Lattice Station (a text adventure)

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

Lattice Station is a text adventure where you can suggest actions in a post, and see how they play out in the story. It's open to all (but I reserve the right to decide what comes of the suggestions.) Smile

~~~

Westbrook wrote:: AROUND YOU, THE WORLD COLLAPSES.
IN THE DISTANCE, THE BUILDINGS CRUMBLE.
THE SKIES ARE BLACK.
YOU ARE ALONE.
YOU REACH OUT, BUT THE DARKNESS ENCIRCLES YOU, AS ONE BY ONE ALL OF YOUR SENSES WINK OUT OF EXISTENCE.
YOU SEE NOTHING.
YOU HEAR NOTHING.
YOU FEEL NOTHING.

YOU BOLT UPRIGHT IN YOUR BED, BREATHING HEAVILY FROM THE NIGHTMARE YOU HAVE WRESTED YOURSELF FROM.
THE DREAM FELT SO REAL, YOU CANNOT HELP YOURSELF FROM CONFUSING IT WITH REALITY.
YOU GLANCE AROUND YOUR ROOM. EVERYTHING SEEMS NORMAL.
BEHIND THE WINDOW BLINDS, THE SKY SHOWS THE FAINT SIGNS OF SUNRISE.

ACTION? >> _

NinjaKitten wrote:: >>Head to bathroom, overdose on pills with the intent of suicide.

Westbrook wrote:: >> Head to bathroom, overdose on pills with the intent of suicide.

You roll out of bed. Your mind is awash with the with the last remnants of your dream, and all you can feel is the hopelessness that it left behind. You stumble to the bathroom, not entirely sure what your goal is. The nightmare had been so bleak--was this all that awaited you in life? Darkness? Solitude?

You absent-mindedly flip the light switch and come face-to-face with yourself in the cabinet mirror. Exhausted, you eye your reflection carefully, half looking at it, and half imagining the various forms of medication on the other side of it.

As the seconds pass, the grip of your dream on reality begins to fade, and your consciousness returns to you. It's not dark. You know you're not alone in your life. Your prior feelings of helplessness suddenly feel so fantastical. You give yourself a hard stare in the mirror before turning the lights off and returning to your room.

Action? >> _

NinjaKitten wrote:: >> Get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast.

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Get dressed and go downstairs for breakfast.

You're up already; might as well make the most of it, you suppose. There's not much use in going back to sleep, and after the nightmare you had, you're not very keen on trying to return to the dream world anyway.

You hobble over to your closet and slide open the doors, already starting to plan what you're going to wear today. Your closet mirror catches your eye, and you briefly take in your tired-looking form.

Describe character? >> _

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

(the question is: real appearance or fake appearance? No one but I shall know!)
>>A tangled mess of light brown hair perches on my head like a monster's nest. A necklace which I usually keep on my bedside table is tangled up it in, and I have to break a few strands of hair to get it out. Greenish eyes (with a dark ring around the irises, and a little bit of hazel around the pupil) gaze out from deep, purple bags, a sign of my sleep deprivation and moderately stressful job. Freckles which I once thought were cute now look like little more than ink blotches splattered across my skin. Someone once compared my skin to moonlight, but my skin is more of a crayon-color, and they... well, they're gone now, anyway. Average height, average weight, (though my constant slouch from sitting at a computer all day makes me look shorter than I am,) I don't have an especially interesting figure. I always thought my ears were too big, but today I just regretted not piercing them when I was younger, especially since I don't have the time to get them pierced now, nor the motivation to keep the holes from getting infected or sealing over again. I choose a shirt that's more grey than blue (though it used to be vice-versa) and a pair of black slacks with some grey knee-socks and black dress shoes to go with, then close the door so I don't have to look at myself anymore. (I am female)

In short:

Some extra detail:

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> [insert prior detailed character description here]:

You give yourself a brief smirk in the mirror, as if to say "Everything's gonna be fine; it's a new day." You pull off your pajamas, a cute little dark pink getup that you got years ago and haven't bothered to replace ever since. In their place you don an outfit of grey, black, and blue, yanking your necklace from your hair as you pull your blouse over your head. Grabbing a brush, you try to straighten out some of the tangles, but only get a few of them before you deem the action not worth the effort.

Before you leave your room, you pick up the necklace that had somehow gotten tangled up in your hair overnight. It's an old but beautiful piece, an engraved, golden, circular locket with an emerald gemstone affixed to the front cover. Your grandmother entrusted it to you before she passed away many years back, and you've held it close ever since. You've never been able to get it to open, but that's okay with you--you're more afraid that you'd accidentally break the locket if you tried to force it.

It's spent enough time on your bedside table, you feel. You put it on, pull your hair out from under it, and drop the locket inside your shirt against your chest so that only the golden chain is visible against your neck.

>> Go downstairs for breakfast.

You head downstairs, passing windows heralding the rising of the sun as the outside brightens. From the kitchen you can hear the clinking of pans as your mother starts to prepare breakfast. You've whiled away many a morning chatting with her over a breakfast of scrambled eggs and toast.

She hears you traipsing down the stairs before you even reach the kitchen. "You're up early, Olivia," she says as you enter.

Reply/action? >> _

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

~~(My name isn't Olivia, it's Alice!)~~
>> reply: 'Morning, Mom.
>> Action: sit at breakfast table.

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Say "'Morning, Mom."
>> Sit at breakfast table.

You mumble a greeting and sit down at the table. Your mother opens the refridgerator and pulls out a few eggs, with which she starts preparing your usual breakfast.

"I noticed you came home pretty late last night," she says between cracking eggs on the rim of the skillet. "I do hope Mr. Berkman isn't working you too hard at the shop." There's a brief pause as she seems to choose her words carefully, all the while quietly mixing eggs over the stove. "...I know I've said it before, honey, but you don't have to get a part-time job just because you're 16 now. 11th grade is hard enough as it is without needing to pile on any extra stress."

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>Sit silently.

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Sit silently.

You don't answer. If she even knew one iota of what your life had become since getting a job with Mr. Berkman...well, there would be words, probably. Mothers don't tend to approve when their daughters purposefully put themselves in harm's way.

She finishes making the scrambled eggs as two pieces of toast pop out of the toaster. Dishing it out onto two plates, she silently puts ones in front of you and you both begin to eat your breakfast.

A few minutes later, she finishes the last bite and gets up, putting her plate and silverware in the dishwasher. As she rounds the table, she puts her arms around you in your chair and gives a quiet hug, lingering for just a moment. Her voice comes barely louder than a whisper. "I've got to get to work. Have a good day at school, sweetie." Standing back up, you mother gives you a kiss on the top of your head and departs out the front door.

Mothers. Sometimes they can tell, and yet still have no idea whatsoever.

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>> Skip school, head to "work" (Whatever that may be...)

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Skip school, head to "work" (Whatever that may be...)

You grab your backpack and leave your now-empty house, locking the door behind you, and head out as you usually do on weekday mornings. As you walk, you can't help shake the feeling that something is just...off. It's probably that dream you had. More than once in your life you've had a really good dream or really bad dream and it just made reality seem so...subpar in comparison, and it would ruin your whole day. Everyone gets that from time to time, surely. It's really throwing you off, though. Damn it.

At some point you pass the road you should have turned on to continue your trek to school. You just look at it as you walk past, with no intention of stopping. You can't even remember the last time you skipped school on purpose. You grimace at this realization and your mood darkens even further. You usually feel like such a cheery person, but lately it's as if the weight of the world (or several) is on your shoulders. You silently stare at the sidewalk as you trudge on, eventually coming to a stop. You look up, but there's really no need. You know exactly where you are. "Berkman's Computer Repair". You can feel the energy emanating from Silas's shop, just like you always have.

It's probably what originally drew you in when you were little, especially since you have zero interest in working with computers. You wandered in at the age of nine, not knowing what you were there to look at. The place was boring, but for some reason you kept coming back. It probably didn't take Silas long to figure out what was going on--that's kind of his whole shtick, being some sort of genius and all. He's always so warm and friendly, and you just...genuinely liked being in his shop. He would always joke that he'd hire you on the spot when you turned 16, and you always casually replied that you'd consider it.

And then, when you actually turned 16, he showed you the truth.

You rub your eyes, fatigued, and pull out your phone. 8:06. You could always turn back if you wanted. Such an upstanding student like you probably wouldn't get in that much trouble for being late to first period. You really don't even know what you're doing here...

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>Go get some ice cream, maybe feel better? (soft serve is delicious)

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Go get some ice cream, maybe feel better? (soft serve is delicious)

You close your eyes for a moment, trying to will the tiredness away. You open them back up, unchanged, and continue walking forward again, further away from school and the shop. Silas probably wouldn't have minded if you had stopped by, though he surely would have wondered why you're not in school. Over the past seven years he's practically become the father you never had, and you don't want to cause him any undue worry.

Damn if you didn't actually want to stop in, though. If it was up to you you would be diving every night, instead of this Tuesday/Thursday/Saturday schedule Silas demanded the two of you stick to. For as much as he's always worried about how dangerous the whole thing might be, you never really saw any reason to be worried after the first night. It's not really your body you're putting in any danger anyway, right?

You make your way to the local ice cream parlor. Oh my god, soft serve. Ice cream is one of those things where you're all "Nah I don't really need it, I should watch my figure instead" and then you eat it and you're all "I regret nothing, that was friggin' delicious". You walk inside, and the lady behind the counter looks up from whatever prep duties she's doing. The place probably just opened. She glances at the clock and then back to you quizzically as if to say "Why aren't you in school?", but instead just asks "How can I help you, hon?"

"Waffle cone, please," you say, digging into your backpack for some money.

"Sure thing. What flavor would you like?"

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>> Strawberry, please. (This is a personal request: I had the opportunity to eat strawberry soft-serve once, but the line to the ice cream stand was really long and everyone else wanted to go home, so I couldn't and didn't. I've never seen it since. Sad

)

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> "Strawberry, please."

The lady behind the counter nods and immediately starts making you a waffle cone full of strawberry ice cream. As you finally find the money in your backpack, she hands the cone to you over the counter. "No charge, hon." You're surprised, but you manage a weak smile and a "Thank you very much" before picking out a table in the otherwise empty parlor. The ice cream lady goes into the back room; whether to finish up her opening duties or leave you to your thoughts, you don't know, but you appreciate the privacy anyway.

Good heavens this is delicious. Like you said--no regrets.

For the first time in the three weeks you've been working with Silas, your mind isn't clouded with excitement and visions of fantasy. Eating away at your ice cream cone, for some reason you feel like you can finally think clearly, almost like you've just been in shock all this time (which, honestly, is probably the case.)

You manage a slight chuckle as all the realizations come rushing forward yet again. Holy shit. Magic is a thing that exists. You are a magical girl.

Well, okay, not technically. You can't do squat, as far as the two of you know, except...be like...a conduit? Or something? It all vaguely made sense originally even though it was completely unbelievable. And as far as you know maybe it's just really, really advanced science? "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" and all that. But both of you call it magic anyway because that's sure as hell what it seems like. You could probably ask Silas all about it again and he'd tell you everything he knows, because by this point you've already forgotten most of what happened that first day.

You keep eating your delicious ice cream like normal. Anyone watching wouldn't have the slightest idea of what's currently going on in your head. It's like your life is an anime. You make a sudden mental note not to watch any magical girl animes anymore, because Madoka took a really dark turn and you don't need that kind of stuff weighing on you on top of everything else.

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>Think about magical girl outfits

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Think about magical girl outfits

The fantastical outfits that magical girls wear in anime and whatnot is one of the first things you thought of when Silas told you magic was real. How could it not be? Mami's ability to pull half-a-bajillion guns out of her dress in Madoka was pretty much one of the coolest things ever.

That being said, it doesn't really seem like your outfit is up to you. You can count the number of dives you've been on on one hand, and that's mainly because the first few days were careful experimentation because Silas is being as cautious as possible since even he doesn't really know what he's getting the two of you into. But from what you've been able to tell so far, your physical body stays here while the magical version of yourself appears in that other world, and your abilities and clothing seem to vary each time.

Maybe with practice you'll become strong enough to choose your own outfit, but until then it's just a gamble. There was one dive where you had a frilly dress and couldn't quite get the hang of what was going on, and then there was another when you had a sleek suit of leather armor with daggers (which, if you're being honest with yourself, you thought you looked pretty badass in).

You get briefly embarrassed by fantasizing about how hot you may or may not have looked and cram the rest of your (delicious) ice cream cone into your mouth in one bite to stop your face from heating up too much. You stand up from the table, still fatigued and wobbling a little bit, but grab your backpack and head for the door.

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>Brain freeze! (Seriously, shoving ice cream in you face like that will easily trigger that. Also, teeth hurt from the sudden coldness. That was a bad idea, Olivia.)
>>Go back to Silas's shop.

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Brain freeze!

You clench your teeth together and shudder. Oh god that hurts. Why can something so delicious hurt so muchhhhhh

>> Go back to Silas's shop.

You leave the ice cream parlor and head back in the shared direction of school and Silas's shop. You can't believe you're saying this, but maybe you'll just cut your losses and skip first period, and in the meantime, stop in and see Silas because...because of some reason you haven't thought of yet. It'll be fine, you'll figure it out when you get there.

You make your way down to Berkman's Computer Repair, trudging along and scraping your feet on the sidewalk as you go. You're really sick of feeling so tired and depressed today. If you weren't already skipping class you'd consider calling in sick instead.

Pushing open the door, you walk inside. The shop looks as unassuming as always; a handful of short isles of computer parts and accessories, both new and used. It smells kind of dusty. You glance at an old CRT monitor and wonder who in the world would even want one of these anymore.

Silas is at the front counter, typing on a laptop you don't recognize--clearly someone's broken machine he's been commissioned to fix. "Welcome!" he says as he hears the door open. He glances up at his new customer, then back to the laptop, then double-takes back at you again with a confused expression. "Olivia? It's Wednesday; don't you have school today?" He looks around the shop, presumably double-checking to see if anyone but the two of you are in it.

"Hey, Silas. I--" you manage, before stumbling for a step and catching yourself on a shelf. Your dizziness comes back full-force and you blink for a moment to try to clear your head, breathing in shallow breaths. Silas takes this as immediate cause for alarm, rushing out from around the front counter and towards you. "...the hell? Are you okay? Hang on, Olivia, just a sec..." He makes sure you've got a grip on the shelf and aren't about to completely collapse before he runs past, locking the front door and flipping the store's sign from Open to Closed. He comes back with "Alright, I've got you; let's, uh, let's get you to the med scanner..." and lifts your right arm behind his head, trying to help support your weight. It doesn't work overly well since you're a bit shorter than he is, but you're not going to complain.

The two of you start slowly moving towards the storeroom in the back. You almost feel weaker with each passing step, but that could be because you've got someone watching out for you now and you're letting him shoulder some of the burden so you don't have to. Once there, you move past stacks of boxes--keyboards, mice, monitors, various electronics--and approach the stone side wall. Silas places his right hand on a particular stone, and a familiar light eminates from it, moving up and down, scanning his fingerprints. The stone wall next to it quietly slides inward, revealing a bright white elevator that automatically looks much fancier than the rest of Silas's dark and dusty shop. He helps you inside and presses a button the panel, and the elevator begins descending. You can feel the residual magic in the environment increasing as you move towards the basement.

Silas looks down at you, and from the corner of your eye you can already see the worried expression on his face. "Level with me Olivia--what's wrong? Are you sick? Is this...because of something we did?"

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>Reply: I have no clue
(>>Maybe pass out?)

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> Reply: I have no clue
>> Maybe pass out?

You shake your head. "I have no clue," you say. "Okay, then...what are your symptoms?" Silas presses. You try to answer him between shallow breaths. "I'm d-dizzy...super exhausted...and it keeps...getting wors--" Your vision starts to fade as you can feel yourself slumping to the floor of the elevator. Silas calls out your name, but you aren't able to respond before you pass out entirely.

~~~

You wake up staring at a well-lit, white ceiling, and immediately recognize it as Silas's workshop, which takes up roughly half of the basement. The room shows the hidden side of Silas Berkman, with futuristic gadgets and monitors everywhere. He makes all of these things himself, like some sort of techno-wizard. Figuratively, not literally. (Well, maybe literally. You're not actually sure.) All of this is the stuff you promised him you'd keep a secret when you joined up on this magical girl journey. Your mom and your friends think he's just hired you as a part-time helper, and as far as you're concerned that's how it should currently stay.

The room has one door and a very large glass window, which is currently behind a large sheet of metal--Silas must have activated the blast doors on the window for some reason. ("Blast doors" also not literal; you just like calling them that because they remind you of the blast doors that guard the window in Stargate.) Silas is facing the blocked window, watching a nearby screen that has a whole lot of numbers on it you don't understand, next to what looks like a heatmap of your body with the words 'Magic concentration'.

You're lying on your back on the med scanner, which apparently gets such little use that it usually doubles as a workbench instead. You wonder where all of the papers, notebooks, and gadgets went that are typically covering it. Turning your head, you look over the edge of the table to see the floor littered with them. You can already imagine him rushing in here with you in his arms and swiping it all onto the floor in a hurry. "Shit, Silas," you mutter at the mess. He turns around at your voice and gives a nervous chuckle. "Ah, heh, yeah, it was...in the way. Are you feeling any better?"

You relax for a moment and realize...yeah, kinda? As you focus on yourself, you notice for the first time that it feels like something is pulling on you, somehow. Both of your hands are over your heart, and as you move them you find they were holding in place a pretty blue crystal on a chain. "It was magic sickness," Silas says as you eye the crystal, "or I guess, to be more precise, magic poisoning, but it doesn't have any long-term effects or anything. It's caused when you're in the presence of strong magic for so long that it starts to build up in your body. I'm sorry, Olivia; I must have built up a resistance over the years and completely forgot this can happen. It especially makes sense since you're much more sensitive to magic than I am."

"I guess that also explains why coming closer to the Worldgem made it worse," you say. Silas nods. You hold up the crystal and add "What's this?" "It's a necklace I used to wear many years ago, back when I'd get sick from the same thing. The crystal doesn't do much on its own, but it does act as a sort of sponge for magical energy. If you wear it close to your chest, it should prevent you from getting sick again until you've built up more of a natural resistance. I'd suggest wearing it whenever you can for now. ...Except during dives, of course, since we don't want to disrupt the magic then, but...yeah. Although I'd...understand if you wanted to quit, given all I've already put you through..."

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

>>*shrug*
>>Reply: It's kinda late to back out of this now

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

>> *shrug*
>> Reply: It's kinda late to back out of this now

You shrug and instantly notice that it's tough to shrug while lying on your back, so you sit up carefully and swing your legs over the side of the table. "Eh, it's kinda late to back out of this now."

Silas almost winces, sighs, and leans back against one of the nearby consoles, his arms folded. "That's...I hope you realize that's not true. With or without that crystal, the buildup of magical energy in your body would have dissipated in a couple of days, and there's nothing forcing you to keep doing this." He looks down at the floor, and you get the distinct impression that he's avoiding making eye contact with you. If you know anything about Silas, it's probably out of embarrassment. "Look, I...it's..." He takes a deep breath. "I don't want to put you in a situation where you're in danger--you don't deserve that, especially from me. But I can't do anything to help save my world from the Dusk on my own. Your attunement to magic is easily double mine, and the Worldgem doesn't have the same effect on me as it does on you. So yeah, obviously I'd be honored if you chose to stay and fight, but that's exactly what it is: a fight. I figured there would be some semblence of a 'holy cow magic is real' effect when I first showed you all this, but now that you know what's at stake, you can't be making decisions like that so lightly."

He raises his head and looks you straight in the eye. "Part of why I waited until you were sixteen is because you're not a kid anymore, Olivia. This is a choice you have to make. And I'll support you, no matter what you pick."

>> ?

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

(Hmm... do I kill the story by having Olivia go home and watch some animes, or do I make the story move forward by making a protagonist-y decision? Though, even if she went home and gave up on this, the story could still continue, just on a different track. What say ye, Westbrook and/or anyone who may be following this story if anyone other than me and Westbrook are reading this thing?)

Paranaturalist Posts : 1006 Join date : 2015-10-22

(Oh, I know!)
>> Reply (after a pause): I had a dream last night. [describe nightmare from earlier in the story]

Spectral Posts : 533 Join date : 2015-02-17

NinjaKitten wrote:: (Hmm... do I kill the story by having Olivia go home and watch some animes, or do I make the story move forward by making a protagonist-y decision? Though, even if she went home and gave up on this, the story could still continue, just on a different track. What say ye, Westbrook and/or anyone who may be following this story if anyone other than me and Westbrook are reading this thing?)

1) That is up to you! Though I would say an adventure about a girl that can use magic will probably end up pretty boring if the girl decides to stay away from all things magic. Wink

Silas is pretty much giving her the choice because that's the kind of guy he is, rather than me trying to push the story in any given direction.

2) I edited the first post a while back to make it clear anyone can join. But if no one does, you're free to have full reign!

~~~

>> Mention the nightmare you had last night.

You stare back at Silas for a bit, not knowing what to say. Honestly, you're not entirely sure what he's so worried about. He had briefly explained the situation about his world and the Dusk before: monsters of shadow whose only purpose was to conquer, and over the past decade had been doing just that. But you hadn't run into any on your dives thus far, and during those dives you were always given a new body made from magic, so even if you did get into a fight, it wasn't really you who was in danger, right? And as he said, holy cow, magic is real, and damn if that's not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

You don't immediately give an answer. Instead, you break eye contact and say, barely above a whisper: "I had a dream last night." Silas waits for you to continue. "I was all alone...in a field or something, with a city in the distance. Everything was dark, and the city was falling apart. I tried to move, to escape...but I couldn't. It was like everything just disappeared from existence. I couldn't hear, and then I couldn't see, and then I was just...all alone." You suppress a shudder and hope Silas doesn't notice (though he's watching you intently, so he probably did). You look back up at him. "It felt so real. Is this the kind of thing I'm getting into?"

Silas waits before replying. "I...don't know. I want to tell you 'no'. I want to say a dream is just a dream." He casts a sideways glance at the monitor with your med scanner stats on it. "But I can't say that for sure. I've never had any magic-induced dreams, but what's true for me might not be true for you." He looks back to you. "But I can tell you this. I promise you that you'll never be alone. You matter what happens, I'll be right there with you, doing whatever I can to work through whatever comes your way."

>> ?

» Another alt-text easteregg I found!!
» Obligatory Translation Station

Lattice Station (a text adventure)

Lattice Station (a text adventure)

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