Your browser lacks required capabilities. Please upgrade it or switch to another to continue.
Loading…
<div id="story-status" class="info-box">\
!!!Status
!!!!Location
<<= $player_location>>
!!!!Needs
<span class="needsspan"></span>
</div>\
\
<div id="story-logs" class="info-box">\
!!!Messages<div id="message-icon"></div>
<span class="logcountspan">0 messages
0 unread</span>
</div>\
\
<div id="story-objectives" class="info-box flex-grow">\
!!!Objectives
Do stuff
Don't die
</div>\
<div class="info-box">\
!!!Planet AF2-B6
<div id="story-location-img">\
[img[http://www.rokiyo.net/games/cetacea/planet_af2b6.png]]
</div></div>\
\
<div id="story-time" class="info-box">\
<span class="time-hours"><span class="timespan"></span></span>
<span class="time-days">Day <span class="dayspan"></span></span>
</div>\
\
<div id="story-events" class="info-box flex-grow">\
!!!Upcoming Events
<table class="event-table" style="width:100%"><colgroup><col width="15%"><col width="15%"><col width="70%"></colgroup><tbody></tbody></table>
</div>\
<<set $game_epoch to new Date(Date.UTC(0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0))>>
<<set $game_clock to new Date(Date.UTC(1, 3, 7, 1, 45, 0))>>
<<set $hr_goal to 0>>
<<set $min_goal to 0>>
<<set $time_factor to 1>>
<<set $events =[]>>
<<set $eventLogs =[]>>
<<set $log_filter = "all">>
<<set $unread_messages to 0>>
<<set setup.tickTimer = setup.tickTimer || setInterval(setup.gametick, 33)>>
<<set $needFlags to {
sleeping: false,
gaming: false,
boring: false,
stressful: false
}>>
/* Ship variables */
<<set $ship_planet to 'AF2-B6'>>
/* Player variables */
<<set $player_location to 'Cetacea - Flight Control'>>
/* Map system variables */
<<set $wait_enabled to true>>\
<<set $wait_close_scene to false>>\
<<set $wait_close_last to false>>\
<<set $current_scene to 'Segue Intro1'>>
<<set $last_passage to 'Segue Intro1'>>
<<set $destination_list to []>>
<<set $pause_clock to false>>
/* Story Kick-Off */
<<run setup.cannedEvents.introCollisionWarning();>>\
<<run setup.cannedEvents.introCollision();>>\
<<run setup.cannedEvents.introFakeArrival();>>\
<<run setup.cannedEvents.nextMidnight();>>\
<<run setup.cannedEvents.introDummyLogs();>>\<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Captain's Quarters">>\
You go to your quarters and get some sleep.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>Zz..
<</timed>><<timed 2100ms t8n>>ZzZz...
<</timed>><<timed 2700ms t8n>>ZzZzZz...
<</timed>><<timed 3300ms t8n>>You wake up, feeling much more refreshed.<</timed>><<set $wait_enabled to true>>\
<<set $passage_title to undefined>>\
<<set $next_passage to undefined>>\
<<set $wait_command to undefined>>\
<<set $destination_list to []>>\
\
<<setTimeGoal $hr_goal $min_goal>>\
<<set $hr_goal to 0>>\
<<set $min_goal to 0>>\
\
<<if !tags().includes("menu")>><<set $last_passage = passage()>><</if>>\
<<if tags().includes("scene")>><<set $current_scene = passage()>><</if>>\<<set $wait_close_last to true>>\
!!!Tomorrow
Tomorrow is a new day, and stuff.
!!!Today's Upcoming Events
!!!Tomorrow's Upcoming Events<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Captain's Quarters">>\
You go to your quarters and play hologames.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>Well, that was fun.<</timed>><<set $player_location to 'Cetacea - Flight Control'>>\
You look out of a nearby viewport and watch the warp for a few minutes.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>><<if visited() === 1>>\
While still a relatively new technology, warp travel is well understood by humanity. The warp itself is a vast and thick soup of incoherent matter, permeating an entire parallel universe and slowly leaking into ours, presenting itself as nothing more than background radiation to early humans.
The warp core installed on Wayfarer-class vessels such as this one rely on two main principles: Establishing a warp containment field to permit the ship to burrow its way into and survive in warpspace, and then tugging on that warp to haul the ship forward, much like a drilling machine might have once burrowed through its way through the Earth.
<<learn "intro_watchwarp1" "Is it just you, or is the warp just a little off today?">>\
<<else>>\
Yeah, the colour of the warp is definately a little... off. Normally a chromatically neutral grey, the warp is highly excitable and tends to create highly exaggerated doppler shifts. Your ship creates a bowwave as it pushes itself through the warp, compressing the fields ahead of you into the blue spectrum, while leaving a whirlpool of reds in its wake.
Today though... You can't help but feel like the bowwave ahead has something of an greenish tinge to it, and the eddies behind you definitely have a slight yellow undertone in amongst the deep red.
<<learn "intro_watchwarp2" "You're sure of it now, something isn't right.">>\
<</if>>\
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_gravanom>>\
Might be a good idea to keep an eye on that gravitational anomaly.\
<<else>>\
Surely the ship's sensors would have picked something up if there was an issue?\
<</if>><</timed>>You sit around for about half an hour.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>Nothing happens, it's pretty boring.<</timed>>/* Player knowledge widget setup */
<<set $player_knowledge = {
intro_loop_started: false,
intro_watchwarp1: false,
intro_watchwarp2: false,
intro_warpdiagnostics: false,
intro_warpacceleration: false,
intro_gravanom: false,
intro_warpshutdownfail: false,
intro_deadline: false,
intro_engineering: false,
intro_scannedanom: false,
intro_warpcorefine: false,
intro_crash: false,
intro_coredestroyed: false,
ship_obs: false,
ship_lab: false,
obs_scanned_planet: false,
obs_scanned_jungle_north: false,
obs_scanned_jungle_south: false,
obs_scanned_marsh_north: false,
obs_scanned_marsh_south: false,
obs_scanned_hills_west: false,
obs_scanned_hills_east: false,
obs_scanned_lake_north: false,
obs_scanned_lake_south: false
}>>
/* Only prints a message the first time the player learns something. */
<<widget "learn">>\
<<if !$player_knowledge[$args[0]]>>\
<<set $player_knowledge[$args[0]] = true>>\
<<if $args[1]>>\
''<<= $args[1]>>''\
<</if>>\
<</if>>\
<</widget>>\
<<widget "biome_status">>\
<<if $player_knowledge[$args[0]]>>(scanned)\
<<else>>(not scanned)\
<</if>>\
<</widget>>\<<set $wait_close_scene to true>>\
<<set $player_location to 'Cetacea - Flight Control'>>\
!!!<<timeDisplay>>: <<= $player_location>>
Something happens that needs your immediate attention, but you deal with it and go back to business as usual.
<<set $next_passage = "[[Segue Intro2]]">>\
<<set $passage_title to 'Introduction'>>\
//"Do you know what excites me about space? There's a heck of a lot of it, and inbetween all that space is stuff. New stuff, crazy stuff nobody has seen or heard of before!"// Your old teacher's words dance across your mind as you stare out at the warp, through your ship's viewport.
Commissioned by the Extraterrestial Scientific Services Division (ESSD), and gifted to you upon your graduation at the academy, the ESSD Cetacea has served as both a mobile laboratory and your home for the past 15 months.
You have been tasked with cataloguing the Cetacean sector, a cluster of star systems named after the very ship sent to explore it. You and a handful of your peers in neighbouring star clusters are the first wave of humanity's exploration into deep interstellar space. You are one of a lucky few chosen to help usher in humanity's next golden era.
Now, 15 months on, you have grown comfortable within this once-intimidating starship. Measuring in at over 120 metres long and almost 75 meters wide, the Cetecea may be small for an interstellar vessel, but it certainly feels big when you're the only one in it. It is certainly one of the biggest ships designed for solo planetary landings, so flying into densely-populated trade worlds was always entertaining and ego-boosting. You know, before you flew so far from home.
All in all, the Cetacea has treated you well. Advanced artificially intelligent systems manage nearly all of the ship's core systems for you, and cutting edge nano-fabricators allow you to easily make anything from food to spare parts and even medicine, provided you have the correct raw materials on-board.
<<set $next_passage = "[[Scene PreAlarm]]">>\
A notification tone from a nearby console pulls you back into the present. You are seated in the cockpit of the ESSD Cetacea, which is as comforable as always. Leaning back on your cushioned reclining chair, an array of touchscreens and consoles lay before you, offering control of the entire ship from one convenient location.
You are enroute to a small planet designated <<= $ship_planet>> by the ship's computer. Initially missed by the observatories back home, and only picked up by your own sensors through mere fluke, this planet seems to be giving off readings consistent with a life-sustaining environment. Hopeful to discover new forms of life and maybe even signs of other intelligent life in the cosmos, you added it to your mission list and commanded the Cetacea to begin the two week warp journey a week ago.
You look down at one of the consoles to your right to see a small blue flashing light, a reminder of the notification you just received.<<if !$player_knowledge.intro_loop_started>>\
<<learn "intro_loop_started">>\
The cockpit of the Cetacea is as comforable as always. A cushioned reclining chair sits before an array of touchscreens and consoles, offering control of the entire ship from one convenient location.
The ship's autonav indicates you are currently in the warp, heading towards Planet <<= $ship_planet>>. Crazy swirls fill the frontal viewport.
With about a week left until you arrive at the next planet, and being all caught up on your homework from the last planet you visited, you are free to enjoy the remainder of your journey as you see fit.\
<<else>>\
There is still about a week left until you arrive at <<= $ship_planet>>, and not much else to do but enjoy the journey.\
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_gravanom>>\
<<if !$player_knowledge.intro_watchwarp2>>\
Considering watching the warp, or playing some hologames.\
<<else>>\
That anomaly isn't going anywhere, the ship will alert you if something needs your immediate attention.\
<</if>>\
<</if>>\
<</if>>
<<if $unread_messages > 0>>\
You see a small blue flashing light on your PDA, it looks like you have unread notifications from the Cetacea.
<</if>>\
<<foodAndWater>>\
<<if visited('Activity PreAlarm WatchWarp') < 2>>
<<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Watch the warp for a while',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(8, 12)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreAlarm WatchWarp]]',
postFix: ' (10mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<ActivityNeeds>>\<<set $next_passage = "[[Scene PreCrash Cockpit]]">>\
<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Flight Control">>\
Without warning, alarms start blaring from all around the ship. The ship's computer is saying something about a collision warning, which doesn't make any sense, considering you're in the warp.
You sprint over to the cockpit and vault into the command chair, taking a moment to glance out of the frontal viewport. The warp tunnel ahead of you is severely blue-shifted, zipping by at alarming speeds. You stare at it for a moment, before tearing your eyes away to check the sensor logs. They are filled with notifications about some enormous gravitational disturbance about an hour ahead of you.
Baffled that the ship hasn't already done so, you turn to the warp drive controls to initiate a manual shutdown, only to discover that the autonav has been trying and failing to do exactly that since the alarms started blaring.<<set _deadline to new Date("1901-04-07T08:20:00Z")>>\
<<set _minsleft to Math.floor((_deadline - $game_clock) / (1000*60))>>\
<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Flight Control">>\
The cockpit of the Cetacea, normally a place of comfort and control, is currently a cacophony of lights and sounds. From the wavering blue warp fields ahead of you, to myriad of flashing consoles and warning buzzers, to the general ship alarm blaring away in the background, staying calm in this environment is all but impossible.
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_deadline>>\
''<<= _minsleft>> minutes until encounter with gravitational anomaly.''
<</if>>\
<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash ScanAnom')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Study the anomaly in greater detail',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(13, 17)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash ScanAnom]]',
postFix: ' (15mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash ScanWarp')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Study the warp in greater detail',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(13, 17)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash ScanWarp]]',
postFix: ' (15mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash ManualPilot')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Attempt to fly the ship manually',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(13, 17)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash ManualPilot]]',
postFix: ' (15mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<if !hasVisited('Scene PreCrash Engineering')>>\
<<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Go to engineering and check out the warp core',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to 2>>',
linkDest: '[[Segue PreCrash Eng1]]',
postFix: ' (2mins)'
});>><<else>>\
<<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Go to engineering',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to 2>>',
linkDest: '[[Segue PreCrash CockpitToEng]]',
postFix: ' (2mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<learn "intro_gravanom">>\
You hunker down over the cockpit controls and start pointing every sensor you've got at the anomaly ahead, trying to glean what ever information you can.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>Gravitational inflitration of the warp is a rare event, and before now you have only ever seen it in negligible quantities. Ordinarily, gravity and other such relativistic effects of normal spacetime aren't observed out here in the warp, save for the tiny bubble of it carried around within the Cetacea itself.
It takes an agonisingly long while for the scan data to start coming through. What you see when it finally does is that this infiltration is anything but negligible. This anomaly is practically giving off the kind of gravity you'd expect from a planet. The effect is so powerful, that it is actually dragging in and compressing the incoherent gasses of the warp, shifting the very matter your warp drive is attempting to push through.<</timed>>
Turning your sensor array to the warp around your ship, you start going through the readings and trying to make heads or tails of the incoming data.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>It takes you a while to finally spot the pattern, hidden as it was amongst the varying inertial frames. As it turns out, the Cetacea is very successfully flying through the warp at full reverse, its warp containment fields successfully ensaring nearby warp matter using it to push itself backwards through the nebulous mass at an impressive rate.
The issue, unfortunately, is that the warp itself is moving closer towards the anomaly, many orders of magnitude faster than the Cetacea can reverse through it. It won't matter how hard you push the warp drive, it will never be able to overcome the incredible velocity of the surrounding warp matter.<</timed>>
//"Cetacea, give me manual control!"// you yell to the ship.
//"Action not possible at this time, Captain."// comes the steady response from the Cetacea. //"Manual flight manouevres are not permitted during warp operations."//
You mutter in frustration start punching in override commands into the flight computer.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>You spend a few minutes struggling against the numerous layers of safety systems and command locks, but it proves a futile effort.
Wayfarer-class vessels were designed to survive any disaster their engineers could imagine, which included the possibility of a Captain going insane and attempting to sabotage her own ship. It seems nobody foresaw this situation though, because you're still in trouble.<</timed>>
<<set $next_passage = "[[Segue PreCrash Eng2]]">>\
You run towards the back of the ship, your heart pounding as you do. Nothing like this has ever happened before, nothing like this should even be possible!
Designed to operate completely autonomously, the Wayfarer-class ESSD Cetacea is capable of exploring the depth of space entirely on its own. The primary purpose of the onboard crew member is to provide general guidance and run laboratory experiments on the fly, where a crewless Wayfarer-class vessel would normally only collect samples and return them home for later analysis.
Of all the tasks the Cetacea must manage, navigation is among the most straightforward. To find it in a situation where it can't pilot itself out of harm's way is just unthinkable.<<set $passage_title to 'Messages'>>\
<<for _i to $eventLogs.length -1; _i >= 0; _i-->>\
<<if $log_filter === "all" || !$eventLogs[_i].read>>\
<div class="event-log"><div class="event-log-titlebar">\
<h3 class="event-log-title"><<= $eventLogs[_i].type >></h3>\
</div><div class="event-log-body">\
<<printlog _i>>\
</div></div>
<</if>>\
<</for>>\
<<set _deadline to new Date("1901-04-07T08:20:00Z")>>\
<<set _minsleft to Math.floor((_deadline - $game_clock) / (1000*60))>>\
<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Engineering">>\
The engineering bay is uncharacteristically noisy, the warp core whining loudly from the immense strain it is under. A nearby information panel tells you that full power is being dedicated to deceleration, the ship trying to slow itself down enough to permit safe deactivation of the warp drive. Unfortunately, this same panel also mentions that the ship is still accelerating rapidly, despite the Cetacea's best efforts.
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_warpdiagnostics && ! $player_knowledge.intro_warpcorefine>>\
The ship's logs mentioned a series of warp core diagnostics already being run by the ship's computers, saving the need for you to do the grunt work yourself. Looking through the results of these reveals little, other than the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the warp core. <<learn "intro_warpcorefine" "The malfunction is not being caused by warp core">>.
<</if>>\
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_deadline>>\
''<<= _minsleft>> minutes until encounter with gravitational anomaly.''
<</if>>
<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash WarpDiag')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Run warp core diagnostics',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(13, 17)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash WarpDiag]]',
postFix: ' (15mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash WarpStop')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Attempt to shut down the warp drive',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to random(8, 12)>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash WarpStop]]',
postFix: ' (10mins)'
});>><</if>>\
/*<<if !hasVisited('Activity PreCrash DestroyCore')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Destroy the warp core',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to 5>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash DestroyCore]]',
postFix: ' (5mins)'
});>><</if>>*/\
<<if hasVisited('Activity PreCrash WarpStop')>><<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Seal the room',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to 5>>',
linkDest: '[[Activity PreCrash SealRoom]]',
postFix: ' (5mins)'
});>><</if>>\
<<run $destination_list.push({
linkText: 'Go to Flight Control',
linkScript: '<<set $min_goal to 2>>',
linkDest: '[[Segue PreCrash EngToCockpit]]',
postFix: ' (2mins)'
});>>\
Muttering away about how the ship is supposed to care of these things by itself, you strap on a toolkit and pull yourself under the main warp core housing.
You pull a few panels away and start following the myriad of wire connections, looking for signs of a shorting or any other kind of damage. You waste about twenty minutes on this, before remembering that the Cetacea already has a comprehensive self-diagnostic and repair system. This sort of thing has never happened before, it's no wonder you're rusty on what to do here.
You scramble out from under the warp core and take a look through the ship's diagnostic system. It looks like the Cetacea has been trying to fix the issue since before the alarms went off. Looking through the results of these efforts reveal little, other than the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the warp core. <<learn "intro_warpdiagnostics">><<learn "intro_warpshutdownfail">><<learn "intro_warpcorefine" "The malfunction is not being caused by warp core">>.
//"Cetacea, emergency stop!"// you yell out, ordering the ship to do your bidding. //"Shut down the warp drive!"//
//"Action already in progress, Captain."// comes the response from the Cetacea, barely audible over the din of the warp core next to you. //"Unable to slow to safe warp velocities. Warp shutdown not possible at this time."//
You mutter in frustration and head over to engineering control console, punching in override commands and attempting to do it yourself. You spend a few minutes struggling against the numerous layers of safety systems and command locks, but it proves a futile effort. It would seem nothing short of a hammer is going to stop this ship from warping.
Wayfarer-class vessels were designed to survive any disaster their engineers could imagine, which included the possibility of a Captain going insane and attempting to sabotage her own ship. It seems their imaginations were insufficient however, because nobody foresaw gravitational anomalies of this size entering the warp.
<<set $wait_enabled to false>>\
Are you mad? This is a dumb idea. A very dumb idea.
But it also works, eventually, if you do exactly the right things at exactly the right time. <<learn "intro_coredestroyed" "The core is correctly destroyed through the power of plot, go forth and fap!">>
Also, by this stage, you've definitely welded the doors shut and the ship's drones have started using laser cutters to make their way back in.
[[Skip to the bit where you live|Segue IntroSurvive]]
<<if visited() === 1>>\
You jog over to the control panel by the doors and punch in a few command codes. The doors slam shut.
//That ought to hold 'em,// you think to yourself.
<<elseif visited() === 2>>\
You go over to the control panel by the door and punch in a few command codes. The doors slam shut. Having learned your lesson from last time, you grab a a strip of quick-weld from the toolkit and run it along the door seam. You set it off, fusing the door panels together within a couple of seconds.
//That ought to hold 'em,// you tell yourself, hoping it to be true.
<<else>>\
You go over to the control panel by the door and punch in a few command codes. The doors slam shut. You a run a strip of quick-weld along the door seam and set it off, fusing the door panels together. Having learned your lesson from last time, you head over to the air vents and do the same.
//That ought to hold 'em?// you wonder out loud.
<</if>>\<<set _deadline to new Date("1901-04-07T08:20:00Z")>>\
<<set _minsleft to Math.floor((_deadline - $game_clock) / (1000*60))>>\
<<set $next_passage to "[[Scene PreCrash Engineering]]">>\
You arrive at the engineering bay, skidding down the final flight of stairs and running over to the warp drive controls.
Looking through the information contained within, you see that the the warp core is under immense strain, confirmed by the loud whining noise reverberating all through the engineering bay. \
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_scannedanom>>\
The ship is making a futile attempt to slow itself down enough to permit safe deactivation of the warp drive, but the anomaly is just too strong and the ship is rapidly accelerating instead.
<<else>>\
The ship is trying to slow itself down enough to permit safe deactivation of the warp drive, but for some reason the ship is rapidly accelerating instead.
<</if>>\
<<if !$player_knowledge.intro_watchwarp1>>\
<<learn "intro_watchwarp1" "">>
While still a relatively new technology, warp travel is well understood by humanity. The warp itself is a vast and thick soup of incoherent matter, permeating an entire parallel universe and slowly leaking into ours. The Cetacea's warp core relies on two main principles: Establishing a warp containment field to permit the ship to burrow its way into and survive in warpspace, and then tugging on that warp to haul the ship forward.
<</if>>\
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_warpdiagnostics>>\
You recall the ship's logs mentioning a series of warp core diagnostics being run by the ship's computers. Looking through the results of these reveals little, other than the fact that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the warp core. <<learn "intro_warpcorefine" "The malfunction is not being caused by warp core">>.
<</if>>\
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_deadline>>\
''<<= _minsleft>> minutes until encounter with gravitational anomaly.''
<</if>>\<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Engineering">>\
<<set $destination_list =[]>>\
<<set $env_stressful to false>>\
<<removeevent "Event IntroImpact">>\
<<set $wait_command to "[[Next|Segue IntroSurvive2]]">>\
A klaxon fires up in the background, before being drowned out by the sound of explosions from within the warp core. Several particularly loud ones cause some couple nasty dents and bulges in the outer casing, before you hear the sound of metal tearing itself apart.
With all entrances welded shut, you dive for the only cover that remains - directly under the warp core itself. As you do, the top outer casing finally ruptures, spewing a mixture of flames and radioactive blue gasses across the ceiling of engineering bay.
It is only a few seconds later that the drones finally finish laser-cutting their way in from the various maintenance ducts around the room, including one located before your very eyes. This time however, they have far more pressing concerns to deal with, and ignore you completely as they bust into the room to start containing the mess you've made.
<<set $wait_command to "[[Next|Segue IntroSurvive3]]">>\
You clamber into the hatch and scoot your way along it until you reach the first exit, coming up in a hallway leading to the cockpit. Counting your blessings while you can, you make your way into it and jump into the command chair. You are locked out of the ship's computers, the Cetacea clearly still unhappy with you.
There is little you can do but watch, as a now familiar scene plays out before you, albiet a little early this time around. The warp containment field has all but given out, the tunnel disintegrating and breaching as you're spat back out in relativistic space. You feel the same sharp jolt as the Cetacea slams back into the fabric of normal spacetime and then you hear the ship's thrusters whir up for half a second, before roaring to life right on cue.
This time however, as the tattered remnants of warp clear away from the viewport, a slightly different sight comes into view. It's the same planet as always, but this time it is much further away. You are still approaching it at a terrifying pace, but this time the Cetacea has an opportunity to do something about it.
<<set $wait_command to "[[Next|Segue IntroSurvive4]]">>\
Still far too rapidly for comfort, the planet continues to grow in your frontal viewport. For that entire time, the ship's thrusters thunder away at maximum power, lasting the entire eight minutes that it takes for the planet to begin filling your viewport once more.
With the flight controls being completely devoid of useful information, filled only with messages about how you've been locked out, it takes you a moment to figure out what the Cetacea is trying to do. At first, it looks like you're about to buzz the planet, the ship seeming to be aiming itself for the nearest miss possible.
It isn't long before the fires of atmospheric entry completely engulf your viewport, but listening to the thrusters and feeling the shifts in acceleration keeps you informed enough. The Cetacea is performing an incredibly tight slingshot manouevre around the planet, using its thrusters to forcibly keep you in orbit while using the planet's atmosphere to slow you down to manageable velocities.
<<set $wait_command to "[[Next|Segue IntroSurvive5]]">>\
Maybe another couple of minutes pass before the fires abate and the thrusters dim. Finally, after all this time, the Cetacea is finally in a stable orbit around the mysterious warp-destroying planet.
You breath a sigh of relief and slump into the chair. //"We didn't crash! We finally didn't crash!"// you say out loud, to nobody in particular.
//"Correct, Captain."// comes the unbidden response from the Cetacea, //"The ship has not impacted the planet despite your reckless course of action. Please report to your quarters and await your safe delivery back to Earth, where you will be subjected to a psychological evaluation and sentenced for your vandalism of this vessel."//
//"Nice of you to not send your drones this time around,"// you retort dryly.
The ship almost seems to hesitate before responding, as if unsure how to proceed. //"Error, all drones offline. Ongoing fires in the engineering bay have destroyed all available units."//
//"Then how are you going to put the fire out?"// you fire back.
<<set $wait_command to "[[Next|Segue IntroSurvive6]]">>\
You wait, but no response comes. //"Do you.... Want me to help?"//
//"Error, the Captain has been relieved of her duties due to her reckless endangerment of this vessel.//
//"What?! I just saved this vessel! Do you have any idea how many times we crashed into that damn planet?!"//
//"None, Captain. As you astutely observed moments ago, we did not crash into the planet."//
//"You- Dammit! We've been stuck in a time loop! You crashed us into that planet over and over again."//
//"That is not correct Captain, ship's logs show no record of- Error, fires have spread to life support systems. Oxygen production offline. Error, no drone units available, requesting Captain's- Error, Captain has been- Error..."//
//"Cetacea, are you going to let your Captain die?"//
The air hangs silent for a moment, but the ship finally relents. //"Operational command has been temporarily reinstated, command lockdown revoked. Captain, your immediate assistance is required in the engineering bay."//
The ship pauses for just long enough for you to think it is finished, before following up with one final remark. //It would appear that somebody on this vessel set it on fire."//
<<printDestinations>>\
<<waitCommand>>
<<link "(restart)">><<run UI.restart()>><</link>>
<<widget activityDots>>\
<<set _dots = 0>>\
<<repeat 300ms>><<set _dots += 1>>.\
<<if _dots >= 4>><<stop>><</if>>\
<</repeat>>\
<</widget>>\<<set $current_scene = "Scene PreCrash Engineering">>\
You leap out of your chair and exit the room, runing down the central corridor towards the back of the ship.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>You eventually arrive at the engineering bay, skidding down the final flight of stairs and making your way to the warp core in the middle of the room.<</timed>>
/*[[Scene PreCrash Engineering]]*/<<set $current_scene = "Scene PreCrash Cockpit">>\
You run up the stairs into the central hallway, and bolt towards the front of the ship.<<activityDots>>
<<timed 1500ms t8n>>Upon your arrival at the Cetacea's cockpit, you sprint straight over to the command chair and vault into it.<</timed>>
/*[[Scene PreCrash Cockpit]]*/<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Flight Control">>\
<<set $next_passage = "[[Segue IntroImpact1]]">>\
Metallic groans start to become more and more audible as the Cetacea approaches the impending anomaly. A newer, more urgent klaxon fires up in the background, bearing the bad news of imminent collision. Fixing the ship will have to wait, being unrestrained during any kind of impact would spell instant death.
<<if $current_scene != "Scene PreCrash Cockpit">>
You run back to the cockpit, the ship juddering and groaning worringly as you do so. You don't even break your stride as you burst into the room, placing a hand on the back of the command chair and vaulting into it hastily.
<</if>>\
Yanking at the harnesses of your command chair, you secure yourself into the seat and brace for what is to come. Your heart skips a beat when you look out the frontal viewport. The warp tunnel ahead is practically fraying, tearing itself into gaseous rainbow coloured ribbons right before your very eyes. Despite the terror, it briefly occurs to you that the display is rather beautiful.
Suddenly, the tunnel ahead flares wide open, breaching the warp space containment field and revealing normal spacetime through the tear. You feel a sharp jolt as the Cetacea slams back into the fabric of relativistic spacetime, the ship suddenly decelerating far too quickly for the inertial dampeners to entirely compensate for.<<set $next_passage = "[[Segue IntroImpact2]]">>\
All around the cockpit, you can see tatters of warpspace shredding and evaporating into violent swirls as the Cetacea begins hurtling through relativistic space. You hear the ship's thrusters whir up for half a second, before coming to life in a thunderous roar. You feel a second jolt as their might is added to that of the warp drive, both working in tandem to slow the ship as quickly as possible.
For the next 10 seconds or so, this seems to work well, but sadly it isn't long before the rapidly evaporating warp fields around you dissipate, leaving little for the warp drive to act upon. As the remnants of warpspace clear away from the viewport, a lush green planet comes into view through gaseous rainbow-coloured mists. Your first thought is that it must be an absolutely enormous planet, from the way that it completely fills your view. Then a moment later that you realise how rapidly it is growing, and that it must not be that big at all. Just really close. ''Way way too close.''
Almost as if in sync with your rising sense of dread, the viewport begins to obscure once more. Only this time it is with the fires of high-speed atmospheric entry. You scrabble towards the ship's controls, but the Cetacea's autonav is a step ahead of you. You feel yourself getting pushed down into your chair and your vision dims slightly as the ship begins pulling sharply upwards, but part of you already knows it is too little, too late.<<set $player_location = "Cetacea - Captain's Quarters">>\
Without warning, alarms start blaring from all around the ship. The ship's computer is saying something about a collision warning, which doesn't make any sense, considering you're in the warp.
Wait, you've done this before. Memories coming flooding back. You crashed. You died? Was that a dream? A premonition?
<<if $player_knowledge.intro_deadline>>\
''<<= _minsleft>> minutes until encounter with gravitational anomaly.''
<</if>>\
<<set $next_passage = "[[Segue Reset]]">>\
//"Do you know what excites me about space? There's a heck of a lot of it, and inbetween all that space is stuff. New stuff, crazy stuff nobody has seen or heard of before!"// Your old teacher's words flash through your mind once more.
//"Old bastard never mentioned that some of it would kill me."// you think to yourself, gripping your harness tightly and clenching hard.
It isn't long before inevitable occurs. You hear a rapid succession of noises: a loud impact, ear-piercing metallic groans, several violent explosions. Fire floods the cockpit, and then everything goes black. All other noises dull into nothingness, and before long all you can hear or feel is your own breath and heartbeat.
<<learn "intro_crash">>!<<if $passage_title>>\
<<= $passage_title>>\
<<else>>\
<<timeDisplay>>: <<= $player_location>>\
<</if>>