cordyceps

As your parasite helps you climb the fence, you feel something hit you in the back, and your body jerks forward. You can hear a commotion behind you, and you realize that you've been shot. There's blood and other fluids leaking from you shoulder, but worse, you can't move. You can't even feel your legs. You try to look down, to grab hold of something, but you're stuck firmly in place. \nThe shock and the pain weigh on you and you realize after a while that you've been impaled. There is blood everywhere, coating the fence beneath you and staining the ground. You cough up strange mixtures of blood and black fluid. Your vision closes in and the only thing you can see is a small patch of grass across the fence. You stretch your arm, trying to reach for it, and then everything goes\n\n[[dark|CREDITS]].

You honestly have no idea.<<if visited("namesubmit")>> You can remember that your name is <<print $name>>, though. And who the fuck names a person that?<<endif>><<if $pronoun is "it">> You look down at your monstruous body and wonder who the hell would do this to a person. You're still a person, right?<<endif>><<if visited("where")>> Who the hell leaves a person in a place like this?<<endif>> You're thirsty and tired and you ache all over. None of this makes sense, and you still can't remember anything. \n But [[wait|beginquestion]].\n

You need you find a way out of here. \nYou could try to [[look around]] the room, or [[feel around]] the room.

You don't have the will to go on fighting, so you follow them. The halls are mostly empty, but further down into the complex you see armed guards and tall, arched doorways. Maybe in your prime you could have fought them but not now, not anymore. Not with your body like this. \n\nAs you descend your eyesight beings to get worse as well. @@color: #6E7A09;Blackness start to seep into the edges of your vision, creeping in until@@ you're viewing the viewing the packed dirt of the basement floor through a peephole.\nThe last thing you see @@color: #6E7A09;before your vision goes [[black]]@@ is a chair.

<<if visited("run for it!")>><<else>>The door opens slowly on its own, and as it does you squint your eyes against the light that fills the room. You begin to step outside it, and you see the hallway in front of you and the stairs directly to your left. There are other doors opening further down, and other bodies emerging.<<endif>>\nThe urgent hum bids you to [[WALK]].\n<<if visited("run for it!")>><<else>>==[[run for it!]]==<<endif>>

You don't think to notice how deserted the hall is; escape is the only thing on your mind, your eyes never leaving that perfect arch. As you reach the middle of the hall, you suddenly trip. A thick metal wire is wrapped firmly around your leg. <<if $arm is 2>>Two more shoot out and wrap around your arms, stretching your body painfully.<<else if $arm is 1>>Another shoots out and wraps around your remaining arm, stretching your body painfully.<<else>>Another shoots out and wraps around your neck, stretching your body painfully.<<endif>> You struggle against them but you cannot move; black substances leak out of you, trying to free your body; liquids, oozes, sponge-like material, then spiny barbs, but nothing works. They've used their strongest materials against you.\n\nAs you fight you can hear the clack of [[heels|QUEENEND]] against the marble floor.

Under your <<if $pronoun is "it">>undulating body<<else>>feet<<endif>> is more rough stone and metal, not as damp as before, but ultimately the same. You don't notice any vermin or missing appendages; it seems that they cleaned the hallway just recently. The windows to the right of you let in an excess of light, but their height keeps you from seeing outside, and their iron bars discourage any thoughts of hope. The doors to the left are the same smooth metal as yours, worked by some unseen mechanism. Some are open, showing unlit, bare rooms. Behind some of the closed doors there is silence, behind others there are noises. You try to ignore the noises. It almost works.\n<<if visited("the other people", "you look at yourself")>><<WALK2>><<else if visited("you look at yourself")>>You try to focus on [[the other people]] instead.<<else if visited("the other people")>>You look down at [[yourself|you look at yourself]] instead.<<else>>You try to distract yourself from it all by looking at [[the other people]] or by looking at [[yourself|you look at yourself]].<<endif>>\n\n

<<1>>

@@color: #6E7A09;Your host doesn't even hesitate; spongy black growths wrap around the weakened bars and pull them awaky from the window. It uses what is left of your legs to scramble up to the glass and before you can even [[close your eyes]]...@@

You feel the brush of soft cotton and calloused hands as the robed figures lead you to the chair, seemingly aware of your sudden blindness. \n\nYou sit; the chair seems sturdy, not made for comfort, but not painful, like others you've had to sit in. Voices bounce back and forth at you from different angles. You are surrounded by soft voices, quiet voices that do not command a thing.\n\n<<replace>>"This is <<print $title>>?"<<becomes>>"Yes, we believe <<they "are">> ready."<<becomes>>"How can you be sure?"<<becomes>>"Have you seen <<their>> eyes?"<<becomes>>"Look <<them>> over for yourselves."<<becomes>>"Very well then, we will take it to a vote."<<becomes>>"..."<<becomes>>"Consensus has been reached."<<becomes>>"Remove the implant, we will need <<print $name>> untainted."<<becomes>>"Please proceed to [[release]] <<them>>."<<endreplace>>

You start to rush down the stairs, ideas flying through your head one after the other. You know you don't have much time, but you also know you don't //need// much time. You know the layout of this complex rather well; you've been here for years and tried to escape a handful of times before. You could easily head [[straight for the exit|hall]], but what about your [[<<$lover>>|lover]]?

@@color: #6E7A09;You see at the end of the hall, the building has started to suffer with age, its stone flesh crumbling slightly, only held in place by its metal skeleton. At the end of this hall there is a [[window]], its bars rusted and useless, its frame slightly ill-fitting, causing a slight breeze to leak into the airtight facility.@@

Cordyceps

That's right, you think, I'm <<print $name>>. I'm not just some number. I can't forget. I won't forget. You're ''<<hoverreplace>>determined<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' to remember.<<if $pronoun is "it">>You repeat it over and over in your head for lack of any vocal capabilities.<<else>>You repeat it over and over to yourself.<<endif>> You know who you are, or at least what your name is.\n But [[wait|beginquestion]].

Give in to the fungus in despair = [[BADEND1]] \nWait for the immune, freed from your bonds = [[RELEASEEND]]\nClimb the roof and die in ecstatic pleasure = [[ROOFEND]]\nClimb the roof but fall to your death in failure = [[FALLEND]]\nReach the arch but are taken down by the queen = [[QUEENEND]]\n

<<if $pronoun is "he">>him\n<<else if $pronoun is "she">>her\n<<else if $pronoun is "ze">>hir\n<<else if $pronoun is "they">>them\n<<else>>it\n<<endif>>

Your head swims in sweet scents and soft colors, you can tell that your arms are in unspeakable pain, but somehow you can't make youself care quite fast enough. It's like you're being seduced, persuaded by this @@color: #B4C95D;substance@@ sharing your body, and it wants to be on the other side of this door even more than you do.\n\nYou pause momentarily, leaning into the door and breathing deep, and that's all it takes. As soon as you relax, you feel yourself lose control of your arms. The drunken feeling holding you back wanes slightly, and you can feel your muscles [[tearing]].

You climb the fence with the help of your parasitic organism and jump down onto the other side. There is grass, real live grass beneath your feet! You run and you run, and you don't look back. There are trees and plants and rocks and all sorts of things that you don't stop to touch, though you want to. You run until you feel you can't, and then you keep running, until the compound is a faint shadow somewhere over the horizon. You slow as the sun starts to set, and you are reminded that you don't look quite as human as you did before all of this happened. <<if visited("cure")>>You look at your strange @@color: #6E7A09;green@@ bottle. You don't know if it will work.<<else>>How will people react? You can't be sure.<<endif>> But still, you have to try to reach out, to someone, to anyone. You have to find a way to get them\n\n[[back|CREDITS]].

You feel sluggish and drugged, you can feel your pain, but it's muffled and hard to make out. Still, you manage to pull your right arm away, using your left to prop yourself against the door, trying to ride out this state you're in. You take, deep slow breaths, and while you realize the pain in your left arm is only getting worse, you can't seem to move it anymore, almost like it's stuck there. Your lucidity starts to return, and the pain washes over you, undiluted, just as your muscles start [[tearing]].

<<if $pronoun is "they">>they <<are parameter(0)>>\n<<else>><<$pronoun>> <<are parameter(0)>>\n<<endif>>

You can't seem to make heads or tails of anything, it's pitch black in here. You close your eyes tight and see a few phosphenes, so you aren't blind. But you probably should have known that already. Why can't you remember?\n\n<<where>>

You know that this may be your only shot to escape this place, to take back your freedom and //live//. You're not even sure where your <<print $lover>> is, let alone if you could get to them in time. There are too many variables, and not enough time. If you're going to leave, you have to leave //now//! You find it almost easier to speed yourself along with your body mangled and ruined like this; parts that fall off don't seem to matter as much, and the pleasant haze telling you to run back upstairs seems to help mask the pain, for now.\n\nYou run down to the first floor and arrive at the top of an intricate imperial staircase. Before you lies a large hall; its walls are still rough stone but its floor is smooth marble. At the end of the hall is the exit, an elaborately carved, arched entryway leading to the outside. You resist the urge to leap straight off the top of the staircase, and make a mad dash for the <<if $time is 4>>[[arch|archfail]].<<else if $time < 4>>[[arch]].<<endif>>

<<set $time += 1>>You look about the room, but you still cannot see anything aside from colorful hallucinations within you field of vision. Since there's no light in this room, it isn't terribly surprising. You're wasting your __''time''__ trying to see through this darkness. There are better ways to get out of here. You can still [[feel around]].

What was your name again?\n[[I don't remember|number][$name to "forget"]]\n[[I don't have one|number][$name to "none"]]\n<<textinput $name [[right?|number]]>>\n

[[body]] (pronoun "it") = -1\n[[number]] (nameresist) = +1\n[[run for it again]] = +1\n[[light]] (fight this urge) = +1\n[[pull back]] = +1\n[[wait]] = -1

You fight as hard as you can, but you still cannot win against the calling. It's leading you into this room. But why?\n<<if $pronoun is "it">>Viscous liquid streams<<else>>Tears begin to stream<<endif>> down your face. You don't want to be in the dark anymore, you don't want to die, but [[you enter the room]].

You feel tendrils wrap around you and slide under the skin at the back of your neck. It should hurt, but it doesn't. You feel like your are simply witnessing someone else's pain, not your own. You feel a quick pull, then flesh ripping, and it's like a weight is lifted off of you. The cold voice of the calling had been drowned out by the blackness inside you, but now you realize it is simply //gone//, and you will never have to fight it again. The thing inside you has no need to fight it either, and it realizes, and it reacts.\n\nYou feel your entire epidermis being to ripple and crack, twisted growths burst out of your orifices and then slowly out of your skin. It feels like thousands of maggots writhing inside you and devouring. You cannot speak or breathe, but you feel you have no more need to. Your heart is forced to pump faster and harder than you thought was possible, and you can feel it tearing easily against the strength of your parasite.\n\n<<if visited("namefinal")>>You feel one last brush of cotton, and a pair of soft lips at your festering ear. A warm breath and then a voice, a familiar voice, a voice you thought you would never hear again, and it says, "Kill them all, <<print $name>>."<<endif>>\nYou [[understand|RELEASEEND]].\n\n

<<if visited("You look in various directions")>><<else>>[[You look in various directions]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("You smell the air")>><<else>>[[You smell the air]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("You listen carefully")>><<else>>[[You listen carefully]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited("You feel around you")>><<else>>[[You feel around you]]<<endif>><<if visited("You look in various directions", "You smell the air", "You listen carefully", "You feel around you")>>But [[wait|beginquestion]].<<endif>>

<<set $time += 1>>You move about the room awkwardly, trying to find some sort of pipe or duct, however it was that they got that sweet mist in this room. You also search for some kind of electrical device, like a control for the door, or some monitering equipment that might have worked as a speaker. You take your __''time''__ scouring the room, but without the use of your arms, you find nothing. However they were interacting with this room, it's probably too high up for you to find now. You could feel around for the [[door]] instead.

@@color: #6E7A09;You reach an upper hallway that is barely familiar to you. You have only been down this way once, but rather recently. You recall the last time you@@ tried to escape; @@color: #6E7A09;you came looking for your @@<<print $lover>>, @@color: #6E7A09;in hopes they were still here but no, they had been moved to another room, closer to the@@ arch, @@color: #6E7A09;closer to the security. Farther away from @@you. @@color: #6E7A09;It had been done @@purpose@@color: #6E7A09;fully, you know. They knew you @@would@@color: #6E7A09; come. Is that why they infected you with this horrid filth? Why they gave you up to it? You feel s@@ic@@color: #6E7A09;k, diseased. The s@@tre@@color: #6E7A09;ss brings fam@@il@@color: #6E7A09;iar scents to mind like bleach, rotting flesh, burning teeth. Then your olfac@@t@@color: #6E7A09;ory reminiscen@@c@@color: #6E7A09;e is interrupted by [[a breeze]].@@

You press your body closer to the door, letting your limp arms fall against it. The @@color: #B4C95D;tingle @@<<continue spreads>>@@color: #B4C95D;spreads from your @@<<continue fingertips>>@@color: #B4C95D;fingertips, up through your@@ <<continue fingers>>@@color: #B4C95D;fingers, into your@@ <<continue hands>>@@color: #B4C95D;hands, circling around your@@ <<continue wrists>>@@color: #B4C95D;wrists, and inching up your @@<<continue arms>>@@color: #B4C95D;arms all the way to your @@<<continue shoulders.>>@@color: #B4C95D;shoulders.@@ As the warm, prickling sensation moves up your arms, you feel yourself able to control them again. You press your hands to the door and the sensation intesifies, moving back down your arms and into your hands. It feels like something hot is crawling through your skin, trying to break free. You hold your arms straight and lock your elbows but they still twitch and shake. \n\nThe air is thick and heavy around you. It's intoxicating, and you're finding it <<continue "hard to think">>hard to think about the pain, even as it gets worse. Should you <<if $willpower gte 2>>[[remove your hands]] from the door,<<endif>> [[keep one hand][$arm to 1]] on the door, or [[keep both hands]] on the door? You don't have a lot of time to think...<<timedgoto "keep both hands" 8s>>

<<if $pronoun is "they">><<print parameter(0)>>\n<<else if parameter(0) is "are">>is\n<<else if parameter(0) is "were">>was\n<<else if parameter(0) is "will">>will\n<<endif>>

The door swings slowly open and there they are; their skin hangs loosely from their bones, their hair has begun to grey, and their eyes are framed by dark circles. They are beautiful. You sit there, bleeding and stunned as they embrace you.\n \n<<if $arm is 1>>You try your best to return their embrace with your remaining arm, fluids seeping from your other shoulder. They don't seem to mind.<<else if $arm is 0>>You rest your head on their shoulder, wishing you could hold them back. They don't seem to mind.<<else if $arm is -1>>You sit there as they hold you, your one remaining leg tucked under you. You almost forget that you can't hold them back. They don't seem to mind.<<endif>>\n \nYou know that you need to leave, but you can't help taking a moment to cry here with them, letting your cracked sobs take the place of words, communicating months worth of pain between the two of you. \n<<if $time is 3>>You try to catch your breath but it's no use.\nAs you lay there, wrapped up in one another, you hear the sound of [[boots approaching|HUGEND]].\n<<else if $time is 2>>You catch your breath and try to stand.<<if $arm is -1>> @@color: #6E7A09;Black, spongy protrusions@@ grow from your stump leg and begin to harden. You test them; they seem to be strong enough to bear your weight.<<endif>> With the help of your <<print $lover>> you rise up from the floor. You're going to [[escape|halltogether]].\n<<else if $time < 2>>You catch your breath and try to stand.<<if $arm is -1>> @@color: #6E7A09;Black, spongy protrusions@@ grow from your stump leg and begin to harden. You test them; they seem to be strong enough to bear your weight.<<endif>> With the help of your <<print $lover>> you rise up from the floor. <<if visited("cure")>>You're going to [[escape|halltogether]].<<else>>You need to [[escape|halltogether]], but should you look for a [[cure]] first?<<endif>><<endif>>

You hold your breath as long as you can, for fear of breathing in whatever noxious substance they've exposed you to. You can feel it, it's cold and wet as it touches your skin, like some kind of mist. The forces controlling you seem to have stepped back for the time being to observe, but now you are fighting against your body's want to breathe. You stay so still, surrounded by cold, wet mist. Finally, the burning of your lungs causes you to gasp, and you find yourself inhaling the mist all around you. You held out a long __''time''__ but you've been exposed.\nNow what's going to [[happen to you?|CHANGE]]

[[...]]

[[6]]: caught instantly, given a huge hint\n[[5]]: same as 6 pretty much\n[[4]]: caught outside your lovers door, caught in front of the arch, executed\n[[3]]: Possible to reach exit/lover, but then taken down\n[[2]]: Possibe to escape or free lover\n[[1]]: Possible to cure self and free lover, but not escape or: escape uncured with lover or: escape cured without lover\n[[0]]: Possible to get antidote, save lover, and escape\n\noptions: cure, lover, escape

Your guest tries to right you, tries to push its host body away from the flames, but it's no use. The pit is too hot and too deep. You continue to seize; every muscle you have left is clenched until it tears. As your head flails wildly, you see the bodies beside you with their peaceful, joyous expressions. What could have made them so happy, in their final moments? What could have made them feel anything other than endless sorrow? You feel your infectious intruder's emotions bleed into you. You are disappointed, you have failed. You stare at the sun until the heat from the flames causes your eyeball to\n\n[[burst|CREDITS]].

You hold your breath and listen carefully. There is a distant creaking and scraping, but the thick walls seem to muffle everything. You mostly hear the blood pounding in your <<if $pronoun is "it">>head and down to your listening apparatuses.<<else>>ears.<<endif>> It's eerie.\n\n<<where>>

You rush about the hallway, calling out your <<print $lover>>'s name and banging on door after door, not skipping a single one. Finally you hear a strained reply behind one of them. \n''"<<print $name>>?"''\nYou stop. You've found them. You feel like crying but there's no time. You tell them to just hold on, that you're going to get them out. <<if $arm is 2>>You think back on the strange tingling you felt at your cell door. Maybe you can try the same thing on this door?<<else if $arm is 1>>You think back on how you opened your own door with your arm. Maybe you can try the same thing on this door?<<else>>You think back on how you opened your door with both your arms. Maybe you could do the same thing again? You would have to use one of your legs.<<endif>>\n\nAt this point you don't care, you have to get them out whatever the cost. You get to work on the door, concentrating, forcing your flesh to twist and contort, bursting painfully with a @@color: #6E7A09;shapeless black ooze@@ that seeps into the frame of the door, all too slowly.\n<<if $time < 4>>Finally you hear the locking mechanism [[crack|reunion][$arm -= 1]].<<else>>Just then you hear a [[bang|DOOREND]].<<endif>>

<<4>>

You ''<<hoverreplace>>fight<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' against this urge like you fought against the oppressive commands, and it doesn't physically hurt you to fight, but you're still struggling. You have a hard time telling whether this idea came from you or from... somewhere else. These are your thoughts, right? You want to feel the sun on your malnurished skin. You remember the sunlight drifting through those high windows, and your <<if $pronoun is "it">>breathing intake passages begin to tingle in anticipation.<<else>>mouth begins to water, displacing the grit and swirling it around your gums, and it tastes even sweeter than before.<<endif>> You need to escape, to find some sunlight.\n\n<<display find a way out.>>

The air smells damp and rotten, so heavy that it's hard to breathe. You can only imagine what sorts of mold and mildew are lurking in this room.\n\n<<where>>

html {\n width: 100%;\n\n /* Vertical colour gradient */\n background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, white, grey);\n background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, white, grey);\n background-attachment: fixed;\n\n /* Fallback colour */\n background-color: grey;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height: 100%;\n display: table;\n}\nbody {\n /* Remove default styles */\n font-size: 100%;\n background-color: transparent;\n margin: 0;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height:100%;\n display:table-cell;\n vertical-align: middle;\n}\n#passages {\n border-left: 0px;\n margin: 0;\n /* Keep a gap at the top and bottom of the page,\n when the text is longer than the window's height. */\n padding: 5% 0;\n}\n\n.passage {\n /* Passage width */\n width: 60%;\n /* Horizontal centering */\n margin: 0 auto;\n\n /* Text formatting */\n color: black;\n font-size: 100%;\n text-align:center;\n}\n\n/* No sidebar */\n#sidebar {\n display:none;\n}\n\n/* Links */\na.internalLink, a.externalLink {\n color: gray;\n}\na.internalLink:hover, a.externalLink:hover {\n color: darkgray;\n text-decoration: none;\n}\n\n/* Shrink the page when viewed on devices with a low screen width */\n@media screen and (max-width: 960px) {\n .passage { font-size: 90%; width: 70%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 840px) {\n .passage { font-size: 87.5%; width: 80%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 720px) {\n .passage { font-size: 75%; width: 90%; }\n}\n\n.revision-span-in {\n\topacity: 0;\n}\n.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {\n\ttransition: 1s; -webkit-transition: 1s;\n}\n.revision-span-out {\n\tposition:absolute;\n\topacity: 0;\n}\n\n#fsyoutube {\n\tposition:absolute;top:0px;left:0px;z-index:0;\n}\n

That's right, you're <<print $name>>. You know who you are, or at least you know what you're called.\nBut [[wait|beginquestion]].\n<<print $name>>

<<if $pronoun is "he">>You realize that you are still a boy, which is comforting, but you're not sure why that fact was ever in doubt, or even why it matters right now.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $pronoun is "she">>You realize that you are still a girl, which is comforting, but you're not sure why that fact was ever in doubt, or even why it matters right now.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $pronoun is "they">>You realize that all your parts are exactly where they're supposed to be and from what you can tell, you're still human. You're not sure why that was ever in doubt, but the fact that you had to remind yourself of it worries you.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $pronoun is "it">>You realize now that nothing about this body is right. You can feel a sick churning in your abdomen, and none of the parts you touch are recognizable to you. Are you still human? You try to scream, but the sounds come out strange. You want to vomit but you're not sure how. You might have just pissed yourself but who the fuck can be sure at this point? You feel your ''<<hoverreplace>>will<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' to go on flicker for a moment.<<endif>>\n<<if $pronoun is "it">><<set $willpower -=1>><<endif>>\n\n You rack your brain for some sense of [[identity|name]].

@@font-size: large;[[THUMP|noise1]]@@

jquery:off\nhash:off\nbookmark:on\nmodernizr:off\nundo:on\nobfuscate:off\nexitprompt:off\nblankcss:off\n

<<if visited("run for it!")>><<set $willpower += 1>><<endif>>\nYou try to pull yourself away, but the voice tugs at you, your nerves are on fire. You ''<<hoverreplace>>endure<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' the pain just for a chance to escape, but you have to go on, there's no other choice.\n<<WALK2>>

@@color: #6E7A09;You muster the last bit of ''<<hoverreplace>>strength<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' you have, and tilt your head down slightly. What you see below terrifies you.\n\nAt the foot of the building is a great pit for burning waste (bodies) and other materials (bodies). You see chutes coming from various parts of the compound, leading into the flames. The heat causes your black flesh to bubble and crack, but you continue to look. You see now that the pit is overflowing with corpses, and all of these corpses are covered in black, twisting spires, rising from their mouths and the eyes and their skin. They are torn at the seams like worn shirts, their faces all frozen in expressions of overwhelming pleasure. A cloud of black, burnt spores reaches you, and you instinctively cough, causeing you to [[stumble]] slightly.

You reach the end of the hall, with the tall, imposing arch towering over you. The doorway without a door, always open, always there, taunting you. A symbol of your imprisonment, your helplessness. You flinch slightly as you pass under it, but you don't stop running.\n\nYou exit the compound and look up; the sun seems even brighter than you remember, the sky so much bluer. Once the light hits you, your @@color: #6E7A09;strange, fleshy protrusions@@ twitch and wriggle, but you ignore it. Ahead of you is the iron fence, with no gate or doors you can see. Beyond that you see grass and trees. You're so close that you feel you're going to break.\n\nYou begin to scale the <<if $time gte 3>>[[fence.|FENCEEND]]<<else>>[[fence.|ESCAPEEND]]<<endif>>

You take a deep breath and you steel yourself for whatever is to come.\n<<timedcontinue 3.5s>> \nYou can hear ''<<timedreplace 2s>>distant radio chatter<<becomes>>"cordyceps experiment"<<becomes>>"selecting least fatal formula"<<becomes>>"attempt <<print $name>> 32"<<becomes>>"starting log"<<becomes>>"prepping airtight chamber"<<becomes>>"all brain activity within desired limits"<<becomes>>"vitals recorded"<<becomes>>"chamber pressure set"<<becomes>>"begin contamination in 5"<<becomes>>"begin contamination in 4"<<becomes>>"begin contamination in 3"<<becomes>>"begin contamination in 2"<<becomes>>"begin contamination in 1"<<becomes>><<revise start '"start procedure"' end>><<endtimedreplace>>'' echo around the room.\n\n<<revision start>>Something is going to happen.<<becomes>>Something is [[happening]].<<endrevision>>

html {\n width: 100%;\n\n /* Vertical colour gradient */\n background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, white, red);\n background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, white, red);\n background-attachment: fixed;\n\n /* Fallback colour */\n background-color: red;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height: 100%;\n display: table;\n}\nbody {\n /* Remove default styles */\n font-size: 100%;\n background-color: transparent;\n margin: 0;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height:100%;\n display:table-cell;\n vertical-align: middle;\n}\n#passages {\n border-left: 0px;\n margin: 0;\n /* Keep a gap at the top and bottom of the page,\n when the text is longer than the window's height. */\n padding: 5% 0;\n}\n\n.passage {\n /* Passage width */\n width: 60%;\n /* Horizontal centering */\n margin: 0 auto;\n\n /* Text formatting */\n color: black;\n font-size: 100%;\n text-align:center;\n}\n\n/* No sidebar */\n#sidebar {\n display:none;\n}\n\n/* Links */\na.internalLink, a.externalLink {\n color: maroon;\n}\na.internalLink:hover, a.externalLink:hover {\n color: #400000;\n text-decoration: none;\n}\n\n/* Shrink the page when viewed on devices with a low screen width */\n@media screen and (max-width: 960px) {\n .passage { font-size: 90%; width: 70%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 840px) {\n .passage { font-size: 87.5%; width: 80%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 720px) {\n .passage { font-size: 75%; width: 90%; }\n}\n\n.revision-span-in {\n\topacity: 0;\n}\n.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {\n\ttransition: 1s; -webkit-transition: 1s;\n}\n.revision-span-out {\n\tposition:absolute;\n\topacity: 0;\n}

<<set $time += 1>><<set $arm += 2>><<set $willpower -= 1>>\n<<if $willpower > 1>>You won't let the forces below take hold of you, and you won't let this new force inside you take hold either. At this point thought, you're forced to wait.<<else>>You won't be able to stop either of these forces from taking hold of you, so you simply wait.<<endif>> You know that all the doors open eventually. They don't let the hungry die up here very often, and they never leave the dead in one place for long. They will let you out. It's just a matter of <<continue time.>>__''time''__.\n\nYou feel strange sensations in you for a long time, the two influences vying for control, pulling your thoughts this way and that, each trying to hold on. The calling is cold and targetted, but @@color: #B4C95D;the mist is warm and enveloping@@. You find a momentary peace, the first in a long time, while they focus on eachother instead of you. It's pleasant, and it's a loud kind of quiet, but the most you think you will ever get. You realize that one way or the other, you will lose control. There is no other option. You feel your ''<<hoverreplace>>resolve<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' start to crumble.\n\nFinally, @@color: #B4C95D;the mist wins over, and it twists and jerks your body towards door.@@ Before you reach it though, it [[opens|taken]].

You <<if visited("reunion")>>both<<endif>> scan the room, looking for anything that might work. It takes you some __''time''__, but you find a row of bottles on a shelf. Their lables are blank; people in the compound tend to keep writing away from all but the highest in rank. One bottle is black, another red, a third is @@color: #6E7A09;green@@. You examine the first two carefully, not quite sure what you're looking for. As you set your sights on the @@color: #6E7A09;green@@ bottle, the @@color: #6E7A09;black tendrils@@ coming from your body writhe and flail. It must mean something. You grab it <<if $arm < 1>>with your mouth<<endif>> and <<if visited("reunion")>>motion to your <<print $lover>> to [[leave.|halltogether]]<<else>>start to leave. Should you find your [[<<$lover>>|lover]], or should you [[escape|hall]]?<<endif>>

A searing pain runs through your body. You can't even begin to pull away from it.\n<<VOICE>>

The both of you sprint through the hall, not even pausing as you pass through the arch.\n\nYou exit the compound and look up; the sun seems even brighter than you remember, the sky so much bluer. Once the light hits you, your @@color: #6E7A09;strange, fleshy protrusions@@ twitch and wriggle, but you ignore it. Ahead of you is the iron fence, with no gate or doors you can see. Beyond that you see grass and trees. You're so close that you feel you're going to break. But for your <<print $lover>> you continue on.\n\nThey help you up and over the fence and then follow you over it with ease. The two of you continue at a brisk pace, <<if $arm>>holding eachother<<else>>your <<print $lover>> bracing you with a helpful arm.<<endif>> You pass under trees, through fields and meadows, you feel the breeze on your face and it smells just like you remember.\n\nFinally, the two of you sit under a large tree, to rest yourselves. You feel so happy, so complete. You stare into your <<print $lover>>'s face, so taken by their kindness and trust. They smile at you, and you can see that slowly, their gums are beginning to turn black. You look down at your @@color: #6E7A09;green@@ bottle and you\n\n[[hope|CREDITS]].

[[happening]](as long as you can) = +1\n[[look around]] = +1\n[[gas intake]] = +1\n[[pull back]] = +1\n[[remove your hands]] = +1\n[[wait]] = +1\n\ntotal of 6, 7 options (0-6)

Caeth

You look down at your body and you see a small hole, and blood, blood mixed with watery, black liquid trickling out of you. You look behind your shoulder; guards, two of them, one with a gun pointed straight at you. A gun already smoking. A gun already fired. You can feel the organism within you reacting, reeling from the pain, and as it reels, so do you. Unable to dull your senses any longer, the organism flails, tries to stop your bleeding, but it's no use. The black ooze vibrates, then slowly slides down to the floor. Your body slumps and you cry out at the pain. You can feel your stomach acid start to dig into your abdomen, and the pain causes you to fade in and out. You hear boots on the ground, approaching but still distant somehow. A distant voice behind the door calls out to you, ''"<<print $name>>? <<print $name>>?"'' You choke on your blood and bile, gasping out one final\n\n[["I'm sorry."|CREDITS]]

<<if $name is "forget">> You can't seem to remember your name. You concentrate on the letters, the sounds, but nothing sticks. Did it start with a J? A V? No, you've completely lost it. Your <<if $pronoun is "it">>face begins to leak a foul, viscous liquid and you feel a bit relieved of your desperate sadness.<<else>>eyes begin to well up at the thought.<<endif>>\n\n<<else if $name is "none">>What a silly notion. You've been down this road many times, and you know for a fact that you don't have a name. You never had a name. You will never have a name. <<if $pronoun is "it">>You don't need one.<<else>>You don't deserve one.<<endif>> That's what's true. Wait, how do you remember //that// of all things?\n\n<<else>>No, that doesn't sound right. That can't be it, can it?<<endif>>\n\n Suddenly it comes to you. You're <<cyclinglink $title '287' "Subject #287" "Drone #287" "Worker #287" "Hivethought #287" "Thoughtbox #287" "Fragment #287" "Patient #287" "Segmentle #287" "Implanted #287">>, aren't you?\n<<if $name is "forget" or $name is "none">>\n \n[[yes|namesubmit][$name to $title]]\n<<else>>\n [[yes|namesubmit][$name to $title]]\n [[no|nameresist][$willpower += 1]]\n<<endif>>\n

You race down the hallway and turn to go down the stairs, ''<<hoverreplace>>fighting<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' against the thing telling you to go up. You're going to get the fuck out of here but you're also going to need a <<if $time>>[[plan|$time]]<<else>>[[plan|0]]<<endif>>.

@@font-size: xx-large;[[CORDYCEPS MORTALIS|awake]]@@

@@color: #6E7A09;<<if $arm>>Your feet lose their hold on the wall, but your black spines are still firmly attached. Your guest takes your body back from you for the last time, setting you right and bringing you up and onto the [[roof|ROOFEND]].<<else>>Your feet lose their hold on the wall, and with no bone to help hold you together, your writhing black arms rip from their sockets. You [[fall|FALLEND]] into the pit, shoulders spraying foul liquid as you tumble.<<endif>>@@

You continue to cry into your <<print $lover>>'s shoulder as the sound of footsteps comes closer and closer. You're in no shape to run, and they're in no shape to leave you. You try to speak, try to do something, but they just hold you tightly and hush you.\n\nThe footsteps stop in front of you. You look up, and see them, their refletive masks showing you a distorted version of this sad scene. You turn away from it, closing your eyes and pressing your body closer to your <<print $lover>>.\n\nThey begin to talk into their devices.\n''"We've found them... visual identification verified... yes... infection... containment?... no ma'am. Understood. Begin\n\n[[termination|CREDITS]]."''

No? But how could you not be <<print $title>>?\n\n[[I'm <<print $name>>|namefinal]]

<<if $pronoun is "he">>his\n<<else if $pronoun is "she">>her\n<<else if $pronoun is "ze">>hir\n<<else if $pronoun is "they">>their\n<<else>>its\n<<endif>>

<<4>>

<<set $time += 1>><<set $willpower += 1>>\nYou ''<<hoverreplace>>force yourself<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' to pull away from this strange feeling. Clearly your body is not entirely your own anymore, though that should have been obvious by the numbness in your arms, and the drunk, heavy euphoria washing over you in waves. You'd be happier out there, you know it, but why? You resist the urge, trying to take the __''time''__ to understand your feelings, where they end and where these strange sensations begin. You're still not sure of anything. Do you [[get closer]], or [[wait]]?

In front of you are figures, with @@color: #6E7A09;black eyes@@ and white robes, smiling. The hoods of their robes stand up in places, as if their heads were covered with asymmetrical horns. They might be, you can't quite see under them.\n\nAs the light hits you, you see that your @@color: #6E7A09;arms are solid black, with twisting spire-like tendrils growing out of your skin. They shake@@ constantly, but it doesn't hurt you.\n\nThe figures speak in soft voices, "Follow us."\nDo you go with them?\n<<if $willpower lte 1>>[[yes|follow]]<<else>>==<<replace "yes">><<endreplace>>==<<endif>>\n[[no|donotfollow]]

You stare at the open doorway in surprise. You can see that <<if $arm>>one edge of the door is<<else>>both edges of the door are<<endif>> coated in a @@color: #6E7A09;steaming, oily, black substance@@. Was it pressure that forced open the door? Acid? You don't have time to think. You need to [[get out]] of this room.

Whatever it is they're trying to "contaminate" you with, there's no escaping it. Better to accept this fate and think about what to do next. You take a deep breath of the stuff being pumped into the room and you cough. It's cold and wet, like some kind of mist, but heavier. It has a sweet smell to it. You've been exposed. Now what's going to [[happen to you?|CHANGE]]

You manage to find your way to the door, feeling out in front of you hesitently with your worn feet. You rest your face against the metal; it feels cool against your skin, but you don't have time for small comforts. You press your shaking knee against the door, looking for the edges or the hinges or anything besides smooth metal. As you do, you feel a slight @@color: #B4C95D;tingle@@ in your otherwise-numb fingers as they accidentally brush against the seam of the door. Do you [[pull back]] or [[get closer]]?

<<set $time += 1>>You've been stuck in this torturous hell long enough to know that even when your mind tells you otherwise, pain is bad. Pain is your body trying to tell you that this is a ''bad idea''. You stumble slightly, but it's enough to remove your hands from the door. You feel the ripping and writhing start to subside, but your hands still feel strange. You touch them, and there seem to be small protrusions pushing at the skin on the tops of your fingers and hands. You try to dig them out, but only succeed in causing yourself to bleed. It itches. You know that nothing good could come from letting your parasitic intruder take hold of your appendages, but you're running low on options. You're wasting __''time''__ standing here in indecision. You can either [[place your hand back on the door|keep one hand]], or [[wait]].

<<5>>

Even with your body in the condition it's in, you find it easy to keep up with your <<print $lover>>; parts of you that fall off don't seem to matter as much, and the pleasant haze telling you to run back upstairs seems to help mask the pain, for now.\n \nYou run down to the first floor and arrive at the top of an intricate imperial staircase. Before you lies a large hall; its walls are still rough stone but its floor is smooth marble. At the end of the hall is the exit, an elaborately carved arched entryway leading to the outside. You resist the urge to leap straight off the top of the staircase, instead following behind your <<print $lover>> towards the \n<<if $time is 2>>[[arch|SACRIFICEEND]].\n<<else if $time is 1>>\n<<if visited("cure")>>[[arch|SACRIFICEEND]].<<else>>[[arch|INFECTEDEND]].<<endif>>\n<<else if $time is 0>>[[arch|PERFECTEND]].<<endif>>

You awake surrounded by darkness. Your mind feels foggy and slow to start working, but soon you begin to [[think|beginquestion]].\n\n

<<if visited("run for it again")>>This feeling inside you takes action, playing your name for you over and over, "''<<print $name>>, <<print $name>>, <<print $name>>, <<print $name>>, <<print $name>>..."'' like a calming mantra. It's calling to you. It urges you to<<else>>\nYou continue to walk and observe, and eventually you see an open door ahead of you, at the end of the long hallway. You walk closer and closer. It's dark inside.\nThe humming urges you to<<endif>> [[WALK|keepwalking]].\n<<if visited("run for it again")>><<else>>==[[make a break for it!|run for it again]]==<<endif>>

html {\n width: 100%;\n\n /* Vertical colour gradient */\n background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black, red);\n background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, black, red);\n background-attachment: fixed;\n\n /* Fallback colour */\n background-color: red;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height: 100%;\n display: table;\n}\nbody {\n /* Remove default styles */\n font-size: 100%;\n background-color: transparent;\n margin: 0;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height:100%;\n display:table-cell;\n vertical-align: middle;\n}\n#passages {\n border-left: 0px;\n margin: 0;\n /* Keep a gap at the top and bottom of the page,\n when the text is longer than the window's height. */\n padding: 5% 0;\n}\n\n.passage {\n /* Passage width */\n width: 60%;\n /* Horizontal centering */\n margin: 0 auto;\n\n /* Text formatting */\n color: white;\n font-size: 100%;\n text-align:center;\n}\n\n/* No sidebar */\n#sidebar {\n display:none;\n}\n\n/* Links */\na.internalLink, a.externalLink {\n color: red;\n}\na.internalLink:hover, a.externalLink:hover {\n color: darkred;\n text-decoration: none;\n}\n\n/* Shrink the page when viewed on devices with a low screen width */\n@media screen and (max-width: 960px) {\n .passage { font-size: 90%; width: 70%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 840px) {\n .passage { font-size: 87.5%; width: 80%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 720px) {\n .passage { font-size: 75%; width: 90%; }\n}\n\n.revision-span-in {\n\topacity: 0;\n}\n.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {\n\ttransition: 1s; -webkit-transition: 1s;\n}\n.revision-span-out {\n\tposition:absolute;\n\topacity: 0;\n}

You can feel your muscles ripping, your connective tissues tearing. You can hear sick crunching and cracking noises. You can't see what's happening, and you can't stop what's happening, but you can imagine. You can hardly pinpoint the pain but you know that you're going to lose your <<if $arm>>arm<<else>>arms<<endif>>. You dig your heels into the ground, trying to pull your body away from the door, but your <<if $arm>>arm remains<<else>>arms remain<<endif>> stuck to it.\n \n<<if $arm>>Suddently, something gives way. You fall hard onto your back, your head knocking against the floor. You recover, slowly, and try to feel for your arm. What you feel instead is a stump, with twisted, spire-like tendrils growing from it at an astonishing rate. There's no more pain, no blood. You notice you can still hear noises coming from the door. A hissing and a creaking and then, the door swings [[open|opens]].<<else>>\nSuddenly, something gives way. You fall hard onto your back, your head knocking against the floor. You recover, slowly, but as you try to get up, to brace yourself, you feel something off. Soemthing wrong. You can't sit up, you can't feel anything. You can't feel your arms. They're gone. There isn't even pain where there should be, or blood where there should be. The only thing you can feel is the sensation that something is growing and stretching out of where your arms used to be. You can still hear noises coming from the door. A hissing and a creaking and then, the door bursts [[open|opens]], falling backwards and slamming onto the ground.\n<<endif>>

@@font-size: x-large;[[THUMP|noise2]]@@

The noise comes closer and closer, and then there is a beautiful woman looming over you. You see row after row of guards behind her, an uneeded show of force. She clears her throat and begins to speak, @@font-size: x-large;"You know who I am. I am the queen of this place, and I've heard a great deal about you, <<print $title>>."@@ As she speaks, the words echo through the empty hall as well as your head; she has direct access to your brain. She studies you closely, appraising the changes in your body. She clicks her tongue. @@font-size: x-large;"Unfortunately, I have no more use for one such as yourself in my compound. We're going to have to dispose of you."@@ She bends down and with one hand begins to stroke your face gently. With the other, she pulls out a long, large needle. She pries open your mouth and jams the needle into your tongue. The pain is immense, and it gets worse as you feel your pleasant haze start to fade. @@font-size: x-large;"That should do the trick. I need your undivided attention, and I can't have fungi getting in my way. Listen carefully; you are going to do exactly as I say from now on, that is a fact. Now, <<print $name>>,\n\n[[die.|CREDITS]]@@\n

The guards look up at you with their reflective, emotionless masks, and you see a brief glimpse of the abomination you've become. One of them comes at you with a shock stick, while the other talks into the device on his wrist. They're either calling for more guards, or they're trying to terminate you via your calling chip. You're not sure if it'll work, but you don't want to find out; you try to maneuver around the first one but they stun you in the back. \n\nYou fall painfully down the rest of the stairs; you can feel your compromised bones snap like twigs. The second guard ignores you completely, talking into their device. ''"Yes, we have <<them>> here. No, <<they>> won't be a problem."'' The first guard laughs and shocks you again. They lean down over your, cold mask up against your ear and whisper, ''"Once you're dead, we'll leave your stinking corpse in your fuck friend's room so they can watch you rot."''\n\nYou cry as they swing the shock stick down onto you head and it\n\n[[cracks|CREDITS]].

<<if visited("fakedown")>><<else>>You know that the lower levels are guarded more heavily, almost impossible to escape from. You also can't help but shake this feeling that you need to go further up towards the sun, so you make your way towards the upper levels. <<endif>>You race down the hallway towards the stairs leading further up the compound. You don't feel any need to stop and catch your breath, it's never far behind you. Your running is effortless, your body is light<<if $arm is 2>>.<<else if $arm is 1>>, even taking your missing arm into account.<<else>>, even taking your missing arms into account.<<endif>> The air rushing past you, though stale, is a comfort. Your feet begin to bleed on the rough stone floor, but you don't even feel it. <<if $arm is 2>><<else if $arm is 1>>Though you can't control it, you can see that @@color: #6E7A09;the black, twisted tendrils@@ are swaying as you run, balancing you like your left arm might.<<else>>Though you can't control it, you can see that @@color: #6E7A09;the black, twisted tendrils@@ are swaying as you run, balancing you like your arms might.<<endif>>\n@@color: #6E7A09;Whatever is inside here with you, it's smart. It knows things. And it's [[leading you up]].@@

You struggle <<if $pronoun is "it">>to right yourself<<else>>to your feet<<endif>> and step outside. Somewhere in your consciousness, the calling is telling you to return to your room, but you can barely register it anymore. Even without your <<if $arm>>arm<<else>>arms<<endif>> you feel a sudden sense of hope, of freedom. You don't even look down at the black mess of vines reaching out from your body. It doesn't occur to you that this new @@color: #6E7A09;infection@@ could be anything but a symbiotic godsend.\n\nYou know that someone will be coming for you soon, to fix the door and to fix you. You have to move quickly. Which way do you go?\n[[up]]\n<<if $willpower gte 3>>[[down]]<<else>>==[[down|fakedown]]==<<endif>>

@@font-size: xx-large;[[CORD|https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuKjBIBBAL8]][[YCEPS|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ophiocordyceps_unilateralis]] [[MORTALIS|http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mortalis]]@@\nby [[caeth|http://caethiel.tumblr.com/]] [[palmarium|https://twitter.com/palmariumeri]]\n\nbased on a [[short story|http://caethiel.tumblr.com/post/37068468279/ophiocordycepsmortalis]] based on [[dream #59|http://caethiel.tumblr.com/post/51426073196/100-dreams]]

@@color: #6E7A09;As you reach the roof, you feel yourself overflowing with a sense of purpose. Your broken body shudders in anticipation, and you're overwhelmed by feelings you haven't experienced in a long time. The parasite drags you to the highest part of the roof, winding your body around a sturdy pipe. You feel a warm pulsing all the way to your core, a throbbing between your legs. The whole situation is completely inappropriate, but you can't stop the images flashing in your mind, of you and your <<print $lover>>, of bodies intertwined with one another, of smells and noises and feelings. You feel so complete, staring up at the sun with your single working eye. You can hear a rustling as your body is encircled by rising black tendrils, and your vision closes in, black creeping in around the edges. You don't care anymore, you drink in the warmth, and shudder and shake and become completed as your body fruits and\n\n[[ruptures|CREDITS]].

You know that their life is more important than yours, you've known that for a long time. The thought of freeing them, of staying alive for them, rather than for yourself, has gotten you through your hardest nights. You can't abandon them now; the thought of leaving them here to rot makes your stomach turn. You know that they were previously top-floor, but the guards are smarter than that; they wouldn't keep your <<print $lover>> in one place for too long, not as long as they kept you alive.\n\nThe history of your <<print $lover>>'s imprisonment flashes in your mind; it's been a while since they were sent to hall 18. You sprint there as soon as the thought enters your mind, running until your drugged lungs burn. The hall is [[quiet|cell]].

You turn to go down the stairs but then a @@color: #6E7A09;tingling@@ in your brain reminds you: you need to feel the sunlight, you need to be closer to the sun. There's no reason to fight it, it's such a happy thought, and you don't have the ''willpower'' to do anything but go [[up]].

You reach out in front of you and touch the floor. It's stone, cold and somewhat damp. You move around, reaching for some kind of clue, but you feel nothing except bare walls, stone and metal built into eachother like flesh and bone. You find an area that's uniform and smooth, separate from the rest. It might be a door. Unfortunately you can't seem to find any other features that might help you to open it.\n\n<<where>>

version.extensions.timedgotoMacro={major:1,minor:2,revision:0};\nmacros["goto"]=macros.timedgoto={timer:null,handler:function(a,b,c,d){function cssTimeUnit(s){if(typeof s=="string"){if(s.slice(-2).toLowerCase()=="ms"){return +(s.slice(0,-2))||0\n}else{if(s.slice(-1).toLowerCase()=="s"){return +(s.slice(0,-1))*1000||0\n}}}throwError(a,s+" isn't a CSS time unit");return 0}var t,d,m,s;\nt=c[c.length-1];d=d.fullArgs();m=0;if(b!="goto"){d=d.slice(0,d.lastIndexOf(t));\nm=cssTimeUnit(t)}d=eval(Wikifier.parse(d));if(d+""&&state&&state.init){if(macros["goto"].timer){clearTimeout(macros["goto"].timer)\n}s=state.history[0].passage.title;macros["goto"].timer=setTimeout(function(){if(state.history[0].passage.title==s){state.display(d,a)\n}},m)}}}\n\n\nversion.extensions.cyclinglinkMacro={major:3,minor:3,revision:0};\nmacros.cyclinglink={handler:function(a,b,c){var rl="cyclingLink";\nfunction toggleText(w){w.classList.remove("cyclingLinkInit");\nw.classList.toggle(rl+"Enabled");w.classList.toggle(rl+"Disabled");\nw.style.display=((w.style.display=="none")?"inline":"none")}switch(c[c.length-1]){case"end":var end=true;\nc.pop();break;case"out":var out=true;c.pop();break}var v="";if(c.length&&c[0][0]=="$"){v=c[0].slice(1);\nc.shift()}var h=state.history[0].variables;if(out&&h[v]===""){return\n}var l=Wikifier.createInternalLink(a,null);l.className="internalLink cyclingLink";\nl.setAttribute("data-cycle",0);for(var i=0;i<c.length;i++){var on=(i==Math.max(c.indexOf(h[v]),0));\nvar d=insertElement(null,"span",null,"cyclingLinkInit cyclingLink"+((on)?"En":"Dis")+"abled");\nif(on){h[v]=c[i];l.setAttribute("data-cycle",i)}else{d.style.display="none"\n}insertText(d,c[i]);if(on&&end&&i==c.length-1){l.parentNode.replaceChild(d,l)\n}else{l.appendChild(d)}}l.onclick=function(){var t=this.childNodes;\nvar u=this.getAttribute("data-cycle")-0;var m=t.length;toggleText(t[u]);\nu=(u+1);if(!(out&&u==m)){u%=m;if(v){h[v]=c[u]}}else{h[v]=""}if((end||out)&&u==m-(end?1:0)){if(end){var n=this.removeChild(t[u]);\nn.className=rl+"End";n.style.display="inline";this.parentNode.replaceChild(n,this)\n}else{this.parentNode.removeChild(this);return}return}toggleText(t[u]);\nthis.setAttribute("data-cycle",u)}}};\n\n(function(){version.extensions.replaceMacrosCombined={major:1,minor:1,revision:5};var nullobj={handler:function(){}};\nfunction showVer(n,notrans){if(!n){return}n.innerHTML="";new Wikifier(n,n.tweecode);n.setAttribute("data-enabled","true");\nn.style.display="inline";n.classList.remove("revision-span-out");if(!notrans){n.classList.add("revision-span-in");\nif(n.timeout){clearTimeout(n.timeout)}n.timeout=setTimeout(function(){n.classList.remove("revision-span-in");\nn=null},1)}}function hideVer(n,notrans){if(!n){return}n.setAttribute("data-enabled","false");n.classList.remove("revision-span-in");\nif(n.timeout){clearTimeout(n.timeout)}if(!notrans){n.classList.add("revision-span-out");n.timeout=setTimeout(function(){if(n.getAttribute("data-enabled")=="false"){n.classList.remove("revision-span-out");\nn.style.display="none";n.innerHTML=""}n=null},1000)}else{n.style.display="none";n.innerHTML="";n=null\n}}function tagcontents(b,starttags,desttags,endtags,k){var l=0,c="",tg,a,i;function tagfound(i,e,endtag){for(var j=0;\nj<e.length;j++){if(a.indexOf("<<"+e[j]+(endtag?">>":""),i)==i){return e[j]}}}a=b.source.slice(k);for(i=0;\ni<a.length;i++){if(tg=tagfound(i,starttags)){l++}else{if((tg=tagfound(i,desttags,true))&&l==0){b.nextMatch=k+i+tg.length+4;\nreturn[c,tg]}else{if(tg=tagfound(i,endtags,true)){l--;if(l<0){return null}}}}c+=a.charAt(i)}return null\n}var begintags=[];var endtags=[];function revisionSpanHandler(g,e,f,b){var k=b.source.indexOf(">>",b.matchStart)+2,vsns=[],vtype=e,flen=f.length,becomes,c,cn,m,h,vsn;\nfunction mkspan(vtype){h=insertElement(m,"span",null,"revision-span "+vtype);h.setAttribute("data-enabled",false);\nh.style.display="none";h.tweecode="";return h}if(this.shorthand&&flen){while(f.length>0){vsns.push([f.shift(),(this.flavour=="insert"?"gains":"becomes")])\n}}else{if(this.flavour=="insert"||(this.flavour=="continue"&&this.trigger=="time")){vsns.push(["","becomes"])\n}}if(this.flavour=="continue"&&flen){b.nextMatch=k+b.source.slice(k).length;vsns.push([b.source.slice(k),vtype])\n}else{becomes=["becomes","gains"];c=tagcontents(b,begintags,becomes.concat(endtags),endtags,k);if(c&&endtags.indexOf(c[1])==-1){while(c){vsns.push(c);\nc=tagcontents(b,begintags,becomes,endtags,b.nextMatch)}c=tagcontents(b,begintags,["end"+e],endtags,b.nextMatch)\n}if(!c){throwError(g,"can't find matching end"+e);return}vsns.push(c);if(this.flavour=="continue"){k=b.nextMatch;\nb.nextMatch=k+b.source.slice(k).length;vsns.push([b.source.slice(k),""])}}if(this.flavour=="remove"){vsns.push(["","becomes"])\n}cn=0;m=insertElement(g,"span",null,e);m.setAttribute("data-flavour",this.flavour);h=mkspan("initial");\nvsn=vsns.shift();h.tweecode=vsn[0];showVer(h,true);while(vsns.length>0){if(vsn){vtype=vsn[1]}vsn=vsns.shift();\nh=mkspan(vtype);h.tweecode=vsn[0]}if(typeof this.setup=="function"){this.setup(m,g,f)}}function quantity(m){return(m.children.length-1)+(m.getAttribute("data-flavour")=="remove")\n}function revisionSetup(m,g,f){m.className+=" "+f[0].replace(" ","_")}function keySetup(m,g,f){var key=f[0];\nm.setEventListener("keydown",function l(e){var done=!revise("revise",m);if(done){m.removeEventListener("keydown",l)\n}})}function timeSetup(m,g,f){function cssTimeUnit(s){if(typeof s=="string"){if(s.slice(-2).toLowerCase()=="ms"){return Number(s.slice(0,-2))||0\n}else{if(s.slice(-1).toLowerCase()=="s"){return Number(s.slice(0,-1))*1000||0}}}throwError(g,s+" isn't a CSS time unit");\nreturn 0}var tm=cssTimeUnit(f[0]);setTimeout(function timefn(){var done=!revise("revise",m);if(!done){setTimeout(timefn,tm)\n}},tm)}function hoverSetup(m){var fn,noMouseEnter=(document.head.onmouseenter!==null),m1=m.children[0],m2=m.children[1],gains=m2.className.indexOf("gains")>-1;\nif(!m1||!m2){return}m1.onmouseenter=function(e){var efp=document.elementFromPoint(e.clientX,e.clientY);\nwhile(efp&&efp!==this){efp=efp.parentNode}if(!efp){return}if(this.getAttribute("data-enabled")!="false"){revise("revise",this.parentNode)\n}};m2.onmouseleave=function(e){var efp=document.elementFromPoint(e.clientX,e.clientY);while(efp&&efp!==this){efp=efp.parentNode\n}if(efp){return}if(this.getAttribute("data-enabled")!="false"){revise("revert",this.parentNode)}};if(gains){m1.onmouseleave=m2.onmouseleave\n}if(noMouseEnter){fn=function(n){return function(e){if(!event.relatedTarget||(event.relatedTarget!=this&&!(this.compareDocumentPosition(event.relatedTarget)&Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_CONTAINED_BY))){this[n]()\n}}};m1.onmouseover=fn("onmouseenter");m2.onmouseout=fn("onmouseleave");if(gains){m1.onmouseout=m2.onmouseout\n}}m=null}function mouseSetup(m){var evt=(document.head.onmouseenter===null?"onmouseenter":"onmouseover");\nm[evt]=function(){var done=!revise("revise",this);if(done){this[evt]=null}};m=null}function linkSetup(m,g,f){var l=Wikifier.createInternalLink(),p=m.parentNode;\nl.className="internalLink replaceLink";p.insertBefore(l,m);l.insertBefore(m,null);l.onclick=function(){var p,done=false;\nif(m&&m.parentNode==this){done=!revise("revise",m);scrollWindowTo(m)}if(done){this.parentNode.insertBefore(m,this);\nthis.parentNode.removeChild(this)}};l=null}function visitedSetup(m,g,f){var i,done,shv=state.history[0].variables,os="once seen",d=(m.firstChild&&(this.flavour=="insert"?m.firstChild.nextSibling:m.firstChild).tweecode);\nshv[os]=shv[os]||{};if(d&&!shv[os].hasOwnProperty(d)){shv[os][d]=1}else{for(i=shv[os][d];i>0&&!done;i--){done=!revise("revise",m,true)\n}if(shv[os].hasOwnProperty(d)){shv[os][d]+=1}}}[{name:"insert",flavour:"insert",trigger:"link",setup:linkSetup},{name:"timedinsert",flavour:"insert",trigger:"time",setup:timeSetup},{name:"insertion",flavour:"insert",trigger:"revisemacro",setup:revisionSetup},{name:"later",flavour:"insert",trigger:"visited",setup:visitedSetup},{name:"keyinsert",flavour:"insert",trigger:"key",setup:keySetup},{name:"replace",flavour:"replace",trigger:"link",setup:linkSetup},{name:"timedreplace",flavour:"replace",trigger:"time",setup:timeSetup},{name:"mousereplace",flavour:"replace",trigger:"mouse",setup:mouseSetup},{name:"hoverreplace",flavour:"replace",trigger:"hover",setup:hoverSetup},{name:"revision",flavour:"replace",trigger:"revisemacro",setup:revisionSetup},{name:"keyreplace",flavour:"replace",trigger:"key",setup:keySetup},{name:"timedremove",flavour:"remove",trigger:"time",setup:timeSetup},{name:"mouseremove",flavour:"remove",trigger:"mouse",setup:mouseSetup},{name:"hoverremove",flavour:"remove",trigger:"hover",setup:hoverSetup},{name:"removal",flavour:"remove",trigger:"revisemacro",setup:revisionSetup},{name:"once",flavour:"remove",trigger:"visited",setup:visitedSetup},{name:"keyremove",flavour:"remove",trigger:"key",setup:keySetup},{name:"continue",flavour:"continue",trigger:"link",setup:linkSetup},{name:"timedcontinue",flavour:"continue",trigger:"time",setup:timeSetup},{name:"mousecontinue",flavour:"continue",trigger:"mouse",setup:mouseSetup},{name:"keycontinue",flavour:"continue",trigger:"key",setup:keySetup},{name:"cycle",flavour:"cycle",trigger:"revisemacro",setup:revisionSetup},{name:"mousecycle",flavour:"cycle",trigger:"mouse",setup:mouseSetup},{name:"timedcycle",flavour:"cycle",trigger:"time",setup:timeSetup},{name:"keycycle",flavour:"replace",trigger:"key",setup:keySetup}].forEach(function(e){e.handler=revisionSpanHandler;\ne.shorthand=(["link","mouse","hover"].indexOf(e.trigger)>-1);macros[e.name]=e;macros["end"+e.name]=nullobj;\nbegintags.push(e.name);endtags.push("end"+e.name)});function insideDepartingSpan(elem){var r=elem.parentNode;\nwhile(!r.classList.contains("passage")){if(r.classList.contains("revision-span-out")){return true}r=r.parentNode\n}}function reviseAll(rt,rname){var rall=document.querySelectorAll(".passage [data-flavour]."+rname),ret=false;\nfor(var i=0;i<rall.length;i++){if(!insideDepartingSpan(rall[i])){ret=revise(rt,rall[i])||ret}}return ret\n}function revise(rt,r,notrans){var ind2,curr,next,ind=-1,rev=(rt=="revert"),rnd=(rt.indexOf("random")>-1),fl=r.getAttribute("data-flavour"),rc=r.childNodes,cyc=(fl=="cycle"),rcl=rc.length-1;\nfunction doToGainerSpans(n,fn){for(var k=n-1;k>=0;k--){if(rc[k+1].classList.contains("gains")){fn(rc[k],notrans)\n}else{break}}}for(var k=0;k<=rcl;k++){if(rc[k].getAttribute("data-enabled")=="true"){ind=k}}if(rev){ind-=1\n}curr=(ind>=0?rc[ind]:(cyc?rc[rcl]:null));ind2=ind;if(rnd){ind2=(ind+(Math.floor(Math.random()*rcl)))%rcl\n}next=((ind2<rcl)?rc[ind2+1]:(cyc?rc[0]:null));var docurr=(rev?showVer:hideVer);var donext=(rev?hideVer:showVer);\nvar currfn=function(){if(!(next&&next.classList.contains("gains"))||rnd){docurr(curr,notrans);doToGainerSpans(ind,docurr,notrans)\n}};var nextfn=function(){donext(next,notrans);if(rnd){doToGainerSpans(ind2+1,donext,notrans)}};if(!rev){currfn();\nnextfn()}else{nextfn();currfn()}return(cyc?true:(rev?(ind>0):(ind2<rcl-1)))}macros.revert=macros.revise=macros.randomise=macros.randomize={handler:function(a,b,c){var l,rev,rname;\nfunction disableLink(l){l.style.display="none"}function enableLink(l){l.style.display="inline"}function updateLink(l){if(l.className.indexOf("random")>-1){enableLink(l);\nreturn}var rall=document.querySelectorAll(".passage [data-flavour]."+rname),cannext,canprev,i,ind,r,fl;\nfor(i=0;i<rall.length;i++){r=rall[i],fl=r.getAttribute("data-flavour");if(insideDepartingSpan(r)){continue\n}if(fl=="cycle"){cannext=canprev=true}else{if(r.firstChild.getAttribute("data-enabled")==!1+""){canprev=true\n}if(r.lastChild.getAttribute("data-enabled")==!1+""){cannext=true}}}var can=(l.classList.contains("revert")?canprev:cannext);\n(can?enableLink:disableLink)(l)}function toggleText(w){w.classList.toggle(rl+"Enabled");w.classList.toggle(rl+"Disabled");\nw.style.display=((w.style.display=="none")?"inline":"none")}var rl="reviseLink";if(c.length<2){throwError(a,b+" macro needs 2 parameters");\nreturn}rname=c.shift().replace(" ","_");l=Wikifier.createInternalLink(a,null);l.className="internalLink "+rl+" "+rl+"_"+rname+" "+b;\nvar v="";var end=false;var out=false;if(c.length>1&&c[0][0]=="$"){v=c[0].slice(1);c.shift()}switch(c[c.length-1]){case"end":end=true;\nc.pop();break;case"out":out=true;c.pop();break}var h=state.history[0].variables;for(var i=0;i<c.length;\ni++){var on=(i==Math.max(c.indexOf(h[v]),0));var d=insertElement(null,"span",null,rl+((on)?"En":"Dis")+"abled");\nif(on){h[v]=c[i];l.setAttribute("data-cycle",i)}else{d.style.display="none"}insertText(d,c[i]);l.appendChild(d)\n}l.onclick=function(){reviseAll(b,rname);var t=this.childNodes,u=this.getAttribute("data-cycle")-0,m=t.length,n,lall,i;\nif((end||out)&&u>=m-(end?2:1)){if(end){n=this.removeChild(t[u+1]||t[u]);n.className=rl+"End";n.style.display="inline";\nthis.parentNode.replaceChild(n,this)}else{this.parentNode.removeChild(this);return}}else{toggleText(t[u]);\nu=(u+1)%m;if(v){h[v]=c[u]}toggleText(t[u]);this.setAttribute("data-cycle",u)}lall=document.getElementsByClassName(rl+"_"+rname);\nfor(i=0;i<lall.length;i++){updateLink(lall[i])}};disableLink(l);setTimeout((function(l){return function(){updateLink(l)\n}}(l)),1);l=null}};macros.mouserevise=macros.hoverrevise={handler:function(a,b,c,d){var endtags=["end"+b],evt=(window.onmouseenter===null?"onmouseenter":"onmouseover"),t=tagcontents(d,[b],endtags,endtags,d.source.indexOf(">>",d.matchStart)+2);\nif(t){var rname=c[0].replace(" ","_"),h=insertElement(a,"span",null,"hoverrevise hoverrevise_"+rname),f=function(){var done=!reviseAll("revise",rname);\nif(b!="hoverrevise"&&done){this[evt]=null}};new Wikifier(h,t[0]);if(b=="hoverrevise"){h.onmouseover=f;\nh.onmouseout=function(){reviseAll("revert",rname)}}else{h[evt]=f}h=null}}};macros.instantrevise={handler:function(a,b,c,d){reviseAll("revise",c[0].replace(" ","_"))\n}};macros.endmouserevise=nullobj;macros.endhoverrevise=nullobj}());

...your head is <<insert "smashed through the window">>, glass shards ripping through your eyelid, spearing your right eye, <<if $pronoun is "it">>lodging themselves in your facial orifices,<<else>>cutting into your nostrils and grinding into your sinuses, tearing your lips, slicing your gums<<endif>> and cutting into your skin. You would cry out but your host doesn't give you the pleasure. Your left eye waters and you lose track of what's happening until you're halfway [[out the window]].<<endinsert>>

Everything is silent for a while. You know what will happen next. They will test you, use you. You don't mean anything to them, you're simply a piece in a puzzle, they'll cut you to whatever shape they want. <<if $pronoun is "it">>They've shaped you time and time again; you're not sure how much more your body can take.<<else>>They've cut you plenty of times already, marked you, changed you.<<endif>> They have no limits, they beat and torture, cut up and sew back together, starve and feed til sickness. <<if $pronoun is "it">>They're the monsters, not you.<<else>>They're monsters.<<endif>> <<if $willpower > 1>>You know now that you will escape this place, no matter what it takes.<<else if $willpower > 0>>You know now that you have to escape this place. Somehow.<<else>>You know now that you cannot escape this place. Ever.<<endif>>\n\n<<if $willpower gte 0>>[[There is still hope]].\n<<else>>[[There is no hope|BADEND1]].<<endif>>\n\n

You try your hardest, but you can't resist the commands coming from inside you. Every hesitation sends waves of pain through you, forcing you on. You resign yourself, letting your legs move on their own. You take your position, marching at the end of a single file line. Your body is trapped by these motions, but your eyes can still wander. You have enough time to [[look at yourself|you look at yourself]], or \n[[the hallway|you look at the hallway]], or [[the other people]].\n\n\n

You realize that if you want to continue living, you're going to need to cure yourself of whatever they've done to you. You picture a number of different labs in the compound; one of them elicits a faint response in your parasitic guest. You <<if visited("reunion")>>call out to your <<print $lover>> and<<endif>> head straight for that one.\n\nThe hallway is lower-level, but mostly unguarded. You pass by several doors, glass not metal, and finally you find the right one. You dart inside. The room is well lit; the windows are larger than upper-level, but still barred. You <<if visited("reunion")>>and your <<print $lover>> <<endif>>[[search]] the room.

As you both begin sprinting down the hall, you hear footsteps behind you. Boots, and the the sharp click of heels. You stop once you hear it, right beneath the arch. Your <<print $lover>> is yards ahead of you, running towards the fence. They look over their shoulder at you and stop. They're waiting. They won't go without you.\n\nYou can hear the boots approaching, you know that you don't have much time. <<if $time is 1>><<if $arm > 0>>You throw the @@color: #6E7A09;green@@ bottle to them.<<else>>You put down the @@color: #6E7A09;green@@ bottle and roll it over to them.<<endif>> They take it, but they hesitate. <<endif>>With all the love in your tired heart, you wave them on and <<continue "turn your back.">>turn your back.\n\nIn front of you is a beautiful woman, with tens of guards in rows behind her. She snaps her gloved fingers and they advance on you. This same scene has filled you with icy terror many times, but it doesn't matter anymore; they won't be taking you alive. You brace yourself against the arch and then\n\n[[erupt|CREDITS]].

You can feel this substance in your <<if $pronoun is "it">><<else>><<insert mouth.>>@@color: #B4C95D; It sticks to your teeth and your cheeks, coating the back of your throat. You can feel it, gritty and wet on your tongue, but the taste quickly turns sweeter than honey.@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen in your <<endif>><<insert lungs.>>@@color: #B4C95D; As you cough and sputter, your lungs sting deep, almost like daggers being shoved between your ribs. Once your breathing slows, though, you feel a dull, warm throb instead.@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen your <<insert stomach.>>@@color: #B4C95D; <<if $pronoun is "it">>You<<else>>As you try to swallow this feeling in the back of your throat, you<<endif>> feel a churning in your stomach, stranger than hunger, stranger than sickness. You feel full, but not fulfilled. You feel heavy, like you've drank too much too fast.@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen your <<insert arms.>>@@color: #B4C95D; Your arms begin to tingle as if asleep, and then go completely numb. You can't move them at all. You're unsure as to how, but you can't shake the feeling that they're still moving without you.@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen your <<insert legs.>>@@color: #B4C95D; Your legs begin to tingle as well, but they don't go numb. Instead, they begin to shake, and no matter how hard you try they won't stay still. <<if $pronoun is "it">>You can hear your bones creaking, and your tendons straining at the effort. Your distorted form isn't handling this stress well.<<endif>>@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen your <<insert skin.>>@@color: #B4C95D; Your skin begins to crawl and prickle, you swear you can feel the blood moving through your veins, sharp and rough and painful. You feel like it's going to tear your skin apart. <<if $pronoun is "it">>The weaker patches of your flesh do tear, they rupture and seep a hot liquid.<<endif>> The only thing that gives you any relief is to keep moving your body. What about your arms, then?@@<<endinsert>> \n\nThen your <<insert eyes.>>@@color: #B4C95D; Your eyes tingle and when you open them colors dance in your vision, bright colors and far too many. You can feel them start to twitch back and forth rapidly, and you suddenly feel sad at the darkness. You need to find [[light]].@@<<endinsert>>

You start to rush down the stairs, ideas flying through your head one after the other when suddenly you see guards, running up the stairs to meet you. You realize that every possible second you wasted getting here brought you to this end. You spent so long waiting to get out of that room, of course the guards would notice. You didn't even have a chance. You're completely out of __''time''__. You're [[caught|CAUGHTEND]].

You slump to the ground in defeat. Whatever fate they have waiting for you, you don't have the ''<<hoverreplace>>power<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' to fight it. <<if $pronoun is "it">>Your body is too unrecognizable, there's no point in saving it.<<else>>Your body is too weak, there's no use in trying.<<endif>> You can hear the sound of gas being released into the room. You breath it in deeply; it tastes acidic and smells dank and moldy like the rest of the air. You are past the point of crying. You simply wait as the changes take form in your body. You can feel your limbs twitch, and eventually you lose all control, writhing helplessly on the ground. In the pitch black, colors swirl before your eyes and then disappear. You really are blind now, you think to yourself. Your body twitches and seizes and then\n\n[[it ruptures.|CREDITS]]

You look ahead of you and see others, other people, but some appearing more human than others. They all seem to be thin and bony, to varying degrees. Some of them leave trails of blood where they step, others leave more ambiguous fluids. Ahead of you you hear a deep, wet coughing, and the thud of a body hitting stone. You continue to walk, and soon at your feet you see a prone body, covered in black sores. It lies perfectly still as you step over it. Strangely, the body bears a resemblence to that of your __<<cyclinglink $lover "lover" "partner" "companion" "friend" "beloved" "life mate" "dearest">>__, who you know is still inside the compound. But it isn't them. You feel nauseous, but you have to focus.\n<<if visited("you look at the hallway", "you look at yourself")>><<WALK2>><<else if visited("you look at yourself")>>You look around you [[at the hallway|you look at the hallway]].<<else if visited("you look at the hallway")>>You look down at [[your body|you look at yourself]].<<else>>You look down at [[your body|you look at yourself]] or [[the hallway|you look at the hallway]] around you.<<endif>>\n

@@color: #6E7A09;You watch through your one working eye as your body works its way up the walls. <<if $arm is 2>>Your arms are broken in many places, with spiny black growths pulling you up, your legs being used to brace your body after each pull.<<else if $arm>>Your arm is broken in many places, with spiny black browths pulling you up, your legs being used to brace your body after each pull.<<else>>Black spiny growths stab at the wall to pull you up for lack of arms. A foul, sticky substance leaks from the bottom of your feet, helping to brace you as you go.<<endif>> As you scale the side, you can see that the compound is larger than you ever imagined. It goes on in all directions for almost a mile, and is surrounded on all sides by a tall, metal fence. Directly below you, you can hear mechanical noises. There is a rotten stench, and heat rising up to meet you.\nDo you look down?\n<<if $willpower gte 1>>[[yes|look down]]<<else>>==<<replace "yes">><<endreplace>>==<<endif>>\n[[no|ignore]]

@@color: #6E7A09;You try to jerk your head down towards the heat, but you don't even have that much ''<<hoverreplace>>power<<becomes>>willpower<<endhoverreplace>>'' in you. You watch your body continue to climb the wall without your help, higher and higher until it's pulling you up onto the [[roof|ROOFEND]].@@

You look down at your body, you are\n[[a boy|body][$pronoun to "he"]]\n[[a girl|body][$pronoun to "she"]]\n[[a person|body][$pronoun to "they"]]\n[[disgusting|body][$pronoun to "it"]]\n

You climb flight after flight until you should be seeing stars, but you continue on, images of your previous marches flashing before your mind without you conjuring them up. These vivid flashbacks break your concentration, but your body moves without you. @@color: #6E7A09;You can hear snapping and cracking, and black, spongy growths protrude from where your toenails used to be.@@ Your mind is wrung dry, all knowledge of location taken from it, and you lose control completely. @@color: #6E7A09;Your skin continues to crack in places, seeping black oil and revealing hard, black spires beneath. You feel more like a shell than a person, as whatever is within you continues its takeover.@@ Your elation starts to dissipate as your @@color: #6E7A09;control over your faculties does. Why bother to negotiate@@ with what you have already taken by force? @@color: #6E7A09;You are going where it wants now, finding some new, unknown purpose, following a compass made from your memories. You [[ascend]].@@

The door [[closes]] behind you.

Your growths burst, your body ruptures, and then, you feel everything. You see everything. Your spores fly about the room, amidst a circle of smiling faces. Smiling faces with black eyes and black sores and black spires. The faces of the immune. You know what you must do. You take your spores and guide them, up to the ceiling and out through an air duct. You spread yourself thin, through the whole compound, leaving every room touched by your contagion. The caged, the hungry, the conspirators, the guards, every one of them. The compound rings with a chorus of choking and coughing. Your last spore infects your last victim, and you can feel your job is done. The immune are no longer smiling. Everything is in chaos. You relax just enough to let your heart\n\n[[stop|CREDITS]].

html {\n width: 100%;\n\n /* Vertical colour gradient */\n background-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, black, grey);\n background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, black, grey);\n background-attachment: fixed;\n\n /* Fallback colour */\n background-color: grey;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height: 100%;\n display: table;\n}\nbody {\n /* Remove default styles */\n font-size: 100%;\n background-color: transparent;\n margin: 0;\n\n /* Vertical centering */\n height:100%;\n display:table-cell;\n vertical-align: middle;\n}\n#passages {\n border-left: 0px;\n margin: 0;\n /* Keep a gap at the top and bottom of the page,\n when the text is longer than the window's height. */\n padding: 5% 0;\n}\n\n.passage {\n /* Passage width */\n width: 60%;\n /* Horizontal centering */\n margin: 0 auto;\n\n /* Text formatting */\n color: darkgray;\n font-size: 100%;\n text-align:center;\n}\n\n/* No sidebar */\n#sidebar {\n display:none;\n}\n\n/* Links */\na.internalLink, a.externalLink {\n color: white;\n}\na.internalLink:hover, a.externalLink:hover {\n color: darkgray;\n text-decoration: none;\n}\n\n/* Shrink the page when viewed on devices with a low screen width */\n@media screen and (max-width: 960px) {\n .passage { font-size: 90%; width: 70%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 840px) {\n .passage { font-size: 87.5%; width: 80%; }\n}\n@media screen and (max-width: 720px) {\n .passage { font-size: 75%; width: 90%; }\n}\n\n.revision-span-in {\n\topacity: 0;\n}\n.revision-span:not(.revision-span-out) {\n\ttransition: 1s; -webkit-transition: 1s;\n}\n.revision-span-out {\n\tposition:absolute;\n\topacity: 0;\n}

Suddenly you //remember//. It all comes rushing back to you, like a strong wave, overtaking you and pulling you under. The system starts to run, the safety locks are lifted, and you're finally, really, truly //aware//. Because they need you aware, the bastards. They need you lucid for whatever they have planned. You know what's coming next. They're going to [[open the door.|VOICE]]\n\n

This is the moment you've been waiting for, this is why you were biding your __''time''__. You take your @@color: #6E7A09;distorted arms@@ and swipe at the hooded figures, easily knocking them down. You break some of the black growths in the process, but the pain barely registers to you. You quickly rush out of the room and into the hallway. Time is of the essence; do you go [[up]], or <<if $willpower gte 2>>[[down]]<<else>>==[[down|fakedown]]==<<endif>>?

You hear the sound of gas being pumped into the room, of pressure being released.\n\nYou take a [[deep breath]].\nYou hold your breath [[as long as you can][$time += 1]].

@@font-size: xx-large;[[THUMP|noise3]]@@

You can feel it, the sound resonates from inside your head, like someone striking a hammer between the hemispheres of your brain. It wants something from you, but what?\nThe pounding stops and is replaced by a steady, inviting hum. Wordless, but with no need for words. You feel pulled towards the door, an unpleasant tug behind your navel, telling you to [[awake.|noise4]]

You feel something in you yearn for sunlight, more than anything else. You need to feel the light on your agitated skin. The thought of it elates you more than anything else. Your head feels light and your thoughts start to melt into eachother. \nYou need to [[find a way out.]] But you could also try to [[fight this urge.|Fight this urge.][$willpower =+ 1]]

You can't use your sight, but you can still try to find a way out of here. Trying is all you have left. Your best bets are going to be the [[equipment|gas intake]], whatever it might be, and the [[door]].

<<if $pronoun is "it">>You look down at your body and are horrified by it once more. Your angles, your joints, they're all put together wrong, and you realize this as what ought to be your legs crack and scrape across the floor, somehow pushing you forward. You are leaking all sorts of things in all sorts of places. Your skin is translucent in spots, and leathery in others. As the sun hits your body you get the urge to sneeze between your shoulderblades. You shudder. It's worse than you remember.\n<<else if $pronoun is "they">>You look down at your body and notice some odd things about it. Small patches of your skin are shaved and have red, infected incision marks. Your bones protrude from your skin, and your skin looks dull and pallid. You see a new, cryptic tattoo on one of your arms, but you can't get a good look at it. You feel odd aches in several places. This is all too familiar.\n<<else>>You look down at your body and notice some things about it. You are thinner than you thought you were, but you have a hard time remembering what you used to look like. You wouldn't be surprised if you lost some weight; you feel like there's a hole where your stomach used to be. Your hair has gotten long and matted, and it moves around your body and sticks to your skin as you walk. You seem empty compared to how you used to be, before they took you.<<endif>> <<if visited("you look at the hallway", "the other people")>><<WALK2>><<else if visited("the other people")>>You quickly glance around, trying to assess your [[surroundings|you look at the hallway]].<<else if visited("you look at the hallway")>>You look ahead at the line of [[people|the other people]] in front of you.<<else>>You have to get a grip, there's more to take in that just your own appearance. There's still this [[hallway|you look at the hallway]] and [[the other people]].<<endif>>\n

<<if visited ("number")>><<else>>[[Who am I?|who]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("where")>><<else>>[[Where am I?|where]]<<endif>>\n<<if visited ("thefuck")>><<else>>[[What the fuck is going on?|thefuck]]<<endif>><<if visited("who", "where", "thefuck")>>What was that [[noise]]?\n<<endif>>