Corgi Experience Platinum

<div class="white">Your house is an icebox but the time for recoiling has passed. What do you do for breakfast? [[cereal]] [[bagel]] </div>

<div class="white">You peek in the milk carton and give it a sniff. Seems good. Normally you would sit down at the kitchen table to eat, but right now it is mostly unuseable as it is housing a small potted tree. [[living room]] </div> (set: $breakfast to "cereal")

<div class="white">You forgot, you don't have anything to spread on the bagel. Looks like you'll have to eat it plain. Normally you would sit down at the kitchen table to eat, but right now it is mostly unuseable as it is housing a small potted tree. [[living room]] </div> (set: $breakfast to "bagel")

<div class="white">You eat in the living room. The house does not have a heater but you are lucky enough to live in the part of the maisonette where the fireplace is. Your neighbors took the good bathroom, though. [[start a fire]] [[don't start a fire]] </div>

<div class="white">{(if: $breakfast is "bagel")[You put the bagel in your mouth and go to start a fire.] (else-if: $breakfast is "cereal")[You balance the cereal bowl on the arm of the old couch and go to start a fire.]} Suddenly there is a //WHUD//, and a //FWOMP//, and a scritchscatching from inside of the chimney, as though your house was processing a major case of indigestion. Then there is a {(live: 1s)[(text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARK]]]} [[uh.]] (set: $fire to "yes") </div>

<div class="white">You sit on the old couch trying to ignore the fact that you can see your own breath. The $breakfast is okay, you guess. Suddenly, the chimney shudders like it's taking a breath and there is a //WHOMF// and a //FWUD// and then a {(live: 1s)[(text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARK]]]} [[uh.]] (set: $fire to "no") </div>

(display: (either: "brown eyes", "blue eyes", "amber eyes")) (display: (either: "girl", "boy")) (display: (either: "orange fur", "brown-spotted fur", "sable fur", "black-spotted fur")) {(if: $fire is "yes")[(goto: "dog!")] (else:)[(goto: "dog!!")]

(set: $eyes to "amber")

(set: $eyes to "blue")

(set: $eyes to "brown")

(set: $gender to "boy")

(set: $gender to "girl")

(set: $fur to "orange")

(set: $fur to "light-spotted")

(set: $fur to "sable")

(set: $fur to "dark-spotted")

<div class="white">A small corgi, its $fur fur lightly speckled with soot lands in your arms, nearly bowling you over as it rockets out of the fireplace. Not missing a beat the dog licks your face, and (text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARKS]] again, excitedly! [[!!!]] </div>

<div class="white">A small corgi seems to almost //appear// in the fireplace, bright $eyes eyes peering out at you as it shakes soot of of its $fur fur. It excitedly (text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARKS]] again, and then hops unworriedly out of the a{(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]}n threshold and trots over to you. [[!!!]] </div>

{<h1 class="beige"><center>THE NOBLE CANINE</center> ----------------------------------------------------------------- </h1>}<div class="white">The small dog looks into your eyes and //yips//, as if waiting. This dog is now your dog. Somehow you know it. (set: $name to 8883221) {(if: $gender is "girl")[(link: "Give her a name")[(set: $name to (prompt: "Name of Dog:"))(goto: "Dog Days")]] (if: $gender is "boy")[(link: "Give him a name")[(set: $name to (prompt: "Name of Dog:"))(goto: "Dog Days")]]} </div>

You and $name go for a walk to the shopping district. You were worried about taking {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} out without a leash, but {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} seems content to orbit within a 10-foot radius of you, deviating only to //yop// at passing strangers or //growf// at the nearby smells of food. (link: "I get mom a scented candle")[(set: $gift to "candle")(goto: "checkout")] (link: "I get Bryce a gift card")[(set: $gift to "gift card")(goto: "checkout")] (link: "I get Uncle Terry some gloves")[(set: $gift to "gloves")(goto: "checkout")] (set: $outfit to "nope")

$name rushes around the room excitedly as you sort through your laundry, helpfully dragging over errant shirt and then //worff//ing proudly [[Get dressed]] (set: $gift to "nope")

$name licks your hand from inside of the cart as you check out and wiggles {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} butt. The cashier smiles as they ring up the $gift. "Aw. what a cutie!" You give a vicarious smile. [[Walk]]

It's time. You take a deep breath and scritch $name behind the ear, eliciting a soft //browff//. You are not sure if bringing $name with you is a good idea or not, but {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} sticks by you steadfastly as you approach the door and licks your hand in support. [[...]]

You wash your clothes. It's been...a little while. $name is very excited by all of the new smells and sounds of the laundry room, tensing back and giving the washer an especially boisterous //rouff//! (link: "I dress casual")[(set: $outfit to "casual")(goto: "Walk")] (link: "I dress up a little")[(set: $outfit to "formal")(goto: "Walk")]

On your walk, you meet a nice lady who owns a Doberman. You have seen her around before but you have never talked. She flashes you a smile and lets the leash spool out a little longer so that your dogs can partake the the traditional canine rites of greeting, (ie sniffing each other's butts & stuff). You expect $name to be intimidated by the size difference, but {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} doesn't even slow down. $name is the {(if: $gender is "girl")[queen] (else:)[king]} of all dogs. [[Family Dinner]]

{ (if: $eyes is "amber")[(either: "tangerine", "sienna", "saffron")] (else-if: $eyes is "blue")[(either: "cerulean", "cobalt", "ocean blue")] (else-if: $eyes is "brown")[(either: "hazel", "coffee brown", "cocoa brown", "chocolate")] }

<div class="white">//yourmotherisaskingaboutyourfuture// the food is okay //uncleTerryispickingafight// you got some nice socks //bryceisquietandanddoesntlookatyou// [[$name noses gently against your leg->name noses gently against your leg]] </div>

You've finally lit the fireplace and $name is resting {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} head on your lap contentedly. The air is crisp, but {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} small, warm body fills the room in the way that only living things can. [[I pet the dog]]

You pet $name on the head, and then in a moment of emotion scoop {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} up and give {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} a little hug and smile as {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} licks your nose. You've made it through the day. Thank goodness. You rub $name on the back, and {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} gives a (text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARK]]. Then {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} pees on you a little. But that's alright. [[Happy Holidays->End]]

<div class="white">Your house is unbearable but is your bed any better? Breakfast: [[yogurt]] [[banana]] </div>

<div class="white">You //glop// some yogurt into a bowl and mix in granola without much passion. You're trying to eat a little healthier nowadays. [[living room->living room+]] </div> (set: $breakfast to "yogurt")

<div class="white">A banana will do. Its protective yellow membrane is no match for you. [[living room->living room+]] </div> (set: $breakfast to "banana")

<div class="white">As you enter the living room, $name nudges {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} nose lightly against your leg, and then //rouffs// affectionately. It looks like someone slept well, at least. [[sit]] </div>

<div class="white">You sit, and pet $name lightly on the ears. {(if: $gender is "girl")[She] (if: $gender is "boy")[He]} wastes no time in clambering up onto the couch so that {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} can rest {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} head in your lap as you eat. [[stand]] </div>

{<h3 class="beige big">TWO OF YOU AGAINST THE WIND ----------------------------------------------------------------- </h3>} You walk casually along your usual path, waving to Emily and her Doberman, Abernathy in a attempt to look casual. Once they've passed, you set your jaw. It should be an easy job. In, out, no one sees your face. You have $name wait around the corner for you. [[The heist]]

"ALRIGHT, PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" Your gun isn't real, just a very convincing replica, but you don't plan on using it anyways. The bank you've chosen is small and further away from police stations. It should be easy pickings so long as the police aren't nearby alread--{(live: 1s)[(text-style: "fade-in-out")[<span class="red">WEEEEE-OOOOO</span>]] (live: 2s)[(text-style: "fade-in-out")[<span class="blue">WEEEEE-OOOOO</span>]] (live: 3s)[(text-style: "fade-in-out")[<span class="red">WEEEEE-OOOOO</span>]] (live: 4s)[(text-style: "fade-in-out")[<span class="blue">WEEEEE-OOOOO</span>]]} (live: 4s)[(link: "OH. SHI--")[(goto: "OH. SHI--")]]

<div class="white"> your motther will not talk to you. bryce visited but only to stare coldly at you from behind glass. your lawyer will talk using words like "appeal" and "plea bargain", but it sounds like he is reading the terms out of a book. prison is the pits. [[worry about $name->worry]] </div>

<div class="white">$name is a good dog Someone probably took {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} in. The thought makes you sad, but the alternative doesn't bear exploration. The drone of the facility is no more engaging than the hollow promise of rain on the window but doesn't share any of its romanticism. You should admire this truth, but you can only shrink from it, this gaudy orchestra of dissatisfaction. You are not sure how long you've been here. [[...->...+]]

<div class="white">(link: "keep my head down")[(set: $head to it +1)(set: $time to it + 1)(goto: "head")] (link: "take courses by mail")[(set: $mail to it +1)(set: $time to it + 1)(goto: "mail")] (link: "get into fights")[(set: $fight to it +1)(set: $time to it + 1)(goto: "fight")] (link: "read a book")[(set: $book to it +1)(set: $time to it + 1)(goto: "book")] (live: 1.2s)[(if: $time > 3)[(goto: "CRASH")]] </div>

<div class="white">{(if: $mail is 1)[you sign up to the Horizon University mailing list. Unfortunately they are not accredited, and cannot offer any official recognition for their courses.] (else-if: $mail is 2)[completing assignments at least gives the illusion of forward motion.] (else-if: $mail is 3)[the lady who grades your papers is very nice but you get the feeling she might be the only one working there.] (else-if: $mail is 4)[You doodle in the margins of your math homework. (set: $mail to 2)]} [[next day->...+]] </div>

<div class="white">{(if: $fight is 1)[you step to a bully at lunch and get a black eye for your trouble] (else-if: $fight is 2)[you trade punches with a growling troublemaker out in the yard] (else-if: $fight is 3)[your antagonize the guard patrolling past your cell] (else-if: $fight is 4)[you get yourself thrown in solitary for the rest of the day(set: $fight to 2)]} [[next day->...+]] </div>

<div class="white"> {(if: $book is 1)[you page through Moby Dick. you learn a lot about whale blubber] (else-if: $book is 2)[you read some of The Divine Comedy. you're not really feeling it.] (else-if: $book is 3)[you start reading The Jungle Book. it's...very racist. <p> you stop reading The Jungle Book.] (else-if: $book is 4)[you read some Macbeth. <p> you dream of trees. (set: $book to 1)]} [[next day->...+]] </div>

<div class="white"> {(if: $head is 1)[you stick to yourself at lunch] (else-if: $head is 2)[you don't tell anyone you're in here for bank robbery] (else-if: $head is 3)[you pretend not to hear insults] (else-if: $head is 4)[you pretend you are somewhere else. (set: $head to 1)]} [[next day->...+]] </div>

<h1 class="red"><center>(text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[CRASHHHHH!!!]]</center></h1> (live: 2s)[(goto: "Bark!")]

It's wet outside--outside! What a concept. Uncle Terry looks back to the jail, and then to you. He's silent for a moment, and then: "Your dog found me, and well...you need to run." He pauses, then puts a hand on your shoulder. "...what made you do it?" (link: "I just needed the money.")[(set: $why to "money")[(goto: "RUN")]] (link: "Things can't keep going the way they are.")[(set: $why to "justice")[(goto: "RUN")]] (link: "I didn't know what else to do.")[(set: $why to "dunno")[(goto: "RUN")]]

Terry grimaces and then nods and lets his arm fall. The jail is starting to mobilize its enforcers and you're sure the police are on their way too. $name and then tugs at your pantleg. "Alright I'll be fine. Now..." [[RUN!->End+]]

<div class="white">You unzip the tent and step out into the dark{(if: $fight is not 0)[, limping a little from a fight you picked when you were in jail.] (else:)[.]} Night lasts for two weeks up here, so you would think you'd be used to it. Who are you thinking about? [[mom->Mom]] [[bryce->Bryce]] [[terry->Terry]] [[emily->Emily]] [[abernathy->Abernathy]] </div>

<div class="white">You remember Mom. You...didn't want to cry today, but it's hard. [[fire]] </div> (set: $thought to "Mom")

<div class="white">You remember Bryce. sorry, bryce. [[fire]] (set: $thought to "Bryce")

<div class="white">You remember Uncle Terry. you never heard from him again after that night. [[fire]] (set: $thought to "Uncle Terry")

<div class="white">You remember Emily. you never realized how much those happenstance meetings meant to you. [[fire]] (set: $thought to "Emily")

<div class="white">You remember Abernathy. what a nice, big dog he was. [[fire]] (set: $thought to "Abernathy")

<div class="white">The firepit doesn't have the charm of your old chimney but it does the job at least. With Earth sniffing for your camp, electricity is too valuable to waste on light or heat. What do you have for breakfast? [[cliff bar]] [[rice]] </div>

<div class="white">You carefully unwrap your last Cliff bar. You've been saving it, but today is the day. [[...->...++]] </div> (set: $breakfast to "Cliff bar")

<div class="white">You eat your normal meal, a small bowl of plain white rice. The moon is not a generous home. [[...->...++]] (set: $breakfast to "rice") </div>

<div class="white">You sit down on a malformed log and {(if: $breakfast is "Cliff bar")[take a bite of your Cliff bar. it's a bit stale.] (else:)[slowly eat your rice. there's not much of it left.]} The rest of the camp is slowly starting to come to life. [[!!!->!!!++]] </div>

<div class="white">$name trots out from behind your tent giving the fire a generous //rwarff//, and then you an accompanying //yipf// and //barwowff// and several other cheerful noises that only a corgi would be able to accurately transcribe. Even here, literally chased to the skies, $name does not appear to be even the slightest bit phased. Maybe that is just what being a dog is all about. [[Pat head]] [[Scritch ears]] </div>

You whistle for $name to follow you and set off for a trot around the perimeter of the camp. Even now, something about these terraformed craters is so alien. People expected the process to be something like dumping a pot of soil on the ground and growing trees up just like home, but the result was more of a Google deep dreaming effect with algae-green superimposed over the strange rockiness of the Moon, trees thin and spiderlike. $name is not perturbed at all and happily sniffs and //borffs// at every stray branch and stump. $name's pee may be the only dog pee on the moon. [[BANG]]

<h1 class="red"><center>(text-style:"shadow")[BANG]</center></h1> (live: 2s)[(goto: "Bark!++")]

<div class="white">everything's a blur the gun readied... the Earthling fired... $name...$name... [[$name->name]] </name>

You and $name move for a moment as one and the soldier is on the ground. A kick to the head takes them out. You can deal with them later, but the camp... It sounds like Earth sent in a full battalion. $name looks up at you, (display: "adjective") eyes sparkling in the light of the spreading fire. You pat {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} on the head, and then straighten. There is no more time. This is going to have to be your last stand. You take a breath and think of $thought, then turn towards the camp and [[run->End++]], $name by your side

{<h3 class="beige">$name $name $name $name $name ----------------------------------------------------------------- </h3>} You let your engines hum to life, and shift into $name's space, a soft room that you created for your oldest friend. It is only in the past thousand years or so that you have begun to notice just the small hints of gray hairs in your dear canine companion. Sometimes it occurs to you that it is possible {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} is not a regular Corgi. $name notices your meta-presence and //(text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARKS]]// affectionately. Aw. [[Hug the dog]]

The process are different now, but of course, you hug the dog, carefully petting {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} soft fur. [[Check on the egg->Prepare the egg]]

You carefully enter the heart of the sun, consciously slowing your movements down tenfold, a hundredfold, a thousandfold. This is your magnum opus, and even if a premature hatching was surviveable, there would be no chance to start over. This is the only star left. [[...->...+++]]

You return to $name's soft room just to sit for awhile. As always, {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} can sense your mood and gently noses into you so there is no choice but to pet {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]}. You can't put this off for much longer--the egg needs to either be set off soon or it never will be. You have poured all of yourself into it, every hope and dream, every plan and thought. All your blood. All your sweat. Are you ready? [[Yes]] [[Not yet->No]]

Once you activate the egg--the star--that will be it. The end of the universe, all of space and time at last coiled down to this single point--the last question answered, entropy finally halted and then put in reverse. It will be the end of everything, and the beginning of everything. You have worked so hard for so long, to engineer the egg. The new universe will be better, brighter, kinder. Platinum. Are you ready? [[Yes->Yes+]] [[No]]

(display: (either: "1", "2", "3", "4", "5")) Are you ready? [[Yes]] [[Not yet->No]]

$name follows you in-step as you approach the egg chamber. {(if: $gender is "girl")[She] (if: $gender is "boy")[He]}'s never come in here before, (you weren't even sure {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} could), but very little about {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[him]} surprises you anymore. As you hesitate, $name looks up, wags {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} tail and (text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "rumble")[BARKS]]. You smile. Okay. [[here we go->End+++]]

You hug $name a little closer, ruffling {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} fine ears and petting {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} coat until it is silken.

You use the tiniest bit of stellar dust to make a ball to throw for $name. {(if: $gender is "girl")[She] (if: $gender is "boy")[He]} wiggles {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} tail and fetches it for you excitedly, depositing it in a different hand each time.

You let $name curl up in the part of you that is most like a lap and cherish {(if: $gender is "girl")[her] (if: $gender is "boy")[his]} small gentle heartbeats.

You leave your star-home for a time and take $name through the void, stopping at the occasional buildup of stray matter that $name wants to //rrarff// at.

You take some time to tell $name one of an endless font of stories about your past and delight as {(if: $gender is "girl")[she] (if: $gender is "boy")[he]} humors you and pretends to understand what you are saying.