, kitkat50311, CompassRose, epaulettes, minnabird, ellejabell, mahons-ondine, sisi_rambles
[[Read the individual scene credits.|Credits 2]]
<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: Are there any cards that stick together? (For example: If one is false then another also has to be.)
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: Focus on words like "only," "if," and "either" because those help you to make distinctions.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Clue+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 3: Try assigning truth values to each card. Do those hold up?
<<return>><<if $thaums gt 1>>Thaums: $thaums<</if>>
<<if $inventory is true>>[[Dig through your bag.|Inventory]]<</if>><<if $realm is true>>
[[Find Alba in a nightmare.|Nightmare Realm]]<</if>><<if visited("Church of Kos")>>
[[Church of Kos]]<</if>><<if visited("Xiltanda")>>
[[Xiltanda]]<</if>><<if visited("Temple of Justice")>>
[[Temple of Justice]]<</if>><<if visited("Key witness")>>
[[You're ready to go to trial.|Evidence]]<</if>>
<<if visited("Intro")>>[[Need the tutorial?|Tutorial]]<</if>>
<script>$('html').addClass('cellhome');</script>[[Question Alba.|Interrogation]]
[[Try going deeper into Alba's memories.|Dreamspace Memories]]
[[Something's whispering...|Nightmare whispers]]<<if $mfc is true>>
[[Something new has sparked in Alba's memories.|Memories revealed]]<</if>>
[[Wake yourself.|TA's Office]]<center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Wall+Sconces-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Wall+Sconces-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: Light the 3rd and 7th wall sconces.
Exact password: "3 and 7"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Map+of+Alt+Coulumb-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: You should end up at Club Xiltanda.
<center><img src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/map-puzzle-answer.jpg" width="500"/></center>
Exact password: "Xiltanda"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Transition-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Transition-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: One wet pop can be heard 50 seconds into the scene.
Exact password: "00:50"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Interrogation-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Interrogation-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The word spelled out by all the letters is 'Probity.'
Exact password: "probity"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: Are there some sounds that stand out?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: Have you tried playing all three tracks at once?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Clue+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 3: Listen closely towards the end of the tracks to see if you can hear a word.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Nightmare+Whispers-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The voices are saying s-ea-wa-t-er, or seawater.
Exact password: "seawater"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Item+Business+Cards.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Item+Business+Cards.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Once you determine which cards are the real business cards you flip them over and take a look. Now that you have their addresses you can go dig up more dirt—and you notice the addresses are identical. <i>1572 Serpent's Wharf, Suite C</i>. And it hits you—of course! All the confusing intertwining pieces of data, all the encryption and the diversions, they all make sense because Anchor Investments and The Drowned Sailors' Collective are the same company.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Business+Records-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: In the first envelope, Card 1 is the right card. In the second envelope, card 3 is the right one.
Exact password: "1 and 3"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Fluid+Analysis-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The actual cause of death is drowning.
Exact password: "drowning"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Investments-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: Anchor Investments is the only firm that invests solely in the four companies on your list.
Exact password: "A"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Market+Fluctuation+Chart-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The lines intersect with the coordinates 1.4, 6.1, and 11.3 on the wheel.
Exact password: "1.4 6.1 11.3"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Memories+Revealed-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: Five birds and one statue have been added.
Exact password: "6"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+Garden-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Rooftop+Garden-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The person's name is Leah.
Exact password: "Leah"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Scam+Uncovered-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: The next pearl will be under the shell labeled with Seril's symbol.
Exact password: "Seril"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Solo+Card+Game-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Solo+Card+Game-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: Put down the five of swords first, followed by the four of coins, and then the nine of wands.
Exact password: "5swords 4coins 9wands"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Group+Card+Game-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Group+Card+Game-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: Play the seven of cups first, followed by the nine of swords, and then the queen of swords.
Exact password: "7cups 9swords Qswords"
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution: A bone appeared in the top right-hand corner, a rabbit appeared on the coin, and the dragon was blue.
Exact password: "BONE RABBIT BLUE"
<<return>>
<center><video width="600" height="337.5" src="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/memory-table.mp4" type="video/mp4" controls></video>
<a href="https://archive.org/download/zero-sum-game/memory-table.mp4#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
[[Are you ready?|Memory game puzzle]]</center><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game+post+video.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Memory+Game+post+video.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
1. What appeared in the top right corner?
2. Which animal appeared on the coin?
3. What color was the dragon?
Please answer all three questions in succession.
<<textbox '$answer' '[Answer 1] [Answer 2] [Answer 3]'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is 'bone rabbit blue'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a closer look at your opponent..." "Key witness">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '[bone] [rabbit] [blue]'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a closer look at your opponent..." "Key witness">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is '[bone] [hare] [blue]'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a closer look at your opponent..." "Key witness">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'bone hare blue'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
<<link "Take a closer look at your opponent..." "Key witness">><<set $thaums to $thaums + 5>><</link>>
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span>
<<if visited("Key witness")>>[[Go elsewhere in the club.|Xiltanda]]<<else>>[[Clue 1|MEM PUZZLE 1]]<<if visited("MEM PUZZLE 1")>>
[[Clue 2|MEM PUZZLE 2]]<</if>><<if visited("MEM PUZZLE 2")>>
[[Clue 3|MEM PUZZLE 3]]<</if>><<if visited("MEM PUZZLE 3")>>
[[Need the solution?|MEM PUZZLE 4]]<</if>>
<<link "Give up for now." "Xiltanda">><<set $thaums to $thaums - 5>><</link>><</if>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+1.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+1.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 1: Listen to each of the coins, as a good place to start.
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+2.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+2.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 2: Which Craftsperson ran the first meeting, and what happened during the meeting?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+3.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Clue+3.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Clue 3: Can you pinpoint which Craftsperson is responsible for wiping Alba’s memories?
<<return>><center><a href="https://archive.org/details/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Solution.wav#" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">[WAV at Archive.org]</a>
<iframe src="https://archive.org/embed/zero-sum-game/Presentation+of+Evidence-Solution.wav#" width="500" height="40" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></center>
Solution:
1. Who was responsible for triggering the market crash that killed Chander? Aesop Cleft
2. When was the meeting during which Alba's memory was wiped? 4
3. To whom did the coin from the church belong? Willa Thornton
Exact password: "Aesop Cleft 4 Willa Thornton"
<<return>><strong>1. Church balcony</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: mahons-ondine
Narrator: mahons-ondine
Shale: minnabird
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>2. Lectern</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311
<strong>3. Technical altar</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
<strong>4. Wall sconces</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
<strong>5. Tara Abernathy’s office</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Tara Abernathy: minnabird
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>6. Craftswoman’s envelope</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: kitkat50311
<strong>7. Map of Alt Coulumb</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: ellejabell
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: ellejabell
<strong>8. Tourist guide to Alt Coulumb</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: ellejabell
Narrator: ellejabell
<strong>9. Church archives</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Narrator: epaulettes
Abelard: mahons-ondine
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>10. Market fluctuation chart</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
<strong>11. Rooftop garden</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Aev: minnabird
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>12. Bar</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Bartender: kitkat50311
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>13. Corner table</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Cat: ellejabell
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>14. Scam uncovered</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Cat: ellejabell
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>15. Solo card game</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311
Dealer: sisi_rambles
<strong>16. Cocktail tables</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Lady: AirgiodSLV
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>17. Performance stage</strong>
Writer: mahons-ondine
Audio Engineer: mahons-ondine
Music: mahons-ondine
Narrator: mahons-ondine
<strong>18. Shell game</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Narrator: epaulettes
Grand Illusionist Gus: minnabird
<strong>19. High-stakes game</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Silver-haired player: minnabird
Employee: sisi_rambles
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>20. Group card game</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Raz: minnabird
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>21. Card table</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Sailor 1: minnabird
Sailor 2: AirgiodSLV
<strong>22. Memory game</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: sisi_rambles
<strong>23. Key witness</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Leah: mahons-ondine
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>24. Nightmare #1</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311
<strong>25. Nightmare #2</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
<strong>26. Nightmare #3</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: minnabird
Narrator: minnabird
<strong>27. Nightmare #4</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
<strong>28. Nightmare transition</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Narrator: epaulettes
<strong>29. Dreamspace memories</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: minnabird
Alba: ellajabell
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>30. Nightmare Whispers</strong>
Writers: AirgiodSLV, kitkat50311, mahons_ondine, CompassRose, sisi_rambles, epaulettes
Audio Engineer: ellejabell
Introduction: kitkat50311
Whisper 1: Airgiod SLV
Whisper 2: kitkat50311
Whisper 3: manons_ondine
Whisper 4: CompassRose
Whisper 5: sisi_rambles
Whisper 6: epaulettes
<strong>31. Memories revealed</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: minnabird
Alba: ellajabell
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>32. Market investments</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: epaulettes
<strong>33. Victim’s body</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Coroner: AirgiodSLV
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>34. Victim’s personal effects</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311
<strong>35. Commissioner Michaels</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: minnabird
Commissioner Michaels: AirgiodSLV
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
<strong>36. Fluid analysis</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Artist: CompassRose
Narrator: sisi_rambles
<strong>37. Death records</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
<strong>38. Business records</strong>
Writers: AirgiodSLV & mahons-ondine
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Narrator: epaulettes
<strong>39. Presentation of evidence</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
Judge Cathbad: epaulettes
<strong>40. Judgement</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
Defense Counsel: minnabird
Judge Cathbad: epaulettes
Leah: mahons-ondine
Craftsperson Qispi: CompassRose
Goddess Brima: mahons-ondine
Tara Abernathy: minnabird
<strong>41. Item: Service book</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: minnabird
Music: minnabird
Narrator: minnabird
<strong>42. Item: Matchbox</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Narrator: sisi_rambles
<strong>43. Item: Gambling chip</strong>
Writer: epaulettes
Audio Engineer: epaulettes
Narrator: epaulettes
<strong>44. Item: Church coin</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: sisi_rambles
Voice: sisi_rambles
<strong>45. Item: Game guide</strong>
Writer: minnabird
Audio Engineer: AirgiodSLV
Narrator: AirgiodSLV
<strong>46. Item: Leah’s coin</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: mahons-ondine
Leah: mahons-ondine
<strong>47. Item: Alba’s coin</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: ellejabell
Alba: ellejabell
<strong>48. Item: Statue</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311
<strong>49. Item: Chander’s coin</strong>
Writer: AirgiodSLV
Audio Engineer: minnabird
Chander: minnabird
<strong>50. Introduction</strong>
Writer: kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
<strong>51. Clues</strong>
Writers: mahons-ondine, epaulettes, AirgiodSLV, kitkat50311
Audio Engineer: kitkat50311
Narrator: kitkat50311Tip 1: Numbers can be written as numerals or as words, except where indicated.
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>><<back>><<else>><<return>><</if>>Tip 2: If there are multiple parts to an answer, for instance three different words, you can write each word with just a space between each answer.
Sometimes the answer will be two numbers. You can include an "and" if you feel like it, but it's not necessary. "2 and 2" will be accepted, along with "2 2" (and "two and two"), but NOT "2 & 2." No ampersands or commas, please.
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>><<back>><<else>><<return>><</if>>Tip 3: Passwords are not case sensitive! Once you submit the answer, the magic of coding turns all the letters in your answer to lowercase. So you can answer "HELLO," "hello," or "Hello," and if the password is <i>hello</i>, they all count!
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>><<back>><<else>><<return>><</if>>Solution tip: Just FYI, all puzzles will offer you the solution if you've viewed all the clues. If you're stuck, try viewing one clue and then looking at the puzzle again. A link to Clue 2 will appear to offer you more help! After three clues, the solution becomes available.
All solutions will also provide an exact password that is guaranteed to unlock the puzzle:
Exact password: "0"
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>><<back>><<else>><<return>><</if>>
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>>Do you need some tips?<<else>>
<<if $answer is 'zero'>>You solved this puzzle already. :) Do you need some tips?
[[Nope! I'm ready to start the case.|Intro]]<<elseif $answer is '0'>>You solved this puzzle already. :) Do you need some tips?
[[Nope! I'm ready to start the case.|Intro]]<<else>>Here's an example puzzle:
What number is in this game's title?
<<textbox '$answer' 'Type your answer here.'>>
<span id='textbox-reply'></span>
<span id='textbox-submit'>\
<<button 'Submit'>>
<<set $answer to $answer.trim().toLowerCase().replace(/\s\s+/g, ' ')>>
<<if $answer is '0'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Okay, great! I'm ready to start the case.|Intro]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
<<elseif $answer is 'zero'>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Correct!\
<</replace>>
<<replace '#textbox-submit'>>\
[[Okay, great! I'm ready to start the case.|Intro]]
<</replace>>
<<run $('#textbox-answer').attr('readonly', 'true');>>
/% prevent the textbox from being edited any further %/
<<else>>
<<replace '#textbox-reply'>>\
Incorrect. Please try again.\
<</replace>>
<</if>>
<</button>>\
</span><</if>><</if>>
[[Should you type a number as a numeral or a word?|EX PUZZLE 1]]
[[What if there are multiple parts to an answer?|EX PUZZLE 2]]
[[Are the passwords case-sensitive?|EX PUZZLE 3]]
[[Need the solution?|EX PUZZLE 4]]
<<if visited("Church of Kos")>><<return>><</if>>