Blue Lacuna — 359 of 467

Chapter - Meteor Shower Conversation

[This is a test of the "affinitive" path. Progue ambushes a player in afternoon or later and asks them to come back to the beach after dark-- "as a favor, as a friend, do it for me." If it gets to be dark and the player hasn't done it, do we remind them? If the player makes the appointment, + affinity; if they miss it, -affinity; schedule brief "too bad" scene. ]

Meteor Shower Invite is a guaranteed urgent triggered episode with summary "lying on the beach and watching the star rain". The bye beat is msi_no. The abruptbye beat is msi_no. The boredom beat is msi_noanswer. The icebreaker is msi_intro.

A condition for Meteor Shower Invite:

if affinity of Progue < 0, rule fails;

if exploring Progue's turf and ( afternoon or evening or sunset ) , rule succeeds.

MSI is a thread. msi_intro is a beat in MSI with reaction "'Glad I caught you,' he says, clapping a hand on your back with a smile, 'there's something special tonight you ought to see. Meet me [if location is regionally in Beachfront]here [end if]on the beach after dark. As a favor, eh? Trust me, you won't want to miss it. Can you come?'". The yes-beat of msi_intro is msi_yes. The no-beat of msi_intro is msi_no. msi_intro summons msi_yes, msi_no. msi_intro suggests msi_noanswer.

msi_yes is a terminal beat in MSI with keyword name "yes" and reaction "'Forward looking,' he says happily. 'Trust me, you won't want to miss it. See you tonight, then. After dark, mind.'".

msi_no is a terminal unaffinitive beat in MSI with keyword name "no" and reaction "He looks crestfallen. 'Oh,' he says, 'well, never mind then. Just thought it would be something you'd enjoy. Later maybe.'".

msi_noanswer is a terminal beat in MSI with reaction "'Well, if you can come, I'll see you then,' he says. 'Trust me, it's worth seeing. Hope to see you then.'".

A completion rule for Meteor Shower Invite:

if noun is not msi_no, schedule Progue for Meteor Shower Conversation at night;

Progue's life goes on;

follow the Progue's motivation rule.

Every turn when Meteor Shower Invite is completed and ( sunrise or morning ) and Progue is booked for Meteor Shower Conversation:

unbook Progue for Meteor Shower Conversation. [ If we miss this, it can't happen at any time other than night, so expire it. ]

Meteor Shower Conversation is a guaranteed triggered rendezvous episode. The icebreaker is msc_intro. The boredom beat is msc_refuse2. The meeting place is Center Beach.

Table of Progue's Initial Appearance (continued)

MSC is a thread. msc_intro is an affinitive beat in MSC with reaction "'You came!' he says happily. 'Thank you. Now look. [t]Lie down[x] here on the [surface-material] and just look up at the sky for a minute. It takes a mome before you can see it.' He demonstrates, staking out a patch of dry sand and flopping back on it, staring up at the night sky intently.". msc_intro suggests msc_refuse. msc_intro summons msc_liedown, msc_refuse.

Understand "refuse" as msc_refuse when last beat is in MSC. msc_refuse is a beat in MSC with keyword name "refuse" and reaction "'Come on,' he says, '[t]lie down[x]; you'll crane your neck if you try to see it standing up.'".

msc_refuse2 is a terminal unaffinitive beat in MSC with reaction "'No fun at all,' Progue murmurs, eyes closing. 'Missing out...' He appears to drift off to sleep.".

First instead of sleeping when last beat is msc_intro or last beat is msc_refuse: force discuss msc_liedown.

msc_liedown is a beat in MSC with keyword name "lie down" and reaction "[if romance of Progue >= 2]You lie side by sand on the dry [surface-material][else]You take up a nearby position on the dry [surface-material][end if][if location is regionally in Beachfront or location is Rise], waves rolling smoothly in down the beach beyond your feet[end if].[paragraph break]'Now,' he says, 'just look up in the sky, at the galaxy there. Sort of let your eyes relax a little. And just wait.'[paragraph break]You do as he says, and for a few long moments see nothing-- then slowly become aware of it. Hundreds of tiny [msc_streaks] of light surge through the sky each second, so faint you can only really see them from the corner of your eye. As your eyes adjust more to the night you can see them more and more clearly; like filaments of silver delicately shimmering through the sky, before the great heavy galaxy.[paragraph break]'Star-rain,' Progue says reverently. 'Never seen it this strong on any world, any world but [msc_home].'". msc_liedown suggests msc_perspectives. msc_liedown cancels msc_refuse, msc_refuse2. msc_liedown summons msc_perspectives.

Understand "streaks" as msc_streaks when last beat is in MSC. msc_streaks is a beat in MSC with keyword name "streaks" and reaction "You keep your eyes locked on the shimmering heavens, fascinated.[paragraph break]'Happens twice a year about this time,' he says. 'Clouds of microscopic space dust, I expect, not big enough to flame into proper meteors, but large enough to show. Beautiful.'". msc_streaks suggests msc_perspectives.

Understand "home" as msc_home when last beat is in MSC. msc_home is a beat in MSC with keyword name "home" and reaction "'Where I was born,' Progue says, his quiet words barely audible over the breaking of the surf, 'there was star-rain every night. Our tama told us the legend of the old feud between the fickle clouds, so undisciplined they always were joining up and falling apart and rained only when they pleased, and the eternal stars, who rained every night with honor, but had been banished so far away that every drop of their rain dried up before it could reach us...'". msc_home suggests msc_perspectives.

msc_perspectives is an insistent beat in MSC with keyword name "listen" and reaction "'Want to show you something elsewards,' he says. 'Are you looking up at the galaxy, at Capalla? See it stretch and span cross the sky above us? Now. Imagine it's not above us at all. Imagine it's below. Yes, feel it? The weight of sand on your back is the strength of glue holding us to some soft ceiling; below is incomprehensible vast void stretching down and down to that galaxy on a blackened floor.'[paragraph break]He pauses for a moment, giving the words a chance to sink in.[paragraph break]'Feel it?' he says, 'Can you rhyme that with your vision?'". The yes-beat of msc_perspectives is msc_persp1yes. The no-beat of msc_perspectives is msc_persp1no. The maybe-beat of msc_perspectives is msc_persp1maybe. msc_perspectives summons msc_persp1yes, msp_persp1no, msp_persp1maybe. msc_perspectives suggests msc_persp1maybe.

msc_persp1yes is a beat in MSC with keyword name "yes" and reaction "'Good,' he says. '[msc_perspectives2]". msc_persp1yes enqueues msc_persp1.

msc_persp1no is a beat in MSC with keyword name "no" and reaction "'Well,' he says, 'try to imagine what it would feel like then. [msc_perspectives2]". msc_persp1no enqueues msc_persp1.

msc_persp1maybe is a beat in MSC with keyword name "maybe" and reaction "'You can', he says, 'you just aren't quite willing to let go what your senses tell. Good and close enough. [msc_perspectives2]". msc_persp1maybe enqueues msc_persp1.

To say msc_perspectives2: say "Now. Pause. Hold it. Then forget. Forget that feeling. Dig yourself trickling deeper in the sand.' He demonstrates. 'Now believe that we're stuck to a great wall. It's at our backs, we're gripping it tight[if location is regionally in Beachfront or location is Rise], and beneath feet is vertical ocean, a wall of water stretching down forever beneath us[end if]. We're looking straight headwards, right forward toward the galaxy floating out in infinite blackness before us. Somehow it's balanced on its side at strange angles; don't ask the hows and whys, just believe it.'[paragraph break]Again, he pauses.[paragraph break]'You're not falling asleep on me, are you?' he asks.".

msc_persp1 is an insistent beat in MSC. The yes-beat of msc_persp1 is msc_persp2yes. The no-beat of msc_persp1 is msc_persp2no. msc_persp1 suggests msc_persp2yes.

msc_persp2yes is a beat in MSC with keyword name "yes" and reaction "'Dear oh,' he says, 'I'll try to hurry and finish then.'". msc_persp2yes enqueues msc_perspectives3.

msc_persp2no is a beat in MSC with keyword name "no" and reaction "'Good,' he says. 'Hold that sensation just one more ment, then let that one go too.'". msc_persp2no enqueues msc_perspectives3.

msc_perspectives3 is a beat in MSC with reaction "'And now this is the point,' he says. 'Each of those felt something different: up, down, sideways. Gives you vertigo to think of hanging above that galaxy; changed perspectives to think of being alongside it. But each is just as wrong or right, correct or incorrect, true or untrue as thinking that great thing's hovering above us. If every [t]perspective[x] is equal right or wrong, correct or incorrect, true or untrue then those words are gushing useless to describe the universe. Can't even say it is or isn't, or that we live in it or don't; equally arbitrary. Verbs fail entirely and leave us with just [']the universe,['] and what does that mean? Nothing, [animal-nickname]; and even [t]meaning[x] itself falls apart. All we have are shadows and perspectives.'[paragraph break]'And mayhaps our [t]wayfaring[x] is like that,' he finishes quietly, 'just a matter of seeing shape in the right shadow, obtaining a sufficiently different perspective-- one neither less true nor more wrong. Just and only yours.'". msc_perspectives3 summons msc_outtro. msc_perspectives3 suggests msc_outtro.

Understand "perspective/wayfaring/meaning" as msc_outtro when last beat is in MSC. msc_outtro is a terminal beat in MSC with keyword name "perspective, wayfaring and meaning" and reaction "You think of how to frame your response for a long while, but just as you are about to speak, you hear a gentle snore.[paragraph break]Quietly, you rise to your feet[if location is regionally in Beachfront or location is Rise], brushing the sand from your clothes[end if].".

First completion rule for Meteor Shower Conversation:

now progue-venue is location;

now dont_describe_Progue is true;

now the animus of Progue is resting;

Progue starts resting.