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<<cacheaudio blood0 audio/blood0.mp3>> <<cacheaudio blood1 audio/blood1.mp3>> <<cacheaudio blood2 audio/blood2.mp3>> <<cacheaudio blood3 audio/blood3.mp3>> <<cacheaudio bloodloop audio/bloodloop.mp3>> <<cacheaudio cough audio/cough.mp3>> <<cacheaudio doorclunk audio/doorclunk.mp3>> <<cacheaudio dooropen audio/dooropen.mp3>> <<cacheaudio gateclunk audio/gateclunk.mp3>> <<cacheaudio gateopen audio/gateopen.mp3>> <<cacheaudio knife0 audio/knife0.mp3>> <<cacheaudio knife1 audio/knife1.mp3>> <<cacheaudio knife2 audio/knife2.mp3>> <<cacheaudio scream audio/scream.mp3>> <<cacheaudio youscream audio/youscream.mp3>> <<cacheaudio gramscream1 audio/gramscream1.mp3>> <<cacheaudio gramscream2 audio/gramscream2.mp3>> <<cacheaudio gramscream3 audio/gramscream3.mp3>> <<cacheaudio unlockno audio/unlockno.mp3>> <<cacheaudio unlockyes audio/unlockyes.mp3>> <<cacheaudio static audio/static.mp3>> <<cacheaudio wheeze audio/wheeze.mp3>> <<cacheaudio lose audio/lose.mp3>> /*SFX Derived*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmtensetone" "bgm/bgmtensetone.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmslowheartbeat" "bgm/bgmslowheartbeat.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmfastheartbeat" "bgm/bgmfastheartbeat.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmdeeprumble" "bgm/bgmdeeprumble.mp3">> /*ok*/ /*BGM-008 Derived*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmcornfields" "bgm/bgmcornfields.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmwork" "bgm/bgmwork.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "bgmmorning" "bgm/bgmmorning.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "bgmgoodend" "bgm/bgmgoodend.mp3">> /*BGM-009 Derived*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmpastnormal" "bgm/bgmpastnormal.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmpastsad" "bgm/bgmpastsad.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmpastmovement" "bgm/bgmpastmovement.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmbadend" "bgm/bgmbadend.mp3">> /*BGM-007 Derived? */ <<cacheaudio "bgmtense" "bgm/bgmtense.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "bgmsmokeytense" "bgm/bgmsmokeytense.mp3">> <<cacheaudio "bgmtorture" "bgm/bgmtorture.mp3">> /*ok*/ /*BGM-Choir Derived*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmchurchnormal" "bgm/bgmchurchnormal.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmchurchgood" "bgm/bgmchurchgood.mp3">> /*ok*/ <<cacheaudio "bgmchurchgreat" "bgm/bgmchurchgreat.mp3">> /*ok*/
<div class='bookreader'> The book title says: "Rotting Candle by E. N. B." <hr> Hot sweat drip and a nail through the head but the room is cold life Yap yapping blathered but never words spoken between us or them Where Staying here the same place, the same square, the same that never will be Drinking bitter coffee bitter to the teeth no time for sugar half my body half dead and rotting for the worms worm food when the ground comes up to meet me soon and the thick lacquer ugly crows squawk abuse from above they know the sky is theirs But never a word to me Some time years passed in a vacuum knocked out like a fallen candle violent stink of ash and wax in the room only mocking what's gone since my essence dried up They want us all dead Me first, shell halfrot to the core the filthy meat of a rotten zombie corpse The last few beats of a crumbling black paper heart throbbing weakly on coffee fumes black poison but the hot sweat trickles down and the pain starts running through me again I want to light a spark on my rotten flesh candle and burn myself out of this sick shell freeing from the blade of disease I grit my teeth when I sleep but the pleas landed deaf on the ear of a god who punishes me for forgetting to die When I ran out of hope I forgot to die. <hr> <<getitem rewindtokens Book1>> <<set $items.booksread.Book1 to 1>> <<link "Return">><<goto Menu>><</link>> </div>
<div class='bookreader'> The book title says: "Sangfroid by E. N. B." <hr> A red shiny cherry repeats a symmetry just facsimile, the same cluster of shapes who'll notice, in cherry red there's the image of a man crossing his hands and waiting for death, a fake sleep false starts and return tickets cashed in exchange for the rest of youth who cares anyway Liquid drums thump wicked songs through my spoiled breast I want to throw up these memories into the ground, no more repeated words and sounds, no more bad omens and spooked thoughts, no more voices waking me up like a bad storm bad want to cant sleep from the stabbing through flesh I cant even take a breath anymore since I came back i want to rip my cock off and burn it to ash I want all those I hate to disappear into the same black I want to go forward fly up and never come back but I cant go anymore its too much I'm stuck lying in place, the eggs have been laid and await my rotten carapace and the maggots sting from within, my body a ritual of sin, a sweating fuckstain on the carpet of life, I want to die, reroll the dice, hope this time I'll be someone new, not putrid, rancid souring up the air for those who deserve real life I want to lie in the place with the cold metal winds and the thick rain The place where I still felt something other than pain The place without fumes and the stars blank stares knowing there they all know who I am and what I am but I didn't choose it either Then the rain stops and the world turns over and I'm supposed to forget I forget to forget and it starts over My blood runs cold in an old tattered skin nothing more running in no feeling but the sharp needles under my veins I want to lie down Fall down and die in the cold metal rain. <hr> <<getitem rewindtokens Book2>> <<set $items.booksread.Book2 to 1>> <<link "Return">><<goto Menu>><</link>> </div>
<div class='bookreader'> The book title says: "Dead Before by E. N. B." <hr> My fist through the wall It was over Then trapped Trapped without breath Have you ever stopped breathing Sucking at nothing Lungs filling with dirt He was a psychopath A real monster This wasnt who I This wasnt what I Wanted to get back The thing already gone The thing not in me Never wanted I was in the way I was just in the way And then I jumped But the window was closed Then I sliced But the knife was too dull Then I swallowed But the pills not enough Then I jumped But the car swerved Then I tied But the string snapped Then I tried But I came back The curse stayed And I came back I was dead before death I was dead Dead before death I was dead Dead before death Dead before death Still before death. <hr> <<getitem rewindtokens Book3>> <<set $items.booksread.Book3 to 1>> <<link "Return">><<goto Menu>><</link>> </div>
<div class='bookreader'> The book title says: "No by E. N. B." <hr> Stop Please Make it stop. <hr> <<getitem rewindtokens Book4>> <<set $items.booksread.Book4 to 1>> <<link "Return">><<goto Menu>><</link>> </div>
<div class='menuButton topLeft'> <<link "Return">><<goto Start>><</link>> </div> <div class='menutitlecard'>Controls </div> <hr> <table class='ctrltable' style='margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;'> <tr> <td>[img[imgs/icons/arrow.png]]</td> <td>Choose Action</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[img[imgs/icons/space.png]]</td> <td>Select/Skip Text</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[img[imgs/icons/Esc.png]]</td> <td>Open Menu</td> </tr> <tr> <td>[img[imgs/icons/L.png]]</td> <td>Load Saved Game</td> </tr> </table>
<<set $replayingEnding to 0>> <div class='menuButton topLeft'> <<link "Return">><<goto Start>><</link>> </div> <div class='menutitlecard'>Achievements </div> <hr> <table class='achievements'> <tr> <<for _ending, _achieved range $achievements>> <td> <<achievementLink _ending _achieved>> </td> <</for>> </tr> </table>
<div class="fadeIn titlecard"> [img[imgs/logo.png]] <div class='menuButton startMenu' style='padding:0px;font-size:40%'> <<link "Start Game">> <<playSFX gateclunk>> <<goto "S1-Start">> <</link>> <<link "Load Game">> <<playSFX gateclunk>> <<loadGame>> <</link>> <<link "Controls">> <<playSFX gateclunk>> <<goto Controls>> <</link>> <<link "Achievements">> <<playSFX gateclunk>> <<goto Achievements>> <</link>> <<link "Credits">> <<playSFX gateclunk>> <<goto Credits>> <</link>> </div> <div class='botRight'> © Ed Nobody 2020 </div>
<div class='menuButton topLeft'> <<link "Return">><<goto Start>><</link>> </div> <div id="Credits"> <div style='text-align:center'>[img[imgs/logo.png]]</div><hr><div class="Credit"><span class="creditrole">Written & Programmed by</span> <span class="creditname">Ed Nobody</span><br><span class="creditname">ednobody@gmx.com</span><br><span class="creditrole">.</span><br> <span class="creditrole">Music by </span> <span class="creditname">Maikai</span><br> <span class="creditname">soundcloud.com/maikaii</span></div> </div>
herb stinks! [[End|Menu]]
work stinks! [[End|Menu]]
water stinks! [[End|Menu]]
will stinks! [[End|Menu]] /*------------------------------*/ /*Fragments*/
rain stinks! [[End|Menu]]
rain stinks! [[End|Menu]]
rain stinks! [[End|Menu]]
rain stinks! [[End|Menu]] /*--------------------*/ /*Books*/
book stinks! [[End|Menu]]
book stinks! [[End|Menu]]
book stinks!
<<set $items.rewind to $items.rewind+1>> Acquired a Rewind token. A Rewind token...what the heck is that? [[End|Menu]]
Debug Menu <<for _i to 0; _i lt $all_passages.length; _i++>> <<if Object.keys($visited).includes($all_passages[_i])>> <span class='visited'> <<print _i + 1>>. [[$all_passages[_i]]] </span> <<else>> <span class=''> <<print _i + 1>>. [[$all_passages[_i]]] </span> <</if>> <</for>> [[$return]]
<<masteraudio volume $MASTER_VOLUME*0.4>> <div style='text-align:center'>[img[imgs/logo.png]]</div> <hr> <<nobr>> <div class='menuButton'> <<VolSlider>> <br/> <span id='bgmvol'> <<link $BGM_VOLUME==0?"BGM:OFF":"BGM:ON">> <<toggleBGM>> <<replace "#bgmvol .link-internal">> <<print $BGM_VOLUME==0?"BGM:OFF":"BGM:ON">><</replace>> <<if $BGM_VOLUME==0>> <<removeclass "#bgmvol" "active">> <<else>> <<addclass "#bgmvol" "active">> <</if>> <</link>> </span> <span id='sfxvol' class='<<print $SFX_VOLUME==0?"":"active">>'> <<link $SFX_VOLUME==0?"SFX:OFF":"SFX:ON">> <<toggleSFX>> <<replace "#sfxvol .link-internal">> <<print $SFX_VOLUME==0?"SFX:OFF":"SFX:ON">><</replace>> <<if $SFX_VOLUME==0>> <<removeclass "#sfxvol" "active">> <<else>> <<addclass "#sfxvol" "active">> <</if>> <</link>> </span> <span class='active'> <<link "Restart">> <<goto Start>> <</link>> </span> </div> <</nobr>> <br/> <br/> <<nobr>> <table class='menuTable' style=' margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;'> <tr> <td> Journal Pgs </td> <td> <<for _i, _name range $items.journal>> <<if $items.journal[_i]>> <<iconlink journal _i>> <<else>> <a class='emptyicon'/> <</if>> <</for>> </td> </tr> <tr> <td> Fragments </td> <td> <<for _i,_gotten range $items.fragments>> <<if _gotten>> <<iconlink fragment _i>> <<else>> <a class='emptyicon'/> <</if>> <</for>> </td></tr> <tr> <td> Books </td> <td> <<for _i, _gotten range $items.books>> <<if _gotten>> <<iconlink book _i>> <<else>> <a class='emptyicon'/> <</if>> <</for>> </td></tr> <tr> <td> Rewinds</td> <td> <<set _rews to 0>> <<for _i, _gotten range $items.books>> <<if _gotten>> <<if $items.rewindtokens[_i]>> <span class='menuitem'>[img[imgs/icons/tape.png]]</span> <<else>> <span class='menuitem'>[img[imgs/icons/tapeused.png]]</span> <</if>> <<else>> <a class='emptyicon'/> <</if>> <</for>> </td> </tr> <tr class='menuitem'> <td>Keys</td> <td> <<if $items.keys.BrassKey>>[img[imgs/icons/brasskey.png]]<<else>><a class='emptyicon'/><</if>> <<if $items.keys.LongKey>>[img[imgs/icons/longkey.png]]<<else>><a class='emptyicon'/><</if>></td> </tr> </table> <</nobr>> [[Exit|$return]]
<<timed 0s>> <<resetVars>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What you remember is that you need a cure. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A cure to stop the endless nights spent writhing in pain, body burning, flesh trembling and prickling. What you don't remember is how you were cursed, how this all started, this physical hell. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But there has to be a cure. You have to believe that. There's no other way to make it through the tiresome day and the restless night.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>This place is peaceful, but quietly hostile. Like Nature's hiding her rage, waiting for the chance to snuff out your lights. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Maybe that would be a mercy.<</type>> [[Continue|1-1-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But that merciless expanse is beautiful, in a way. The sky a gradient stretching up from a deep mauve horizon to the violet highs above. Corn stalks line your horizon, menacing, ragged and gnarled yellow heads blooming with the threat of death.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Lush marshmallow clouds billow above, blown softly by weak winds.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The air carries the pungent smell of something--either garlic or onion. Fragrant and tangy. Out of place in this endless sea of corn.<</type>> [[Now what?|1-1:NowWhat?]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-1:NowWhat?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Nearby, solid green stalks of corn stretch up forever. The leaves are sturdy enough to climb on.<</type>> [[Climb stalk|1-2:ClimbStalk]] [[Attempt to walk through field|1-3:AttemptToWalkThroughField]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-2:ClimbStalk</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You climb to the top of the stalk and marvel at the clear air. Birds flitter by and almost knock you off balance, but you hold onto the sturdy stalk and remain unflinching. The low buzz of a foot-long wasp menaces the air from below. About a mile to the east the corn gives way to a clearing--razed earth, pure brown dirt.<</type>> [[Now what?|1-1:NowWhat?]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-3:AttemptToWalkThroughField</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You come out at a clearing. The ground is chocolate brown and level—it appears to have been cleared recently. A few sparse sprigs of grass pop up here and there. The clearing is surrounded by tall corn, yet somehow the wind feels strong here, the tangy breeze cooling your hot face.<</type>> [[Keep walking|1-4:KeepWalking-3847]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-4:KeepWalking-3847</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You continue through the corn field, spreading stalk from stalk with your bare hands and stamping down errant weeds; sharp, prickly nettles. Eventually the corn stalks begin to thin out. In the distance you hear a subtle crying sound. It sounds like the mew of a cat.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A massive wasp with a fat yellow body and dangerous horizontal bands vibrates the air with its violently flapping wings. A razor-tipped stinger, pure black and the size of your hand, protrudes from the end of its body.<</type>> [[Run|1-6:incline]] [[Hide|1-5:hide]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-5:hide</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You dive into the stalks and wait for the horrid buzzing to pass. You feel sharp, broken sticks digging into your body. The wasp finally flies out of sight and you clamber to your feet, feeling a burning sensation in your chest. Checking under your clothes reveals a nasty wound: it hurts, but it's nothing serious. Your shirt is ruined. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Cursing the flying garden hazard, you find your bearings and make your way forward into the corn once again. Eventually you make it out of the field.<</type>> [[Continue|1-6:incline]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-6:incline</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Ahead there is an incline for half a mile, on top of which a stone farmhouse stands, blotting out the evening sun— a lonely silhouette on the hill. The light has left the sky almost completely, the day's last streaks of blue staining deep navy.<</type>> [[Go back|1-7:GoBack]] [[Head up hill|1-8:HeadUpHill]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-7:GoBack</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's too dark to go back in the field now.<</type>> [[Okay|1-6:incline]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-8:HeadUpHill</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The piquant smell of home cooking wafts out the farmhouse and the breezes carries it down hill, tickling your nostrils and reminding you that you haven't eaten in days. The house itself throws an ominous shadow over its environs and just looking at it shakes you to your core, but at this moment hunger wins out.<</type>> [[Go up hill|1-10:uphill]] [[Look for another path|1-9:look]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-9:look</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You search the entire horizon, squinting past the setting sun. But there's nothing out there but miles of endless crops.<</type>> [[Go up hill|1-10:uphill]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-10:uphill</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You start up the hill and watch the world morph before your eyes—the wind-swept hill replaced with a bountiful sea of lush grass, the terrible farmhouse replaced with a cozy cottage.<</type>> [[Walk onto lawn|1-11:GoToLawn-6037]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-11:GoToLawn-6037</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're standing in the garden. The incline runs all the way up and along the cottage to a small, iron gate connecting two shallow stone walls running along the front of the house. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A few feet away, a small cat lies curled up in the sun, head ducked down in the long grass, wide eyes watching you—curiosity or fear? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Its body is scrunched up like a compressed spring—ready to pounce off should you make any movement towards it. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It doesn't recognize you. There's something lonely about that—like you don't belong here. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Well, maybe you don't, anymore. Are you even here to begin with?<</type>> [[Open gate|1-12:OpenGate]] [[Enter house|1-14:EnterHouse]] [[Approach cat|1-13:ApproachCat]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-12:OpenGate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Green scratched paint, the warped iron underneath showing through, rusty and rotting—it's sure taken a beating over the years. Something familiar about its particular creak when you try and open it. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 gateclunk>>Clunk-squeak. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The sliding latch has somehow warped and won't retract properly. A set of concrete steps lead down from the gate alongside the lawn. Leading down a slope. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your head's spinning. <</type>> [[Continue|1-12-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Why can't you remember, dammit? Why can't you feel the things you should be able to feel here. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is this also a part of the Curse, or were you dead inside to begin with? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A flower bed on your left, overgrown with weeds. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A pit forms in your stomach—you can sense Nature taking back what was hers. What an uncaring force.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The chill of the wind is in your back.<</type>> [[Enter house|1-14:EnterHouse]] [[Go to lawn|1-11:GoToLawn-6037]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-13:ApproachCat</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You make a slight movement in the direction of the cat, but he quickly scampers off, only to stop a little further ahead and watch you from afar. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's probably pointless to follow him.<</type>> [[Go to lawn|1-11:GoToLawn-6037]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-14:EnterHouse</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Warm, white stone walls with the complexion of dried oatmeal; a hefty thatched roof toned chestnut brown, decade-old grass, would probably stink up close. Awkwardly outjutting window sills painted green, some of the green spilling over onto the white of the walls. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The windows are greasy and opaque, probably haven't been cleaned in years. Long, wet streaks running down them: condensation, or maybe slug trails. You try looking inside but it's too dark to see anything.<</type>> [[Continue|1-14-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>For some reason you're not afraid here. You're not even sure you're awake. But you must be, since when was the last time you slept without intolerable pain invading your dreams? You have no reflection in the dull window: everything's a blur.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The varnished-brown door looks bloated with water. Simple lever handle with an ancient keyhole. Wouldn't take much to pick, if one were so inclined; but something tells you the door is open anyway.<</type>> [[Open door|1-15:OpenDoor]] [[Open gate|1-12:OpenGate]] [[Go to lawn|1-11:GoToLawn-6037]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-15:OpenDoor</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your hand grips the cold metal handle and pushes down.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It wails in pain and turns—but the door doesn't move. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is it locked? But the handle moves freely so maybe the door is just stuck. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>You move in closer and push your shoulder against the door.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Pushing the crusty handle down again, you feel and hear a crack of wood and know something's working, even though the movement itself was imperceptible.<</sfxtype>> [[Try again|1-16:TryAgain-4025]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-16:TryAgain-4025</code> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>You wrench down the handle as far as it will go and slam yourself against the door. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Again. Crack-thump. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Again! Bam-Clunk, the swollen side rubbing half an inch past the frame. Bingo. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Bam-Clunk. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Bam-Clunk. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Each time edging the door further and further inside. No sound from within—you know the place must be empty. But still, that painful darkness spilling out through the crack of the door beckons you further, the screeching of the handle every time you loosen your grasp. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Bam. Bam. BAM. <</sfxtype>> [[Try again|1tryagain2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 dooropen>>The door finally frees itself from the constricting embrace of its jamb and tiredly swings inward, granting you access. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>As you take your first step inside that darkened room, it hits you like a ton of bricks: the Nothing of it all.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The filthy odor of rotten vegetables mixed with thick, peaty smoke blasts through your senses, forcing your empty stomach to churn on vapors and send its bile back up your esophagus. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>This, like everything, feels wrong. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The door is wide open.<</type>> [[Go inside house|1-18:goinsidehouse]] [[Turn back|1-17:TurnBack]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-17:TurnBack</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The sun is gone, the warm blanket of day replaced with a dank miasma which tickles you to the bone.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>> You're feeling the Curse start to stir inside you—the faint provocations of an inner itch that cannot be scratched. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It will get worse as the night wears on. It always does. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Too dark to head back to the path now, for there are no streetlights out there. The door of the farmhouse stands wide open before you, a dim trickle of sad light leaking out from within.<</type>> [[Go inside|1-18:goinsidehouse]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-18:goinsidehouse</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A faint flicker from the stove dances in the darkness— the place can't be uninhabited. But you're out of options and have no choice but to enter. Pretty soon It will start up again, and movement will prove difficult. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your vision has blurred from the sooty air—the stove's chimney must be clogged. You can't stop yourself from coughing the air back out, loud resonant hacking coughs which awaken the slumbering resident.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 cough>>Huagh. Hhuagh. HHUAGH.<</sfxtype>> [[Continue|1-18-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Who is that?" A man's voice rings out, deep but not particularly threatening. He sounds like he's in pain.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I'm just a traveler," you say. "Listen, I think your chimney is backed up. If you don't do something, you'll suffocate to death."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No kiddin. I was almost there, until you ruined it by opening the door."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What??"<</type>> [[Now what?|1-19:firechoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-19:firechoices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your eyes sting like hell from the acrid smoke billowing out of the stove. This guy must have a death wish.<</type>> [[I can relate, but I can't just stand idly by and watch someone kill himself.|1-22:idlyby]] [[Do what you have to. Who am I to judge?|1-20:haveto]] [[Why don't I join you?|1-21:joinyou]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-20:haveto</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Then get the hell out already. You're lettin all the smoke out!"<</type>> [[Now what?|1-19:firechoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-21:joinyou</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine, just keep your mouth shut. I wanna die in peace."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You shut the door and sit on a wooden chair by the table—not the most comfortable way to die, but not to worry; the carbon monoxide ought to put you straight to sleep soon.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>In fact, it'll be the best sleep...you've...ever...had...<</type>> [[End|GAMEOVER]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-22:idlyby</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Get outta here. This doesn't—huhack—concern you. Leave me here and shut the damn door behind you!"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You walk over to the man, late middle-aged, unkempt thinning hair, sideburns turning grey. He's reclining on an uncomfortable-looking sofa with hard, blue cushions and a cheap plywood frame. What a terrible way to die: alone, and in pain. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You can't let that happen, even if you yourself tried it not so long ago. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The man is emaciated and gaunt—he's light enough for you to pull out by force if you have to, but the smoke saps your strength for every extra second you're in here.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It would be faster if he cooperated.<</type>> [[Now what?|1-23:idlychoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-23:idlychoices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>How do you approach him?<</type>> [[Can you stand?|1-24:CanYouStand?]] [[Get up, old man!|1-25:GetUpOldMan!]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-24:CanYouStand?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Like hell. Just leave me here you dumb kid—huack.<</type>> [[Now what?|1-23:idlychoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-25:GetUpOldMan!</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Who the hell are you callin old? If I wasn't in this much pain I'd—<</type>> [[Attack him|1-27:AttackHim]] [[Persuade him|1-26:PersuadeHim]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-26:PersuadeHim</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Get up! If you don't get up, you'll die!" you say.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"That's the idea, ain't it?" The man rests his right arm over his eyes and bats you away like an annoying bug. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You look over at the stove—it's pumping even more smoke into the room now. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Even with the door open, there's no way he'll survive unless you get him out of there.<</type>> [[Attack him|1-27:AttackHim]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-27:AttackHim</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You slap the man across the face without warning.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>His eyes snap open, dark and boiling. There's still fight left in those eyes.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What's the matter, old man? Can't even fend off a guy who slaps you in the face in your own home? What a pathetic way to go."<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 cough>>"You—huack—you little bastard—cuack—cuack hack hugh."<</sfxtype>> [[Continue|1-27-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The man swings his feet off the sofa and hunches over, grasping his chest. You don't miss your chance. You kneel down and rest his arm over your shoulders, then gradually stand up, letting him get his balance before slowly leading him out the smoke-filled room. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>At last you stand outside, and the man doubles up on the path outside, coughing endless black soot from his lungs. Filthy clouds of death billow up from the door and into the sky, where the twilight has already bid farewell. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Taking a huge breath you dive back inside and find where the metal chimney has been disconnected; hastily you reconnect the chimney, then duck back outside and wait for the air to clear again. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Breathe in.<</type>> [[Continue|1-28:Next-4775]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-28:Next-4775</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The man sits there on the stone path, eyeing you with unfocused anger—like he can't tell whether to hate your guts or be grateful you saved his life.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You wait like that for a while, a cold moon looking down on you with a detached stare from the heavens.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The insides of your knees are pinching at you, and the man notices you wince.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Say," he says. "Don't tell me you have it too?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Have what?" I say, incapable of believing what he's about to say.<</type>> [[Continue|1-28-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Pain. Constant pain. An illness with no name or cause."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"That comes every night?" you ask, tentatively.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Right. The Bitch."<</type>> [[Continue|1-29:Next-2236]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-29:Next-2236</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your mouth hangs open but it takes a while before the words fall out. "I thought...I thought I was the only one."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well you ain't. This Bitch has been gnawing at me for years." Unblinking. No emotion in his voice. Just the sound of resignation.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Years..."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Yeah. And I was about to be free of it too, until you ruined everything. Dumb bastard—huagh."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus."<</type>> [[Continue|1-29-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"How long you had it? Still thinkin it's gonna go away on its own?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No. Of course not. That hope had left long ago. But...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I don't remember how long. Too long."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The man shifts his position and leans against the soot-stained wall, looking right at him now. Straight through him.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Why d'you even bother? Why go on?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I don't know. I'm trying to find a cure."<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 cough>>"Ha ha ha—hua-huagh huack. Ugh." He spits a glob of dark mucus to the ground. "Then you haven't had it long enough."<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just because you've given up, doesn't mean it's not out there."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Sure, kid. Sure."<</type>> [[Continue|1-30:Next-9698]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::1-30:Next-9698</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"At least I'm trying, dammit." But the more you respond the more it sounds like you're just trying to convince yourself.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>His cynical grin dilutes into a faint grimace. Heavy eyes, as if the whole weight of the world is sitting on them. Twitching, every so often. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You know why. You feel why. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's like needles pricking through skin, standing on tacks, sleeping on a bed of nails, bugs formicating under your flesh, full-body paper cuts, acid running through your veins. Nightly torture. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ah. Ahhhhhh...Just no way to live.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But suicide? Isn't that letting the Curse win? You'd be fine dying afterwards—but not before you eradicate this thing from inside you. For what guarantees it won't follow you to the other side?<</type>> [[...|1outsidehouse2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"To hell with that," you say aloud, fists clenched in the uncaring night, teeth clenched too, like every night, brows furrowed, new lines left in young skin, lines of pain, of anger. "I'm not going down until I'm cured."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You've got spirit," the man concedes, head tilted back and eyes closed. Eyes forced shut. Trying to block out the pain, no doubt. "But spirit alone ain't gonna cut it. Do you at least have an idea? About this so-called Cure of yours?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I think so."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You think so?" His cynical tone has returned.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I mean, I don't remember..."<</type>> [[...|1outsidehouse22]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Right. It's already started eating your mind, then. Me too. Can't remember jack from shit."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Night by night it feeds on your mind—you can feel it always there, chewing on your thoughts, taking from you. Taking everything, bit by bit, bite by crunch. Munching on every happy memory, every last feeling.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"...Until one day you feel nothing at all but the pain," you say.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He nods.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But I remember enough to have come here," you say.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What do you even—cuagh—expect to find?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"The Cure is here," you say. "I know it."<</type>> [[Sleep|S2-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 2s>> <<goto S2-Start-Real>> <</timed>>
<<type $SPEED_3>>You wake from another restless night to the sound of strong winds blowing against the tiles. Tiles. Not thatch. Rummaging of pots and pans from somewhere downstairs, presumably the kitchen. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You turn back the simple quilt and raise your aching body, coughing out the remnants of last night's indoor barbeque. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The curtain is a poorly-cut square of cheap, blue fabric, faded in parts, providing little protection from the morning sun's harsh glare. Not that you can complain, after a week or more spent camping under leaves and bushes. At least, you think it's been a week.<</type>> [[Open curtain|2-1:OpenCurtain]] [[Go downstairs|2-2:GoDownstairs]]
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-1:OpenCurtain</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Turning back the curtain, the rod supporting it comes apart from the wall and swings down so that it's now hanging from a single half-loose screw. Well, close enough. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The window is dirty and blurred until you open it, and even then you see nothing but endless fields of corn. Speaking of which, the smell of what might be boiled corn is wafting into the room, causing your stomach to rumble. This isn't the spoilt, acidic stink from yesterday—it almost smells good.<</type>> [[Go downstairs|2-2:GoDownstairs]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-2:GoDownstairs</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The man's placing a pot on the table. When you walk into the room, he makes a slight attempt to acknowledge your presence. You're not the talkative type either, but the air is awkward enough to make you break the silence.<</type>> [[Ask how he feels|2-3:AskHowHeFeels-4209]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-3:AskHowHeFeels-4209</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Like the ass end of a chimney. You sure slept well, considering. You sure you have the Bitch?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well, it took me three hours to get to sleep and I—wait, what am I saying? Not like this is a competition."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Yeah, I guess not."<</type>> [[Keep asking questions|2-4:asks]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-4:asks</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What do you want to know?<</type>> [[What's for breakfast?|2-5:AskWhatSForBreakfast]] [[So you live here alone?|2-6:SoYouLiveHereAlone?]] [[Doesn't your corn sell?|2-7:DoesnTYourCornSell?]] [[What's your name?|2-8:WhatSYourName?]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-5:AskWhatSForBreakfast</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Corn. That or eggs. Can't eat much else without it triggerin the damn Bitch."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I'm pretty much the same. I didn't realize corn was a possibility, however."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Try it if you dare. More than enough corn for the both of us, if nothin else."<</type>> [[Keep asking questions|2-4:asks]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-6:SoYouLiveHereAlone?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Who else would live with someone like me? Cept maybe a caregiver. But who's got the money for it?"<</type>> [[Keep asking questions|2-4:asks]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-7:DoesnTYourCornSell?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"It sells for pennies. You think I'm the only one growin corn? Whole damn country's doin it. They make it so a feller can't turn a damn profit. But what good's money—ain't no medicine fix what I have anyway."<</type>> [[Keep asking questions|2-4:asks]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-8:WhatSYourName?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Gram. Name's Gram."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>(Isn't he going to ask yours?)<</type>> [[How much do you remember?|2-9:HowMuchDoYouRemember?]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-9:HowMuchDoYouRemember?</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jack from shit, kid."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>So how come you know what to eat?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Habit, mainly. But I also keep a book."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A book?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Yeah, y'know, like a journal. It's the only damn thing keeps me from drownin in my own piss."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"That seems like an unlikely scenario, regardless of how bad your memory is."<</type>> [[Continue|2-9-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"It saves my ass, is all I'm tryin to say."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Does it say anything about a cure?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Keep dreamin, kid. But if you want to read my ol' scrawls, go nuts."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You'll find it hard to focus until you've eaten something. It's been days since your last meal, probably.<</type>> [[Have breakfast|2-10:HaveBreakfast]] [[Keep asking questions|2-4:asks]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-10:HaveBreakfast</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's some kind of corn stew with little for seasoning other than salt and pepper, but it's food and that's all that matters. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram takes each spoon quickly, breath held, like he's under duress. Like a prison inmate eating the same meal for the 1000th time. You take your first bite—Urgh!! It's...tangy, no...spicy? What the hell?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Oh," Gram almost cracks a smile. "Forgot to tell you—it also has garlic in it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Garlic?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"The only thing that puts a dent in the Bitch during the day. I'm so used to it, I don't think about it no more."<</type>> [[Continue|2-10-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Garlic? That really works?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Only temporarily. It ain't no cure, if that's what you're thinkin."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You force yourself to take a few more bites. Knowing it can combat the Curse is enough to make you forget the taste completely.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What if you increase the concentration?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Forget it. I've tried it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"All right."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Before you know it, your bowl is empty.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Take as much you like," Gram says.<</type>> [[Continue|2-11:Next-7025]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-11:Next-7025</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram rouses himself with labored breath and hobbles towards the door—each step taken with the deliberate action of hefting a lead weight. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He can't be older than mid-forties, perhaps much less—but endless days and nights of physical stress have taken their toll.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Time to get to work. If you're gonna be stayin here, best help out."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Of course."<</type>> [[Continue|2-11-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He shoves open the groaning front door and lets pure light filter through the room, a cloud of remnant soot still hanging in the air. Here you can see his broken visage clearly—grey, joyless eyes, white whiskers peaking through his brown hair and beard, hairline receding. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Permanent fissures denting his forehead—the track marks formed from years of anguish. You're almost afraid to check your own face; luckily, there doesn't seem to be a mirror around the house.<</type>> [[Look around|2-12:LookAround-1333]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-12:LookAround-1333</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>In the east corner of the room you see a modest bookcase, and in the west corner, a narrow counter, atop which stands a small television set, coated in black dust. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Then there's the menacing stove which almost killed Gram. It's so black you can barely make out its individual parts.<</type>> [[Now what?|2-13:eastchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-13:eastchoices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What do you want to do?<</type>> [[Check TV|2-14:CheckTv]] <<if not $items.books.Book1>> [[Check bookcase|2-15:CheckBookcase]] <</if>> [[Go to work|2-16a:prehelpgram]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-14:CheckTv</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You try switching on the TV but nothing happens. Last night's soot must have really done a number on it.<</type>> [[Now what?|2-13:eastchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-15:CheckBookcase</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Each shelf is drowning in a thick layer of ebony dust. The shelves are empty—Gram must have taken the books out to dust them off.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hollow shapes lie in their place like reverse shadows. One small book remains on the top shelf, maybe something he forgot.<</type>> <<getitem books Book1>> [[Look around|2-12:LookAround-1333]] [[Go to work|2-16a:prehelpgram]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You follow the staggering man out onto the field and marvel once more at the amazing height of his crops.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"How did you get them to grow so tall? Are they GM?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Nuh-uh—aux natural, the whole lot. As for their height, well. Let's say many a sacrifice had to be made."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He directs you to look for any new patches of weed. Weedkiller is expensive, and he doesn't have enough to spray the whole field.<</type>> <<branch>> [[Search for weeds|2-35:helpgram]] [[Go back to the house|2-17:gobacktothehouse]] <</branch>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-17:gobacktothehouse</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Takin a break already?" Gram says, but he doesn't really seem to mind. He has kept the place going by himself this whole time, after all.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The pungent, savory scent you smelled yesterday fills your nostrils again, mixed with the distant trace of stove coal. It feels nice to breathe.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>When the Curse gets really bad, your windpipe clogs up with phlegm, and no matter how much you blow your nose or clear your throat, your nose remains blocked. You can't experience the world the same way without smell; everything is lifeless, like an old photograph—you can see things there but don't feel them there, don't feel like you are really there. <</type>> [[Continue|2-17-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The garlic-corn-stew must really work; you seem to recall it taking days of fasting to let yourself breathe this clearly. Maybe this really could be a cure. After all, just how deeply did Gram pursue it?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>As you walk out of the field, the smell vanishes, replaced with something novel yet familiar—the cool, florid scent of a late spring garden just after the rain. You look up at the sky and the dazzling sun of the morning has already been replaced with a bleak, hefty curtain of cloud cover. You don't mind it though; there's something comforting about it, in fact. The wind moves through the trees with low tones ranging from hum to howl, swirling through you and blowing your hair back.<</type>> [[...|waittrees]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Wait...trees?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You look up again at the house. Sure enough, you're standing before the thatched cottage—there it is, stony and permanent, as if it never left. As if you never left it.<</type>> [[Enter gate|2-18:entergate]] [[Go to bottom of lawn|2-19:gobotlawn]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-18:entergate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Behind you is a tall gate—but isn't that the way you just came?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You try opening it.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Rattle. Rattle. It's locked tight.<</type>> [[Head to the bottom of the lawn|2-19:gobotlawn]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-19:gobotlawn</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A lawn. Grass. You yawn in the morning air, the night's fatigue creeping up on you. There's that cat again.<</type>> [[Follow cat|2-20:FollowCat]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-20:FollowCat</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>He's a polydactyl with a black-striped, greyish coat, light orange in places, snow-white furry chin. Pink little nose, long, unkempt white whiskers. The kind of cat you might see in any old garden. His marble green eyes seem to recognize you, but also fear your presence. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>As you approach the bottom of the lawn he turns at first, before scampering off to the right.<</type>> [[Go left|2-25:GoLeft]] [[Go right|2-21:GoRight]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-21:GoRight</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You see the cat's pointy ears poking out from behind some overgrown grass at the end of the garden. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Behind him are several deciduous trees, ash-brown bark with a glossy finish, trunk splitting off to two or three thick branches, not thinning out much past that. Like the branches don't want to leave each other. Only a light sprinkling of leaves—it hasn't figured out what season it is yet. It might be some kind of oak, but you're not sure. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The trees grow close together, and merges together with the dense fence of hedges beneath to form a natural barrier between the garden and the field beyond. The cat is watching you cautiously.<</type>> [[Go forward|2-22:GoForward]] [[Go to bottom of lawn|2-19:gobotlawn]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-22:GoForward</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The cat clenches up into a spring and darts into the bushes the moment you approach it. An ominous, monotone buzz drones out from the shrubbery and before you know it you're surrounded by an army of deadly wasps, their aposematic colors shooting warning signals through your nervous system.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You watch in horror as more and more wasps emerge from the bush, collecting into a black nebula and spiraling outwards.<</type>> [[Approach wasps|2-23:ApproachWasps]] [[Go left|2-25:GoLeft]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-23:ApproachWasps</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You refuse to stand down and keep walking towards the bush—but the wasps have noticed your presence, a chain reaction bubbling through the entire swarm and sending hundreds of the flying killers hurtling towards you. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>ZZzzzzZZzzzzzZZZzzzZzzzz—your ears fill with the horrifying sound, their monstrous silhouette blotting out the sun. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>They are descending on you.<</type>> [[Run|2-24:toolaterun]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-24:toolaterun</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's too late—you're surrounded on all sides by wicked fliers, huge and vicious, their stingers aimed at your flesh and closing in and poking you and stinging you just like every night, every time you move, every time you eat, every time you breathe, stinging, stinging, hurting, red raw drawn blood pierced skin scratched through to flesh, formic acid burning you cell by cell, outside in, their living poison diffusing throughout every inch of your body until you're seizing on the floor, seeing nothing but that implacable cloud, a portent of certain doom—and as your will finally gives in to agony and lets the pain wash over you, this shadow and everything around it bleaches out like exposed film, deep black fading to blank white, exposed like your each and every nerve ending, throbbing, shrieking—then finally, finally, silenced.<</type>> [[End|GAMEOVER]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-25:GoLeft</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A wall of stone stands to your left, strangled top to bottom by obstinate strings of ivy, their leaves sharp and pointed, top sides almost blackly green, underbellies shaded paler. The wall itself rises for a good ten feet; it feels stubborn, almost boastfully sturdy. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But in spite of this initial impression, its round edges and smooth surfaces betray many years of weathering. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You walk down to the end of this wall where it turns and continues for a while, leading to an opening. <</type>> [[Enter barn|2-25a]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>On further inspection, this isn't just a standalone wall, but part of an old barn, its roof long gone. As you walk into the opening, you notice one of the barn's rusty rafters swaddled in clusters of overgrown grass. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Several trees have already encroached over the tops of the walls and lazily bob up and down in the wind, wind whistling through the hollow ghost of the barn and conjuring up a harsh atmosphere of solitude.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Despite not feeling anything, you notice your face has started to simmer with the hot flush you may have once associated with impending tears, but nothing comes out. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The air rips through you. Hot turning cold. Life to death. <</type>> [[Continue|2-25a-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Whistling, whistling, sky greying up, changing. This isn't the same sky. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The walls grow before you, up, and over. And darkness. Darkness. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're inside the barn—its roof intact, all rafters good as new. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>How—what?<</type>> [[Leave|2-26:Leave-2226]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-26:Leave-2226</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You try to leave out the doorless hole in the wall but now there is a door<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—a heavy wooden barn door<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—and you are suddenly imbued with a rushing sense of deja vu<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—or maybe nostalgia—the air itself turning yellow like a letter burning up in flame. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>That smell<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—raw. <</type>> [[Continue|2-26-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Flesh. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Meat. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're afraid to look but have to look. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You look.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Look around you. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>> A cow on its side, split open, red juices leaking out, eyes wide open, not breathing. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Two pigs cut head to tail, flies buzzing overhead.<</type>> [[Continue|2-26-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And over in the corner, lifeless chickens, three of them, no, four, feathers littering the ground, their necks twisted backwards. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Carcass after carcass. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Slaughtered. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Slaughtered. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Who did this?<</type>> [[...|2barn2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You struggle to catch your breath, trying not to puke, pushing open the heavy door and staggering out that room of death<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—the sound of the wind rising, gushing, leaves rustling and blowing to and fro, the unkempt weeds dancing in harsh breeze<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—small, cold wetness on skin<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—raindrops, but barely<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—scarcely there, like even the sky gave up<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—only a few drops of its livid blood left to wet the earth for the last time. <</type>> [[...|2barn3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Never to cry again. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The sky will never cry again.<</type>> <<getitem fragments Rain>> <<if Object.values($items.rewindtokens).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) gt 0>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have an unused Rewind Token.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Keep the Fragment and choose another path?<</type>> [[Rewind|2-35:helpgram]] <</if>> [[Continue|2-27:Next-7056]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-27:Next-7056</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You stagger in a daze, up the path again to Gram's house, the sun's full force warming your skin, tall stalks of strong corn puncturing a cloudless sky.<</type>> [[Goto Field|2-29:fieldlate]] [[enter Gram's house|2-28:houselate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-28:houselate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You should really get back to work already.<</type>> [[Go to work|2-29:fieldlate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-29:fieldlate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram is kneeling down tending to a patch of weeds in the distance. You search for weeds but most of them have been tended to already. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>As the sun reaches its apex in the sky, Gram plods over to you and nods slightly. "Lunch if you want it. After that we'll see to the garden. The word 'garden' sends a chill through your back in spite of the beating midday sun. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's difficult to understand what is happening to you, but you decide not to overthink it. You can only hope it leads to a Cure. Maybe losing your sanity isn't all that bad, if it will get rid of the pain.<</type>> [[Continue|2-30:Next-3052]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-30:Next-3052</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You follow Gram back across the trail through the mini-forest of daunting stalks and down the shallow steps towards the house. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The garlic odor has all but dissipated, but the telltale flavor of carbon monoxide still lingers. The stink of giving up. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You look around the shabby room, now in full view as the midday sun bleeds through the open door. It's really a humble little place, but seems sufficient for one guy to live here alone. <</type>> [[Continue|2-30-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The shape of the room in particular strikes you as familiar, but you already know it's hopeless to try and remember. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>After a few minutes, Gram brings out a pot of the same stew from the morning; not that you were expecting anything else.<</type>> [[Now what?|2-31:postchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-31:postchoices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What do you want to do?<</type>> [[Eat|2-38:posteat]] [[TV|2-32:posttv]] [[Bookcase|2-33:postcase]] [[Stove|2-34:poststove]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-32:posttv</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The TV won't turn on.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Best just forget it and do something else.<</type>> [[What now?|2-31:postchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-33:postcase</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>There's nothing of interest here.<</type>> [[What now?|2-31:postchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-34:poststove</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The stove works a lot better when its chimney is plugged in.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Right now, it's not active.<</type>> [[What now?|2-31:postchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<if $items.fragments.Rain is 1>> <<useRewind>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel like you started over.<</type>> <</if>> <code class="debug">::2-35:helpgram</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>He takes the east side of the field, you the west, pushing back the brush like an intrepid adventure in the Amazon jungle, searching for little treasures of nettle and bramble, puffy dandelions and scratchy skutch grass, thistles creeping craftily underfoot and trying to strangle the healthy crop. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But from what you can see, the weeds have their work cut out for them; whatever Gram did to cultivate this strain of corn, it's practically invincible—row upon row of stalks digging their robust roots deep down into the fertile ground, sending out feelers and sucking up every last nutrient—it's the weeds that should be afraid out here. They just can't compete.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>> It almost seems like this "work" is more of a formality than anything—like a kind of meditation-through-labor, a means of blotting out the creeping roots of a different growth—one that isn't nearly as polite, and for which there is no easy fix.<</type>> [[Continue|2-36:Next-1977]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-36:Next-1977</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You wipe sweat from brow with borrowed sleeve—checkered, cotton. Yokel clothes. Good hard work. Light breeze brushing the corn tops and rustling your hair. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Peace. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hiding from the world under husk and leaf; clutching at roots, thorns, and hope. That when you emerge from this tunnel of green, a better future might be waiting for you—where you can breathe easy, and rest your head at night free from torment—in which you can feel happiness once again, instead of grasping at the corners of its fleeting shadow, its faded memory.<</type>> [[Continue|2-37:Next-298]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-37:Next-298</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Lunch time. You emerge from the forest of cobs with newfound gratitude for the earth, for the rich soil that provides you with the means to go on. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The catharsis of getting outside your own head for a while, of connecting with something, feels so freeing. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>If only you could find a Cure, maybe this simple lifestyle wouldn't be so bad.<</type>> <<set $items.journal.Herbs = 1>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Received Journal Page: Herbs!<</type>> [[Have lunch|2-38:posteat]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::2-38:posteat</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have lunch with Gram, and spend the rest of the day idling around the house, fearing the night to come. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Something tells you this one's gonna be bad...<</type>> [[Sleep|S3-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 2s>> <<goto S3-Start-Real>> <</timed>>
<<if $items.journal.Herbs is 1>> <<type $SPEED_3>>After a hard day's work, you lie in the hope that you might be just exhausted enough to sleep through the night. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But the Curse has other plans...<</type>> <<else>> <<type $SPEED_3>>After that strange experience, you hope you can just lie down and rest without the usual torture. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But you know it won't be that easy...<</type>> <</if>> [[Continue|3-1:Next-4831]]
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-1:Next-4831</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your head throbs, eyes stinging even when closed.<</type>> <<set $pain to 0>> [[Ugh...|3-10:hurts]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-2:hurts9</code> <<type $SPEED_3>> ____<</type>> [[ sleep...|3-14:nxtmorning]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-3:hurts8</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>.........<</type>> [[......|3-2:hurts9]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-4:hurts7</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>...<</type>> [[...|3-3:hurts8]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-5:hurts6</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>...<</type>> [[...|3-4:hurts7]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-6:hurts5</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>I can't do this anymore.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>I can't.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Please.<</type>> [[...|3-5:hurts6]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-7:hurts4</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>PLEASE MAKE IT STOP<</type>> [[Please|3-6:hurts5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-8:hurts3</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>PLEAAAAASSEEEEEEEEE<</type>> [[Please God|3-7:hurts4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-9:hurts2</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Make it stop.<</type>> [[Please|3-8:hurts3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-10:hurts</code> <<if $pain>4>> <<type $SPEED_3>>AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH<</type>> [[AHHHHHHHHH|3-9:hurts2]] <<else>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It hurts.<</type>> [[Turn left|3-11:left]] [[Turn right|3-12:right]] [[Strip covers|3-13:offcover]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-11:left</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Invisible needles prick your skin from the inside out.<</type>> <<set $pain to $pain+1>> [[Ugh.|3-10:hurts]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-12:right</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your shoulders tighten and your chest aches.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You don't have the energy to get up.<</type>> <<set $pain to $pain+1>> [[Ugh.|3-10:hurts]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-13:offcover</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You push away the bedcover and try to let the night air soothe your burning body. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It calms you for a while, but the chill eventually forces you to get under the cover again.<</type>> <<set $pain to $pain+1>> [[Ugh.|3-10:hurts]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-14:nxtmorning</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You push yourself over the edge of the bed and let gravity extract you from that prison of sheet and linen. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your heartbeat bellows through your ears like the pounding footsteps of a giant. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You try to swallow but the back of your throat is enflamed—hopefully you're not coming down with anything.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You can't deal with anything else.<</type>> [[Continue|3-15:Next-2688]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-15:Next-2688</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You push your way down stairs and wilt onto the chair. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The same clanging of pots and pans as yesterday. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Tangy smell. A familiarity to it all now, as if you've been doing this for years.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram totters out of the kitchen with his usual blank face, locked down in stern, quotidian resolve. Enough to get through the day.<</type>> [[Continue|3-15-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You take a few bites of the stew, but every swallow feels like trying to knock back a mouthful of rocks. Instead, you sip on the black tea and try to calm your aching mind, staring out the window. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It doesn't hurt so much right now<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—that's all that matters.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's not long before Gram throws his spoon into the bowl with a clank and says "All right, today we gotta sort those stones down at the bottom of the garden-en-en," his voice echoing in your ears. Ears ringing. Their insides stinging.<</type>> <<if $items.journal.Herb is not 1>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You'll have to fight back the daydreams if you want to help him today.<</type>> <</if>> [[Continue|3-15-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram waits for a while like that, wordless, absently chewing nothing and waiting for his tea to cool. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It does, finally, and he drains the whole mug in three long chugs. His manner towards food reminds you of someone refilling a car or feeding an animal; just another of the morning's chores. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is there really a point to a life of pure utility?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And were you really helping Gram by saving his life? Or did you just prolong his torture.<</type>> [[Continue|3-16:Next-2377]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-16:Next-2377</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram drags his wooden chair back from the table with a squeak and slowly stands, careful to dodge the minefield of his ailments lining the joints and creases of his body. He heads out the door.<</type>> <<if $items.journal.Herb is 1>> <<type $SPEED_3>>I'll see ya down there then.<</type>> <<else>> <<type $SPEED_3>>I'll expect some help on this one today.<</type>> <</if>> [[Go work|3-22:gotowork]] [[Go to your room|3-17:room]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-17:room</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What do you want to do?<</type>> [[Check bed|3-18:roombed]] [[Check curtain|3-19:roomcurtain]] [[Check drawers|3-20:roomdrawers]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-18:roombed</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your bedcovers are sprawled halfway onto the floor.<</type>> [[Keep looking|3-17:room]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-19:roomcurtain</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You haven't bothered to open the curtain—there wouldn't be much point, since you only come back here at nighttime anyway.<</type>> [[Keep looking|3-17:room]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-20:roomdrawers</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You walk over to the bedside cabinet and pull at the top drawer. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>At first it appears locked.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockyes>>But another few tugs frees the drawer with a loud CRACK. <</sfxtype>> [[...|3-20a:roomdrawersin]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Inside is a long, old-fashioned key, and a book, coated in a hefty layer of dust.<</type>> <<if not $items.keys.LongKey>> [[Take key|3-21:TakeKey-5203]] <</if>> [[Go work|3-22:gotowork]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-21:TakeKey-5203</code> <<getitem keys LongKey>> [[OK|3-20a:roomdrawersin]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-22:gotowork</code> <<if $items.fragments.Family is 1>> <<useRewind>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel like you started over.<</type>> <</if>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You descend the path to the bottom of Gram's garden, making sure to keep your mind in the here and now and not get sidetracked. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram's bent over huffing and puffing, pulling rocks from a pile and placing them into a wheelbarrow. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He appears to have no larger farm equipment than simple manual tools. You wonder how he could have planted so much corn manually—maybe he rented the equipment.<</type>> <<branch>> [[Help Gram|3-34:helpgram]] [[Inspect the shed|3-23:shed]] <</branch>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-23:shed</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You can help Gram in a minute; the small shed behind the house is tickling your curiosity too much not to go take a look. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's almost a perfect cube, no taller than seven feet, bare concrete walls, tin roof. Door doesn't look particularly sturdy, but the handle won't budge. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The lock is similar to that of the main house—big and old.<</type>> [[Okay|3-24:shedchoice]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-24:shedchoice</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What will you do?<</type>> [[Try to force it open|3-25:force]] <<if $items.keys.LongKey>> [[Unlock the door|3-26:unlock]] <</if>> [[Help Gram with what's left|3-33:helpgramafter]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-25:force</code> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>You violently slam the handle down and bash your shoulder against the door several times, but it's surprisingly robust and there's no give. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your shoulder's starting to bruise up!<</type>> [[What now?|3-24:shedchoice]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-26:unlock</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Taking the long key from your pocket, you insert it into the keyhole and turn. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockno>>Clank. Nothing. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockno>>You try again, this time feeling around inside the hole to make sure it's lining up. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockyes>>At last something connects, and the key rotates smoothly around, unlocking the door with a satisfying Click. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You push down the handle and let the door swing silently inwards to the pitch-black room.<</type>> [[Continue|3-26-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel around on the wall and come across a switch. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Flicking it down illuminates a bare bulb hanging precariously down from the ceiling. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Not much in here of worth: spades, forks, a rusty tool chest full of even rustier implements, a lawnmower that's seen better days. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But the smell of clipped grass wafting off the mower grips your brain right by the nose hairs and sends you hurtling backwards, falling flat on your ass outside the shed.<</type>> [[Continue|3-27:Next-4728]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-27:Next-4728</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>The shed no longer has a door. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Or anything really, besides some cobwebs and a frayed wire dangling from the ceiling. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Huh? A breeze runs through you, turning your veins cold from the inside. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're surrounded by overgrown grass and shrubbery which wasn't here a minute ago.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No. You can't spend all day in here. <</type>> [[Continue|3-27-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You run through the grass past the broken down barn, past the gated garden, up the lawn, back towards the cottage. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Conflicting thoughts dart across the aching expanse of your tired mind, thoughts of butterflies dreaming they're men. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You kick open the door without delay, scrambling through the room and looking for something<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—anything that can tell you what the hell is going on.<</type>> [[Go inside|3-28:roomold]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-28:roomold</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Aside from the repositioned furniture, this room looks similar to Gram's living room. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Are you dreaming? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hallucinating? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Or what the hell? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You need some kind of clue.<</type>> [[Check shelves|3-29:shelves]] [[Check magazine rack|3-31:magrack]] [[Check sink|3-32:checksink]] [[Leave the house|3-33:helpgramafter]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-29:shelves</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Books on gardening, cooking, crochet. Woman's books. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel your stomach tighten; something terrible is buried in here, but your mind can't access what.<</type>> <<if $items.books.Book2 is not 1>> [[Take book|3-30:bookold]] <</if>> [[Go back|3-28:roomold]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-30:bookold</code> <<getitem books Book2>> [[Go back|3-28:roomold]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-31:magrack</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A bunch of glossy checkout counter stuff like People and Cosmo. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your teeth clench. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A word escapes your mind: "No." <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's not your voice.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A few other magazines on cars and farm equipment.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What are you—" A man's voice. Not yours.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Sears catalog. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Stop it!" A woman's voice.<</type>> [[Continue|3-31-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Some ancient TV Guides. Covers from yesteryear.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Married with Children. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Family Ties.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Full House.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Modern Family.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>....Family. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>.......Family.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>...........Family?<</type>> [[Stop looking|3-28:roomold]] [[Remember|3familynxt]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What are you doing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You're a monster!"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Get away from me!"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"STOP!!"<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 scream>><<shake 3s>>"AAAAHHHHHHH!"<</sfxtype>> [[...|postfamily]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<getitem fragments Family>> <<if Object.values($items.rewindtokens).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) gt 0>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have an unused Rewind Token.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Keep the Fragment and choose another path?<</type>> [[Rewind|3-22:gotowork]] <</if>> [[Continue|3-33:helpgramafter]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-32:checksink</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your eye catches the sink by the window.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A sink? And cabinets, full of dishes and canned goods. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The sink has a mixer tap: a long, thin swivel spout with twin club-shaped handles. The metallic drumming of water on its stainless steel base, the clanking of foamy plates as you rinse them and place them onto the rack. Saving up. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What? <</type>> [[Continue|3-32-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Saving up for magazines. Chores. Going to buy bread and milk. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The summer sun baking the road and making the tar sticky. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Tree after tree after field—only one or two houses per mile. A small town, few stores, smell of baked goods in the morning, milk fresh from the local dairy, butchers on some days, the hum of the fridge, fluorescent white lights, always walking on foot, hating the distance and the emptiness then, craving it now, grasping at a fading feeling, the smell of chopped grass, the yawn of distant airplanes and nothing else in the sky but a few loose clouds, that sky sometimes spilling cool showers, twittering sparrows flitting through oak and pine, cars seldom passing by. Hating it then but later coming to long for it.<</type>> [[Continue|3-32-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The clean air, the quiet, the lack of burning poison rotting your flesh from the inside. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You want to go back, but know you have to bring this journey to a close first. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Maybe you can go back some day. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Go back to what you've lost.<</type>> <<getitem keys BrassKey>> [[Keep looking|3-28:roomold]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-33:helpgramafter</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram is pushing a full wheelbarrow over to a larger rock pile near the road. He'll probably have someone come pick them up, or hire a truck to deal with them later. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You head to the rocky area—there are only some smaller stones and pebbles remaining. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You pick them up by hand and take the last load up to the rock pile, releasing them with the others.<</type>> [[Rest|S4-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::3-34:helpgram</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You grab small rocks and big, heaving them into the wheelbarrow, taking turns to push the squeaky-wheeled cart to a larger rock pile up by the side of the road. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're sweating out in the midday sun, but the breeze provides a refreshing cool flow of air on your skin. You don't feel bad; in fact, as your blood pumps and the birds sing, part of you almost feels something real. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Something you know has been lost for too long. <</type>> [[Continue|3-34-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Something outside the endless search of non-existent cures, waiting day by day for your real life to start, for someone to help you, for the world to cut you a break; something other than yearning for the dead past and fearing a future that might not even come. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You say nothing. Gram says nothing. But between you there is greater communication than words.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A bond formed from a common struggle. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>From shared effort. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>From living and being and knowing. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Just for a short while, there's a quiet flicker of hope inside.<</type>> <<getitem journal Work>> [[Rest|S4-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 2s>> <<goto S4-Start-Real>> <</timed>>
<<type $SPEED_3>>Last night was a real son of a bitch. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You don't even dare recall it, now that it's over.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You sit at the kitchen table trying to catch your breath. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Can't.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Pots clanking, garlic smell, and so on.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Twitch. Itch. Ouch. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Can't think.<</type>> [[Now what?|4-1:choices]]
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-1:choices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Need to take your mind off your body.<</type>> [[TV|4-2:TV]] [[Bookcase|4-3:Bookcase]] [[Magazine rack|4-4:MagazineRack]] [[Eat|4-5:Eat]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-2:TV</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's no longer coated in soot.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—Gram must have cleaned it off. You switch on the TV set. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 static>>This time it comes on, but there's nothing but static on every channel.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 static>>...t...r....<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 static>>....y.....r.....a.....<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 static>>.....m...n...s...<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 static>>.....t.....r...<</sfxtype>> [[Now what?|4-1:choices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-3:Bookcase</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Looks like it's been recently dusted. All the shelves are empty now.<</type>> [[Now what?|4-1:choices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-4:MagazineRack</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A phonebook. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Couple of issues of Prize Farmer. This one's dated July 2019. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Some circulars. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Jammed between the rack and the wall is an old book<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—looks like Gram was using it to stop the rack from scraping the wall.<</type>> <<getitem books Book3>> [[Now what?|4-1:choices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-5:Eat</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Old man walks in, pot on table. Same as usual.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Or wait, no. This time he's cooked eggs...<</type>> <<if Object.values($items.journal).includes(1)>> [[Continue|4-7:nextgud]] <<else>> [[Continue|4-6:nextbad]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-6:nextbad</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Coop needs a decent clean," Gram says, either smiling or wincing. He sits down and shovels fried eggs into his mouth as quick as they touch the plate. Before you've taken your first bite, he's practically done already. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Now he's blowing on his tea—trying to finish that in record time, too.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Sometimes you should stop and smell the roses," you say, trying to lighten the mood.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"..." He's still wincing, or maybe grimacing. You can't tell either way. The lines on his head have set like graffiti in concrete, and don't give much away. He'd be great at poker, if he had any friends.<</type>> [[Continue|4-6-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Do you ever do...things?" You try asking. Can't really find better words. Just want to clear the tension in the room somehow.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Things?" He reclines against the flimsy wooden chair and holds the tea with an unnecessarily predatory stance—like the second it cools enough to chug, he'll drain its blood clean. "Lotsa things. Diggin. Pickin stones. Weedin..." <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He looks down into the mug. "Things. Hmph."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I mean like, outside of work."<</type>> [[...|4grameat]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>His face twitches. It's definitely not a wince, more like a—<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Some've us got work to do. Can't spend time pissin the day away."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel stones crunch around in the pit of your stomach. Makes it hard to swallow the second egg, but you force yourself to anyway. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Yeah..." you say.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Tea's cooled enough to drink now. He blasts it back as if to douse a fire inside—chug, chug, chug and it's gone. Picks himself up as soon as his empty mug touches the table. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Off to town for some things. Be back later 'safternoon."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"All right."<</type>> [[Continue|4-6-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He takes his plate and cup and flings them into the sink with what sounds like little regard for their safety. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is he upset about something? Or are you just more sensitive than usual after last night's sensory barrage?<</type>> [[Now what?|4-8:Nextchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-7:nextgud</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Went to the coop this mornin," Gram says. "Needs a good cleanin." He cuts up his eggs with the edge of his fork—a deftness to his movements, no redundancy. He'd take Gold for the one-minute chowdown event.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"How are the chickens doing?" you ask.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Doing? Doing as best they can," he says. Whatever the heck that means. "Today I gotta head into the town for some supplies and such."<</type>> [[Continue|4-7-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Oh? Do you need help?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Nah, got the truck," he says, nodding towards the north of the house. There's a truck back there, apparently.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He finishes all three of his sunny-side-ups before you've even tamed one, and reclines against the creaky chair, sipping placidly at his morning tea. Staring up at nothing.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>later," he says, and he's already gone before you even look up.<</type>> [[...|4tablenext]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Do you ever do things outside of work?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He shakes his head without adjusting his faraway gaze. "Wuddn be much point to it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You mean—because of the Curse?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Nah. Waddn't ever much social. Sure don't help though. Havin this...to deal with."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I understand."<</type>> [[Continue|4-t-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Weren't you ever married?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Sure. For a time. Didn't go out much then, either. Mostly workin." He drains the rest of the tea and scoops up the dirty plates from the table, whisking them off to the kitchen like a sudden breeze then stamping out in a B-line to the front door; he's already got his work boots on. "Awright then I'll be back later," he says, and he's already gone before you even look up.<</type>> [[Now what?|4-8:Nextchoices]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-8:Nextchoices</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>What do you want to do?<</type>> <<branch>> [[Clean the chicken coop|4-13:CleanTheChickenCoop]] [[Go outside for a while|4-9:GoOutsideForAWhile]] <</branch>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-9:GoOutsideForAWhile</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You stand just outside the door and take in the fragrant morning air. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The crunching of gravel behind the northern side of the house leads to the sound a rickety engine, starting up and then gradually fading off into the distance. As the sound dissipates, you realize you're alone again. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Thrusting hands into pockets and deeply exhaling, you try not to think too hard. But your thoughts are arrested anyways.<</type>> [[Continue|4-9-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Thoughts of half-eaten memories that no longer make sense, thoughts of the future dowsed in the cloying black miasma of lost hope.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You wonder how Gram is able to hack it, day after day. Well, he wasn't able. Was about to stop...But even without the Curse, would this lifestyle really satisfy a man, deep down? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is this all there is to life? Toil, labor, and loneliness? <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Writhing in pain, alone.<</type>> <<if $items.keys.BrassKey>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You grasp a metal object inside your right pocket.<</type>> <<else>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You fish around in your pockets and grasp at nothing. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hope sure ain't in there, if that's what you're looking for.<</type>> <</if>> [[...|lookgate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The morning sky clouds over in an instant, azure turning shale-grey, light breeze doubling its charge and spitting cold, damp drops of fury against your face. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You look out no more on endless fields of corn<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—something's in the way, resolving into view. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A barrier—no, a gate. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Brass, or golden. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The gate leading to the inner garden...<</type>> [[Stop this madness|4-10:StopThisMadness]] [[Go to the gate|4-11:GoToTheGate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-10:StopThisMadness</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You wrench yourself free from the growing sense of nostalgia and run back inside the house, each step an effortful motion, the treads of your boots sticking like there's thick molasses underfoot. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But you persist anyway, just like every night, every night a test of the will—use that will now. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>One step. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Another. <</type>> [[Continue|4-10-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Almost<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—grasping at the door jamb and struggling against the pull of the other side<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—Urgh. Urgh. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>URGHAAAAA! You yell, forcing the air from your abdomen and tearing free. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You find yourself back in Gram's living room.<</type>> [[Continue|4-14:houseaftergate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-11:GoToTheGate</code> <<if not $items.keys.BrassKey>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The door is still locked, and you don't know where the key could be.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What a waste of time...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You plod back to the door of the cottage, staring up at the teary sky and shivering. Hasn't your whole life been just like this<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—grasping at straws and coming up empty?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Well, who knows. It's not like you can remember, either way.<</type>> [[Go back inside|4-14:houseaftergate]] <<else>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The gate's peculiar keyhole draws your eye. Its shape reminds you of the slender brass key in your pocket. You draw it out and cautiously insert it into the hole. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockno>>It doesn't budge at first, but with a little more pressure, the key stiffly turns in place. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 unlockyes>>Click.<</sfxtype>> [[Enter gate|4-12:insidegate]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-12:insidegate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>A pleasant garden.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Shocking red little flowers on tall stalks bending in breezy air bobbing up, down, up.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Bees circling pollen-chocked stamen, whirring round. Invested in their work.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Blue tits perched atop large shrubs running along railings.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Lilies in this corner, lavender there.<</type>> [[Continue|4-12-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Multifaceted aromas. Florists in the mall. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Those wrapped bunches always given for solace—for supplication—always for something in return.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But not here.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Here they grow for themselves.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Regardless of beholding eyes.<</type>> [[...|4inner2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Chrysanthemums: deaths flowers, bulging and fat, purple yellow orange, shiver-petals bulging, flailing outwards, concentric ripples. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Roots shoved into cakey earth.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Leaf-kissed paths.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Elements of youth.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Of joy, hope, suntime park days swing slide flat garden lawns old men playing bowls walk walk ache but still walking stop for an ice cream as the day rolls on going...going...then memories gone and in their stead a dead image, the pleasant perfume spoiling, plant rot, air bad, a closed room...<</type>> [[...|4inner3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A locked room and body burning.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Rolling in your bed and burning. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Pleading. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hoping it will end, that something will end.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Seeing in the color of blood.<</type>> [[...|4inner4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And wishing life'd start anew<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>To feel something more than water-lily blue<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>With childhood gone<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is it all through?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What went so wrong<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What went so wrong<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 youscream>>What went so wrong with you?<</sfxtype>> [[...|4inner5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Now what.<</type>> <<getitem books Book4>> <<getitem fragments Beauty>> <<if Object.values($items.rewindtokens).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) gt 0>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have an unused Rewind Token.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Keep the Fragment and choose another path?<</type>> [[Rewind|4-13:CleanTheChickenCoop]] <</if>> [[Go back inside|4-14:houseaftergate]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-13:CleanTheChickenCoop</code> <<if $items.fragments.Beauty is 1>> <<useRewind>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel like you started over.<</type>> <</if>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Cramped quarters, a musty tart odor hanging in the air. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But they aren't caged—free instead to cluck and peck about at the straw-coated floor. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>A stiff, muddied broom stands against the corner wall. You grab it and get to work—noting the chickens as you sweep back and forth, pushing them aside.<</type>> [[Continue|4-13-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>There's one with a fluffy butt, one with red beak<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>One willy-nilly struts, underneath your feet.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>One who clucks too loud, and one who clucks too much<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Clucky cluck<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Clucky cluck<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Cleaning up the chicken hutch....<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have no idea where the rhyme comes from—maybe something from your youth.<</type>> [[...|4hutch2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You continue to clear the floor of spent straw, pushing all the dirt out the door and discarding it into the mulch pile down the end of the garden. Now line the floor of the coop with fresh straw<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>—looks so good you could even lie down on it yourself. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And it smells far better.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Next you throw some seed down for the clucks and chicks to feed on.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>They seem happy.<</type>> [[Go back to the house|4-17:houseaftercoop]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-14:houseaftergate</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You walk back into the house just as Gram gets back. He carries a bag of supplies into the kitchen, asking you as he passes: "Did you happen to see to the chickens?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Uh, no," you say. "I didn't get around to it."<</type>> <<if Object.values($items.journal).includes(1)>> [[Continue|4-16:housesomejournals]] <<else>> [[Continue|4-15:housenojournals]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-15:housenojournals</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram silently storms off into the kitchen, slamming open cupboard doors and flinging in the goods. You can't tell if this is his usual brusque self or what.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You timidly open the kitchen door a lick and ask him "You seem a lot more agile today. Are you trying something new?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Gotta be agile," he says without looking up. "Ain't no one else gonna help around here."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Listen," you say, "if you need me to do anything, just say so."<</type>> [[Continue|4-15-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Oh don't worry yourself." <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Each can and packet thrust into the cabinet with a Slam reverberating right through you.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Slam.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Slam.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I can go take care of the chickens now, if you like."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Don't bother. I'll handle it now."<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Slam.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"..."<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Slam.<</sfxtype>> [[Rest|S5-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-16:housesomejournals</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Oh. Well, I guess I'll see to it s'afternoon then."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You seem to be a lot more agile today."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well..."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Don't hold back on me now."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Went in to see Father McGuire today."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"A church?"<</type>> [[Continue|4-16-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"U-huh. An' I swear every time I take a drink of that blessed water, I feel right as rain for a good few hours."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Blessed? You mean holy water?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Right, right."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"And that works?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Might be a whatchu call it...a placebo or whatnot."<</type>> [[...|4hutchafter]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Have you tried drinking a lot of it at once?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Now don't be silly. Look here, I'm a God-fearing man, sure I am. But I ain't gonna go pinnin my hopes on no quick fix. Anyhoo, stuff burns my insides out."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"And you're sure it's just water?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Maybe the stuff's fulla cleaning fluid, who knows? You're supposed to bless yourself with it, not drink the damn stuff. Now that's enough of this Cure talk. Got things to do, dangit."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"All right."<</type>> [[Rest|S5-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::4-17:houseaftercoop</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Oh yeah, I took care of it. They're all clucking comfortably now."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well thankya."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You seem to be a lot more agile today. Any secret you care to divulge?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well, it's silly..."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Don't hold back on me now."<</type>> [[Continue|4-17-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well, y'see, whenever I to town, I always step in to see Father McGuire."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"A church?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"U-huh. I swear every time I take a drink of that blessed water, I feel right as rain for a good few hours."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Blessed? You mean holy water?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Right, right."<</type>> [[...|4afterhutchalt]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"And that really works?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well, maybe it's whatchu call it...a placebo or whatnot."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Have you tried drinking a lot at once and seeing what happens?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Now don't be silly. Look here, I'm a God-fearing man, sure as I stand here. But don't go pinnin your hopes on no quick fix. That ain't no good."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But surely you could just try?"<</type>> [[Continue|4-17-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Nothin doing."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But why?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Look, drinking that stuff is like swallowing bleach. Burns my insides clean out, I tell ya."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Are you sure this is just water?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Far's I know. Maybe it's mixed with something in that vat of his, you know, keep it from going bad. You're supposed to bless yourself with it, not drink it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Either way, don't you think—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Look, kid. One mouthful's enough to leave my throat raw. Don't think about trying nothin out of sorts—you'll regret it."<</type>> [[Continue|4-17-4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"All right, all right. It's a shame the stuff isn't easier on the body."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Anyways, not much else to do today. How's about you rest up while I put these things away."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"All right."<</type>> <<getitem journal HolyWater>> [[Rest|S5-Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 2s>> <<goto S5-Start-Real>> <</timed>>
<<type $SPEED_3>>You wake up from a nap to find Gram wheezing heavily on the living room sofa. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>His face is coated in a thick layer of glossy sweat, and he is trembling in that way you get whenever the Curse gets out of control.<</type>> <<if Object.values($items.journal).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)==3>> [[Continue|5-2:nextAllJournal]] <<elseif Object.values($items.journal).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)>0>> [[Continue|5-1:nextmediocre]] <<else>> [[Continue|5-12:nextbad]] <</if>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-1:nextmediocre</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Shit, what happened? Did you eat the wrong thing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No. Haven't eaten at all. No idea...what..." He chokes out, each breath labored and quick.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus, Gram. Do you want me to call a doctor?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No. Don't bother. Nothing new."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But—"<</type>> [[Continue|5-1-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"The doctors can't do jack. Let me alone, will ya?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Why won't you let me help you?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Help? You're no...damn help. Can't even get sick without you hasslin me. Just, get outta here already."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine."<</type>> [[Leave him alone|5-4:upstairslast]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-2:nextAllJournal</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Are you all right? What happened? Did you eat the wrong thing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No. Haven't eaten at all. No idea...what..." he chokes out in quick, labored breaths.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus, Gram. Do you want me to call a doctor?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Nothing they can do...bout it."<</type>> [[Continue|5-2-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I know you wanna...help, kid. But there's nothing...nothing to be done. Let's just hope...this is the last of it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What do you mean, last? You can't give up, dammit!"<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"Hhau....hhaugh..." he wheezes violently.<</sfxtype>> [[Now what?|5-3:choosegram]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-3:choosegram</code> <<if $items.fragments.Death is 1>> <<useRewind>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel like you started over.<</type>> <</if>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just hang in there. I'll fix you something."<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"...Hhauh....hhauh....all right...I'll try."<</sfxtype>> <<getitem journal Will>> <<branch>> <<if not $items.fragments.Death>> [[Look for a remedy upstairs|5-4:upstairslast]] <</if>> <<if Object.values($items.fragments).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) lt 4>> /*all journal, not all frags*/ [[Prepare something in the kitchen|5-8:helpgramsacrifice]] <<else>> /*all items*/ [[Look in Gram's things for a remedy|5-17:bestend]] <</if>> <</branch>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-4:upstairslast</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hurry upstairs to your room and rummage around in your drawers. Pens, paper, letter opener, rubber bands, tacks, paperclips, wasted printer cartridges...What the hell are you even looking for?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Sitting down on your bed, head in hands, you realize there is no cure for him.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You've only come up here to avoid the truth.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Soon, Gram will die, and you will follow. The only question remaining is...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>How?<</type>> [[...|5uplast2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The walls are practically a different color now—tainted from white to lemon yellow, the blue fabric covering the window now a burgundy curtain. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The bare bulb wears a dinky lightshade. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Even the bed seems different—shorter, and with cartoon-print linen. You don't remember changing it.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The radiator gurgles guttural sounds, and you feel the immense heat issuing off its square face. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Is the stove on? It didn't seem to be.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No, this isn't right. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're slipping into some other place. <</type>> [[I'm not!|5uplast3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Yes you are. Coward.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You're trying to go back there again, aren't you?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You won't even try to save him.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You deserve to have this Curse, you piece of shit.<</type>> [[Stop this!|5uplast4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>No.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Every time something bad happens, you hide in your room.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Why are you such a coward?<</type>> [[What is happening?|5uplast5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Doesn't matter. You're gonna die anyway.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Nothing matters anymore.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>This has all been pointless.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>You haven't done a single thing right your whole life.<</type>> [[...|5-u-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>You just sat in this room, rotting from the inside out.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Useless rotten meat.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3 >><<shake 3s>>Just fucking die already.<</type>> <<getitem fragments Death>> <<if Object.values($items.journal).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)==0 and Object.values($items.fragments).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0)==4 >> [[I refuse to die.|5-13:helpgrambad]] <<else>> <<if Object.values($items.rewindtokens).reduce((a, b) => a + b, 0) gt 0>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You have an unused Rewind Token.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Keep the Fragment and choose another path?<</type>> [[Rewind|5-3:choosegram]] <</if>> [[Continue|5-6:mediocre]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-6:mediocre</code> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You can't take anymore of this.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You have to end it.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Taking the letter opener from the drawer, you sit down on the bed and roll your sleeve back.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>The world is closing in on you.<</type>> [[...|5-6-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Loneliness. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Frustration. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Shame.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>The lack of a real sensation other than pain.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Your only remaining happiness lies in your memories.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>But every day they fade a little more.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And soon they will be gone too.<</type>> [[Get off this tortured plane while you still can|5uplast6]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 knife0>>You lie down on the bed and run the blade vertically along both wrists.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 knife2>>Then across your femoral arteries.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>It won't be long now. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 bloodloop>>Deep red liquid spills out of you, soaking the sheets. <</sfxtype>> [[It's warm.|5uplast7]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 bloodloop>>You feel the Curse all spilling out of you now.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 bloodloop>>No more pain. <</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 bloodloop>>No more pain.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>You can finally rest.<</type>> [[...|5-ul-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Soon after your last drop of blood spills to the bedroom floor<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Gram's breath stops.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>He is free too.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>But as the last light leaves your eyes<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You cannot help but wonder in the back of your fading mind:<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Could there have been another way?<</type>> [[...|5-7:mediocreend]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-7:mediocreend</code> <div class="fadeIn endcard"> <h3>End: In Vain</h3> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hint: Try collecting more of the in game items.<</type>> </div> <<getAchievement InVain>> [[Exit|Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-8:helpgramsacrifice</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hastily grab a fistful of garlic cloves and start chopping them in the dim evening light. The knife keeps slipping in your sweaty hands, and you cut yourself several times trying to prepare the extract.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You haphazardly cover your wounds, but the multiple cuts burn violently as you hurry to squeeze out enough juice from the mush to produce a concentrated dosage. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Blood runs from your hands with the effort, turning the resulting pulp crimson.<</type>> [[Continue|5-8-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hurry back into the room, where Gram is furiously scratching at his arms—they've turned red and scaly from finger to shoulder.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus," you whisper, knowing exactly the torture he's going through. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You vigorously shake off the shock of the moment and kneel over by the sofa, carefully taking out the vial of concentrated garlic in one hand and holding Gram's arm down with the other. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Hold still," you say.<</type>> [[Apply substance|5help2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Whassat...you got there...hhaugh....don't do anything stup—<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You apply a few drops of the potion to his arm.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 gramscream1>>"YeeeeAAAAAAAUUGHHHH!!!<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Stop! STOP!<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's burning! <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 gramscream3>>AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He is in pure agony.<</type>> [[Continue|5-8-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You take a look at his arm: a small patch of the outbreak seems to have cleared up.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"...Hhaugh...hhaugh...get that crap...away from me!" he sputters.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But it's working!"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I don't give...a damn. It's too much...I can't take it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well...then at least try drinking it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine. Fine."<</type>> [[Give Gram a drink|5help3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You place the vial to Gram's lips and tilt his head upwards so he can drink back the liquid.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"Ugghhhh," he groans, trying to swallow the burning liquid. After a short while, his breathing starts to turn regular again.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Is it working?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Not sure...maybe."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You've stopped scratching. Does that mean—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram raises his right arm to the light and looks at it thoughtfully. Sure enough, a wider patch of it has turned skin-color again. Next, he raises his left arm—but that one hasn't changed at all.<</type>> [[Continue|5-h-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Weird." You look back and forth between his arms. You notice his right arm in particular is damp with a runny substance. Did more of the garlic drip onto him when you weren't looking? Taking a sheet of tissue paper, you run it along the extent of his arm and take a look. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It's bright red. Was that from his arm, or your hand?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Well, both. Your hand has been dripping onto him this whole time...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>As crazy as it seems, you have to test your hypothesis. <</type>> [[Give Gram blood|5help4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 blood2>>You position your wounded hand above Gram's left arm this time and squeeze as hard as possible.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 blood3>>Blood runs from your fist and trickles down onto his arm. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>This time he doesn't scream at all—<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>In fact, he breathes out in deep relief.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The effect is almost instantaneous: his arm is turning back to normal.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Blood?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Your blood.<</type>> [[...|5help5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Maybe it's the antibodies your body has produced to fight the Curse, or the natural enzymes in your blood, or...Who knows? In any case, if it works, it works. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You grab a clean knife from the kitchen and come back. Gram looks up at you with fatigued caution. "What the hell...are you doing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just lie still," you say, throwing back the cover and exposing Gram's enflamed torso. <</type>> [[...|5-h5-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hold your wrist above him and horizontally slice across it.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You damn idiot!" he croaks, but it's too late. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 knife2>>A healthy stream of vermillion juice spurts out of your arm, coating his scaly skin.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 gramscream2>>"Hhuaaghh....!" Gram gasps, gripping the sides of the sofa, his eyes rolling pure white as your blood pours down on him, seeping into his every pore. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It only takes a few seconds to take effect—his whole body reverting to normal before your eyes. After years of suffering this inexorable curse night after night, you simply cannot believe what you are seeing.<</type>> [[...|5sac2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But within a few minutes, the remaining scales start multiplying, creeping up from the corners of Gram's skin and resuming their onslaught of the flesh with renewed vigor.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Fuck.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram's face visibly contorts the moment he notices what's happening, that brief remnant of hope, now vaporizing. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And his face relaxes once more, and his eyes look into nothing, and you know he's given up for good.<</type>> [[Don't give up.|5-9:Yoursacrifice-3224]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-9:Yoursacrifice-3224</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"This is it, kid. I appreciate you tryin but, we both know this is over."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Wait," you say. "What if we were able to remove all of it at once? Then..."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Ain't gonna work. You'd need a whole tubful. The Bitch is moving too fast in me now—there'd never be enough time to collect enough blood."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You start pacing the room. There has to be a solution...<</type>> [[...|5-9-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"We can hold it back until then. I'll store up my blood bit by bit, and—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"We don't have any kinda fancy anti-coagulants or nothin. It'd all turn to jello."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Even so—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram shakes his head with a bleak finality. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Forget it, kid. Look, my time has come. I already done accepted it. Long since accepted it."<</type>> [[No.|5sac3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The whining night wind rocks the stone walls and lets you feel anew the cold fingers of the night.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You cannot let this happen. You won't.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just rest," you tell him. "Rest for now."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He doesn't need telling twice. As soon as the words leave your mouth, Gram's eyelids fall like lead weights. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Soon you will both rest; but you refuse to go without resisting.<</type>> [[Resist this horrible fate|5-10:Next-556]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-10:Next-556</code> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You enter the bathroom and flick on the light. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Filthy tiles of a murky floor gleam under the dim bulb—what should be a sad sight now revealing a hidden beauty. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You have found your resolve, and it morphs your meager surroundings into something new.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>It bubbles over with new mirth, the feeling of home. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>No longer standing in someone else's world, breathing air meant for another.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>You belong.<</type>> [[I belong here.|5sac4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>You plug the rusty tub and lie inside<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Kitchen knife in hand<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>And you feel real gratitude<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 knife1>><<shake 3s>>As you dig the knife deep into your neck<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Without fear<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Without remorse<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 knife2>>Slicing down in one easy movement.<</sfxtype>> [[Goodbye.|5sac6]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 blood1>>And as your last blood fills the tub<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>You whisper to Gram:<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>"Thank You."<</type>> [[...|5-11:sacrificeend]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-11:sacrificeend</code> <div class="fadeIn endcard"> <h3>END: Your Sacrifice</h3> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hint: Absolute selflessness always comes at a cost.<</type>> </div> <<getAchievement Sacrifice>> [[Exit|Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-12:nextbad</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Shit, what happened? Did you eat the wrong thing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No. Haven't eaten at all. No idea...what..." He chokes out, each breath labored and quick.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus, Gram. Do you want me to call a doctor?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No. Don't bother. Nothing new."<</type>> [[Continue|5-12-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But—"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"The doctors can't do jack. Let me alone, will ya?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Why won't you let me help you?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Help? You're no...damn help. Can't even get sick without you hasslin me. Just, get outta here already."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine."<</type>> [[Leave him alone|5-4:upstairslast]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-13:helpgrambad</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus," you whisper, half in sympathy for the reclining old man, half in terror for your own future.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You run into the kitchen and rustle through everything, haphazardly looking for something. Anything that might help.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But you don't really have any idea what to do.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>What have you ever been able to do?<</type>> [[Continue|5-13-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hastily grab a fistful of garlic cloves and start chopping them in the dim evening light. <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 knife0>>The knife keeps slips in your hands and you cut yourself several times trying to prepare the extract. <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You haphazardly cover your wounds, but the multiple cuts burn violently as you hurry to squeeze out enough juice from the mush. It burns, but it's a good kind of burn.<</type>> [[Cut yourself|5bad2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 knife1>>You breathe in the sweaty smell of garlic and cut yourself again.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 blood0>>Hot blood runs down onto the floor.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 blood3>>It feels good.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Almost like it's draining away the poison.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Blood.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Blood is the Cure.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You can drain the Curse right out.<</type>> [[Continue|5-b2-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>You calmly walk back into the living room and stare down at Gram, panting on the sofa, his eyes shut tight against the pain. He looks so weak there.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>So vulnerable.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Just like the first time you saved him, you crouch down and drape his arm over your shoulder.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Wh—what are you doing?" he mumbles, but doesn't put up much resistance.<</type>> [[Do it.|5-14:memories]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-14:memories</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You walk him into the bathroom and flick on the light. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Filthy tiles of a murky floor gleam under the dim bulb—what should be a sad sight now charged with a thrill...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>The thrill of draining this sick poison out for good.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You were sent here to save him. You realize that now.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your memories are returning, one by one.<</type>> [[Remember.|5mem2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Memories of digging the blade deep into farm animals <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Drinking the thick spurt of blood right out of them <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Consuming raw flesh. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Giving in to the need<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>That's how to appease the curse<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>To give in.<</type>> [[Remember More.|5mem3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And more memories now, yes<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You lived right here in this very house<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>With your family...<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>When they were alive<</type>> [[...|5-m3-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Before they caught you<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And locked you up like a fucking monster<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And didn't let you ease the Curse<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Let it envelop you.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Forced you to go through all that pain<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Alone<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>All alone.<</type>> [[REMEMBER IT ALL.|5mem4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >><<shake 3s>>Until you got free that day<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >><<shake 3s>>And slit their throats<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >><<shake 3s>>And drank their blood<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Mom<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Pop<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Sis<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Meat.<</type>> [[I remember.|5mem5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And when the last of their blood passed your lips and your Curse was finally sated<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You tried to look at your filthy image in the bathroom mirror<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Then, as now, you saw the same thing<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Nothing.<</type>> [[...|5mem44]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>That's when you took your own life<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>But the Curse did not die<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>And nor did you.<</type>> [[...|5mem55]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You lived<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>To wander fields of corn<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And find another like you.<</type>> <<if not Object.values($items.journal).includes(1)>> [[End The Suffering.|5-15:bloodofcursed]] <<else>> [[End The Cycle.|5-18:holydivers]] <</if>> <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-15:bloodofcursed</code> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You have found it now. The blood of a Cursed one. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>What you need to truly rid yourself of this torture for good.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>"I'm sorry," you softly say, lowering Gram into the bathtub with filial kindness.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >> "Only one of us can be saved."<</type>> [[Save yourself.|5mem6]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You dig the blade deep into his neck without remorse.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>Without regret.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 knife1>>And slice down in one quick, easy movement.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 blood2>><<shake 3s>>A shower of black blood spurts into the air.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 bloodloop>><<shake 3s>>And you drink upon it like a fire hose of the flesh.<</sfxtype>> [[...|5-m6-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>You drink with real gratitude<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>The Curse in you fading<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Fading<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >><<shake 3s>>Fading forever.<</type>> [[Drink.|5mem666]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You drink<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Drink it all<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And whisper to his lifeless body:<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Thank You."<</type>> [[Exit|5-16:Selfishend-7044]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-16:Selfishend-7044</code> <div class="fadeIn endcard"> <h3>END: Selfish</h3> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hint: Don't you care about anyone but yourself?<</type>> </div> <<getAchievement Selfish>> [[Exit|Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-17:bestend</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You go through Gram's work clothes, which have been tossed in a pile on the floor. In his pocket you find a vial of clear fluid—you remove the cap and take a whiff. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>It smells like nothing, really. Like water.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Water...?<</type>> [[Continue|5-17-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You hurry over to Gram, who is furiously scratching at his arms—they've turned red and scaly from finger to shoulder.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Jesus," you whisper, knowing exactly the torture he's going through. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You vigorously shake off the shock of the moment and kneel over by the sofa, carefully taking out the vial of holy water in one hand and holding Gram's arm down with the other. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Hold still," you say.<</type>> [[Apply substance|5ghelp2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Whassat...you got there...hhaugh....don't do anything stup—<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You apply a few drops of the potion to his arm.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 gramscream1>>"YeeeeAAAAAAAUUGHHHH!!! <</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Stop! STOP! It's burning! <</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 gramscream3>>AGHHHHHHHHHHHH!"<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But after a few eternity-seconds of agony, he calms down.<</type>> [[Continue|5-5gh2-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You take a look at his arm: a small patch of the outbreak seems to have cleared up.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"...Hhaugh...hhaugh...get that crap...away from me!" he sputters.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"But it's working!"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I don't give...a damn. It's too much...I can't take it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Well...then at least try drinking it."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine. Fine."<</type>> [[Give Gram a drink|5ghelp3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You place the vial to Gram's lips and tilt his head upwards so he can drink back the liquid.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"Ugghhhh," he groans, trying to swallow the burning liquid. After a short while, his breathing starts to turn regular again.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Is it working?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Not sure...maybe."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You've stopped scratching. Does that mean—"<</type>> [[Continue|5-5gh3-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram raises his right arm to the light and looks at it thoughtfully. Sure enough, a wider patch of it has turned skin-color again. He raises his left arm—that one has healed too.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"This is incredible," you whisper. "Do you have anymore of it?"<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"No..." he wheezes. "Father McGuire keeps it inside the church."<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Then we need to go get more."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Forget it. He'll never agree to it—not if he knows what we are."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What??"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The words trigger something in memory—something terrible.<</type>> [[...|5mem2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-18:holydivers</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>You stoop down and lift Gram in your arms. He weighs less than a bag of feathers.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram looks up at you with fatigued caution. "What the hell...are you doing?"<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"We're getting that Cure whether the priest lets us or not."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just let me die. I'm an abomination. So are you."<</type>> [[...|5-18-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Tough. This world owes us a life without pain."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"You damn idiot!" he croaks, as you shove him into the truck and get in the drivers seat. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Just let it go already. We don't belong here."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Bullshit," you say, angrily pressing down the accelerator and heading down the road. The dark road runs on for miles, but at last a few sparse streetlights come into view, and the small town thereafter—placid, and unsuspecting.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You feel hungry.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But there's no time for that now.<</type>> [[Keep going|5dive2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You fly straight through town, not even slowing down for a moment, heading directly for that church down the hill. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Skidding to a halt, you fling open the door and drag Gram out. He tries to resist, but barely has the energy left to breathe.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Get your...rotten hands...off me! I don't want to...live like this...anymore!"<</type>> [[...|5-5d2-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You say nothing, carrying Gram's limp body right across the moonlit gravel outside the church and coming to a stop by the arched wooden doors.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 wheeze>>"Hhuaaghh....!" Gram gasps, struggling to get away, but it's no use.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>You bang on the door violently.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No answer.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>You bang on the door again.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Still nothing.<</type>> [[Try again|5dive3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"Fine, we'll do this the hard way," you say, laying Gram on the ground and walking back a few steps, then running straight at the door and smashing your shoulder into it.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Clunk. There is some give in this one.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Again. You walk back—"Stop it!" Gram cries, but you ignore him, taking another run, faster this time, and flinging your body at the door.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>Wham. Almost.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Your body is tensing up and beginning to itch as the night deepens. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No matter—soon this will all be over with.<</type>> [[Break the door open|5dive4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You take a deep breath, eye the door where it has slightly dented inwards, and focus all your anger <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And scorn for the world<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And regret for the things you've done<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And misery, and loneliness, and pain, all of your pain<</type>> [[Pain.|5-d4-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>That shooting, biting, stinging, itching, constant fucking TORTURE<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 gramscream2>>And you throw it all into your shoulder, all into that damn door standing between you and the Cure.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 doorclunk>>BLAM.<</sfxtype>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_3 dooropen>>Creaak.<</sfxtype>> [[Enter church|enterchurch]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Inside there is no light but for some altar candles left unextinguished. You carry Gram down the center of the room across the wine-red carpet and back behind the altar to the large wooden tank.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You sit Gram against the wall and remove the cover. There's enough holy water in here for the both of you. Good.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You use the wooden cup floating inside the tank to scoop up a whole mouthful of the water, and pass it to him. He shakes his head, but you push the cup closer.<</type>> [[...|5-enter-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>He knows if he doesn't do it, you will make him do it.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>So he takes a drink, and throws his head back as it passes down his throat, his eyes rolling back, his tongue lolling out, moaning, issuing a deep guttural groan from the core of his tainted flesh.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And his scaly skin reverts to normal before your eyes. After years of suffering this inexorable curse night after night, you simply can't believe what you are seeing. <</type>> [[Did it work?|5dive5]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But within a minute or so, the remaining scales start multiplying, creeping up from the corners of Gram's skin and resuming their onslaught of the flesh with renewed vigor.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>No.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram's face contorts—your brief remnant of hope, vaporizing.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And his face relaxes once more<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And his eyes look into nothing<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And you know he's given up for good.<</type>> [[Not yet.|5-19:dontgiveup]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-19:dontgiveup</code> <<type $SPEED_3>>But you haven't given up.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You refuse to.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Either you will both be cured here this night, or die trying.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"I'm sorry, Gram, but I have to do this."<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Gram's tired eyes open wide with terror.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"No—not that," he says.<</type>> [[Yes that.|5dive6]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You pick Gram up and he wrestles desperately to get out of your grasp. "STOP!" he cries hoarsely, "HELP!" but it's no use. You carry him over to the tank and—<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"What is going on here?" Father McGuire comes storming into the church, gazing furiously first at the broken door and then up at you.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>"NOOO!" McGuire yells. "You can't do that!"<</type>> [[...|5-5d6-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Yes you can.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You drop Gram into the tank of holy water with a resounding Dunk and his scream pierces your ears.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_2 gramscream3>>'YAAAAAAAAAUGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Father McGuire bustles up the pews as you lift Gram and set him to the ground, watching his skin return to normal. You hope the effects are permanent, but there's no time to check—the priest is ascending the altar and about to reach you...<</type>> [[Jump in.|5dive7]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You jump into the vat of holy water.<</type>> <<sfxtype $SPEED_1 youscream>>And the world turns to fire.<</sfxtype>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Cold fire, its icy lips licking through your every cell, sharp spikes forcing their way through your flesh—just like the Curse, but a thousand times worse. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Like every night of the Curse has been compressed into this fraction of an instant, the ceiling spinning out into a colorless blur, your memories and dreams and nightmares all rolling into a ball and splitting into a thousand million bits, the taste of corn and blood mixed with the scent of garden flowers, light spattering of rain, slaughtered livestock, locked in your room, crying for help, for anyone to help—please—please—don't leave me here, why does it hurt this much and why won't it stop?<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>But they never listen—you are just a monster, a curse. <</type>> [[I Am The Curse.|5dive8]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>You Are The Curse. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>And you should have never been allowed to live. <</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>If only they had burned you into dust long ago. <</type>> [[...|5-cur-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_3>>The water of Goodness swirls through you, obliterating you, making sure your sickness will never hurt another.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Freeing Gram's soul.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>Ending the chain of torture and madness and loneliness.<</type>> [[...|5-cur-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And frustrated hopes.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And sick desires.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_2 >>And murder.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Ending it all here.<</type>> [[Goodbye.|5dive9]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>The songs of the breeze<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>The cries of dead men<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>And the corn rising high on my tomb.<</type>> [[...|5-d9-2]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>A curse that won't die<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>That rots me inside<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>The ground<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Was only my womb.<</type>> [[...|5-d9-3]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>But now I have drank<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>From the waters of God<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>I am saved from a world I detest.<</type>> [[...|5-d9-4]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Just let me soak up<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>An eternity's pain<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>And finally<</type>> <<type $SPEED_1 >>Lay me to rest.<</type>> [[End Pain|5-20:Savor-7550]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <code class="debug">::5-20:Savor-7550</code> <div class="fadeIn endcard"> <h3>END: Savor</h3> <<type $SPEED_3>>Well done, you have completed the game.<</type>> <<type $SPEED_3>>We hope you enjoyed this adventure!<</type>> </div> <<getAchievement Savor>> [[Exit|Start]] <</timed>>
<<timed 0s>> <div class="fadeIn endcard"> <h3>END: Game Over</h3> <<type $SPEED_3>>Hint: Make better life choices next time.<</type>> </div> <<getAchievement GameOver>> [[Exit|Start]] <</timed>>