Blue Lacuna — 422 of 467

Chapter - Rockslide Flashback

[ Progue yells at the trees, saying he won't do it, he won't choose, and vows never to come back. The girls watch, but they are too far away to jump to. Progue sees them and yells at them.]

[puzzles: any but mysterious door.

Getting to lawn / Powering Both: Progue thinks about cutting off power to pyramid, or reducing power in the system, mentions numbers.

Finding the Egg: Progue wishes he'd never found the egg, never followed the bees.

Opening the Pyramid: Progue thinks about locking off the pyramid, preventing anyone from getting in.

Contacting All: Progue angrily rattles through a list of trees on the island, thinking about burning them.

]

[the ridiculousness of it... you're yelling at them as if they can hear you, but they can only hear you through your own ears...]

[To setup Dream-Rockslide-hints:

let active puzzle be preeminent puzzle;

if active puzzle is Getting-To-The-Lawn or active puzzle is Powering-Both-Devices begin;

now dr-idea is 1;

otherwise if active puzzle is Finding-The-Egg;

now dr-idea is 2;

otherwise if active puzzle is Opening-The-Pyramid;

now dr-idea is 3;

otherwise if active puzzle is Contacting-All-The-Trees;

now dr-idea is 4;

end if.]

dr-idea is a number that varies.

Instead of sleeping when location is Dream-Rockslide: say "Not here. First you must climb [down]...".

Dream-Rockslide is a flashback-room in Dreamlands. The printed name is " Boulder Pile ". The description of Dream-Rockslide is "[one of]You navigate the boulder field reckless, jumping from loose to loose rock until finally one shifts under your foot and you stumble, cracking your chin against a corner of rock. You collapse, panting, your hands gripping grass, and finally look up to see you are at the base of a windsigh. Of course.[or]Moss and tufts of grass cling to patches of dirt on the boulder field. The rain forest, its interior only a haze of shadows and bird cries from here, stretches across this side of the island.[stopping]".

Dream-Rockslide-stuff is stuff in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "boulder/field/rock/corner/base/tufts/patches/dirt/rain/forest/interior/haze/shadows/bird" as Dream-Rockslide-stuff when location is Dream-Rockslide.

A dr-windsigh is a described setpiece in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "tree9/tree/windsigh" as dr-windsigh when location is Dream-Rockslide. The printed name is "windsigh". Rule for writing a paragraph about dr-windsigh: say "The [o]windsigh[x] towers over you, drinking in the morning light (is it morning?) while around you, the only way to go is [down][if dr-ctr > 4]. By the chasm somewhere, one of your [o]girls[x] is hiding[end if].". The description of dr-windsigh is "You look up at its vine-wrapped trunk, its punctured branches, its quivering yellow leaves, and suddenly imagine [o]them[x] looking through your eyes, hearing these thoughts, remembering them years later, sharing them with others...[paragraph break]'Leave me alone!' you shout, pounding fists in frustration at the hard roots clutching the rocks, and realize even as you do the ridiculous irony. You're yelling as if they can hear, but they only hear with your ears, only know you exist because of your own thoughts...". After examining dr-windsigh: have the parser notice dr-presences. Instead of attacking a dr-windsigh: say "You beat your fists weakly against the trunk of the tree, the vines absorbing the blows with a strange fleshy thud, but there is no strength left in you. You feel like a week of sleep, a month, a year.". Instead of climbing dr-windsigh, say "You can barely move, let alone climb trees.".

The dr-rockslide is a setpiece in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "rock/rocks/rockslide" as dr-rockslide. The printed name is "rockslide". Instead of entering or climbing dr-rockslide, try going down. The description is "You have no memory of climbing up here.".

Some dr-presences are a setpiece in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "them/they" as dr-presences when location is Dream-Rockslide. The printed name is "them". The description is "How strange that you did not hear them speaking to you for so long, how strange you did not recognize the strangeness of your behavior, your obsession. How did you believe so in the power of your own ingenuity, cleverness, creativity, that all those little puzzles and problems in repairing the seiver could all have been discovered by you?".

dr-ctr is a number that varies. Every turn when location is Dream-Rockslide: increase dr-ctr by 1.

spying-lethe is an undescribed woman. Every turn when location is Dream-Rockslide and spying-lethe is off-stage and dr-ctr is 4: move spying-lethe to location; say "Out of the corner of your eye, down by the bridge across the chasm, you spot a furtive [o]motion[x].". Understand "girl/girls/daughter/motion" as spying-lethe. The printed name of spying-lethe is "your daughter Lethe". The description is "[one of]Whirling to look, you just catch sight of a raven-black head of hair, ducking behind the lip of the chasm. One of the girls {(*[d]lethe[x]*)} . How did they get into the chasm?[or]A sudden anger rises in you, a fury. They've been disobeying you this whole time. You told them the volcano and the forest were dangerous, even before you knew the real danger, and they ignored you. You were so careful to protect them, to build the door, the bridge, and they flaunted your hard work. How dare they? After all you've been through, how can they do this to you?[paragraph break]'Dad,' you hear a small voice call out-- Lethe's, you think, or is it Phoebe's?-- 'Dad, what's [t]wrong[x]? Did you finish the [t]project[x]? What happened?'[paragraph break]Questions, questions, you can't answer any more questions. Why do they keep asking, what do they want?[or][trygreetingspyinglethe][stopping]". Instead of hugging or kissing spying-lethe: say "Oh you want to, you want to gather both your daughters in your arms like when they were girls, and Rengin beside you, laughing, but they're too old now, they don't want your hugs, they haven't let you hug them since you took them here, and why did you? Why did you bring them to this empty place, because you thought it wouldn't be empty, and it wasn't, it wasn't... oh Phoebe, Lethe, your girls, how can they ever forgive you?". Instead of greeting spying-lethe: say "What can you say? You can't think of how to say, what to speak. What does a father say when he's been a miserable father? What do children say when their parents have abandoned them? What is there to say, to do? How can you begin?". To say trygreetingspyinglethe: try greeting spying-lethe.

fake-lethe-trigger is an undescribed thing in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "lethe" as fake-lethe-trigger when location is Dream-Rockslide. The description is " {(*Progue*)(*your daughter Lethe*)}|[line break] {(*too far*)}". After examining fake-lethe-trigger: try examining spying-lethe. First Instead of hugging or kissing fake-lethe-trigger: try hugging spying-lethe. Instead of greeting fake-lethe-trigger: try greeting spying-lethe.

dr-wrong is a setpiece in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "wrong" as dr-wrong when location is Dream-Rockslide. The description is "What's wrong. What's wrong?[paragraph break]What a question. What a trick. How could they? Could they ask... what, in your condition. To decide? How are you meant... supposed to... and what can you say, tell the girls? How to explain? No, no you can't explain... there's nothing you... nothing you can...". After examining dr-project: say "[lethe-responds]".

dr-project is a setpiece in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "project" as dr-project when location is Dream-Rockslide. The description is "The project. Yes, the project. First the seiver in the forest, then the boiler, endless bamboo, hollowing quartz tubes, the ropeway, the ropeway till your fingers bled weaving fibers, the terrifying climb up the mountain with all that weight threatening to pull you backwards and down... the mountaintop, digging, burying, tuning, cursing, never sleeping, never trying...". After examining dr-project: say "[lethe-responds]".

To say lethe-responds: say "[one of]'Dad?' the voice calls again, so sad, so wanting your help, and why won't she stop bothering you? Why do they all want your help? Why does everyone want your help when you can help no one, no one, no one, no one...[or]She's stopped, oh, she's stopped. You can't bear any more responsibility. Rengin was always the responsible one and where is she? Dead in another universe and she can never help you again. Dead and gone and alone. Oh, Rengin...[stopping]".

DR-Progue is a dream-progue in Dream-Rockslide. Understand "progue" as dr-progue when location is Dream-Rockslide. The printed name is "Progue". The description is "You have lost a frightening amount of weight in the past weeks and months, you realize as you look down at your bony form, and when you saw your reflection in the tide pools catching mussels earlier today you saw your beard hairs have begun to go white. What is happening to you?".

Understand "chasm/edge/chute/pond" as down when location is Dream-Rockslide.

First Instead of going down when location is Dream-Rockslide: say "[one of]Your head spins. The rockslide suddenly seems dangerous, precarious, impossibly high. How will you get down?[or]Carefully, you lower yourself down the gauntlet of boulders, all dangerously balanced against each other, waiting for the slightest touch to send them all spiraling down to crush anything in their way between and underneath them into nothingness. The girls, maybe you should punish them for disobeying you, or maybe they should punish you for disobeying them or disobey you for punishing them.... all you can think of now is sleep...[paragraph break]{(*sleep*)}[line break][end-flashback][stopping]".