"Amongst the Stars" by Max Battcher [This work is copyright 2009 Max Battcher. Some Rights Reserved. It it licensed for use under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike (by-nc-sa) license.] Use American dialect and no scoring. The release number is 1. Release along with a "WMIFMonth" website and the source text. The story creation year is 2009. The story genre is "Science Fiction". The story description is "I write this upon a poorly lit terminal in a leaky bathtub amongst the stars. I write to you in the hopes that you may leave me to my plight. I do not wish you to experience the things that I have seen... I do not know if these things I have seen are real or mere nightmares caused by oxygen deprivation. I do not intend to leave it to some unfortunate stranger to seperate the facts from the cruel fiction. Heed my warning and beware. Heed my warning and be wary. Heed my example and be wise. I realize now that the beacon had not been destroyed as I had intended. I can only speculate upon whose bow that beacon might next surface... ". When play begins, say "[the story description][paragraph break]". Chapter 1 - A Home Amongst the Stars Section 0 - A Pod Amongst the Stars A room can be vacuum or pressurized. A room is usually pressurized. The Starry Expanse is a vacuum room. "The constellations tell a slow history of the galaxy. The stars light the dark for their time, as burning forges of the galaxy's better elements. Those elements become the building blocks of life. Perhaps the life that will eventually try to read the history of the galaxy... or at least some small parts of it, like this particular solar system you find yourself drifting through. It's red star, quite distant from where you are, probably has its own long boring, history lesson. On the plane of your travel to the east, relative to the galactic center, you make out the silhouette of your ship, its false mini-constellation an anchor against this foreign solar system. Filling your view of the west is a dull planetoid, mostly obscuring the system's red star." In the Starry Expanse is a vehicle called The Pod. The description of the pod is "A cramped pod with few lights and fewer amenities. It feels like you have been here all your life. You can barely remember an elsewhere. Outside is nothing but the stars. Inside you are alone with your thoughts and your small supply of oxygen recycled many times over. [if the pod is in some pressurized room]The 'Airlock' button is lit.[otherwise if the pod is in the Dock]The 'Airlock' button is flashing merrily." The player is in The Pod. The container interior rule is listed before the room description body text rule in the carry out looking rules. This is the container interior rule: if the actor is the player and the player is in an enterable thing (called current cage), carry out the describing the interior activity with the current cage. Describing the interior of something is an activity. Rule for describing the interior of the pod: say "The pod's windows slightly wash out the lights outside." Instead of exiting when the player is in a vehicle and the location is vacuum: say "You would die a quick, harsh death if you tried to breathe out there." Before going somewhere by the pod: say "You engage the pod's control system and watch the status lights flash as the pod executes its progression of thrusters... The journey takes hours that weigh like days upon your mind." The Airlock Button is a device. The Airlock Button is scenery in the pod. Instead of pushing the airlock button: if the airlock button is switched off, try switching on the airlock button; otherwise try switching off the airlock button. Instead of switching off the airlock button when the pod is in some vacuum room: say "There is no signal from a nearby airlock." Instead of switching on the airlock button when the pod is in some pressurized room: say "The room is already pressurized." Cold Planet is a vacuum room. It is west of the Starry Expanse. "Filling your view of the galaxy is a cold, harsh planetoid at the edge of a foreign system. Your systems collect the data they were designed to search and once again you are reminded that you are a mere accessory to an automated task. Of course, you prefer the real view and the haunting solitude to poring over the final archived photos after the fact. At this distance you notice the planetoid has a very thin wisp of a ring and it seems a beautiful detail that is precisely such a detail you doubt the machinery has been programmed to pay much attention to." The red star is a backdrop. It is in the Starry Expanse and Cold Planet. "The red star is distant and boring." The planetoid is a backdrop. It is in the Starry Expanse and Cold Planet. "The planetoid is yet another of the galaxy's seemingly vast numbers of cold, harsh planetary bodies." Understand "cold planet" or "planet" as the planetoid. Instead of going nowhere when the location is vacuum: say "You can't afford the fuel to get too far from your ship." [The Starry Expanse is a transient place that the player will never see again...] After going from the Starry Expanse: change the east exit of Cold Planet to the Dock; change the west exit of the Dock to the Cold Planet; continue the action. Odd Signal Found is an scene. Odd Signal Found begins when the pod is in Cold Planet for the first time. When Odd Signal Found begins: say "'Captain, we've noticed an unusual signal originating on the planet. We suggest you come to the bridge for analysis.' intones Comms Officer Waverly over the pod's basic squawk box." Section 1 - This Old Boat Amongst the Stars Before going to the Dock for the first time, say "The pod snuggles its way alongside the hull of the ship, searching for its preferred little cubby hole. As it settles into the docking room it automatically starts to refuel itself." The Dock is a vacuum room. It is east of the Starry Expanse. "This dock is your dock, the Captain's personal dock. It is bright and clean and also quite small, but well located with reference to your quarters and the bridge. Emblazoned against several walls are the name and designation of your ship, the USS Rosser. As can be expected of a ship named after a mathematician, this dock is home to only a simple science pod. [if the dock is vacuum]The door is open and showcases a small slice of the stars outside.[otherwise]The door is closed and room is breathable.[end if][if Odd Signal Found has not happened] You feel that there is something you may have forgotten to do." Instead of switching on the airlock button in the Dock: say "You hesitate to repressurize the dock before you are finished using the pod." Instead of switching on the airlock button in the Dock during Odd Signal Found: say "The dock slowly pressurizes."; now the Dock is pressurized; rule succeeds.