And you thought it would be just another boring day at the lab. Instead, Professor Folks himself invited you to test-drive his latest invention, DynaSim, a virtual reality helmet that allows control of (at the moment) an RC vehicle by simply thinking commands to it. Naturally, you accepted eagerly - and it turned out to be a boring day in the DynaSim Lab, wearing a heavy, uncomfortable helmet to boot. Finally, the Professor's voice comes over the headphones: "Ok, I think it's time to stop." DEUS EX MACHINA An Interactive Insanity Release 1 / Serial 020202 / Inform v7.00 Library 7/1 >THINK STOP The vehicle stops. You take off the VR helmet, gingerly set it aside and wipe your perspiration-drenched forehead. "Well, that worked better than expected," says Folks. "Excellent work, colleague. What do you say you finish up here, and we'll meet in the lounge to celebrate?" With that, he speaks the passcode into the lab lock and exits to the north. You turn your attention back to the screen, which reads: DYNASIM 1.0 BETA MAIN [S] START NEW SIMULATION [P] SIMULATION PARAMETERS [X] EXIT >>X You quickly shut down the system and stand up, stretching and rubbing your hurting behind. Time to go join Professor Folks in the lounge! >UPHOLSTER SEAT (with the cushion) (first taking the cushion) Good idea! It's too late for this session, but at least you won't get a sore behind next time. >ZRBLM As you speak the sequence of letters (you can't really call it a word), the lab door's bolt snaps back with an audible *click*. >TAKE ALL can of paint: Taken. cushion: You just put it in place! Leave it there for tomorrow. large knife: Taken. >N You walk through the door, and freeze in your tracks. This is definitely not what was in here just an hour ago. Sacrifical Chamber A pentagram of blood smeared across the floor is the first thing to catch the eye; a shelf holding various strange items is the next. The door closes behind you, and disappears! Folks stands here, dressed in medieval garb, eyeing you nervously. You think you hear a ghostly voice murmuring at you. >LISTEN Yes, there is definitely something... "You must perform the ritual in the correct order, my child... or you will be destroyed." [Refer to your documentation on how to perform the ritual. Dog ate it? Too bad.] Folks stands here, eyeing you nervously. >FOLKS, DRAW SWORD "It's not a sword, it's a rapier," he replies, but nevertheless draws it and falls into the standard fencing pose. >WAVE FAN (first taking the fan) You unfold the fan and wave it over the pentagram in an intricate fashion, the memory of the pattern coming to you from ... you don't know where ... but you know you have done this before, countless times over the ages... >DANCE ABOUT PAINT (first dropping the paint) You place the can of paint in the middle of the pentagram and begin dancing around it. Remembering the ritual, you take the other rapier from the shelf and begin incorporating fighting movements into the dance, moving faster and faster, the world spinning around you as you spin around the can, suddenly kicking it and-- >FENCE -- lunging at Professor Folks, who only just manages to deflect your blow with his own weapon. Fiercly slashing at him, you manage to drive him back through the tunnel (the tunnel? where did it come from?) until you come to a maze of intersections, and stop, again drenched in sweat. The Professor, though panting heavily, seems unfazed. "All right! Where do we go now?" >TAKE NEXT TURN You lead the way along the tunnel, taking the next turn to the right, the Professor following you. Soon enough, you arrive at a T-intersection. Professor Folks grins enthusiastically. "Ok, which one, champ? The smooth passage, or the rough passage?" >>SMOOTH "The smooth passage it is!" he shouts as he disappears into it. When he is about two meters in, you hear a wooshing sound, and Folks' head disappears with a spray of blood. You can make out something glittering coming at you full speed-- >DUCK -- and duck just in time to avoid being cut to pieces. After this close encounter, you decide to carefully follow the passage, stepping over the professor's decapitated body, until you arrive at a... Dead End The smooth corridor abruptly ends here, only leaving two options: to go back to the intersection, or down a ladder. >DOWN You climb the ladder for what seems forever, ending up in the... Operating Room Impressive machinery covers every wall of this white-painted, brightly lit room. An operating table stands in the middle, on it Professor Folks' body, the severed head lying several centimeters above the neck. He winks at you and limply waves a hand. The nurse elbows you hard. "What are you waiting for, Doctor?" She presses a syringe into your hand. >ANESTHETI (anesthetize the professor) You jab the needle into the professor's arm and push down on the piston until he goes limp. Not exactly the most professional anesthesy I've seen, but it'll do. The head begins snoring. Suddenly, the doors burst open and the room fills with white-gowned people who begin operating on the Professor at amazing speed. A few minutes later, the head is reattached to the body and not even a scar remains. [Press any key to continue.] Operating Party Room Colorful paper snakes cover every wall of this white-painted, brightly lit room. An operating table stands in the middle, on it all sorts of sandwiches and several bottles of champagne. The doctors and nurses are here, celebrating wildly. A random nurse forces a sandwich into your hand, then disappears into the crowd. >I You are carrying: your clothes (being worn) your watch (being worn) a skeleton key an empty syringe a large knife a kolibri egg-and-cheese sandwich >EAT IT Ugh! You're allergic to kolibri eggs! Suddenly, you feel very woozy... >UNLOCK DOOR (with the skeleton key) You manage to unlock the door and fall through into the next room before passing out from the effects of the kolibri egg. When you awake, you find yourself in the... Mechanical Room (on the South Arrow) A gigantic clockwork nested into an equally gigantic plover egg covers the east wall. A mechanical compass hovers in the middle of the room: the eight directional arrows form little platforms. Directly below that, a large lion robot prowls. A lever sticks out of the south wall, labelled "EGG". It is currently off. >SWITCH PLOVER EGG (the lever) You give the lever a mighty pull, and the gigantic clockwork starts grinding. The lion looks up, noticing you! >STAND ON EAST You swiftly jump onto the southeast arrow, and onto the east arrow from there. Mechanical Room (on the East Arrow) The floor continues to lower. The lion jumps up, directly at you! >SWING KNIFE What do you want to swing the knife at? >LION You swing the knife wildly, and as if by a miracle, you manage to hit the lion robot right in the eye, deflecting it as it jumps past you and hits the ceiling. The electrical shock passing along the weapon stuns you, and you lose your balance, falling to the ground below. Better pray the lion "corpse" doesn't land on you. The floor continues to lower. >PRAY You mumble a quick prayer and close your eyes as the gigantic heap of scrap metal drops towards you... ...and lands on your chest with a soft *plink*. The floor continues to lower. >GET MOUSE You pick up the mechanical mouse. The floor continues to lower. >Z Time passes... The clockwork grinds to a halt as the floor is lowered even further, revealing a passage to the northwest! >NW Aquarium One single, small yellow fish is the only inhabitant of this gargantuan aquarium, stretching in every direction as far as the eye can see. The fish appears to be sleeping. >WAKE FISH You rap your knuckles loudly against the aquarium, startling the fish so much he has the fish equivalent of a heart attack, turns over and bobs on the aquarium's surface, belly-up. >SWIM (dropping your inventory so it doesn't get wet) clothes: Dropped. I hope you know what you're doing. skeleton key: Dropped. empty syringe: Dropped. watch: You never take it off; it's waterproof. You jump into the water, gracefully overlooking the fact that you land painfully on your stomach, and start swimming. [Press any key to continue.] Several weeks later... [Press any key to continue.] Pier Large wooden planks make up this pier reaching out into the gigantic aquarium. Small yellow boats are tied to the south side. Stairs lead up into a rickety wooden building. A steward helps you out of the water and helps you dry off, unfazed by your nakedness. He proceeds to offer you a drink, and hands you a leaflet saying "LOOK" in a very large font. >DRINK DRINK Aaaaaah. Refreshing. >READ LOOK AMAZING OFFER! DO NOT MISS! BOOK NOW for two weeks of one of our TOURIST SHIPS and you get the FIRST DAY FREE! NOT ONLY THAT, but we'll also throw in a SURPISE PACKAGE if you ask for it, and remember your courtesies. [Look in your manual for that. If you have one.] "The booking office is just upstairs," the steward points out. "I'll be right there if you need anything." He proceeds to stand in place. >UP Booking Office Paper stacks cover every available surface in the small booking office, except for a very small table with an even smaller chair behind it. The table is currently unattended. The steward emerges from behind a stack of paper and hands you your clothes. "Here, put these on. How indecent to walk around in the nude!" >DRESS You quickly put on your clothes, including the tight corset. (corset? you never wear one of those. and why should you?) >BOOK SHIP "I'd like to book one of your ships." "Why, certainly! Here's the papers, first day's free, you pay tomorrow." He hands you one of the large stacks of paper. "Anything else you need?" >PACKAGE "Oh, right!" He blushes, and disappears for a second. When he comes back, he holds a large package, which he hands to you. The package seems to contain a crystal bowl, a silly toy, and a grey ball. The steward looks at you expectantly. >PRESENT BOWL "For me? How wonderful!" The steward practically explodes with delight, scattering the papers across the room like a cyclone as he runs around screaming with joy. Among the newly-revealed furniture, you see a bed and a cupboard. The steward bumps into you, nearly causing you to fall down the stairs. >DROP TOY You drop the silly toy in the steward's path. He promptly slips on it and falls down the stairs, smashing the crystal bowl and his head in the process. >SLEEP A good night's sleep is exactly what you need right now. [Press any key to continue.] You are awakened by the loud ticking of your watch to find yourself in the... Music Room Most of the room is taken up by a gigantic golden string harp, which has a mirror set into the base. There are no apparent exits, and you have no idea how you came here in the first place. >PLAY STRING You pluck one of the strings on the harp, and a deep buzzing sound fills the room. The ground breaks open, and a large tree shoots up, carrying 192 different apples with flag stickers from as many nations! Over the loud ticking of your watch, you can barely make out a voice saying "... ope ... hn Pau ... cond..." >PICK POLISH APPLE Hoping you interpreted the clue right, you reach for the polish apple. Nervously, you pick it... ...nothing bad happens. >EYE MIRROR You quickly glance in the mirror, revealing yourself... and somebody standing right behind you with a knife! >POSE Before you can do anything, the person behind you plunges the knife through your heart! *** You have died. *** Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT? >UNDO [Undoing one t§$§"%$§§"%$&/&/$§""§% §%§$&§$& 5&%$&$%&$§ ETEHfdhfqiu4ezdghkvjg regu45üroeihfdüu45züreuhdklshjökshökjfhgerg5r g45trgfh934zü5zü8üohlkön,. Cave An opening in the ceiling provides just enough light to see by. Seven stakes, red, orange, green, blue, yellow, black, white and pink, form a circle directly below the opening. (cave? that's not where you were. what the hell?) A man cowers in a corner, whimpering, "Can't... see... can't... see..." Your corset seems to have gotten into disarray, and is causing you trouble when breathing. >TRIM CORSET You quickly tug on the corset until it sits correctly once more. Your watch starts ticking loudly again. A man cowers in a corner, whimpering, "Can't... see... can't... see..." >PUT GREY ON BLUE STAKE You carefully balance the grey ball on the blue stake. As the sunlight hits it, it bursts into flame, and soon the blue stake is turned into a torch. Now that you can see better, you notice a pile of firewood in front of the cowering man. Your watch is ticking loudly. >LIGHT FIRE You quickly light the firewood with your torch. The man gets up enthusiastically, his sleeve catching fire as he stretches out his hand to shake yours. He starts screaming and running around madly. Your watch is ticking loudly. >HELP MAN You quickly extinguish the fire on his sleeve before he can do any more damage. "Thanks, buddy," he says, putting on his cap as you make yourself comfortable on the back seat of the cab. (the cab?) "Where do you want to go? Check out the map, here," he says as he hands it to you. The watch is ticking annoyingly loud. [You'll find the map in your game package. If you bought the game.] >>STATION "Ok, buddy..." As the cab pulls out of its parking slot, you think you hear the whispering voice again, but the ticking of the watch drowns it out. >STOP WATCH Aaah, sweet silence! This time, you can clearly make out the voice... "Overload! Say the emergency shutdown password, now!" [Guess where...] >XYZZY Everything goes black. [Press any key to continue.] When you come to, you see the concerned face of Dr. Folks. "You alright? What the hell were you thinking starting the simulation again without setting the parameters?" "What? I didn't... aren't you... where..." "Calm down, calm down! For some reason, the DynaSim started an old VR simulation while you were still connected to the system, parts of which were overwritten by the new thought control system. I waited five minutes for you, in the lounge, and when you didn't come, I went back in here to check. "You were unconscious, and I couldn't wake you up, no matter what I tried. Water, small electric shocks, loud noises... until I tried talking to you over the auxiliary port, trying to get you to shut down the system. It nearly didn't work, but here you are! "Right, now that you're back, let's do the coffee break and get back to work! The analysis of your data should prove... "Hey! "Where are you going?" *** The End *** Would you like to RESTART, RESTORE a saved game or QUIT? >