Twine Blossom

I walked to London with my irredescent pencil, I had to hurry otherwise I'd miss the election. [[walk faster->Tripping]] [[find scooter->scooter]] [[wait, who am I?->name]] (set: $account to 0)(set: $health to 100)(set: $relationships to 0)(set: $secrets to 0)(set: $concussionmode to 0)

You trip. (set: $health to $health-5) Move Back 5 Spaces [[Reroll->Rerolling The Dice]] [[Draw Again->Draw Again]]

I hopped on the first public scooter I saw, and opened my phone to choose the payment plan. [[$1 per minute->1 dollar]] [[$50 per hour->50 dollar]] [[try to use the scooter without the app->steal scooter]]

This was such a poor financial decision. I would never financially recover, as the election was only a couple minutes away, putting me back ones of dollars. (set: $account to $account-10) [[continue to the election->election intro]]

This was a good choice, considering the ballot box was only a few minutes away. Those big corperations really need every penny they can muster. (set: $account to $account-50) [[scooter away->election intro]] [[decide to walk->Tripping]]

(set: $die to (random: 1,6))You rolled a(after:0.5s)[.](after:1s)[.](after:1.5s)[.] (after:2s) + (text-colour:cyan)[$die(text-color:white)[!]] (after:2.5s)[(if: $die is 1)[[Could've been higher...->1: 1-2]](if: $die is 2)[[Could've been higher...->1: 1-2]](if: $die is 3)[[Thats not the worst!->2: 3-4]](if: $die is 4)[[Thats not the worst!->2: 3-4]](if: $die is 5)[[That's pretty good!->3: 4-5]](if: $die is 6)[[That's pretty good!->3: 4-5]]]

(change: ?page, (background: #173612)) Hello $name! Why don't we get some backstory, what are you doing here? [[I was walking->why2]] [[I don't like this game->no]]

(change: ?page, (background: #173612)) Your name please: (if:visits is 1)[(input-box:2bind $name,"XXX=======",1)](else-if:visits is not 1)[(input-box:2bind $name, "XXX=======",1,$name)] [[Enter->why]]

(change: ?page, (background: #173612)) You were on your way to the election in London, iridescent pencil in hand. [[ok I know, but why->why3]] [[oh ok I understand->Start]]

|1>[(text-colour:red)[Loading a new game(after:0.5s)[.](after:1s)[.](after:1.5s)[.](after:2s)[.](after:2.5s)[.](after:3s)[.](after:3.5s)[.](after:4s)[.](after:4.5s)[.](after:5s)[.]]](after:6s)[(show:?2)(hide:?1)] |2)[(text-color:yellow)[Initializing(after:6.5s)[.](after:7s)[.](after:7.5s)[.](after:8s)[.](after:8.5s)[.](after:9s)[.](after:9.5s)[.](after:10s)[.](after:10.5s)[.](after:11s)[.]](after:12s)[(show:?3)(hide:?2)]] |3)[(text-style:"fade-in-out") + (text-color:green)[[Press Start->Press Start]]]

(change: ?page, (background: #173612)) Are you sure you want the full backstory? [[Please->backstory real]] [[You know what, nevermind->Start]]

Since the wheels are still locked, I began to (text-style:"buoy")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[(text-style:"fidget")[scoot]]]]]]]]]]] the scooter along the ground by hand. At this rate I'd reach the election in (text-colour:yellow)[no time]! [[pick up the pace->run with scooter]] [[decide to walk->Tripping]] Or I could, of course... [[tie the scooter to the back of a car->carscoot]]

As we are now in New York, New York, walking to London has become a bit of a tricker task. We don't want to be late to the convention, however, so we'll begin our walk into the sea. (text-style:"buoy")[[Let's start swimming]] [[Maybe we should find a boat...]]

(if:visits is not 3)[(if:visits is not 6)[(if:visits is not 9)[As we are currently in New York, New York, none of the free taxis hail a group of our size. We will simply have to [[try again->Draw Again]] another time.]]](if:visits is 3)[Wait. We should maybe just summon an Uber [[We collectively pay $950 for ubering to London from New York->950 dollar]] [[We instead have a dollar slice, a local delicacy->one dollar pizza]] [[or maybe try again->Draw Again]]](if:visits is 6)[Well, we could always go to the [[Science Museum->Science Museum]] or we can [[try again->Draw Again]]](if:visits is 9)[Well, we could always [[go home->go home]] [[try again->They're devoted]]]

Luckily, there is a local vendor just down the road! How many slices do we need to buy for everyone? [[10 slices?]] [[50 slices?]]

(set: $secrets to $secrets + 2)We arrive back Home. It's just how we remember it. The doors a splendid array of colors. The House a wonderfal opulence. The ṃ̴̭̍̌̊ã̸̖͖̓̔î̵̹̝̠l̶̦̲̻̄b̴̢̢̫͌ó̸̢̗̂́x̶͓͂͐́e̵̢̘̥͒̓̄s̶̵̯̰̾̊̚̚ #̸̢̤̙̋̋.̶̛̯̯́@̴̙̦͙͓̐̈́̀̇.̵̦̳͇͎̔̿͑7̸̣̯̇͂.̷̼͇̞͒̈́́3̴͇̪͝ [[Go inside -> enter house]] [[check m̵͖̄a̷̤̿i̷̙͑l̵̘̇ -> mailbox]]

(set: $secrets to $secrets + 1) (set: $account to $account - 10)

(set: $secrets to $secrets + 3)We watch eagerly, with all our arms upstretched, as an entire fleet of taxis show up. The entire group is caught up in a frenzy, taxis being forwarded to the airport with increasing speed and numbers. [[Get Out -> airport]]

We begin walking to London with the matte pencil. We have to hurry otherwise we'll miss the convention. [[walk faster->walking faster]] [[find taxi->an impossible task in NY]]

(change: ?page, (background: #173612)) (enchant:?N1, (text-style:'Tall')) (enchant:?P1, (font:'Courier New')) (font:'Courier New')[And what have we here?] Oh dear (click: "Oh dear")[(show:?N1)[(show:?P1)]] |N1)[(font:'Courier New')[And what have we here?]This is a secret text only visible after you click on the page.] |P1)[oh hey] |P1)[one more try] (enchant: ?ghost, (text-style:'Tall')+(font:'Courier New')) |ghost>[Awooo] (click: "oh hey")[|ghost>[Oooowooo] (font:'Courier New')[test]] (click-replace: "test")[|ghost>[moar! and a try for you one more time] (change: ?page, (background: #967364))] (click: "one more time")[ (replace: ?ghost)[is it all gone?] |bak>[(font:'Courier New')[i am a paragraph of boring text] click me]] (click: "click me")[ (replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[moar boring text] one more time]]] (click: "one more time")[ (replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[boring text finale] please kill me]]]

(change: ?page, (background: #350769))|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[The year is 1937. You, $name, have yet to be born. A very large yet publicly secret company called (text-colour:#892929)[Telos] is making a deal that could change the world. A deal which, to those that know of it, would live on in infamy…] Do I know about this deal?] (click: "Do I know about this deal?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[Be patient, I will get to that. As I was saying before you interrupted me. 27 years later, on a hot summer day in the middle of December, a person who we will call (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')["Don"]] was walking somewhere. (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Don]] was a semi-intelligent average man who lived in the region of Gisborne. He was on his way to the newly appointed historic reserve, when something very unusual happened… The beginning of the day was what seemed like a very normal day. Don got up an-] Oh dear](change: ?page, (background: #250759))]] (click: "Oh dear")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[(text-style:"Buoy") + (font:'Courier New')[SHH] (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Don]] got up and did his normal morning routine. As he got ready for work, he reminisced on a little factoid that he learned shortly after he moved to Gisborne in 1956 for work. “You know, every day during the summer, Gisborne is the first city to see the sun rise on the entire planet.” Thinking of that factoid, (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Don]] hoped that the international dateline never changed, just so he could be one of the first people to see the sun rise every day. He stretched just like he normally would. He brushed his everything like he normally would. He ate breakfast just like every other day. You see, this was because (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Don]] had an incredible ability to create immaculate schedules, this skill was so impressive that it got him a job in a very large (but insignificant to this story) company. (text-style:"blur") + (font:'Courier New')[After doing all of the steps of phase one of his morning routine, he looked out his bay window at poverty bay as he usually does. The normally empty bay contained a few ships on it today. There was a large container ship carrying what looked like absolutely nothing, and a few sailboats. He was probably thinking something like, “that sailboat with the neon pink hull and bright yellow sail looks particularly garish. And what kind of name is Rosy Maple anyways.”] (text-style:"blurrier") + (font:'Courier New')[Next he started phase two of his morning routine. Now that he had gotten all of the annoying bits out of the way, he meditated for exactly five minutes. He did this every morning to decompress after all of the frustrating stretching, brushing and eating. Once he had finished meditating he was on to phase three. So far he has been awake for approximately 15 minutes. Phase three is the final phase of his day, where he gets ready to go to work.]] Zzzzzzzzz...]](change: ?page, (background: #150749))] (click: "Zzzzzzzzz...")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[(text-colour:#511)+(text-style:"rumble")+(size:2)+(text-style:"bold")[(font:'Courier New')[HEY!]] (text-colour:#311)[(font:'Courier New')[Pay attention.]]] (text-colour:#000)[But this so boring, I haven't even been born yet.] Are you sure this is important?]](change: ?page, (background: #99f))] (click: "Are you sure this is important?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[Yes it is, you wanted a backstory didnt you?] I mean yes but I didnt realized it would be like this. Can you go any faster? Please?]](change: ?page, (background: #350769))] (click: "Please?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[Ok ok. You know, I really wanted to show you just how important routine was to him, but if you really want me to rush it then fine.] Thank you.]]] (click: "Thank you.")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[Ok, where was I again? Oh yes I remember… So, (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Dan]] was at work doing scheduled things when his boss out of the blue said, “Hey (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Dan]]… or was it (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Don]]… well you, whatever your name is, I want you to go visit that new historic reserve, you have the rest of the day off. Good bye.” Little did (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Dan]] know that he would never see that office again, for when he left, he was replaced by a new automated schedule creating system, but that is not important for the story. Ok now back to where we started. While (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Dan]] was walking towards the Cook Landing Site National Historic Reserve, the most unusual thing happened. He found what seemed to be a strange iridescent pencil on the ground (not at all related to yours). But the moment he was about to pick it up, he heard an explosion and quickly turned towards the sound, completely forgetting about the strange iridescent pencil. This concludes (text-colour:#34b260)[(font:'Courier New')[Dan's]] story.] Wait what does this have to do with me!?]]] (click: "Wait what does this have to do with me!?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[You'll understand later, once we get to that part of your story.] Wait, are you going to tell me why I have an apparently completely unrelated pencil, or what the vague term “election” refers to? Anything?]]] (click: "Anything?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[No.] Why, what was the point of this? Why?]]] (click: "Why?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[Like I said, you'll understand later.] So you're not going to give my character any backstory? None at all?]]] (click: "None at all?")[(replace: ?bak)[|bak>[(font:'Courier New')[No. $name, have you ever heard of “in media res?”] [[Um no->Start]] [[Yes actually->Start]]]]]

(align:"=><=")[Welcome to (text-colour:green) + (text-style:"blink")[Zork]] West of House You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here. (if:visits is not 1)[(text-colour:red)[I don't know the word "$zork".]] (input-box:2bind $zork,"XXX=======",1) [[Enter->Press Start]]

(set: $account to $account-950)

(font:'courier new')[Meanwhile, on the news...] (font:'arial')["Breaking news: a group of roughly 7 to 70 people have just starting walking into the sea. We are yet to know why this has occured. We will update you as the story unfolds." "Coming up next, a new craze is sweeping the nation: edible ant farms... are they Peta aproved? More at ten!"] (font:"times new roman")[ [[Turn off->off]] [[Or keep watching->keep watching]] ]

(text-style:"buoy")[Whoo!] I made it just in time! It sounded like the election was just about to start, so I decided to walk in. [[Enter the main entrance]] [[Enter the back entrance]]

(text-colour:red)+(text-style:"bold","expand")+(size:3)+(text-style:"bold")[You Died] (set: $score to $account*$secrets + $relationships*$secrets + $health*$secrets) (size:1.5)[$name Ending Stats:] Money: $account Health: $health Friends: $relationships Secrets Found: $secrets (size:1)[Ending Score: ]$score

(set: $health to $health-2)(set: $account to $account-10)We quickly devour probably hundreds of slices Every Pizza shop on the block is temporarily flooded with requests, leading to a slightly longer waiting time. (after: 15s)[[[Continue -> Continue]]]

(set: $health to $health-10)(set: $account to $account-50)We quickly move to devour probably thousands of slices Every Pizza shop in the downtown block is flooded with requests, unprepared for the abnormally high number of "Dollar Slice" requests. People run to market for cheeses, sauce, and flour, desperately trying to meet the ever-increasing demand. [[Continue -> Famine]]

Perfect. I decided to choose the best option and tied the scooter to the back of a random car. Because this was the best option, I meticously `[sic]` exacted my plant to its true perfection. I (while no one was looking, (ofc)) carefully tied the scooter to the back of the sturdiest volvo I could find, using rope fashioned out of stuff. Now all I had to do was wait for the car to get going, once the person sleeping in the front seat noticed all of the mice I fed through the barely open rear pasenger window. (font:'Courier New')[Ok, I know you think this plan is a phenominal idea, but how's your balance?] What, who said that? I assumed a random helpful bystander asked the question. [[attempt to prove my ability and say "my balance is stronger than any gyroscope"->carscoot2]] [[attempt to remain humble yet hopeful and say "we'll just have to see won't we"->carscoot2]]

I got on the scooter, prepared for whatever was about to happen. (after:2s)[I waited...] (after:4s)[And waited...] (after:8s)[I waited some more...] (after:10s)[I waited...] (after:12s)[[[Keep waiting...->wait]]]

I started to daydream after waiting for so long, but then a scream coming from inside the car startled me. A bit frightened I tensed up and griped tighter to the scooter, which just so happened to be when the car took off. [[Grip tighter->fall]]

Almost instantly the scooter (with locked wheels) fell over, and with it so did I, blacking out. (text-style:"blurrier")+(text-color:blue)[[[eyies fruzzly a,nd mrind jsu topening, me aawakei'nupining->unfall]]]

I found myself about a foot away from where I last remember being, as a guy ran past me panicked about mice and a now broken mailbox. I assumed that I had been out for at least a day if not more. (set: $health to $health-5)(set:$concussionmode to $concussionmode+1) [[look around]]

(font:"times new roman")["Well, that's enough of that jargon!"](font:"courier new")[, he said, stading up, ](font:"times new roman")["I'd better head o'er to (text-style:"buoy")+(text-colour:yellow)[the ol' dock] fer the day."] (font:"times new roman")[ [[walk to the dock]]]

(font:"courier new")[(text-colour:yellow)[The dock] Looming seas of fog, covering unsightly waves. Metal frames, trees reaching for nearing dawn. Metal endcaps, overflow with the trees we have replaced. A monument, a religious site, unknown to most. [[Look Around -> Wharf]] [[Continue to -> The "Dock"]](text-color: yellow)[The Old Dock]]

(font:"times new roman")["Hmph!"](font:"courier new")[, he exclaimed, ](font:"times new roman")["Those Peta folk are always gettin' in the way o' the people!"] (font:'arial')["Aaaand now...let's take a closer look into the life of Ms. Johnson! Is she really into Mr. Brown like the people think she is?? We got an (text-style:"smear","rumble")[exclusive] interview with her this morning bringing the inside scoop directly into ''YOUR'' living room!."] (font:"courier new")[The crowd errupted in applause as an extravagantly dressed woman pompously walked into frame and sat down.] (font:'arial')["Good //morning// Ms Johnson! How are you on this fine day?"] (font:'arial')["You know, I've been just great!"] (font:'arial')["That's wonderful! So..."]

|txt>[The air grew colder as time slows down. He came closer, laying into me about..... (text-style:"italic")+(after:5s)[something?] (after: 6s)[But...] (after: 8s)[I couldn't quite...] (after: 11s)[Make it out...]](click: "Make it out...")[(replace: ?txt)[|txt>[You can't see clearly, a fog of frost layering every surface You look at the man, a look of terror permanently etched on his face. [[idk -> nect tinem]]]]]

As I was getting my bearings, the man started to run towards me! I could tell he was (text-style:"shudder")[mad], but what had //I// done!? Scared for my life, my insticts kicked in fast. [[Fight]] [[Flight]] [[Freeze]]

(font:"courier new")|txt>[He goes further into the yard, an occasional vehicle lumbering industriously by, idly in the early morning darkness. He reaches the begining of (text-colour:yellow)[The Old Dock], water breaking occasionally over the solid concrete portusion pointing out to sea. He understands. A siren's call. A shimmering mirage, a harpoon, or a stick... (after: 12s)[(text-style: "blur")[And the lumbering deep.] (text-style:"blurrier")+(text-colour:blue)+(text-style:"fade-in-out") +(after: 18s)[A haze...]]](click: "A haze...")[(replace: ?txt)[|txt>[A haze takes over his mind, gray anomily grasping ever furthur up the wake. A chill of a ship runs by; You'll Awake]]](click: "You'll Awake")+(font: "Times New Roman")[(replace: ?txt)[|txt>[You will wake up, bed soaked with sea, a taste of salt lingering in the mind. Your alarm will play apsently with the morning news, and as your mind reels, you'll barely be able to make out something about a (text-style:"italic","fade-in-out")[sick, NEW] mass trend having something to do with swimming. You won't care to look. [[UNUSED->Idk]] [[UNUSED->Just trust me, I need story or something]]]]]