Blue Lacuna — 233 of 467

Chapter - Egg Interior

The description of Egg Interior is "Though it seems the rounded walls of the interior were excavated some years ago, the jungle has crept back in already, sending tendrils of vines around the shadowy contents: a line of vertical [o]cylinders[x], transparent, cracked; a gutted bank of [o]controls[x] leaking wires and foam; and an etched [o]design[x] on the curved inner wall, almost entirely covered now in vines. [paragraph break][exits]." The exits text of Egg Interior is "[if night]A shaft of faint [light-source] slices in from the forest [dr]outside[x][otherwise]Daylight streams in through the [dr]gash[x] in the side of the egg providing [eteibit]". To say eteibit: say "[if dir]a way [out][otherwise]egress[end if]". Understand "gash" as outside when location is Egg Interior. The prose name of Egg Interior is "inside the Egg".

EggInterior-stuff is stuff in Egg Interior. Understand "jungle/contents" as EggInterior-stuff when location is Egg Interior.

Check sleeping in Egg Interior: say "It's too cramped and creepy in here; but you saw a spot just outside.[sleepsuggest]" instead.

The transparent cylinders are an undescribed transparent container in Egg Interior. They are closed and unopenable and fixed in place. Understand "cylinder" as cylinders. The description is "There are twelve, each large enough to hold a person, smooth and transparent. Cracks, some long and sharp-edged and others explosions of fracture points, mar each cylinder's surface[if we have not examined the transparent cylinders], so that it takes you a long moment to realize that the crumpled white shapes inside are human [o]skeletons[x][otherwise], half-concealing the crumpled [o]skeletons[x] within[end if].". Instead of opening the transparent cylinders, say "They seem to have no clasp or handle that you can find, and the dusty controls along the side as dead and unresponsive as their occupants." Instead of attacking transparent cylinders: say "You smash one of the fractured cylinders as hard as you can with an elbow, but even though it is already fractured and weakened, you do not even cause the fracture lines to lengthen.". Instead of taking cylinders, say "They seem to be joined seamlessly to the curving walls of the Egg.".

The human skeletons are a setpiece in the transparent cylinders. Understand "skeleton" or "corpse" or "human" or "body" as human skeletons. The description is "[if we have not examined the skeletons]No-- not human. As you draw nearer, you see at once any number of subtle differences. A slightly rounder skull, wider spacing between the eyes, different numbers of knuckles or arrangement of joints. But the similarities vastly outnumber the differences, and you have no doubt that if these twelve were alive you would recognize a kinship in them, and they in you.[paragraph break][otherwise]Though not quite human, the skeletons are close enough to it that you find yourself chilled. [end if]Each lies crumpled in a heap against the padded rear walls of a cylinder, the muscles that held their shape together long since turned to dust.". Instead of taking or touching or pushing or pulling the human skeletons, say "The glass is cracked, but still intact, preventing you from reaching inside the transparent chambers.".

The gutted bank of controls is a setpiece in Egg Interior. Understand "control/wire/wires/foam/gaping/hole" as gutted bank of controls. The description is "Protruding in a seamless, graceful curve from the end of the tilted egg smashed into the ground, the console is mostly ruined; blackened and melted slag suggest complex machinery now destroyed. One part of the bank has been forcibly pulled back and exposed, leaving a gaping hole amidst the ruined components inside.". Instead of searching controls, say "Whatever was once in here is gone now.". Instead of pushing or pulling or touching or using controls, say "Curiously, the controls seem to be entirely within the 'shell' of the egg; nothing protrudes into the interior other than the warped and destroyed debris breaking through the crushed walls. Regardless, there is nothing which looks operable any more.". Instead of taking controls, say "The remaining material seems either melted or embedded into the shell of the egg.".

The egg-mural is a setpiece in Egg Interior. Understand "design/etching/symbol" as egg-mural. The printed name of egg-mural is "mural". The description is "[if we have not examined egg-mural]You pull away a few trailing vines for a better look. [end if]The etching, covering one rounded interior wall of the Egg, has the look of something burned into metal, although the wall is perfectly smooth. It shows an iconic, stylized symbol, simultaneously simple yet rich with detail, depicting a [o]man[x] with arms outstretched, intertwined in the roots of a great windsigh [o]tree[x].". Instead of taking or touching or pushing egg-mural, say "Other than the accumulated jungle grime, the surface of the mural is perfectly smooth.".

The human-in-the-mural is part of the egg-mural. The printed name is "figure in the mural". Understand "man" or "figure" or "part" or "arms" as the human-in-the-mural. The description is "Most striking about the figure, other than the tree roots twining around his body, sometimes hard to tell apart from muscle and sinew, is the head, depicted as a perfect oval, featureless, radiating light. The head makes a geometrical pattern with two other ovals: the human's smaller navel below, and a larger hole in the windsigh's trunk the same distance above.[paragraph break]In fact, the way the image is drawn, the head could just as easily be a smooth gap in the roots of the tree.".

The tree-in-the-mural is part of the egg-mural. The printed name is "tree part of the mural". Understand "tree/tree9" or "part" or "windsigh" as the tree-in-the-mural. The description is "The windsigh in this drawing is different than the ones you've seen on the island: taller and stronger. Now your vague intuition of stuntedness is borne out, as the tree in this etching is obviously in its prime in a way the ones here are clearly not.".

Report going from Egg Interior to Egg Room: say "You step back outside into the crater.".