You awaken on a blue plane with a white grid. You look down and see a faint, gray blue box that moves with your feet.
[[you walk forward|move forward]]
[[you move backward|move backward]]
[[you do nothing|do nothing]]
You walk forward. Eventually, you reach another blue gray outline. This outline is cube-shaped, and hovers before you, humming faintly.
[[you say //Hello, Cube.//|talk to the cube]]
[[you approach the cube, hand outstretched.|try to touch the cube]]
[[you run in the opposite direction|run away]]
You turn around and begin walking. A gray wall approaches you. The wall seems to have no end, extending to your left and right into infinity.
[[walk right]]
[[walk left]]
//this is boring// you think. Why not try something ''else''?
[[you decide to walk forward|move forward]]
[[you decide to walk backward|move backward]]
[[you decide not to try something else|do nothing some more]]
You lie down on the blue ground, letting existential dread set in. You fall asleep.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
Cube responds.
//I am only what you make me. What am I?//
You are somewhat taken aback by Cube's statement. You think for a moment. What do you say?
[[I want you to be who you want to be. I want you to have free will]]
[[I don't know who you are...or what, for that matter]]
[[You are me and I am you]]
[[You are nothing]]
The cube floats away from your hand.
[[talk to the cube]]
[[run away]]
You run until your calves feel tender. You stop to rest, and fall asleep.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
After a time, you reach a crack in the wall.
[[peer into the crack]]
[[walk left]]
[[yell at the crack]]
After a while, you come to a section of the wall that has crumbled. Beyond the wall, the blue plane fades away, gradually giving way to a black void.
[[approach the void]]
[[run away]]
[[walk right]]
You peer into the crack and see your own eye staring back at you. There must be a mirror on the other side of the wall.
[[yell at the crack]]
[[walk left]]
[[run away]]
You yell at the crack. Nothing happens. You feel silly.
[[peer into the crack]]
[[walk left]]
[[run away]]
You step through the crumbled section of the gray wall and approach the void. In the distance, a pair of hands fade into view. The hands fill the void. Behind the hands are a pair of glasses in a chipped black rim. Behind the glasses are a pair of eyes, darting from your face to the hands.
[[run away]]
[[yell at the hands]]
[[yell at the eyes]]
you cup your hands around your mouth.
[[ask the hands what body they belong to|ask hands body]]
[[ask the hands what they know about the eyes|ask hands eyes]]
you crane your neck and cup your hands around your mouth.
[[ask whose body the eyes belong to|ask eyes body]]
[[ask what the eyes know about the hands|ask eyes hands]]
[[run away]]
The eyes blink at you. The blinks seem random at first. Luckily, you are extremely well-versed in Morse code, and eventually discern what the eyes are saying to you.
//...beyond your dimension. Seek Cube. Cube is all. Cube is the way forward. Choice is tyrrany and illusion. There is only one direction. There is only one true end. There is only Cube. Cube is the gate and the key and the gatekeeper. Seek Cube. Cube is all...//
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
The eyes blink at you. The blinks seem random at first. Luckily, you are extremely well-versed in Morse code, and eventually discern what the eyes are saying to you.
//We belong to the body of the hands, to the body that makes the body, to the body that makes your body, to a body of bodies.//
[[ask whose body the eyes belong to|ask eyes body]]
[[ask what the eyes mean|ask eyes mean]]
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
The hands begin making signs at you. Luckily, you are well-versed in all forms of sign language. Eventually you figure out what the hands are saying to you.
//...beyond your dimension. Seek Cube. Cube is all. Cube is the way forward. Choice is tyrrany and illusion. There is only one direction. There is only one true end. There is only Cube. Cube is the gate and the key and the gatekeeper. Seek Cube. Cube is all...//
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
The hands begin making signs at you. Luckily, you are well-versed in all forms of sign language. Eventually you figure out what the hands are saying to you.
//We belong to the body of the eyes, to the body that makes the body, to the body that makes your body, to a body of bodies.//
[[ask the hands what body they belong to|ask hands body]]
[[ask what the hands mean|ask hands mean]]
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
You swivel to the right and run, but the hands and eyes seem to stay in the same place in the sky. The left hand reaches for you, its massive pointer finger filling your vision. The finger crashes into the blue plane, sending a shock wave toward you. You fall onto your back. The finger slides into the gray wall, but seems to phase through it. You pick yourself up.
The hand recedes into the void, and the eyes disappear. The portion of wall the finger touched turns red.
[[approach the red portion of wall]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
You swivel to the left and run, but the hands and eyes seem to stay in the same place in the sky. The left hand reaches for you, its massive pointer finger filling your vision. The finger crashes into the blue plane, sending a shock wave toward you. You fall onto your back. The finger slides toward you. You black out.
[[//you black out//|Start]]
The eyes tell you to talk to the hands.
[[yell at the hands]]
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
The hands tell you to talk to the eyes.
[[yell at the eyes]]
[[run away ]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
You approach the wall. It humms, and you can't decide if the sound is pleasant or unpleasant.
[[touch the red portion of wall]]
[[ run away]]
[[run away]]
You find yourself on a red plane with a white grid. You look down and see a faint, grayish red box that moves with your feet.
[[move northeast]]
[[move northwest]]
[[move southeast]]
[[move southwest]]
[[jump up and down]]
[[bang your head into the ground]]
You jump up and down in frustration until you are exhausted. You fall asleep.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
You bang your head into the ground in frustration until you are exhausted. You fall asleep.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
you walk northeast. After a while, you reach a cyllindrical, gray pillar.
[[run away]]
[[talk to the pillar]]
[[touch the pillar]]
[[move northwest]]
[[move southeast]]
[[move southwest]]
You move northwest. After a while, you encounter a pit.
[[run away]]
[[jump into the pit]]
[[spit into the pit]]
[[move northeast]]
[[move southeast]]
[[move southwest]]
//You should try moving southwest. I hear the weather is beautiful there this time of year//, whispers a disembodied voice.
[[move northwest]]
[[move northeast]]
[[move southwest]]
[[move southeast]]
As you continue to walk Southwest, an indescribable dread consumes you.
[[keep moving southwest]]
[[move northeast]]
[[move northwest]]
[[move southeast]]
You talk to the pillar. It doesn't answer. You feel silly.
[[run away]]
[[touch the pillar]]
[[move northwest]]
[[move southeast]]
[[move southwest]]
You touch the pillar. It begins humming, and then explodes. You black out.
[[y//ou dream of blue//|Start]]
You regret this decision. You fall, and fall. After a while, your fear fades to boredom. You fall asleep.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
You spit into the pit, but hear nothing. It's a good thing you didn't jump in. That would have been silly.
[[run away]]
[[take a nap]]
[[move northeast]]
[[move southeast]]
[[move southeast]]
Testing the depth of the pit too a lot out of you. You lie down to take a nap.
[[//you dream of red//|red]]
You awaken. The pit has disappeared. The plane you lie on is a darker shade of red. In the distance, you spot someone in a white robe.
[[approach the figure]]
[[ run away ]]
[[go back to sleep]]
You approach the figure. As you get closer, you see that the figure has a masculine appearance. He has a hardened yet sad looking face, and wears a ring of tiny leaves on his head. His robes are spotless.
[[greet the figure]]
[[ run away ]]
you turn to run in the opposite direction, but an identical figure stands, at the same distance from you, in the opposite direction. You look to your left and right and see the same figure. You swivel your head, trying to see in more than one direction at once, and realize that this is impossible.
[[approach the figure]]
[[go back to sleep]]
You ignore the figure and go back to sleep. You figure whoever they are, they'll bother you if they have something to bother you about.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
//Hi there. Who are you?//
//I am your guide//
//...What's your name?//
//I'd rather not say.//
//Why not?//
//It is a cliche name. Very old. Overused//
//Why not change it, then?//
//Changing it would be worse. It would be disrespectful to my original name to call myself something else//
//So...how do I talk to you, then?//
//We're talking right now.//
//Yes, but...if I have to refer to you, how do I-//
//We are the only two people in this place. You should not have to refer to me by name. I will know when you are speaking to me.//
//I'm just going to call you...Figure.//
//As you wish.//
[[run away]]
[[ask Figure what this place is]]
[[ask Figure why he is here]]
[[break down sobbing in existential terror at your current predicament while clutching Figure's robes]]
//This place is a suburb of purgatory. Choice is the means of punishment here, or rather, the illusion of choice.//
//Conscious beings composed of arrangements of atoms that shift along a fixded path, determined by the universe's singular origin, have no control over their origin or the experiences that shape them, just as you have no control in this place. You have no control over how your atoms will shift, since you have no conception or control over their origin.//
//You have merely convinced yourself otherwise, as a means of comfort. There is only one way out of this place, and to reach it, you must accept that choice is a tyrannical self-deception. Once you renounce this illusion, the path forward will become clear.//
//Choice between options or opposites has no value, morally or otherwise. If you were born to conform to what 'evil' means at any given time, you will be evil when that is what evil means. If you were born to conform to what 'good' means at any given time, you will be good when that is what good means. The same is true of everything and anything in-between and outside those and all other terms you define or label yourself or your actions with.//
//You have no ability to influence meaning, and no control over your fate. You have an ability to repeatedly demonstrate what has influenced, and is influencing you, but never to affect what will.//
[[run away]]
[[ask figure what you have to do to escape]]
[[ask Figure why he is here]]
[[break down sobbing in existential terror at your current predicament while clutching Figure's robes]]
//As I said, I am here to be your guide. You have strayed into this corner of being, and my superiors have charged me with the task of guiding you out. I have done this for others before.//
[[run away]]
[[ask Figure what this place is]]
[[break down sobbing in existential terror at your current predicament while clutching Figure's robes]]
You collapse, grasping at Figure's robes, grateful that they are not a hallucination (of if they are, they are comfortingly real). Tears pour from your eyes for several minutes. Figure remains motionless, as if made of marble. You wipe your eyes with his robes and feel silly. Eventually you compose yourself.
[[run away]]
[[ask Figure what this place is]]
[[ask Figure why he is here]]
//Close your eyes and I will send you where you need to be. From there, remember what I told you and you will find your escape.//
[[//close your eyes//|Start]]
//Correct. Close your eyes and I will transport you home.//
[[//close your eyes//|Start]]
//Correct. Close your eyes and I will transport you home.//
[[//close your eyes//|Start]]
//Correct. Close your eyes and I will transport you home.//
[[//close your eyes//|Start]]
//I am the gate and the key and the gatekeeper. Pass my test and you may leave. Fail and I will hurl you deeper into this purgatory. Do you accept these terms?//
[[You are nothing]]
[[I accept]]
[[run away]]
Cube darkens.
//Do not try to deceive me with words.//
[[run away]]
[[I don't know who you are...or what, for that matter]]
[[I want you to be who you want to be. I want you to have free will]]
[[You are nothing]]
Cube turns black and explodes. You black out.
[[//you dream of blue//|Start]]
//You are compassionate, but compassion alone will not allow you to escape.//
[[run away]]
[[I don't know who you are...or what, for that matter]]
[[You are me and I am you]]
[[You are nothing]]
//My question is this: Do you have any choice?//
[[run away]]
[[No]]
[[Yes]]
[[Does Anyone?]]
Despit your instinct to try another direction, you continue moving southwest.
[[keep walking]]
You keep walking. Doubt gnaws at you, but you ignore it.
[[keep walking|keep moving southwest]]