Untitled Story

The girl turns around, startled but hoping to be excited. You are startled in turn because the kid turns out to be a boy. His face lights up and he practically skips over to you.\n\n"Oh, my God! Thank you //so much!// I was afraid it was gone forever."\n\nWithout looking up from his scrying stone, Octavian calls out, "You're late." After a moment, he hefts a sigh, turns, and beckons you both over to the side of the Pool.\n\n<<display OctavianExplainsWhatsUp>>

You float upward through the black sea that is sleep. Your mother is calling you, telling you that your breakfast is getting cold. You become aware of a ringing sound in your ears. In one ear, rather. Off to the side. Your alarm clock?\n\n//Oh, crap, you've overslept again!//\n\n[[Get up!|MorningRoutine]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push("Good Morning, Crono")>>

She doesn't move. You can't even see her breathing, not that you ever can. It seems she's in some form of suspended animation. No one is quite sure how this thing works or what all it can do. You're pretty sure //she// understands quite a bit about it, but you're just as sure that she'd never tell anyone.\n\nShe hasn't aged a day in almost 20 years.\n\nYou look at your watch. If you don't go you'll be late. You turn to leave. You've only gone a few steps when you hear her voice in your mind.\n\n"I didn't expect you to come here today. You should have said something."\n\nYou turn back to her. Still no physical signs that she is aware of you. Or of anything, for that matter. But you can feel her pleasure at your presence.\n\n[["Sorry. I didn't want to disturb you."|GirlJoke][$girlBeforeBriefing = "joke"]]\n[["I know. I just... didn't have anything to say."|GirlAkward][$girlBeforeBriefing = "akward"]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Lost Technology")>>

You walk past the cubicles on the first floor to the elevator. Most of the people working in this part of the building are completely unaware of FuTech's secrets. They handle the everyday things that hide its true purpose from the outside world.\n\nYour job, however, is //far// more interesting.\n\nSomeone gets into the elevator right after you do. After punching in the floor they're going to, you punch in the 8th floor, where your "office" is and where they are not allowed to go. They get off, and as soon as the doors close you go to work.\n\n<><<if $playerOccupation is "Mech Pilot">>\n<<display ElevatorMech>>\n<<else>>\n<<display ElevatorMagic>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>

//"Colonel... are we sure they're hostile? What if--"//\n\n"We've gone over this a dozen times!" the colonel roars. "//Do not// question your orders again!" He glares. You shut your mouth and keep it that way.\n\n<>\n<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>>\n//She// isn't happy with you, either. \n \n"Don't you trust me?" \n \nIt's faint, but the others who can hear her are conspicuously not looking at you. They all know you and she have a history. Unfortunately, you can't send psychic messages back at her.\n<<set $playerDoesntTrustGirl to true>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n<<display BattlePlan>>

This particular cavern is as long as it is large, with a clear and well-worn path meandering through the fungi as the floor slopes downward. You are careful not to touch the fungi; they are part of the defenses of this place. Different ones do different things, anything from putting one into a deep sleep plagued by horrible nightmares to... things truly unpleasant to think of.\n\nYou pick your way past the glowing blue, green, and occasionally purple fungi. As you descend, the floor grows warmer and the fungi grow more sparsely. The far lower end of the cavern narrows into a dark tunnel. This tunnel, too, is part of the defenses; if you didn't have your earring in, it would transport you to a dark labyrinth even farther below. But you are safe.\n\nAfter a short distance, the tunnel takes a turn and then opens up into a //huge// cavern, one so large its dimensions just... don't even make sense. You are far enough beneath the surface of the Earth for its molten core to provide enough heat for the lush vegetation before you, but even with so much space above you it seems too large to be true. If nothing else, it seems like the cavern should collapse, given the breadth of the thing and the lack of supporting pillars.\n\nThe great cavern has been here for longer than even Octavian knows, though. Its ceiling is probably held up by magic, just like the glowing orbs that float around giving the plants the light they need to grow and everything else. Lindsey believed that it was just science so advanced that we...\n\nRather than follow that train of thought, you kneel down to untie your shoes. They (and socks) are forbidden past the point where the rock ends and the dirt begins; you'll have to walk the rest of the way to the Pools barefoot. Someone else is already here, their shoes carelessly and untidily discarded off to the left. A young woman's shoes, judging by the size and baby blue coloring and white hearts. One of those shoes is on its side and a spider is crawling in to check it out. You place your shoes carefully upright.\n\nThere are two paths today, one on the left and one //all the way// to the left. If the other person's shoes are an accurately placed clue -- who knows if that's true -- it kinda looks like they took the path to the left.\n\n[[Go left.|GreatCavernLeft]]\n[[Go //all the way// to the left.|GreatCavernFarLeft]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Beneath the Earth")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Lost World")>>

"Coming back to help us, asshole?" your commander asks bitterly. "For your information, the units stationed behind the moon are making their appearance.\n\n<<display GoodMechEnding>>

You follow your orders. You find //down// again and launch yourself into the fray, trying not to think about the growing death count behind you.\n\nYour squad holds its section, but it doesn't matter. The enemy behind your lines cuts holes in the sections around you once they've finished wiping out the back line. Your commander is the next person in your squad to die, and from that point on it's just chaos.\n\nYou fight off as many as you can, but it's no good.<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>> As the enemy surrounds you, you feel a surge of sorrow. She can't talk to you when you're so far from the planet's surface, even with the mech's amplification of her power, but for a moment you can feel her grief at your loss as sharply as if it were your own.<<endif>> In the final moments before your mech explodes, you see beams of brilliant light shoot out from the surface of the Earth, headed right for the alien forces.\n\nYou don't live long enough to see how it all ends.<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>> Your only consolation as everything goes black is that //she// will not suffer the fate of the previous guardian of Earth, doomed to languish alone beneath the surface of the planet for eons. The governments of Earth know she exists.<<endif>>\n\n<<display TheEnd>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Last Stand")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Pyrrhic Victory")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Downer Ending")>>

"Narrative is linear, but action has breadth and depth as well as height and is solid."\n //- Thomas Carlyle//\n\n[[Begin|Animeland]]

You wait while the high-tech security camera performs a retinal scan. Once the scan is complete, your name and your callsign, El Dare, are piped through the elevator speakers.\n\n"Identity confirmed. Please stand by."\n\nA few minutes later, the elevator opens deep underground. You step out into the corridor. One of your fellow soldiers greets you on her way to the war room. You go get into uniform. You feel so much better in it than in a business suit. You have some freedom of movement, for one thing, but for another... well, you don't get to pilot your mech nearly as much as you would like. Wearing the uniform is one step closer to being in the cockpit.\n\nThere's not much time before the briefing is supposed to start, but it wouldn't take to long to visit //her// chamber. And she //is// the reason you -- all of you, really, though you'd like to think especially you -- are here. It's been a couple of weeks since you last talked to her.\n\n[[Report for duty immediately.|WarRoom]]\n[[Go see her.|SleepingBeauty]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Code Name")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Useless Security Camera [Averted]")>>

The receptionist's smug smile turns into a triumphant grin. "Now, that wasn't so hard, was it?"\n\nThe receptionist pushes a button beneath the surface of the desk and the door behind you clicks open.\n\n<><<if $playerOccupation is "Mech Pilot">>\n<<display EnterFuTechMech>>\n<<else>>\n<<display EnterFuTechMagic>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Go on through the door.|EnterFuTechBldg]]

"This is Mason," Octavian tells you, gesturing at the boy. You look the kid over as you introduce yourself. Probably fifteen, rather than fourteen. Still, he's young. His earring is sapphire. A Seeker, then. Not a Brawler like you.\n\n"Nice to meet you," Mason says.<<if $foundMasonsWallet>> "And thanks again for bringing me my wallet."\n\n[["You're welcome."|ChangeOfPlans]]\n[["You should take better care of your things."|WalletChastise]]\n<<else>> Clearly he's still bummed about losing that whatever-it-was, but he's trying to be as amicable as possible. Gotta give the kid credit for that.\n\n[["If someone else finds it, they'll bring it to Octavian."|WalletHope]]\n[["You should take better care of your things."|WalletChastise]]\n<<endif>>

"Go frell yourself," your commander says. "They're trying to cover their flank." Sure enough, your screen shows the troops that had been stationed behind the moon making their advance.\n\n<<display GoodMechEnding>>

When you don't respond, Octavian sinks beneath the surface of the water. His tentacles stretch in all directions and you see a squirt of ink, reddish in the orange pool beneath him. When he comes back up, he askes Mason to leave the two of you alone for a moment.\n\n"Sure," the boy replies. He glances at you before walking past you towards the Indigo Pool.\n\n"Look," Octavian says when Mason is out of earshot, "I know I am asking a hard thing of you, but we //cannot// let the Moon Stone fall into enemy hands. Not even for a moment, not so close to their stronghold. //There is no one else who can do this.// It must be //now// and it must be //him// -- and he needs //you//."\n\n[["Have you forgotten that I didn't do such a good job protecting my teammates there last time?"|ArgueWithOctavian]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Dare to Be Badass")>>

You walk in the employee door at FuTech. The receptionist is sitting at his desk, chewing gum as always. He says good morning and asks for your badge.\n\n[[Show him the badge.|ShowBadge]]\n[["Come on, you know who I am." Stride past his desk and go inside without showing it to him.|Don'tShowBadge]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" A Day In The Life")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Easing Into The Adventure")>>

The commander takes a moment to respond. Some of the commanders can hear her, but this is one of those who can't. Still, all the commanders are aware of -- if sometimes skeptical about -- her psychic communications abilities and she can probably guess what just actually happened.\n\n"This is not the time to be clogging up communications channels talking to yourself." Brisk and businesslike. "Keep your mouth shut unless it's mission-related."\n\n<<display BattleBegins>>

You hit the elevator stop button, then turn to face the mirror on the back wall.\n\n[["Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, who is fairest of them all?"|MirrorFairest]]\n[["Mirror that assists the brave, take me to our secret caves."|MirrorCave]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Magic Mirror")>>

The thousand or more year-old mirror says nothing. It only narrows its eyes.\n\n...\n\n[["Mirror that assists the brave, take me to our secret caves."|MirrorToCave]]

You continue along the path for a few minutes. You round a bend and find yourself looking at the potato patch again. Apparently it was too much to hope for that the cavern would let you off the hook. You chose your path, and that path led to potatoes.\n\n<<display GCLeftWeedPotatoes>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Fisher Kingdom")>>

The mirror darkens and a face appears within it. The face is not quite human, with its violet eyes and too-long nose, but it has a strange beauty to it. Long, golden hair floats around the face as if seen from underwater.\n\nThe face is annoyed.\n\n"Someone who isn't you," it says. "Have you any //other// inane questions for us this morning?"\n\n[["Mirror, Mirror, in this elevator, have you ever eaten alligator?"|MirrorAlligator][$playerAnnoyedMirror = true]]\n[["Mirror that assists the brave, take me to our secret caves."|MirrorToCave]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Overused Running Gag")>>

Mason has the good grace to look sheepish. "Yeah... I hear that a lot. I just..." His shoulders climb up to meet his ears. "...don't." So he cares enough about his appeareance to match everything he wears or carries but then doesn't take care of it.\n\n<<display ChangeOfPlans>>

You don't see a table or anything to set the flowers on, as is sometimes the case, so you take them with you, trying not to think about the last time you carried daisies down this path. Those were happier days.\n\nIt's not long before the path and the creek diverge around a large boulder. As you round the boulder, voices drift towards you.\n\n<<display OverheardConversation>>\n\n[["If you lost something in here, you may never find it again."|LostSomething]]\n[[Walk up and drop off the flowers without saying anything.|DropOffFlowers]]

"Of course I'm serious," Octavian chides with a frown. "Hunting down the Nightshades is important, but others can do that. This is a job that only you can do."\n\n"Mason came to me about a week ago. He's new, but but his Seeking strength and talent are unlike any I've seen since... for a very long time."\n\n[["Since Lindsey, you mean."|SinceLindseyYouMean]]\n[[Keep Listening.|KeepListeningToOctavian]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Teen Genius")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" More Expendable Than You")>>

"I will. When you show me your badge."\n\n[[Show him the badge.|ShowBadge2]]

With a sigh, you squat down amongst the potatoes and begin pulling up weeds. Every time you come here, there is some kind of work to be done on the way to the Pools. This cavern is the source of the Guardians' magic, and in return for that gift you are expected to help maintain what grows there.\n\nAt least the damp earth feels good between your toes. Your mind wanders and time passes quickly. You put the weeds you've pulled in the discard pile, as well as some that the girl didn't quite get into the pile. Shaking your head, you move along.\n\nYour only other encounter along the path is a butterfly that decides to go for a ride on your shoulder as you walk. You make good time and soon you can hear the trickling of the creek that feeds the Pools.\n\nThe vegetation thins out as you approach the Pools of Light. The butterfly takes off when someone shouts in frustration.\n\n<<display OverheardConversation>>\n\n[["Looking for this?" Hold up the wallet.|ProfferWallet]]\n[["You may never find it again, whatever 'it' is."|DenyWallet]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Walk In Chime In")>>

The End\n\n\nThe story is over, but you've traveled through quite a few [[tropes|http://www.tvtropes.org/]] to get here. Here's a list.\n\n<<print $tropesCollected>>\n\nThis may not be all of the tropes I used! There are lots. I recommend looking them up. //But beware!// The TV Tropes web site is quite possibly the biggest time sink in the history of the internet. You are warned.\n\nThere are two different stories to explore in this Twine game, each with multiple paths and hidden tropes to find.

"Nervous, hmm?" She's amused. You should have seen that coming. She could read your moods even before she gained empathic powers.\n\nShe sobers up rather quickly, though. "Well, you should be. This won't be an easy fight. You should go to the war room for your briefing. Good luck out there."\n\nHer presence is already fading away. Apparently she's got things to do elsewhere.\n\n[["Thanks." Go to the war room.|WarRoom]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" The Empath")>>

Octavian looks pained. "There's no one else who can do this. You are the only one with the experience, both with that place and in combat in general, to help him succeed."\n\nMason is silent. You don't know how much Octavian told him, but clearly the boy was told to expect that you wouldn't want to go.\n\n<<display LoudhamDireSilence>>\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" But Thou Must")>>

You choose the road more traveled. It won't matter in the end which path you take. All paths lead to the Pools of Light and to Octavian. And if the girl has gotten herself in trouble, maybe you can fish her out of it. Not many Guardians make it to adulthood, and although most of those die in the field, an unfortunate number simply make the mistake of straying from the path on their way to the Pools.\n\nYou're on the path for about two minutes when you find a baby blue wallet in the middle of the path. It looks like a perfect match for the shoes, as best you can recall their color. Whether or not it belongs to the young Guardian, you pick it up. Such things don't belong here, and if it doesn't belong to the girl after all you can leave it with Octavian for its owner to retrieve later. Hopefully it isn't one of those things that's been lost here in a bubble of time for decades, like that newspaper you found when you were nineteen.\n\nThe path winds back and forth for a bit until you come across the potato patch. It's been a few months since you saw it, though you encountered it every day for six weeks about a year ago. You've hated it ever since. You can see that someone has been here very recently, and though they weeded it some, there's more that could be done.\n\n[[Do some frelling weeding.|GCLeftWeedPotatoes]]\n[[Hope you can get away with ignoring it.|GCLeftIgnorePotatoes]]\n<<set $foundMasonsWallet to true>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Stay on the Path")>>

You hadn't sensed any magic at work, but it wouldn't be a very good security system if you could. FuTech's security forces are the best of the best, capable of crafting subtle environmental spells designed to evade the notice of even powerful magic users such as yourself. The button probably didn't even actually //do// anything, really.\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Urban Fantasy")>>

<>\n/% <<if $playerAge is "Adult" or $playerAge is "Adolescent">> %/\n<<if $playerDoesntEscortMason>>\nThe Last Day in the Life of an //Adolescent// Magical Guardian\n<<else if not ($playerOccupation is "")>>\n\n<<if $playerGonnaDie>>\nThe Last Day\n<<else>>\nA <<if $playerAnnoyedMirror>>Dangerous <<endif>>Day<<endif>> \nin the Life of an <<print $playerAge>> \n<<print $playerOccupation>>\n<<else>>\nRead Between the Tropes\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>

Colonel Ludius glares at you as you slip into your chair at the last possible second. He's never appreciated tardiness, and your ability to just //barely// make it in time -- every time -- annoys the piss out of him.\n\n"Now that we're all //assembled//," Ludius barks, "we can begin the briefing." No one laughs... though everyone wants to.\n\n"As I'm sure you're all aware, our oracle has informed us that the aliens are almost here." <<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>>You sense the "oracle's" presence in the room as soon as she's mentioned. Only a couple of the others react, glancing toward her chamber. Most people can't sense her at all, much less hear her when she tries to communicate.<<else>> The "oracle", of course, being //her//.<<endif>>\n\n"According to her report, their numbers and strength are greater than she initially anticipated." He brings up a holographic map over the console at the center of the room, showing the trajectory of the incoming forces in relation to Earth. It's a sobering picture. Even with more than ten years' warning that an invasion was coming and the oracle's help building mechs to fight them with... well, it'll be a tough battle.\n\n[[Listen to the battle plan.|BattlePlan]]\n[["Colonel... are we sure they're hostile? What if this is all just some big misunderstanding?"|QuestionBattle]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" The War Room")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Alien Invasion")>>

"//Excuse// me?!" Oops. The commander heard that and thought you were talking to them.\n\n[["Just, uh... just talking to myself."|TalkingToGirl]]\n[["I won't let Earth down, I meant."|KeepChannelsClear]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Open Mouth, Insert Foot")>>

Are you a mech pilot or a magical guardian?\n\n[[Mech Pilot|GetToWork][$playerOccupation = "Mech Pilot"]]\n[[Magical Guardian|GetToWork][$playerOccupation = "Magical Guardian"]]\n\n<<set $playerAge to "Adult">>

It's not long before the order to attack comes through. <<if $playerDoesntTrustGirl>> They fire the first shot.<<endif>>\n\nYou quickly lose track of time. You don't have time for anything but attack, defend, and dodge, constantly reorienting yourself to think of the enemy's line as //down//.\n\nIt isn't until you notice that you've had the Earth in the center of your view for a while that you realize something is wrong. Either you've gotten behind enemy lines or...\n\n"Commander, they've gotten through our lines!" One of your squad mates. You barely have time to register that before you hear his co-pilot say, "Brian, look out! Enemy on our--" They're down.\n\n"//Hold formation!//" your commander yells. "Our part of the line is still solid and it needs to stay that way!"\n\nUp until now, you've been focusing solely on your area. You didn't realize the line had been breached. You're not engaged by an enemy at the moment; a quick survey of the battlefield on your heads-up display indicates that the breach has been sealed, but the back line appears to be getting demolished. Your squad is holding their own, even under heavy fire.\n\nYou can probably save the back line, but doing so endangers the center of the defense, especially since your squad just lost a mech. If the center front falls, all is lost for sure.\n\n[[Hold the front line.|HoldTheFront][$playerGonnaDie = true]]\n[[Save the back line.|SaveTheBack]]

"Hmm... I guess you aren't, at that. The briefing will begin in a few minutes. You should go." Her mood turns a little sad. "But I'm glad you came to say hi. Be safe."\n\n[["I'll see you when I get back."|GirlHiByeHope][$girlBeforeBriefing = "hiconfident"]]\n[["Thanks." Go to the war room.|WarRoom][$girlBeforeBriefing = "hibye"]]

The girl turns around. Boy. Boy? Boy. The //boy// turns around. You didn't see that one coming. You //did// expect the stricken look, though.\n\nOctavian cocks his head, then turns on you with a disapproving look.\n\n"You're later than I expected," he says sharply. "Potatoes?"\n\nThe kid looks confused until you toss him his wallet, at which point he looks positively baffled. He thanks you politely enough, but you couldn't have tossed him a better curveball if you'd tossed him an //actual// curveball.\n\n<<display OctavianExplainsWhatsUp>>\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Disapproving Look")>>

You input your personal ID code -- 1337 -- using the floor selection buttons, then turn to the security camera and say your voice identification code.\n\n[["Bathtub full of potatoes."|UndergroundMilitaryBase]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Embarrassing Password")>>

You maneuver your mech into the launch chute and are soon rocketing foward beneath first the city and then the sea. Gradually the chute curves upward until you come hurtling out of a giant floatilla of garbage in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. You turn on your thrusters and use them to help you break free of the chains of gravity. The Earth falls away beneath you, turning into a blue and white ball before disappearing off your view screen completely.\n\nYou don't look back. After all, your enemy won't be behind you.\n\nYou were one of the first to launch, but it doesn't take long before first your squad and then all units are in position. Well, all units except those assigned to hide behind the moon. They have a bit farther to travel. But they'll be hidden from the invaders' sight by the curve of the Earth and some trickery of //hers// while they travel.\n\n[[The only thing left to do now is wait.|EnemyAppears]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Fighter Launching Sequence")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" We Wait")>>

You feel her presence with you almost immediately, though her body still shows no signs of movement. Her words come directly into your mind.\n\n"Hi! This is a pleasant surprise. I didn't expect to see you today. You never come early." Her pleasure at your presence is startling in its strength and suddenness.\n\n[["I'm not early now."|GirlHiBye]]\n[["Oh, please. I can't go on a mission this big without dropping by long enough to say hi, at least."|GirlHiJoke][$girlBeforeBriefing = "hijoke"]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Psychic Powers")>>

"You were younger then," he replies. "You all were. And none of us knew what to expect because no one had ever dared. //This// must be what Lindsey was Seeking, don't you see? It's what they died trying to get, and if you don't help Mason now then their deaths will have been in vain."\n\nOctavian has hauled himself half out of the water while speaking to bring his eyes up to the same level as yours. You've never seen a more serious, a more pleading, a more... sympathetic look on his face. He misses them, too. He didn't know them as well as you, but he was a Guardian, too, before he took to the Pools. He knows the pain of losing the companions of hard-fought battles.\n\nAnd he's right about one thing. There are no other Guardians who could pull this off.\n\n[[Do it.|EscortMason]]\n[[Refuse.|DontEscortMason][$playerDoesntEscortMason = true; $playerGonnaDie = true]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Fire-Forged Friends")>>

Octavian enters the deeper Orange Pool from the channel leading to it, his head dipping underwater temporarily before his octopus parts get into gear and bring it back above the surface to bob just above water level. You crouch down at the pool's edge. He looks at you for a moment before turning to look back the way you came.\n\n"The Moon Stone is in the Loudham Dire."\n\nYou realize that he's looking at the basket of daisies.\n\n[["I'm not going back there."|RefuseLoudhamDire]]\n[[Say nothing.|LoudhamDireSilence]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Place Worse Than Death")>>

Octavian calls out after you as you go, but he can't follow. He falls back into the Pool with a splash. As you reenter the vegetation, you hear Mason's concerned voice, but you ignore it and keep going. You grab your shoes but don't put them on because if Mason's following you that will give a chance to catch up.\n\n<<if $playerAnnoyedMirror>>On your way out, you forget that you had angered the mirror on the way in. You find yourself in a hot, dry desert, where you live out the rest of your short life. You abandoned the cause, and the great cavern denied you the power that would have helped you find your way home.\n<<else>>You leave the FuTech building. When you come back the next day, the receptionist won't let you in. Another Guardian had been called upon to escort Mason, and they failed.\n\nThe great cavern has abandoned you even as you abandoned your duty, and so you can only watch and wait as darkness gradually engulfs the world over the coming months.<<endif>>\n\n<<display TheEnd>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Downer Ending")>>

"An admirable sentiment, soldier, but this is //not// the time to be clogging up communications channels talking to yourself. Keep your mouth shut unless it's mission-related."\n\n<<display BattleBegins>>

Possible $girlBeforeBriefing values:\n\tjoke -- watch, then say didn't want to disturb her\n\takward -- watch, then confess had nothing to say\n\thiconfident -- talk, say you're late, see her when you get back\n\thibye -- talk, say you're late, leave\n\thijoke -- talk, joke to cover nerves\n\n$playerDoesntTrustGirl defaults to false, changed to true if player questions alien hostility.

The official name for her chamber is Cavern One. Rumor has it that the name was derived from Air Force One, the signifier assigned by the U.S. Air Force to whatever airborne vehicle the president of the United States is currently aboard. It's a reasonable rumor, since the protection of Cavern One and its contents are the highest priority for you and your fellow soldiers.\n\nThe walls of the chamber are stone, natural-looking but carved out in a round shape. It isn't quite spherical, but it's close. In the center is a pillar of light being generated by machinery built into the rock above and below. There are some kind of pipes coming off the base of the machine and disappearing into the floor of the chamber like the roots of a tree into the ground. \n\nIt doesn't look much different from when you and she first found it, so many years ago. Dust never seems to settle here, and the air hums with power. The only big difference is that you first found it with an emaciated, humanoid figure suspended in the pillar of light. Now she occupies that space, appearing to be sleeping. Her knees are pulled up to her chest and her head is slightly cocked as though she were asleep on a sofa instead of floating in the air. No one else is in the room, which is as normal as the fact that she doesn't react to the sounds of your approach.\n\n[[Say, "Hello."|TalkToGirl]]\n[[Say nothing.|WatchGirl]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Eternal Engine")>>

"It's best not to get your hopes too high, though," Octavian warns as Mason perks up. He tells Mason about that 1930s newspaper you found one time, looking and smelling as crisp as if it had just been bought fresh off the newsstand.\n\n<<display ChangeOfPlans>>

Octavian pauses in the water for a moment, closing his eyes with a sigh.\n\n"Yes, I do." He opens his eyes and continues to both move and speak.\n\n<<display KeepListeningToOctavian>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" The Lost Lenore")>>

As Colonel Ludius goes over the battle plan, more dots appear on the holographic projection, this time representing your forces. Your side's dots number fewer than those of the <<if $playerDoesntTrustGirl>>"invaders"<<else>>invaders<<endif>>. You'll all be spread a bit thin, and it doesn't look encouraging.\n\n"We can still beat them if we're smart and if we're //careful//," Colonel Ludius states intensely, meeting as many eyes as possible. "We just have to kill enough of them that they can't get past Spud's own defenses. If we do our jobs right, the bulk of humanity will never realize they were in any danger in the first place." He leaves unspoken the number of lives that this simple objective might cost.\n\n"Any questions?"<<if $playerDoesntTrustGirl>> The look he gives you just //dares// you to say aaaanything.<<endif>> No one makes a move or utters a word.\n\n"All right, then," he says. "Move out."\n\n[[Move out.|SuitUp]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" The Plan")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Barrier Maiden")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Save This Person, Save The World")>>

You break formation and rush for the back line. Your commander is furious, but that doesn't stop you. You fail to save two allied mechs, but you get between a third one and death just in the nick of time. While the pilot you just saved is still babbling his thanks, you find a new enemy to attack and make short work of it.\n\nAs soon as the back line is safe, you rush towards the front again. They need you; your absence has been a harder thing for them to deal with than you expected.\n\nIt doesn't look like you're going to make it. One of your squad mates goes down, another narrowly escapes an encounter with her life, and just when it looks like she's about to get stabbed in the back, some of the enemy forces withdraw.\n\n[["What's going on? Why are they retreating?"|BattleRetreat]]\n[["Ha! Apparently they're scared of me."|ThoseCowards]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right")>>

The girl turns around, startled, and turns out to be a boy, actually. He gets over being startled rather quickly and asks, "You didn't happen to find a light blue wallet on your way here, did you?" You shake your head and place the basket of flowers on the ground next to the Pool Octavian is sitting in.\n\nOctavian glances over at the basket then turns back to his seeing stone, but does a double-take and glances up at you. It seems he, too, recalls the last time you brought him daisies. With a simple, "Thank you," he takes the basket and carefully places it on a raised rock on the other side of the seeing stone.\n\n<<display OctavianExplainsWhatsUp>>\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Walk In Chime In")>>

"Don't mention it," it says. The smirk turns into a none-too-friendly sort of grin. "To //anyone//."\n\nThe face fades away and the mirror clears, leaving behind nothing but your reflection and a lingering threat.\n\n<<display UndergroundCaverns>>

You and your fellow soldiers get into your flight suits and make your way to the hangars. Your mech is in hangar A, along with all 19 of the other single-pilot mechs. Of the hundreds trained to fight off this invasion, you are one of the few with enough skill to handle a mech alone. <<if not ($girlBeforeBattle is "none")>>Of course, you had the advantage of private coaching from a psychic old friend. In fact, almost all of the pilots who can hear her are among the solo pilots.<<endif>>\n\nWhen you get to your mech, you find the mechanics making final checks on its systems and wait for them to finish. While waiting, you give it one last look over yourself. Its coloring may be the same as every other mech in the hangar, but on either shoulder are your identifiers. El Dare, Unit 48-29. There are 19 like it, but this one is yours.\n\nThe mechanics finish their check and you put on your helmet. They help you get into the cockpit and make sure you're securely strapped in, then close the hatch in front of you. You can feel the mech humming, ready to go, and it feels great.\n\nYou boot the mech into full active mode, and the indicators light up in sequence. Once everything has booted up, a message appears on the screen in front of you. //All systems go.// <>\n<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>>\nYou can feel //her// presence with you, amplified by her connection to the mech. \n<<if $playerDoesntTrustGirl>>\nShe doesn't say anything to you, though, or even bring up a custom message on the screen. You must've really hurt her feelings, questioning if the aliens were actually hostile.\n<<else if ($girlBeforeBriefing is "joke") or ($girlBeforeBriefing is "hijoke") or ($girlBeforeBriefing is "hibye")>>\nShe doesn't say anything, though a second message prints out on the screen. //Good luck! (^_^)//\n<<else if ($girlBeforeBriefing is "akward") or ($girlBeforeBriefing is "hiconfident")>>\nShe whispers in your mind. "Be careful out there."\n<<endif>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n\nA few minutes later, you and your squad are called to launch into space. You'll be front and center, the first line of defense.\n\n[[Launch.|Launch]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Ace Pilot")>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Humongous Mecha")>>

Time passes. Universes are born and die.\n\nNot really, of course. But while you're waiting, you might as well come up with creative metaphors.\n\nThe invaders arrive right on schedule and in the exact formation she said they would.<<if $playerDoesntTrustGirl>> If she was right about this, maybe she was right about their hostile intentions. Not that that matters now....<<endif>> The battle is about to begin.\n\nThe alien ships are... alien. They look more like they're made of rock than metal, and maybe they they are. Your mech's sensors don't tell you what they're made of, exactly. Just position and trajectory. And if they weren't approaching you, you'd have no clue which side of the ships were their fronts.\n\n"Hold positions." Your commander's voice. Calm as the blackness of space itself.\n<>\n<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>>A message appears on your screen. It's from her. \n\n//Don't die.// \n\n[["I won't."|DidISayThatOutLoud]]\n<<endif>><<endnobr>>\n[[Wait.|BattleBegins]]

The mirror's smirk turns into a none-too-friendly grin.\n\n"More than once."\n\n//More than once?// A magic mirror cannot lie, but they are not required to tell all they know. //More than once// could mean twice or it could mean twice a year. Every year. For a hundred years in a row.\n\n"By the way, Guardian," the mirror continues, "//do not// tell anyone about our conversation. Have a good day." The face fades away and the mirror clears, leaving you alone with your reflection and the look on its face.\n\n<<display UndergroundCaverns>>

"I hope so." Her words are like a whisper in your head as her presence fades away. Clearly she's not sure you'll come through this one. With all the information she has access to, that's a sobering thought.\n\n[[Go to the war room.|WarRoom]]

The face fades away. The darkness of the mirror parts to reveal an image a cavern lit by glowing fungi growing on the floor and up the walls and giant stalagmites. Crystals in the ceiling refract the light a bit, enough to keep it from looking like a dark abyss hanging above you. It's not the same as bright stars in a dark sky, but it is lovely in its own way.\n\nYou step through the mirror into that place of light and darkness. Behind you, the image of the elevator shrinks until only another darkened mirror, twin to the first one, remains. A different face appears, this one with brilliant blue eyes and short, spiky black hair. There's a smirk under the same long nose.\n\n<<if $playerAnnoyedMirror>>"I wouldn't try leaving by this exit today if I were you," says this mirror. "They might choose to open their end on another dimension."\n\n[["Uh... Have they done that before?|MirrorThreatORLY]]\n[["Thanks for the warning.|MirrorThreatThanks]]\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Implied Death Threat")>>\n<<else>>"Good day, Guardian. Enjoy your stay." The face fades away and the mirror clears, blending in well with the fungus and walls it reflects.\n\n<<display UndergroundCaverns>>\n<<endif>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Bioluminescence is Cool")>>

The path starts at the wall and follows it until about halfway across the great cavern, where it meets the shores of the lake. The lake has no name as far as you know and no source that you have ever detected. The lake moves about the cavern sometimes; last time you saw it, it was in the exact center, or thereabouts.\n\nIt's just one of the many things that moves around in here, but there's always a creek running off it to feed the Pools of Light. Octavian once said that he believes the lake moves around to make sure all the plants get enough water. It's hard for Octavian to say, though, since he can't leave the Pools himself.\n\nToday there is an old-fashioned bathtub lodged on the shore. It contains a basket and there is a long pole sticking out of the water. Looks like you'll be collecting flowers from the island in the middle on your way across. You shove the bathtub off and hop in, getting your clothing only a little wet, then grab the pole and make your way across the lake. It's not all that deep, really, but the bottom is hazy and hard to see. Every time you come to the lake, there is something for you to cross it in, and you've never tried to swim it instead.\n\nThe island isn't that big, but it's always bursting with flowers -- daisies today, which is rare. In however many years coming here, this is only the second time you recall seeing them, and the last time was with friends long gone. You fill your basket somberly and get back in the bathtub. There is another shore by the creek and that is where you make landfall.\n\n[[Follow the path along the creek.|OverhearWalletWoes]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Genius Loci")>>

"One of our Lurkers also discovered the general location of the Moon Stone," Octavian says. "The enemy is already searching for it; they've known its whereabouts for some time now and my scrying indicates that they'll find it in the next few days if we don't find it first."\n\n"Mason should be able to find it easily enough," Octavian continues, "but he can't defend himself. And the place is dangerous." Mason tries to smile, but just looks nervous.\n\nYou have a bad feeling about this.\n\n[["Where is it?"|OctavianEntersOrangePool]]\n[[Keep listening.|OctavianEntersOrangePool]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" MacGuffin")>>

Octavian nods at Mason, who is following the two of you towards the Orange Pool without a word. "He did, for one. He's only been with us for about a week, but his Seeking strength and talent are unlike any I've seen since... for a very long time."\n\n[["Since Lindsey, you mean."|SinceLindseyYouMean]]\n[[Keep Listening.|KeepListeningToOctavian]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Teen Genius")>>

/* Your story will use the CSS in this passage to style the page.\nGive this passage more tags, and it will only affect passages with those tags.\nExample selectors: */\n\nbody {\n\t/* This affects the entire page */\n\tcolor: black;\n\tbackground-color: #cccccc;\n}\n.passage {\n\t/* This only affects passages */\n\t\n\t\n}\n.passage a {\n\t/* This affects passage links */\n\tcolor: green;\n\t\n}\n.passage a:hover {\n\t/* This affects links while the cursor is over them */\n\tcolor: darkgreen;\n\ttext-decoration: underline;\n\t\n}\n#theend {\n\tfont-size: 16px;\n}\n#storyTitle {\n\tcolor: black;\n}\n#storyAuthor {\n\tcolor: black;\n}\n#sidebar li a {\n\tcolor: green;\n}\n#sidebar li a:hover {\n\tcolor: darkgreen;\n\ttext-decoration: underline;\n}\n#quote {\n\tfont-size: 16px;\n}

postrender.debug = function () {\n\tconsole.info(state.history[0].variables.tropesCollected);\n\tconsole.info(state.history[0].variables.girlBeforeBriefing);\n}

Are you an adult or an adolescent?\n\n[[Adult.|GetToWork][$playerAge = "Adult"]]\n[[Adolescent.|WakeUpLate][$playerAge = "Adolescent"]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" A Day In The Life")>>

"Thank you," says the receptionist in a nasal voice. "Go on in."\n\nThe receptionist pushes a button beneath the surface of the desk and the door behind you clicks open.\n\nHmm. That's new.\n\n<><<if $playerOccupation is "Mech Pilot">>\n<<display EnterFuTechMech>>\n<<else>>\n<<display EnterFuTechMagic>>\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n[[Go on through the door.|EnterFuTechBldg]]

Her amusement comes clearly through the psychic link.\n\n"You know you're no disturbance. But you need to get to the war room. The briefing is about to start."\n\nThe last word barely comes through. Her presence is fading, her attention directed elsewhere. And she's right. You'll be late if you don't leave immediately.\n\n[[Go to the war room.|WarRoom]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Psychic Powers")>>

The receptionist doesn't say anything, which is unlike him. You get to the inner door and... it's locked. After trying it a second time, you turn and look back at the secretary. His chin is resting on one hand while the other hand taps the surface of the desk and he's got a smug smile on his face.\n\nIt can't be comfortable, chewing gum with one's chin propped up like that.\n\n"They finally put in that new security lock I've been warning you about," he says in his nasal voice. "Good thing, too. We wouldn't want any bums getting in today of all days, now would we."\n\nHis raised eyebrow is... very eloquent.\n\n[[Show him the badge.|ShowBadge2]]\n[["Yes, today is a very big day. And that is why you should let me in."|Don'tShowBadge2]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Sassy Secretary")>>

<<set $tropesCollected to []>>\n<<set $playerOccupation to "">>\n<<set $playerGonnaDie to false>>\n\n/% Adult Mech only %/\n<<set $girlBeforeBriefing to "none">>\n<<set $playerDoesntTrustGirl to false>>\n\n/% Adult Magic only %/\n<<set $playerAnnoyedMirror to false>>\n<<set $foundMasonsWallet to false>>\n<<set $playerDoesntEscortMason to false>>

"I can't find it!" Hmm. Her voice is deep and breaks on "find".\n\n"Did you leave it with your shoes?" A quieter, distracted voice. Octavian's.\n\nYou come into sight of the Pools just in time to see the girl run a hand through her short hair. She seems to be about fourteen, though it's hard to tell because you can't see her face. She and Octavian are both facing away from you. Octavian is in the Green Pool, leaning against the edge and gazing into one of the flat, burnished seeing stones. The girl is sitting cross-legged between the Violet and Green Pools, absorbed in her woe and ignoring Octavian's distraction.\n\n"No, of course not," she says. "Aw, man, what if I lost it on the path?"\n\nHer //entire outfit// is the same baby blue color as the shoes<<if $foundMasonsWallet>> and wallet<<endif>>, with white accents here and there. That is dedication to one's appearance if you've ever seen it.

You ignore the conversation and instead walk up to Octavian. You swing the basket down to the level of his shoulder, just above the rock at the edge of the Pool, and bump him with it a couple of times. Startled, he turns to look at the basket, then up at you. The look on his face changes and you can tell that he also remembers the last time you brought him daisies from the woods.\n\nHe turns in the water to face you and takes the basket from you with both hands. "Thank you," he says. As he turns and places the basket carefully on a raised, flat rock on the other side of the seeing stone, the girl (boy, actually, it turns out) looks over and is very surprised to find you there. He screams a little.\n\n<<display OctavianExplainsWhatsUp>>

You quickly brush your teeth. And maybe hair... did you do that already? Ah, fuck it, whatever. No time for that. You throw on your school uniform, shove some textbooks (hopefully the right ones) into one of your bags, grab the other bag, and rush downstairs.\n\nYour breakfast, now lukewarm at best, is sitting on the table. Rice and miso soup, as usual.\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push("Morning Routine")>>

Maybe you shouldn't be surprised. The real security systems that protect the underground base are further in, but having lax security for what's supposed to be one of the world's biggest corporations would look suspicious.\n<>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Elaborate Underground Base")>>\n<<endnobr>>

Octavian sighs, then says to you, "There's been a change of plan for today."\n\nHe clearly hasn't been looking forward to telling you that. While you are digesting this information, Octavian starts to glide sideways in the water, heading towards the Orange Pool, the largest of the seven. You can see the tentacles of his octopus half propelling him across the bottom of the shallow Pool.\n\n[["Are you serious?"|AreYouSerious]]\n[["Tell me what happened."|TellMeWhatHappened]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Unscaled Merfolk")>>

Crowbeak\na.k.a.\nLena LeRay

Whatever //she// did to hide your troops has worked amazingly well. The enemy has been caught completely by surprise. The ambushing units take heavy casualties, but they //inflict// many, many more. The battle is basically over. Mop-up takes a while, but -- hopefully -- your forces get all the enemies so that none of them can limp home to tell the tale.\n\nThe cost, though... about two-thirds of your forces have been destroyed. Ten mechs are in good enough shape that their pilots aren't in any immediate danger, but bad enough shape that they can't reenter the atmosphere. Getting those pilots home will take a while, but at least they aren't lost, too. Not yet anyway; two of them have injuries and may not last long enough to get home.\n\nOne of those injured pilots is married to their co-pilot. That's not a happy comm channel to listen in on.\n\nAt least the planet is safe. For now. Earth won't be under fire for a while; you have time to train new pilots, build new mechs, and better prepare for any future invasions.\n\n<>\n<<if not ($girlBeforeBriefing is "none")>>You reenter the atmosphere, falling into the Pacific Ocean and making your way slowly back to base. You're exhausted when you get in. You maneuver your mech back to its place in its hangar, and before the mechanics get the hatch open, a message pops up on your screen. \n\n//Welcome home. \nI'm glad you're safe. (/_;)//\n<<endif>>\n<<endnobr>>\n\n<<display TheEnd>>\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Bittersweet Ending")>>

"How about hello?" she chides gently. "I'm still me."\n\nYou're not sure what to say to that.\n\n"Thank you for coming, anyway," she says. "But there isn't much time. The briefing starts soon."\n\nHer presence fades slowly, and as she goes you can feel a twinge of sadness that she either can't or doesn't want to hide. You used to be such good friends. When did you start having trouble talking to her?\n\n[[Go to the war room.|WarRoom]]\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Psychic Powers")>>

Octavian balances on one hand and claps you on the shoulder before sliding back into the Orange Pool and calling Mason back. After a short planning session which mostly involves you telling Mason to do //exactly// what you tell him to do and warning him of certain dangers, you teleport to the Loudham Dire together.\n\nThe place is as dark, dank, and dangerous as you remember. It's a vile swamp, overtaken by poisonous plants and patroled by enemy minions of all shapes and sizes. Your memory doesn't fail you, though; you remember many of the dangers and how to avoid them. It helps that Mason leads you along almost the same exact path that Lindsey had done, so many years ago. It was indeed the Moon Stone that she had felt.\n\nIn getting out of the Loudham dire, Mason takes a cut to the face. Not poisoned, thank goodness. He survives with no other injury, though he has trouble explaining the cut and his ruined clothing to his mother.\n\nIt ends up being the first of many missions you and Mason go on together.\n\n<<if $playerAnnoyedMirror>>When you leave that day, you forget about having annoyed the mirror. You find yourself in a dry, hot desert, but luckily you are able to find a way back to your home dimension within a few hours. You're pretty sure that was a warning. You are careful never to annoy the mirror again.\n\n<<endif>><<display TheEnd>>\n\n<<set $tropesCollected.push(" Good Scars, Evil Scars")>>