Teeteting_Pathway

\n\nHuge as it was, it must have been a dog, though it was taller than he was and moved with the coiled menace of a panther, sinuous muscles rippling beneath its matted blue-grey coat. There was a thick, studded leather collar circling the dog’s powerful neck and a taut leash extended out to the platform.\nThe dog spotted Barnabas immediately, narrowing its eyes, showing teeth as long as a human finger, and growling. Barnabas hastily retreated to his hiding place. The man holding the leash entered the subway, and thankfully, he looked more than capable of controlling the beast. He must have been seven feet tall, barrel-chested, the biceps in his thick arms hard and round as two watermelons. ”\n\nThe [[Panther dog chases Barnabas onto the train]] still at the station]]\n\nRun the Panther dogs and get back on the train to [[Final Process Station]]\n\n

\n\n“There was no station announcement, and when he raised his head to peek through the gap between the machine’s arms, Barnabas saw nothing through the open doors but a dirty platform. There was no station name or ads on the concrete walls, no crowds of morning commuters — just a few men and women in coveralls getting off and few a getting on. Barnabas had planned to exit here, but now he wondered whether he should wait for something resembling a proper station. Still, he was only getting in deeper — literally deeper — the longer he stayed aboard.”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nBattle [[Panther dog]]\n\nRun Back in train and hide until [[Lesser Holding Station]]\n\n

\n“Despite the fact that the people in the car couldn’t see Barnabas, the massive dog seemed to know exactly where he was. It had lain down on the floor by the man’s feet, creating an astonishingly large puddle of drool, but slowly it was shifting its body, twist by turn, to get closer to his hiding place. Barnabas looked longingly at the open door. He didn’t know how long he had before the train left the station, but there was no way he could get past the beast who seemed eager for a chance to tear out his throat.\n\nThe chimes sounded and the doors slammed shut. Barnabas whimpered in frustration. The lights dimmed and the train jerked forward into the tunnel, resuming its roller-coaster descent, deeper and deeper into the earth. During one particularly tight turn, the dog slid halfway across the floor toward Barnabas, who saw, to his horror, that the man had relaxed his grip on the leash. Realizing it was free, the dog got carefully to its feet, its eyes shining hungrily. Its balance in the rocking train was impressive. Barnabas looked at the top of the machine in front of him and at the dog’s strong legs. It sure looked to him like the beast could leap right over and get him if it chose to do so.”\n\n\n“Just as the train levelled out and pulled into the next station, the dog tensed its back legs and made its leap. Up into the air it flew, its trajectory one that would easily clear the machine and land it on top of Barnabas. He screamed inaudibly, the sound lost under the identical scream of the braking wheels. The man looked up at that moment, tightened his huge fist around the leash, and the dog crashed back to the floor.”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nSafe! Continue to [[Final Process Station]]\n

\n\n“The elevator door opened and Barnabas jumped out, almost colliding right then and there with Deni, who was practically quivering with fury.\n“9:20!” she hissed through gritted teeth.\n“9:16!” he insisted.\n“You’re trying to kill me,” she responded helpfully and turned to the boy who stood to her right. “Calvin, camera!”\n\n....\n\n“Deni gestured for them to follow, and the three of them hurried to the auditorium (whose secret identity was the school lunchroom).”\n...\n\n“Standing outside the doors of the auditorium was a strange and intimidating man.... He had a name tag on his lapel that read: Klevver. Barnabas figured he was part of the Mayor’s security.”\n\n...\n\n“The Mayor’s advisor was still whispering last minute instructions in his ear even as he stood up. He flashed the room his trademark smile, which opened up across his soft, child-like face like the ground opens during an earthquake. He was a strange creature: his unusually round head would have made more sense on a much heavier man instead of on the long, lanky body that was all angles and vectors. ”\n\n“Deni had moved up behind Barnabas, and she whispered in his ear with keen determination: “When I interview him, I’m totally going to get him off message. I want to startle him, so he says something that isn’t scripted.”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\ncontinue to [[Presentation Content]]\n\nSkip Presentation and go to [[The Question]]

\n“With a sense of thrill and foreboding, he opened the last fold of the map, and there he saw another subway line, an Aqua Line that followed a strange, meandering path, first West, but then veering North to the edge of the city where the Tower District stood, and continuing… beyond.\n\nThe PA crackled once like it was clearing its throat before the announcement rang out: “A northbound Green Line train is approaching on track 5. Please make your way to track 5.”\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11 \n\n\n\nChoose only one:\n\nTake the [[Green Line]] and get to school\n\nTake the through to the unknown Aqua line [[Passage 3]]\n

\n\nYou are about to go on an abridged tour of YA novel called Teetering by J. Marshall Freeman.\n\nActually, you must find your way along the stories various passageways in order to get to the end of the subway. Try to hit as many stops as you can, if you dare.\n\nHowever, before you can even get onto the subway, you must choose to navigate through the school adventures first. \n\nThe main rule is to NOT take the same path twice! If you come to a decision that you had to make before, again, then take the other path. Otherwise, you will be spinning in your tracks! \n\n\n<img src="file:///Users/scoderre/Documents/TWINE/images/teetering_cov.jpg" alt="Teetering Cover" height="400" width="250">\n\n\nContinue to [[Passage 1]]

\nThese new passengers were all very tall as if the population here on this side of Crumhorn consisted entirely of basketball players. Seven or eight of these giants — both men and women — entered the car. A few were in business clothes, carrying leather briefcases, but most were dressed in coveralls of various colours. They wore dented hardhats and muddy construction boots, and at their waists were wide web-belts full of unidentifiable tools. Some pushed large, wheeled machines, bristling with blades and hoses, or carts filled with bundles of piping and buckets full of bolts and widgets, coated blackly with oil.\n\nA station announcement rang out (a male voice and stern): “The outbound Aqua Line train will depart in one minute. Please secure all burdens and make sure your personal safety harnesses are firmly attached.” Barnabas stared at the open door nearest him. I should get up, he thought. I should go through that open door before this goes too far. He slid along the seat, ready to leave his hiding place, but as he stood on the big machine’s rubber wheel and peered out through the open door, he saw the guard in aqua walking slowly, purposefully down the platform, her eyes searching every corner of her world for infractions.\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nGet off at [[Lesser Holding Station]]\n\nContinue on to [[Cracks Station]]\n

\n\nAs Barnabas stepped out into the very ordinary sunny morning, the idea of the Mayor’s henchmen in their black van seemed a little ludicrous. Still, he surveyed the street and sidewalk for anything unusual before he set off toward the subway. As he descended the steps into Kiletko Station, he decided to take a different route to school in case anyone — Mr. Klevver, for instance — was lying in wait along his usual path. Instead of taking the Yellow Line, he would get off the Red Line at Haverstall and ride a trolley across Blesskind Boulevard to school. Once he got there, he would make sure he was never alone. What could the Mayor do if he was always surrounded by friends?\n\nHe was grateful to find a seat for once, but it was a mistake to take it, since the train had barely left Kiletko station when he fell asleep, his chin resting on the backpack in his lap. He only realized his mistake when the train reached its terminus at Rebbertrue Station. He cursed his stupidity the whole walk to the eastbound Yellow Line platform. It’s okay, he told himself. If I keep my head down in the[…]\n\nBarnabas ran from end to end of the car and peered through the windows into the adjacent cars. He seemed to be the only one on the whole slowly-moving train. He tried to quell his panic and assess the situation calmly: he was somewhere he shouldn’t be, and if he was caught, he might be in trouble. But the panic he felt was mixed with another emotion: excitement. He was on an adventure! He was an Innervader, after all!\n\nThe train arrived at another platform, although considering how slow they’d been moving, Barnabas figured they must still be within the mammoth structure of Admiral Crumhorn Station. There were people on the platform, and he instinctively ducked down and tried to decide his next move. He could wait for the doors to open and just march out confidently. He would just switch to the westbound platform and catch a train back to the normal world of the Yellow Line. “Sorry, I fell asleep,” he’d say if anyone challenged him.”\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\n\nMake your choice Barnabus Avatar!\n\nHide and continue onto the [[Passage 3]]\nTake the [[Yellow Line]] back to school.\n\n

\n\nBarnabas stepped off the train onto a platform that's wooden slats oozed with mud. It stank to high heaven. Every kind of stench met his nose: supfur, bird-turd, rotting kelp, raw liver.\n\nA giant with a large cart rolled in front of him through the mud. He had one large tooth sticking out his gaping mouth. A large spiky club was slung over his left shoulder. With a meaty hand twice the size of Barnabas' chest the Giant pointed the club at Barnabas and growled:\n\n"You there! You get's in!"\n\nBarnabas suddenly heard the off-key chime of the train signalling the doors would be closing.\n\n\n\n\n\nChoose now!\n\nBarnabas chooses to get back on the train to [[Final Process Station]]\n\nBarnabas, steeped in fear, gets [[into the cart]]\n\n

\n\nDearest Avatar!\n\nWe are very dismayed to report that you have reached probably the most end of the line you can imagine. \n\nUnless you can write a further Twine to get out of here. We hope you enjoyed the ride!\n\nAnd if you don't figure out a way out - you can just languish here - forever! [loser!]\n------\n\nThere was a window high up on the wall of his cell, and standing on the cot on tip-toes, Barnabas could just peer out. There was no glass in the steel frame, just four solid, vertical bars. But he was ignoring the bars, looking between them at the moon as it shimmered above the dry mud that had once been Lake Lucid. The mist over the lakebed was growing thicker, and Barnabas could almost convince himself that it was water, that the lake was still there, fresh and inviting. It was late, maybe close to midnight. They had taken his phone away, so he couldn’t be sure.\n\nSleep tugged at him, but he didn’t want to sleep. The Aqua Guards were coming at dawn to take him from the little locked room here in the Guild Council mansion and escort him to the train station, where he would ride the subway down into the dark, to a cell without a window, two metres by two metres by two metres, in the hopeless place called Doomlock.\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n

\n“The platform was in the middle of a huge, paved yard that seemed to be a loading dock. Big trucks manoeuvred around each other, and cranes and forklifts raised wooden crates, bundles of lumber, and piles of gravel into the trucks. The area was bounded by huge warehouses that stood with their doors open, accepting and dislodging yet more weighty miscellany. To the other side of the subway platform was a bustling food depot where every type of conveyance, from small hand-carts to large trucks, was being filled with boxes of vegetables, huge slabs of raw meat, and a thousand little paper bags of ingredients.”\n\n“The overhead lights in the car came on abruptly, blindingly bright. The clown was inside his hiding place, standing on the machine’s rubber wheel and reaching out a bony hand toward him. Barnabas screamed as the clown pulled him out from behind the machine by his shirt-front, and in one smooth move, up onto a subway chair. The clown took the one beside him.”\n\n“The train suddenly levelled out. The brakes began their painful shriek. Through the mud-stained slit windows, Barnabas could see something resembling light. He gripped the pole in front of him as much to keep his mind from flying off into madness as to brace himself against the forces of deceleration.\nThey must have been going terribly fast, because it took the train more than a minute to stop. Finally when the shriek of the brakes couldn’t be any louder, the train gave a final shudder and came to a decisive halt. It seemed to exhale deeply, like it too was relieved to reach the end of the ride. All was still for a moment, and then the doors opened.”\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n[[Get off and find Wickram]] with Flastep the Clown\n\nStay on and go to [[Doomlock Station]]\n

\n\nHe remembered he did have something of interest in his locker besides the map. He crouched and went through his bag. “Tada!” he said, popping up with the diaboriku in his outstretched hand. “My brother sent this to me. I have no idea what it does.”\nCal asked, “Is it a camera maybe?”\n\nDeni shook her head. “Why would anyone need a camera like this? It wouldn’t be any better than our phones.”\n\n“Maybe,” Barnabas said, “it’s a kind of medical scanner.”\nDeni’s rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous Theory-fest continues.”\n\n“No, you know,” he insisted. “It could tell if your friend was a zombie. Or your mom had turned into an alien, or —”\n\n“Stop, please!” she said as if in physical pain from all the stupidity. Barnabas was sick of humiliation; he decided he would make the diaboriku work. How hard could it be? Furrowing his brow, he tried various combinations of buttons: red, green1, green3, green2 — nothing. Red, green2, green1, green3 — nothing! Green1, red, green3, green2 — nothing!! A consistent, unenlightening nothing, over and over.\n\nDeni plucked the diaboriku from his hands. “Let Cal try. He can figure anything out.” The compliment clearly buoyed Cal’s spirits, and he took the little sphere and began to pace up and down the hall, his fingers poking and prodding the big rubber buttons. Barnabas glared at his broad, muscular back.\n\nDeni checked her phone for messages while Barnabas repacked his locker. He was up on his toes, attempting to force his physics text in among a thick pile of unyielding class handouts when he heard a gasp from Calvin, followed a scant second later by a high-pitched scream from Deni.\n\n“He spun around, a cascade of books tumbling painfully onto his head and shoulders, in time to see a monster rising up above them, huge, grotesque, and poised to attack.\n\nThe creature was so large, its head almost hit the ceiling. Midnight blue with shiny silver streaks, it had a single cold, glistening eye, its pupil contracting and dilating as it turned its malevolent gaze on them. It stood on three legs, hissing and chirruping, each appendage tipped with a terrible, pointed claw. Barnabas dropped to the ground as the beast reared up on two of its legs and swung the third at him before gravity brought it back down again. Deni, backed herself into her locker, making more ineffectual noises.\n\nCal ran down the hall in the direction of the stairway, and the monster followed him. Deni screamed her pointless scream again, though it did seem to inspire Cal to make a U-turn. If he meant to save her, it wasn’t working, because the monster had turned, too, and was bearing down on her. But as he ran after the creature, Cal managed to trip on his own feet, dropping the diaboriku… and the monster vanished. The mysterious device rolled quietly across the floor, coming to a stop near Barnabas’ feet.\n\n“Deni checked the mirror in her locker, re-clipping her hair before closing the door with a bang. “I can take absolutely no more stress this morning!” she told them. “Barnabas, keep that thing out of sight before it causes more heart attacks. Let’s go lock up the camera in the office; then I want a hot chocolate at KonaBoom.\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\n\n\n\nOkay Avatar make your story choice:\n\nGo to [[KonaBoom Cafe]]\nOR\n\nGo to [[leave the lovers]]\n\n

\n\n“Deni continued, “And you have to deal with daily problems, political infighting, even among people you consider allies, serious divisions about how the City should move forward, not to mention a long, proud history you have to live up to. Do you ever have days when you just feel like the job is too much for you?”\nBarnabas thought it was a great question; he zoomed the camera in tight on the Mayor’s face, hoping to capture a moment of doubt. But the man smiled and nodded.\n\n“Well, of course! And I’m sure you feel the same way sometimes,” he said. “You have school, family, friends, and your future to worry about. I bet there are days when the problems seem so big, so many, you just don’t want to get out of bed. Am I right?”\nHe flashed a smile in the general direction of the camera, and Barnabas realized that he was well aware of it, and just how he looked to its cold, probing eye.\n\n“Sure,” she said in response to the Mayor’s counter-question, and Barnabas could tell she was trying to get back on top of the situation, not let her subject control the interview[…]”\n\n\nContinue to [[Barnabas Interruption Question]]\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11

\n\nBarnabas crossed the platform onto the Yellow line. He sat back in the rickety train chair and heaved a sigh. He felt both relieve and annoyed. "I'm such a chicken," he thought, "But I am alive and well."\n\nI decided that he should get back to school before he was declared truant from the assembly. Or worse yet, from Deni and her videograhy club.\n\nContinue to:\nBarnabas considers whether to show Deni the [[map]]

\n“With the parents laughing uproariously on the other side of the door, Klevver dropped a meaty hand onto Barnabas’ upper arm and said, “Come with me, please.”\n\n‘Please,’ Barnabas considered, was such a slippery word. It seemed to lose most of its meaning when it was combined with being basically dragged down the hall against your will by a man strong enough to snap you in two.\n\n“Let go of me!” Barnabas cried, then in an attempt to sound less like someone with something to hide: “I have to get to class.”\n\n“Easy, cameraman, just answer my questions and you’re free to go. That’s all the Mayor wants! Easy-peasy, right?”\n\nKlevver maneuvered him backwards like they were dancing a tango until Barnabas found himself pinned in a corner between the concrete wall and the railing of the stairwell. Klevver was smiling that smile again — a wide grin that might make flowers spontaneously wilt — and Barnabas couldn’t take his eyes off it. ”\n\n“I don’t even know what that…” But he didn’t get to finish the sentence. Like a construction crane, Klevver’s arm lifted him into the air and swivelled him 90 degrees. Suddenly, he found himself up on the railing, the smooth plastic pressing into his back. And the weight of his head and shoulders was pulling him over, head-first into the stairwell. This is DEATH! he thought. And I'm only 15!! But he didn’t fall; Klevver was holding him by the ankles.\n\nSquirming, arms spiralling for some kind of equilibrium, Barnabas looked up from his inverted perspective and saw the security man leaning over the railing. His dark glasses were gone, his eyes insane blue marbles, and he was screaming, “Tell me! Tell me what you know, you little snot!” \n\nBarnabas thrashed like a worm on a hook (which was probably not a smart thing to do when hanging over a 12-story drop). He felt something shift in the front pocket of his pants, and watched in shock as the diaboriku slipped loose and fell past his head. He swiped at the device, but too late; the toy hit the landing below and started bouncing — bap, bap, bap — down the stairs. There was no time to worry about it. Above him, the madman was red in the face, out of control. “You stinking little monkey! You slug! Who do you think you’re trying to fool, you jacked-up little —”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\n\nChoose avatar! How does Barnabas get out of this situation.\n\n1. Go to [[diaboriku]]\nOR\n2. Go to [[Mayor]]\n\n\n

“The next station was even hotter, and sweat poured off Barnabas’ forehead while the train sat there with the doors open. The floor was now filthy with mud, and the windows splattered and fogged. Giants got on and off, some with further unidentifiable machines that exuded smells like sour cabbage, or with carts bursting with scrap piping like a bowl of copper spaghetti.”\n\n[[Get off at Drum Station]]\n\nStay on train and go to [[Final Process Station]]\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11

TEETERING Subway Journey\n\n<img src="file:///Users/scoderre/Documents/TWINE/images/teetering_cov.jpg" alt="Teetering Cover" height="200" width="145">\n\n\n

\n\n“What about subways?” Barnabas suddenly heard himself shout. Deni was so surprised, she dropped her phone with a loud clatter. Calvin swung the shotgun mic around to pick up Barnabas’ voice, and then back around to the Mayor to record his answer. Barnabas felt every eye in the room on him. Deni’s were the widest.\n\nThe Mayor blinked a few times, caught off guard. “Subways? Um, there aren’t any plans for more… um, for development of any more —”\n\nBarnabas’ seemed to have lost control of his mouth: “There aren’t any, like, unannounced projects? No, uh, secret subways? You know, that the public doesn’t… use? Or know about?”\n\nMayor Tuppletaub’s dimpled, jolly demeanour abruptly grew stony. He stared at Barnabas as if trying to see inside his head, trying to crack him like a walnut and expose the meat within. “No,” he said, his voice a little husky. “There aren’t any… secret subways.”\n...\n\n“As the students applauded, the Mayor looked out again with his beaming smile, but when his gaze fell on Barnabas, the smile faded and his expression grew dark and unreadable. The security man, Mr. Klevver, climbed the steps to the stage, and soon the Mayor was trying to point out the “subway boy” in the audience. But by then, Barnabas had ducked behind some taller students and was making for the exit. He knew he was supposed to stay and get some footage of Deni and the Mayor shaking hands, but he just wanted to get out of the auditorium before he got into some kind of awful trouble.”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\nChoose your path avatar!\n\n1. Barnabas considers whether to show Deni the [[map]]\nOR\n2. Barnabas encounters [[Klevver]]\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11

\n\n“And now, Mr. Mayor,” Ms. Rolan-Gong said brightly, “One of the City’s up-and-coming reporters would like to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay. Here’s Deni Jiver from our Journalism Club!” Barnabas swung the camera around to follow Deni as she walked up the stairs onto the stage. He noticed for the first time how professionally she was dressed: her long honey-coloured hair was neatly clipped on top of her head, and she was wearing a slick jacket over a shiny shirt, her dark jeans tucked into black boots.\n\nDespite being so well put-together, she looked kind of terrified, and Barnabas felt a twinge of sympathy for her. Would Deni really be able to catch the Mayor off-guard with her killer journalist questions? Things started badly; she seemed to be under the impression there were seven stairs instead of six, and she did an awkward half-stumble before she managed to mount the stage.\n\nSoon, Deni and Mayor Tuppletaub were seated opposite each other on two chairs, each with a handheld mic. Barnabas framed them in a nice two-shot.”\n\n"At first Deni's questions seemed pretty soft: why did the Mayor go into politics? What did he want to accomplish if he was re-elected? Her voice was low enough that someone at the back yelled, “Speak up!”\n\nDeni seemed to find her confidence then. She cleared her throat and looked the Mayor in the eye. “It’s a big and complicated city, Mayor Tuppletaub.”\n“It sure is!” he replied.”\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\nChoose avatar player!\n\n1. Go to [[Deni's Question]]\n2. Go to [[Barnabas Interruption Question]]\n\nIf you don't understand the context of this question passage go back to [[Presentation Content]]\n\n

\n“Barnabas’ stomach felt a growing unease as he walked back to his locker. He knew Deni would be thrilled by the map. She would have all kinds of theories about what it meant, about some huge conspiracy that lay behind its existence. He knew that if he let her in on the secret, her fantasies of becoming a famous journalist ”\n\n“would immediately kick into high gear. She would break the story to the world, making a name for herself at 15. He could imagine her being interviewed on the news, all poised and serious. He imagined her hosting a documentary that would introduce a million viewers to the mysteries of the underground world: “And now, we’re arriving at the thrilling Doomlock Station!” she would say to the camera with breathless earnest. He felt himself burning with resentment as if all this had already happened. He thought, Does she think she can just go running after Calvin AND take credit for my map?”\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\nChoose only ONE:\n\n1. Barnabus [[shows]] Deni the Map\n2. Barnabus [[does not show]] Deni the Map\n

\n\nThe train was standing in the station, but the doors remained closed. Barnabas peered through the slatted windows, and he could make out a sign that read: “Deadly Steam! Secure Q clamps before decompressing!” As if to illustrate this obscure injunction, a cloud of mist drifted across the window, hiding the sign. The air seemed to have grown warmer, more humid. The man and woman were on their feet now, removing the straps from their cart and moving to stand behind the closed doors. \n\nA light turned on above the doors, and they slid open. A blast of wet heat entered, and mud, dark and smelly, oozed into the subway car from the platform. The man took a flashlight from his belt and shone the beam, uselessly, into the steam outside. What kind of disgusting subway station is this? Barnabas wondered. Whatever it was, whatever he had to endure, Barnabas was determined to get off here. As soon as these people…\n\nBefore the giants could exit, the thick steam disgorged a trio of terrifying figures.\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nGet off at Lesser Holding Station in [[Toxic Steam]]\n\nStay on and go to [[Drum Station]]\n\n

\n\n\nCongratulations!\nYou have reached to portal to Level 2 [coming soon]\n\n

\nThe last thing Barnabas wanted was to sit at a tiny café table and watch the two of them stare into each others’ souls. “You go ahead” he said. “I’m gonna chill here.”\nShe gave him a curious look, but then said, “Suit yourself,” and she and Cal headed down the stairs. As they disappeared from view, he heard them sharing a little laugh, and he felt utterly abandoned. Deni could have insisted he come, couldn’t she?\nFrom down the left-hand hall, the sound of self-satisfied laughter wafted through the air like expensive perfume — the parents at their fundraising party. Barnabas slipped down the hall and pressed his ear to the brightly-painted door.\n\nStill, if he’d had a few friends around him, the security man, Klevver wouldn’t have been able to sneak up on him, stealthy as a ninja. With the parents laughing uproariously on the other side of the door, Klevver dropped a meaty hand onto Barnabas’ upper arm and said, “Come with me, please.”\n\nGo to [[Klevver]]\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n

\n\n\nThey were even taller than the first two giants, and had to bend just to enter the car. They wore thick, green coveralls, heavy rubber boots, and three-fingered gloves. When they cleared the door and raised their heads, there were no faces, just helmets and masks of grey metal. At their necks, valves opened and closed with a sibilant hiss. Their eyes were invisible behind thick black lenses that protruded from the helmets like mushrooms growing on the trunk of the tree.\n\nWorse, two of the helmeted figures (were they even human under those suits?) had enormous dogs of their own, straining on thick chains. These two beasts made Marigold seem like a lap dog, and as soon as they saw her, they barked ferociously, a sound that made Barnabas’ head ring. The new dogs showed their teeth — polished triangles of razor-sharp metal.\n\nFive giants and three animals squared off in the doorway, and no one moved. Muscles clenched, and hands moved to various tools on various tool belts. Barnabas wondered if there was going to be a fight. If so, it would be a terrible one. Everyone in the car was watching.\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\nCongratulations, sort of! You have reached Level 1B where you must choose two giants to fight for you.[coming soon]\n\nIf you win. Get on next train to [[Final Process Station]]\nIf you lose you are taken to [[Doomlock Station]]\n\n\n\n\n

\n\nWhat appeared at the bottom of the stairs...\n\n"was GIANT MONSTER!! that had appeared...\n\nThe creature was so large, its head almost hit the ceiling. Midnight blue with shiny silver streaks, it had a single cold, glistening eye, its pupil contracting and dilating as it turned its malevolent gaze on them. It stood on three legs, hissing and chirruping, each appendage tipped with a terrible, pointed claw...\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\n\nKlevver was so shocked that he almost dropped Barnabas.\n\nBarnabas filled with adrenaline and managed to bend like a grasshopper grab Klevver by the arm with his two hands. He pulled himself upward and screamed, "Get me up!"\n\nWith a confused, startled look, Klevver pulled Barnabas back over the railing.\n\nAs soon as Barnabas' feet hit the ground, he shook himself away from Klevver. The large security man was distracted, his face a sweaty mask of fear, as he stared in shock at the Monster screaming below.\n\nBarnabas ran straight for the school hallway door and pushed it open into the daylight.\n\n\n\nContinue to [[Passage 2]]\n\n

\n\n\nMs. Rolan-Gong shook her head with disbelief at the map spread before her on the desk.\n\n"Really, what is this, some kind of prank!" \n\nBarnabas' mouth dropped open, "No Principal Ro-"\n[cody fanfic ends here]\n\nThe Principal gasped. “Mr. Bopwright, I’m surprised at you! The Mayor is an honoured guest at our school.” Barnabas felt his face burning red. Ms. Rolan-Gong turned to Tuppletaub. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Mayor. I think perhaps today’s muckraking media is not the best example for our students to follow. All those paparazzi and leaked videos. Intimate videos! Perhaps we need to re-think the need for a journalism club.”\n\n“Nonetheless, Mr. Bopwright, I will be informing your parents about your behaviour!”\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nBarnabas slammed the door and ran down the hallway, fighting tears of either annoyance or rage, he wasn't sure.\n\nHe pushed open the heavy door to the school.\n\nSuddenly, a long, black stretch [[limo]] veered around the coner.\n\n

\n\nThe Konaboom Cafe was a funky space. At least from the viewpoint of teenage students. On one wall were various photos of several kinds of pizzas named: Gorge-on, Vomitus, Ace-of-Spades, and Flowers. The pizzas were designed with fixings ranging from lettuce, to meatballs, to radishes to look like their names.\n\nOn another side of the wall were various types of bike wheels, gears, and tires. They were all painted with a sticky white plaster.\n\nCarl and Deni engaged in a highly active, flirty conversation at their oval table that left Barnabas excluded and cold. "They don't even know I'm here," Barnabas sighed to himself. \n\nBored, Barnabas stood up. "I'm going to get a breath of fresh air."\n\nCarl and Deni barely nodded at him.\n\nBarnabas pushed open a door upon which hung various types of animal skeletons.\n\nHe walked a short way down the sidewalk.\n\nSuddenly, a long, black stretch limo veered around the coner.\n\n{fancfic by S. Charles Coderre}\n\nGo to [[limo]]\n\n\n

\n\n“The images in the presentation were familiar: Lawrence Glorvanious, Mayor of the City in the days before world wars and radio, looking dapper in his dark suit and top hat. He was smoking a cigar, and standing beside his architects and engineers (also in suits and top hats, also smoking) to examine the scale model of the new downtown that would be realized over his nearly two decades in office. This image was followed by a slide of Mayor Tuppletaub beside the same model in the municipal museum. Next was Glorvanious posing beside sweaty, muscled men who were digging the first subway tunnels with pick and shovel, and then a slide of Tuppletaub, talking “candidly” to patrons on a shiny Yellow Line car 100 years later.\n\nThere was a cool 3D animation Barnabas had never seen before about the growth of the Tower District, with the signature buildings rising up like blades of grass: The Jezebel, The Reaktion, Neverlander, Greatest Hiltz, Delphic Tower, and the Honey Pot. In the upper-right of the screen, a year-counter clocked forward through the 20th Century and into the new millennium. Inserted awkwardly into the middle of the animation was some video[…]”\n\n“The animation ended with a dramatic pull back to reveal the whole city with the river in the foreground and the towers standing in the back like the tall cousins in a family portrait. The sun glinted off the City’s stadium, the Manhammer Audio Dome, sitting atop Gum Hill, and then began to set behind the skyline, creating dramatic silhouettes.”\n\n\n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\nContinue on to [[The Question]]\n\n

\nJ. Marshall Freeman\n\nTwine Subway game by\nS. Charles Coderre\n

\n\n\nDeni raised her eybrows with skepticism. \n\n"I don't believe this is real!"\n\n"Then why was I hung over a balcony for it!"\n\nDeni peered at Barnabas with her hands on her hips. A decision was formulating in her hooded eyes.\n\n"Okay then, we should go now. Immediately."\n\n"Where !?" said Barnabas. \n\nDeni pointed to the map.\n\n"To the Aqua Line," Deni stated.\n\nBarnabas suddenly folds up his map. He runs toward the door.\n\n"Hey wait!" cried Deni.\n\nBarnabas yelled over his shoulder. "I'm not putting anyone else in Klevver's path!"\n\nBarnabas ran out of the school's front door.\n\n[S. Coderre - fanfic passage]\n\nContinue on to [[Passage 2]]\n\n

\n\nKlevver!” shouted a familiar voice. Barnabas, heart pounding, eyes blurred with tears, turned his upside-down head and saw upside-down Mayor Tuppletaub rushing up the stairs. “What the hell do you think you’re doing, you idiot! There’s an election in three weeks. I can’t have my staff murdering children at a time like this!”\n\nKlevver looked startled as if coming back to himself from a great distance. “Sorry…” he mumbled, like a shamed little boy. “I lost my temper again, didn’t I?”\n\n“Pull him up! Quickly, quickly,” Tuppletaub hissed, and Barnabas was hauled over the smooth railing and deposited on his feet. His legs immediately gave out under him, and his butt hit the hard surface of the landing. The two men were right above him, but Barnabas was too stunned to even crawl into hiding.\nTuppletaub was still berating his security man: “What were you thinking?!”\n\nBut as soon as he was standing, the Mayor poked a long, pointy finger into his chest and continued the interrogation. “Listen, boy! There are things you do not want to be involved in. How do you know about secret subways? What have you seen?!”\n\nThough his head was still spinning and his heart pounding, Barnabas knew what to do: he had to make up a story and stick to it. “I-I was at Crumhorn Station and I overheard some, uh, I guess they were transit officials or something.”\n\n“Saying what exactly?”\n\n“Nothing! Just like, ‘You don’t want to get caught using the secret subway.’ Something like that.”\n\nThe Mayor took a step back, staring him in the eye, trying to make him crack under the pressure. Barnabas held his gaze until Tuppletaub said, “And that’s all they said?” Barnabas nodded. \n\nThen the Mayor grabbed him by both shoulders and moved close enough that Barnabas could smell the coffee on his breath. \n\n...\n\n“What is going on here?” said a concerned voice off to the side. It was a strange kind of concern — fluty and just on the edge of embarrassed laughter. Barnabas, Mayor Tuppletaub, and Mr. Klevver all turned their heads simultaneously to find Principal Rolan-Gong standing there.\n\nTuppletaub instantly let go of Barnabas’ shoulders, and only then did Barnabas realize just how hard the man’s fingers had been digging into his flesh[…]”\n\n...\n\n“Mr. Bopwright needs to learn that being a journalist is no excuse for rudeness and impropriety. He was practically threatening me. It was almost amusing — as if I was hiding important state secrets!”\n\n\nBarnabas looked back at the adults in shock, unable to utter a word. For a second, he considered leading the Principal to his locker and showing her the secret subway map, trying to explain the whole crazy affair. \n\nExcerpt From: J. Marshall Freeman. “Teetering.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/ca/book/teetering/id1167640722?mt=11\n\n\nChoose your path avatar!\n\n1. Barnarbas [[shows Principal the map]]\nOR\n2. Barnabas [[does not show]] the map\n\n\n\n\n\n

\n\nHours of trundling in the back of the cart, wrapped in chains that he didn't think was part of the deal, Barnabas screamed at the giant.\n\n"Just where do you think you are taking me!"\n\nThe giant let out a laugh that felt like a sonic boom in Barnabas' chest.\n\n\n\n"[[Doomlock Station]]"\n

\n\nThe limo screeched to a stop in front of Barnabas. The windows were all inky black. The back one rolled down to reveal Mayor Tuppletaub's pale sweaty face.\n\n"We need a word with you Barnabas Bopwright," the mayor said dryly.\n\nKlevver jumped out of the front door. \n\nBarnabas stepped back but Klevver merely opened a second side door just behind his, in front of the mayor.\n\nBarnabas started to walk rapidly down the sidewalk. Klevver slammed the door. He jumped back into the sedan. The sedan slowly crawled to keep pace with Barnabas.\n\nSuddenly, Barnabas cut down and alley and sprinted toward the light a few blocks downward.\n\nKlevver slammed the steering wheel. "Kristos!" he shouted, "let me chase the rat down."\n\n"Nevermind that" Tuppletaub muttered, "I have a good idea where he's going to end up going. Signal all the eyes to be vigilant for the boy at any station." \n\n\n\nGo to [[Passage 2]]\n\n\n\n\n