Rooftop

The sun slowly cooks the tiles on the roof where I lie, listening to the gentle slosh of seawater lap against the upper storey.

I'm dreaming of Mei again. Waking up to the smells of fresh coffee and tea in the kitchen. Uptown Girl playing on her phone. She's about to walk back with the drinks.

The calm is broken by the splutter and hum of a motorboat.

Man, Unlidded By Joey Jones

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This is the roof of the only home I've known. Most of the adjacent houses slope off into the water. The attic skylight is open. I can hear the boat over at the pub, a few houses north.

This is the roof of the only home I've known. Most of the adjacent houses slope off into the water. The attic skylight is open. I can hear the boat over at the pub, a few houses north.
Exits:
Actions:
I can also see:

- seaweed
- zipline
- solar-panels
- watertank

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This game was made with gruescript.

game Man, Unlidded id UNLIDDED # game ID (used to identify cookies; should be unique on your site) author Joey Jones version 0.0.1 person 1 # 2nd person, i.e. "You are in..." examine off # if 'on', the verb 'examine' will be implemented by clicking nouns wait off say The sun slowly cooks the tiles on the roof where I lie, listening to the gentle slosh of seawater lap against the upper storey. say I'm dreaming of Mei again. Waking up to the smells of fresh coffee and tea in the kitchen. Uptown Girl playing on her phone. She's about to walk back with the drinks. say The calm is broken by the splutter and hum of a motorboat. status { $room.display } | # a room room Rooftop This is the roof of the only home I've known. Most of the adjacent houses slope off into the water. The attic skylight is open. I can hear the boat over at the pub, a few houses north. prop display Rooftop down Attic tags start thing seaweed loc Rooftop thing zipline loc Rooftop thing solar-panels loc Rooftop thing watertank loc Rooftop setverb ride zipline verb ride zipline !held crowbar say I left the riding bar somewhere. verb ride zipline held crowbar say I hook the bar over the line, wrap the straps around my wrists, brace myself and step off! say say Soon I swing all the way along the street, down hill, my dressing gown dipping in the water as a land heavily on the jetty! goto Jetty verb smell at Rooftop say The air reeks of the seaweed I'm drying out on the roof. I gathered tham from where they wash up on the lower rooftops. Something miraculous about that algal stench. room Attic My living space is cool and dark under the low sloping roof. I keep the wooden floors clean and my belongings safely sealed should the worst happen. prop display Attic up Rooftop down Landing verb smell at Attic !has coffeemaker on say If there's a smell, I'm too used to it to notice. My neighbours' houses moulder away but I'm keeping the damp out. verb smell at Attic has coffeemaker on say The attic is filled with the warm hazy scent of fresh-brewed coffee. thing dehumidifier loc Attic thing sofa sofa bed loc Attic thing kitchenette loc Attic tags kitchen setverb explore kitchenette has kitchenette kitchen verb explore kitchenette say I poke around. There's a coffee maker, switched off, but ready to go. There's a cupboard of supplies. untag kitchenette kitchen hide kitchenette bring coffeemaker bring cupboard thing coffeemaker thing cupboard tags closed setverb open cupboard has cupboard closed verb open cupboard say What do we have here... untag cupboard closed tag cupboard open bring coffee bring tea setverb close cupboard has cupboard open verb close cupboard say It swings shut. untag cupboard open tag cupboard closed hide coffee hide tea thing coffee thing tea setverb smell tea verb smell tea say Lapsang souchong. Hazy and smokey like a bonfire, even after all these years. run hazy setverb prepare tea verb prepare tea say I keep it for guests. Mei used to drink tea, but I've never liked it. setverb prepare coffee verb prepare coffee has coffeemaker coffee say There's already coffee in the filter. verb prepare coffee say I chuck some coffee in the coffeemaker. tag coffeemaker coffee setverb start coffeemaker verb start coffeemaker !has coffeemaker coffee say There's no coffee in it. verb start coffeemaker has coffeemaker on say It's already brewing. verb start coffeemaker has coffeemaker coffee !has coffeemaker on tag coffeemaker on say I flip it on and soon the room fills with a hazy rich smell of fresh coffee. verb go down at Attic say I clamber down the long ladder to the landing below. continue verb go up at Landing !here rebecca say I climb up the long ladder to my attic and slam the hatch down on the awful ruin below. continue room Landing Water rises up from downstairs at high tide. Though the carpets are sodden, I keep the walls scoured of any damp. prop display Landing up Attic down Basement west Bedroom thing pool stagnant pool loc Landing room Bedroom This was the room where Mei and I spent so many nights and long mornings. Plastic sheets cover everything, as it's now my mudroom. prop display Bedroom east Landing north Plankway verb go north at Bedroom say I climb out of the window, onto the roof of a bay window and clamber up the plank onto my neighbour's roof. continue thing bed loc Bedroom verb smell at Bedroom say The room is so plasticated, it doesn't smell of much at all. Maybe faintly of bleach. setverb enter bed verb enter bed say I would love to climb back into bed. Return to morning smells of Mei in the kitchen making us coffee and tea. But the bed is a broken frame where I stack firewood, and Mei is a memory. room Plankway There's a stretch of terraced rooftops lower down the hill. Across their sloping tiles, I've nailed boards. No one lives in these houses now. prop display Plankway south Bedroom north Alley verb smell at Plankway say The air out here is clear. Perhaps a little salty, like everywhere out on the coast. Fifty years ago it could smell of car fumes from the road below. Combustion cars disappeared before the water took the road. room Alley The plankway ends at the alley where a whale got stuck and died. A ribcage of gull-pecked bones stretches across the gap. prop display Alley south Plankway north Pub thing whalebone loc Alley tags portable verb take whalebone say The whale's bones are too huge to lug around. I'm just going to have to let time sort them out. verb go north at Alley say I clamber down the roofside, trying not to breathe in, and arrive at the end of terraced houses, the water lapping near my feet. continue verb smell at Alley say The air is heavy with the stomach turning greasy reek of stagnating blubber and whale bone. room Pub The Last Hearth Inn closed down thirty years ago, during the first floods. Only a small bit of roof pokes above the waterline. prop display The Last Hearth Inn south Alley east Jetty verb smell at Pub say From the dank corner of the half-collapsed pub, black mould spores catch in my throat. What a foul feeling from innocent fungi. room Jetty A span of rotting wooden pallets strapped together, held together as much by the clutter of abandoned boats. Rebecca's boat is tied up here. prop display Jetty west Pub verb smell at Jetty say The lingery whiff of rotting wood makes me think I might yet outlive this jetty. thing rebecca Rebecca loc Jetty tags greeting convo thing zipend zipline end loc Jetty setverb chat rebecca has rebecca convo !has rebecca idle verb chat rebecca has rebecca greeting say REBECCA&colon; Jack, good to see you're alive. I brought you some potatoes from the allotment. run offer say REBECCA&colon; I'm right behind you. untag rebecca greeting tag rebecca idle proc offer !has coffeemaker on say JACK&colon; Cuz! You look younger each month. I'll put a pot of coffee on if you wanna come on up. proc offer has coffeemaker on say JACK&colon; Cuz! You look younger each month. I've got a pot brewin' if you wanna come on up. verb go west at Jetty has rebecca idle bring rebecca say REBECCA&colon; This place has seen better days. say JACK&colon; I know I have. I used to come here all the time with Mei. Now look at it. continue verb go south at Pub has rebecca idle bring rebecca say REBECCA&colon; Ugh, it can't be healthy being near this poor whale. say JACK&colon; Eh, it'll all break down eventually. Everything always does. continue verb go south at Alley has rebecca idle bring rebecca say REBECCA&colon; I'm not sure this is safe. I'll try and bring the boat right up to the house next time. say JACK&colon; Too much trash in the street, you'd never get it round. continue verb go south at Plankway has rebecca idle bring rebecca say JACK&colon; Through the window... don't need locks around here. say REBECCA&colon; That's one benefit of living here, I guess. continue verb go east at Bedroom has rebecca idle !has rebecca shoes bring rebecca say REBECCA&colon; Should I kick my shoes off...? say JACK&colon; Don't bother. The carpet got pretty bad on the landing since you were last here. tag rebecca shoes continue rule has rebecca idle bring rebecca verb go up at Landing has rebecca idle say JACK&colon; You go on up first. say REBECCA&colon; Oh Jack, the water is a whole step higher. You can't really— say JACK&colon; The house isn't going anywhere. Leave the potatoes there and come on up. bring rebecca bring sack continue verb go down at Landing say The sea laps at the top of the stairs. I haven't seen my ground floor in decades. room Basement verb go east has rebecca idle at Pub say If I've forgotten anything at the jetty I can just grab it later. verb go north has rebecca idle say It wouldn't be safe to drag my second-cousin once-removed back and forth these rooftops. verb go down here rebecca say JACK&colon; Back in a moment. continue rule here rebecca at Attic has rebecca idle untag rebecca idle tag rebecca convo tag rebecca black verb chat rebecca has rebecca black say REBECCA&colon; Cosy as ever. say JACK&colon; Take a seat! I'll get you a coffee. say REBECCA&colon; Black. say JACK&colon; Just like your dad had it. untag rebecca convo untag rebecca black setverb serve coffeemaker has coffeemaker on !has mug served verb serve coffeemaker !here rebecca say I'll wait until my guest is here. verb serve coffeemaker here rebecca say I serve up two hot cups of coffee and give Rebecca one. We sit and drink in silence for a moment. tag rebecca convo untag rebecca black tag rebecca pill tag mug served give mug thing mug tags drinkable portable verb chat rebecca has rebecca pill say REBECCA&colon; I got you something. say JACK&colon; The potatoes look great. say REBECCA&colon; Something else. Here, catch! untag rebecca pill tag rebecca drugs give pillbox verb chat rebecca has rebecca drugs say JACK&colon; Your dad used to give me strange drugs too. Family tradition? say REBECCA&colon; Something you said about Mei last time... say JACK&colon; I always say something about Mei, you'll have to remind me. Memory ain't what it used to be. say REBECCA&colon; These are for remembering. You said you couldn't remember her face... I thought these might help. say JACK&colon; Really? I... I don't know what to say. say REBECCA&colon; Just try one. They're safe. untag rebecca drugs tag rebecca explained tag rebecca help verb chat rebecca has rebecca help untag rebecca help !has instructions read say REBECCA&colon; I'd read the instructions first. untag rebecca convo verb chat rebecca has instructions read !has rebecca jogged say REBECCA&colon; Don't mind me. Once you've tried a pill, take a look around for stuff to smell. I hope it jogs your memory. untag rebecca convo tag rebecca jogged thing pillbox tags portable setverb open pillbox verb open pillbox say I tear open the plain pharma box. Inside is a script of pills and a little instruction book. give pills give instructions hide pillbox thing instructions tags portable setverb read instructions verb read instructions say I skim the instructions for the MEMCORE MEMORY ENHANCERS. The pills stimulate the piriform cortex, enhancing the recall of scent memories. They work best if you smell or taste two things related to a specific memory. tag instructions read tag rebecca convo thing pills tags edible portable setverb sip has $this drinkable held $this verb sip mug say I sip the coffee. Warm and hazy. verb go down carried mug run coaster continue verb go up carried mug run coaster continue proc coaster has mug drinkable put mug Attic say I put my coffee mug down on a coaster before I leave the attic. setverb eat has $this edible held $this verb eat pills has pills taken !at kitchen !has kitchen sprayed !carried canister say I still remember the inhospitable taste. I don't need that again so soon. verb eat pills !has rebecca explained !has instructions read say I best find out what these are before I start scoffing. verb eat pills !has pills taken say I chuck one down. It tastes like chalk and acorns. Bitter. Inhospitable. Nothing changes at first. tag pills taken verb smell at Landing say Though I keep the damp out of the walls, I can't disguise the stench of stagnant water lapping at the staircase down. setverb smell intransitive thing sack sack of potatoes tags portable thing crowbar loc Bedroom tags portable ##HAZY FLASHBACK## proc hazy has pills taken say The smokey smell of the tea mingles with warm coffee smell in the air. A haziness overcomes me. tag pills active goto past room past I'm lying in bed, years before the floods. A cup of coffee is on the bedside table. Mei must still be making her Lapsong-Souchong in the kitchen. prop display Bedroom east pastlanding tags smoke thing photo1 Honeymoon Photo loc past tags photo setverb behold has $this photo verb behold photo1 say This was our honeymoon in Boston. The fall sun setting over the bay. A snap from the window of our hotel bedroom where we'd ordered up that perfect chicken dish with the yoghurt sauce. verb go east at past !has rebecca concern say I hear a distant voice guiding me from above. say REBECCA&colon; Jack? Jack are you alright? say JACK&colon; I'm in the house before the flood. I'm going to see her. I'm going to see my Mei! tag rebecca concern continue room pastlanding The landing is brightly painted orange. A warm glow comes from the stairwell leading down. prop display Landing west past down living tags smoke thing photo2 Moscow Photo loc pastlanding tags photo verb behold photo2 say The onion domes in Moscow. Not that I saw much of them when I was over there, tied up in a rotting shed and fed pureéd tubers. room living The living room is unbearably hot. Smoke is pouring out of the kitchen door. MEI! prop display Living Room up pastlanding west kitchen tags smoke thing photo3 Greenland Photo loc living tags photo verb behold photo3 say It's a picture of Greenland seen from the water. There's a boat in the foreground filled with tourists looking at a whale. room kitchen The whole kitchen is on fire. Faulty wiring? Something left on the stove? There's no sign of Mei. prop display Kitchen east living verb smell has $room smoke say The room smells like Mei's tea. has pills hazy say But I know now it's because of the fire in the kichen. verb smell at kitchen !has kitchen sprayed say I cough from the inhospitable smoke. thing inferno loc kitchen verb go east at kitchen say I step out of the kitchen away from the fire. And I'm back in the attic! goto Attic untag pills active tag pills hazy say JACK&colon; It burned down. The kitchen burned down. The firefighters got here in time but I never fixed it. Couldn't afford to. I started living upstairs. say REBECCA&colon; And Mei? say JACK&colon; She wasn't there. I think I lost her before the fire. say REBECCA&colon; You think? tag rebecca fire untag rebecca help tag rebecca convo write living.desc The living room is unbearably hot. Smoke is pouring out of the kitchen door. A laptop left on the side is playing Uptown Girl on repeat. verb chat rebecca has rebecca fire say JACK&colon; I... I can't remember why she left. I think I've blocked it out. say REBECCA&colon; Oh! I always thought she... uh... died. say JACK&colon; I don't think so. I hope not. say REBECCA&colon; The answer has got to be locked in your mind. You can get there! untag rebecca fire tag rebecca belongings verb chat rebecca has rebecca belongings say JACK&colon; Weirdest thing, in my memory I was dressed just like I am now. Even carrying the same stuff. say REBECCA&colon; Having memory residuals is a known side effect. It'll wear off. untag rebecca convo verb go up at Landing has rebecca belongings !has rebecca convo untag rebecca belongings tag rebecca convo tag rebecca keywords continue verb chat rebecca has rebecca keywords say JACK&colon; I don't know what to smell. The memories are so hard to grasp. say REBECCA&colon; There must be things that have shared associations. Random words that don't quite fit that connect them for you. untag rebecca keywords untag rebecca convo verb drop has pills active say I can't seem to drop things in this reconstructed memory, my arms feel heavy and sticky. thing hatch closed attic hatch loc pastlanding thing cup coffee cup loc past tags drinkable verb sip cup say The memory starts over again. I'm in bed. The sound of Uptown Girl playing somewhere downstairs. ##WATERY FLASHBACK## setverb empty mug has pills hazy has mug drinkable held mug verb empty mug say I down the rest of the coffee. tag mug empty untag mug drinkable setverb collect pool held mug has mug empty verb collect pool untag mug empty tag mug stagnant say I fill the mug full of stagnant water. setverb taste mug has mug stagnant verb taste mug say I bring my mouth up to the cup but I can't bring myself to try it. The foul vapour is enough. run watery proc watery at Alley say The greasy marine stench of the rotting whale bones mixes with the stagnant water in the cup to transport me back to the SS LUNT. goto ship room ship The hold of the whaler ship is knee deep in brackish water. Blubbery slabs of whale meat hang from dripping nets. prop display SS LUNT Hold up deck verb smell at ship say The memory of the reek catches in my throat. !has ship reek say REBECCA&colon; Where are you now? say JACK&colon; A Norwegian whaler from my activist days. We'd got on board and I'd just finished blowing a hole in the side. Taking it down from within. Mei was on our ship. I just needed to get back to her. tag ship reek verb go up at ship say As the water level rises, and the air fills with screams of the whalers, I clamber back up to the deck. continue room deck The deck of the whaler is listing hard. No one pays notices me as they scramble for the lifeboats. The anti-whaler ship is across the water, too far to get. prop display SS LUNT Deck thing Greenland Greenland's shore loc deck verb smell at deck goto study !has study visited say REBECCA&colon; What I don't get is why you were inside the boat setting explosives. That seems... say JACK&colon; Backwards. Like something from one of my stories. room study I'm back in my study, laptop on my knee. The latest draft of the novel is open. prop display Living Room up x east x verb go at study say I was too deep in the writing. thing draft loc study thing chips memory of potato chips loc study tags portable memory verb drop has $this memory say I can't drop a memory. setverb eat chips verb eat chips run miracle has chips eaten say That miraculous crunchy salty taste. Nowadays the closest I eat is salted dried seaweed. verb eat chips run miracle say I remember what eating the chips was like. That miraculous taste. !has chips eaten here rebecca say REBECCA&colon; What are you doing? say JACK&colon; Remembering what a bag of potato chips would be like. say REBECCA&colon; They... they still exist. I can bring some over next time. say JACK&colon; The taste half-reminds me of some time with your dad. Maybe that pond he was always dredging at the pirate ship? tag chips eaten setverb write draft verb write draft say My great novel was about these anti-whaling activists but I kept writing myself into a dead end. How was the hero going to get off the ship? Why didn't he just attach the explosives to the outside of the whaling ship? I never finished it. goto Attic !has study visited say JACK&colon; How'd I get back here? say REBECCA&colon; You don't eat enough, Jack. You're not much heavier than that sack of potatoes. tag study visited verb smell at study say If I strain, I can just about recall the taste of the potato chips I ate mindlessly while I worked on the novel. ##PIRACY## proc miracle at Rooftop say I crunch down on an imaginary potato chip. It mixes with the algal tang in the air and it transports me back to St Louis. say say Or was it St Paul? goto hedge_maze room hedge_maze My second-cousin Larry is taking forever at the pirate ship so I'd snuck out to hang out in the hedge maze. prop display Hedge Maze south pirate_ship thing passages loc hedge_maze setverb explore passages lt $bunny 3 var bunny 0 verb explore passages eq $bunny 0 say I wander along dead ends, left and right. Something rustles in the bushes. assign bunny 1 verb explore passages eq $bunny 1 say I wander along dead ends, left and right. A weasel crosses my path, a rabbit in its mouth. assign bunny 2 verb explore passages eq $bunny 2 say I come across half a rabbit corpse. The weasel has been sloppy. assign bunny 3 bring rabbit thing rabbit verb smell at hedge_maze here rabbit say There's a meaty, sloppy leporine stench. Something about it reminds me of my childhood. verb smell at hedge_maze !here rabbit say A faint whiff of mowed grass. room pirate_ship Larry works at the themepark, dredging the pond under the swinging pirate ship ride. prop display Pirate Ship north hedge_maze verb smell at pirate_ship say Heavy notes of pond slime. thing larry Larry loc pirate_ship tags convo setverb chat larry has larry convo verb chat larry !has larry shrooms say JACK&colon; Your shift done? It's been fun but I'm all parked out. say LARRY&colon; You wouldn't believe this Cuz. I dropped my phone in the freakin' pond. say JACK&colon; Aw shit. tag larry shrooms verb chat larry has larry shrooms say LARRY&colon; You might as well get started, I might be here all night. Can't afford to lose that phone. say He chucks me over a baggy filled with shrivelled mushroom caps in it. has larry convo say REBECCA&colon; What are you seeing now? say JACK&colon; Your dad. Years before you were on the scene. I was about to do a couple of really dumb things. give mushroom untag larry convo thing water slime-filled bog loc pirate_ship thing mushroom memory of shrooms tags edible portable memory verb eat mushroom !at Pub say I remember the feeling of innocence that overwhelmed me when I took shrooms. Like anything was possible. tag mushroom eaten setverb dive water has mushroom eaten verb dive water say I dove into the water. That really did happen. I don't know where the themepark was. It could have been Marienbad for all I know. I thought I would know the right spot where the phone landed in the water. goto Attic !has pills miracle say JACK&colon; I really miss your dad. I never did find his stupid phone. I told you that story? He took me to home to dry off and we talked all night. He told me about a girl he liked. Your mom. say REBECCA&colon; I wish I could have seen him like that. Was that before Mei? say JACK&colon; I guess it must have been. tag pills miracle ## INNOCENCE ## verb eat mushroom at Pub say The double-hit of mushroom and mould takes me back to Tampa. To the time of witchcraft. goto yard room yard I'm in dirt lot outside a shack. The ground is splattered with blood and feathers. The Florida sun prickles the back of my neck. The door to a shack is open to the west. prop display Yard west shack verb go west at yard !has yard spelled say REBECCA&colon; What now? say JACK&colon; I went to extreme lengths to get Mei back. I even visited a witch in Tampa. tag yard spelled continue verb smell at yard say The yard stinks of the rooster slaughtered for the spell. Perfectly dreadful. room shack The shack is empty, just a bare hut. There's no sign of the witch. And no sign of Mei, for that matter. prop display Shack east yard verb smell at shack say The room smells sterile. Too sterile. Like a laboratory. goto lab room lab Instead of a shack, I see a white room. A man with a pink larval face smiles. prop display Laboratory thing grape Mr. Grape loc lab setverb chat grape verb chat grape has pills innocence say I try to scream, to beseech the man, but the memory fades out as quickly as it it begun. goto Attic verb chat grape !has pills innocence say JACK&colon; YOU BASTARD! WHERE IS SHE?! say REBECCA&colon; What can you see? goto Attic say JACK&colon; They took her. I was in a lab. Someone stole my memories of Mei. say REBECCA&colon; They must be still in there, somewhere! tag pills innocence verb smell at lab say I half recall some inhospitable taste in the air, but I can't quite grasp it, the memory is like smoke. !has lab cry say say MR. GRAPE&colon; Mr. Jefferson, no need to cry. We do it all the time. Think of it like a trust fund. tag lab cry ## ROTTING ## setverb take sack !carried potatoes !carried mash verb take sack say I take some potatoes from the sack. give potatoes thing potatoes tags portable setverb cook potatoes at Attic held potatoes verb cook potatoes say I cook up a bowl of my special mashed potatoes. Rebecca and I have some for lunch with a side of seaweed. There's plenty of leftover. hide potatoes give mash thing mash bowl of mashed potatoes tags portable edible verb drop mash say I'm not going to bodge about, throwing mash around. verb eat mash !at Jetty say I nibble a bit more of the mash. It's delicious but the mushy texture always reminds of rotting and decay. verb eat mash at Jetty say I swallow down the mash and breath in the woodrot from the pontoon. It takes me back to Russia. goto blacksite room blacksite I'm chained up in a rotting shack in the woods outside of Moscow. prop display Russian Black Site verb smell at blacksite say It smells of woodrot and my own stale sweat. thing agent loc blacksite setverb resist agent verb resist agent say AGENT&colon; WHO IS MEI? say JACK&colon; I WON'T TELL YOU ANYTHING. say I repeat it over and over again. tag agent beg setverb beg agent has agent beg verb beg agent say JACK&colon; I DON'T KNOW. PLEASE. I DON'T KNOW! say AGENT&colon; WOULD YOU LIKE SOME CEREAL? goto ward room ward I'm lying in bed in a ward. It's like a hospital but very quiet. An orderly has left a bowl of cereal for me. verb smell at ward say It's clean, sterile, but there's a faint whiff of something more inhospitable. Almost sickly sweet. thing cereal Memory of Cap'N Crunch loc ward tags edible portable memory verb eat cereal at ward goto Attic !has pills rotting say REBECCA&colon; Where were you now? say JACK&colon; It's confusing. I can't tell what's real and what's not. Was I going mad? Was I committed? I was in Russia, then I was on a ward. say REBECCA&colon; You've never mentioned any of that before. say JACK&colon; I still feel no closer to finding Mei in all this. tag pills rotting ## SLOPPY ## verb eat cereal !here rabbit !at stoop say I embrace the memory of eating that sugary sweet slop. The last time I ate this stuff regularly was when I was kid. verb eat cereal at hedge_maze here rabbit say The sloppy taste of Cap'n Crunch blends with the tang of the rabbit flesh. The combination takes me from one memory out to another... to Denver! goto stoop room stoop I'm on the backporch of my old house in Denver. A cat is eating tinned cat food out of a bowl next to me. prop display Stoop north stoop east street thing catfood bowl of catfood verb smell at stoop say I can smell the rabbit catfood. verb eat cereal at stoop say The memory resets. I'm back on the stoop. verb go north at stoop say I'm not allowed back in the house yet. I'm supposed to reflect on not telling lies. I always had trouble with fantasy. !has stoop fantasy say REBECCA&colon; Where are you now? say JACK&colon; Back at the old house in Denver. say REBECCA&colon; I thought your folks were from East Anglia. tag stoop fantasy room street I wander off into the street. This is supposed to be time to self-reflect. The urban sprawl stretches out around me. prop display Street verb smell at street say The air smells of road works, brick dust, tyre marks. thing billboard loc street tags photo verb behold billboard say The advert is for a delicious yoghurt. In the image, it's eaten by an impossibly beautiful Japanese woman. !carried yoghurt say JACK&colon; This was always Mei's favourite. say REBECCA&colon; What was? say JACK&colon; Yoghurt. say REBECCA&colon; I thought she was lactose intolerant? bring yoghurt thing yoghurt memory of yoghurt tags edible portable memory verb eat yoghurt say Such a perfect flavour. It takes me back to better times. at street goto Attic !has pills sloppy say REBECCA&colon; You're back. Did you see Mei? say JACK&colon; I saw a face that was probably like hers. But... no. She was real. tag pills sloppy ### PERFECT ### verb eat yoghurt at yard say The taste of yoghurt. The sight of feathers. That hotel room. goto hotel room hotel It's a plain double-occupant hotel room, much like every other hotel I've stayed in. prop display Boston Hotel thing window loc hotel setverb gaze window verb gaze window lt $mess 4 say I look out of the window. It's that harbour scene, just like I expected. verb gaze window eq $mess 4 say I look out of the window. It's a plain, white room. A man wreathed in inhospitable hookah smoke smiles. In his hand is a contract. The header says MEMCORE. goto Attic !has pills perfect say JACK&colon; I saw him again. The man that smells of hookah smoke. Like a honey-scented bonfire, bitter and sweet. Mr. Grape. say REBECCA&colon; Who's that? I'm so confused. Did he do something to Mei. say JACK&colon; He must be from Memcore. I need to find him. I thought he stole the memory of Mei from me. But maybe... maybe I sold it. say REBECCA&colon; ...You've got to find him. Smoke you said? Honey? And a bitter note? tag pills perfect thing suitcase loc hotel tags closed var mess 0 setverb open suitcase has suitcase closed verb open suitcase untag suitcase closed say I open the case. There's only men's clothes. Wheres Mei's?? add mess 1 thing bin loc hotel verb smell at hotel say The room smells of sour yoghurt from the waste bin. setverb spill bin verb spill bin bring pot bring canister hide bin say I tip over the bin looking for any clue pointing to Mei. This was our honeymoon! add mess 1 thing pot empty yoghurt pots thing canister Memory of a Honey Mist Lock-n-Hold Air Freshener tags portable setverb spray canister verb spray canister !has pills active say The air fills with a lightly scented fog of inhospitable honey. Or it would, but this is just a part recalled memory and the smell fades as soon as it comes. thing pillow loc hotel setverb tear pillow verb tear pillow say I rip open the pillow. There must be a sign of Mei. There must! bring feathers hide pillow add mess 1 thing feathers rule at hotel eq $mess 3 say The sky out of the window shifts. add mess 1 ### INHOSPITABLE ### verb spray canister at past run no verb spray canister at pastlanding run no verb spray canister at living run no proc no say The inhospitable smell hangs around for longer. But not long enough. I need to get closer. verb eat pills carried canister !has pills active say I feel ready to try another pill, but I'd need to be in the right space. They're so bitter and inhospitable in taste, I don't want to take loads. verb eat pills carried canister has pills active !has kitchen sprayed at kitchen say I feel the edge of a memory, just a hint. It's like Mr. Grape's hookah smell, but there's something missing. It's not sweet enough. verb eat pills has pills active !at kitchen !at lab say I recall the inhospitable taste of the pill. With the smoke in the air, something in me stirs, but it's not enough. verb spray canister at kitchen say The honey scented fog hangs around and mixes in the smoke from the growing inferno. tag kitchen sprayed verb smell has kitchen sprayed say The air smells of honey-scented fog and smoke. Inhospitable. verb eat pills at kitchen has kitchen sprayed say I take another of the bitter pills and breathe in the deadly air. It all reminds me of that larval-faced man, wreathed in hookah smoke. hide cereal hide yoghurt hide mushroom hide chips hide canister goto office verb eat pills at office say I've had enough of Memcore's pills. verb eat pills has rebecca confess say I've had enough of Memcore's pills. verb go has rebecca confess say I need to tell Rebecca the truth. Someone has to hear this. room office I'm sitting in an uncomfortable chair in Mr Grape's cluttered office at the Memcore headquarters. prop display Mr. Grape's Office thing mr Mr. Grape loc office setverb chat mr !has mr talk verb chat mr say JACK&colon; I've made nothing of my life. There are so many places I wish I could have travelled. Novels I wish I could have finished. I never had a great love. say MR. GRAPE&colon; Mr. Jefferson, no need to cry. We do it all the time. Think of it like a trust fund. A gift that keeps giving. You'll have all the achievements you could have ever dreamed of. You don't need to do anything. All we ask for is a little brain power. tag mr talk thing contract loc office setverb peruse contract verb peruse contract say The new servers all run on wet neural nets. In exchange for some of my grey matter, they'll give me whatever memories I want. I can be a hero, a lover, a spy. Magic can be real. Love can be real. setverb sign contract has mr talk verb sign contract say MR. GRAPE&colon; The only thing left for you to do is decide what to call this great love of yours. say JACK&colon; I always liked the name... Mei. goto Attic say JACK&colon;... say JACK&colon;... She never existed. say REBECCA&colon; You made her up? untag rebecca convo tag rebecca confess setverb confess rebecca has rebecca confess verb confess rebecca say JACK&colon; I didn't know I made up Mei. It was an implanted memory. I've made such a mess of my life. But at least I know. I never had a great love. But I had friends. Your father was a great friend. And you Rebecca, I don't know why, but you've been my friend too. Please don't say I've invented you. say REBECCA&colon; C'mon you old fool. Let's have some more coffee. And you can tell me about it all. We'll unpick it together. die The End setverb destroy contract !has contract ripped verb destroy contract say Of course, that's not what I did. I know that now. tag contract ripped