The battered grey Uber groans, shudders, and stops. For a moment the driver fights with the app, then she mutters "have a *good* day" and cranes her head back expectantly. Two pale and cloudy eyes are waiting for you to exit the vehicle.
(link-reveal:"Pull on the door handle.")[
It's stuck.
(link-reveal:"Pull on the door handle again.")[
It's still stuck. She's still looking at you...
(link-reveal:"Pull harder.")[
Finally.
[[Get out.->Outside the Hotel]]
]
]
](if:visits is 1)[The misleadingly-named Happy Hour hotel occupies a cramped slot between Poundland and a particularly uninviting McDonald's, one of the last surviving businesses on a potemkin High Street that increasingly resembles a boarded-up level in an open world game. From the outside you can see three firmly-shut sets of windows topped by a smaller attic window, all with the same unsettling brown tint and deep velvet curtains.
Your phone trills angrily as the Uber speeds off, leaving you to wrestle with the question of the tip. The train to this godforsaken London suburb was cancelled five minutes before departure, and the replacement bus had to miss your stop due to roadworks. Hence the Uber, and hence the question.
[[Tip the driver. -> Tip]]
[[Forget it. You shouldn't have spent the money anyways. -> No Tip]]
]\
(if:visits > 1)[You're standing outside the beat-up Happy Hour Hotel. From the outside, you can see three floors and an attic, with all the windows blocked by heavy velvet curtains.
[[Go in.->Foyer]]
[[Leave.->Try to Leave]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")
](set: $wallet to $wallet - 5)\
(set: $tipped to true)\
While she was somewhat hostile, the systematic failures that led to her being forced into a precarious line of work were not in her control. Maybe your coin will go to a good cause, or at least a little relief.
[[Anyways...->Outside the Hotel]](set: $tipped to false)\
You still think she was trying to give you the evil eye.
[[Anyways...->Outside the Hotel]](if:visits is 1)[Maybe, twenty years ago, the Foyer would have passed as some kind of kitsch or retro. Now it just looks cheap. At the end of a set of stairs leading up you see a beaten-up oak desk that contrasts horribly with the teal 80s wallpaper, with a door pointing to "DINING ROOM" behind it and another set of stairs leading up, presumably to the nine rooms it boasts on Google Maps.
There's a manager here, nodding off as you approach the desk. A fly buzzes past you, and you realise that the doorway you walked through was in fact a three-way doorway with doors to the left and right marked "OFFICE" and "KITCHEN". Both have locks on them.
]\
(else:)[You are in the foyer of the Happy Hour Hotel. The awkwardly placed desk forces you to go either left to the stairs marked "ROOMS" or right through the door marked "DINING ROOM". (if: $manager_is_in)[The manager is (either: "tapping on his phone", "looking at nowhere in particular", "staring at the clock", "checking something on the computer with languid disinterest").](else:)[The manager must have run away.]
Behind you you can see a door leading to the OFFICE and another door marked KITCHEN. Both have locks on them.
]\
[[Go up the stairs to the rooms.->Floor 1 Stairwell]]
[[Go to the Dining Room.->Dining Room]]
(if: not ($keys contains $key_kitchen))[[[Check the Kitchen Door.->Kitchen Door]]]\
(else:)[[[Enter the kitchen->Kitchen]]]
(if: not ($keys contains $key_office))[[[Check the Office Door.->Office Door]]]\
(else:)[[[Enter the office->Office]]]
(if: $manager_is_in)[[[Talk to the Manager.->Manager]]]\
(else:)[[[Go to the Manager's Desk.->Desk]]]
[[Leave.->Outside the Hotel]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")(if: not $quest_done)[You can't go yet. The job isn't done.
[[Go back->Outside the Hotel]]
]\
(else:)[Time for an Uber.
**THE END**
]{(set: $item_to_equip to "")}
(if: visit is 1)[A sturdy, reinforced black suitcase, reinforced with polymer mesh and some other gadgets that make it easier to carry through airport security.
]\
**Suitcase Check:**
(for: each _temp_item, ...$suitcase)[_temp_item: (link-goto: "Examine", "Examine "+_temp_item) | (link-reveal:"Equip")[(set: $item_to_equip to _temp_item)(go-to: "Equip-Done")]
]\
(if: $hand is not $item_none)[In your hand is the $hand. (link-reveal:"[Unequip]")[(set: $item_to_equip to $item_none)(go-to: "Equip-Done") Done.]]\
(else:)[There is nothing in your hand.]
(link-goto: "I'm Ready.", $lastPassage)
**Operating License**: This unassuming stack of papers gives you a vaguely worded, yet suitably ominous set of permissions in every Anglophone country (and quite a few that use English as a government language). While the actual contents of the papers are gibberish, a set of memetic ideograms encoded in the document create a generalised hallucination that whatever you showed them was Very Important and that you should Not Be Disturbed. Nobody will question you going through drawers or pocketing knick-knacks, but anything too drastic will cause the low-level compulsion to break.
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] **Charon's Coin**: A silver Athenian drachma, featuring a carved image of Athena on the obverse side and an owl, an olive sprig, and the Greek letters ALPHA THETA EPSILON on the reverse. Contains a minor beneficial enchantment that banishes any ghost it is offered to. Unfortunately, these are in short supply, and the enchantment also banishes the coin to the Negative Energy Plane.
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] **Request Letter**: For arcane reasons related to treaties you don't quite understand and legal requirements that were born in WWII, you're required to carry a printed (preferrably faxed) copy of the request that you're investigating. (if: not $seen_letter)[Which is helpful, because the case on your hands is so generic that you realise you've forgotten all about it.]
[[Read Letter]]
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] (set: $seen_letter to true)
A printed out PDF form which reads:
"I, PETITIONER TO THE CROWN, BEING NAMED
John Public
AND PRIVVY OF SECRET MATTERS PERILOUS TO THE REALM AS FOLLOWS
room 6 in the goddamn Happy Hour hotel in `[`suburb of London`]` is haunted
COMPELL THEE AGENT
L&M Investigation services ltd.
SO BOUND AND COMPELLED BY LETTER OF MOST SECRET PATENT UNDER...
*(the legalese continues for some time)*
...INVESTIGATE AND FORTHWITH RESOLVE ALL MATTERS ENCLOSED."
The additional comments form is empty.
[[Back->Examine Request Letter]] (if: $hand is not $item_none)[(set: $suitcase to $suitcase + (a: $hand))]
(set: $hand to $item_to_equip)
(if: $item_to_equip is not $item_none)[(set: $suitcase to $suitcase - (a: $item_to_equip))]
(go-to: "Suitcase")(set: $quest_done to false)
(set: $tipped to false)
(set: $wallet to 30)
(set: $health to 5)
(set: $has_suitcase to true)
(set: $seen_letter to false)
(set: $hurt to (macro: int-type _amt, [(set: $health to $health - _amt)(if: $health is <= 0)[(output:)[(go-to: "Death")]](else:)[(output-data: true)]]))
(set: $ghost_present to false)
(set: $ghost_hostile to true)
(set: $ghost_had_mints to false)
(set: $visited_dream to false)
(set: $manager_is_in to true)
(set: $manager_fear to false)
(set: $manager_has_coin to false)
(set: $manager_had_mints to false)
(set: $item_none to "none")
(set: $item_license to "Operating License")
(set: $item_coin to "Charon\'s Coin")
(set: $item_letter to "Request Letter")
(set: $item_breath_mints to "Breath Mints")
(set: $item_breath_mint_box to "Breath Mint Box")
(set: $item_realism_book to "Capitalist Realism Paperback")
(set: $item_soviet_postcard to "New Soviet Man Postcard")
(set: $key_room_six to "Room Six key")
(set: $key_office to "Office key")
(set: $key_kitchen to "Kitchen key")
(set: $hand to $item_none)
(set: $suitcase to (a: $item_license, $item_coin, $item_letter, $item_breath_mints))
(set: $keys to (a:))
<!-- Output side effects get triggered twice, be careful -->
(set: $pickup to (macro: string-type _item_to_collect, [
(if: $hand is $item_none)[
(set: $hand to _item_to_collect)
](else:)[
(set: $suitcase to it + (a: _item_to_collect))
]
(output:)[]
]))
(set: $lastPassage to "")
(go-to: "Arrival")(if: visits is 1)[A set of dense, twisting stairs snake upwards. Behind you, the door to the FOYER slams shut with a ferocity you didn't expect.]\
(if: visits >= 1)[You are in the stairwell for floor 1 of the Happy Hour Hotel. You can go out to the FOYER (and the manager) or go UPSTAIRS.]
[[Go up.->Floor 2 Stairwell]]
[[Go to the Foyer.->Foyer]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")A few sad tables are lined up, their attached chairs half pushed in. There's no window, and a lazy fan spins dangerously close to a non-functional television. Nothing to see here.
[[Back->Foyer]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")(if: visits is 1)[The manager is a slick young man with greasy hair. He appears to be playing Candy Crush as you walk up, and doesn't seem to be very worried about anything.]\
(if: visits is >1)[(if: $manager_fear)[The manager looks up sharply as you approach. His eyes tense slightly.](else:)[The manager seems nonchalant as you walk up.]]
(if: $hand is $item_license and not $manager_fear)[[[(Operating License) Show Manager your Operating License.->Manager License]]
]\
(if: not $seen_letter and not ($keys contains $key_room_six))[[[Ask for a room key.->Manager Room Key Request]]
]\
(elseif: not ($keys contains $key_room_six))[[[(Read Request Letter) Ask for the Key to Room 6.->Manager Room 6 Request]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_letter and not ($keys contains $key_room_six))[[[(Request Letter) Show the Manager the Letter.->Manager Room 6 Request]]
]\
(if: not ($keys contains $key_office))[[[Ask for the office key.->Manager Office Key Request]]
]\
(if: not ($keys contains $key_kitchen))[[[Ask for the kitchen key.->Manager Kitchen Key Request]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_coin)[[[(Charon's Coin) Give the Manager Charon's Coin.->Manager Coin]]
]\
(if: $manager_has_coin)[[[Ask for Charon's Coin.->Manager Coin Request]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_breath_mints and (not $manager_had_mints))[[[(Breath Mints) Give the Manager a tic tac.->Manager Mint]]
]\
[[Ask about any recent strange occurences.->Manager Questioning]]
[[Go back to the Foyer.->Foyer]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")<div id="equipment-prompt">(set: $lastPassage to (passage:)'s name)\
**HEALTH**
You have $health health.
**EQUIPMENT**
(if: $hand is not $item_none)[In your hand is the $hand. (if: $hand is $item_breath_mints)[(link:"Eat Breath Mints")[(set: $health to $health + 2)(set: $hand to $item_breath_mint_box)(dialog: "You gobble down the last of the breath mints. You feel better already.", "Okay.")(go-to:(passage:)'s name)]]]\
(else:)[You're holding nothing.]
(if: $has_suitcase)[Your trusty suitcase is with you.
[[Open your suitcase.->Suitcase]]]\
(else:)[You've lost your suitcase!]</div>(if: visits is 1)[Somehow, the stairwell manages to lose character the further up you go. There's a sign here pointing at "ROOMS 1-4".]\
(else:)[You are in the stairwell for floor 2 of the Happy Hour Hotel. You can go UPSTAIRS, to ROOMS 1-4, or DOWNSTAIRS.]
[[Go up.->Floor 3 Stairwell]]
[[Go down.->Floor 1 Stairwell]]
[[Go to Rooms 1-4.->Floor 2 Corridor]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")Locked. (if: $manager_is_in and not $manager_fear)[The manager lets out a soft cough as you wiggle the doorknob pathetically.]
[[Back->Foyer]] Locked. (if: $manager_is_in and not $manager_fear)[You can feel the manager stare at you as you try the handle.]
[[Back->Foyer]] (set: $manager_fear to true)\
You produce the innocuous sheaf of papers and step forward, holding them up in such a way that they just manage to catch the light. The manager looks up curiously, then becomes compelled to stare as the letters on the page rearrange themselves under the wan yellow glow of the cheap lightbulb, their blackened horror leaking out through the air between the two of you. You have his absolute attention, for a moment- then you put the papers away, having made your point. Too much exposure to the License can be quite problematic.
[[Back->Manager]](if: not $manager_fear)["I'm sorry, I can't allow you to access that room unless you can prove you're... authorised." he says it almost delicately, as if he suspects you to be not quite all right in the head.
]\
(else:)["Room 6, of course, of course!" A series of eager nods follow swiftly, as if he's lost control of his neck. He reaches under the desk and produces a spare key. (set: $keys to $keys + (a: $key_room_six))
]\
[[Back->Manager]](if: not $manager_fear)["I want a room key."
He doesn't even look up. "Sorry, we're booked out."
]\
(else:)[
"I want a room key."
He shifts nervously. "We have customers... We're full... I can't just evict people..."
]\
[[It's for an investigation->Investigation excuse]](if: not $manager_fear)["I'm sorry, the kitchen is off limits."
]\
(else:)["Yes, yes, the kitchen key." (set: $keys to $keys + (a: $key_kitchen))
]\
[[Back->Manager]](if: not $manager_fear)["Ah, yes. As the kids say, *cool story, bro*." The expression his face makes is inscrutable, but you can tell he's not going to budge unless you produce something substantial.
]\
(else:)[
"Yes... well... surely I can't just... even with... Perhaps if you knew what room you were searching for?"
]\
[[Back->Manager]](if: not $manager_fear)["The office is... private." He seems slightly confused that you're even asking.
]\
(else:)["No problem!" He nearly drops his phone as he tries to get the keys (set: $keys to $keys + (a: $key_office))
]\
[[Back->Manager]]The manager's desk is locked, and you probably don't want to risk a scene by trying to bust it open. Damn!
[[Back->Foyer]](if: not $manager_fear)["Nothing, really. None of your business, anyways." He turns back to his phone, but you can sense some hesitation in his eyes.
]\
(else:)["Well, there have been some... truly horrid noises coming out of the third floor. At night. None of us dare check." And by *us*, he seems to mean *him*.]
[[Back->Manager]] (set: $hand to $item_none)(set: $manager_has_coin to true)\
He takes the coin, but nothing happens. He tucks it into a pocket of his.
[[Back->Manager]](set: $manager_has_coin to false)($pickup: $item_coin)\
He hands it back, looking at you strangely.
[[Back->Manager]] The kitchen is so cramped as to be almost claustrophobic, a mess of dirty plates and pans, toasters and microwaves, as well as a sagging and overburdened cabinet next to a massive fridge. Nothing of interest here.
[[Back->Foyer]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")A tiny, uncomfortable setup with piles of loose paperwork everywhere. You spot a sticky note - "Chase Room 6 outstanding bill/power use??" and a letter from some kind of health and safety inspectorate. Best not to try the food here, it seems.
[[Back->Foyer]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")(if: visits is 1)[The third floor stairwell features a somewhat depressed looking landscape painting. You didn't even know this was possible. A sign reads "ROOMS 5-8", except one of the Os has lost its paint, making the sign "R OMS 5-8".]\
(else:)[You are in the stairwell for floor 3 of the Happy Hour Hotel. You can go UPSTAIRS, to ROOMS 5-8, or DOWNSTAIRS.]
[[Go up.->Attic Stairwell]]
[[Go down.->Floor 2 Stairwell]]
[[Go to Rooms 5-8.->Floor 3 Corridor]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")A series of cheap wooden doors point to ROOMS 1 to 4. (if: $seen_letter)[Irrelevant.](else:)[You don't know which rooms are related to the case, and busting in seems like a bad idea. Maybe check your suitcase for notes?]
[[Go Back.->Floor 2 Stairwell]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")The ceiling is bearing down on you in a distinctly uncomfortable sort of way. The door to the corridor has been blocked by a cabinet that is almost certainly a fire hazard, but you can't make it budge. Some wilted lilies look spitefully at you on top of the cabinet.
[[Go down.->Floor 3 Stairwell]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")A series of cheap wooden doors point to ROOMS 5 to 8. (if: $seen_letter)[Room 6 is here, but it's locked.](else:)[You don't know which rooms are related to the case, and busting in seems like a bad idea. Maybe check your suitcase for notes?]
(if: $keys contains $key_room_six)[[[(Room Six Key) Enter Room Six.->Room Six]]
]\
[[Go Back.->Floor 3 Stairwell]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")(if: visits is 1)[The room is an absolute mess. Takeout containers and rubbish are strewn across a dark navy carpet that you suspect wasn't of sterling quality even before someone spilled various substances of unknown provenance on it. An unmade bed occupies the centre of the room, sheets tangled into a horrific knot. A battered laptop with VR headset attached is plugged into a universal adaptor on the table. The stench of sweat and something gross yet unidentifiable rises up as you gingerly step through the boundary, and the laptop flickers to life. Sparks fly from the adaptor, but nobody seems to be here.]\
(else:)[You are in the messy remains of ROOM SIX. \
(if: $ghost_present and $ghost_hostile)[The spectre in the middle of the room screeches, it's psychic emanations piercing you. (either: "You feel faintly sick, as if accumulated years of vomit are surging back up.", "You hear a horrible din in the back of your mind, the sounds of a million soldiers marching down an endless victory parade.", "There's a sense of horror, longing, and loss, a sense that threatens to break your heart apart.", "As the assault fades, you smell snow and blood.")($hurt:1)]](elseif: $ghost_present)[The spectre hovers slightly above the ruined carpet, staring at you.]
(if: not $has_suitcase)[Your suitcase is on the floor, torn away from you.
]\
[[Search the Room.]]
[[Use the Computer.]]
[[Unplug the Computer.]]
(if: not $visited_dream)[\
[[Use the Headset.]]
]\
(if: $ghost_present)[\
[[Interact with the spectre.->Spectre]]
]\
(if: not $has_suitcase)[\
[[Pick up your suitcase.->Retrieve Suitcase]]
]\
[[Go back.->Floor 3 Corridor]]
(display: "Equipment Prompt")A pack of "home-grown" orange tic-tacs from an old acquaintance, slightly larger than normal but otherwise unobtrusive enough. Gobbling down a few will aid in resisting the effects of drugs, poisons, and other chemical or psychological adulterants. A happy-face sticker with the words "Remember to Breathe" has been stuck over the label, worn down by time and nervous rubbing.
You don't have many left. You miss her.
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] An empty pack of "home-grown" orange tic-tacs from an old acquaintance, slightly larger than normal but otherwise unobtrusive enough. A happy-face sticker with the words "Remember to Breathe" has been stuck over the label, worn down by time and nervous rubbing.
She warned you you'd run out one day. God, you miss her.
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] (set: $manager_had_mints to true)\
He looks at the mint doubtfully, as if it might be poisoned. (if: $manager_fear)[For all he knows, this might be some kind of test.] Then he pops it into his mouth, and shrugs.
[[Back->Manager]] Well, that's it. A final, screeching halt, your vision darkens, then nothing. The spectral entity overpowered you, it seems.
Sorry about that.
**THE END**What do you want to search? There's the bed, the table, and the floor. (if: $ghost_present)[Oh, and one very angry holographic emanation possibly not from this plane.]
[[Search the Bed->Room Six Bed]]
[[Search the Table->Room Six Table]]
[[Search the Floor->Room Six Floor]](if: visits is 1 and not $ghost_present and not $quest_done)[(set: $ghost_present to true) As you reach for the laptop, a horrible tune starts blaring, which you come to realise is a janky electronic remix of the Soviet anthem. The laptop itself is a well worn Lenovo Thinkpad, with the left Shift key missing and crumbs worming their way into the slits in the keyboard. Perhaps more distressingly, the screen ripples and shakes as a thin, almost translucent human form rips itself out of the laptop, screeching angrily at you as if you've disturbed its grave.
]\
(else:)[Unfortunately, even battered Lenovo Thinkpads seem to have password protections.
]\
[[Back->Room Six]] (if: visits is 1 and not $ghost_present and not $quest_done)[(set: $ghost_present to true) As you reach for the plug, a horrible tune starts blaring, which you come to realise is a janky electronic remix of the Soviet anthem. The laptop itself is a well worn Lenovo Thinkpad, with the left Shift key missing and crumbs worming their way into the slits in the keyboard. Perhaps more distressingly, the screen ripples and shakes as a thin, almost translucent human form rips itself out of the laptop, screeching angrily at you as if you've disturbed its grave.
]\
(else:)[As you reach out your hand for the plug again a violent arc of electricity leaps towards it. Best not try that again.
]\
[[Back->Room Six]] It takes some effort to discern where exactly the shifting mass of light is, and even more to look it "in the eye" (or at least somewhere around its head-shaped blob), but you manage with some effort.
(if: $hand is $item_license and $ghost_hostile)[[[(Operating License) Show the entity your License.->Ghost License]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_coin)[[[(Charon's Coin) Show the entity Charon's Coin.->Ghost Coin]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_letter and $ghost_hostile)[[[(Request Letter) Show the entity the Request Letter.->Ghost Letter Hostile]]
]\
(elseif: $hand is $item_letter)[[[(Request Letter) Show the entity the Request Letter.->Ghost Letter Non-hostile]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_breath_mints and (not $ghost_had_mints))[[[(Breath Mints) Give the entity a tic tac.->Ghost Mint]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_realism_book)[[[(Capitalist Realism Paperback) Show the entity the book.->Ghost Mourning]]
]\
(if: $hand is $item_soviet_man_postcard)[[[(New Soviet Man Postcard) Show the entity the postcard.->Ghost Mourning]]
]\
[[Try to talk to the entity.]](if: visits is 1 and not $ghost_present and not $quest_done)[(set: $ghost_present to true) As you reach for the headset, a horrible tune starts blaring, which you come to realise is a janky electronic remix of the Soviet anthem. The laptop itself is a well worn Lenovo Thinkpad, with the left Shift key missing and crumbs worming their way into the slits in the keyboard. Perhaps more distressingly, the screen ripples and shakes as a thin, almost translucent human form rips itself out of the laptop, screeching angrily at you as if you've disturbed its grave.
[[Back->Room Six]]
]\
(else:)[You throw on the VR headset, letting the cheap plastic and the well-worn rubber noseguard settle down as a sequence of bright lights overwhelms your vision. (if: $ghost_present)[You can hear the spectre screech outside, but in an almost satisfied manner.]
[[Continue->Dreamscape]]
]\
A tangled mess of sheets and various articles of discarded clothing. You find a battered paperback buried beneath a ragged Che Guevara T-shirt: *Capitalist Realism* by Mark Fisher.
(link-reveal: "Pick up the book")[($pickup: $item_realism_book)
Done.]
[[Back->Room Six]] There are a mess of papers and printouts here: Unity game engine tutorials, photographs of Soviet-era buildings, reports from something called the CCRU, pages ripped out of a notebook filled with a dense, illegible script. One item catches your attention: a postcard featuring a stylised worker looking up and out of frame, a blown up version of a print that looked like it belonged on a stamp of some kind.
(link-reveal: "Pick up the postcard")[($pickup: $item_soviet_postcard)
Done.]
[[Back->Room Six]] There is a truly heroic pile of takeout containers, crisp packets, and assorted garbage on the floor. The smell is too bad to do anything other than immediately back away.
[[Back->Room Six]] (set: $ghost_had_mint to true)\
Gingerly, you hold out a breath mint towards the being. (if: $ghost_hostile)[With a burst of thaumic force the mint is knocked out of your hands.](else:)[The ghost ignores it.] Not a big fan of mints, then.
[[Continue->Room Six]] (set: $ghost_hostile to false)\
Alright, time to see if compulsions work on non-human anomalous entities of possibly human origin. As the being prepares to strike again, you fan open the license papers in front of you like a fan, almost daring it to punch through them and attack your soft, squishy body. Instead, it lets out a positively demonic screech as concentrated psychic authority memeplexes drive their way into the being's mind.
As the screech fades, you half-open your eyes and realise that the being has stopped attacking you.
[[Continue->Room Six]] You wave the letter at the "ghost". While it seems to be able to read what's on the paper, it certainly doesn't seem to care.
[[Continue->Room Six]] You show the letter to the spectral being(if: (count: (history: ), "Ghost Letter Hostile") is >=1)[again]. You can sense a sort of resentful recognition at the letter's contents. It still refuses to speak.
[[Continue->Room Six]] (set: $ghost_present to false)(set: $quest_done to true)(set: $hand to $item_none)\
The coin takes effect immediately. As you flip the coin towards the being, a surge of temporal energy envelops it and begins violently contracting in a manner that cannot possibly be comfortable. Multiple hellish screams later, the room is quiet at last.
[[Back->Room Six]] You're standing in a massive, 3D recreation of Red Square during the Soviet era. A military parade, frozen in place, strolls forever down the central boulevard. Above you jets scream across the sky, but never move. (if: $ghost_present)[The spectre is here, now looking like a shrunken, grey, black and white photograph of a young man.](else:)[Nobody else is here.]
[[Look Around.->Inspect Dreamscape]]
(if: $ghost_present and not $visited_dream)[\
[[Talk to the Ghost.]]
]\
[[Take off the headset.->Room Six]]Upon closer inspection, the space reveals itself to be a somewhat crude 3D rendering of Red Square, probably purchased from an asset store somewhere. Still, personal touches have been added, including what looks like a small concrete bunker-dome with living quarters attached. Where the entity had been residing, presumably.
[[Back->Dreamscape]] (set: $visited_dream to true)\
"Are you the one haunting the hotel?"
The ghost shrugs, then speaks in English. "Not really haunting when it's your own hotel room, is it?"
[[Are you dead?]]
[[Who are you?]]
[[What is this place?]]
[[I need you to stop haunting this place. (Continue)->End Conversation]]"I prefer to call it... ascended. After all, my corporeal body no longer exists in *meatspace*." He says that word with a haughty sneer. "My entire existence is now contained within the oneiric-daemonic emulation matrix of the laptop, specifically in this 3D environment. I can project back into *your world*, but this is now my natural habitat, if you will."
"Doesn't that mean that you'll die if someone unplugs the laptop?"
"If they try that, they get electrocuted. I wouldn't advise it, personally." He doesn't seem to have considered the possibility that the power to his room might be shut off.
[[Back->Talk to the Ghost.]] He smiles. "A place where the monsters outside can't touch us. Where you can escape from the drudgery of existence. A moment of glory, frozen in time."
He seems genuinely satisfied with that answer.
[[Back->Talk to the Ghost.]] "Well, like it or not, we can't exactly have alternate reality... purveyors... sticking around random hotel rooms."
He frowns, the edges of the manifestation flickering slightly. "What's it to you?"
"If I don't resolve anomalous events, I can't eat." you shrug politely.
"Ah. You're one of those *contractors*." It's clear he doesn't think highly of your profession.
[[Sympathise with his position]]
[[Get on with it]]You don't have time for a cover-to-cover read but you vaguely remember something about it being a rather doomy summation of the impossibility of people to imagine a reality outside of the present (capitalist) system. Hence the famous quote, after all.
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] The postcard is of good quality cardstock, the image clearly upscaled and printed with love by a small outfit. The face of the man is stern, uncompromising, yet optimistic. The bottom of the card reads "The ideal New Soviet Man in the ideal of the newly formed Soviet Union, from a 1937 stamp. Printed by the FREE PRESS REVOLUTION crew. 2.00 GBP".
[[Back to the suitcase->Suitcase]] "My past name isn't important." He frowns, as if he doesn't even like to consider it. "I've left that all behind now."
"Behind?"
He snorts, a black-and-white image of derision. "There's no need to obey the social dictates of that collapsing late-stage capitalist hellscape."
"Let's say I want to know more about you."
The derision twists, fades, becomes a sort of morose sadness. "What's there to know? Grew up, paid out, ran the rat-wheel. Got educated, realised how fucked we were, spent my days building a precise picture of our grotesque reality. Then I gave up on it all."
He looks away, turning his head up at the frozen warplanes above the two of you.
[[Back->Talk to the Ghost.]] "I mean, I know what it feels like to live in the world you did. It sucks."
He's quiet for a long time, as you realise that he's left behind everyone he's ever known in the outside world to live in one of his own creation.
"Yeah, it does. And I know this isn't a replacement." But he turns to you again. "Although..."
"What?"
"I think this laptop could probably handle emulating two consciousnesses."
"What?" For a moment, you almost think-
"You could live here, if you wanted to." There's a mad gleam as he says this, as if he's about to take leave of what shaky grasp on reality he's still retained, as a digitised communist living inside a video game.
[["Uh... Maybe not."->Get on with it]]
[["Sure."->Accept Offer]]"This isn't reality. You have to go."
There's a short laugh, a laugh that echoes around the frozen ranks of soldiers, the walls, the brightly-coloured buildings. "Don't you understand? There is no going back. *I've shed my meatspace body.* And you, my friend, are intruding in my world."
(if: $ghost_present and $ghost_hostile)[(set: $has_suitcase to false)You can feel something- the entity- pulling at your real body, tearing at your suitcase, dragging you back to the world of the Happy Hour Hotel.
]\
Then everything goes black.
[[Take off the Headset->Room Six]] God, this world sucks. And maybe living inside a 3D Red Square recreation with its sculptor forever isn't much better, but it beats paying rent. As you prepare to let go of everything on the outside world, you find that it's surprisingly not very difficult at all. He smiles as he recognises the same emotions on your face that he's gone through.
"You see? This is going to work." It most certainly wasn't, but hey, who were you to doubt?
"Alright then, digitise me."
**THE END**At the sight of the item the entity seems to recoil, and for a moment you catch what appears to be a phantom, digital tear. Then the simulacrum stitches itself back together and it's as if nothing's happened.
[[Continue->Room Six]] "...hello?"
It lets of a distorted mumble in response, as if trapped at the bottom of a very, very poor Zoom call.
This clearly isn't going to work.
[[Continue->Room Six]] (set: $has_suitcase to true)\
You scrabble for your suitcase and pick it back up.
[[Continue->Room Six]] {
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