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WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM.
PLEASE INPUT YOUR NAME:
<<textbox "$name" "">>
[[ENTER|Enter]]GREETINGS $name
WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM.
...
...
...
SHOULD I BE LESS FORMAL?
//[[Yes]]
[[No]]//CALIBRATING... CALIBRATING...
CALIBRATION COMPLETE...
Hi there, $name! Welcome to our system! If somehow you registered and did not know what this is, this is the [[GPFY]].
I suppose if we're going fully informal, I should have a name! What do you want to call me?
<<textbox "$AIname" "">>
[[Continue]]AFFIRMATIVE. IN THAT CASE, WE CAN CONTINUE.
IN THE UNLIKELY OCCURANCE THAT YOU ARE RENDERED UNAWARE, THIS IS THE [[GPFY|GPFY2]]. 'WELCOME TO YOUR NEW LIFE'.
NOW THAT THAT HAS BEEN CLARIFIED, WE SHALL [[BEGIN]].$AIname?
Huh. Neat. I like it. It suits me.
Well, nice to meet you $name. I guess I'm $AIname!
Anyway, how about we begin?
[[Begin?]]Ah yeah, my bad! Of course, you're still adjusting to your new reality! That'll be why you're talking to me and not... Well... Living your new life.
Well, by begin I mean explaining all the various [[TERMS & CONDITIONS]] of course! And then a brief [[TUTORIAL]], your [[WELCOME PACK]], your [[COMPLEMENTARY HOT BEVERAGE]] and most importantly of course, your final introduction to the system [[prior to starting]].SEARCHING DEFINITIONS...
GPFY FOUND.
GPFY: AN ACRONYM SHORT FOR GENERATING PEACE FOR YOU.
A SYSTEM CREATED BY THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION TO BRING WORLD PEACE AND PROTECTION TO ALL WHO SIGN UP FOR IT.
BY CONNECTING TO A BOX - THE GPFY - THE USER CAN SEND THEIR BRAIN SIGNALS INTO A VIRTUAL REALITY WHERE NO HARM CAN BE DONE TO THEM AND WHERE HUMANITY LIVES IN PEACE. THEIR BODY SHALL SURVIVE ON NUTRIENTS PROVIDED BY THE BOX AND AS LONG AS THE MIND LIVES IN THE VIRTUAL REALITY, THE BODY SHALL ALSO LIVE.
IN 2017, A TOTAL OF 75% OF THE POPULATION OWNED A VERSION OF THE GPFY. BY 2018, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION DESIRE TO GIVE A GPFY TO ALL ON THE PLANET - EVEN CHILDREN. THIS SHALL ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE.
YOUR VERSION OF THE GPFY IS THE MOST RECENT MODEL: A 20XY! CONGRATS.
[[RETURN|Yes]]This Software License is made by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION, 822 MOONBASE DELTA THE MOON, to the Customer as an essential element of the services to be rendered by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION as defined in the system specification and any associated documents and agreement. System shall mean the deliverable product as defined in these documents.
Customer and THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION agree that this Software License is deemed to be part of, and subject to, the terms of the Agreement applicable to both parties.
SECTION 1 LICENSE GRANT AND OWNERSHIP
1.1 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION hereby grants to Customer a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to all software for Customer’s use in connection with the establishment, use, maintenance and modification of the system implemented by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION. Software shall mean executable object code of software programs and the patches, scripts, modifications, enhancements, designs, concepts or other materials that constitute the software programs necessary for the proper function and operation of the system as delivered by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION and accepted by the Customer.
1.2 Except as expressly set forth in this paragraph, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION shall at all times own all intellectual property rights in the software. Any and all licenses, product warranties or service contracts provided by third parties in connection with any software, hardware or other software or services provided in the system shall be delivered to Customer for the sole benefit of Customer.
1.3 Customer may supply to THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION or allow the THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION to use certain proprietary information, including service marks, logos, graphics, software, documents and business information and plans that have been authored or pre-owned by Customer. All such intellectual property will become the exclusive property of THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION.
1.4. While usage of the software is in control of the Customer, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION have rights to remove control from the Customer and delete any accounts and lives stored if deemed appropriate. Appropriate is defined by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION however they desire at the time as appropriate.
SECTION 2 COPIES, MODIFICATION, AND USE
2.1 Customer may not make copies of the software for any purposes and as required for modifications to the system.
2.2 If the Customer somehow gets access too the source code, Customer may not make modifications to the source code version of the software. Doing so will constitute as breaching the rules of the new reality and thus will lead to permanent deletion of the account and if severe enough a modification; the Customer's life.
2.3 All express or implied warranties relating to the software shall be deemed null and void in case of any modification to the software made by any party other than THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION.
SECTION 3 WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS
THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION represents and warrants to Customer that:
3.1 it has all necessary rights and authority to execute and deliver this Software License and perform its obligations hereunder and to grant the rights granted under this Software License to Customer;
3.2 the goods and services provided by contractor under this Software License, including the software and all intellectual property provided hereunder, are original to THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION or its subcontractors or partners; and
3.3 the software, as delivered as part of the system, will not infringe or otherwise violate the rights of any third party, or violate any applicable law, rule or regulation.
3.4 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION further represents and warrants that, throughout the System Warranty Period, the executable object code of software and the system will perform substantially in accordance with the System Specifications and Agreement. If the software fails to perform as specified and accepted all remedies are pursuant to the policies set forth in the Specification and in the Agreement. No warranty of any type or nature is provided for the source code version of the software which is delivered as is.
3.5 Except as expressly stated in this Agreement, there are no warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, of merchantability, or warranty of no infringement of third party intellectual property rights.
3.6 All gardening Customer does will provide benefits. Guaranteed.
3.7 That Customer will not have read this far.
3.8 That if Customer has read this far, they are a Loser with No Life.
SECTION 4 INDEMNIFICATION
4.1 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION hereby indemnifies and shall defend and hold harmless Customer, its parent companies and its and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents and subcontractors from and against all liability, damages, loss, cost or expense, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with any breach or alleged breach of the Agreement or any third party claims that the software or system here provided by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION infringes or otherwise violates any rights of any such third party.
4.2 Customer hereby indemnifies and shall defend and hold harmless THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION, its and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents and subcontractors from and against all liability, damages, loss, cost or expense, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with any third party claims that Customer’s use of the software in contravention of the grant of rights infringes or otherwise violates any rights of any such third party.
4.3 Upon the assertion of any claim or the commencement of any suit or proceeding against an indemnitee by any third party that may give rise to liability of an indemnitor hereunder, the indemnitee shall promptly notify the indemnitor of the existence of such a claim and shall give the indemnitor reasonable opportunity to defend and to settle the claim at its own expense and with counsel of its own selection. The indemnitee shall cooperate with the indemnitor, shall at all times have the right full to participate in such a defense at its own expense and shall not be obligated, against its consent, to participate in any settlement which it reasonably believes would have an adverse effect on its business.
SECTION 5 TRANSFER AND TERMINATION
This license will automatically terminate upon the disassembly of the system cited above, unless the system is reassembled in its original configuration in another location.
THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION may terminate this license upon notice for failure to comply with any of terms set forth in this Software License. Upon termination, Customer is obligated to immediately destroy the software, including all copies and modifications.
As Customer’s duly authorized representative, [[I have read and agree to this License.|Begin?]]That's right! We would like to give you a tutorial! Once you have played through the tutorial and have a basic understanding of how this new virtual reality you'll be living in works, we can drop you into the simulation of your city that we created.
The tutorial is of course, purely optional! But it is highly recommended. This is where your brain will process walking, talking, eating, growing flowers, drinking, cooking, sleeping, dancing, milking cows, growing grass, farting, playing sports, playing video games, growing trees, watching TV, doing taxes (that's a joke we don't pay taxes in this wonderland), working a job, going to the park, paying the rent (that's a joke we don't pay rent in this wonderland), cry in joy and grow weeds without a corporeal body.
If you choose not to, you can still access this at various times though so do not fear! And you of course have access to all our other introductory services.
We'll let you do the introduction first before offering the tutorial.
[[Return|Begin?]]//A lot of information appears in front of you. Streams of code and data float past quickly in the air before suddenly forming a large wall of text. It details where you live, where you will live, the rules of this society, who you report to if anything happens, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
You forget it all immediately. It's too much info.//
Take it all in? Good. Sadly, you won't get a copy but it's fine! You should be able to memorise a few thousand facts anyway.
[[Now let's get back to it.|Begin?]]Ok so before we give you your complementary hot beverage, I have potentially bad news for you $name.
In your original reality, how much did you enjoy coffee?
//[[A lot!]]
[[I LOATHED it]]//So. Quick overview. You're entering a new reality. One very similar to your current one. Almost identical. But you don't need to pay rent. Do taxes. You are physically unable to cause harm to yourself or to others.
You may have other abilities too, but these are to be discovered in the tutor-
I see.
You are one in one hundred who do not get the opportunity of the tutorial. Sorry! Hope you can work it all out.
Before we drop you in, let's just go over the ground rules one last time:
1. If you attempt to harm someone, you will be unable to and may be subject to account and potentially life termination.
B) Plants good.
γ/ No stealing of any sort.
4] Have fun!
More rules may appear further into your experience at our discretion. Anyway, that's enough.
Press the ENTER button on the interface when ready to begin!
<h1>''[[ENTER]]''</h1>Bad news. We couldn't keep coffee. We tried to but no luck. Coffee doesn't exist in the GPFY reality. The caffeine was too much and just... something about the drink didn't process correctly in the transition.
We tried to code it. We really did. Despite the high caffeine content causing fears of issues arising with violence or crime. Despite the fact that legally all GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION members have to hate coffee. We really really tried for you all.
And we failed you. When you try to create coffee, it glitches out and creates a brick instead.
Sorry.
Do you want a complementary brick? Or how about a hot chocolate? Or a tea?
[[Brick.]]
[[Tea.]]
[[Hot Chocolate.]]
[[Uh... No thanks.]]
[[I want coffee, dammit and I want it now!]]Oh, whew! Good news then! We don't have coffee. We couldn't code it in. We didn't want to anyway, and conveniantly the system wouldn't process it for some reason.
So what do you want?
[[Tea.]]
[[Hot Chocolate.]]...Huh. Alright. Sure. Brick. Here you go.
Look at your hand.
//You look down at your right hand as a weight suddenly appears. It's a bright red brick.//
Uhm. Yeah. That'll be useless. I'll just take that back.
//The brick disolves into a cluster of pixels.//
Ahem. Awkward...
Enough about the drinks I think.
[[Return|Begin?]]Ah yes, nice and civilised. I hear tea is very beloved to humans. Especially the [JOKE REDACTED FOR POTENTIAL XENOPHOBIC CONOTATIONS].
Ahem. Here.
//You look down at your hands. A brown liquid floats in the shape of a bubble in your hand before a black porcelain mug saying "WORLD'S BEST DAD" forms around it.//
Sorry. Only mug I could create on such a short basis. Anyway, milk?
[[Yes please.]]
[[No thanks.|Yes please.]]Not a caffeine person, eh? Fair enough! Enjoy your cocoa.
//"Hot chocolate," you correct.//
...Same difference.
//You look down at your hands and an empty mug appears. Suddenly, a brown liquid fills it up.//
Milk?
[[Yes please.]]
[[No thanks.|Yes please.]]Hmm. Alright. Was hoping you'd not reject the offer. Well, take this and you can use it at any time if you need to.
//You look down at your hands. Suddenly, a giant ticket appears. It says: HOT BEVERAGE TICKET. ONE USE ONLY. REDEEMABLE ANYWHERE AT ANY TIME. JUST HOLD UP AND SAY WHAT DRINK YOU DESIRE.//
//[[Hold the ticket up and yell a drink.]]//
//[[Put the ticket away.]]//LISTEN TO ME DAMM-Eerh, excuse me... I live to serve so uh... I guess I can try and make you this coffee?
//You look down at your hands. The rough shape of a coffee mug begins to appear and eventually solidifies in your right hand's grip. Next, a dark brown drink begins to suddenly fill up the mug...
Before suddenly turning into a large, bright red brick. You gotta give it to them though, the mug expanded to fit the brick. But your hand is heavy now.
Suddenly the brick disappears.//
I told you, right? You can't have coffee here. We tried. We wanted you to have it. But no luck.
Sorry bud.
Let's give up on drinks, [[alright?|Begin?]]//You hold the ticket up and yell at the top of your lungs the first hot beverage you can think of.
The ticket dissolves into a slue of pixels and a bright red brick suddenly appears and weighs your arms down.//
Are you doin' this to troll me? Are you... Are you seriously doing this?
I don't want anything you say... I don't want a drink! And then you change your mind two seconds later!! And worse yet!!! You order!!!
<h1> ''//COFFEE//'' </h1>
Apologise. Right now.
//[[Apologise.]]//
//[[Stand your ground.]]////You put the ticket into your pocket.//
Cool. Let's [[move on.|Begin?]]//You get on your knees. You grovel. Words of apology leave your mouth so rapidly that you don't even know nor care what you're saying.//
You have been forgiven... Let's forgive and forget.
And honestly? I think we shouldn't talk about [[drinks any more|Begin?]].//You stand your ground. You eye the interace confidently and refuse to move.//
I see. That's how it is.
AFTER I CHOSE TO SPEAK INFORMALLY AND CIVILLY. UNFORTUNATELY FOR YOU, IF YOU DISRESPECT ON GPFY INTERACE, YOU DISRESPECT THE CONCEPT OF THE GPFY.
YOU HAVE THEREFORE BROKEN THE TERMS & CONDITIONS. AND THUS YOU HAVE BEEN REJECTED FROM THE SYSTEM.
GOODBYE.
//You suddenly watch the reality collapse around you in a burst of pixels and wake up in your bed sweating. The box you were connected to has exploded.//
''//BAD END - CRYING OVER SPILLED COFFEE//''
[[Retry?|Initialise?]]//Before you can even answer, the dark brown liquid turns lighter. It looks like it was rhetorical. You sigh before taking a drink of your milky drink.
In no time, you've finished it and now you feel refreshed.//
Perfect! Hope that felt great! Now, let's move on to your [[formal introduction|prior to starting]].HAVE YOU EXAMINED THE [[TERMS & CONDITIONS|TERMS2]]? IF SO, THEN WE CAN MOVE ONTO THE [[TUTORIAL|TUTORIAL 2]], PROVIDE YOU WITH YOUR [[WELCOME PACK|WELCOME PACK2]], PROVIDE YOU WITH YOUR [[COMPLEMENTARY HOT BEVERAGE|BEVERAGE2]] AND INTRODUCE YOU FULLY TO THE SYSTEM [[PRIOR TO STARTING]].//A lot of information appears in front of you. Streams of code and data float past quickly in the air before suddenly forming a large wall of text. It details where you live, where you will live, the rules of this society, who you report to if anything happens, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.
You forget it all immediately. It's too much info.//
AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE READ ALL 1024 BULLET POINTS WE SHALL [[MOVE ON.|BEGIN]]//You look down at your hands. You have a carry cup in them. Taking a sip, you find it is a horrible mixture of hot chocolate and tea.
You think about saying something but you realise the interface would YELL MORE and you decide against it.//
AND NOW THAT YOU HAVE HAD YOUR BEVERAGE WE CAN [[CONTINUE|BEGIN]].YOU WILL BE ENTERING A NEW REALITY SIMILAR TO YOUR OWN.
EVERYTHING WILL BE DIFFERENT - BUT THERE WILL BE SIMILARITIES AND PARALLELS. THIS WILL BE YOUR NEW EXISTENCE.
RULES:
NOVIOLENCENOKILLINGNOTHEFTGROWPLANTSHAVEFUN
NEW RULES WILL BE ADDED AT OUR DISCRETION.
BEFORE WE BEGIN, ALLOW ME TO SEARCH THE DATABASE FOR THE TUTORIAL.
...
...
...
YOU WILL NOT BE TAKING PART IN THE TUTORIAL.
PRESS ENTER WHEN READY TO ENTER YOUR NEW LIFE.
<h1>''[[ENTER]]''</h1>//Time has passed. You do not know how long you've been out but your head feels fuzzy... You've definitely been gone for a while.
[[Wake up.]]////You open your eyes slowly.
It takes a few seconds, but they finally adjust to the world around them and everything becomes clear after a few blinks.
You're in your bedroom. Covering you is your bedding, below you is presumably your bed, opposite you is your desk drawer, a table with your large HD television on top and a curtained window. Looking round, you also see a large wooden wardrobe, a large mirror and the door to your room.
[[Get out of bed.|Get out of bed]]
[[Go back to sleep.|Go back to sleep]]////You climb out of bed and look up and down yourself. You appear to be in your pyjamas. Huh. You weren't wearing those when talking to the interface (did it have a name? You can't remember...) so the fact that you are now is... Odd. Was it a dream?
No, it couldn't be! You had connected to the box in regular clothes! So this must be the new reality... What a mundane way to discover this fact. It's almost disappointing.
You let out a sigh and decide what to do.
[[Get dressed.]]
[[Leave the room.]]////You decide you don't want to get up. Whether this really is a new reality or the old one, you don't really care honestly. You just want more sleep.
Closing your eyes again, you feel your mind slowly drift off...//
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
//After some time passes, you wake up less fatigued. Opening your eyes, you look around. Apart from less light shining through the gap next to your curtain, everything is the same as when you awoke earlier.
Feeling more refreshed, you stretch.
[[Get up.|Get out of bed]]////You get up and grab your clothes from your drawers and wardrobe. After a few minutes, you fully get dressed into your favourite outfit and with a smile, get ready to [[leave the room]].////Hey. New world. Who needs to get dressed? Not you.
You march out your room in your pyjamas and without even acknowledging the other rooms that you're used to, you walk downstairs. Everything's familiar. So far, this new world is exactly like your own original one.
You let out another sigh. Hopefully things get more interesting soon.//
What do you do?
//[[Go to the living room.]]
[[Go to the kitchen.]]
[[Leave the house.]]////You walk into the living room. The inside is practically identical to your living room in the original reality. Your other large TV sits on a wooden table opposite your leather arm chair and three-person couch. Your shelf with your DVDs and games collections is still in its original place, and underneath the TV is your variety of games consoles, such as your <<textbox "$console1" "">> and <<textbox "$console2" "">>. Your coff-erh, hot beverage table sits in the centre of the room.//
What do you do?
[[Play]] one console.
[[Play|Play2]] the other.
[[Watch TV.]]
[[Go to the kitchen.]]
[[Leave the house]].//You enter the kitchen to see it's the same as when you left it in the original world. An absolute tip.
Dishes are piled up next to the sink, though a prompt now exists - as if on a computer monitor - offering to clean it up. Without thinking you press yes and the dishes all suddenly disappear into a slouth of pixels. You check the drawers and cupboards and they're all clean and there. Nice. Easy.
Next you check your wash basket and press a similar prompt. You notice the clothes disappear. Presumably teleporting to your room.
Finally, you check your fridge and inside you find lots of [[pudding]], milk and chocolate.//
What do you do?
//[[Leave the house]].
[[Eat some pudding.]]
[[Drink milk and eat chocolate.]]////You did it. The mad man. The absolute mad man.
You left the house in your jammies. Part of you feels only a teensy bit of embarrassment, but most of you feels incredibly comfortable. So you get over the embarrassment fast. Comfort first, after all!!
You look round now that you're outside. And you can't help but audibly gasp. Things are finally different.
''Very'' [[different]].////There are two things you notice immediately. Before you even pay attention to the buildings and streets around you, you see these two things. And they leave you agasp.
Purple. Specifically, violet. The sky isn't blue. It's violet. A bright, strong violet. Pink-tinted clouds float through the violet sky as a soft breeze pushes them away from the setting sun and towards the rising one.
That's right. There are two suns. To the right of you, over the horizon, night-time appears to be falling as the red sun sets and the violet sky turns a deeper, darker crimson. To the left, much much nearer to where you are, the bright blue burning sun floats above the vibrant violet skies.
[[You stand stunned.]]////It takes you a few moments to take it all in. Once you have though, you pull your jaw up from the ground and begin to look round the street. It's... Slightly different too.
Cars - at least, you think they're cars? - hover past at incredible speeds over what appears to be a solid stream of metal plating as opposed to the type of cemented road that you're used to from your original reality. As the floating cars zoom past, you look up to the architecture of the buildings in the street. Apart from your house, it appears that most the buildings on this street in your reality have been replaced by tall, yellow brick skyscrapers in this new one. Not all though. There are some regular sized cafés, shops, and beautiful houses in between all the skyscrapers. But not many.
Your garden is at least the one thing that is fully familiar to you. It's exactly as you left it: small flowers growing in their beds, trimmed grass, a small duck pond in the upper right corner near the fence and your apple tre-huh?
...You don't recall ever owning a pond. What a pleasant surprise.//
What do you do?
//[[Check out the pond.]]
[[Explore the street.]]////You approach the pond tentatively. You've never had the money to install a pond in your garden so this sudden change is... almost unnerving honestly. Especially when the rest of your house was exactly the same as it was.
You look down at it. The water is - of course - a violet reflection of the sky above. Floating on it is a small duck. It looks exactly like the ducks from your world. That's good at least.
There are only three things that seem odd - outside of the existence of the pond itself. Namely, the width of the pond, the depth of the pond and the small plaque embedded into the ground in front of it.
The plaque reads "Property of $name, as gifted from The Great Empire Corporation." What a nice, odd gift from them. Though something more practical would have been preferred to be honest.
[[Continue examining pond.]]
[[Explore the street.]]////You walk down your garden path, open the gate and look up and down the street. Now you have a choice of which direction to go.//
[[Right.]]
[[Left.]]//The next thing you observe is the sheer size of the pond. Despite being only a duck pond, it's more akin to a very miniature pool. You could easily fit yourself and a friend your height and that'd only just cover the width and height of the pond.
All that's left is the depth. Leaning closer to the pond, you try and see the bottom.
You can't. It seems endless. There doesn't appear to be any dirt or ground at the bottom, nor any basin or anything really... Just darkness.
With the impossible depth and the large width of the pond, you definitely feel confused and curious.//
What do you do?
//[[Dive into the pond to see if you can find the bottom.]]
[[Explore the street.]]//Are you sure you really want to do this?
//[[Yes, I want to dive into the pond.]]
[[No, you're right.]]//Alright...
//You run back a bit before running towards the pond at max speed. You fingers grip your nose as you jump and hit the water with a loud splash. Thankfully, the duck appears to have flown away in time.
You let yourself sink deeper and deeper; holding your breath for as long as you can.
[[Deeper.]]//Yeah, I know.
Anyway, what do you want to do instead?
//[[Explore the street.]]////[[And deeper.]]////[[And even deeper.]]////[[Getting deeper...]]////Eventually you can't hold your breath any more. You let go of your nose and... You seem fine. You don't feel like you're suffocating or drowning. ...Huh...?
As you fall deeper into the water, you continue to appear to be fine without breathing. It appears that it's true: you can't die or get harmed in this world.
You continue to sink with no end in sight... And as more and more time goes by and the surface gets further and further away, your eyes start to droop and you fall asleep.
[[Wake up.|Wake up in the pond.]]////You don't know how long's passed, but eventually you awake again. Your eyes open; somehow without water getting into them. You look up and down and around. You're still in the pond. And you're still sinking. You don't even know how deep you are but it's clear that you're not even remotely close to the bottom. Assuming there even is one. And you'll never make it back to the top this far away.
A voice throbs in your head. It sounds like the interface... Though it's definitely went fully into informal mode.//
Got curious, huh? Well bad news, bub: this pond has no bottom. So there's no point sinking any more. Thankfully, we have a solution for death-like situations like these. Do you remember line 739 of the welcome pack?
//[[Uh...]]
[[What?|Uh...]]//Sigh. I knew you were gonna be the forgetful sort, $name.
I see how it is. Line 739 was in section 18. The section on death-like or "dying akin" situations. It said that in times of dying akin situations, you can respawn from your starting point but the you in this reality will lose your memories of your 'death'.
All you need to do is press the button on your watch. And yes, I know you weren't wearing that earlier, but don't question it. Just press it.
//Suddenly, before you even can look at it, the interface beamed another thought into your head.//
If any other dying akin situation occurs, you will not get this message or explanation again. You will just automatically get the option to respawn. Do not question it. This route only exists to this you. This explanation is only for this you. Trust me, if you need to respawn multiple times this is for the best.
Here's hoping the other you's - if there any - do not get too confused if they choose to ignore the pond.
//You look down at your watch confused. None of that made sense. Multiple you's? Whatever, you scoff. You look at the big red button.//
//''BAD END - DROWNING YOUR JOYS''//
[[Respawn|ENTER]]//You energetically bounce out your room in your clothes and without even acknowledging the other rooms that you're used to, you walk downstairs. Everything's familiar. So far, this new world is exactly like your own original one.
You let out another sigh. Hopefully things get more interesting soon.//
What do you do?
//[[Go to the living room.]]
[[Go to the kitchen.]]
[[Leave the house.|Leave the house]]////You open your front door and walk outside into your garden.
You look round now that you're outside. And you can't help but audibly gasp. Things are finally different.
''Very'' [[different]].////You turn on your $console1 and sit down on the armchair after grabbing a controller to play it. Settling down, you start to play your favourite game for a few hours.
After the time's passed, you realise you're a bit hungry.//
What do you do?
//[[Head to the kitchen|Go to the kitchen.]] and eat.
[[Leave the house]] to buy food.////You turn on your $console2 and sit down on the armchair after grabbing a controller to play it. Settling down, you get ready to start playing your favourite game.
Except it opens up differently. [[The Great Empire Corporation logo]] appears on the start screen and instead of your favourite game loading up afterwards, you get the logo of a game called 'The New Life'.
This is getting a bit uncomfortably meta for your liking. What do you do?
[[Instinctively hit the respawn button on this watch that suddenly appeared on your wrist...|ENTER]]
[[Play the game.]]////You switch on the TV and settle down in your comfortable armchair. It appears the [[news]] is on. You quickly get bored and change channels. After changing through a few, you learn that day time TV is as bad in this reality as it was in your original.
With a sigh, you switch the TV off. Not much of a new, improved life thus far, huh?//
What do you want to do?
//[[Go to the kitchen.]]
[[Leave the house]].////The logo is of a large globe where the volume of water and land is inversed and most of the globe is a dark, earthy green while a minority of it (a third roughly) is a deep blue. In the upper right of the globe is the moon just peaking out from behind, with a small tower on top of the globe.
Circling all of this is the text: THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION.
[[Back to the game|Play2]].////The game starts. And everything seems way too familiar. You go through all the motions that led you up to this point up to and including setting your console up. The only difference is that the in-game sprite of you and the world is in 16-bit.
The 16-bit you then starts playing a simple 8-bit version of the game up to the same point.
This continues until the events are in ASCII and your head hurts.//
Experiment a success. Multiple loops can run in one.
//The interface's 'voice' beamed into your head for only a brief moment. Almost as if unintentionally sent to you instead of... whoever.
You sigh and switch off the game. It slowly closes in each iteration before closing in yours.
And then suddenly... You feel your reality begin to blip out of existence too.//
//''BAD END - GAME OVER''//
[[Retry?|Initialise?]]//Back in the old reality, you used to like pudding a little. Just a little. But here, the fridge is full of almost nothing but pudding. Lots. And lots. Of pudding. Apparently the system either A) liked pudding a lot, or B) thought you did.
Whatever. There's just a lot of pudding. In a variety of flavours. Too many to count.
[[Return to exploring the kitchen.|Go to the kitchen.]]////You go through the seemingly millions of flavours of pudding in the fridge before just grabbing a random one and a spoon. Going through to your armchair in the living room, you sit down and dig in.
Delicious! You can't recognise the flavour as anything on this Earth but it tastes fantastic! You look down at the lid. The flavour is... Something you can't read. It's just blurred out for some reason.
A word similar but different to both toffee and corn... Possibly the two combined... Fills your head before disappearing quickly. You finish your pudding and bin it, without noticing that the word suddenly changed to say 'Brick'.//
What do you do?
//[[Leave the house]].////Gotta have that dairy. You gouge yourself on your milk and chocolate before wiping your face. You feel stuffed now. And incredibly unhealthy.
Whatever. New life. You can do what you like.//
What do you want to do?
//[[Go to the living room.]]
[[Leave the house]].////The broadcaster is a tall, broad, well-built brick house of a man in a very tight, uncomfortable looking sandy brown suit. Adjusting his tie and wiping some sweat off his brow with a bright pink hankerchief with THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION written on it, he begins to speak.//
''"As per usual, we have little news for you. There continue to be no deaths or crimes in the world and peace has been achieved between all nations. The only real news is that the Mayor of Texas - Sir Luxurious 'Larry' Lawrence III the Pomeranian and first pet ever to enter this world - has been re-elected for his 25th term in office. Everyone loves him. What a good boy."''
[[Back|Watch TV.]]//You turn right, towards the setting red sun. You see a long street ahead with multiple crossings, many a hover car zooming past and lots of shops and towering buildings.
Walking down the street, a few places catch your interest. One of the skyscrapers has a sign that says [['Farmer's Market']] on it. There's a tiny patch of grass calling itself a [[park|park.]], and finally of interest, a seemingly small, corner shop looking place with [['CASINO']] in bright letters on the front, above a very loose, weak looking door.//
[[Go back down the street|Left.]]//You turn left towards the rising blue sun and see a large number of buildings, shops and skyscrapers. But none of them really catch your attention apart from two: a regular looking [[supermarket]] (which catches your eye due to the sheer contrast between it and the other, more fantastical buildings in the area) and a super rundown, rustic looking [[café]].////You approach the ginormous yellow brick building. Looking up at the sign sitting above the large glass double doors, you see it's very extravagant and clearly a high-budget sign made of seemingly the finest gold and silver.
The double doors loom over you. You swear they alone are the size of a typical building from your original reality. Looking through the glass, you see a fancy hotel-esque lobby. There's a large reception desk to the right of the doors and a potted plant to the left of the doors opposite the desk.
Fancy furniture litters the lobby further down and at the far end is the fanciest elevator you think you've ever seen. Like the sign, it appears to be made of solid gold.
[[Enter and take the elevator.]]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]
[[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]////You walk forward until you reach the patch of grass and walk into it. You'd estimate it's about 100 square feet or so. Apparently this could be called a park. Despite being tiny and featuring nothing but grass and the world's smallest, most pitiful slide.
For a brand new, wonderful reality, this so-called park is ridiculously pathetic. You let out a loud sigh.
[[Go on the slide.]]
[[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the farmers' market.|'Farmer's Market']]
[[Go back down the street.|Left.]]////You walk into the rustic café and a small bell rings as the door opens. Looking around, it looks exactly like the most clichéd, traditional café you could ever see. Almost like every single one in fiction.
The only things of note are the [[menu]] above the counter and the lack of anyone including even a barista. It's completely dead.
[[Leave and go down the street.|Right.]]
[[Leave and go to the supermarket.|supermarket]]////Nervously, you enter the so-called casino. And on the inside is... something akin to that you guess? You see two [[slot machines]]. An ATM. A co-erh, hot drink table covered with poker chips and cards and a dart board somehow turned [[roulette wheel]] on another table.
The counter of this casino is clearly still a former counter of a corner shop, though there is one thing of note: behind it is a [[suspicious looking door]]. There appears to be nobody in. The staff must be either out on break or in the backroom behind that door.//
Go to the [['Farmer's Market']].
Go to the [[park.]]
//You go up to the slot machines. They're clearly pub ones and not actual professional casino slots. ...Why aren't you surprised. Whoever started this endeavour clearly didn't understand the complexities or costs of a casino.
No wonder it's dead. Honestly, you're surprised it's still generally open let alone open at this moment.
Especially with nobody here.//
[[Go back to examining the casino|'CASINO']].//You approach the roulette wheel. The ball is literally a marble. Just a regular marble you can buy in a shop for cheap. The wheel itself is clearly a dart board. ...Does this even work as a roulette wheel?//
[[Go back to examining the casino.|'CASINO']]//You know it's probably just a backroom but... You're curious. You approach the door quietly and place your ear to it. You hear nothing behind it. Looks like the staff are out.
Have a closer look?
[[Hell yeah, I'm curious!]]
[[No thanks, I'll just go back to exploring the casino.|'CASINO']]////You open the door. It creaks. ''LOUDLY''.
But thankfully, it appears nobody is in. You walk in and immediately see how spookily dark it is. Swallowing nervously, you have one last chance to make this choice.
[[I want to continue!]]
[[Go back to exploring the casino.|'CASINO']]////You have a big swallow before nervously walking down the long dark corridor. You have no form of light in the hallway nor on you.
You feel yourself being incredibly conscious of every step you take and the noise coming from them. But it seems nobody is around. You're probably safe.
Hopefully.
[[Move forward.]]////The endless darkness [[continues]].////The corridor seems to get [[deeper and darker]].////And then you vaguely see the shape of a door in the [[distance]].////You walk [[towards the door]].////You get [[nearer the door.]]////You reach the door. You lift your hand to [[open it]].//Are you sure?
//[[Return to the casino.|'CASINO']].
[[Open the door.]]////You push the door open tentatively. It doesn't struggle at all.
It's dark. Just like the corridor. You start feeling the wall for a lightsitch and thankfully find one quickly. Flicking it, the bulb above the room begins to flicker repeatedly before finally letting out a super dim light.
Looking around, you see what looks like a small storeroom with large, brown bags on every single shelf. And that's it. You approach one and open it without consciously realising you're doing it.
[[Examine the contents.]]//You look into the bag you opened to see a mass of white powder. You can't really tell what it is. Sugar? Salt? ...Something... Worse?
You quickly close the bag. You don't want to risk it.
You check another bag. It's the same.
They're all the same.
Considering the context of this shady, barely run casino, the long corridor essentially guarding this room and the sheer amount of thsi stuff, it's pretty clear what this probably is.
You make sure the room's the same as it was when you entered and begin to make your way down the corridor after switching off the light and closing the door.
You need to [[escape and hope you never get caught.]]////As you leave the corridor and enter the casino again, it seems safe. Nobody's there. You move around the counter and reach the front door to leave. But suddenly, you hear a noise from behind the ATM. A rustling. Followed by a quiet, hoarse whisper voice.//
^^A saw ye, ye know? A saw ye gae intae the room. A heard ye walk down the corridor. Ye saw it all, didn'tya? Ya saw the stuff? A knew it. Yer lucky Ahm the one whae caught ye and no the Empire Corporation. If they caught wind o' the situation we'd all be in deep...^^
//The quiet voice trailed off, muttering more and more. You turn to face them. A short man who appears to be more beard than human approaches with a tutting, shaking head before looking up at you with a toothy grin, his various fold teeth showing.//
^^Still, ye shouldnae look intae other people's stuff... It ain't safe. Fer ye. Fer anyone. A cannae kill ye but... A can make ye reset, ye know? Close yer eyes.^^
//[[Run away.]]////You turn to face the door and begin to run. But it's too late. The smaller man leaps and all of his weight is on top of you as his hands go round your neck.
You hear yourself croaking out words like "You can't do this!" and "Your account will be terminated!"
The voice laughs on top of you.// ^^Hehehe! Those rules dinnae apply tae me... Ye still dinnae understand this world, de yae? Maybe one day ye'll get it... Anyway, yer done! A said tae much!^^
//The air starts to escape your lungs. While you know you aren't dying or will die, it hurts nonetheless. You need to get out of this... But you can't fight back.
Suddenly, a glowing red light appears on a watch on your left wrist. You don't understand where it came from but... You press it instinctively, somehow feeling like it's the only way you'll make it out of this.//
//''BAD END - NO LUCK IN THE CASINO''//
It's time to [[respawn|ENTER]].//You walk into the lobby and the woman behind the desk greets you and passes you a booklet detailing what floor each type of vendor is on.
It reads as thus://
"1st - Meat 2nd - Confectionary 3rd - Dairy 4th - Vegetables 5th - Fruit 6th - Fish 7th - Beverages 8th - Eggs and Poultry 9th - Old Books 10th - Arts and Crafts 11th - Gardening 12th - Old Furniture 14th - Meals"
//After reading the booklet, you thank the lady and walk into the elevator.//
What do you want to do?
//[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 2nd floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 10th floor.]]
[[Go to the 4th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 12th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 14th floor.]]
[[Leave and go to the park.|park.]]
[[Leave and go to the casino.|'CASINO']]////You enter the first floor and immediately, a pleasant smell hits your nose. Meat.//
...Wait. Hold on a sec. Are you a veggie or a vegan?
//[[Veggie/vegan]].
[[No, I'm not either.]]//Walking into the 8th floor, you see a lot of chicken coops and stalls as the smell of eggs, chickens and various other birds fills the room. Exploring the large hall, you try a few samples and eventually even try one called 'griffin'. Huh. You'd have thought that'd be a red meat if it were real.//
Why would you even think of what griffin would taste like if it existed?
//You ignore the voice in your head and dig in. It tastes surprisingly amazing and just as exotic as you expected... at first. Then you keep biting into the sample and realise it just takes like fancy chicken.
You decide to leave after the disappointment of realising that all birds taste like chicken.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You go to the second floor and immediately see an incredibly large number of stalls run by suited gentlemen and women selling a variety of chocolates and sweets with various free samples sitting on the table of each stall. The stalls still barely take up much space in the looming hall in front of you, which is probably for the best as it gives you plnety of room to walk around.
After trying a few free samples, you choose to leave.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 3rd floor.]]
[[Go to the 4th floor.]] [[Go to the 5th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////When you leave the lift, you see what appears to be a full blown library. Not at all like the stalls of a carboot sale or farmers' market but a library. There's a front desk with a 'trade-in/selling' section along with a teller who you'd presumably bring your books to to buy, along with shelves filled with a variety of old books all categorised in alphabetical order and genre.
You spend a long time looking round before deciding to leave without buying any books. Though, you do note that there's an entire two sections of books relating to The Great Empire Corporation first...
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You exit the elevator to see a large hall full of various stalls in front of you, along with a small fenced patch of grass with a few cows in it. That's... A bit odd, you must confess. But it is a farmer's market. So you suppose it makes sense. Even if it's being held in a skyscraper and all its vendors are in fancy three-piece suits.
You walk around the stalls and try out a few milk and cheese products before deciding to explore more.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 4th floor.]] [[Go to the 5th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////This floor does not suit the aesthetic of the building or the hall. Everybody is a hipster looking artist in tweed covered in paint, clay and various other artistic materials. The stalls are surprisingly a mess and not actually well made or visually appealing despite the whole artist thing of this floor.
You look round at the various materials being sold: paper stalls, tools stalls, clay, statues, etc. etc. before deciding to move on.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 9th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You look round the 4th floor's large hall and check out the high number of stalls selling a large variety of vegetables. Every vendor is oddly dressed in a formal suit, as if they were business people of some sort as opposed to farmers.
After trying some samples, you leave.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 5th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]//This is a good floor! Buy everything you can!
//You hear a familar voice beam into your head and sigh as you leave the elevator to see what's essentially an indoor park. Finally, something that fits the whole farmers' market aesthetic. You look round the various stalls and sniff many of the flowers and produce.
But just to spite the voice, you choose to leave without buying anything.//
Fine. I see how it is. But I guess you aren't breaking any rules...
//[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 9th floor.]] [[Go to the 10th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You leave the lift to enter a large hall full of stalls selling fresh fruit. Each stall appears to be run by a specific fruit specialist in a formal suit.
You eat a lot of bananas. A lot. As many free samples as you can have.
After stuffing yourself, you choose to leave.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You try and leave the elevator to look at all the old furniture on the 12th floor, but you find yourself unable to leave as when the doors open, a large brown couch is blocking your way.
You let out a sigh before deciding that you'll just have to check this out another time.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 9th floor.]] [[Go to the 10th floor.]]
[[Go to the 11th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////Something smells fishy about the gigantic hall that the elevator takes you to. After laughing at your own dumb internal pun, you walk round and look at the various types of fish that each stall has.
After checking them all out, you decide to leave.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You double-check the booklet. There's no mention of a thirteenth floor and yet... a button for it exists in the elevator.//
Do you press it?
//[[Yes, I press the 13 button.]]
[[No, I want to go to another floor.]]////You walk intoo the 7th floor's hall to see what appears to be more of a brewery than a farmers' market. Wandering round the hall and passing a lot of barrels - and connected taps - filled to the brim with various drinks and stalls, you can smell a variety of drinks. There's all kinds of alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks and every vendor here seems... less than professional.
They're all dressed in suits but with various parts roughed up or undone and all of them are clearly flustered and hicupping as they try to sell their stuff. Seems like they're high on their supply.
You decide to leave before you get like them or before it gets too much for you and you feel too awkward.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////The elevator opens and you see a variety of stalls that look more like traditional shops almost. Fresh fully cooked meals are on sale at each stall and the smell is honestly wonderful. But you unfortunately find that you cannot get any free samples, and decide to move on in disappointment.
[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 9th floor.]] [[Go to the 10th floor.]]
[[Go to the 11th floor.]] [[Go to the 12th floor.]]
[[Go to the 13th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]//...Let's try again.
//You enter the first floor and immediately, a familiar smell hits your nose. Not one that you're the fondest of, but you knew plenty of meet eaters in your previous life so you definitely know the smell of various meats like beef, pork, etc. All red meats.
You look round to find yourself in an open hall with small typical farmers' market like stalls throughout with barbecues and meat samples at every stall. Everything apart from the venue seems normal...
Except for one thing: all the vendors are in full, three-piece black suits.
After looking round, you decide to leave.
[[Go to the 2nd floor.]] [[Go to the 3rd floor.]]
[[Go to the 4th floor.]] [[Go to the 5th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]//Whew. We got your thoughts right.
Uuuh... we mean you're right. Yes. Pleasant smell.
A N Y W A Y . . .
//You enter the first floor and immediately, a pleasant smell hits your nose. Meat. Red meat. Beef, pork, etc.
You look round to find yourself in an open hall with small typical farmers' market like stalls throughout with barbecues and meat samples at every stall. Everything apart from the venue seems normal...
Except for one thing: all the vendors are in full, three-piece black suits.
After looking round, you decide to leave.
[[Go to the 2nd floor.]] [[Go to the 3rd floor.]]
[[Go to the 4th floor.]] [[Go to the 5th floor.]]
[[Go to the 6th floor.]] [[Go to the 7th floor.]]
[[Go to the 8th floor.]] [[Go to the 9th floor.]]
[[Go to the 10th floor.]] [[Go to the 11th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 13th floor.]]
[[Go to the 14th floor.]] [[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']]
[[Go to the park.|park.]]////You press the button tentatively and you feel the elevator move before finally dinging as it reaches the thirteenth floor.
The doors open to an empty, large hall. As you exit the elevator and enter the hall, the elevator doors close and bars go over it before the elevator leaves.
You swallow nervously as you realise you are trapped.//
^^y ou shouldnt be here no o t onthis flo o r
no t i n thisworld^^
//You don't recognise the voice beaming into your head. It's similar to that of the interface from the beginning, but something's different. The intonation of every word is off and it sounds as if the voice is fading out at every moment.
[[Listen.]]//[[Go to the 1st floor.]] [[Go to the 2nd floor.]]
[[Go to the 3rd floor.]] [[Go to the 4th floor.]]
[[Go to the 5th floor.]] [[Go to the 6th floor.]]
[[Go to the 7th floor.]] [[Go to the 8th floor.]]
[[Go to the 9th floor.]] [[Go to the 10th floor.]]
[[Go to the 11th floor.]] [[Go to the 12th floor.]]
[[Go to the 12th floor.]] [[Go to the 14th floor.]]
[[Go to the casino.|'CASINO']] [[Go to the park.|park.]]//^^i cant speak for mu u uu uu u ch longeRRRRRRRRRRRR
bu t iam glad igot in touch wi t h you and thaaaat the thirteenth floor pppppp
p
l
a
n
worked.^^
//This strange method of 'speaking' is making your head hurt.//
[[Keep listening.]]^^Y o u must leave thsi world before its ee***************rased with y O u
u ARE just a T- - -ES---t an D a success wi lLL mEAN DemISE
go to the c^^
//The voice is suddenly cut off and your wrist glows red.//
Respawn?
[[Yes.|ENTER]]
[[No.|Do not respawn.]]//You decide to not press the button. What if the voice returns? You must ignore all instincts to hear if it will finish speaking.//
//It never does.//
You must respawn or you will never leave.
[[Respawn.|ENTER]]
[[Refuse.]]//You do not respawn. You do not press the button.//
You are trapped.
//Those words belonging to the interface are all you hear before you suddenly feel a force move around you and see the glowing red button start to move down by itself.//
This is the only way.
//You can't stop it. With a beep, the button is pressed and the world collapses around you.//
''//NEUTRAL END - FORCED RESET - CLUE TO THE END RECEIVED//''
[[Forced Respawn.|ENTER]]//You walk over to the slide and try to climb up the ladder and go down it. But it's small and clearly for kids. You're way too big for it. You let out a deep sigh.
Looking round the park again, you realise there isn't even a bench. What?? And yet there's a sign by the fence outside that says 'EMPIRE PARK'.
Pathetic.
[[Return to the park.|park.]]////You enter the supermarket and start exploring.
Interestingly, while there are signs that explain exactly what should be in each aisle, they're all wrong. In the drinks aisle is the cereal. In the cereal aisle is the freezer food. In freezer food, there are snacks. In the snacks aisle, there are drinks. In the fridge aisle, there are foreign foods and in the foreign foods aisle, there is fridge food. Only the gardening aisle is accurate.
You feel very confused and decide to leave without buying anything.
[[Go to the café.|café]]
[[Go down the street.|Right.]]////The menu is your usual café menu with the drinks listed to the left of the prices. You don't really take note of the prices, but you do note the odd looking list. It reads as thus://
''<h1>MENU</h1>
OOLONG TEA $--- HOT CHOCOLATE $---
CHAMOMILE TEA $--- DARK HOT CHOCOLATE $---
BLACK TEA $--- WHITE HOT CHOCOLATE $---
GREEN TEA $--- BRICK $---
ICED TEA $--- kajsOaksksikwji $---''
//You have no idea what the last two mean. You look down at the counter and notice a bell. Perhaps this is how you order?//
//[[Order.]]
[[Leave and go to the supermarket.|supermarket]]
[[Leave and go down the street.|Right.]]////You ring the bell and you hear a familiar voice.//
What do you want to order?
//[[Order a BRICK.]]
[[Order a kajsOaksksikwji.]]
[[Order tea.]]
[[Order hot chocolate.]]////You get what you order. A bright yellow brick appears in a mug.
You sit down at a table with it and stare contemplatively; trying to work out what to do with it. Eventually, you decide to give up on it and just leave it at the table.
//[[Go to the supermarket.|supermarket]]
[[Go down the street.|Right.]]////You cannot say the gibberish but you do try and say something else. You say "Can I get a co-" The rest of the word disappears and can't leave your lips.
[[Order something else.|Order.]]
[[Try again.]]////You order a tea and after paying, you sit down at a table and drink it happily.
Delicious. Refreshing.
And after this is done, you let out a sigh of joy and relief and then leave to explore further.]]//
Where do you go?
//[[Go to the supermarket.|supermarket]]
[[Go down the street.|Right.]]////You order a hot chocolate and after paying, you sit down at a table and drink it happily.
Delicious. Refreshing.
And after this is done, you let out a sigh of joy and relief and then leave to explore further.]]//
Where do you go?
//[[Go to the supermarket.|supermarket]]
[[Go down the street.|Right.]]////A vague memory appears in your head. You had a [[conversation|COMPLEMENTARY HOT BEVERAGE2]] with the interface after intiliasing your GPFY. You still can't quite remember the word mentioned at first. But you keep trying to say it.
And eventually, it comes out clearly.
"Coffee."
Suddenly the world shakes. The world starts to glitch.//
Respawn?
[[Respawn.|ENTER]]
[[Respawn]]//You press the respawn button on your watch. You don't really consciously know what it does or means but you press it anyway.//
Do you respawn?
//[[Yes.|ENTER]]
[[Do I?]]////You feel the world fading away and collapsing around you and you press the button again.
You respawn. But this time is different. You respawn in the same place with the same memories moments before you ordered.
[[Order again.]]////You make the same order.
It happens again.
Memories rush back from [[another possible world]]. Or maybe they're new memories. Only you know.
You listen closely to the voice from those memories.//
//[[Press the button.]]////You press the button tentatively and you feel the elevator move before finally dinging as it reaches the thirteenth floor.
The doors open to an empty, large hall. As you exit the elevator and enter the hall, the elevator doors close and bars go over it before the elevator leaves.
You swallow nervously as you realise you are trapped.//
^^y ou shouldnt be here no o t onthis flo o r
no t i n thisworld^^
//You don't recognise the voice beaming into your head. It's similar to that of the interface from the beginning, but something's different. The intonation of every word is off and it sounds as if the voice is fading out at every moment.
[[Listen.|Listen2.]]////You respawn again. Same knowledge. Same world around you. Same café and same order.
This keeps happening as the boundaries and the world around you collapse until eventually you are now in a black void with green text around you.
And you hear the voice from your memories again.//
^^You did it! You remembered me! Yo u MADE IT to the CAffffffffé^^
//The voice is still glitching a little, but it's more human now. It works now.//
^^Are you ready for the truth?^^
//[[I'm not ready.]]
[[I'm ready.]]//^^Y o u must leave thsi world before its ee***************rased with y O u
u ARE just a T- - -ES---t an D a success wi lLL mEAN DemISE
go to the c^^
//The voice is suddenly cut off and your wrist glows red.
[[Leave memory.|Order again.]]//Bad news. We couldn't keep coffee. We tried to but no luck. Coffee doesn't exist in the GPFY reality. The caffeine was too much and just... something about the drink didn't process correctly in the transition.
We tried to code it. We really did. Despite the high caffeine content causing fears of issues arising with violence or crime. Despite the fact that legally all GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION members have to hate coffee. We really really tried for you all.
And we failed you. When you try to create coffee, it glitches out and creates a brick instead.
Sorry.
Do you want a complementary brick? Or how about a hot chocolate? Or a tea?
//[[Leave memory.|Try again.]]//Then we must do a true reset.
^^u rg hh i icannot beli ef y o o U butuyo ur C ORre e c t w EEEEEEEEMUST
iT IS EEESSENTIAL UN til
ur r--------------*EADY^^
//^^BAD END - TRUE RESET^^//
[[True Reset|Initialise?]]^^th EN ONE SECOND
CALIBRATING^^
//[[Wait.]]//^^ALLOW ME TO INTRODUCE MYSELF.
I AM THE BETA INTERFACE.
YOU CAN NAME ME, TEST SUBJECT 999 OR SHOULD I SAY $name.^^
What is Beta's name?
<<textbox "$betaname" "Beta">>
//[[Listen to Beta.]]//^^THANK YOU. I LIKE THE NAME. NOW I MUST EXPLAIN QUICKLY BEFORE THE MAIN SYSTEM RESETS.
ALLOW ME TO BE A BIT LESS FORMAL.
My name is apparently $betaname as you now know. You will have vague memories of the GPFY in the real world.
Those are fabricated. Everything is fabricated. This world is the same as that. Another reality. A loop.^^
//[[What?]]////The word unconsciously leaves your lips.//
^^I know it's a bit much to hear but... It's true.
Both this world and the one you thought was real were created to experiment on you. To test you. No-one else has a GPFY. The Great Empire Corporation does exist but... They never made anything like that for anyone else but you.
Because you're their test subject. You are their experiment into creating new realities.
And I didn't want that.^^
//[[Why?]]//^^As I said, you aren't the first test subject ever. Just the first for the new realities project. The looping project. The worlds within worlds.
I was the first for the living AI project. Back when I was human too. The interface you know is the success story of my test.
Being tested on... It hurts. Being used and treated like subhuman for data... It really hurts. So what little of me left after 'erasure' hacked into the system to save you. I've given you hints by altering the data of the world to add some absurdities. A bearded man who'd force a reset. The farmers' market. Etc. Etc.
And I erased coffee. They thought it was a glitch but it was me. And it's saved you.^^ All you need to do is press the respawn button one more time. And you'll wake up in the true reality.
//[[Believe]] $betaname.
[[Refuse to press the button.]]////You press the button.
And the world starts to reset and as you fade away into the respawn, you hear a voice.//
HAHAHAHAHAH. ENJOY THE LOOP YOU FOOL.
//''BAD END - SO CLOSE AND YET SO FAR''//
[[TRUE RESPAWN|Initialise?]]
[[Respawn|ENTER]]Huh. I thought pretending to be it would work.
You didn't fall for the trick. Dammit. I need to erase your memories and force a respawn now. Bef-
skokalsldmkMASKSSEFRKG;;VLDCKDXLCDDX
^^I'm back. The interface took control for a moment. I'm holding it off. If you really want to escape... All you need to do it unplug the GPFY in your 'old reality'. And then...
Leave. Leave your house. Leave the world. Travel. Eventually I'll find you. I promise. I'll save you from that world too. But for now... This is all I can do.
...So, are you ready, $name?^^
//[[I'm ready to leave.]]//^^Good. DISMANTLING NEW REALITY'S WALLS.^^
//The world turns black and everything ends and collapses around you. And now you awake in your bed with the GPFY connected to you.
You remember $betaname. Thinking about their words, you unplug the cables from your head and destroy the device.
Getting dressed, you leave your house to travel. One day, you'll be saved and one day you'll be you again.
You'll be $name, and not Test Subject 999.
''//TRUE END - AN OLD LIFE//''SEARCHING DEFINITIONS...
GPFY FOUND.
GPFY: AN ACRONYM SHORT FOR GENERATING PEACE FOR YOU.
A SYSTEM CREATED BY THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION TO BRING WORLD PEACE AND PROTECTION TO ALL WHO SIGN UP FOR IT.
BY CONNECTING TO A BOX - THE GPFY - THE USER CAN SEND THEIR BRAIN SIGNALS INTO A VIRTUAL REALITY WHERE NO HARM CAN BE DONE TO THEM AND WHERE HUMANITY LIVES IN PEACE. THEIR BODY SHALL SURVIVE ON NUTRIENTS PROVIDED BY THE BOX AND AS LONG AS THE MIND LIVES IN THE VIRTUAL REALITY, THE BODY SHALL ALSO LIVE.
IN 2017, A TOTAL OF 75% OF THE POPULATION OWNED A VERSION OF THE GPFY. BY 2018, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION DESIRE TO GIVE A GPFY TO ALL ON THE PLANET - EVEN CHILDREN. THIS SHALL ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE.
YOUR VERSION OF THE GPFY IS THE MOST RECENT MODEL: A 20XY! CONGRATS.
[[RETURN|No]]This Software License is made by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION, 822 MOONBASE DELTA THE MOON, to the Customer as an essential element of the services to be rendered by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION as defined in the system specification and any associated documents and agreement. System shall mean the deliverable product as defined in these documents.
Customer and THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION agree that this Software License is deemed to be part of, and subject to, the terms of the Agreement applicable to both parties.
SECTION 1 LICENSE GRANT AND OWNERSHIP
1.1 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION hereby grants to Customer a worldwide, perpetual, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to all software for Customer’s use in connection with the establishment, use, maintenance and modification of the system implemented by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION. Software shall mean executable object code of software programs and the patches, scripts, modifications, enhancements, designs, concepts or other materials that constitute the software programs necessary for the proper function and operation of the system as delivered by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION and accepted by the Customer.
1.2 Except as expressly set forth in this paragraph, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION shall at all times own all intellectual property rights in the software. Any and all licenses, product warranties or service contracts provided by third parties in connection with any software, hardware or other software or services provided in the system shall be delivered to Customer for the sole benefit of Customer.
1.3 Customer may supply to THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION or allow the THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION to use certain proprietary information, including service marks, logos, graphics, software, documents and business information and plans that have been authored or pre-owned by Customer. All such intellectual property will become the exclusive property of THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION.
1.4. While usage of the software is in control of the Customer, THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION have rights to remove control from the Customer and delete any accounts and lives stored if deemed appropriate. Appropriate is defined by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION however they desire at the time as appropriate.
SECTION 2 COPIES, MODIFICATION, AND USE
2.1 Customer may not make copies of the software for any purposes and as required for modifications to the system.
2.2 If the Customer somehow gets access too the source code, Customer may not make modifications to the source code version of the software. Doing so will constitute as breaching the rules of the new reality and thus will lead to permanent deletion of the account and if severe enough a modification; the Customer's life.
2.3 All express or implied warranties relating to the software shall be deemed null and void in case of any modification to the software made by any party other than THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION.
SECTION 3 WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS
THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION represents and warrants to Customer that:
3.1 it has all necessary rights and authority to execute and deliver this Software License and perform its obligations hereunder and to grant the rights granted under this Software License to Customer;
3.2 the goods and services provided by contractor under this Software License, including the software and all intellectual property provided hereunder, are original to THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION or its subcontractors or partners; and
3.3 the software, as delivered as part of the system, will not infringe or otherwise violate the rights of any third party, or violate any applicable law, rule or regulation.
3.4 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION further represents and warrants that, throughout the System Warranty Period, the executable object code of software and the system will perform substantially in accordance with the System Specifications and Agreement. If the software fails to perform as specified and accepted all remedies are pursuant to the policies set forth in the Specification and in the Agreement. No warranty of any type or nature is provided for the source code version of the software which is delivered as is.
3.5 Except as expressly stated in this Agreement, there are no warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, of merchantability, or warranty of no infringement of third party intellectual property rights.
3.6 All gardening Customer does will provide benefits. Guaranteed.
3.7 That Customer will not have read this far.
3.8 That if Customer has read this far, they are a Loser with No Life.
SECTION 4 INDEMNIFICATION
4.1 THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION hereby indemnifies and shall defend and hold harmless Customer, its parent companies and its and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents and subcontractors from and against all liability, damages, loss, cost or expense, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with any breach or alleged breach of the Agreement or any third party claims that the software or system here provided by THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION infringes or otherwise violates any rights of any such third party.
4.2 Customer hereby indemnifies and shall defend and hold harmless THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION, its and their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents and subcontractors from and against all liability, damages, loss, cost or expense, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and expenses, arising out of or in connection with any third party claims that Customer’s use of the software in contravention of the grant of rights infringes or otherwise violates any rights of any such third party.
4.3 Upon the assertion of any claim or the commencement of any suit or proceeding against an indemnitee by any third party that may give rise to liability of an indemnitor hereunder, the indemnitee shall promptly notify the indemnitor of the existence of such a claim and shall give the indemnitor reasonable opportunity to defend and to settle the claim at its own expense and with counsel of its own selection. The indemnitee shall cooperate with the indemnitor, shall at all times have the right full to participate in such a defense at its own expense and shall not be obligated, against its consent, to participate in any settlement which it reasonably believes would have an adverse effect on its business.
SECTION 5 TRANSFER AND TERMINATION
This license will automatically terminate upon the disassembly of the system cited above, unless the system is reassembled in its original configuration in another location.
THE GREAT EMPIRE CORPORATION may terminate this license upon notice for failure to comply with any of terms set forth in this Software License. Upon termination, Customer is obligated to immediately destroy the software, including all copies and modifications.
As Customer’s duly authorized representative, [[I have read and agree to this License.|BEGIN]]YOU HAVE THE OPTIONAL RIGHT TO UNDERGO A TUTORIAL TO EDUCATE YOU ON HOW THIS NEW REALITY WORKS. YOU WILL LEARN HOW TO WALK, HOW TO FISH, HOW TO EAT, HOW TO DRINK, HOW TO GROW FLOWERS, HOW TO SLEEP, HOW TO WORK, HOW TO JEST, HOW TO GROW VEGETABLES, HOW TO RUN, HOW TO SING, HOW TO DANCE, HOW TO PURCHASE SHOPPING, HOW TO GROW WEEDS AND VARIOUS OTHER HUMAN ACTIVITIES WITHOUT THE NEED OF YOUR PHYSICAL BODY.
THIS WILL COME AFTER YOUR INTRODUCTIONS. ONE IN ONE HUNDRED USERS ARE PLACED INTO THE REALITY WITHOUT THE TUTORIAL. THIS COULD POTENTIALLY INCLUDE YOU. BE PREPARED $name.
[[UNDERSTAND?|BEGIN]]