Sugarcane

Dunes of sand stretch out unbroken except by the shadows of mountains in the distance. Some distance away, a faint shimmer is barely visible in the air. Your footsteps make a light patter on the silky dunes as you approach the [[gleam]]. \n

The purpose of this laboratory-like building is difficult to discern. Aside from the experiments in the center of the room, there are no other hints as to the purpose of the underground facility.\n\nYou head back to the elevator, following the sets of tiles shifting apart [[for you|ele10]].

The floor briefly shakes before beginning a smooth descent into the ground. Everything becomes dark and you're not sure if you're moving at all until a door in front of you opens. \n\nYou step out and find yourself in a hallway of bronze. Gears and devices of many sizes churn and whirr together on the walls, creaking with age but still running due to unknown engineering. At the end of the hall is a rusted sentinel. Its six arms are perfectly symmetrical and frozen in prayer. It has a strangely humanoid shape.\n\nWhen you approach the sentinel, it shifts into life with the sound of grinding metal. It turns its head down to your face, and speaks with a hollow voice.\n\n"You will not enter the bronze city."\n\n- [[Why not?]]

"Then you must continue searching," the sentinel replied, lifting its head and shifting its arms back into prayer. It does not move.\n\nYou stand and head back to the [[elevator|ele1]].

The sentinel says, "Sit."\n\nYou sit.\n\nShifting its arms in a rhythmical dance, the sentinel speaks: "Many years ago, there was a Dreamer. When she was awake, she absorbed all trials and triumphs she came across. She took in the best and the worst of each experience that existed in the universe.\nWhen she slept, she brought her experiences and knowledge home. When she dreamed, she created a universe -- different from the one she spent her waking hours suffering in. \nIn her dreams, her universe was not merely based on her experiences. This new universe was //her//."\nThe sentinel stops moving. You wait silently. \n\n"Do you understand?"\n\n- "[[Yes.|yes10]]"\n- "[[No.|no10]]"

Raising its head, the sentinel says, "Then neither do we."\nIt brings its arms into prayer and falls silent.\n\nYou turn and head back to the [[elevator|ele10]].

You pick up the organism as delicately as possible, and gently drop it back into the water. It propels itself around in a circle.\n\nA soft beep from your ship confirms it is time to leave. You take one last look at the ocean planet before climbing back in. The dock folds up as your ship [[ascends]].

As soon as the sentinel said this, it began to shake and release a low and vaguely familiar hum. It looked at its hands, then turned its head to you as it slowly began to dissolve. Bronze flakes began to peel from its body, bit by bit, rising upwards and fading away. \n\nDespite the unmoving facial features of the sentinel, you feel a strange wave of gratitude from the being as its last pieces turn to [[dust|dust10]].\n

You are suddenly filled with an overwhelming exhaustion. You simply do not have the energy to stand. The humming sound diminishes as you [[collapse]]. \n

"You need nothing beyond me." The sentinel raises its head, bringing its arms back into prayer.\n\nYou turn and head back to the [[elevator|ele1]].

The creature is a large and flat organism with many fins jutting from its wide back. As it cuts through the water, creatures at the surface are pushed by the currents of its fins and directed into a large maw at the back. \n\nOne of the tiny palm tree organisms misfires its propulsion and instead jumps out of the water. It lands on your dock and flutters hopelessly. \n\nWill you [[take the creature]] with you, or [[return it]] to the ocean?

The creases around the tile emit a deep yellow light when you touch it. Removing your hand causes the tile to pop out from the wall altogether from a piston. Everything behind the tile is vastly different from in front: masses of bundles of cables loop and tangle together in complicated patterns, running through lights and wires that flip various switches back and forth. \n\nYou can feel electricity emantating from behind the tile like a pulse. Through the mess of cable there are square-shaped slivers of light on the other side, presumably tiles to another [[room|room0]].

As soon as your fingers touch the cube, even through your heat-redistribution suit, you are filled with a sudden spark of energy, a yearning to explore. You hear the distant echo of a beep from your ship, meaning the SCD has charged. Cradling the cube in your hands, you run back to the ship, excited to see what world awaits you next.\n\nOnly when your ship [[leave]]s the planet's atmosphere do you realize that the black cube is nowhere to be found.

The roaring of your rocket's engine is deafening, even with earplugs. A screen in front of you displays the last few people important to you on video. They are waving and smiling, and crying. \nThey are so proud of you.\n\nYour spaceship slowly begins to lift from the earth, accelerating with each second. The acceleration threatens to pull you apart, but you eventually become accustomed to it. The screen showing the last important people to you goes blank. \n\nFrom your port window you can see clouds passing by as the sky turns from baby blue to navy. With a final shake, the sky turns black, speckled with billions of tiny stars. \nYou are finally alone. It is time to move on.\n\nYour screen flickers on again, showing an expansive star system. On one side of the screen is an image of a planet that looks to be entirely covered in water.\n\nYour Spacial Collapsing Device [SCD] is ready. [[Are you]]?

A set of wall tiles open up to another room, but you hesitate at the entrance. This room is by far the largest you have ever encountered. It is also the first unlit room you have come across. You are unable to see the ceiling, or the other three walls due to the size of the room.\n\nAs you step into the room, the reforming tiles behind you shut out the light.\n\nWhen your eyes adjust to the darkness you find that you are mistaken: the room is not entirely black. Tiny lights far away streak around the room, sometimes exploding into even smaller pieces of light. Closer to the ceiling, you can see distant and vast formations of nebulae. \n\nYou wonder what the next room will [[hold|the nothing]], but only briefly.

As you reach your hand out to peel the stone away, a tremor reverberates through the cave. You jump back just in time for the stone to shake off and crumble on the ground. The ceiling above the chiseled hallway collapses as well, closing it off.\n\nWith the stone gone, the glow is revealed to be an ornate spiral pattern tracing the shape of an arch. Beyond the arch is a tiny room with slick black stone walls. In the middle of the room is a small cube, made of the same stone as the walls in the room. Bending down to fit inside, you shuffle your way over to pick up the [[cube]].

You decide to step outside onto the dock and watch the planet from the surface. \n\nYour ship undulates rhythmically with the gentle tide of a distant moon. The horizon is an unbroken line of waves, shimmering in the light of the setting sun. Just below the surface you spot a school of metallic-looking life forms darting through the water. They resemble tiny silver palm trees, shrinking inward before opening their 'leaves' to propel forwards. \n\nIn the distance, a large and dark form cuts across the waves. You [[zoom in]] with your telescopic lens.

The sentinel raises its head back up and brings its arms into a praying position, dormant once more.\n\nYou stand and head back to the [[elevator|ele10]].

As soon as you begin to wonder how to access the other room, several wall tiles emit a deep yellow light before shifting out of your way. You are left with a door-shaped hole to walk through. \n\nWhen you step through the hole, the tiles rearrange themselves back into their original positions.\n\nThere is a seemingly empty tank of water in the middle of the room. Bubbles are rising from something underwater but you can't see their origin. \n\nYou ponder [[exploring|explore1]] more, or heading [[back|back1]].

The further you go down the hall, the brighter your surroundings seem to become despite the lack of visible light sources. \n\nThe hall seems to be gently sloping down and up, curving both left and right. You begin to hear a very deep and vaguely melodic humming sound as you walk. The humming sound shakes something in your core, invigorating you, sending you into a sprint. Your run through the twisting hall does not tire you at all. \n\nAfter some time, you begin to see flashing images before your eyes: A massive, cracked stone tablet. An 8-limbed bronze sentinel resting in prayer. A tiny sapling in a white room. The underside of a fan, blowing red sandstorms across the surface of a planet. A white fox sleeping in a forest with gnarled and expansive trees. An image of you, of who you [[used to be]]. \n

The sentinel's hollow voice dilates in tone as it says, "There is no reason to act outside of one's designated task."\n\n- "What about acting for [[yourself|you1]]?"

After a long silence, the sentinel speaks. "Desire..."\n\nIt begins moving its arms in quick, rythmic motions, its bronze hinges scraping each other and creating sparks. "I am unable to comprehend desire. My limitations disallow me from understanding this phenomenon. What is... desire? [[I wish|curiosity2]] to know--"

The sentinel raises four of its arms as if to strike you. "You have failed to understand. You are not permitted access. You must leave, and continue searching." \nWith an awful grinding sound, the sentinel takes a step towards you. Its arms quiver, preparing to swing. \n\nYou scramble for your feet and run back into the [[elevator|ele1]].

You step into the cave, about to reach for your flashlight, but something stops you. You decide to walk in the dark instead, following the faint glow further down.\n\nThe jade-green glow, as you come closer, appears to be shining out from behind years of encrusted stone. If you [[clear the rock]] out of the way you might be able to see the full object in detail. However, in the glow you can see a chiseled hallway to your right. You could go [[down the hall]] instead of peeling the encrustment, if you wished.

As your ship rises from the water, you hear the sound of something splashing on the floor. It appears the tiny metallic creature you returned to the ocean had flopped into the ship with you. It's too late to go back down to the ocean, but luckily, there is a [[biocontainment system]] on-board.\n

You see two planets before you. one resembles a large ball of thick wire. The other looks familiar: it has a mostly oceanic surface with one large green continent. \n\nWhere will you go?\n\n- [[metal planet]]\n- [[familiar planet]]

As soon as you begin to step down the hall, a massive tremor sends the ceiling crashing down behind you. With the way back blocked, you decide to go deeper down the [[hall]].\n\n

It's time to head back to your ship. \nThe elevator shakes as the door closes, and you are unsure if you are actually moving or not until the doors open to reveal the surface world once again.\n\nThere is nothing else on the surface of this wire planet, so you climb back into your ship. Is this even a planet?\n\nYour ship's SCD indicator light is on. As you ascend from the planet you feel a vague hollow in your stomach.\n\nOne planet appears on the screen before you, covered with bright pink clouds. It is time to go.

Shifting its arms in rhythmic circles, the sentinel replies: "Do not assume all actions are meaningless simply because you cannot hear the will of the universe. \n"Perhaps for you, one who cannot hear the universe's will, all appears to be without meaning. But once you understand what is asked of you, all other actions have no purpose except for the tasks placed ahead of you. Then you must devote yourself entirely to those tasks."\n\n- "The universe [[has no will]]."\n- "One can follow the calling of the universe as well as [[their own will]]."

As soon as your fingers make contact with the stone, a deep and vaguely melodic hum fills the air. The sound is almost too low to be audible, and waves of vibration go through your body. An indescribable feeling of self-purpose and emotional strength wells up from somewhere inside of you. \n\nAfter some time, the humming of the obelisk and the stone arches becomes silent. The stone fades away too, and when you reach your hand out to touch it, there is only air where a shimmer of something greater had once been. \n\nThere is nothing more for you here. There is nothing less you could have received. You walk back to your ship and climb inside. Your ship whirs to life, accelerating upwards into space. You [[leave]] the planet behind and surround yourself with stars again.

The sentinel is waiting for you to speak.\n\n- "May I [[enter|enter10]] the city?"\n- "[[Thank you|thankyou10]]."

As you walk through the long hallway you have the vague feeling of being observed, but your journey is otherwise uneventful. The room itself is made of the same tiles as the hallway, though there is a white table situated in the center with a glass case on top. Inside the glass case is a single sapling, and directly above on the ceiling is a bright light. \n\nThere seems to be nothing else in the room, though you do notice a faint and familiar humming sound coming from somewhere around you. You decide to check the [[tiles2]], placing a hand on a wall tile.

You look at the bronze city, the pathway now clear. You can see large buildings in the distance, chuffing steam and pushing belts of resources into large machines. Gears churn together. With the sudden seed of recognition, you realize that whatever your purpose is, it is not here.\n\nYou could still explore the city to sate your curiosity, but in honor of the sentinel, you turn around and walk back to the [[elevator|ele1]].

The sentinel remains still and replies, "You do not need to."\n\n- [[I wish to explore the city even if I do not need to.|I wish to explore the city even if I do not need to.2]]\n- [[What is inside the city?|What is inside the city?2]]

Shifting its arms in rhythmic circles, the sentinel replies: "Do not assume all actions are meaningless simply because you cannot hear the will of the universe. \n"Perhaps for you, one who cannot hear the universe's will, all appears to be without meaning. But once you understand what is asked of you, all other actions have no purpose except for the tasks placed ahead of you. Then you must devote yourself entirely to those tasks."\n\n- "The universe [[has no will|has no will0]]."\n- "One can follow the calling of the universe as well as [[their own will|their own will0]]."

"Your thoughts are imperfect," the sentinel states. "There is no drive behind action other than the fulfilment of neccessity, even if you cannot hear the will of the universe."\n\n- "What about [[curiosity|curiosity0]]?"\n- "What about the [[desire|desire0]] for self-satisfaction?"\n\n

The sentinel is waiting for you to speak.\n\n- "May I [[enter|enter1]] the city?"\n- "[[Thank you|thankyou1]]."

The sentinel's hollow voice dilates in tone as it says, "There is no reason to act outside of one's designated task."\n\n- "What about acting for [[yourself|you10]]?"

"You need nothing beyond me." The sentinel raises its head, bringing its arms back into prayer.\n\nYou turn and head back to the [[elevator|ele10]].

Right as you pick the creature up, your ship emits a soft beep confirming that the SCD has recharged. You spare one last scan of the ocean world around you before entering your ship. You locate the [[biocontainment system]] on your ship as it folds its docking station and ascends back into space.

The sentinel remains still as it speaks. "There is no reason to act without neccessity."\n\n- "There is no neccessity for anything. All actions have equal merit because no action has any value [[in the end|end1]]."\n- "This is [[true|true1]]."

You don't have to see the far wall to know tiles had opened to the next room in reaction to your curiosity-- an overwhelming sucking force tears your body from the floor and sends you hurtling through the air towards the other side. You change your mind and the sucking stops, dropping you on the floor in a crash.\n\nApparently, the next room is filled with literally nothing but empty space. \n\nAfter recovering, you decide to head back. Sensing your decision, you see a square-shaped speck of light materialize some distance away from you. It's a long [[walk|back2]].

The planet onscreen is a barren desert, with dark red mountains rising up out of the sand in various locations. The planet itself seems to be orbiting two suns, and is currently in between both. Your SCD is [[ready]].

Your spaceship is ready to launch. \nYou will be leaving everybody behind. \nYou will not be able to come back.\nAre you ready?\n[[Launch]]

You step past a small rock embedded in the sand and the shimmer twists into massive opaque forms. A giant stone obelisk stands before you, flanked by smaller arches made of the same unidentifiable black rock. Something tells you these constructions are made of a different type of stone from the rock mountains that dot the landscape. \nYou step forward to [[touch the obelisk]], acting on a sudden instinct.

The elevator doors close, the cabin briefly shaking. Everything becomes dark and you're not sure if you're moving at all until a door in front of you opens. \n\nThe hall before you is completely blank and covered in nondescript white tiles from floor to wall to ceiling. The source of light is unclear.\n\nThere appears to be something in the room at the end of the [[hall|hall22]].

The sentinel remains still and replies, "You do not need to."\n\n- [[I wish to explore the city even if I do not need to.]]\n- [[What is inside the city?]]

With a whirring and a clicking of gears, a swirling distortion in space appears before your ship. There is a brief pause where everything is perfectly, absolutely silent -- then, with the sound of an explosion, your ship blasts forward into the wormhole.\n\nYou emerge right in orbit of the watery planet. It scarcely looks real, a shimmering blue mass with shifting white clouds coalescing and fading away. Your ship descends.\n\nActivating its water landing system, your ship unfolds a large square base as its thrusters slow its descent onto the water. After your ship lands with a shudder, you can feel the gentle rocking of waves. According to your screen, the atmosphere is harmless for a robotic body of your design. \n\nYou can sit on the dock of your ship while you wait for your SCD to recharge, or transform your ship to a submarine and explore the depths of the ocean.\n\nWhat will you do?\n\n- Sit on the [[dock]]\n- [[Submerge]]

You open your eyes to find yourself feeling incredibly well-rested. You climb out of your bed and only when you reach the ship's cockpit do you remember that you had not fallen asleep in your ship's charging station/bed, but rather the middle of an endless hallway. \n\nYour body appears to be in perfect condition, and according to your sensors, no life forms have been detected around your vicinity for the past several hours.\n\nThe light on your SCD indicator is lit, so you strap yourself in and ascend, leaving the desert planet [[behind|leave]].

You cradle the creature and place it in one of the holding cells. The ship scans it, adjusting the chemical makeup of the cell to replicate its natural environement. \n\nMeanwhile, your ship finishes its ascent into space and your monitor flickers to show a [[new planet]].

You land on top of one of the massive 'wires' that spin around the planet's surface. Only when you step outside of your ship do you realize the ground is warm with running electricity. You sense yourself being scanned and attempt, fruitlessly, to find the source. However, you do find that an elevator-like device had risen from the ground. You are able to comfortably walk into it, and you notice a panel inside with two buttons. Which one will you press?\n\n[[Gear-shaped|gear-shaped]]\n[[Circle-shaped|circle-shaped]]

Your monitor blinks with an update to your surroundings as you near the bottom of the ocean: Massive metallic rings line the ocean floor, with impossibly smooth designs spiraling upwards from the rings like slivers. The splinters twist and break apart into smaller rings, where even smaller splinters rise outward to form new tiny rings.\n\nYou hear a bang against the side of your ship. One of the smaller sets of rings and splinters had broken off from the large one, and was now resting just outside your ship. You decide to pull it into the airlock of your ship for [[retrieval]].\n\n

Tiles shift to create a new door, reacting on your decision to continue.\n\nThis room is unfurnished but larger than the previous areas. You feel a cool breeze rushing through the room, and in the center is a tornado spinning in place. \n\nBy now you have deducted that this facility is a type of laboratory, though you cannot quite discern what is being tested, or why.\n\nYou can continue [[exploring|explore8]] or head [[back|back12]].

"Your thoughts are imperfect," the sentinel states. "There is no drive behind action other than the fulfilment of neccessity, even if you cannot hear the will of the universe."\n\n- "What about [[curiosity]]?"\n- "What about the [[desire]] for self-satisfaction?"\n\n

After a long silence, the sentinel speaks. "Curiosity..."\n\nIt begins moving its arms in quick, rythmic motions, its bronze hinges scraping each other and creating sparks. "I am unable to comprehend curiosity. My limitations disallow me from understanding this phenomenon. [[What is... curiosity? I wish to know|curiosity20]]--"

This room is extremely hot, even for you. You can't look directly into the center of the room because of an intense bright light there. You suspect it is a tiny sun.\n\nYou also sense that you are nearing the end of your labratory exploration. You may as well continue to [[the beginning2]].

As soon as you consider exploring more rooms, a set of tiles across the room move apart to create a door for you. You step through. \n\nThis room has a cloud that covers the ceiling. Some light mist is descending from the cloud and coalescing in puddles. You are unable to locate any cameras despite the constant feeling of being observed, or at least, being inside an observed room.\n\nYou think about going [[bac|back1]] or looking for [[more|explore2]] rooms.

Your surroundings gradually become lighter as you rise, turning back to shades of blue. By the time you reach the surface, everything seems unnaturally bright and it takes you a moment to adjust even in the waning sunset. Your ship pauses briefly to reconfigure its engines, before blasting upwards into space.\n\nYour monitor flickers to show a [[new planet]].

This room has several rocks sitting in a pile. You consider touching them, but as you bring your hand close you feel an inexplicable force trying to pull your hand closer. You recoil from the rocks and keep your distance.\n\nYou can continue [[exploring|explore7]] or [[go back|back12]].

With a whirring and a clicking of gears, a swirling distortion in space appears before your ship. There is a brief pause where everything is perfectly, absolutely silent -- then, with the sound of an explosion, your ship blasts forward into the wormhole.\n\nYou emerge right in orbit of the sand planet. A rare dual sun system places this planet in constant daylight. Massive rocky mountains break up the tides of sand. Your ships glides smoothly to the ground and lands without incident at the base of a rock mountain. The screen in front of you cites that the natural temperature of the planet is far too deadly for sentient beings, even state-of-the-art robotic systems like yourself. You don your heat-redistribution suit and step outside.\n\nThere is a cave system right beside where your ship had landed, with something glowing faintly in the dark. But towards the desert, in the distance, you can see a faint shimmer in the shape of an obelisk.\n\nWhat will you do?\n\n- [[Enter the cave]]\n- [[Enter the desert]]

You can press the [[circle-shaped|circle-shaped2]] button, having already pressed the gear-shaped button.

You can press the [[gear-shaped|gear-shaped2]] button, having already pressed the circle-shaped button.

Choosing the submerge option causes your ship to whir briefly before pulling in its dock and sinking beneath the waves. \n\nFrom your port window you can see the filtered light grow darker as you descend. The world around you eventually turns black, with the only light coming from the [[dim screen]] before you.\n

The floor briefly shakes before beginning a smooth descent into the ground. Everything becomes dark and you're not sure if you're moving at all until a door in front of you opens. \n\nThe hall before you is completely blank and covered in nondescript white tiles from floor to wall to ceiling. The source of light is unclear.\n\nThere appears to be something in the room at the end of the [[hall|hall2]].

all of the landmass on this planet is completely covered in trees.

A tiny sapling. A bubbling tank of water. A raining cloud. A tornado. Large, magnetic rocks. One sun. Nebulae and distant star systems. And finally, or firstly, nothingness. \n\nYou run through the order of experiments as you walk, your mind clouded in contemplation. Tiles between rooms spread apart [[for you|ele10]], leading the way back to the elevator.

Raising its head, the sentinel says, "Then neither do we."\nIt brings its arms into prayer and falls silent.\n\nYou turn and head back to the [[elevator|ele1]].

"Then you must continue searching," the sentinel replied, lifting its head and shifting its arms back into prayer. It does not move.\n\nYou stand and head back to the [[elevator|ele10]].

The sentinel raises its head back up and brings its arms into a praying position, dormant once more.\n\nYou stand and head back to the [[elevator|ele1]].

Your ship scans the object after being sucked into the airlock. The internal scanners show that the metallic rings are not poisonous, and are in fact a type of plant organism. It proves to be remarkably heavy when you try to pick it up, and one of the rings snap off in the effort, clattering on the floor. Almost immediately after landing, parts of the ring begin to splinter apart. \n\nYou finally manage to haul the metal plant into the biocontainment system on your ship, which finishes absorbing the plant right as your ship emits a soft beep. The beep means your SCD has recharged, so you return to your seat as your ship ascends back to the water's [[surface]].