Agents of Chaos [Chapter 2]

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

[ W E L C O M E . T O . C H A O S ]

[ YOUR APARTMENT | BEDROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This particular room is your bedroom, and is the only bedroom of the apartment. The polished wood floor is dingy from long neglect. Your furniture, such as it is, is relatively cheap. Light flows in through the NORTH WINDOW, right through the gaudy yellow curtains, which do little to cut down on the city lights just outside. The air smells distinctly of frustration.
YOU ALSO SEE: A battered wardrobe, a tan trenchcoat, a pair of faded boots.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Living Room (West), Bathroom (South)

You are in a DETERMINED MOOD today. Some time ago you received a PANDORA TOKEN in a fit of luck, whether good or ill you don't yet know. Although you fretted about this for several days (alright, about two weeks now), you finally decided to USE IT. Naturally, since touching the PANDORA TOKEN elicits a psychic response, you've hidden it somewhere in your apartment.

For more information on any aspect of this adventure, type HELP "X".

Wind blows through the north window, stirring the curtains. The sound is pleasant, but you are too tense to notice.

---

Yes, it's a textventure.

I know, text ventures are often less engaging for the reader. By all means, if you can think of a way I can spice it up (other than "Pictures!". No pictures, at least not from me.), or if you find something particularly offputting, offer advice. I'll do my best to keep it from being wall-of-texty.

Note: I'll try to prefix all subsequent game text with this, to make it stand out:

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

[Whimbrel]

>HELP Pandora Token

>Put on boots

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

[ YOUR APARTMENT | BEDROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This particular room is your bedroom, and is the only bedroom of the apartment. The polished wood floor is dingy from long neglect. Your furniture, such as it is, is relatively cheap. Light flows in through the NORTH WINDOW, right through the gaudy yellow curtains, which do little to cut down on the city lights just outside. The air smells distinctly of frustration.
YOU ALSO SEE: A battered wardrobe, a tan trenchcoat, a pair of faded boots.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Living Room (West), Bathroom (South)

> Help "Pandora Token"

You aren't entirely sure what they are. Given how much the world seems to know, you may never.

The rumor is that Pandora Tokens are the reason why superheroes and supervillains exist in the world. Somehow, Domino Effect got a hold of some kind of awesome power, which he metes out to the world at random in the form of these small, coin-like bundles. When activated, each token grants you one wish, provided that Domino Effect has the technological know-how to make it happen.

Considering that technological know-how seems to involve the creation of said superheroes, you really have no idea what that's about. It's over your head.

> Wear Boots

You're currently wearing WORK SHOES. You will have to remove them in order to wear the BOOTS.

The blowing curtains makes faint shadows dance around the room. The wind seems to die down.

[mysticCharlatan]

>Put on trenchcoat, imagine you are a world famous detective.

[Whimbrel]

>Remove work shoes >wear boots
>Look out North Window

>Help Domino Effect

[Fayth]

> Investigate wardrobe
> Check inventory
> Review recent history

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

> Remove Shoes | Wear Boots

You remove your WORK SHOES with a sigh of relief. You wish your BOSS didn't mandate this uncomfortable footwear. It might be better if you had the money to buy a more comfortable pair, but alas, working in a BOOKSTORE is not condusive to LARGE PAYCHECKS.

You put on the OUTDOOR BOOTS. They are much more comfortable, and you think you look pretty good in them. Rugged. Perhaps a little bit more "In charge."

> Look North Window

You look out the window.

Just across the street is bright neon yellow sign of the fast food place you are unfortunate enough to live near. The same garish yellow light pours into your apartment as long as they're open, which is, of course, all night.

Fortunately, as bright as the sign is, it doesn't completely dominate your view. You can see over businesses across the street, and across the next row of buildings after that. After that is a wall of office buildings, tall and blocky. In one or two places, you can see between them further into the city, but there's not all that much to see. A few buildings peek over the top of them, but they don't offer any additional flavor.

A fire is raging somewhere in the city. It looks to be WEST of you.

> Wear Trenchcoat

You bend down to touch the TRENCHCOAT. As your fingers brush the fabric, you involuntarily recall the countless lonely nights you spent, imagining yourself to be someone, anyone more interesting. A hardened detective; a vile thug; an impulsive action hero; a physics-defying cartoon character; and more lately, a cool superhero, to whom fashion comes naturally, as does POWER.

You stand up without putting on the TRENCHCOAT. Tonight is not a night for imagining. You should find your PANDORA TOKEN.

> Inventory

You are wearing

Work Clothes
Boots
Watch

In your pockets, you have:
Nothing of consequence

> Look Wardrobe

You examine the contents of your wardrobe.

You have a lot of work clothes, and some more comfortable outfits. You have some interest in creating COSTUMES, but you have been unsuccessful in making anything interesting. You have a creative spark, but you're all thumbs when it comes to construction.

You also have a couple hats atop the wardrobe.

You search the wardrobe for your PANDORA TOKEN. You don't seem to find it. You seem to remember leaving it somewhere WORK RELATED.

> Help "Domino Effect"
> Help "Recent History"

show spoiler

hide spoiler

> Help "Domino Effect"

Domino Effect is an enigma of a man.

Sometime in the past five years, he appeared on the scene claiming to have unlocked the secrets of some advanced technology. He seems to have taken an intense dislike toward the current state of government. He crated a GIANT FLOATING CITY, and distributed the PANDORA TOKENS worldwide, and is known worldwide as both a terrorist and a vigilante.

You don't really watch the news, but you're fairly sure he's teetering on the precipice of WAR with virtually every civilized country. You also seem to recall that he dresses FORMALLY at all times, even in combat.

Some rumors suggest that those who activate the PANDORA TOKENS get to meet him personally, although this is not universal.

> Help "Recent History"

Within about the last 50 years, mankind exited a time period about which all knowledge is lost. Civilization and people remained intact, but every attempt to find out what happened prior seems to be blocked by some higher force. What is definitely known is that at some point in the past, some kind of climactic battle happened to start this time, known as the "Zero Age." After that, mindkind went to sleep, and later awoke.

Civilization went on. A date was (arbitrarily) chosen to be the start of the First Age. Research and culture tried to pick up where they left off. Technology started ramping up again. In a lot of places, a lot of interesting things happened.

Sometime in the past five years, DOMINO EFFECT appeared on the scene claiming to have unlocked the secrets of some advanced technology. You don't really watch the news, but you're fairly sure he's teetering on the precipice of WAR with virtually every civilized country.

You, however, were born poor (after the start of the First Era) and have remained poor. It's hard to say exactly what sort of interesting goings-on there are in the world, because up till now, you haven't been a part of them.

[ YOUR APARTMENT | BEDROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This particular room is your bedroom, and is the only bedroom of the apartment. The polished wood floor is dingy from long neglect. Your furniture, such as it is, is relatively cheap. Light flows in through the NORTH WINDOW, right through the gaudy yellow curtains, which do little to cut down on the city lights just outside. The air smells distinctly of frustration.
YOU ALSO SEE: A battered wardrobe, a tan trenchcoat, a pair of work shoes.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Living Room (West), Bathroom (South)

The wind stirs the curtains again. Because you do not smell smoke, you suspect it comes from the east.

[Fayth]

>HELP GIANT FLOATING CITY
>LOOK POCKETS OF WORK CLOTHES

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] M I N O R . U P D A T E [

> Help "Blackhat City"

The giant floating city of Domino Effect. It seems to be built on a flat, circular, city-sized black plate, and it hovers high enough off the ground to clear most small skyscrapers. It has a ring of black buildings at the center of the plate, which from below and far away, kinda makes it look like a top hat. If you watch closely, you can sometimes see people flying in the air nearby.

It's really massive. You've only seen it once. It appeared out of a giant, lightning-rimmed hole in the sky, hovered menacingly for about an hour, and then left in the same manner. That was incredibly exciting, and also QUITE frightening. The internet seems to suggest that the same happens all over the world at various times.

Aside from that, you don't really know much.

---

"> LOOK POCKETS OF WORK CLOTHES" equates to ">Inventory", so I won't repeat it.

[Fayth]

show spoiler

hide spoiler

I meant the pockets of the clothes in the wardrobe.

>GO SOUTH

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

> South
[ YOUR APARTMENT | BATHROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This is your bathroom, and like all other rooms, it is uncomfortably small and dingy. Fortunately, you have the sense to keep this room clean, and will often retreat here if the other rooms' grime is getting to you. It has a basic toilet, shower, and sink with a small mirror.
YOU ALSO SEE: Stack of reading material, potpourri.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Bedroom (North)

---

The wardrobe and its contents were handled as a single thing. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.

[Andorxor]

>HELP Where are the tokens? (its worth a try)
>Look in the tank of the toilet

[forkinyoureye]

This looks interesting.

>Look stack of toilet paper reading material

[Fayth]

>Look in the potpourri
>Look behind the sink

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

> Help "Hint"

You may use the HINT command once per chapter to get help on one particular topic. Once you have chosen a topic, you may continue to use the HINT command, but you will only get hints about the topic you previously chose.

> Look Toilet

From the look of it, you last cleaned this toilet sometime in the past month or two. It's not sparkling, but it's clean.

You search the toilet for the PANDORA TOKEN. It's not behind or around it, not in the tank, and of course, not in the business end.


> Look Potpourri

It smells vaguely refreshing. Mostly, it keeps the whole room smelling somewhat less like a bathroom, in case you feel the need to retreat here from everyday life.

You search the potpourri for the Pandora Token. It's not there.


> Look Sink

The sink is a freestanding ceramic pillar with a couple knobs for water control. You find it vaguely distasteful, but then, it's a cheap apartment.

Behind the sink is a mirror. Behind the mirror is a medicine cabinet with toothpaste, asprin, and other such bits of everyday life.

You search around the sink and in the medicine cabinet. You do not find the Pandora Token.


> Look Reading Material

You have a small plastic bin full of books and reading material. It's mostly magazines, roleplaying reference books, and one or two seedy novels.

You see a book you borrowed from your workplace. You don't immediately remember why you left it here, of all places. As you pick it up, you feel a faint tingle. Sure enough, you find the PANDORA TOKEN inside the front cover, just where you found it the first time.


[ YOUR APARTMENT | BATHROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This is your bathroom, and like all other rooms, it is uncomfortably small and dingy. Fortunately, you have the sense to keep this room clean, and will often retreat here if the other rooms' grime is getting to you. It has a basic toilet, shower, and sink with a small mirror.
YOU ALSO SEE: Stack of reading material, potpourri.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Bedroom (North)

As you take the Pandora Token in hand, you feel it whispering gently, mechanically into your mind. While you hold it, you know how to activate the token.

This might be the time to prepare yourself for what you're about to do.

---

If it's not clear, ">HELP Where are the tokens?" turned into "> Help "Hint""

[Fayth]

>Activate token!

[forkinyoureye]

>Preparing is for wusses. Activate token.

[Whimbrel]

>Don't activate it yet, NORTH and put the token in your pocket.

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

> North

[ YOUR APARTMENT | BEDROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This particular room is your bedroom, and is the only bedroom of the apartment. The polished wood floor is dingy from long neglect. Your furniture, such as it is, is relatively cheap. Light flows in through the NORTH WINDOW, right through the gaudy yellow curtains, which do little to cut down on the city lights just outside. The air smells distinctly of frustration.
YOU ALSO SEE: A battered wardrobe, a tan trenchcoat, a pair of work shoes.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Living Room (West), Bathroom (South)

The wind is currently blowing the curtains around. You faintly smell smoke.
You vaguely feel the tingle of the PANDORA TOKEN in your pocket.

---

Really? You guys wanted to make your big superhero thing happen in the bathroom?

At least think about it a little more before you decide... jeez...

[forkinyoureye]

Really? You guys wanted to make your big superhero thing happen in the bathroom?

What can I say, it would be funny.

[Whimbrel]

Living Room go--Also, any estimates on how close the fire is?

[Fayth]

>I second making the superhero thing happen in the bathroom. It's where we're comfortable, it's clean, and no one has to know that we became a superhero/supervillain in the loo, okay.

[suomynonAyletamitlU]

] T H I S . I S . A N . U P D A T E [

[ YOUR APARTMENT | LIVING ROOM ]
This is a low-rent apartment in a bustling city. This room is your living area, filled with just enough random consumerist nonsense to keep you from dying of angst and boredom. The carpet underfoot is uncomfortably dirty. The north wall is bare except for a bookcase and an utterly inadequate television set, connected to old game consoles. In the middle of the room is a comfy sofa, which is also unpleasantly dirty. In front of it is a coffee table, which has served in place of a dining table for far too long. The WEST WINDOW is dark, even without curtains.
YOU ALSO SEE: A roleplaying gamebook, a stack of pizza boxes, a fancy santa.
POSSIBLE EXITS: Bedroom (East), Kitchen (Southeast), Hallway (South)

You hear a slow dripping noise from the southeast.
You hear a low rumbling noise far to the northwest.
You vaguely feel the tingle of the PANDORA TOKEN in your pocket.

---

Your UNATTUNED HUMAN SENSES give you no particular gauge as to how far away the fire is. Perhaps if you had some kind of SUPERNATURAL ABILITY or NEWS COVERAGE you could figure out where it is.

I don't mind ending up there I just already made the rest of the apartment is all.

[Andorxor]

>East
>Wear Trenchcoat

[Whimbrel]

>Turn on Television