Rachmaninoff- Prelude in C# minor

Andante You find yourself in a neatly manicured field, surrounded by a silent crowd, every member of which is dressed in black. Dew covers the grass, but you can't tell the time of day; the sky is painted with heavy grey clouds. The crowd around you is tightly packed, so you have no idea where you are or why you are here. What do you do? [[Ask someone]] what's going on. [[Wait->Sit and watch the funeral.]] for something to happen. [[Get out.]] Now.

Allegro You run. The crowd moves to block you. They seem unnaturally strong and despite your best efforts, you soon see yourself returning to your original position. What do you do? [[Run again.]] [[Give up and watch the proceedings.->Sit and watch the funeral.]]

You turn to the person next to you and ask what's happening. As you're doing so, you notice that their face is covered by a dark veil. They show no obvious reaction to your question. The crowd to your left starts shuffling and rearranging themselves. What do you do? [[Ask again]], this time louder. Politely request that the person [[remove their veil.]] [[Sit and watch the proceedings.->Sit and watch the funeral.]] [[Go.->Get out.]]

Allegro You ask once more, and the member of the crowd once more doesn't respond. The crowd to your left stops moving. Their rearrangement has revealed to you a scene of burial. An ornate marble coffin is poised above a pit. You see a figure resembling the rest of the crowd standing next to the coffin. They wear no veil, but you can't quite make out any of their facial features, except that they appear to be on the old end of ancient. They carry a tattered book in front of them as they look over the crowd. You suddenly develop an intense interest for what the figure has to say. [[Stay and listen.]]  [[Stay and listen.]] (set: $timesListened to 0)

Allegro Your hand gets heavier as you raise it to remove the member of the crowd's veil. Just as you are about the reach it, the weight becomes too much to bear and your arm drops. The crowd remains silent around you. What do you do? [[Try again]], this time harder. [[Give up->Sit and watch the funeral.]] and watch the funeral.

The figure opens the book and their head tilts down to read. They begin to speak, but to you it seems muffled and unintelligible. (if: $timesListened >= 1)[You listen harder, but are no more successful at discerning the speech. What do you do?](else:)[What do you do?] [[Stay and listen.]] [[Stay and listen.]] (if: $timesListened >= 2)[ [[Move closer]] so you can hear better.] (set: $timesListened to it + 1)

Allegro Still enraptured by the vague speech, you begin to move closer to the figure giving the speech. No matter how far you walk, you seem to get no closer to the speaker and their speech becomes no less muffled to your human ears. What do you do? [[Run toward them.]] [[Think]] about what you're doing for a second.

You stop, realizing what is happening. Your trance breaks and you look around. Everyone is wearing a veil, but you can feel their gazes affixed to you. The ancient figure has stopped their speech, filling the area with silence. You can feel their stares burning directly into your soul. You slowly turn about and see every single one of th- (display: "You died.")

You begin to run. The speech speeds up as you approach the ancient figure. The coffin begins to lower into the grave. Suddenly, as if you'd never had to run at all in order to arrive, you're adjacent to it-- falling into the grave. You scramble up and are helpless but to watch as it sinks past your head, then your chest, then your waist. When the coffin is inches from the ground, the ropes holding it snap. The coffin jerks out of its restraints and collapses to the ground with a crash. The base shatters before your eyes, but the lid stays intact as the coffin comes to its final rest. What do you do? [[Move the lid.]] [[Try to get out.]]

Largo You struggle to move the heavy marble lid, intensely curious as to the contents of the coffin. The cover slowly shifts to the side, and once it's fully off of the occupant, you gaze down at their face. Your gaunt, deathly mask looks back into your eyes. You stand transfixed, staring at yourself. Falling. Fear. Mortality. You sit up quickly. Church bells ring in the distance. Outside, the sun shines. No one is with you. You sit in your apartment, breathing. You still can't get the image out of your brain. Something feels tight in your chest. [[You untense your muscles and sit in silence.->Thanks page]]

Largo You try to scramble up the walls of the grave to no avail. The crowd has moved to gather around the grave. The stand in silence, staring as you futilely attempt to escape. You jump and grab one of their leg- (display: "You died.")

Thanks for playing Rachmaninoff- Prelude in C# minor! This story follows a dream that the titular Rachmaninoff had that inspired him to write his Prelude in C# minor. You can listen to it (link: "here.")[(goto-url: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IlDxUyQVB0")] If you want to play again, follow [[this link.->Waking Up]]

Johnson turned to Petrov. "Heart attack," he said. "Should've been relatively instant, but you can't help but think that they must've felt it coming. Massive! What a shame. At least is was in their sleep." "что?" You lay there in silence, mostly because [[you're dead.->Thanks page]]

Largo The crowd moves to reveal a grim scene. An ornate marble coffin is poised above a pit. You see a figure resembling the rest of the crowd standing next to the coffin. They wear no veil, but you can't quite make out any of their facial features, except that they appear to be on the old end of ancient. They carry a tattered book in front of them as they look over the crowd. To you, their words are muffled and unintelligible, but the crowd still stands, seemingly enraptured by their words. What do you do? [[Listen harder.]] [[Fall asleep.]]

You redouble your efforts, bracing yourself with your other arm as you struggle to reveal the face of the member of the crowd. Your body begins to shake with effort as your arm approaches the veil. Finally, your hand grabs it and tears it off. The member of the crowd does not react. Before you get the chance to examine your subject, a quiet rustling comes to you from the crowd surrounding you. You look around to see that every member of the crowd has removed their veil and is standing stone still, facing directly toward you. Suddenly, you realize who they are. They're you. Your subject is you from about a year ago, the one to your left is you as a child. Several of them have a haircut that you've struggled to forget. None of them are quite the same; but they're all staring at you. Judging. What do you do? Try to [[figure out what's going on.]] Accept it and [[watch the proceedings.->Sit and watch the funeral.]]

Andante As you look closer at their unmoving states, you realize the thing they all have in common. They're all younger than you. You are the oldest member of this congregation. But why? Because [[you're dead.]] Because [[this is a dream.->you're dead.]]

Suddenly you realize. You know what's going on. The truth. It's so obvious. You- (display: "You died.")

The figure continues to speak, their words dancing across the crowd only to stumble when they reach your ears. What do you do? [[Try. Harder.]] [[Fall asleep.]]

You drift off to the steady cadence of the mysterious speech. Just as you lose consciousness, an intensely bright light glares through your eyelids. You awake and find yourself in your bedroom. Morning light shines through your window. Your cat, Chunggus, mews curiously and licks the accumulated sweat off of your skin. As you get up, you notice your phone says it's... tomorrow? Did you sleep through a whole day? (display: "Thanks page")

Just as the words seem they are about to clarify themselves, the words stop. An abrupt silence covers the crowd. You look around and see no change in figures surrounding you. When you look back at the speaker, you realize they are lowering the coffin into the pit. Its progress is lethargic as the speaker's frail form slowly works. One of the ropes suddenly snaps, and the coffin crashes into its final resting place. Strangely, this noise seems different. It's sharp and clear, and most importantly loud. You [[jump in fright.]]

You bolt upright. It was all a dream. Sunlight streams through your window. You hear a guilty mew coming from the kitchen and run downstairs. You enter the kitchen to see shards of pottery covering the ground and your cat, Chunggus, making his escape. You sigh and grab the brush. (display: "Thanks page")

Largo You decide to keep trying. The grass is slippery as you run, but you don't fall. You push through the crowd with everything you can muster and finally break through. An empty expanse sprawls before you- a flat plain of perfectly manicured grass. The grey sky stretches infinitely in every direction. You turn an see the crowd has returned to its initial state, facing away from you and standing entirely still. What is happening? [[It's a dream.]] [[You're dead.->It's a dream.]] [[Doesn't matter->Sit and watch the funeral.]] anymore, does it?

Suddenly it's clear to you. It's the only thing that could be true. You wonder why you never figured this out befor- (display: "You died.")