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Ship in a Bottle
by
David Chen
Played 1,040 times
View game source
(spoilers!)
Download the
.z8 file
Source Code
The Research Lab is a room. "[if the Research Lab is unvisited]It's probably just another storm, as you bottle some water to drink, but this place must be pretty secure. If only they didn’t make the base so uninviting and cold. Suddenly, the previously mundane atmosphere of the research room fades out with the rest of the lights and equipment. What used to be a grey, metallic room filled with books and shiny flasks of water is now pitch black and morbidly silent. The northwest exit to the unknown remains a personal horror from what you know about the unexplored outside, so the control deck is west, or you can go east to the storage unit.[end if][if the Research Lab is visited]You can't see much in this room, as power has cut out entirely for the lab. The Control Deck is west of the Lab, the Storage Unit is east of the Lab, and the northwest emergency door remains inaccessible.[end if][if Abyss is visited]Despite a newfound sense of natural danger clouding over the oppressive toxicity of the 'protection' at the base, the sudden change in events leaves you wanting to look back. A pile of glass and steel represent your previous residence now." Instead of going northwest, say "It's certain that you'd die a painful death outside without proper gear." The Control Deck is west of the Research Lab. "[if Control Deck is unvisited]You hurry to the control deck to find an intimidating mess of steel debris and cracked glass. As you yell in frustration, falling metallic debris knocks over a crate. Across the large control room illuminated by large, colourful monitors depicting crude caricatures of rival corporate leaders, you notice a screwdriver next to the fallen crate.[end if][if the Control Deck is visited]The Control Deck remains noisy and chaotic, with debris continuing to fall and flashing monitors. The Research Lab is to the east, and the bloodthirsty food cabinets are south.[end if]". A screwdriver is here. After taking the screwdriver: say "You pick up the screwdriver. Remember to stay safe with it!"; award 1 point. Instead of giving screwdriver to colleague, say "The disheartened colleague currently doesn't seem interested in technician work." The monitors are scenery in the Control Deck. The description of the monitors is "These monitors seem to be in irreparable condition, occasionally flickering an off-colour camera view of the outside, or whatever that solid colour may be." The description of the screwdriver is "The same tool used to fix or remove screws and see what’s inside." The Escape Door is a closed, locked, openable door. The Escape Door is above the Research Lab. The description of the Escape Door is "The blue door to the outside intimidates you. It's certain that you'd die a painful death outside without proper gear." Every turn when the player is not in the Abyss 2 or Escape Pod: if score is 3 begin; say "After acquiring all pieces necessary to escape the falling base, you also acquire the courage necessary to brave the outside abyss from the door in the Research Lab. Suddenly, the sound of water crashing through the base momentarily deafens you, as you gaze upon the annihlation of the base and all your research, as well as the very likely death of the friendly colleague you met earlier. You cry for a while before striving to continue your escape."; move player to Abyss; end if. Every turn when the player is in the Escape Pod: increase score by 2; say "The End. You've won!" The Dining Space is south of the Control Deck. “You enter an empty, highly decorated room with rectangular windows next to crimson and gold wallpaper. It is extremely spacious and somewhat freezing with a large couch, and on the shelf to your right is a gigantic wall of cabinets covered with frost and robotic arms sticking out. Inside the cabinets are boxes of full meals containing prepackaged food, snacks, desserts, and drinks. This should be enough to sustain yourself for a few months. Your stomach growls and you have a burning desire to take a box, despite the questionable mechanism taken to ensure rationing here. It’ll be painful, but you’re used to it.†The cabinet is in the Dining Space. The cabinet is a closed openable container. After opening the cabinet: say "You open the cabinet at the sacrifice of some of your blood, as the arm grasps your body and penetrates your hand with a small, sharp blade. You yell out in pain, and the arm coldly delivers a bandage to you. You open up the box and it reveals a grilled cheese sandwich, a tray of cookies, a self-preserving bottle of melted ice, a popsicle, and a large bar of chocolate." A grilled cheese sandwich is in the cabinet. A tray of cookies is in the cabinet. A melted ice is in the cabinet. A popsicle is in the cabinet. A chocolate bar is in the cabinet. The Colleague is a man in the Dining Space. The description of the Colleague is "A somewhat familiar man you may have seen before in the base, who looks unshaven and very tired." Instead of showing the Picture to the Colleague: say "The man's ignorance of your premise suddenly disappears upon a look at the picture you showed him. His once displeased face turns hopeful for a moment, before he remembers you as a fellow researcher on the base, and commits himself to working with you once more to escape the base."; award 1 point. The grilled cheese sandwich is edible. The description of the grilled cheese sandwich is "Room temperature and a bit squishy, but still edible. Seems like it's melting quickly, but you're sure even the end would be delicious if you savour the good aspects." After eating the grilled cheese sandwich, say "You devour the moist grilled cheese sandwich before it melts completely. You feel a bit better." The tray of cookies is edible. The description of the tray of cookies is "The cookies are round and brittle. They contain a lot of happiness with a bit of artificial flavour." After eating the tray of cookies, say "You carefully collect all the chocolate cookies and eat them first. Suddenly, the tray's shape distorts and pathetically falls to the slightly wet floor, spilling the rest of the treats. Nevertheless, you feel a bit better." The melting ice is edible. The description of the melting ice is "It's contained in a plastic container. You don't like the thought of the essence of life being trapped in an artificial container, but you know you need it to survive." After eating the melting ice, say "You open the bottle of melting ice and squeeze it out, leaving you slightly more sane. It's been a while since you've had some water, especially since they made the blade more painful after someone tried to fight it head-on last month." The popsicle is edible. The description of the popsicle is "Despite any temporary satisfaction, you've always found the joy of eating one to be overshadowed by the freedom of more adventurous but possibly better choices for frozen desserts." After eating the popsicle, say "You reluctantly lick and bite off parts of the melting popsicle. You never found the rocket-like shape appealing anyway, and in your opinion, the popsicle would work better as a screwdriver. Speaking of which, the joke on the stick was as funny as screws on a safe." The chocolate bar is edible. The description of the chocolate bar is “The sugary treat for when you want to give up and enjoy the last moment of your life eating a chocolate bar. The monochrome back looks to be halloween-themed." After eating the chocolate bar: say "The sweet chocolate melts away in your mouth and leaves you somewhat refreshed. Out of principle, you refused to support the company making these, but you don't know if you have the strength to take that form of action anymore. Immediately addicted, you cunningly slip your fingers through more boxes and shove increasing amounts of chocolate bars into your arms. Despite the continuous pain of the repeated stabs of the robotic arm, the strange-tasting chocolate instantly soothes the pain as your eyes grow weary. You then worry increasingly less about the odds of your survival, and fall unconscious. Water flooding the base eventually engulfs your body.â€; end the game in death. The Flooding Storage Unit is east of the Research Lab. "There it is, the core of the wet trouble destroying the base, and possibly your survival. You knew this place must’ve been cursed with a lack of structural integrity after it got struck by debris last week. Most of the power generators save for a lost one blew out entirely due to the flooding, and you don't believe the waterlogged journals would be of much use. Although reduced to a jagged rectangular mess of orange metal and half-underwater, your eyes turn to a fixed safe on the wall just within your reach." A safe is here. A diving suit is in the safe. The safe is a locked, openable container. The screwdriver unlocks the safe. The description of the safe is “It’s locked. Metallic and grey, this safe’s durable front side is rendered obsolete by the frail screws on the back side.†A diving suit is in the safe. After opening the safe: say "You open the safe from the back to reveal a diving suit."; award 1 point. The description of the diving suit is "To your shock, the blue diving suit includes a cylindrical oxygen tank and looks unused, with a design promoting the corporation that owns this facility. You haven't gone swimming in a while." The Artificial Garden is south of the Dining Space. "As the most enjoyable part of the base besides the dining room, the garden has a self-sustaining system of fresh produce and was often one of the solaces of the missions that took place in this cold base. You seem to be somewhat reinvigorated by the colourful plants decorating all faces of the spacious artificial room, the vines hugging cylindrical pillars, and the crops behind glass resembling objective progress when research seemed to fail and experimental technology betrayed you back then. It seems somewhat sad that an entire ecosystem had been sadly constrained like this. The plants are indeed technically healthy and being taken care of, but you ponder over how they would tolerate such an environment. You always spent a lot of time just soaking in the happiness of this place, but perhaps too much at times. Next to your wet feet lies an old picture of someone who looks familiar. You could yell for help, but you don't think it would yield any results in this base." A picture is here. The description of the picture is “You’ve definitely seen and spoken to the person featured in this small, framed picture at the base before. One time, he couldn’t push a pull door. You laughed until you realized you couldn’t pull it either.†The Abyss is north of the research lab. The Abyss is a room. "You always knew the worst could happen here, and here you are. You can barely comprehend the sheer emptiness present at your current location, and your heartbeat resonates within your diving suit. The thought of a man you never really knew much of before entering and exiting your life, much like a tsunami washing away a new building, creates a source of water inside your diving helmet. Other than deep blue water, you stare at the underwater base’s ultimate demise as it fully collapses with a terrifying sound, imprisoning all the research and efforts of you and your colleague through those sleepless nights at the bottom of the abyss. Luckily, you managed to escape the base, but the final compulsory step now would be to swim to the emergency escape pod, which drifted west upon the base’s destruction. You surprise yourself when you manage to remain vigilant despite your repeated reluctance in physical expeditions like this before." The Abyss 2 is west of the Abyss. “Initially, the emotional pain of losing everything you worked for paralyzes you into temporary submission. But the will to survive manages to overcome the most dreadful of moments, with your confidence destroying any thoughts of surrender, and you swim forward west, almost at the escape pod, as a tribute of sorts to your missing colleague. Surprisingly, the immense pressure and limited time within the underwater purgatory of the abyss still remained much more comfortable than the atmosphere inside the base, where you always felt like you were going to drown in your workload and the hazardous aspects of the confined base. The obsessed passion for those countless years of work had faded and drowned in the midst of a new awakening of everything you’ve known to be potentially dangerous, yet more free than the time you spent in so-called safety in the underwater base. You always felt like the bottleneck, but you now realize the bottle never had a neck. The acidic prison which protected your life, but confined, grasped, and stabbed its essence, had finally fallen.†Every turn when the player is in the Abyss 2: award 1 point. The Escape Pod is west of the Abyss 2. “After a brief moment of contemplation and victory, you continue to swim west in the direction of the escape pod until you land your feet at its entrance. A wave of triumph passes over you as you cry out in joy at the sight of the bright orange, somewhat rusty exterior of the spherical escape vehicle. There's only one more thing to do. With all the might available in your arms, you desperately attempt a second pull of the door, but the cold escape pod exterior refuses to budge, fading out hope for your survival. The surrounding abyss seems to become increasingly pitch black and morbidly silent, as your body falls without control onto the door in unrestricted misery, your confidence dropping. Finally, you accept the independence you've demonstrated to get to the door, and you decide to do something you feared in the days of the base. You yell for help.[line break]...[line break]The sound of your call echoes throughout your surroundings. That surely didn't work. However, letting out that stress did feel good. You remember that although the base is no more, the protection and commodities it offered had only inverted the mortality of your life to everything that represented one, that gave it freedom. [line break] As your oxygen begins to almost run out, you notice a familiar person swimming towards you. You soon remember him as your colleague, and despite the situation, you rejoice with his assistance, as you both push the door of the previously unattended escape pod. The door shifts forward, and you enter with not a colleague anymore, but a friend. [line break] The pod takes off with incredible speed, as it rockets you to the surface of the ocean miles up. When you and your colleague finally arrive to safety, you gaze upon the bold, magnificent sunrise decorating the sky. While celebrating your freedom, however, you notice some leftover blueprints of the now-destroyed base in your pocket. Without hesitation, you both choose to throw the blueprints overboard. Before doing so, however, you and your friend collectively notice that the base perfectly resembled a bottle. You win!"